Ning Hangyi: A game that must be fouled

Chapter 4
First, I want to say three things:
First, please believe that I have no choice but to do so;
Second, don't read this story late at night.If you don't listen to the advice and insist on doing this - I will not be responsible for the consequences;
Third, this is no ordinary story, and knowing it means you're going to be in some kind of danger.

Maybe you are listening in a cloud and don't understand what I'm talking about.Well then, let me put it a little more thoroughly - if you close the book now, go shopping and grab a snack, it's the right thing to do.

Get it - don't read this story - this is my last word of advice.

1. A student haunted by nightmares
Things have to start after class that day.

My occupation is a high school psychology teacher.You know, the kind of teacher who only shows up in your classroom once a week to give you a mild psychology class.My high school, like all high schools in the country, only focuses on test-taking subjects.Subjects that do not participate in the college entrance examination, such as psychology, will never be valued by the school.My career is clearly in an awkward position.But luckily, not all students think so.

That day I finished the fourth class in the morning, went back to the office, sat down to rest for a while, drank a few sips of tea, and was ready to go home from get off work.Just when I was about to get up and leave, I saw Lan Tianyu from Class 12, Senior One, standing at the door of my office.

He was the kind of honest student who was unknown in the class, with almost no features, and I could only remember him because he had a special last name.At this moment, he remained as shy and introverted as ever, and stood anxiously at the door of the office. I realized that he had encountered some kind of trouble and wanted to talk to me—to do psychological counseling with students, I was in school another responsibility.

This is a normal thing, I receive one or two students like this every day.But I never imagined that this seemingly ordinary meeting would lead to a series of horrific and unexplainable strange events later.

I sat down on the rattan chair again, and greeted the students at the door with the smile of a professional psychologist: "Come in, Lan Tianyu."

He hesitated, looked at me a few times, walked in slowly, stood in front of me, bowed his head.

The first thing he needs is to relax, I know that.

"Don't stand like you made a mistake." My tone was kind and friendly, and I dragged a chair from the side, "Come on, sit down and talk, what do you want from me?"

Lan Tianyu sat in front of me with an anxious expression on his face. His eyes even conveyed a message of fear, which was different from the expression of ordinary adolescents when they encounter troubles.I speculated in my heart what happened to him, and didn't urge him to speak.

After a while, he finally said, "Teacher Yu, I'm a boarding student. In the past few nights... I have encountered something incredible. I don't know how to understand it. I want to talk to you."

I nod. "Say it."

"It's been three days...Three nights in a row, this has happened..." He swallowed, and shivered unconsciously, as if recalling some terrible experience.

I'm also a little curious now, staring at him and asking, "What happened?"

Lan Tianyu's face was pale: "It's like this. The night before yesterday, I was talking about... the early morning. I suddenly woke up from an extremely terrifying nightmare. I was so frightened that my heart was beating wildly and I was sweating profusely. Teacher Yu, I have never I had such a horrible nightmare... When I woke up, I was trembling with fright..."

I understood a little bit, and comforted him: "It's not surprising, you are indeed under a lot of study pressure now, if the human cerebral cortex is in a state of tension for a long time, sometimes you will have very terrible nightmares at night..."

"No, Teacher Yu, I haven't finished yet." Lan Tianyu interrupted me anxiously, "The crux of the problem is not the nightmare itself."

I opened my mouth slightly: "What is that?"

"I have a habit of putting my phone next to my pillow when I sleep. Whether I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or wake up for other reasons, I will unconsciously look at the time displayed on the phone. That night I was haunted by a nightmare After waking up, I checked my phone as usual and realized that I woke up at 4am."

I was stunned for a while and asked, "What's the matter? Does the time of 4:16 have any special meaning for you?"

"No, no... I just glanced at it casually at the time, and didn't think much about it. But..." Lan Tianyu couldn't help shivering again, "What happened in the next two nights was simply unimaginable—— —This kind of situation actually happened continuously!”

I shook my head, and I didn't understand: "You said... what happened continuously?"

Lan Tianyu said in panic: "The night before yesterday, I had the same nightmare again, and was awakened again. I checked the time, and it was 4:16 again. It was still the same last night, and I woke up in a nightmare , my whole body was drenched in cold sweat, when I picked up my phone and saw the time..."

"It's 4:16 again?" I asked.

"Yes."

I stretched out my hand and compared: "That is to say, you have been awakened by the same nightmare for three consecutive nights, and the time of waking up is 4:16?"

Lan Tianyu nodded vigorously, and anxiously asked a series of questions: "Teacher Yu, how could such a thing happen? I have never encountered such a strange thing in my life! What is wrong with me? This phenomenon is in the Is there any psychological explanation?"

I stared at him, making quick judgments in my mind.In fact, I have roughly reached a conclusion in my heart, but for the sake of prudence, I still want to ask him a few more questions.

"This nightmare you had for three consecutive days, can you describe to me the content of the dream?"

To my surprise, Lan Tianyu shook his head and said, "I can't remember. Every time I wake up from that nightmare, I can't remember the content of the dream at all. I just know it's a terrible nightmare."

I was keenly aware of the logical problem in his words: "Since you can't even remember the content of the dream, how do you know that you have had the same nightmare for three consecutive days?"

"That's because...these three nights I woke up with exactly the same feeling. And although I can't remember what happened in the dream, I have some vague impressions...In short, I can guarantee that it is the same nightmare Seeing my questioning expression, Lan Tianyu became a little embarrassed, "I can't tell, maybe... just my intuition."

"Okay." I didn't want to dwell on this issue any more, and asked again, "Apart from me, who else have you told about this matter?"

"I only told it to Wu Haoxuan who slept in my bed. But he dismissed it as just a coincidence and told me not to take it to heart. But I don't think so, I know this thing must be unusual. Especially when I The third time, when I woke up from my dream last night, I had a very bad feeling... like, something is going to happen." Lan Tianyu raised his head to stare at me, and asked in fear, " What do you say, Teacher Yu? How can I explain the strange things I encountered? Do you know what this means?"

Yes, I know—I thought silently in my heart—but like all experienced psychological counselors, I will not directly tell the patient about his mental illness, which may cause the patient's resentment and embarrassment. Resist mentality.I was thinking about how to use psychoanalytic therapy to treat Lan Tianyu's paranoia and obsessive-compulsive neurosis.

2. 4:16 a.m.

Lan Tianyu thanked me repeatedly before leaving my office.But I know that this is just a polite behavior of this student, he does not understand his problem.

This is quite normal, even though I talked to him for more than half an hour on a hungry stomach, it is impossible for me to cure his mental illness with just one conversation like this.Especially when I hinted that what happened to him was actually caused by some compulsive nerves and fantasies in his brain, I clearly read disappointment and resistance in Lan Tianyu's eyes.Obviously he didn't believe what I said to enlighten him, but he was very educated, and he didn't directly express his distrust of me. Instead, he silently listened to my analysis and suggestions, thanked me, and said that he would try To relax and reduce the pressure of studying - but I said, I can see that this is his polite behavior, he actually didn't listen at all.

After Lan Tianyu left, I sighed secretly—it seems that in order to completely cure his mental illness, a relatively long-term treatment process is required.

There was no class this afternoon, so I went to the gym to exercise for more than an hour, went to the bookstore and bought a few new books, and then stayed in my single apartment to read and surf the Internet.Yeah, for a single guy in my 20s, doing whatever I want in my spare time is the happiest life.

As soon as I got to school the next morning, I realized something must be wrong.

A police car was parked at the school gate.On campus, students gathered in the playground, panicked and chattering.I walked past them, but couldn't hear what they were talking about.I came to the office full of suspicion and found that the principal happened to be talking to the teachers here. The last sentence I heard him was "In short, don't say anything about this matter, so as not to cause bad influence in society."

I hurried over and asked, "Principal, what's the matter?"

The principal looked back at me, sighed, and said reluctantly: "A boarding student in our school died unexpectedly in the dormitory early this morning."

"Ah!" I was shocked, "Who is it?"

"Lan Tianyu from Class 12, Senior One." The principal frowned and said, "Okay, don't inquire about this matter anymore, I just said it, this matter..."

"Wait!" I trembled as if I had been shocked by an electric shock, "Who did you say died? Lan Tianyu! Lan Tianyu from Class 12, Senior One?"

The principal and several teachers in the office were stunned. They obviously felt that my reaction was a bit extreme.The principal asked puzzledly; "Yeah, what's the matter? Do you have any special relationship with this student?"

I opened my mouth, wanting to tell them about Lan Tianyu's consultation with me at noon yesterday, but I didn't say it out——I don't think I can describe this weird thing in a few words.Besides, I now have more concerning things to ask.

"Principal, how did he die?" I asked hastily.

"It seems that he died of myocardial infarction caused by excessive shock. I don't know the specifics."

I froze for a moment, remembering the strange thing that Lan Tianyu told me yesterday, a strange thought suddenly came to my mind. "Principal, you said Lan Tianyu died this morning, do you know the exact time of his death?"

"I heard from the forensic doctor named Kang Wei that the time of death was between 4:4 and [-]:[-] in the morning." Speaking of this, the principal became more and more suspicious, "Mr. Yu, what is the relationship between this Lan Tianyu and you? Why are you asking such details?"

I completely ignored the principal's question, because as soon as I heard the name "Kang Wei", I couldn't help calling out immediately: "Ah, the forensic doctor is Kang Wei? Thank you, principal!"

The principal and several teachers looked at me suspiciously and rushed out of the office.

Kang Wei is my high school classmate and has been keeping in touch with me. I thought his career was not close to mine, but now he has a convenient time.

I quickly took out my mobile phone and dialed Kang Wei's number. After a while, I heard his familiar deep voice: "Hello, is this Yu Yang?"

"It's me." I cut straight to the point, "I want to ask you something, Kang Wei. Did you come to our school to examine a dead body early this morning? A student named Lan Tianyu."

"Well, yes. What's the matter, what's your relationship with him?"

"It's the teacher-student relationship." I didn't want to explain to him in detail, but I was eager to know the answers to some questions. "I just want to ask, when did you find out the exact time of his death?"

"Between 4:4 and [-]:[-] in the morning." The answer was exactly what the headmaster had said.

"Can this time be more accurate?"

He smiled. "Our current forensic technology can't be accurate to the minute or the second. If I can guess the time of death within half an hour, it is considered very accurate."

I froze and didn't speak.Kang Wei seemed to sense my disappointment, and said, "However, I heard something from a classmate of the deceased—he was the first to discover what had happened. He looked at his watch and knew the details of the deceased. The time of death—but, you know, we forensic doctors cannot use this as evidence to infer, at most as a reference."

"It's okay, tell me! When did he die?"

"The classmate said that the time displayed on his electronic watch was 4:16."

When Kang Wei said this, his voice was calm and his tone was flat, but he obviously didn't realize how much impact and shock this sentence had brought to me.When I heard him say "4:16", my mind exploded with a "buzz".There is no doubt that this sentence confirmed the terrible surmise in my heart.A strange and inexplicable feeling of terror spread all over my body in an instant, making me numb and unable to move.

"Hello, Yu Yang...Yu Yang? What's wrong with you?"

Kang Wei's voice pulled me back from the fearful imagination, I collected myself and asked, "The autopsy you did showed that he died of myocardial infarction caused by excessive shock, right?"

"Yes."

"Then do you know what frightened him?"

"I don't know about that. But I heard from the classmate who was sleeping on the bed that he suddenly heard a scream from under the bed in his sleep. He thought he was having a nightmare when he got out of bed, so he leaned over to call him, but there was no response. He When I got out of bed and took a look, I found that Lan Tianyu had his eyes wide open, his mouth was wide open, his face was distorted and terrifying, and he was already out of breath—the one who went to bed was also frightened to death, screaming and waking up the other two people in the dormitory, Then they notified the dormitory management department."

"You mean, Lan Tianyu might have been frightened to death by a nightmare?" A fine layer of sweat permeated my forehead unknowingly.

"I don't know, it's possible."

"Is there such a thing? I mean, one can be scared to death by a nightmare?"

Kang Wei paused for a moment, then said: "I've heard of this kind of thing, but it's extremely rare—but, as I said, it's just a possibility, and I'm not sure if he was frightened to death in a dream. "

My brain was spinning rapidly, but it was a mess and I had no clue.At this time, I heard Kang Wei say: "By the way, Yu Yang. I advise you to change schools to work if possible. I think the Feng Shui of your school's land is not very good."

I was confused: "What?"

Kang Wei said: "Did you know that our Public Security Bureau will organize the files of cases that happened in the same place together. When I put Lan Tianyu's file today, I found another file bag from a long time ago, and I didn't know that you There was also an accident at the school 11 years ago."

"Ah... I was still studying at that time. Why, did a student die in the school 11 years ago?" I couldn't believe it.

"No, it's not the same thing. A student mysteriously disappeared." Kang Wei said, "And have you forgotten? The place before was not the current high school, but a dilapidated elementary school. Because the school is too old , so the school asked the construction team to renovate and rebuild some parts of the campus. The school was both in class and under construction at the time, and there was some confusion, which resulted in management oversight. A naughty first-year boy was in physical education class , It disappeared like the world evaporated. The people in the school searched the campus up and down, but they couldn't find anyone, and the guard insisted that they never saw any students sneaking out-you said, this is not a strange thing ?"

Hearing this, I understood a little bit: "It was because of this kind of thing that the elementary school was forced to close. The current high school was built in this place later!"

"That's right. But now something more serious and even more unbelievable has happened in this school—the resident student died in his sleep inexplicably! That's why I said, maybe this place has bad feng shui, change it Something will happen..."

Kang Wei was still talking, but I didn't hear a single word of what he said later.

In my mind, I was repeatedly thinking about a question——

Did Lan Tianyu really die in his sleep "inexplicably"?Or is there some unexpected reason?

I thought again of those words he said to me at noon yesterday, and these words now make my hair stand on end——

Three nights in a row I was awakened by the same nightmare at 4:16.

3. Another student

The shadow of Lan Tianyu's death shrouded me for two whole days. During these two days, I kept thinking about this weird thing as if I was suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder.It wasn't until I kept telling myself over and over again that it was over and it wasn't worth looking at anymore that my life got a little bit back on track.The same is true for the school. The school managed this matter very well, and did not let this matter spread out overwhelmingly. Everything gradually returned to calm.

On Saturday afternoon, after finishing class (my high school has make-up classes on Saturday), I was planning how to arrange my weekend. Teacher Liu, the head teacher of Class 12, Senior One, came to the office to find me.

"Xiao Xiao, I want to trouble you with something." Mr. Liu, who is over fifty, said with some embarrassment.

"Tell me, Teacher Liu, what's the matter?"

"It's like this. A classmate in our class named Wu Haoxuan hasn't come to school for the past two days. I would like to trouble you to go to his house to talk to him on the weekend and ask him to come back to class."

I was about to ask him why he didn't come to school, when suddenly I felt that Wu Haoxuan's name was very familiar, as if I had heard someone mention this name not long ago - suddenly, I remembered - Class 12 is the one where Lan Tianyu is Ben, Lan Tianyu mentioned him when he came to see me that day.

"Is this Wu Haoxuan in the same dormitory as Lan Tianyu, and sleeps in Lan Tianyu's upper bed?" I asked eagerly.

"Yes, so you know." Teacher Liu showed an anxious expression, "I was planning to tell you——Lan Tianyu died suddenly in the dormitory, which was first discovered by Wu Haoxuan. He was terrified. After the accident , he asked for leave immediately and went home, and he didn’t come to class for the next two days. I called his family several times, but the parents said that he locked himself in the room every day and didn’t come out a step, as if he was suffering Very exciting. Xiao Yu, I think Wu Haoxuan must have had a serious psychological shadow because of that incident, so I came to trouble you, a psychologist, and ask you to enlighten and persuade him, and tell him to come back to class—— Otherwise, he can't go on like this!"

"Could it be that he is afraid that he will live in the dormitory where someone died after returning, so he dare not come back?"

Teacher Liu stared and said, "Do you think that such a terrible thing happened in that dormitory, and there are still students who dare to live in it now? The school has already arranged for the remaining three boarding students to move to other dormitories—— But even so, Wu Haoxuan still didn't dare to come back, so I don't think it has anything to do with it."

"Okay, I see, Teacher Liu, tomorrow I will go to Wu Haoxuan's house for a home visit." I nodded. "Please tell me the address and phone number of his home, and I will contact his parents first."

"Okay, thank you, Yu. This is his home address and phone number. I have already copied it on this piece of paper..."

After Teacher Liu left, I didn't immediately call Wu Haoxuan's house, but thought for a while.

I remembered something - when Lan Tianyu came to see me at noon that day, I asked him that he was woken up by the same nightmare at 4:16, who else told him besides me.At that time, Lan Tianyu told me that he also told a person, and that person was Wu Haoxuan.

Now, Wu Haoxuan didn't even dare to come to school after the incident, I was thinking, is it really just because he was frightened?Or is there a deeper reason?Why is his sense of fear far greater than those two classmates in the same dormitory?

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I think that there is no other way to get answers to these questions than to talk to Wu Haoxuan face to face.

I used the landline on my desk to call Wu Haoxuan's home.

4. 4:17 a.m.

"Ah, it's Teacher Yu, please come in, please come in!"

Wu Haoxuan's mother warmly welcomed me into the home.As soon as I sat on the sofa, the overweight student father quickly brought a cup of good hot tea to me with both hands.Their respectful and expectant attitude made it clear to me that their son's condition was obviously very bad.

I skipped unnecessary greetings and asked directly: "Where is Wu Haoxuan? Or is he in his room?"

"Oh, isn't it." His mother said anxiously, "Since what happened three days ago, this child seems to be possessed by a demon, and he doesn't go to school, and stays in his room all day long." I was in a daze. How can this go on, his father and I are really worried."

"Didn't you talk to him?"

Wu Haoxuan's father sighed and said, "We talked, but he would either stop talking, or say some incomprehensible and inexplicable words. We were really worried, fearing that he would be too stimulated and have some mental problems. .”

"Mr. Yu, you are an expert in psychology. You are willing to come to our house to give Haoxuan psychological counseling. We are really grateful to you. This is exactly what we wish for!"

"Yes, Mr. Yu, now we can only rely on you to enlighten this child."

I nodded to the anxious and helpless couple, and said, "I will try my best to enlighten him. Then, now, please take me to Wu Haoxuan's room."

"Okay, Teacher Yu, this way please."

I followed Wu Haoxuan's parents to the door of a closed room.When they knocked on the door, I smiled bitterly in my heart.Unexpectedly, the wonderful weekend I originally planned would be spent like this—originally, when I called them in the afternoon, I planned to make an appointment to visit their home on Sunday.But the couple's anxious tones and eager pleas made me feel like a lifeline that they wouldn't let go of once they grabbed hold of it.Under pressure, I only agreed to come at night.

The door of the room opened, and I saw Wu Haoxuan, with a haggard face and listless spirit, far from the sunny boy in my impression.

"Haoxuan, Teacher Yu came to your house to have a heart-to-heart talk with you, hurry up and say hello to Teacher."

Not bad, he wasn't so frightened that even the teachers at school couldn't recognize him.Hearing what his mother said, Wu Haoxuan called out in a daze: "Hello, Teacher Yu."

I nodded, and at the same time turned around and said to Wu Haoxuan's parents: "Go and do your work, I'll talk to him alone in the room."

"Okay, okay." Wu Haoxuan's parents agreed repeatedly and left together.

"So, invite me to sit in your room?" I smiled, with a friendly tone.Wu Haoxuan didn't speak, but just nodded silently.

He walked over to the bed and sat down, and I sat in a chair across from him.After being silent for about half a minute, I planned to use traditional psychological counseling to enlighten him first.

"You know, it's not surprising that each of us experiences or witnesses something horrible. Like me, when I was in college, I witnessed a car accident that was brutal. I bet you, The picture I saw was a hundred times more terrifying than what you saw that night. I was also terrified at the time, but I knew I couldn’t let those pictures stay in my mind, so I immediately asked my friends to go out to relax, and then Watched another comedy movie. Pretty soon, I forgot about the unpleasant stuff. So now, why don't you try to do that? I heard there was a good movie recently called..."

"Okay, Teacher Yu, stop talking." Wu Haoxuan suddenly interrupted me, showing a restless expression, "I am very grateful for your concern for me, but you can't help me, you don't even know I……"

He couldn't continue, and there was a sense of fear that I was familiar with in his eyes. That expression was exactly the same as Lan Tianyu three days ago.

I sense something is out of the ordinary, which is exactly what I want to know.I leaned forward and said, "That's right, I really don't understand the real reason for your fear, but that's exactly the purpose of my coming to your house. Wu Haoxuan, I'm here to listen to your troubles and troubles Yes. Why don't you tell me everything?"

Wu Haoxuan shook his head nervously and said: "No, you won't believe it. Even if I tell you, you will only think that I have delusional disorder, or that my nerves are not normal because of being frightened. Just like my parents, they Don't believe what I say at all, just think I'm being stimulated to talk nonsense. I know, you will think so."

I stared at him sincerely: "No, I will not. I will listen carefully to what you have to say, and believe that what you say is true."

Wu Haoxuan's face was pale, and his body seemed to be trembling slightly. I knew it was caused by the fear in his heart.But he still shook his head stubbornly and said: "Teacher Yu, I know you are leading me to speak so as to see where my psychological problems lie. You simply can't believe that... there will be such a thing..."

"Then if I tell you what Lan Tianyu told you before he died, he also told me, do you still think that I don't believe what you said?" I finally threw out my trump card and looked directly at the boy in front of me .

Hearing my words, Wu Haoxuan suddenly raised his head and almost jumped off the bed.He stared at me and asked me: "Teacher Yu, what you said...is it true? Lan Tianyu also told you about his nightmare?"

"Yes." I said calmly, "and he also told me that he only told you and me about it—otherwise, how would I know he told you about it before he died? thing?"

Wu Haoxuan became excited, he trembled all over and said, "Teacher Yu, do you know what's going on? Why did Lan Tianyu die suddenly?"

I shook my head: "I naturally find this matter very strange, but I don't know why Lan Tianyu died suddenly in his sleep."

"Really..." Wu Haoxuan showed a disappointed look, "Then you can't help me with anything..."

I said sternly, "Don't keep making judgments like this, okay? You don't tell me anything, how do you know I can't help you?"

Wu Haoxuan looked at me.I knew he was moved, so my tone became much gentler: "Tell me, what's wrong with you? Why are you so scared after what happened to Lan Tianyu?"

"That's because..." Wu Haoxuan's lips moved, his expression horrified, "Since the night of Lan Tianyu's death, I have also started to have the same nightmare."

I took a deep breath in my heart, but tried to maintain a calm expression on my face: "Do you think that your nightmare has something to do with Lan Tianyu's nightmare?"

Wu Haoxuan said with a bloodless face: "It's not just related, I think Lan Tianyu and I had the same nightmare."

I stared at him: "Why do you think so? Lan Tianyu told you about his nightmare?"

Wu Haoxuan shook his head and said, "No, he said he couldn't remember the content of that dream."

"Then tell me, what is the content of your nightmare?"

Wu Haoxuan's answer was actually exactly the same as Lan Tianyu's answer back then: "I can't remember either. Every time I wake up from that nightmare, I can't remember the content of the dream at all."

"How is this possible?" I couldn't believe it. "Since you were woken up by that nightmare, how come you don't have any memory at all? And the nightmare you just had, will you forget it so quickly?"

Wu Haoxuan said in confusion: "I don't know about that. It's not something I can control."

I was speechless, and after thinking for a while, I asked, "Since neither you nor Lan Tianyu can remember the content of the dream, then what do you base on to think that you two had the same nightmare?"

Hearing my question, Wu Haoxuan's breathing became short of breath in an instant, and his expression became even more horrified: "That's because... I found out that he and I have one thing in common, we... both will be awakened by the nightmare at the same moment. "

I couldn't pretend to be calm anymore, and I yelled out of control: "You mean, you will also be awakened by that nightmare at 4:16?"

Wu Haoxuan frowned: "The difference is that the time I woke up was not 4:16, but... 4:17."

My back was numb, and a chill came up, making me shudder.The weirdness of this thing is completely beyond my comprehension.But what is uncomfortable now is that I can't express my shock and fear vividly, and I still have to think about the student in front of me. I think if I let him feel my superior fear, his spirit may be restored. Completely broken.

I pretended to be calm and asked, "Why, you also have the habit of checking the time every time you wake up?"

"No, I did it subconsciously after Lan Tianyu told me about the strange things he encountered."

"How long have you been like this? I mean, how many days in a row have you had that nightmare?"

Wu Haoxuan forced himself to mix fear into his saliva and swallow it together: "It started from the day Lan Tianyu died, and it has been two days in a row. The day before yesterday and last night, I was awakened by a nightmare at 4:17."

I wanted to say something else, but Wu Haoxuan yelled in horror: "Teacher Yu, what is going on? Will I still have that nightmare tonight? Then... on the fourth night, will I also be like Lan Tian?" Yu died like that...inexplicably?"

I stared at him blankly, unable to answer a single word of his question, and also unable to utter false comforting words such as "it's just a coincidence, don't worry about it".But as a psychology teacher, I can't always act completely helpless.I can only say to Wu Haoxuan: "Don't think too much, maybe you won't have that nightmare again tonight."

Wu Haoxuan immediately asked back: "Then what if I do it again tonight? What does that mean?"

After a pause, I said: "If you have this nightmare again tonight, then you can call me tomorrow morning, and we will talk about the details tomorrow; but you should also think about the bright side, maybe it's just you worrying too much." What? Maybe you watch comedy movies online later, or listen to some soothing and beautiful music before going to bed, and you won’t have nightmares at all tonight.”

Probably Wu Haoxuan also had such a sliver of luck in his heart, he lowered his head and murmured: "Okay."

I left Wu Haoxuan my cell phone number, then left his room and said goodbye to his parents.When they asked what was wrong with their son, I could only vaguely say it, and didn't tell them the real reason-on the one hand, I thought they wouldn't believe such weird things, on the other hand I also didn't want to scare them - anyway, let's talk about it after tonight.

5. Nightmare Premonition

When I returned to the single dormitory, I felt exhausted physically and mentally—more than half of the reasons were caused by psychological depression and fear, and there was also guilt.When I came out of Wu Haoxuan's house, his parents thanked me a lot and even forced some gifts for me.But I understand that in fact, I haven't been able to help their son much in essence.I just realized now that what Wu Haoxuan said to me at the beginning was right - I couldn't help him at all.

Well, I don't want to think about it now.In order to adjust emotions, I think the things I suggested to Wu Haoxuan to do are also applicable to myself.After taking a shower in the bathroom, I turned on the computer, watched an American-style humorous spoof movie, and forced myself to giggle for more than an hour—but anyway, my mood was much better. At 11 o'clock, I go to bed.

Lying on the bed, I still couldn't help thinking—Will Wu Haoxuan have that nightmare again tonight?The answer will only be known tomorrow.

Turns out I was wrong, and the answer came out sooner than I expected.

In the middle of the night, I was soundly asleep when I was suddenly woken up by the ringing of my phone.I picked up the phone in a daze, and when I heard the first sentence the other party said, my drowsiness disappeared immediately.

It was Wu Haoxuan, his voice was filled with endless panic and fear, almost crying: "Teacher Yu, I just... woke up from a nightmare again, and the time is indeed 4:17..."

I glanced at the time on my phone, it is now 4:20 in the morning, it seems that Wu Haoxuan called me immediately after waking up.

The trembling and crying voice on the phone continued: "Teacher Yu, that nightmare...it's terrible...I can't control my trembling until now. But...I just can't remember the content of the dream. But I know, definitely What's going to happen...tomorrow night...Mr. Yu, I'm really scared, what should I do..."

Wu Haoxuan's desperate voice made my heart sink gradually, and I became at a loss.But in the face of such a weird thing, I really don't know what to say.I want to comfort him, but I'm afraid my own voice sounds even more flustered: "Don't panic, Wu Haoxuan, you... let me think about it, okay, let me think about it. So, tomorrow morning, I'll call you , we will talk slowly at that time. Don't worry, don't cry...I think everything will be fine..."

I just said incoherent words of comfort to him, at least it calmed him down a little.After the call ended, I suffered from insomnia, lying on the bed tossing and turning, thinking about it, trying to connect this series of weird and inexplicable events in a logical way and come up with an explanation.But I kept my eyes open in bed and thought about it all night, but I didn't have the slightest idea.I just felt that the more I thought about it, the more terrifying it became. Even though I was wrapped in a thick quilt, my body felt cold and shuddered.

In the morning, I still couldn't think of any plausible explanation, let alone a solution.This made me feel embarrassed - I promised to call Wu Haoxuan in the morning, but what should I tell him after the call?If I tell him that I can't give him a clear solution and coping method, won't it make him feel more hopeless and helpless?Moreover, I also have a faint feeling of uneasiness—maybe this matter is beyond our normal cognitive scope, and I shouldn't get involved too deeply, otherwise it may cause trouble to the upper body.Based on various considerations, I didn't call Wu Haoxuan for the whole day, and unexpectedly, he didn't call me either.I don't know what state he is in now, I can only optimistically think that maybe he has learned how to adjust himself, and silently pray in my heart that he will be safe.

In this way, I spent Sunday in anxiety.

6. 4:18 a.m.

On Monday morning, as soon as I came to the office, I heard the news of a bolt from the blue——Wu Haoxuan, a member of Class 12, Senior One, died at home early this morning, and the way of death was exactly the same as that of Lan Tianyu.

"It's terrible, why does this happen so often recently?"

"Fortunately, this student had an accident at home. If it happened in the dormitory again, I think our school will have to close."

"I heard that this time the student was scared to death again in a dream, and the time of death was about the same! What's going on? My back is numb."

"Yeah, I think it's creepy too..."

The teachers in the office were chattering away, but my mind went blank, not sure how much I had listened to.I'm not even sure how I got through class, left school, and got back to my dorm.Throughout the day, I was in a trance, sluggish state.This time, I don't want to inquire about the specific circumstances of Wu Haoxuan's death, because I'm almost 4% sure that the time of his death is the moment when he was woken up by fright for three consecutive days - 17:[-].And I don't want to pursue and explore the reason.There is only one thought on my mind right now - get away and forget about this terrible thing.I don't want to have anything to do with this matter.

In the evening, I invited a group of friends for dinner, and then went to sing and have a massage.I didn't say a word about the weird events I encountered these days.All I need is to relax and be happy - and the truth is, it's the right thing to do.After this night of entertainment and leisure, my body and mind have relaxed a lot, as if I have unloaded my burden.I seemed to have really forgotten all the unpleasantness and became refreshed again.

A group of us didn't go home until it was close to twelve o'clock.After arriving at the dormitory, I was so tired that I didn't even have the energy to wash up.I took off my shoes and fell on the bed, wrapped the quilt indiscriminately, and fell asleep in a short while.

What happened next is hard for me to describe now.The reason is that I really can’t remember anything, but the feeling is terribly real, and it’s still fresh in my memory—it’s like you’re sitting on the balcony of your own home, drinking black tea leisurely, without thinking about anything, Suddenly looked down and saw a dead gecko in the cup.

Yes, anyone who encounters this situation will immediately jump up reflexively and scream and panic.But I'll tell you, the metaphor I'm making is ten times lighter than the horror I'm actually getting.

"Ah!" With a loud sound, I woke up from the dream, sweating profusely, my heart beating wildly, and the pores of my whole body contracted and chilled one after another.I stare nervously, panting in the dark.

After a pause of about ten seconds, a terrible thought hit my mind like lightning.I frantically took out my phone from my trouser bag and glanced at the time displayed on it.

Oh my god.

The moment I saw this time, my breath almost stopped——

4:18!
I felt like the whole world was spinning, turning upside down and pitch black.Finally, what I was most worried about and dreaded happened.In fact, I had a vague premonition first, and I knew that if I got involved in this matter, I might be infected like a virus.In the end, my ominous guess came true—after Wu Haoxuan, I was the next victim!
I sat on the bed in a panic for several minutes, and finally forced myself to calm down.I turned on the light, went to the bathroom and washed my face with cold water, then looked at myself in the mirror, and said to myself repeatedly—Calm down, Yu Yang.It's not time to despair.The only one who can save you now is yourself.

I went back to the bedroom, sat at the desk, lit a cigarette, and tried to think about whether there was a way to save it.

Soon, I thought of some important clues, I grabbed a piece of paper and a gel pen on the table, and wrote down the points I thought of:

First, this is a bizarre event beyond the scope of understanding, and it is not controlled by humans, there is no doubt about it;
Second, the crux of the incident lies in a "nightmare". This nightmare will wake up a person at the same time for three consecutive days, and on the fourth day, it will kill that person;

Third, Lan Tianyu was the first victim, and he told Wu Haoxuan about it after having a nightmare on the first day (Tuesday).And it was told to me after he had a nightmare on the third day (Thursday).So Wu Haoxuan became the second victim after Lan Tianyu's death, and I became the third victim because I learned about it two days later.From this point of view, the same situation will probably occur to those who know about it.

As I write this, I seem to have cleared my mind.I put down my pen and thought—everything happens for a reason, and this one was no exception.There must be some reason why this "nightmare" kills people in dreams in a very regular way.As long as you find the root of the matter, you may be able to find a way to crack it and avoid dying on the "fourth day"!
By the way, thinking of this, I couldn't help but tremble in my heart - if the purpose of this nightmare is just to scare people to death in the dream, why do I have to do it for three consecutive days before "starting" on the fourth night?Why not just on the first night?Also, why wake people up at the same time for the first three days?Does this make any sense, is it implying something?
Suddenly, a sudden thought flashed out of my mind-could this situation be the legendary "dream"?Perhaps some kind of supernatural power wants to achieve a certain purpose through the method of "conjuring dreams".And it gave a three-day deadline. If the person failed to do what was entrusted within three days, it would kill him and transfer the target to the next person.

I was startled and absurd at the thought of it, but at the moment I can't think of a more plausible explanation.At present, I think there is only one way to go.It is to find the root of this matter and unlock the secrets hidden in the nightmare.

But—damn it!It suddenly occurred to me that when I woke up just now, I didn’t remember the content of the dream at all, just like what Lan Tianyu and Wu Haoxuan said before, I just remembered an unusually terrifying feeling hitting me and waking me up, nothing else I can't even remember—if I can't even detect the content of this nightmare, then I can't talk about everything else?
After thinking anxiously for a while, my frowning brows gradually unfurled—by the way, I almost forgot about my profession.I am a psychology teacher. Ordinary people cannot recall the content of dreams, but if I use psychological suggestion, it should not be difficult at all.

7. First Dream
Apparently, I wasn't in the mood to go to work anymore, so I called the school and called in sick for three days, and then I just stayed at home all day doing nonsense.It was a torment full of contradictions—I was dreading the night and looking forward to the end of the day.It's like a patient who is afraid of surgery, but expects to be cured through surgery.After much difficulty, I finally stayed up until night, and at 9 o'clock, I began to make "special preparations" before going to bed.

I came to the big mirror in the bathroom, stared into my eyes in the mirror, and said to myself softly in an absolutely quiet environment: "Tonight, you may have a nightmare. Remember, from the moment you enter the dream From one moment on, you have to remember everything in the dream, even when you wake up. It's very easy for you, and the suggestion starts working from the very first scene you see in the dream."

I recited this passage to myself twenty times until I felt drowsy—and that meant the self-hypnosis was kicking in.I kept this state and walked slowly to the bed, and fell asleep almost as soon as I lay down.

In the haze, I was in a building.

It was dark, shabby, and deserted. I walked slowly in the corridor, and then entered a door involuntarily.Inside the door are low podiums, mottled blackboards, and dozens of old-fashioned desks and benches.This is clearly a classroom in a school.Is it my current school?No, my high school is much newer—but why do I feel so familiar?
Gradually, I walked to the window on the right side of the classroom and looked down - the playground below looked more familiar - isn't this the playground of our school.It's just that there is no brand new plastic track, nor a new indoor basketball court, but a piece of mud.The huge playground was empty, there was no one there...

No, I just saw it now. On the right side of the playground, there is a sandpit, which is the kind of sandpit used in high jump and long jump in physical education class.Next to the sandpit squatted a little boy about seven or eight years old, playing with the sand with his back to me.

Maybe it was the self-hypnosis before going to bed that helped me, and now I realized that I was dreaming, and my subconscious told me that the little boy by the sandpit was the key!
I can maintain autonomy in my dreams and control my actions!My heart was beating wildly, and I quickly walked out of that classroom, then ran down the stairs to the playground.Now the little boy next to the bunker is about tens of meters away from me on the right, still facing me.I quickly walked over to him.

At this moment, I suddenly lowered my head to take a look, and suddenly found a bright red liquid oozing from the mud under my feet, it was blood!I was in shock when a cold voice suddenly sounded in my ears——

Are you coming to see me?

"Ah!" I yelled, and woke up, terrified, and the sweat completely soaked the entire vest again.After taking a few breaths, I reflexively picked up the cell phone next to my pillow and glanced at it—4:18.

This was to be expected, and could no longer surprise me.I have more important things to do now - this time, I remember the content of the dream!

In order not to forget it later, I immediately turned on the light, got out of bed, sat down at the desk, and quickly recorded the content of the dream in the notebook I had prepared earlier.

After I finished writing, I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that I had at least got some clues, and immediately thought about it.

The old schoolhouse... the old playground... and the sandpit and the little boy who only saw his back... that's all I had in my dream - what the hell does it mean...

A few minutes later, I took a deep breath and almost cried out—I suddenly remembered what Kang Wei said to me a few days ago——

"Did you forget? In the past, this place was not the current high school, but a dilapidated elementary school. Because the school was too old, the school asked the construction team to renovate and rebuild some parts of the campus. The school was at that time There was a bit of confusion during classes and construction, which resulted in omissions in management. A naughty first-year boy disappeared as if the world had evaporated when he was in physical education class... It was because of this kind of thing, so That elementary school was forced to close. Later, the current high school was built on this site."

My God, I understand a little bit, why I feel familiar when I am in that school in my dream.And the little boy who appeared in the dream, if I guessed correctly, he must be the little boy who disappeared 11 years ago!
I also remembered that our current school does not have sand traps. When the students jump high or long jump, the physical education teacher uses a soft mat to cover the ground.In this way - the sandpit, the little boy - this is the key to solve the mystery!
However, I woke up too fast!I woke up with a start before I even got to the little boy.How can this be done?I just touched the edge of this matter, and I still don't know what the dream's intention is!With this little clue, what action can I make?

I propped my forehead and let out a long sigh. It seemed that I had to wait until the third night—that would be my last chance.

8. The Secret of the Nightmare
During the day, I tried to find out about the disappearance case that happened 11 years ago through the Internet, but found nothing.It was too long ago, and the Internet at that time was not as developed as it is now, so there is no record of this matter on the Internet at all.I guess at most it was reported in the newspapers at the time.In short, I spent a whole day without even finding the name of the missing little boy, let alone any other useful information.It seems that with the passage of time, everyone has forgotten that this thing exists, and that there was such a little boy in the world.

At night, the contradictory situation I had yesterday reappeared, but today there was more tension and fear—I knew this was the third night, and it was my last chance to solve the riddle dream.If I still don't have any breakthrough in that nightmare tonight, then what awaits me tomorrow is the same fate as Lan Tianyu and Wu Haoxuan.

But to be honest, when it was time to go to bed, I was not so scared.I think it is useless to have the courage to face what you have to face.If this is my fate, then I have nothing to say.

Just like last night, I still did self-hypnosis for 10 minutes in front of the big mirror.Then fell out of bed and fell asleep.

it has started.

As soon as I saw this scene, I knew that I had come to the same dream as yesterday.It was still the same dim old school building, and I was in the narrow corridor like yesterday.But this time I have a clear goal, and I also know that I can't stay in the dream for too long.So I didn't waste a second and ran downstairs like crazy.

That’s right, the same bunker, the little boy with his back turned to me—I saw this scene as soon as I walked to the playground—the answer was waiting for me in front of me, and I walked over quickly.

No, I don't know why, I can't control my steps.The more I wanted to walk quickly, the heavier my steps became, almost unable to drag.It's like my subconscious is afraid of something in front of me, ordering me not to come close.It was dark all around, and the wind was blowing, and there seemed to be some ghostly crying and howling sounds in the air, which made people feel heartbroken and creepy.Every time I take a step closer to that little boy, the fear in my heart increases, and what is even more frightening is that I know that time is running out, and I will wake up again soon, I can't stay here for too long!

Finally, I came to the bunker, and now the little boy was in front of me, still squatting on the ground, heaping sand from the bunker.He kept his back to me and I couldn't see his face.

I asked: "Little friend, who are you, can you turn your face around?"

He ignored me.

I asked again: "What are you doing here alone?"

This time he turned his back to me and answered, "I'm playing with sand."

I asked, "Why don't you go home?"

"I can't go home anymore, I can only play in the sand here," he said.

I asked, "Why can't you go home?"

He said: "Mom and Dad can't think of me anymore, they don't want me anymore, and everyone can't think of me anymore."

His voice was full of sadness, which made me feel so desolate that I was almost on the verge of tears.I suppressed my sadness and asked him, "How long have you been here?"

He said, "I've been here for a long time, and I can't go anywhere. Uncle, do you want to play with me?"

I asked, "How can I play with you?"

Suddenly, his voice became shrill, the cold voice I heard last night: "You can come to accompany me after you die! I want many, many people to accompany me!"

This sudden change took me by surprise.Then something even more terrifying happened. I saw his face turn around slowly, and said, "Don't you want to see my face? Well, look at it..."

"Ah! No!" I suddenly felt terrified, as if a deadly terror was about to strike.I screamed wildly, and woke up at this moment.

This time the sense of fear was several times that of yesterday. My whole body twitched, shaking violently like chaff, and the constant coolness from my back made my whole body cold.I sat up from the bed and turned on the light, but it was still difficult to calm down for a long time.But I haven't forgotten the important thing I have to do - I want to record in detail what I dreamed of today!
Well, I put down my pen, closed the book, left the desk, and poured a cup of warm water from the water dispenser to drink, and then I felt better.

By this time, I think you, who are reading this story, must have fully figured out what is going on, just like me at the time.I believe you are now reaching the exact same conclusion as I have made—

There is no doubt that the little boy in my dream is the first grader who disappeared 11 years ago.The so-called "disappearance" represents a cruel fact.Back then, the damn elementary school was under construction when the students were in class. Just thinking about those hoists and mixers made me shudder, let alone imagine what happened to the poor boy.The only thing I'm sure of is that he was there 11 years ago and he's still there now.And the location of the accident is most likely the place where our school's indoor basketball court is now—that is, the location of the sandpit I saw in my dream.

There's another point that chills me to the core - I can't believe that a little boy in school can have this kind of thing and no one really knows.God knows how those people covered up the facts and pretended to be a "disappearance".I even suspect that it is not a coincidence that the current indoor basketball court is built there. Who knows if some people deliberately did it to conceal the truth?I believe my judgment is definitely not groundless guessing—otherwise, how could that little boy have such a big resentment, and after a few years, he would drag people from this place to the ground to accompany him?

After analyzing so much, the most important problem has still not been resolved.The dilemma before me now is - what do I do next?Even if I know all the truth, even if my speculations are all correct, it doesn't mean that the little boy who has become a vengeful spirit will let me go.He already told me in the dream that he wants me to die to accompany him, which means that he will still kill me on time at 4:18 tomorrow morning.And me, is there a way to find relief in one day?For example, find his corpse and let him ascend to heaven?But, imagine if I went and explained all this to the principal tomorrow morning and asked him to get someone to dig the entire indoor basketball court.All I could think of was that he smiled and agreed, and then called the psychiatric hospital to ask them to take me away;

If I think about it this way—I can’t help but feel sad—is there nothing I can do and the only way to die is to die?

9. Ways to save your life

The next morning (for me, it was the final "fourth day"), I finally came up with a way to save my life for the time being - that is, to skip the "moment of death" by not going to bed tonight.Although I don't think this is a long-term solution, at least I can live one day longer - what else can I do except I can come up with this kind of passive confrontation method now?

For dinner, I went to a high-end restaurant to have a luxurious meal, but my mood was extremely desolate. After chewing on the delicious food, it seemed that it had become tasteless, like chewing wax.After that, I went to the supermarket to buy coffee and prepare to stay up late.

For things like staying up late, if you are doing something pleasant and relaxing, such as eating supper, playing cards or playing games, then staying up late will not be a painful thing, and you will feel that time passes very quickly. Quick, it will be dawn in a blink of an eye.But for me, think about it, how can I still be interested in things like playing games, surfing the Internet, and watching movies at this time?I stayed up late purely for the sake of staying up - it was a total physical and mental torment.

I've had three cups of coffee, which helped a little at first, but by around two in the morning, I don't think anything can stop me from drowsiness.I sat in front of the computer desk, pointing my head forward like a chicken pecking rice, and then retracted immediately.The last bit of stubborn consciousness in my mind is still reminding myself - don't sleep, can't sleep.Falling asleep means death.

But in my vague consciousness, there seems to be another tiny voice saying to me: just close your eyes for five seconds, just let the eyelids that can't lift them take a rest, it should be fine...

I don't know when, my body twitched suddenly, and then I woke up abruptly—God, I just realized that I fell asleep without knowing it!I took out my phone in panic, glanced at the time displayed on it, and was stunned——

It's 5:10 am.

What, I have survived the death moment of "4:18" in my sleep?
My mind couldn't react for a while-what's going on?I didn't do anything special.Logically, shouldn't I be killed in my sleep like Lan Tianyu and Wu Haoxuan?But when I thought about it carefully, I didn't feel like I was dreaming just now!I don't understand why that little boy's wraith would just let me go?
My mind was spinning rapidly, recalling and thinking about a question-could I have done something unintentionally to break the curse?

Just when I couldn't figure it out, my eyes suddenly caught something on the computer desk, the blood in my body froze in an instant, and the hairs all over my body stood on end.

I clearly remember that before I fell asleep, I sat at a computer desk and browsed the web, with nothing in front of me except the LCD screen.But now, there is something extra on the computer desk in front of me - the notebook I originally put on the desk.

It's the notebook I used to record my dreams for the past two days!

In that split second, I understood everything - I knew why "it" didn't kill me.I was able to survive because I did something that neither of the two students had done before - I recorded the content of the dream!And what is the request and purpose of that wraith, now it is very clear. A sentence that "it" told me in the dream emerged clearly at this moment——

I want many, many people to accompany me.

God, is that what it wants?Anyone who knows this will be infected with the "death virus" - and what it wants me to do is to show the recorded content to as many people as possible, so that more people will become victims, so that those people I can come and accompany it—that is to say, this is the only way to survive that I have been thinking hard about!
But would this life-saving method be too cruel and selfish?
end
After many struggles in my heart, I finally made a decision—people are always selfish, and I cannot just watch myself die a tragic and terrifying death.But like I said at the beginning - I have to do this.

I wrote a novel about the contents of the nightmare I recorded and the whole process of the incident, and sent it to the magazine for publication.Still, I'm concerned that many people won't have the patience to finish this novel, or haven't read it at all.So, I used my psychology expertise to play a little trick.At the beginning of this novel, I reminded everyone not to read this story, but I know that everyone in the world has a rebellious mentality. The more you tell him not to do something, he will do it.Like now, you've read the whole story, haven't you?
Ah, please don't rush to blame me-at least, I have written the method of salvation in this novel.And I can tell you responsibly that this life-saving method is absolutely effective, because since I sent this novel, I have never had any nightmares, and I have been living well until now.

The only thing I'm not sure about - how many people wake up at 4:19am.

(End of the third story)
After Xia Houshen's story was told, the 11 people around him all stared at him with strange eyes.

"You said that this story is based on real events?" Goth tilted his head and asked, "How is this possible?"

Xia Houshen crossed his fingers against his chin, and said in a mysterious tone: "You think it's incredible? To be honest, I thought so too at first—but it was later confirmed that it was indeed a strange thing that happened to me. Of course, I also did some artistic processing and adaptation to tell it as a story, but that’s about it.”

"Why do you make us believe that this is a real incident?" Araki asked.

Xia Houshen stared at him: "Do you remember that there was such a thing reported in the newspapers and news not long ago - a high school in M ​​City, two students died in a row in just a few days, and the cause of death is unknown?"

Beidou let out an "ah" and shouted, "I know! I've read the reports on this incident!"

"I know that too." Arakaki said, "But how can we believe that this matter is related to the story you just told?"

"As I said before I told it, this story is adapted from the personal experience of a friend of mine, and that friend is the psychology teacher in the story. Of course (the characters in the story) I use a pseudonym."

Xia Houshen paused for a moment, then continued, "You guys will question again—is my friend lying to me? Maybe all this is a story he made up? Regarding this point, I don't really want to explain—— In short, I trust my own judgment. In addition, I don’t think the truth of this story is that important, right? If you don’t believe it, just treat it as a fictional story and rate me.”

Araki shook his head and said: "Isn't it important? In my opinion, the issue of 'authenticity' is very important to your story. Let's put it this way, if this story is fictional, I will only give it a 7. And if it's an adaptation of real events, I'll give it a 9.8!"

Xia Houshen looked at Araki Zhou in amazement, showing an incomprehensible expression: "Why do you care so much about the authenticity of the story? Isn't this too cornered?"

"It's you who told us that this story is true, and it's not our request. In fact, what I mean is-if you can come up with strong evidence to prove that this story is indeed based on real events, I think We are all willing to give you the highest score so far."

After saying these words, Araki looked around at the 10 writers around, and some of them agreed with him and nodded repeatedly.

Xia Houshen looked at them, folded his hands on his chest angrily, and sighed: "I didn't expect you to be so serious. In fact, if I want to talk about evidence, of course I have it, because apart from listening to what my friend told about this matter In addition, I also did a lot of related investigations—such as going to the homes of the two dead students to talk to their parents—and it turned out that what they said was consistent with each other, so I believed it.”

He leaned forward a little, his eyes wandering among the writers: "Don't you think I'm such a credulous person? I'm not a child! But now you want me to show evidence, which is clearly embarrassing me .” He pointed to the closed iron door. "The people who can prove the truth of this matter are all outside, how do I bring them here?"

The few people who nodded in agreement with Araki just now looked at each other, as if they had nothing to say.

Xia Houshen added: "Also, I really don't understand why you think the 'authenticity' of a story is so important?"

At this time, Chris said: "Mr. Xia Hou, I actually think that Mr. Arakaki's words are reasonable. Our rating of your story really depends to a large extent on the authenticity of your story."

Xia Houshen stared at him: "Tell me the reason."

Chris said unhurriedly: "We are all colleagues, in fact, we should all understand this truth-for example, if a movie says 'This story is adapted from real events' at the beginning of the film, it will attract more attention. And the shock to the audience is obviously much stronger than a fictional story—just like when you watch "Earth and Fire" [2], you will only regard it as an entertainment film; but when you watch "Los Angeles Earthquake" , the shock of the soul is probably many times, right?"

"Well, I agree with this." Nan Tian said, "As far as I know, many films that can capture the hearts of the Oscar judges and win the Oscar for Best Picture are based on real events."

"Let's not drag the topic too far." Arakaki said, "Let's just say it straight, if this story called 'Riddled Dream' is true, it will make me feel a kind of horror that goes deep into my bones; but if it is just fiction, It's more ordinary."

After hearing what they said, Xia Houshen shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the back of the chair. "Yes, what you said makes sense. But now I really can't prove anything - how to score, you can figure it out."

Chris rolled his eyes a few times. "Actually, there is no need to find any witnesses. There is the simplest way to verify the authenticity of this story."

Everyone looked at him.

"According to the plot of the story 'Mysterious Dream', anyone who knows 'this matter' will be haunted by the evil spirit of that little boy. Now 11 of us have heard this story at the same time. If it is true, then we It will also encounter the same situation as the protagonist in the story.”

As soon as these words came out, everyone present was astonished, and at the same time felt chills.Even Xia Houshen was stunned, obviously this was something he had never thought of.

After a moment of silence, someone suddenly thought of something and asked, "By the way, Mr. Xiahou, if this story is true, then after hearing your friend tell this story, did you encounter the same situation as him?"

Xia Houshen looked at the white whale who was talking, and answered after a long while: "To be honest, I was dubious when I heard it, but just to be on the safe side, I recorded the general process of this matter and prepared to write it into a novel and publish it. "

"I see. The last thing the psychology teacher in the story did (write the whole thing into a novel and publish it) was actually your idea, right?" Arakaki asked sharply.

Xia Houshen had to admit it. "Yes... However, I just recorded this incident briefly, and I haven't had time to write it into a novel-I was 'invited' to this place. But so far, I have not encountered any of my friends. That weird situation."

Nan Tian was thoughtful. "So, as long as you record the contents of your nightmare, no matter whether you spread it or not, you can avoid being haunted by evil spirits—this is the way to save your life, right?"

Xia Houshen pursed his lips noncommittally.

Suddenly someone said: "The more you talk, the more mysterious it is, making it look like the real thing. Isn't it too dramatic? To be honest, I think this story is quite good, but if it is true, it is really too much. It's unbelievable."

Xia Houshen looked at the dark fire of his words, and said sullenly: "Then you mean I'm lying? A joke! I've written novels for more than ten years, don't I understand the truth that novels are fiction? Isn't that true? What a bad thing—why should I have to tell this story to be true?"

"Didn't Mr. Arakaki just say that - if this story is true, there is every reason to get the highest score so far." Dark Fire said.

Xia Houshen snorted dismissively: "Do you think I'm putting on an air on purpose to add points to my story? Then let me make it clear. I don't care how many points you give me. You think this story is fake. Yes, just play very low, I am too lazy to prove anything to you!"

Xia Houshen turned his head away angrily, and the atmosphere became awkward.

Chris suddenly said to everyone: "Since Dark Fire doesn't believe Mr. Jaap's story, he will definitely ignore the 'life-saving method'—isn't that simple? Tomorrow morning, we will ask if we have had that nightmare through Dark Fire. Now we can know the truth of Mr. Xiahou’s story.”

After hearing this, Dark Fire was startled, narrowed his eyes and said, "It seems that you all follow the so-called 'life-saving method'—and let me be the experimenter?"

"We didn't ask you to be an experimenter, don't you believe it? Then you can verify it yourself." Xia Houshen's tone was full of provocation.

Dark Fire said disapprovingly: "Okay, just try it - I will tell you the result tomorrow morning."

Sajia thought of a question: "In this case, when will we rate Mr. Xiahou's story?"

"It seems that only tomorrow morning, after the results come out, can we score." Nan Tian said.

"That's it." Araki Zhou showed an unpredictable smile, "Then let's rest separately now—it's really interesting, the truth of this story is actually related to each of us."

The last sentence seemed to imply something to everyone.

At least Nan Tian thinks so.

After returning to the room, just to be on the safe side, he took out a prepared piece of paper and a ballpoint pen, and wrote down the contents of the nightmare in the story 'Riddled Dream' on a piece of paper.

It is better to believe that there is something than nothing.

The next morning, everyone gathered in the hall early one after another.It seems that everyone is quite concerned about the results of that "experiment".But the most important person—Dark Fire—did not come down so early.

Everyone took out all kinds of food suitable for breakfast from the cabinet.While eating, Beidou asked Nan Tian in a low voice: "Hey, did you do that last night?"

Nan Tian bit the bread and asked vaguely: "What are you doing?"

"'How to save your life'."

Nan Tian let out a "huh" and said, "I did—how about you?"

Beidou laughed and said, "Of course I did it too. In this weird situation, any kind of strange things may happen, so there's nothing wrong with being careful."

Nan Tian nodded while quietly observing the others - no one showed any abnormal behavior, and no one mentioned the nightmare.

It seems that everyone is very cautious.

Nan Tian secretly focused his attention on Xia Houshen again, and found that he would look up at Dark Fire's room from time to time—it seemed that he said he didn't care about the score on the surface, but in fact he still cared a lot.

It was close to 09:30, and Dark Fire hadn't come out of his room yet. Everyone couldn't wait any longer. Lake said, "Why hasn't he come down yet? Shall we call him?"

"I remember that he didn't come down so late in the morning a few days ago." Beluga frowned, "In this situation, who would sleep soundly. But today..."

Sajia looked worried: "Could it be... something happened to him?"

Everyone looked at each other, Nan Tian said: "I'll go up and have a look."

Just as he was about to walk towards the stairs, Long Ma called to Nan Tian: "No need."

Nan Tian looked up - the door of the dark fire room was pushed open, and he walked out from inside.

Everyone downstairs breathed a sigh of relief.

Before Dark Fire came down the stairs, Big Dipper hurried up to meet him and asked, "How is it? Did you encounter 'that situation' last night?"

An Huo glanced at Beidou, then moved his eyes forward, and found that everyone in the hall was staring at him.Obviously, everyone is waiting for his "answer".

An Huo had no expression on his face, looked at the crowd for a long time, and then said grumpily, "No."

His reaction confuses everyone—last night, he looked dismissive, thinking that Xia Houshen's story must not be true.If he proves that this is indeed the case today, it stands to reason that he should be very proud.But looking at him now, not only does he not have the slightest feeling of victory, but he seems to be lacking in confidence—one has to suspect that he has a different heart.

Beidou asked everyone the doubts in their hearts: "You really didn't have that nightmare?"

Dark Fire stopped talking, walked straight to the cabinet, took out something to eat, and ignored everyone, as if he was avoiding this question.

Everyone looked at him for a while, and Goth said helplessly: "Since he said no, then it must be true—can we rate Mr. Jaap's story now?"

Xia Houshen said: "With all due respect, his current situation makes me think there are only two possibilities - first, he had that nightmare, but he refused to admit it; second, after he returned to the room last night, probably I didn't want to risk my life anymore, and finally used the 'life-saving method'."

Arakaki walked up to Dark Fire and asked, "Is this really the case? Is it one of these two situations?"

Dark Fire hung his head, chewing on a piece of luncheon meat.He didn't explain too much, just repeated what he said just now: "I didn't have a nightmare."

Arak Muzhou turned his head and said to everyone: "I don't think there is any need to ask any more questions. The situation is probably similar to what Xia Houshen said."

"Then this matter is still unclear—how should we rate Mr. Jaap's story?" Lake asked.

Xia Houshen said: "Just rely on your own judgment and intuition - if you think it is true, it is true; if you don't believe it, just treat it as fiction."

"That's it." Arakaki said, "We will score now."

Nan Tian took out paper and pens from the cabinet and prepared to distribute them to everyone next to each other.At this time, he saw a person walking down the stairs.

It's Xu Wen.He didn't participate in the storytelling last night, and he didn't come down for a long time today, so that everyone almost ignored his existence—only when he walked down did he remember that there was still this person.

Xu Wen still looked sluggish.Seeing everyone gathered in the hall, and seeing Nan Tian holding paper and pen in his hand, he couldn't help feeling strange, so he pulled himself together and asked, "Are you all telling stories during the day?"

"No, we haven't scored the story that Mr. Xiahou told last night." Nan Tian said.

"Oh." Xu Wen responded without asking any more questions. He walked to the cabinet, took a piece of bread and a box of milk, turned around and went back to the room.When he reached the stairs, he seemed to have remembered something, turned around and asked, "Did you...did you encounter any strange things at night?"

Everyone froze for a moment, Nan Tian asked, "What strange thing are you talking about?"

Xu Wen opened his mouth and said in a low voice, "Well...forget it, it's nothing, it's probably just a coincidence..."

Arakaki said with a dissatisfied tone: "What coincidence? Please make your words clear and don't hide it like this, okay?"

Xu Wen hesitated for a moment, then said: "I don't know what's going on, these two nights, I've always had the same strange dream, and then I was woken up by this terrible nightmare."

Xia Houshen raised his head slowly and stared at Xu Wen dumbfounded, his expression and movements were frozen.

The others were no less surprised than Xia Houshen.Long Ma asked dumbfounded: "Please explain more clearly, what's going on?"

Xu Wen was obviously also very surprised. I don't know why everyone became nervous after hearing his words.He said uneasily: "The night before yesterday, I had a nightmare and woke up with fright. I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but I didn't expect that last night, I had the same nightmare again-and the strange thing is that the two The first time I woke up, I looked at my watch and found that the time was the same."

My goodness—Nan Tian felt a chill spread all over his body quickly, making his hairs stand on end, and he stopped breathing in shock.

Xia Houshen's horror was dozens of times that of Nan Tian's. His eyes almost popped out, the blood on his face faded completely, and his whole body began to tremble slightly.

Beidou asked anxiously: "Mr. Xu Wen, what was the nightmare you had, do you remember?"

Xu Wen shook his head and said, "I can't remember it. Every time I wake up, I forget about that dream. I can only feel it through the horror in my heart. It was a very terrible nightmare."

"What time did you wake up?"

Xu Wen swallowed: "The two times were around 4:18 in the morning."

"It's impossible!" Xia Houshen, who is usually stable and mature, seemed to be crazy at the moment, "I just told this story last night! You said that this happened to you the day before yesterday?"

Xu Wen was shocked: "What story? The nightmare I had...does it have anything to do with the story you told?"

Xia Houshen stared at those bell-like eyes, his expression suddenly became ferocious, and he roared angrily: "I understand! You deliberately framed me, right? You deliberately used this method to make the story I tell 'Same thing' as what we're going through now!"

Xu Wen's face turned pale with fright, and he stepped back again and again: "I don't know what you're talking about... I haven't heard your story at all... Also, why did I frame you?"

"Because you are the damned 'sponsor'!" Xia Houshen roared, "You pretended not to participate in the storytelling last night, but you hid in the room and listened to my story quietly, and then told us what happened just now this morning. A lie - the purpose is to make my story appear 'similar'!"

"You're crazy!" Xu Wen shook his head violently, "I'm a victim myself! If I were the sponsor, why did I plan something that would put me in a disadvantaged position before (the incident of Yu Chicheng's death) )?"

"That's because you deliberately confuse us, so that we can relax our vigilance against you! The best example is - you violated the rules, why didn't you get killed like Yu Chicheng? You are still alive, that's the best proof!"

Xu Wen screamed: "You want me to be killed, don't you? You are disappointed that I didn't die?"

"Stop acting! You've already shown your flaws!" Xia Houshen pounced on Xu Wen, grabbed his slender neck, "Hand over the key honestly and let us out!"

The thin Xu Wen was no match for the strong Xia Houshen at all. His neck was firmly stuck, and the flow of blood was blocked by those fat hands.His eyeballs were about to burst, his tongue stuck out, his hands stretched out straight forward, and a dry voice came out of his throat: "Ah... ah..."

All this happened too fast, and when everyone recovered from their astonishment, they realized that Xu Wen was about to die!Several people rushed forward and tried their best to pull Xia Houshen back. Nan Tian said loudly: "Mr. Xiahou, calm down! No matter whether he is the organizer or not, you can't kill him! Otherwise we won't be able to get out !"

This sentence reminded Xia Houshen that his hands like iron tongs slowly loosened.Xu Wen escaped from being almost suffocated, but fell backwards, bumped into the wall, collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

Nan Tian said to Xia Houshen who was still staring at Xu Wen viciously: "Calm down, don't jump to conclusions so arbitrarily, or even do it - you said that Xu Wen secretly listened to your story in the room last night - but in fact , We have stayed here for so many days, we should have known that when the door of the room is closed, it is impossible to hear the voices downstairs!"

"If he uses something like a bug, wouldn't he be able to do it?" Xia Houshen gasped.

"That's impossible." A voice came from behind.

Xia Houshen looked back at Chris who was speaking, and asked, "What do you mean it's impossible?"

"Xu Wen couldn't have planned to frame you in this way in advance." Chris said, "You really lost your mind and ignored simple logic."

Xia Houshen stared at Chris blankly.

"Ah, I see." Nan Tian suddenly realized something, and glanced at Chris.

Chris nodded and said to Xia Houshen: "As you said, it is impossible for Xu Wen to know the content of the story before you tell it—then how did he know that he could frame you before he proposed not to participate in the storytelling last night?" Woolen cloth?"

Xia Houshen was stunned.After a while, he murmured: "Then, what is going on? Why is there such a coincidence? What he experienced happens to be the content of the story I want to tell!"

"This will not be a coincidence. I have said a long time ago that this matter is not as simple as we imagined." Chris said.

"Is everything in the calculation of the 'sponsor'? Is he a god or a devil? He can control everything!" Xia Houshen roared, his voice gradually deepening, "If this is the case, no matter how we Struggling, you can't escape the fate of death..."

Xia Houshen's words made Nan Tian's heart sink heavily.

Yes, what is happening now can be described as unimaginable.Could it be that the one among us is really a devil from hell?But in other words, if this is really something that can be done by human power, how on earth did this person do all this?
Nan Tian's gaze scanned everyone around him.

Damn, this person is clearly in front of me, but I can't tell him apart.

Yu Chicheng, the first storyteller, is dead, while Xu Wen, the second, and Xia Houshen, the third, now seem to be both bad luck and bad luck, if things go on like this...

After 14 days, can I really get out of here alive?
(End of the first season of "Must Foul Game")
(End of this chapter)