“Alright, is everyone here?”
Sun Zhengning scanned the students gathered at the meeting point and called out loudly.
Hearing him, the classmates who had come for the group outing quickly responded:
“Everyone’s accounted for!”
Though he trusted their word, Sun Zhengning decided to take roll call just to be sure. Only after confirming that every single classmate was present did he finally relax.
Following the original plan, he led the group down the mountain to catch the bus back to school.
And so, under Sun Zhengning’s guidance, Yan Yu and her thirty-something classmates began their slow descent down Qingxu Mountain’s stone steps.
“Monitor, since when has the way down been this long?”
After walking for nearly half an hour without reaching the foot of the mountain, one of the students grew suspicious and spoke up.
Hearing this, Sun Zhengning glanced toward the base of the mountain—and stiffened. The distance between them and the bottom hadn’t shrunk at all. A bad feeling crept into his chest.
But he quickly steadied himself and forced a reply:
“It’s the same as always. Nothing’s changed.”
“Really? Then why haven’t we reached the bottom yet?”
“You must just be tired from running around at the summit earlier. That’s why it feels slower.”
“But—”
“No buts. Pick up the pace and keep up with the group.”
Cutting off his classmate’s protests—worried they might unsettle the others—Sun Zhengning took a deep breath, fixed his eyes on the distant mountain base, and quickened his steps.
The student who had sensed something off hesitated, but since the monitor’s explanation made some sense, he dropped the matter and obediently followed the group, speeding up as they descended.
Listening to the exchange, Yan Yu, still lingering in the crowd, recalled the inexplicable unease she’d felt earlier when looking down from the summit. Her expression darkened.
After nearly an hour of walking down Qingxu Mountain’s steps with no progress, the same male student—now drenched in sweat—spoke up again, his voice trembling:
“Monitor… are we trapped in a ghost wall?”
By now, even the slowest among them had realized something was wrong. Murmurs spread through the group as the students began whispering anxiously.
Hearing the nervous chatter behind him, Sun Zhengning knew there was no point hiding it anymore. He sighed and turned to face them.
“Yeah… what’s happening to us does match the legends about ghost walls.”
One of the girls, already terrified of supernatural things, paled and asked shakily:
“Monitor… do ghosts really exist?”
“There are no ghosts,” Sun Zhengning replied, recalling the official announcements from a few days prior. “But there are superhumans with extraordinary powers… and monsters called Abyssal Beasts.”
The mention of superhumans and Abyssal Beasts sent a ripple of panic through the group. Seeing his classmates on the verge of losing composure, Sun Zhengning quickly raised his voice:
“Don’t panic yet! We can still call for help!”
His words snapped them back to reality. Right—they still had their phones. The students immediately calmed down and pulled out their devices, dialing emergency numbers.
“We should call for help too,” Xu Ziqi said to her roommates, including Yan Yu.
Nodding, Yan Yu and the others took out their phones and made the calls.
Ring… ring…
“Hello? I’m Huang Yi, a student from Ninghang University. My classmates and I are on Qingxu Mountain—we’re stuck in some kind of ghost wall. Can you send superhumans from the Anomaly Bureau to help us?”
Huang Yi, the first to get through, rapidly explained their situation to the operator.
But after he finished speaking… silence.
The operator didn’t respond.
Confused, Huang Yi frowned. Before he could ask why no one was answering, a raspy, inhuman voice suddenly crackled through the receiver:
“You will die by lightning strike on the 1,642nd step.”
Huang Yi’s face drained of color.
Though he’d kept a brave face earlier, he was secretly more terrified than any of the girls. Now, hearing that eerie proclamation, he flung his phone away like it was cursed and bolted down the steps in a blind panic.
“Huang Yi! What’s wrong with you?!”
The other students, still waiting for their own calls to connect, stared in shock as Huang Yi sprinted away. A couple of them immediately gave chase, shouting after him to stop before he got lost or hurt.
But it was too late.
In his frantic escape, Huang Yi reached the 1,642nd step—
—and a bolt of lightning, cleaving through the clear sky, struck him down.
A plume of blue smoke curled from his body as he collapsed onto the stone steps, lifeless.
Everyone froze.
For a long moment, the only sound was the wind.
Then, the two boys who had chased after Huang Yi snapped out of their daze and rushed forward to check on him.
But Sun Zhengning, who had also heard the phone’s ominous message, suddenly shouted:
“WAIT! DON’T GO ANY FARTHER! IT’S NOT SAFE!“