This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

Zhang Chen's words were like a key, inserted into the lock of the real world.

With a gentle twist.

The whole world began to fall apart.

The scene before Wang Xiaoer's eyes distorted violently, like a photograph being thrown into a fire.

The warm pink wallpaper has curled and faded, revealing the mottled gray-white wall underneath.

The soft cartoon bed and exquisite furniture faded and disappeared like a mirage, turning into nothingness.

The crystal chandelier overhead went out, replaced by several fluorescent tubes covered in cobwebs, casting a pale and cold light.

The solid wood flooring under my feet melted, turning into cold, rough cement.

In the blink of an eye, the beautifully decorated apartment room disappeared.

Instead, there was a huge, empty, dilapidated room filled with echoes.

In the corner, there was a pile of dusty plastic slides and rocking horses, and the walls were covered with faded cartoon stickers.

This is a classroom in a kindergarten.

A gray-white classroom that has been abandoned for who knows how many years.

"This..." Wang Xiaoer opened his mouth wide, somewhat dazed.

Before he could finish speaking, he saw the children.

The glass marbles inside the tin box shattered one by one, turning into specks of light.

Countless translucent children's figures floated out from the points of light and merged into this gray space.

They wore all sorts of old clothes, with innocent smiles on their faces, and ran, chased, and played happily in this empty "classroom".

A little girl with pigtails walked smiling through a worn-out school desk.

A little boy in overalls chuckled as he sank into the concrete, only to pop up again from the other side.

They were completely oblivious to Zhang Chen and Wang Xiaoer, utterly absorbed in their own world.

The sharp, eerie laughter disappeared, replaced by the pure, joyful sounds of children.

But the laughter echoing in the deathly silent, gray space carried an indescribable sense of desolation.

"This is an illusory space constructed by their obsession."

Zhang Chen's voice rang out from the side, as calm as if he were introducing a tourist attraction.

"Only when they are here can they let go of all their resentment and return to their most innocent selves."

He turned to look at Wang Xiaoer, a relaxed smile on his face.

"Now, it's our turn."

"Us?" Wang Xiaoer was still a little confused.

"Yes, us." Zhang Chen cracked his knuckles. "Let's join this game."

He pointed to the figures of children chasing and playing.

The game is called Hide and Seek.

"The rules are simple: the two of us will be the 'ghosts' and try to catch them."

Zhang Chen's eyes turned serious.

"Remember, each one you grasp means a soul has achieved true liberation."

Looking at the semi-transparent figures running around, Wang Xiaoer's heart started pounding uncontrollably as he experienced such a scene for the first time.

Playing hide-and-seek with ghosts?

Who would believe that if I told them that?

"Don't be nervous." Zhang Chen patted his shoulder with a steady pat. "Relax, just think of it as playing with a group of kids who have no one to play with."

"Don't you feel sorry for them? This is the best way to help them."

After saying that, Zhang Chen took a deep breath and clapped his hands sharply.

"Snapped!"

The crisp sound echoed in the empty classroom.

"Game, start!"

The moment the words were spoken, the children who had been playing by themselves all stopped abruptly.

They turned their heads together, their empty gazes focusing on Zhang Chen and Wang Xiaoer for the first time.

Immediately afterwards, excited smiles appeared on their faces, they cheered, and then with a "boom," they scattered and fled.

Some burrowed into the walls, some hid under the table, and some simply vanished in a wisp of smoke.

The huge classroom instantly became empty.

Wang Xiaoer swallowed hard, feeling his palms were sweaty.

"Brother Chen, how...how do we catch this?"

Zhang Chen laughed.

"Use your most primitive method."

Before he finished speaking, he had already shot off like an arrow.

His target was the little girl with pigtails who had just hidden in the corner.

Zhang Chen moved with incredible speed, reaching the wall in just a few steps without pausing. He raised his right hand in a sword-finger gesture and began chanting rapidly.

"Heaven and earth are boundless, the universe borrows its power, withdraw!"

A faint golden light shone from his fingertips, and without hesitation, he probed into the gray-white wall.

Just like reaching into water, half of his arm was submerged in the wall.

"whee……"

The sound of a little girl's laughter came from inside the wall.

The next second, Zhang Chen flipped his wrist and suddenly pulled his hand out.

In his hand, he was grasping the illusory image of the translucent little girl with pigtails.

The little girl struggled in his hands for a moment, seemingly unwilling, but quickly quieted down.

She looked up at Zhang Chen, her face showing no fear, but rather a pure smile tinged with gratitude.

"Thank you, big brother."

A childish voice rang out, and then her body transformed into countless gentle specks of light, slowly dissipating into the air.

Wang Xiaoer was stunned.

Is that all?

"What are you all standing there for?" Zhang Chen's voice came. "Time is limited, and the space created by obsession won't last long."

"good!"

Wang Xiaoer came to his senses and, following Zhang Chen's example, began searching the classroom.

His "spiritual vision" allows him to clearly see the outlines of those spirits.

He quickly found a target.

A boy wearing a blue vest was hiding under a broken table, only peeking out with half his head sticking out.

Wang Xiaoer was overjoyed, and he tiptoed forward.

"Got you!"

He yelled and reached under the table with both hands.

However, his hand reached for nothing, passing directly through the boy's body.

The boy's phantom flickered, like a reflection in water, then chuckled, sank into the ground, and disappeared.

"Wow!"

Wang Xiaoer missed his target and almost swallowed a mouthful of cement dust.

Undeterred, he stood up again and quickly locked onto his second target.

A little girl in a princess dress is floating in mid-air, hiding herself behind a fluorescent light tube.

"Let's see where you run this time!"

Wang Xiaoer took a few steps back, took a running start, and suddenly jumped up, reaching out to grab it.

His fingertips touched the little girl, but passed right through her again without any resistance.

The girl's illusory image rippled across his fingertips before he smiled and floated into the ceiling.

"..."

Wang Xiaoer fell heavily to the ground, his buttocks almost bleeding.

For the rest of the time, he was like a headless fly.

He could see them, but he could never touch them.

Although the children's figures looked innocent and naive, their actions were unusually strange.

They sometimes pass through walls, sometimes burrow underground; they are as slippery as eels and impossible to catch.

Wang Xiaoer was panting heavily and covered in sweat, but he hadn't even touched the hem of a ghost's clothes.

On the other hand, Zhang Chen had already captured four or five people with ease.

For every child he caught, a grateful smile appeared on his face before he vanished in a speck of light.

Looking at Zhang Chen and then at himself, Wang Xiaoer felt a strong sense of defeat.

He's so useless.

As the number of people in the classroom dwindled, he became so anxious that his eyes turned red.

Just then, Zhang Chen's voice came from not far away, with a hint of laughter.

"You idiot!"

He easily dodged a little boy who crawled out from underground and tried to trip him, while shouting to Wang Xiaoer.

"Don't just look with your eyes, feel with your heart!"

"Forget you're here to catch ghosts; imagine you're their playmate!"

Try to feel it with your heart?

As their playmates?

Wang Xiaoer stood there, pondering those words over and over.

What does that mean?

He closed his eyes and tried to feel it.

All around was silent, with only faint echoes.

He can't feel anything.

"You're kidding!"

Wang Xiaoer opened his eyes in frustration and threw himself back into this doomed pursuit.

He became more impatient and his actions became more reckless.

He saw a figure hiding behind the slide and rushed over without thinking.

Just as he was at his wit's end, he tripped over something.

The thing was icy cold and soft, like an invisible hand gripping his ankle.

Caught off guard, Wang Xiaoer lost his balance and fell straight forward.

"We're doomed!"

Only those two words remained in his mind.

Just before his face was about to make intimate contact with the concrete, he instinctively closed his eyes.

The expected excruciating pain did not come.

The world fell into an eerie silence.

Wang Xiaoer felt as if he were floating in warm water, his body light and airy.

He cautiously opened his eyes again.

The world before my eyes has changed again.