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At five o'clock in the afternoon, at an abandoned water plant on the outskirts of the city.

The leaden clouds hung low, and it looked like it would rain soon.

Several young figures were standing in front of the rusty iron gate of the water plant.

The door panel was mottled and worn, and even the words "Pingjiang Water Supply" on it had become blurred and illegible.

"I said, this place is even more dilapidated than the legends say."

A boy with a bowl cut and black-rimmed glasses exaggeratedly covered his nose and muttered to a short-haired girl in camouflage next to him:
"President, are you sure there are really ghosts here? It looks like a homeless hideout to me."

The short-haired girl raised an eyebrow and, without saying a word, kicked out with a side kick.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, the rusty chains on the iron gate snapped open.

The door swayed at her feet, sliding inwards through a gap half a meter wide.

She dusted off her hands, her tone bold and unrestrained:

"Zhou Ming, stop talking nonsense. Are you questioning my brilliant decision?"

"No, no, I'm just offering my opinion as your deputy."

Zhou Ming quickly shrank his neck and smiled apologetically.

Fang Cheng's gaze lingered on the short-haired girl for a moment, then swept over his friend's fawning expression, a hint of amusement appearing on his face.

Her name is Wang Lan. She is the sports committee member of the class next door and the president of the Supernatural Research Club. She is a well-known "tomboy" in the school.

It is said that she has also learned martial arts, and many boys are no match for her.

"President, Vice President, the detector has been tested and ready."

Behind Wang Lan, a girl with a ponytail and wearing a plain long dress was carefully fiddling with a metal device about the size of her palm.

Her face was slightly pale, but her eyes were unusually focused:
"I tuned the detector's magnetic field frequency to a special channel, so it will sound an alarm whenever an unusual energy body, like a ghost, gets close."

As she spoke, she took out several brightly colored and exaggeratedly shaped water guns from her schoolbag and handed them to everyone:

"The weapons are also ready. This contains talisman water offered at my mother's shrine, which is said to be very effective against evil spirits."

Her name is Lin Xue, and she is the strategist in the gang.

Her mother was a locally renowned witch, and she had been exposed to such things since childhood, making her quite professional in this area.

At this moment, a chubby boy next to him also came over, chewing on potato chips and mumbling:

"Don't worry, the president is very strong. Most ghosts and monsters can't get close to her. I also brought chocolate, beef jerky, and energy bars, so there will definitely be enough to replenish her energy."

"Li Dazhuang, you brought so much food. Are you treating this expedition like an autumn picnic? Aren't you afraid of stuffing yourself to death?"

Wang Lan, however, didn't hold back in her criticism.
The fat man just chuckled, scratched his head, and didn't dare to refute.

Fang Cheng stood at the end of the line, his gaze sweeping over the group of people.

A hot-tempered female president, a bespectacled man who talks a lot but is actually cowardly, a eccentric shrine maiden, and a fat guy who treats adventure like a picnic.

He shook his head inwardly, sighing inwardly.
If we really encounter any ghosts or monsters, can we rely on them?
Wang Lan seemed to enjoy leading the expedition; she waved her hand dismissively:
"Alright, stop standing there like an idiot at the door, let's go in and take a look."

One by one, everyone squeezed through the door crack, which was more than half a meter wide.

As you pass through the creaking iron gate, the light inside the water plant suddenly dims.

The air was much colder than outside, and a smell mixed with rust, engine oil, and decay wafted straight into my nostrils.

The factory building is spacious, and many of the machines inside are rusty, like steel behemoths that have been sleeping for decades.

The pipes crisscrossed, stretching into the darkness.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of dust and debris. Each step produced a soft, crunching sound that echoed through the empty factory, adding to the eeriness of the place.

Everyone looked around, searching everywhere, a strange mix of nervousness and excitement rising in their hearts.

"This water plant has been abandoned for over twenty years. It used to supply water to the entire city. It's said that there's an underground river here with exceptionally good water quality. But the government abandoned it because of water pollution."

Wang Lan made introductions as she walked:

"However, in the last year or two, some strange rumors have started circulating here..."

She lowered her voice, feigning mystery, and said:
"Some people say they can hear the sound of machines running in the abandoned pump house at night, and others say they have seen a dark figure wandering aimlessly in the factory area."

“A security guard once came here on night patrol and saw the dark figure with his own eyes. After he came back, he fell seriously ill and had to stay in bed for half a month to recover.”

Everyone stared intently at her:
"and then?"

"Then……"

Wang Lan cleared her throat, her tone becoming even more sinister:

"When the security guard woke up, he only remembered one sentence: 'It was right behind you, watching you!'"

"what!"

Zhou Ming was so frightened that his body trembled violently, and the potato chips in Li Dazhuang's hand immediately fell to the ground.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing their cowardly behavior, Wang Lan couldn't help but burst into laughter:

"Cowards, you guys are supposed to be boys, this is nothing."

As she spoke, she turned her gaze to Fang Cheng.

Fang Cheng's expression was calm, even thoughtful, with no fear in his eyes.

A hint of surprise flashed in Wang Lan's eyes. This fair-skinned and slender boy was not as simple as he appeared on the surface.

"Alright, this place is too big. To improve efficiency, let's split up now."

As the president, she looked around and made her arrangements decisively:
"Zhou Ming, you and Fang Cheng are in a group and will be responsible for the reservoir area on the left."

"Lin Xue, you, Fatty, and I will form a group and be in charge of the purification equipment area on the right."

"Each group has one detector and two water guns. If anything happens, shout loudly immediately."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ming's eyes lit up, and he eagerly sidled up to Wang Lan.
"President, how about I team up with you? I'm experienced and can protect you."

Wang Lan rolled her eyes at him and refused without any politeness:
"Come on, with your mediocre skills, who can you protect? You'd be better off with Fang Cheng, taking good care of our new members and not causing me any trouble."

Zhou Ming immediately followed Fang Cheng dejectedly, like a defeated rooster.

After distributing the equipment and explaining the precautions for the operation, everyone went their separate ways.

Fang Cheng took the water gun, and the light, airy feel in his hand made him feel a sense of absurdity.

Can this so-called talisman water really deal with that kind of thing?

He and Zhou Ming walked one after the other along the left-hand passage, carefully heading deeper into the factory.

The cement ground underfoot was covered with cracks, and in many places, lush green moss had grown.

Thick cobwebs hung from the concrete beams overhead, and an indescribable musty smell permeated the air.

The detector screen in Zhou Ming's hand flashed green and emitted a faint beeping sound.

Everything seemed normal.

"Zhou Ming, do you like Wang Lan?"

Fang Cheng suddenly spoke, his voice echoing softly in the empty factory.

Zhou Ming slipped and almost fell, his face instantly turning a deep purplish-red:
"What nonsense are you talking about! I... I just admire the club president. It's admirable that a girl can be so brave and fearless. I should learn from her."

She stubbornly argued back, but dared not look at Fang Cheng; her ears were already bright red.

Fang Cheng chuckled lightly, didn't press further, and changed the subject:

"By the way, have you actually seen that kind of dark shadow you told me about at school?"

Zhou Ming visibly breathed a sigh of relief and resumed his usual eloquent manner:

"I didn't see it myself; my uncle saw it with his own eyes." "Like the story Wang Lan told?"

Fang Cheng pressed for an answer.

"almost."

Zhou Ming nodded, his tone becoming more serious:

“My uncle used to serve in the army on the frontier. Once, he was on guard duty at the outpost late at night. Outside was the desolate Gobi Desert, and you could see snow-capped mountains in the distance.”

"That day, he had just finished his shift and was about to rest when he saw a dark shadow seeping in through the crack in the door."

"The shadow writhed eerily, without a physical form, yet it seemed to have long limbs, sometimes twisting into strange shapes, and sometimes rapidly shrinking into a ball."

"What's most chilling is that his head has no facial features, only two eerie red lights flickering in the darkness, like a pair of malicious eyes staring at Uncle."

"My uncle was so frightened that his whole body stiffened. He instinctively grabbed his sidearm and pulled the trigger, only to find that the bullet had no effect after passing through the dark shadow."

"The shadow slid silently along the wall, drifting straight toward him, and the air instantly turned icy cold."

"My uncle was terrified at the time. Fortunately, the shadowy figure did not seem to have any intention of killing him. He was just unconscious for several days before waking up."

"Ever since that incident, my uncle was forced to retire and became a different person. He talks incoherently all day long, saying things that no one can understand."

"But he told me that he saw things that shouldn't exist in this world."

Zhou Ming raised his voice, his tone carrying a hint of longing:

"It was because of this incident that I became interested in the supernatural and wanted to uncover the secrets of this world!"

His eyes sparkled, like an explorer shouldering a great mission.

As Fang Cheng listened to Zhou Ming's excited account, his heart grew heavier.

After a moment of silence, he tentatively asked:

"Did your uncle... ever tell you that he also saw black rain?"

Zhou Ming was stunned for a moment, a look of surprise on his face:
"Black Rain? How did you know?"

“My uncle did mention it; he said that it rained black that night.”

"But when I asked him for details, he couldn't give me any specifics, he just said it was disgusting and smelly."

"I've never seen black rain before, Fang Cheng. Have you seen it too?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng's heart sank.

Zhou Ming had never seen Black Rain, but his uncle had, and he himself had witnessed it firsthand.

The redness and swelling on the back of his hand had not yet completely subsided; these were traces left by the corrosion from the black rain.

Could it be that... only a select few can see these things that shouldn't exist?
For example, myself, and Zhou Ming's uncle?
Just then, a terrified scream suddenly came from afar, interrupting Ke Fangcheng's thoughts.

"what--"

"That's Wang Lan's voice! Something's happened to them!"

Zhou Ming's face turned pale, and he immediately raised the water gun and shouted:
"Quick, let's go take a look!"

Fang Cheng also rushed towards the direction from which the sound came, feeling both uneasy and quite expectant.

The feeling of personally encountering supernatural phenomena is more real than any story or rumor.

This further convinced him that he was getting closer to some truth.

The two men passed through a partially collapsed wall and rushed into another area.

This is the pump house of the water plant, where several huge water pumps lie on the ground like rusty giant beetles.

Wang Lan and Lin Xue leaned against a wall, looking very nervous.

The detector in my hand emitted a piercing "beep" sound at an alarming frequency.

The urgent chirping indicated that something strong was happening nearby.

"what happened?"

Zhou Ming rushed forward and asked urgently.

Wang Lan's eyes were fixed on a corner.

She raised the water gun with her left hand and clenched her right fist, assuming a fighting stance ready to strike at any moment.

"See that? The ghost is right there!"

Wang Lan pointed into the depths of darkness, her voice trembling slightly, yet suppressing her excitement.

Fang Cheng and Zhou Ming looked in the direction Wang Lan was pointing.

In the darkness, there was indeed a distorted shadow, indistinct and vague, as if it were peeling off from the wall.

"Quick, spray it with the gun!"

Zhou Ming shouted and took the lead, raising the talisman water gun and pulling the trigger.

"Wow—"

A white jet of water shot precisely at the dark figure.

However, the shadowy figure was struck by the talisman water, but nothing changed.

The detector's alarm continued, so shrill it almost pierced eardrums.

Wang Lan, thinking that she was not energetic enough, quickly raised the water gun and sprayed it fiercely at the dark figure.

"Wait a moment!"

Fang Cheng suddenly felt something was wrong.

The dark figure was so quiet, so still, that it didn't move an inch.

He squinted, took a few steps forward, and finally saw the so-called "shadow" clearly.

It was clearly just a few tattered pieces of canvas hanging on a pipe, and the dim lighting made Wang Lan and the others mistake it for something else.

Fang Cheng reached out and ripped the cloth off.

Needless to say, everyone saw it clearly at this moment.

"What about this one?"

Lin Xue raised the detector in her hand; the indicator light on the screen was still flashing rapidly, and the piercing alarm was still ringing incessantly.

Fang Cheng's gaze swept over the surrounding water pumps, and he slowly explained:
"These old-fashioned water pumps all contain large permanent magnets, which can easily interfere with highly sensitive detection instruments like yours."

"Forehead……"

Wang Lan awkwardly lowered her arm, her cheeks flushed.

"It seems I was mistaken; the main problem is that the place is too dark."

Zhou Ming burst into laughter, all his earlier tension vanishing instantly.

"I knew it! It's not that easy to find the real thing!"

Lin Xue breathed a sigh of relief and temporarily shut down the detector.

Just as everyone was relaxing and laughing, Fang Cheng suddenly realized that someone was missing.

"Where's Fatty?"

Everyone then suddenly realized that Li Dazhuang was missing.

"He said he was going to pee, why hasn't he come back yet?"

Wang Lan said in confusion.

Could something really have happened?
Everyone's hearts tightened, and they quickly turned back, searching everywhere for Li Dazhuang's whereabouts. (End of Chapter)