Xiao Manxuan had seen a lot, so naturally she was braver than other girls. Who knew, He Xiaofei also laughed and said, "If there really are ghosts in this world, they should be the ones afraid of people, because this is the human world, a place for people to live."

Lin Tian shook his head speechlessly. Facing two bold girls like this, he really didn’t know what kind of expression he should make.

"Ka ka ka..."

Just as they were talking about ghosts, a faint weird sound suddenly came from the darkness. That "ka ka" sound came one after another, like bones grinding, or like something else bumping into something.

"What’s that sound?" The two girls instantly pricked up their ears, their expressions changing.

They had just been talking about ghosts, and then suddenly heard such a creepy noise. It gave people the chills for no reason.

"We’ll know if we go take a look." Lin Tian stayed calm and said evenly.

His calmness eased the two girls’ nerves a bit. Both subconsciously moved closer to Lin Tian. They were girls, after all; it was impossible not to be scared at all, but they were already doing much better than most girls.

Let alone girls—even men, in a rundown place like this, hearing such a spine-chilling sound, would probably be scared pissless.

"The sound is coming from over there." Xiao Manxuan pointed toward the depths of the construction site as she spoke. The little girl’s hearing really was much better; at least He Xiaofei hadn’t figured out where it was coming from.

The three of them followed the sound, lightening their steps as they walked inward. A half-demolished old building appeared before them. For some reason, the lights here weren’t on. The distant lamps only cast a bit of leftover glow this way, leaving mottled shadows on the ground and making it look even darker and more sinister.

As they neared the old building, that ka-ka sound grew clearer, making their skin crawl. He Xiaofei raised her flashlight and shone it into the dilapidated building, wanting to see what was going on. Who knew, the moment her beam swept over, the sound vanished.

"Lin... Lin Tian, did it notice us?" He Xiaofei lowered her voice, her eyes wide.

Lin Tian found it funny inside, and deliberately lowered his voice as well. "What noticed us?"

"I don’t know either." He Xiaofei lowered her voice even more, then edged closer to Lin Tian. Lin Tian could clearly feel the fragrance and softness coming from the beautiful class monitor’s body.

No wonder guys like taking girls to horror movies—total excuse to cop a feel. In contrast, Xiao Manxuan was a bit better. Although she also moved closer to Lin Tian, there was more curiosity than fear in her eyes.

"Class Monitor, what you said just now was pretty good. The ghosts should be afraid of people. What are you scared of it for?" Lin Tian said, a bit amused.

"If it jumped out directly, I wouldn’t be scared. It’s this hiding-in-the-dark, peeking-out-to-scare-people thing that really gets under your skin." He Xiaofei’s pretty face flushed red, a little embarrassed.

Fair enough, that was a strong argument. Lin Tian said nothing more and went around the old building toward the back, with the two girls following closely.

When they rounded the back of the building, all three of them froze for a moment, because there was a muck-hauling construction truck parked in front of them. Only, the truck was tilted crookedly, and its headlights were off.

"Ka ka ka..." The sound started up again. This time they could hear it clearly—it was coming from under the truck.

They didn’t know if the beams of their flashlights had startled whatever was beneath, but the ka-ka-ka suddenly stopped again. Then came a fine scraping sound, like something was dragging itself along the ground, crawling out. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Who... who’s in there?" Xiao Manxuan shone her flashlight over as she asked, not sure if it was from curiosity or fear.

But the three of them were standing, so the flashlights couldn’t reach under the truck. Lin Tian signaled for the two girls to bend down and shine again. He Xiaofei caught on and immediately half-squatted, sweeping her beam underneath.

Suddenly, a terrifying human face appeared in the beam of the flashlight. He Xiaofei let out a shrill "Ah!" and fell backward, accidentally crashing straight into Lin Tian’s arms.

He Xiaofei pressed tightly against Lin Tian, extremely nervous. "Gh... ghost face."

Hearing her say that, not only was Xiao Manxuan not scared, she leaned in even more curiously to look under the truck, and then she too saw the ghost face beneath it. Lin Tian held He Xiaofei while letting the corner of his eye glance toward the truck’s underside.

What kind of "ghost face" was this? Its face was covered with gray mud, its hair matted with mud as well, like a vicious spirit that had just crawled out from underground.

"It doesn’t really look like a ghost." Xiao Manxuan’s eyesight was excellent too. After boldly examining it for a moment, she suddenly spoke.

"You’re the ghosts! Your flashlights are blinding me, my eyes are going blurry. Move them away already." The ghost face suddenly spoke. The only recognizable features, that pair of eyes, were blinking rapidly, looking as if they really had been dazzled by the glare.

Lin Tian reached out and pushed down Xiao Manxuan’s flashlight. From under the truck, a "person" slowly crawled out—a middle-aged man. Although he was caked in mud, with dirt all over his head and face, it was clear he wasn’t some monster; at least he had a shadow.

He Xiaofei straightened up from Lin Tian’s arms, sneaking an embarrassed glance at him, her face bright red.

"Uncle, how did you end up crawling under the truck? You really scared us just now." Xiao Manxuan asked boldly.

"You little brats, I should be the one asking you. What are you doing running into a construction site this late at night?" The middle-aged uncle glared at them and scolded.

Lin Tian secretly gestured for the two girls not to speak, then said to the middle-aged uncle, "Uncle, looks like your truck is stranded. You were under it doing repairs just now, right? Is there anything we can help with?"

Only this kind of reason could explain why the uncle had been under the truck and why he was covered in mud.

"Sharp kid. You’re right, my truck really is stranded. The ground here suddenly caved in, almost flipping the truck. Luckily it only scraped the bottom." The middle-aged uncle gave Lin Tian a surprised look as he spoke.

"What can I do to help?" Lin Tian glanced at the big truck a few times. It was just as the man said.

"Uh, there is a bit of a problem. I’ve already fixed what I can, but the wheels have sunk in. In a bit, when I start it up, once you see the wheels turning, toss a few rocks under them. Otherwise they’ll just spin in place and I won’t be able to get out." Hearing that Lin Tian wanted to help, the uncle actually looked a little embarrassed.

"Sure, no problem." Lin Tian agreed.

The uncle climbed into the cab, started the truck, and stepped on the gas. As expected, all four wheels just spun uselessly; the truck wasn’t going anywhere. Lin Tian didn’t throw in any rocks. Instead, he walked to the back of the truck. He Xiaofei watched in confusion and was just about to ask something.

Lin Tian had already placed both hands on the rear of the truck, then gave it a strong push. There was a dull bang, and the uncle in the driver’s seat felt the truck jolt, then slowly drive out of the pit.

The construction truck might be heavy, but in the face of Lin Tian’s strength, it wasn’t worth mentioning. He Xiaofei stared, dumbfounded. Th... that wasn’t actually pushed out by Lin Tian, was it?

The middle-aged uncle didn’t care how it had gotten out. Once he climbed down, he thanked Lin Tian over and over. "Thank you so much. I was dealing with something just now, and my coworkers all left first. I was a bit late leaving. Who knew that as I drove past here, the ground would suddenly sink? So unlucky. It’s already happened several times these past few days."

"You’re saying this spot has collapsed several times already?" Lin Tianqi asked in surprise. Why would perfectly good ground keep caving in?