Mysterious Revival - Chapter 4 - The Terrifying Knocking Ghost

Knock, knock, knock.

The dull, eerie knocking continued at a steady rhythm, like a perfectly timed alarm clock.

The classroom door wasn’t locked or even latched; it was simply closed casually. A slight push would have easily opened it.

Yet, what sent chills down everyone’s spine was that the Old Man, clad in a black long robe and covered in postmortem lividity, didn’t push the door open. He remained stiffly outside, knocking on the door without any intention of entering.

Though the Old Man hadn’t entered, the inky darkness from the hallway rapidly engulfed the surroundings.

The entire classroom began to undergo unimaginable changes.

The once-pristine walls became mottled and moldy, with the paint peeling off, leaving behind an uneven surface. Black-green mold grew on the pockmarked walls, emitting a cold, damp, and musty odor. The books on the desks quickly turned yellow and then rotted away. Even the cement floor began to erode rapidly, exposing rusted steel bars, and some areas started to collapse.

It was as if decades had passed in an instant, leaving the room ravaged by time.

Yet, the classroom lights still fought valiantly against the encroaching darkness. The bright white light flickered like a candle in the wind, emitting its last dim glow, as if it could go out at any moment.

Fear was etched on every student’s face. Some screamed, others called for help, while some simply trembled.

The only one who remained calm was Zhou Zheng, standing at the podium.

He stood motionless, his eyes scanning the surroundings, alert to any movement.

A ghost of this danger level, capable of creating a ghost domain… this was beyond his ability to handle.

All he could do was try every possible means to find a way out, to ensure these students survived, even if only a few of them.

“Zhou Zheng, look.”

At that moment, Fang Jing suddenly called out, his face pale as he pointed at a few classmates on the desks.

Zhou Zheng hadn’t noticed earlier, but now he saw it clearly. Several students lay motionless on their desks, their eyes and mouths wide open, their faces ashen, and their bodies emitting the stench of decay, as if they had been dead for days.

“Knock, knock, knock.” The knocking resumed.

At that moment, a male student who had been standing among the living suddenly shuddered, then stiffly collapsed to the ground.

“Li Ming, what’s wrong with you?”

Someone tried to help Li Ming up, but the moment they touched his body, they let out a scream and frantically scrambled backward.

Cold, stiff-like a corpse.

Li Ming’s eyes and mouth were wide open, his face ashen and lifeless, just like the other students who had died earlier. His body gradually began to emit a foul, rotting stench.

Dead. He was dead.

And he wasn’t the only one. At least six or seven students now lay motionless on their desks, their faces equally gray and lifeless.

“How could this happen? How could this happen? Someone, please save us!” a female student cried, collapsing to the floor in tears.

“They were fine just moments ago… how did they suddenly… just die?” someone else stammered, their voice trembling with fear.

Fang Jing, standing nearby, had a grim expression. “Stop screaming! There’s a ghost outside the door. Any of us could die at any moment. You’ll soon find out just how terrifying a ghost with a ghost domain can be.”

The others stared at him in horror, like prey trapped in a cage, their faces filled with fear as they trembled uncontrollably.

“Zhou Zheng, haven’t you come up with a plan yet? If you don’t figure something out soon, we’re all going to die here!” Fang Jing snapped, his voice laced with frustration.

Even he was trembling inside. In a ghost domain, anyone could die-including him.

“Stop nagging. If you’re so impatient, try running for it yourself. Don’t count on me,” Zhou Zheng retorted, his face tense with anxiety. He didn’t dare act rashly.

“Running around in a ghost domain will only get you killed faster. Do you think I don’t know that?” Fang Jing shot back.

“If you know, then stand there and stay put. If we’re going to die, it’s not just you-it’s all of us. Don’t think you’re special just because you know a few things. In the face of a ghost, everyone’s equal,” Zhou Zheng said coldly.

“Damn it,” Fang Jing cursed under his breath.

Yang Jian, meanwhile, felt his hands and feet go cold. He forced himself to stay calm. This wasn’t a joke anymore-people were really dying, and not just one or two. If this continued, many more could perish.

But when his gaze inadvertently fell on the blackboard, which was barely hanging onto the wall, he froze.

His eyes lingered on the three sentences Zhou Zheng had written earlier, especially the last one: Insight into the patterns of ghosts.

“Zhou Zheng isn’t acting rashly because he’s also observing the Old Man outside the door, trying to figure out his patterns. Only by understanding those patterns can he act. Think, think… what patterns does this Old Man follow?”

His mind began racing.

He recalled everything he had read in that forum post and connected it to what was happening now.

There had to be a common thread, something similar.

The user named Thunderbolt King was at home when the Old Man appeared. His door was closed, and the Old Man stood outside, knocking… then entered. After that, the Old Man came to the bedroom door, knocked again, and entered once more.

Now, this ghost is standing in the hallway outside, also knocking… but it hasn’t come in yet.

Why did the Old Man enter in the user’s home but not here?

It’s the same situation, the same event-what caused the difference?

Was it not enough time?

If so, what wasn’t enough?

Could it be that the knocking wasn’t long enough?

Perhaps that’s the key.

I’ll take the risk.

Suddenly, Yang Jian mustered his courage and shouted, “Zhou Zheng, it’s the knocking!”

“The knocking?”

Zhou Zheng’s gaze sharpened as he stared intently at the student who had spoken up unexpectedly. “Explain.”

Yang Jian suppressed his fear and said, “It’s just a guess, but I think this thing is killing people through the knocking. Maybe the Old Man is counting time, or maybe it’s something else, but it definitely has to do with the knocking. If we can stop it from knocking, it might help…”

Killing through knocking.

If that’s true, then this ghost is truly terrifying.

“This guy’s potential is already starting to show…”

Fang Jing glared at Yang Jian with a dark expression, his fists clenched tightly. “I can’t let him leave this school alive.”

“I’ll trust you this once.”

Zhou Zheng’s gaze turned serious as he looked away. He had no other choice.

If he didn’t act now, everyone here would die.

Immediately, Zhou Zheng moved. Like a ferocious beast, he charged forward, his strangely disproportionate body-thin upper half and bulky lower half-possessing an explosive strength far beyond that of an ordinary person.

BANG!

With a loud crash, he slammed open the classroom door, and with it, he knocked down the Old Man standing outside-a figure clad in a black long robe, his face ashen and covered in postmortem lividity.

The Old Man fell to the ground, but no one dared to help him up.

His body lay in a bizarre position, like a stiff, lifeless doll with limbs awkwardly splayed, lacking the flexibility and softness of a living person.

Ghosts cannot be killed.

Zhou Zheng hadn’t forgotten the words he himself had written.

Even if this Old Man were ground into paste or burned to ashes, he wouldn’t die. He would reappear in some unimaginable way.

Only ghosts can deal with ghosts.

Zhou Zheng gritted his teeth and shouted over his shoulder, “Watch for the right moment! If you get a chance, run. I’ll hold this thing off.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his bulging stomach beneath his oversized coat began to writhe unnaturally.

A hand-or rather, the outline of a hand-stretched out from under a layer of skin. The hand was a sickly grayish-blue, with sharp, claw-like nails, as if it were trying to tear through the skin and break free. But the skin covering it was surprisingly tough, refusing to rip. What was even more horrifying was that the hand extended over two meters long.

Was this even a human hand anymore?

The grayish-blue, grotesque hand reached out and grabbed the Old Man on the ground.

Buzz- The sound of flickering fluorescent lights echoed through the room.

In an instant, the darkness that had enveloped the classroom vanished, and the bright lights returned. Though the walls were still cracked and the floor looked like it might collapse at any moment, it seemed as though the disaster had been temporarily halted.

“It worked,” Zhou Zheng thought, breathing a small sigh of relief.

But then his eyes widened in terror, and his gaunt, almost skeletal face was overcome with fear.

The Old Man, who had been lying on the ground, slowly began to rise. His lifeless gray eyes shifted slightly, as if locking onto Zhou Zheng.

“No way… It’s still moving even after I restrained it?” Zhou Zheng’s face paled. He turned and roared, “Go! Get out of here while the ghost domain hasn’t fully formed! I’ll stay behind and hold it off.”

This ghost… it’s definitely more than just a Danger Level threat.

Cold sweat dripped down his back as the realization set in.