FV CH 7

Ghost Baby

Chapter 7: “Come and take me home!”

Who would not have a shadow?

The answer is self-evident.

Tang Ning took a step back. He almost forgot that there was a staircase behind him. Fortunately, he grabbed the handrail and did not fall down the stairs.

Lu Yingxing still maintained a strange smile. He walked towards Tang Ning. The light footsteps echoed in the quiet corridor. They were so light that they did not sound like the footsteps of an adult man. Instead, they made people think that there was something walking on tiptoe.

Tang Ning was still so timid, but perhaps it was because he had been frightened three times in a row on the first day. Although he was scared to the point of fainting, he was much stronger than the first day. At least he had the strength to run away even if his hands and feet were weak.

The beam of the flashlight flickered in the corridor. Tang Ning mobilized all his strength to run downstairs. He ran so fast. Tang Ning had never run down the stairs so fast in his life. But the light footsteps followed him all the time, like a shadow that could not be shaken off.

After running down one floor in one breath, the footsteps behind him suddenly disappeared. Tang Ning turned around in doubt, but there was no one behind him.

Tang Ning turned around and shone the flashlight forward. Suddenly, a tall figure appeared at the staircase not far away!

Under the pale light, Lu Yingxing stood at the entrance of the corridor with a strange smile and stared at him.

How is it possible?

How is it possible?!

Wasn’t the footsteps always behind him?! When did they run past him?!

At this time, Tang Ning saw the number at the entrance of the corridor in front of him, a red painted mark, a bloody “4”.

No, he just ran down from the fourth floor, so this should be the third floor!

Tang Ning didn’t have time to think about it. Lu Yingxing, who was standing at the entrance of the corridor, walked towards him again. Tang Ning had no choice but to run downstairs again. The entire narrow and dark corridor kept echoing with his hurried footsteps and the slight, unhurried sound.

Soon he ran to the next floor. The footsteps behind him suddenly disappeared again. The tall figure appeared in front of him again. When he looked up, he still saw the bloody “4”.

Trapped in a wall.^[1]

This word popped up in Tang Ning’s mind.

If he continued to run like this, his physical strength would be exhausted. He would eventually be caught up by the slight footsteps.

A burst of giggles came from the darkness. Lu Yingxing walked towards Tang Ning step by step without opening his mouth.

[Talisman paper.]
The system suddenly spoke.

Yes! Talisman paper! Lu Yingxing had given him a large stack of talisman paper before!

Tang Ning took out a yellow talisman paper from his pocket. The cold command of the system sounded in his mind.
[Stick it to his forehead.]

Tang Ning pinched a piece of talisman paper with two fingers. His hands were shaking violently. His black eyes were full of fear as he looked at Lu Yingxing who was gradually approaching.

[Stop shaking your hands!]
The system shouted.

Tang Ning was so scared that his arms froze and he barely stopped shaking.

[Hold your breath!]
Tang Ning held his breath obediently. Actually, he didn’t need to hold his breath. Seeing the face getting closer and closer, Tang Ning was almost unable to breathe.

At this moment, Lu Yingxing was only about 20 centimeters away from him. If he took another step forward, he would be face to face with him. Tang Ning’s mind went blank. He heard a cold male voice loudly saying: [Now, stick it!]

The hand holding the talisman paper suddenly stretched out, and through a yellow talisman, the white fingertips trembled and stopped at Lu Yingxing’s brow.

The strange smile on Lu Yingxing’s face disappeared at this moment. He closed his eyes, as if he was asleep, but his body stood straight in front of Tang Ning.

[System, did I succeed?]
Tang Ning didn’t dare to withdraw his hand. He was afraid that if he let go, the talisman paper would fall off.

[Have you heard of corpse-driving people^[2]?]
The system asked coldly.

Tang Ning had heard of corpse-driving people in Xiangxi^[3]. It seemed that they drove corpses back home. He had always been timid and didn’t dare to learn more about this kind of thing, so he only knew a little.

[Put Lu Yingxing’s hands on your shoulders.]
The system gave orders.

Tang Ning was terribly afraid of Lu Yingxing, but he knew that listening to the system was the only way out, so Tang Ning released his hand that was holding the talisman paper, and the yellow talisman was firmly fixed on Lu Yingxing’s forehead, as if it was glued on.

Tang Ning carefully held Lu Yingxing’s hand, which was icy cold, and that was not the temperature of a living person. He slowly lifted Lu Yingxing’s stiff arms and placed his palms on his shoulders.

The cold seemed to be transmitted from Lu Yingxing’s body, and Tang Ning was so cold that his body shivered slightly.

[Turn around, turn your back to Lu Yingxing, and let Lu Yingxing’s hand fall on your shoulder when you complete the back-to-back posture.]

This action is a bit difficult to complete. Tang Ning raised Lu Yingxing’s hand above his head, and his fingertips carefully lifted Lu Yingxing’s wrist. He slowly turned around, and at the moment he turned around, he placed Lu Yingxing’s hand on his shoulder.

The moment those cold hands fell together, it seemed that something was riding on Tang Ning’s shoulder.

[Close your eyes.]

Tang Ning didn’t dare to think too much, he closed his eyes immediately.

[No matter what happens next, you must not open your eyes, you must do whatever I say!]

The system’s voice was extremely serious: [One more thing, absolutely do not slap Lu Yingxing’s hand away, during this period, you must ensure that Lu Yingxing’s hand is always on your shoulder! Do you understand?!]

[Yes!]
Tang Ning remembered every word of the system, he wanted to engrave these words in his mind as golden advice.

[Okay, jump to the left.]

Jump?

Tang Ning swallowed his saliva, so nervous that he couldn’t even tell left from right for a moment. The fingertips of his left hand moved, Tang Ning closed his eyes, and mustered up the courage to jump to the left.

In the silent darkness, he heard the sound of his footsteps landing, and at the same time, there was a dull “dong”.

It was a very strange sound, as if a child was hitting a ball behind him.

“Jump down ten steps. Don’t jump too far. Each jump should be about ten centimeters.”

Tang Ning closed his eyes and began to jump down. He could feel himself jumping up and down the stairs. Jumping up and down the stairs was a very easy thing. When he was in elementary school, Tang Ning would jump down the stairs with his friends.

But when he closed his eyes and jumped up and down the stairs for the first time, he felt an unprecedented fear. Because he couldn’t see anything, he felt like he was standing on the edge of a cliff in the dark. He felt dizzy, his legs were weak, and his heart was beating hard.

Bang, bang, bang.

That was the sound of his heartbeat.

Boom, boom, boom.

That was the strange muffled sound behind him.

Boom, boom, bang, bang, the heartbeat and the muffled sound mixed together, as if it turned into a heavy hammer hitting Tang Ning’s chest, making Tang Ning feel a little breathless. He heard the sound coming from far to near, from top to bottom, as if a ball was bouncing randomly in the narrow corridor.

Boom!!!

The sound suddenly got louder!
A cold breath blew over Tang Ning’s shoulder, like the sound of something breaking the wind when it hit him!

Tang Ning’s scalp tingled, and he subconsciously dodged the attack. As he turned sideways, Lu Yingxing’s hand on Tang Ning’s right shoulder slipped down.

Damn it!

Tang Ning’s heart seemed to be about to jump out of his chest. After the hand left his shoulder, he did not feel relieved. On the contrary, the pressure piled up on his left shoulder, so heavy that the bone in his left shoulder seemed to be broken.

[Three steps left, keep jumping.]

Tang Ning did not jump immediately.

Because the hand that was hanging down, whether by inertia or intention, fell on his lower back.

The moment the cold and stiff palm pressed on his waist, Tang Ning’s hair stood on end, and a chill rushed from his tailbone to the top of his head. His whole body froze.

After standing there stiffly for about a minute, Tang Ning was able to regain control of his body.

He closed his eyes and jumped down one step.

The cold hand also followed, like a poisonous snake with malicious intent.

[Two more steps.]

Tang Ning was about to lose his balance. He had no strength left and could fall off the edge of the stairs at any time.

Ten centimeters, each jump was about ten centimeters.

What if the jump distance was off? Would he fall directly off the stairs?

[Jump!]
The cold male voice raised its tone, exploding in Tang Ning’s ears like a muffled thunder!

Tang Ning closed his eyes and used all his strength to jump down another step. The next moment, he almost lost his balance—

Lu Yingxing’s entire body fell towards him, and about 70 to 80 kilograms of weight were all pressed on Tang Ning. The coldness covered half of Tang Ning’s body. Tang Ning almost pushed Lu Yingxing out. Fortunately, before he took action, he still retained the last bit of rationality in his frozen mind.

Never slap Lu Yingxing’s hand away!

Tang Ning gritted his teeth. He felt like he was crying. Tears were streaming down his face. No one comforted him. Tang Ning could only desperately tell himself, “It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s just one step away. Just one more jump and it’ll be fine.”

As Tang Ning thought this, a cold hand moved from his lower back to his abdomen, like a python wrapping around its prey. In the darkness, Lu Yingxing seemed to move from behind Tang Ning to in front of him.

It stood in front of Tang Ning.

[Jump.]
The system ordered.

At this moment, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang. It was unusually clear and loud. Along with the sudden ringing, Tang Ning seemed to see Lu Yingxing’s strange smile in front of him. That cold smile was like seeing prey jumping step by step into a trap that had been set up long ago.

Tang Ning’s blood seemed to freeze.

[Jump!!!]

As the phone kept ringing, Tang Ning’s whole body began to tremble. He suddenly thought of some questions:

Why was the system suddenly so good to him, so good that it told him every step to take?

If the talisman paper was really useful, why did Lu Yingxing also have talisman paper, but was haunted by the ghost baby?

At this moment, Tang Ning seemed to have returned to the nightmare he had when he fell asleep in the bathroom, back to that door, opening or not opening, jumping or not jumping.

What was true and what was false?

He didn’t know the answer, but he remembered that in that dream, the phone also rang, but he didn’t answer it that time.

Tang Ning trembled and reached for the phone in his pocket.

[Tang Ning! What are you doing?! Jump!!!]
The tone of the system became higher and higher, so high that it almost broke!

Tang Ning still closed his eyes. It was easy to connect the phone. He could do it even with his eyes closed. He answered the phone with trembling hands. A low, gentle and magnetic voice came from the other end of the phone:

“Xiao Ning, it’s already eleven o’clock in the evening, why are you not home?”

It was Mo Yunchu’s voice.

Tang Ning heard his own cry for help: “Mo Yunchu! Come and take me home!”