Chapter 509: The Photograph
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"We will all surely die!"
In Silver Eagle University, in the private room of a cafe, a few people who seemed like students gathered together. They were all looking pale and panicky. "All of us have seen it. Lu Xia is dead. We cannot run! Everyone in the photograph will die!"
One of the girls could no longer hold it in and started to cry.
"Bai Ling, don't cry. There must be a solution!"
Beside the girl, a tall and handsome-looking boy comforted her as though he was her boyfriend.
"I don't care... I want to transfer out of this school and leave this place!"
Another girl started to wail.
"Rather than leaving, why don't we look for a monk or a daoist? They might be able to help us. Right, Brother Yang?"
The last guy wore spectacles. He was shorter and appeared decent. Under such circumstances, he was still able to keep his cool.
"Wu Lu, don't worry. Xiu Wen is right. There must be a solution to this!"
Yang Guang spoke with confidence as though he was trying to encourage himself. "We will surely be able to escape from that d*mned curse, for sure! Speaking of this, I have gathered information and realised that there are many respectable people in this field that we can pay a visit to. Perhaps... we can let them examine the photograph!"
As he spoke the word 'photograph', he became subconsciously softer as though he was in fear of something.
"Photograph?"
The two girls shuddered in fear and Xiu Wen raised his glasses before retrieving a monochrome photograph from his pocket.
On the photograph, there were 5 people and the background was an abandoned apartment.
However, where Lu Xia once stood, it was now white and empty as though the film of the photograph was overexposed. The remaining 4 of them had weird expressions and Bai Ling's face was beginning to blur up.
"Will the next one be Bai Ling?"
Xiu Wen mumbled to himself.
He could not throw this photograph away, and it was indestructible, even after being soaked in water or being burnt by fire.
Previously, before Lu Xia's death, there were the same signs on the photograph.
"No!"
Bai Ling screamed. "I don't want to die!"
"Relax, we'll protect you!"
Yang Guang hugged Bai Ling tightly. Witnessing this scene, Wu Lu's eyes began to tear up and Xiu Wen passed her a piece of napkin. "Lulu... Don't worry, I will protect you."
Wu Lu nodded her head and felt a tinge of sorrow in her heart.
She had always held a torch for Lu Xia. Although she knew that Xiu Wen liked her, she never reciprocated. Never would she have known that this weak-looking boy would feel so reliable now!
"We seem to have made a big mistake that time!"
Yang Guang suddenly spoke. "All of us were scared to our wits! How could we have forgotten to take the camera? There might be clues on it!"
"Are you crazy?"
Bai Ling turned pale with fear. "Didn't Lu Xia say that that was merely a second-hand camera? If we return to the apartment now, the 'ghost' might be waiting for us!"
"Of course I am not intending to go there alone! I am thinking of asking others to go, for instance, private investigators!"
Yang Guang held a piece of newspaper article in his hand. "The Great Detective Ma Wencai is a famous paranormal investigator. He has solved countless paranormal cases and will surely be able to help us. Although his fees are high, I am already prepared to use all my pocket money and my earnings from my part-time job to pay for it."
"Count me in!"
Wu Lu clenched her teeth. "If we can settle that ghost once and for all, it would be avenging Lu Xia."
In the newspaper article, Ma Wencai seemed to have grown plump. However, his face was still full of energy and the newspaper heading wrote: "Detective Ma breaks an impossible case once again..."
Bai Ling wiped her tears and seemed to have recalled what had happened on that day.
...
The afternoon sun of the hot summer made everyone groggy.
It was a rare break during the weekends and Yang Guang had asked Bai Ling out for an afternoon tea.
At this point in time, Lu Xia called Yang Guang over the phone. "Yang Guang? Do you want to explore? I've just bought a cheap camera and we can try to take some photographs!"
Yang Guang was interested in photography since young and often saved up to buy expensive photography equipment. Unsurprisingly, he was interested in Lu Xia's new buy.
"Alright!"
If Bai Ling could turn back time, she swore that she would have used every means to stop Yang Guang! Unfortunately, there was no such thing as 'ifs'.
Their meeting spot was an abandoned apartment in the outskirts of the city.
At the door of the apartment, Lu Xia, Wu Lu and Xiu Wen were already waiting there. As soon as they saw Yang Guang and Bai Ling arriving, they waved their hands in excitement.
"Why would you ever think of coming here to take photos?"
Yang Guang examined the apartment behind. It seemed to be built in the 90s. It was old and beyond repair, which gave it the creeps.
"Don't you know?"
Lu Xia appeared shocked. "This is a famous haunted house! The person who sold me the camera told me that this camera has a special function which allows it to capture paranormal presence. I want to try it out for myself too! Let's see if we can take any photo of ghosts or the likes."
Lu Xia was different from Yang Guang, who was an avid photographer. On the other hand, Lu Xia was fond of paranormal activities and his room was entirely decorated with paranormal sightings.
Yang Guang rolled his eyes. "But... those are rumours, right? I have never read any article about people dying in this apartment..."
In this realm, the richer one was, the more superstitious one would be. For the normal people, if they did not encounter any paranormal sightings, they would not pay attention to any news reports regarding these sightings.
Of course, Yang Guang was still right.
If it was something like the Chen Residences, there would already be police patrolling outside the perimeters to stop anyone who was trying to peek into the residences. They would also send scientists to conduct investigations within the residences.
Therefore, the claim that the apartment was haunted was most likely a baseless one.
"Alright, since I'm a bro, I shall accompany you this time. However, let me take a look at the camera..."
Yang Guang pointed at the black camera hung around Lu Xia's neck.
"No problem!"
Lu Xia passed the camera to Yang Guang and in no time, Yang Guang became completely obsessed with it.
This was an old school 'polaroid' and they could print the photograph immediately after taking it. There was a small flash mounted on the top of the camera as well.
"It's not bad! It's a really good deal!"
Yang Guang even felt a little jealous of Lu Xia when Lu Xia revealed the price of the camera.
"Haha, It's my natural luck!"
Lu Xia scratched his head. He was the most well-to-do among his friends. Even so, he had to think twice before making the purchase for the camera. However, after seeing the looks of admiration on his friends' faces, he felt that the purchase was totally worth it.
The group of them entered the apartment and it was exactly how they imagined it to be. Other than a few dark spots, there was trash everywhere and there was nothing special.
"Sigh... This is boring! So much for my imagination."
Lu Xia sighed as he gave a look of boredom.
"Regardless, in order to commemorate today, let's take a photo!"
Xiu Wen suggested a location. "How about there?"
"Hmm, alright!"
Yang Guang positioned the camera properly and set a timer. "3, 2, 1... Cheese!"
He quickly ran back to his friends to complete the group photograph.
The picture was printed out in no time and Yang Guang took it from the camera. "Eh?"
"What happened?"
Lu Xia started to pay more attention as he held the photograph in his hand. "It is a little overexposed. Why did my face become like this? Is this the camera's problem?"
In the black and white photograph, there were only 4 faces among the 5 of them. Lu Xia's face was blurred and even seemed a little ferocious, like an... evil ghost!
"Ahhhh!"
Yang Guang screamed as he threw the photograph onto the ground.
"What happened? Brother Yang"
Xiu Wen asked.
"Lu Xia's face smiled at me!"
Yang Guang started to shudder in fear. The dark spots in the apartment started to instil even more fear in him. "This place gives me the chills. Let's leave!"
"How can we leave? We need to at least take another picture!"
Lu Xia complained as he went to retrieve the camera which was positioned atop an old wooden box.
"Pa!"
At this point in time, a black hand appeared and slapped on the camera.
"This is..."
Yang Guang shivered and almost forgot to breathe. He saw... a charred silhouette climbing from the shadows, placing its hand on the camera!
"It's a ghost!"
The two girls shrieked, breaking the silence. Yang Guang and Lu Xia held them both and quickly left the apartment.
"Phew..."
Under the sunlight outside, the 5 of them were catching their breaths. "It's great that we are able to make it out!"
"Phew..."
Lu Xia took a deep breath and broke out into a cold sweat. "There... There's a real ghost! What the hell!"
Although he used to be obsessed with paranormal sightings, after seeing a real ghost, his heart was now filled with fear.
"Ahhh!"
Xiu Wen let out a piercing scream as he gazed at Lu Xia with a pale look. "Didn't you throw that photograph away?"
"I did!"
Lu Xia nodded his head. However, Xiu Wen slowly took a photograph out from his pocket, which utterly shocked Lu Xia.
"It... I didn't pick it up..."
Xiu Wen was on the verge of breaking down.
"Jerk!"
Yang Guang took a step forward, snatched the photograph and burnt the photograph to ashes with a lighter. "So what if its a ghost? The sun is shining brightly now..."
"Ahhhh!"
This time, it was Lu Xia who screamed. With a shivering hand, from his pocket, he took out another... black and white photograph! It was the group photo with the 5 of them!
However, this time, his facial features were even more blurred and he shuddered at the sight of it.
From that day onwards, the photograph became the ultimate nightmare for the 5 of them.
No matter how they tried to get rid of it by burning or tearing it, the photograph would miraculously appear in the hands of the 5 of them. With every new photograph, Lu Xia's body would slowly disappear and finally, all that was left was a white spot where he once stood.
On the day where Lu Xia had completely disappeared from the photograph, Yang Guang and the others had received news.
Lu Xia was dead!
He was burnt alive and it was due to the malfunctioning of an electrical appliance!
Their nightmares had arrived!