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One day, three classmates and I were punished by being kept at school and made to stand outside a very old laboratory room. The room hadn't been cleaned for years, making it look particularly gloomy, and strange noises could be heard from it from time to time. Actually, we were only punished by being kept at school for half an hour, but because we were in the afternoon class, and it was already the dead of winter, it got dark very early, so those half hours were unbearable.

Finally, we were allowed to go home. Lin, however, took a different route than the other three of us and went home alone. But halfway there, we suddenly heard Lin scream, so we immediately turned back. We found Lin lying on the ground, pointing ahead, his expression horrified. Following his finger, we saw a girl younger than us entangled in vines. Naturally, we went to help her, but as we got closer, a chill ran down our spines. The girl's hair was disheveled, her clothes were torn, and she was covered in blood; some of her wounds even had worms wriggling inside. At the same time, we all thought: "A ghost!" We immediately helped Lin up and ran.

As we fled, we could vaguely hear the girl crying: "Waaah...waaah...how can I untie the rope...waaah...waaah, Dad...Dad...Mom...Mom...Brother...Brother...Save me...waaah..." After a frantic run, we were lucky enough to run into a man older than us.

The four of us relaxed instantly. I was about to tell the boy about our encounter with the ghost when, upon seeing us, he asked, "Did you just come out of the woods?" He looked terrified. I immediately nodded and replied, "Yes." "Then...did you see a...a little girl, about six or seven years old?" he immediately asked his second question. I nodded again and said, "She...she...seems...like..." Before I could finish speaking, the boy ran towards the woods, calling out, "Xiaolin, Xiaolin..."

I found it strange, but then I realized that the boy must have made a mistake. However, we didn't chase after him because we simply didn't have the courage to go any closer to the woods.

After a long while, we heard no more of the boy's cries. We struggled to our feet, helped each other, and headed towards the school office. There we saw an old man sweeping. We were overjoyed to see our saviors and told him everything we had seen. After listening, the old man sighed and said, "Actually, many years ago, there was a little girl named Xiaolin who was so happy playing hide-and-seek that she went to hide on the slope behind the school. Alas, she never imagined that..." The old man sighed again and continued, "When the girl's family realized she hadn't returned home by evening, they searched everywhere. But it was late, and it was raining everywhere. Where could they look? The girl's brother knew his sister's personality well, so he searched all over the school. Finally, he heard crying on the back slope. Just as he was about to walk down the slope, a landslide occurred. Several days later, searchers found two bodies on the back slope of the school. The man had died from suffocation after being buried alive, and the woman had been tightly bound by vines before being buried alive. When the children's father heard this, he immediately hugged his chest and wept bitterly. Losing two children in one day is truly... alas..." The old man became more and more heartbroken as he spoke: "Waa... Xiaolin was innocent, lively, and adorable... I never thought..."

Hearing this, we knew we had encountered two ghosts in a row, and we were completely exhausted. We all slumped to the ground, feeling weak all over. Later, my family arrived and took me away.

A few days later, we went to the cooperative's owner, hoping to find the old man who used to clean. The owner asked in surprise, "How did you know there was an old man who cleaned here? Of course not. Seven years ago, he lost his two children in one day and was overcome with grief. He was found dead in his home the next day. The school hasn't had a male school cleaner for the past few years!"

With a thud, the four of us collapsed backward into the air, fainting.

---Bifengke

Reply [85]: A Terrifying Experience in the Mountains

"Zhennan, do you see that little house up ahead? That's my uncle's house." Wenjie turned around, somewhat excited.

He said to me with a flourish.

"Ah, we're finally here! I'm completely exhausted!" I couldn't help but shout excitedly. I twisted my shoulders forward.

I let the strap of that huge travel bag fall back down between my shoulder and neck. I felt a burning pain in my shoulder, and if it weren't for the goal in front of me encouraging me, I think I would have thrown that damn big bag to the ground immediately.

I looked up at Wenjie walking ahead of me. He was also walking with a limp, and he didn't seem to be in any better shape than me.

Beside the door of the small prefab house, an old man was bending over and gathering firewood, completely unaware of our approach.

"Fifth Uncle, I'm here!" Wenjie strode over and called out to the old man. The old man straightened up and squinted at him.

A moment later, he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Wenjie! You've changed again! Come on in, let's have a drink!" The old man snatched Wenjie's bag and tried to pull him inside.

Room.

"Oh, Fifth Uncle... I haven't introduced this person to you yet!... This is my colleague Zhennan. I specially brought him into the mountains to see him this time."

Yours.

"Hello, sir!" I reached out my hand and felt the old man's broad and strong hand.

"You're all young people... Good, good!" Uncle Wu gripped my hand tightly. "Can you drink? Come on in!"

Let's have a good drink! ...It's been so long since anyone's had a drink with me!

The interior of the wooden house was very simple, divided into a kitchen and a small room only by wooden planks. Wenjie and I set up the kang table, and Uncle Wu...

I took a bottle of wine and a plate of meat from the kitchen.

"You two shouldn't laugh at your fifth uncle. Life on the mountain is nothing like in the city; it's not easy to even get a meal of meat... just say..."

"This plate of meat is thanks to the little fox I caught the day before yesterday." Uncle Wu soaked the wine in hot water and filled three cups.

"Ah, fox meat, what a delicacy!" I picked up a piece and put it in my mouth. It tasted great, almost like dog meat.

"I heard the foxes in the mountains are quite sinister?" Wenjie asked, biting into a piece of meat as well.

"Ha, your fifth uncle doesn't believe it! The day before yesterday I only fired one shot!... That beast just wouldn't run from the gun barrel, he just stared at me blankly."

It made me really uneasy.

"Little fox?" Wenjie and I asked at the same time.

"Yeah, it's too small, probably never seen a person before... It's run all the way to my door, I'd better beat it up! Hehe... Skinny quilt"

"I peeled them and hung them outside the house," Uncle Wu said, his face beaming with excitement after drinking some wine.

The three of us drank to our hearts' content, completely unaware that it was getting dark.

"How about it, Uncle Wu's alcohol tolerance is pretty good, right?" Uncle Wu poured the last of his drink into Wenjie's and my glasses: "Fugendu..."

"It's all yours now! Finish your drinks and lie down on this kang! Uncle Wu is a little dizzy, he'll go to sleep first! You young people can drink slowly! Don't worry about this old man!"

We gave him a vague reply. Uncle Wu then turned and lay down on the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove). Soon after, he began snoring loudly.

"My fifth uncle really has too much!" Wenjie said to me with a smile. Wenjie and I finished off the remaining meat, along with the leftover wine.

After all, this meat is a rare delicacy for us.

Suddenly, Wenjie and I both perked up our ears; we almost simultaneously heard a rustling sound outside the cabin.

sound!

I'm absolutely certain that this sound couldn't have been made by a human!

The mixed breathing and the scratching of claws on the door startled Wenjie and me, making us stand frozen in place!

The sound made Wenjie and me almost scream! —A fox! It's a fox! —And absolutely!

No, it wasn't just one! It was... a whole group!

Wenjie and I sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), listening without moving to the sound of the wooden door banging.

Amidst the chaotic sounds, there was another strange noise, like many people walking around with mopping sticks.

And... in such a desolate mountain, could there be any other people?!

Wenjie and I screamed!

Uncle Wu seemed to be fast asleep, completely still. Wenjie and I couldn't wake him, so we started rummaging through drawers and cabinets looking for the game.

Guns, please. Hunting rifles, we need hunting rifles! With hunting rifles, whatever's out there, I'll shoot it dead!

We were on the verge of a breakdown, sustained only by the will to find the hunting rifle. But as Wenjie and I frantically searched...

While they were searching for the hunting rifle, the area outside the house unexpectedly became quiet.

Wenjie and I tiptoed to the door and peeked through the crack. —There was nothing there!

"Shall we... go out and take a look?" Wenjie swallowed hard, then turned around and stared at me blankly.