Chapter 16: What was inside the iron gate?

  "How would I know? I replied while walking, 'Tonight's events are particularly strange. If we can find Lin Wei, that's for the best. If not, let's think of a way to leave this haunted place first.'"

  Xu Peilong replied, "It's okay, it can't be helped."

  We made our way through the alley and into the corridor, where Xu Peilong shone his phone's flashlight towards the end of the corridor, but couldn't see anything. The light was swallowed up by darkness just a short distance ahead.

  "So far..."

  I nodded in the darkness, but my eyes didn't dare relax for a moment, constantly scanning all around the corridor.

  The long corridor was made of concrete and was very damp. An iron gate appeared at the nearest place to us.

  I stood with Xu Peilong at the iron gate and found that the paint originally painted on the door had largely fallen off, the door was not locked, nor was there a handle, just like a whole piece of iron plate embedded in the wall.

  I knocked on it with my hand, and there were a few dull metallic sounds inside, which sounded hollow, not solid. This suggests that there should be space inside.

  Xu Peilong put his ear to the door and listened for a while, then knocked again, saying, "This door is as if it's been embedded in the wall, could it be that someone has set up a fake door to deceive people?"

  I shook my head and replied, "Impossible. I knocked on it just now, and it seemed to be hollow inside. There should be another space in there."

  Xu Peilong said, "Right, what could be inside? Will Class Monitor Lin Wei be in here?"

  His words made me move in my heart, yes, who knows if Lin Wei is inside or not?

  "Shall we open it and take a look?" Xu Peilong continued to say.

  "Hmm, okay then, let's open it and take a look. Just in case Lin Wei is really being controlled here, we don't want to miss him."

  Xu Peilong carefully examined the iron gate from top to bottom, and suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "Lan Tian, there's a seam here!"

  I hastily went over to take a look and indeed found a palm-sized gap at the edge of the iron gate. But how could I pry open this iron gate that, although not locked, was integrated with the wall?

  I was lost in thought when I suddenly saw Xu Peilong pull out a gleaming dagger from his pocket. He gently scraped off the rust on the blade with his knife, then grasped it firmly and inserted it into the gap with a swift motion. The blade sank directly into the weld seam!

  It's strange to say, as soon as Xu Peilong's dagger was inserted into that gap, the iron door made a "creaking... creaking..." sound and slowly opened halfway before stopping.

  I stared at the strange iron gate, and suddenly I had a very uncomfortable feeling in my heart. I wanted to ask Xu Peilong to wait for a moment, but before I could say anything, he had already pulled open the door with a loud creak and stepped inside.

  But just as one foot had stepped inside and the other was still outside, he suddenly froze in place.

  He blocked my line of sight and I couldn't see what was inside. Seeing him daze, I gently patted his shoulder.

  Who would have thought that this slap was nothing serious, Xu Peilong's whole body suddenly shook violently, and then "Bang!" The door slammed shut!

  "Peilong, you?" I exclaimed in a trembling voice, "You, what's wrong?"

  He leaned his entire body weakly against the wall, shaking violently, then slowly turned around, his face pale with not a hint of blood color, and large drops of cold sweat rolled down from his forehead. His lips trembled, and it took him a while to speak, "In... inside..."

  "What's going on inside?" I was frightened by his appearance and my soul flew away. "Peilong, what's going on inside? Tell me quickly!"

  Just then, a sharp metallic scraping sound came from the iron gate behind Xu Peilong's back, "Gra... Gra... Gra..." It was as if something heavy was being dragged on the ground with an iron chain, or as if something sharp was scratching against the iron gate.

  "Gura... Gura..."

  The sound grew louder and clearer, and more terrifying! The sharp echoes reverberated in the empty and dark corridor, as if a woman was wailing mournfully.

  My heart was racing violently, I raised the small flashlight on my phone and shone it towards that iron gate, and as soon as I did, I was shocked to the core.

  On the iron gate behind Xu Peilong, a hand suddenly appeared! The hand was resting on his shoulder, but he seemed to be unaware of it.

  Xu Peilong seemed to have noticed something was off in my eyes, and immediately reacted, without turning his head, shouting at me, "Little Jiu, let's hurry up and go!"

  I didn't have time to look back at what was happening behind me. Together with Xu Peilong, the two of us ran back in the direction we came from, one in front of the other, stumbling and staggering as we went.

  I had only run a few steps when I felt something was off. Logically, the iron gate should be just over ten meters away from the alley we turned into, and after running for a while, we should be very close to the turn, but instead, in front of us was an endless expanse of darkness, with walls on both sides, and no exit at all!

  The dim light shone ahead, still unable to see the end, the long corridor was like a giant monster with a big mouth, as if it wanted to swallow me and Xu Peilong.

  Xu Peilong also seemed to sense that something was off, and he stopped in his tracks, cautiously scanning the surroundings.

  "Damn it all to hell!" I cursed.

  No sooner had I finished speaking than Xu Peilong suddenly slapped me in the face, catching me off guard. The slap was so hard that my cheek stung with pain and stars danced before my eyes.

  I covered my face and shouted, "What are you doing?"

  However, Xu Peilong didn't make a sound and ran forward like his life depended on it.

  "Xu Peilong!" I yelled forward, ignoring the pain on my face. "You get back here, you hear me? Xu Peilong!"

  The only response to my question was the sound of his footsteps.

  What's wrong with Xu Peilong? My heart sank like it had fallen into an ice cave, chilled to the extreme.

  The terrifying scratching sound behind me still hasn't stopped, and it seems to be getting closer and closer, as if those hands are right next to my ears. I try hard to calm myself down, but the more I try, the more anxious my heart becomes.

  Suddenly, a damp and chilly wind swept from behind, my hairs stood on end instantly, the back of my neck was brushed by the cold wind, sending shivers down my spine!

  No good, it's coming after us!

  I didn't look back and ran desperately forward. In front of me was endless darkness, behind me were ghosts that I didn't know how terrible they were, could I escape?

  I don't know.

  I ran forward for a long time, but I didn't see Xu Peilong's shadow. Instead, the scratching sound behind me was getting closer and closer, and that cold breath was approaching again.

  What on earth is behind, could it be Lin Mei's ghost?

  I gritted my teeth and made a bold decision. I suddenly turned around and rushed towards that gust of cold wind!

  Under the faint light of the flashlight, there was nothing behind me, no ghostly shadow at all. Only a chill wind whistled past my ears, as if countless hands were scratching my eardrums.

  I didn't have time to think carefully, and after running for a while, I unexpectedly ran to the iron gate that Xu Peilong and I pried open earlier. I really couldn't run anymore, so I leaned against the wall and stopped.

  Weird? As soon as I stopped, the ear-piercing scratching sound also disappeared, and only my heavy breathing was left in the empty corridor.

  "Ah..." The iron gate, which had been pulled open and then closed by Xu Peilong, suddenly creaked open slowly.

  What was inside the iron gate that scared Xu Peilong so much?

  I held my breath and quietly turned off the phone, squatting against the wall with both eyes fixed tightly on that iron gate.

  The door opened, but nothing seemed to come out, and everything seemed to return to calmness.

  I took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from my forehead, thinking of Xu Peilong who had just slapped me and run away.

  I didn't expect him to talk so nicely, but he's actually the kind of person who would abandon his friends and run away with his life when faced with danger. I was wrong about him!

  Although I was furious inside, there was nothing I could do. Moreover, what we were facing now wasn't Xu Peilong's escape, but how to find an exit and get out of here.

  I don't know what happened to Zeng Mingqing and the others who stayed upstairs. I leaned against the wall with a thumping heart, waiting for a while, and found that there was still no sound in the dark corridor.

  I forced myself to stand up, suppressing the fear in my heart, and turned on the small flashlight on my phone, shining it into the open iron gate.

  The open door suddenly slammed shut with a "bang", and behind it stood a person!

  It was none other than Xu Peilong who had escaped! He stood tightly against the door, as if he had merged with it.

  I raised my phone and took a photo of him, only to find that his clothes looked like they had been torn apart, with strips of skin exposed underneath, covered in long, thin wounds.

  "Peilong, what's wrong?" I reached out to support him, but he didn't move at all. His two eyes were wide open, and the look in his eyes made my hair stand on end.

  "Quick... run!..." He gritted his teeth tightly and squeezed out two words.

  "Let's go together!" I forgot the unpleasantness of just now, and with a strong pull, pulled him away from the iron gate. He fell powerlessly into my arms.

  "Peilong, wake up?" I held him steady, my heart racing with anxiety. "Wake up, don't pass out!"

  Xu Peilong weakly lifted his head and gave me a cold smile.

  That smile was terrifyingly ferocious. Before I could react, he opened his mouth and bit down on my shoulder.

  "Ah......" I cried out in pain and swung a punch, which landed squarely on his face, but it felt like I was punching air.

  Just as I was about to lose my soul and my gallbladder was bursting, someone grabbed the back of my collar and pulled me hard, shouting loudly, "Lan Tian, follow me!"

  This voice is not Xu Peilong, then who else?!

  He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward, running wildly ahead.

  How can there be two Xu Peilong? Which one is the real him?

  At this moment, I can no longer distinguish between east, south, west and north. I just followed him in a mad dash, with that terrifying scratching sound still echoing in my ears, accompanied by the howling wind whizzing past.

  I felt we had turned a corner and after about five or six minutes Xu Peilong pulled me to a stop and said, "Okay, we're here."

  Arrived? Arrived where? I stared at Xu Peilong in shock.

  What is this kid doing? Ghost forbidden

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