Chapter 021 Hidden Truth
We followed Director Jin to the teaching building at the back. This abandoned building was in the backyard, with a row of high walls erected to isolate it. The iron door at the entrance was tightly locked, with an iron chain about the diameter of two fingers hanging on it and a large padlock hanging below.
It was broad daylight, but the sun hardly penetrated here, and the environment was gloomy and dark, casting a large shadow.
Apart from us, there was no one else, not even a bird. Across the main teaching building, the sound of children doing exercises in the playground in front came, as if it came from another world.
This place is a gloomy and isolated island.
Director Jin's legs were shaking a little. He took out the key tremblingly and tried several times before finally inserting it into the keyhole. He twisted it gently, and with a light "click" sound, the lock opened.
He pushed open the iron door but did not go in. His smile was uglier than crying: "Three masters, please come in."
I was about to walk forward foolishly, but Uncle Zhong raised his hand while twisting the beads and gently stopped me, then said, "Director, please lead the way."
Director Jin leaned against the wall with weak legs, almost falling to the ground, mumbling and unable to utter a word. Uncle Zhong snorted, "I'm here, what are you afraid of? Go!"
Director Jin was almost crying, but he reluctantly agreed and walked in. We followed behind him. This time I was no longer reckless, and I stood at the end of the line, following Uncle Zhong's instructions.
As soon as I entered the yard surrounded by high walls, I felt the temperature suddenly drop by several degrees. Goose bumps appeared on my skin and it was so cold that I couldn't describe it.
Looking up at the abandoned teaching building, it has four floors in total, not too high , standing deep in the shadows. The doors and windows are broken, revealing dark holes, which make people's hair stand on end.
At first glance, I could tell that this was definitely a haunted house. No doubt it was genuine. This feeling was so strong that even though I didn't have Uncle Zhong's magical powers, I could still feel an indescribable eerie aura reverberating deep within the building.
"Go into the building." Uncle Zhong said lightly.
Director Jin was so scared that his face turned pale, his legs were shaking, and his breathing was a little rapid. I was also very scared, but not to the same extent as him.
"Director Jin, why are you so scared?" I asked.
Director Jin smiled bitterly and said, "You three masters, you don't know that I have worked in the school for more than ten years. I have seen and heard too many things, especially this building. I dare not even think about it or mention it. I have a shadow in my heart. To be honest, I even feel unlucky to hold the key to the iron door here. If it weren't for my duty, I would definitely not come here."
"Then why don't you resign?" Li Daming asked.
Director Jin said, "This guy is really talking without any worries. Is it that easy to get a job in the system? Besides, except for the fact that this place is a bit scary, the admission rate of our No. 2 Middle School is excellent. It is a famous middle school in town, and the welfare benefits are good. Many people have heard the rumors about this place, but they still try their best to send their children here because of the excellent teaching quality!"
Uncle Zhong gestured for everyone to walk together, and comforted Director Jin that as long as they followed closely there would be no danger.
Director Jin was quite responsible and followed us into the teaching building. The main entrance led to the first floor lobby, which was a mess with bricks, tiles, glass fragments, and many scattered yellow Taoist talismans with cinnabar-written patterns that looked like ghost paintings.
Uncle Zhong squatted on the ground, picked up one and looked at it carefully.
We asked Director Jin why there were so many talismans. Director Jin said, "These were left by a master who performed a ritual. He is the Taoist priest of Wuji Temple in the city. He knows everything from catching ghosts to fulfilling dreams and performing shaman dances. He said that this teaching building has too much yin energy, so he set up some kind of formation. These talismans were originally pasted on the wall, but they were probably blown off by the strong wind."
You couldn't feel the wind in the lobby on the first floor; it was just cold, extremely cold, as if there were several high-powered freezers blowing out cold air at the same time.
Uncle Zhong smiled faintly and threw the talisman on the ground, treating it like a worn-out shoe, looking down on it.
"Do you know what happened to Chen Lun back then?" Uncle Zhong asked.
Director Jin was dumbfounded and was not mentally prepared to answer this question. He uttered, "Sorry, there's a phone call. I have to go out and answer it." Then he turned and was about to leave.
Uncle Zhong winked and said, "Don't let him get away."
Li Daming and I held him on the left and right. Director Jin said with a bitter face: "Master, what are you doing?"
"I'm asking you if you know about Chen Lun's situation?!" Uncle Zhong's face was gloomy, which matched the gloomy environment around him.
"No, I don't know..." Director Jin stammered, "There are so many students, how can I remember them all?"
Uncle Zhong nodded: "Okay. You're just being stubborn." He took out a rope from his bag and threw it to me: "You two tie him up and throw him into the darkest room. Let him sober up."
Li Daming hugged him tightly. I picked up the rope from the ground, tied Director Jin's arms behind his back, and began to wrap them up. Director Jin screamed. I didn't expect a grown man to scream with a voice higher than a woman's. His throat was broken after screaming. Then he started to cry and beg for mercy. His legs were shaking. He looked like he was about to piss himself.
Li Daming advised: "Why are you so stubborn? Just tell me, it has nothing to do with you."
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you." Director Jin cried, "I knew Chen Lun. She died in this building."
Uncle Zhong looked at him grimly.
Director Jin no longer dared to play dirty and told us everything that happened. After he finished, we looked at each other in surprise. We didn't expect it to be like this.
More than a decade ago, Director Jin was assigned to work at this school. Soon after, a major incident occurred, that is, Chen Lun jumped off the building. He was also entrusted with handling the aftermath. The so-called aftermath is not simple or difficult. It is to be afraid that the parents will make a fuss, and to comfort them effectively. The principle is that you can't give too much money, and the matter must be settled, no matter what means you use. If you don't do it well, I'm sorry, Director Jin will be the scapegoat, and the school will throw all the blame on his back.
Director Jin's rise to fame also started from this incident. He handled the matter beautifully, using threats and persuasion, being both the bad guy and the good guy, and finally he managed to deal with Chen Lun's mother.
Chen Lun was born in a single-parent family with only a mother who worked in a textile factory. Her mother was a model worker in the factory at that time. When she heard that her daughter had committed suicide, she was completely devastated and wanted to seek justice. However, after persuasion, she decided not to cause trouble to the organization and gave up her legitimate rights and interests.
So how did Chen Lun die?
Director Jin is very clear about the whole thing. After more than ten years, he is probably the only one who can explain the past clearly. Chen Lun's mother was awarded a sum of money by the factory because she was named a model worker. Because she was a single-parent family, the mother always felt guilty about her daughter. On the day she received the money, she bought her daughter a very beautiful red dress.
Chen Lun liked it so much that she never took it off. At that time, students had to wear school uniforms to school, but they could wear anything they wanted on weekends. When Chen Lun had extra classes on weekends, she would wear the red dress to school.
During the afternoon break, she and a few good friends were chatting and playing in the corridor. One of the female classmates was also being naughty. Seeing that a classroom door was open and a class was studying inside, she deliberately pushed it, and Chen Lun hit the classroom door heavily, making a loud noise.
At that time, the students in that class were all studying with their heads down. The teacher was behind her desk, propping her head and feeling sleepy. Suddenly, she was startled by the noise. She looked up and saw Chen Lun in a red skirt bumping against the door. She realized that she was trying to escape and immediately thought it was a prank. She cursed at the time, saying that she was so arrogant in a torn skirt, and she would be a slut when she grew up.
Chen Lun was so frightened that he was trembling, and was stopped by the teacher. The female teacher was very angry and came up with a punishment measure. She made Chen Lun stand at the door of the classroom, and all the students went out and shouted at Chen Lun, "You are so ugly wearing a skirt, you have grown up, and you are a slut."
Chen Lun did not go back to class for the whole afternoon. She was punished to stand at the door of the classroom in the corridor. A large group of classmates took turns to humiliate her. Students from other classes also joined in because they thought it was fun. The classmates cursed and laughed, and surrounded Chen Lun, saying that she looked so ugly in a skirt and that she would be a slut when she grew up. After that, they all ran away laughing.
Chen Lun stood there for the entire afternoon until school was over in the evening.
That very night, she did not go home. Instead, she walked up to the rooftop of the teaching building alone and jumped down from it wearing a red dress.
After Director Jin finished speaking, none of us spoke, and the scene was quiet. Suddenly, a loud "bang" sounded from several floors above, as if something had fallen and hit the ground heavily.
Director Jin was so frightened that his legs went limp and he sat down on the ground, gasping for breath as if he had a heart attack.
Uncle Zhong looked at the stairs leading to the second floor. The darkness in the hall was even greater, and each of our shadows was extremely long.
"There is a reaction!" Uncle Zhong: "He is telling the truth. The wronged souls up there have reacted!"
Li Daming was beaming with joy, not afraid at all: "Uncle Zhong, is that Chen Lun's ghost?"
Uncle Zhong frowned and said, "We'll go upstairs later. No one should talk nonsense." He walked over, picked up Director Jin, and asked, "After Chen Lun died, how did those people deal with it?"
Director Jin said weakly: "The female teacher was persuaded to quit. But her family has connections, so she went to another school to continue teaching. The school paid Chen Lun's family 10,000 yuan in compensation, and the female student who pushed her against the door was given a serious warning."
I stroked my chin and said, "There is a detail in this matter that I don't quite understand. Chen Lun was not the student of that female teacher. When the female teacher was punishing her, why didn't Chen Lun's head teacher come out to negotiate?"
Director Jin looked at me and hesitated, as if there was some important secret.
