Like a ghost torn by the wind, I stumbled back to the dilapidated house that exuded a breath of despair. The low and strange chanting from the ancestral hall behind me seemed to turn into invisible tentacles, tightly wrapping around my ankles. Even though I ran as hard as I could, the devilish voice still lingered in my mind.

  The horrific scene of the old man kneeling in front of the sacrifice, raising his arms high, looking up and chanting, using his own blood to sacrifice to an unknown existence, was like a picture of hell imprinted on the retina, flashing back repeatedly, each time bringing a bone-chilling chill and a sickening feeling of nausea.

  I slammed open the crooked wooden door, rushed into the house, and then frantically used all my strength to close the door again, using all the movable objects I found to prop up the door panel tightly, as if this could completely isolate me from the terror outside.

  "Hoo.Hoo.Hoo." I leaned against the cold wall, breathing heavily, my chest rising and falling violently like a broken bellows. My heart was beating so hard that it almost exploded, stars appeared in front of my eyes, and my ears kept buzzing. Fear was like a cold giant hand, tightly grasping every nerve in my body, making me tremble all over.

  "Xue. Sister Xue? What's wrong with you?!" Xiao Zhang in the room was startled by my miserable and almost lost soul. She woke up a little from her trance and looked at me in doubt. Even Meiling, who was curled up in the corner of the bed as if isolated from the world, was disturbed by my movement and looked over at me blankly with her empty eyes.

  I opened my mouth, wanting to tell them everything I had just seen, wanting to describe the horrific sacrificial scene that was beyond my comprehension, but the words were swallowed back when they reached my lips.

  I can’t say it! At least… I can’t say it completely!

  Looking at Xiao Zhang's extremely unstable mental state and Meiling's completely soulless eyes, I deeply doubted that if I told them the horrific truth about the old man's blood sacrifice, would they go completely crazy on the spot?

  And. Xiao Zhang's suspicion and hostility towards me still exist. If I describe this absurd and terrifying scene again, will he think that I am making it up or. I have gone completely crazy?

  In this environment where trust has collapsed and fear is spreading like a plague, some truths may be more dangerous than lies.

  "Nothing. nothing." I forced myself to suppress my violent heartbeat and trembling, leaned against the wall, and tried to make my voice sound a little steadier (although still hoarse), "It's just. it's just that those noises outside. seem to be closer. I. I'm a little scared."

  I chose a relatively "mild" statement to try to cover up the real terror in my heart.

  But my expression and state obviously couldn't completely fool Xiao Zhang. He stared at me suspiciously with flickering eyes: "Just a sound? Sister Xue, the way you just acted. it doesn't seem as simple as just hearing a sound!"

  "I.I really just." I wanted to explain, but Xiao Zhang suddenly interrupted me, with a distorted expression on his face that was a mixture of fear, anger and paranoia.

  "It's that old man again! Right?!" He suddenly growled, his eyes red, "You went to see that damn old guy again! What did he say to you again?! Or.what did he do to you?!"

  His suspicion was like a poisonous snake, entwining around him again.

  "I didn't!" I retorted tiredly, "I just. just wanted to go out and see what was going on."

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "Don't lie to me!!" Xiao Zhang punched the wall beside him with a dull thud, which scared Meiling, who was lying on the corner of the bed, so much that she trembled all over. "Everything has been wrong since the first day you met that old man! There must be something wrong with him! Maybe. maybe all the terror was caused by him! He just wants to trap us all here to death!"

  His emotions were out of control again, and his reason was completely swallowed up by fear and suspicion. He began to look for a specific person to vent his anger on, and the mysterious old man undoubtedly became the source of his terror.

  "Xiao Zhang! Calm down!" I shouted, "Now is not the time to make wild guesses! Although the old man is weird, but."

  "But what?!" Xiao Zhang turned his head suddenly and stared at me fiercely, "You are still speaking for him?! Could it be. could it be that you are really in the same group?!"

  "You.!" I was so angry that I was shaking all over. Just when I was about to refute, Xiao Zhang suddenly made a move that I didn't expect!

  He rushed to the door and frantically moved away the debris that was blocking the door!

  "Xiao Zhang! What are you doing?!" I was shocked and rushed forward to stop him.

  "What are you doing?! I've had enough!!" Xiao Zhang pushed me away (his strength was amazing, maybe fear had stimulated his potential?), his eyes were bloodshot, and he roared ferociously, "I don't care what ghosts are out there! I want to leave here now! Right now! Right now! If I stay any longer, I'll be killed by ghosts or scared crazy!"

  He has completely lost his mind! Fear has driven him to a dead end!

  "You can't go out! It's very dangerous outside!" I shouted anxiously, "The situation is unclear after dark! That old man."

  "Don't even mention that old immortal!!" Xiao Zhang interrupted me rudely, pulling at the last obstacle frantically, "I want to get out! I don't believe in this! What a bullshit curse! What a bullshit ghost! They're all lies!"

  Just when he was about to open the crooked wooden door and rush into the endless darkness!

  “Chuckle…Chuckle…”

  Suddenly, without any warning, a cold, hair-raising laughter like a child's that sounded like a silver bell but chilled people to the bone rang out from outside the tightly closed window.

  The laughter was so clear! So close! As if… as if that “thing” was stuck outside the window, watching our out-of-control farce in the room with great interest through the tattered window paper!

  The air in the room froze instantly!

  Xiao Zhang's hand that was reaching for the door panel froze in mid-air. The madness and rage on his face faded away instantly, replaced by a fear that was deeper and more thorough than before! His eyes almost popped out of their sockets, his mouth opened wide, but he couldn't make any sound, only his body was shaking violently.

  "ah--!!!"

  Meiling, who had been curled up in the corner of the bed in a dazed state, seemed to have pressed a switch the moment she heard the cold laughter, and suddenly burst into a heart-wrenching scream! The scream was so shrill and terrifying that it almost pierced one's eardrums! She frantically covered her ears with her hands, buried her head deeply in her knees, and her whole body was shaking violently like a sieve.

  And I.

  I was also frightened to death by this sudden and terrifying laughter that was so close to me! That kind of laughter that was cold to the bone and devoid of human emotion was more terrifying than any cry or roar! It was like a cold hammer, hitting my heart hard!

  “Chuckle…Chuckle…”

  The laughter continued, crisp, cold, and full of malicious playfulness. It was as if the "thing" outside was enjoying the fearful and desperate expressions on the three of us.

  Next up!

  "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

  There was a dull and powerful knock on the door! It was not a gentle test, but a hard knock that seemed to break the door!

  Every sound is like a heavy hammer hitting our hearts!

  Xiao Zhang let out a strange cry, and crawled back to the corner of the wall. His face was as pale as a death, and his eyes were filled with complete collapse and despair.

  Meiling's screams also stopped abruptly and turned into suppressed, heartbreaking sobs.

  I held the stick tightly, leaned my back against the cold wall, and stared at the crooked wooden door that was shaking violently under the heavy blows.

  What is outside the door?!

  Is it the owner of that cold laugh? Is it the dark shadow standing outside the window? Is it a "fox spirit"? Or. a more terrifying existence?!

  "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

  The knocks on the door became more and more urgent and fierce! The old wooden door creaked under the weight, as if it was about to be smashed open in the next second!

  Terror is no longer a glimpse and whisper hidden in the dark, but has become a direct, violent threat!

  The three of us, like passengers on a boat about to capsize in a storm, were completely surrounded by endless darkness and out-of-control fear.

  Next, how should we face this terrifying door that is about to be smashed open?