Ruan Qing remembered what ‘Xia Baiyi’ said during the day,
that if one received a blessing, they would become very intelligent and almost
always score full marks on exams.
Could a person suddenly become very intelligent overnight?
Ruan Qing thought it was impossible.
Whether a person’s brain was intelligent or not was
determined by genetics and brain development. Perhaps the environment could
influence intelligence to some extent, but it was not possible to suddenly
become intelligent.
The feeling of becoming smarter was often attributed to the
gradual accumulation, subtle influences, and sudden improvement in
comprehension. However, in reality, it was merely the outcome of one’s own
diligent efforts.
But in the case of ‘seeking blessings’, as described in the
legend, it’s completely different. In this legend, it didn’t matter what one’s
intelligence was before or how much effort one put into studying; obtaining
blessings directly resulted in being smart enough to become the top scorer in
the provincial exams.
This was impossible unless...
Unless... a person had already been replaced.
Just like ‘Xia Baiyi.’
No, Ruan Qing didn’t notice how much smarter ‘Xia Baiyi’ was
compared to the Xia Baiyi in his memory.
Moreover, ‘Xia Baiyi’ was replaced by a monster after going
to the toilet, and it was broad daylight. It’s clearly unrelated to this
midnight twelve o’clock blessing.
One was a monster in the mirror, with a body that was not
human, while the other was most likely just possessed by some entity but still
had a human body. They should not be the same situation.
But... why did she want him to seek blessings?
Ruan Qing didn’t believe that she simply accompanied him out
of curiosity about the midnight twelve o’clock legend. Obviously, she had a
clear objective in wanting him to come.
If she wanted to kill him, there would be no need to deceive
him into coming here. She could just find him alone, which would be more than
enough. It’s completely unnecessary.
Yet, she insisted on him coming.
It’s strange.
Could there be some connection between the monster in the
mirror and seeking blessings at midnight twelve o’clock?
Mirror...
Ruan Qing looked around. Class 1-1 didn’t have any mirrors,
and they were sitting far away from the windows. The light from the white
candles was not strong enough to reflect their appearance on the windows.
Ruan Qing’s gaze settled on his shadow reflected on the wall.
Shadow shouldn’t be considered a reflection, right...?
Xiao Shiyi had no idea what Ruan Qing was thinking. After
listening to Ruan Qing’s words, he nodded and said, “Yes, three minutes is not
enough time to leave the school.”
“So it’s best to protect our own candles and not let them be
extinguished.”
Ruan Qing remained silent, withdrawing his gaze and quietly
watching his own candle.
The white candle burned slowly. Since it was of the usual
size, it’s estimated to burn for about two hours.
Mo Ran, standing beside them, didn’t speak. His face carried
a hint of indifference, and he even began to play with his own candle. His
posture indicated that he had no fear of the candle going out, as if he didn’t
care at all about this unscientific legend.
Mo Ran’s candle held up surprisingly well, not extinguishing
even when he spun it like a pen.
However, if someone paid close attention, they would notice
that although Mo Ran seemed unconcerned about his own candle, he constantly
kept an eye on Ruan Qing’s candle from the corner of his eye.
Even Xiao Shiyi did the same. While casually observing the
front row where Xia Baiyi and Li Shuyang were sitting, he occasionally glanced
at Ruan Qing’s candle.
Xia Baiyi, who was usually lively, didn’t speak to Ruan Qing,
whether out of fear or nervousness. She kept her head down, lost in her
thoughts.
As for Li Shuyang, he had been watching Ruan Qing all along.
When Ruan Qing looked over, he would even give him a shy smile.
Outside the window, it was pitch black, abnormally so. The
candlelight couldn’t illuminate anything, as if the entire classroom was an
isolated island, disconnected from the outside world.
At that moment, many people felt as if the classroom had
become distorted. Their shadows on the wall swayed with the flickering candle
flames, appearing strange and terrifying.
As the top high school in the province, the First High School
had clocks in the classrooms, ensuring that the concept of time was not lost to
the people inside.
And those clocks were not electronic ones; they were analog
clocks with hour and minute hands. Every small tick of the second hand would
produce a “click” sound.
The sound was particularly faint, but at this moment,
everyone could hear it clearly—the “click” sound tightened their hearts. The
rhythm was too frequent, making the people in the classroom even more uneasy.
Even the effects of the previously comforting words started
to fade away. Terror, darkness, and fear slowly breed and spread, generating
all kinds of negative emotions.
Perhaps it was too quiet, as some classmates began whispering
and chatting with each other. Although their voices were kept low, it diluted
the tense atmosphere to some extent.
Unbeknownst to everyone, half an hour had already passed, and
during this time, nothing else happened, and no one’s candle went out again.
Everyone relaxed a little, seemingly realizing that a student
indeed made this blessing legend up in order to do well on the exams.
After all, high school students prioritize their studies, and
the pressure was undoubtedly high. So even though not many of them believed in
superstitious beliefs, they still wanted some good luck.
The ordinary classmates in the classroom relaxed a lot, and
the sound of conversations became lively. The fear from before was gone.
Clack.
A sound interrupted the soft conversations among the
classmates.
A few people looked down at the white candle that had fallen
on the ground and was already extinguished. They glanced at each other, asking,
“Whose is it?”
“It’s mine, mine. I just placed it on the desk. I guess I
couldn’t hold it steady and it fell.” One of the classmates raised his hand,
his expression not as nervous as when the first white candle went out. In fact,
he seemed quite cheerful.
After speaking, he picked up the fallen white candle and
placed it back on the desk.
The second white candle went out, but the other classmates
were no longer as nervous as before. Instead, they jokingly said, “Wow, you’re
really careless. You can forget about becoming smarter now. Just work hard and
don’t get kicked out of the class 1. After all, we’re all going to get
smarter.”
That classmate rolled his eyes and said, “Becoming the top
scorer is not that easy. If getting blessings really worked, all students would
be ranked first, but in the end, someone has to be at the bottom.”
Another classmate laughed out loud, “Hahaha, there’s nothing
wrong with that. Look, tonight it’s probably only your two candles that went
out. Can’t the rest of us receive blessings? But there can only be one top
scorer, right? It’s not like we’re all going to score the same.”
However, right after he finished speaking, his white candle
suddenly went out.
Other students felt uneasy and nervous for unknown reasons.
“Alright, now we have three.” The student shrugged
indifferently, placing the extinguished white candle on the table.
Unfortunately, nobody responded after he finished speaking.
He looked at the silent individuals, assuming they were frightened. He smiled
at them and waved his hand, saying, “Hey, why do you have those expressions?
Don’t be too nervous. I guess it’s because I laughed too loudly and
accidentally blew out the white candle.”
The other students didn’t relax because of his words. When
the white candle went out just now, the flame seemed to tilt... towards the
left.
They were facing the student directly. If it was his own
laughter that accidentally blew out the candle, the flame should have tilted
towards them.
Instead, it tilted towards the left, as if someone was
standing on the right and blowing out the candle.
But there was no one on their right.
When the third white candle went out, the others looked over.
The classroom was mainly divided into three groups. One was
led by Su Qing, the school bully. Another was composed of players, and the last
one consisted of ordinary students.
Among the group of ordinary students, three candles had
already been extinguished, leaving... two candles.
The light in their area was noticeably dimmer compared to the
other two areas.
Their previously relaxed mood started to feel uneasy again
with the third candle going out.
The student who had just dropped the candle on the ground and
watched it went out looked at the candle on his table. It seemed like he
remembered something and stammered, “Did anyone touch the table just now?”
The other students immediately shook their heads, indicating
that they hadn’t touched the table.
The student was on the verge of tears and said, “I just
remembered that I dripped some wax oil before placing the white candle on the
table. After I placed it, I even shook it a bit to make sure the candle
wouldn’t fall.”
After all, they had been quite scared earlier, so everyone
made an effort to protect their candles. It was impossible for him to casually
place it on the table.
So how could it be possible to fall to the ground due to
instability?
After those words from the student, the classroom quieted
down, so quiet that they could hear the ticking sound of the second hand of the
clock once again.
Just when everyone was in a state of nervousness, the candles
in the hands of the other two students went out once more.
This time, it happened without any warning, right in front of
everyone’s eyes, instantly going out.
The five students could no longer remain calm this time. They
screamed in fear. One of them abruptly stood up and even threw the white candle
in their hand to the ground with force.
It was as if that white candle was something ominous.
“I’m done playing! I’m going back to the dorm!” said the
student, full of fear and terror. After speaking, they rushed to the door,
opened it, and ran out.
The remaining four students looked at each other with fear.
After swallowing hard, they said a word to Xiao Shiyi and eventually left the
classroom as well.
The extinguishing of the five candles made the atmosphere in
the classroom even more eerie, but those who remained were not ordinary
students.
Only Ruan Qing felt that there was not much difference between
himself and those ordinary students.
Now, those who stayed in the classroom were either players or
special NPCs like Mo Ran and Xiao Shiyi, or entities like ‘Xia Baiyi’.
He was the only one who was just ordinary.
Ruan Qing tightly held his phone, feeling uneasy. He
constantly reassured himself that everything would be fine.
However, the next moment of upheaval occurred. Xia Baiyi’s
candle... went out.
She let out a frightened scream, abruptly stood up, and
because she was sitting too close, she collided directly with the desk in front
of her.
The desk tilted sharply towards Ruan Qing due to the impact,
and Xia Baiyi, in fear that the desk would hit Ruan Qing, grabbed it and
forcefully pulled it towards her side.
As a result, the white candle belonging to Ruan Qing on the
desk dropped directly because of her actions.
Moreover, it fell towards Xia Baiyi’s side, making it
impossible for the person on this side of the desk to catch the white candle.
Ruan Qing’s pupils contracted, his eyes widened, and his heart
was instantly gripped with fear.
The white candle slowly fell, and at this moment, time seemed
to slow down.
Ruan Qing could only watch helplessly as the white candle
fell, and in that moment, he became acutely aware of one thing.
His white candle... would be extinguished...
