Chapter 14: The Eerie Parchment
Without any forewarning, Jing found himself in a state of shock when Miles abruptly terminated their call, giving him no room to argue or plead.
His strategy had been to delay Miles, to buy himself enough time to safely escape from the school. Once he was at a secure distance, he had planned to decisively sever ties with Miles, steadfastly refusing to surrender the piece of parchment. However, the unexpected decisiveness of Miles’s action had catapulted him into a state of confusion and panic.
To add to his already escalating fear, the sound of footsteps resumed behind him. The guidance that Miles had previously given had only offered a temporary reprieve from his ghostly pursuer.
“What do I do now? What do I do?” Jing found himself floundering in terror. Driven by fear, he instinctively broke into a run, hoping to create a safe distance between himself and the persistently approaching footsteps.
His attempts, however, were futile. The footsteps were drawing inexorably closer, and the surrounding darkness appeared to thicken, ominously threatening to engulf him entirely.
“I can’t just die here. I need to hand over the parchment,” Jing resolved. “Miles was correct. If I die, having knowledge of the future won’t serve me any purpose. After getting a general understanding of upcoming events, the parchment isn’t as valuable as I initially thought.”
Under the imminent threat of death, nothing could be deemed irreplaceable.
With hands trembling from fear, Jing managed to redial Miles’s number.
Upon connection of the call, he blurted out without waiting for a response, “I will surrender the parchment to you as long as you assure me that you will get me out of this predicament.”