However, when they found the person, his expression changed
drastically upon hearing that it was related to the incident that happened
thirteen years. He immediately wanted to drive the two individuals away, no
matter what they said.
Clearly, being soft wasn’t going to work, so the two players
resorted to a direct approach. The short-haired player placed a knife against
the man’s neck, his tone full of threats. “We don’t want to make things
difficult for you, but this matter is really important to us.”
The man’s expression changed slightly, but he remained
tight-lipped, unwilling to utter a word.
Li Shuyang couldn’t be bothered to waste time with the man
and directly took out a talisman, sticking it into the man’s body.
The short-haired player glanced at the talisman and looked at
Li Shuyang in shock, saying, “Is this... a Truth-Telling Talisman?”
This thing cost several hundred points! And it’s a disposable
item!
After all, this item could be used on NPCs, and if used on a
key NPC, it might even lead to an instant clearance.
Was Li Shuyang really that wealthy!?
As the same intermediate players, why was there such a huge
difference in status!?
The short-haired player fell into silence, looking at his
meager few hundred points.
After the man was marked with the Truth-Telling Talisman, his
eyes became vacant, and he slowly began to reveal what had happened thirteen
years ago.
It all started with a student who skipped a grade.
Class 1-1 was already a top-tier class, with good grades and
backgrounds. They got along relatively harmoniously.
But one day, a male student who had skipped a grade
transferred in. He was exceptionally intelligent, effortlessly surpassing all
the students in Class 1-1, scoring results that were beyond everyone’s reach.
The level of intelligence of that student shocked even the
teachers.
However, that student had a peculiar and unlikeable
temperament. He had a perpetually gloomy expression, as if everyone owed him
something, despite having an unmatched talent for learning.
Being both unlikeable and enviable, it eventually led to a
catastrophe.
One morning, a classmate discovered that the transfer student
had died in the classroom. The school suppressed the news.
A few days later, the entire Class 1-1 was engulfed in a massive
fire. None of the 52 students, as well as the homeroom teacher, survived.
The news couldn’t be suppressed any longer. The police came
numerous times, but they couldn’t find any leads. Everyone said it was the
ghost of the transfer student who had come back from hell for revenge.
After this incident, almost half of the school staff were
fired and replaced by new employees. Under the manipulation of certain
individuals, the incident gradually got buried.
At first, some people occasionally mentioned this incident to
others, but soon after, they would unexpectedly die. Everyone said it was a
curse from the transfer student.
The short-haired player spoke urgently, “What’s the name of
this transfer student?”
“Song... Song...”
However, before the man could finish, blood started oozing
from his eyes and mouth, followed by his nose and ears.
In just a few moments, the man stopped breathing.
It was exactly like what happened to Xia Baiyi before.
The two of them took a few steps back, avoiding the dark red
bloodstains that seemed to come alive.
The short-haired player frowned, as if speaking about
anything related to that entity would result in immediate death.
Was this the curse?
Once again, the lead was cut off, and there was no need to
find other staff members because the situation was surely no different from the
present.
At least now they knew it was caused by the transfer student
surnamed Song.
The short-haired player shared the clues they obtained in the
players’ group chat, and everyone immediately retreated from searching for
other staff members upon seeing it.
Clearly, the most important thing now was this “transfer
student”.
The surname Song wasn’t uncommon. In the entire First High
School, there were probably dozens of students with that surname alone.
Furthermore, there was currently no way to check the class
roster because this transfer student didn’t join at the beginning of the school
year but came halfway through. It’s likely that his name wasn’t even on the
school’s enrollment list.
That’s why his name was not in the roster for Class 1-1.
Players in the group looked at the clues they already had and
started analyzing the situation.
[Song, this surname is very common, but don’t you find it
subtle?]
The short-haired player immediately asked in the group, [Why
subtle?]
[Do you remember that guy named Song Yu? He also secured the
top position in the grade with overwhelming scores. Even wealthy young masters
like Xiao Shiyi couldn’t surpass him. Moreover, due to his peculiar nature, I
specifically investigated him. He doesn’t study much, only shows up for classes
on time, and is hardly seen after school.]
[Indeed, I looked into him as well. The only impression
classmates have of him is being the top student in the grade. He won’t utter a
word even if he’s bullied, and he always keeps to himself.]
[And he always has a pale face, looking like he’s not even
human.]
[What if... he’s the transfer student from thirteen years
ago?]
There were cases where ghosts possessed human bodies or
disguised themselves as humans among the crowd, after all. After this
statement, the group chat fell into silence. There’s only one chance to submit
an answer, and without solid evidence, nobody dared to submit.
But everyone remembered the name Song Yu, as it could be a
bet to save their lives if they encountered any inescapable danger.
[Let’s investigate further. Xiao Shiyi obtained the
blueprints from the school bully. We can duplicate the key and check the
principal’s office later.]
[Right, I informed Xiao Shiyi about the transfer student with
the surname Song. He should pass on the information to the school bully.]
The short-haired player was puzzled, [Why tell him? Are we
trying to make use of the Su family’s influence to investigate? But I doubt it
will yield any results.]
[Can any of you count the exact number of 52 students in the
class within three seconds or while being terrified?]
The short-haired player thought for a moment, but he...
couldn’t do it.
Even though he had already gone through several instances,
and his ability to handle pressure had improved to some extent, he still
couldn’t do it.
When he saw his classmate’s head being torn off for the first
time, his mind went blank for about three seconds due to fear.
If he remembered correctly, when the first two classmates
were torn apart, the school bully, Su Qing, didn’t even see it. In other words,
it was the first time he saw a classmate’s head being torn off when he turned
around.
Moreover, it took him only about three seconds to turn his
gaze from the back of the classroom to look around, and in that situation, he
was still able to count the 52 classmates in the class...
Looking at it this way, this school bully also had a big
problem.
The next second, other players voiced the thoughts of the
short-haired player.
[From this perspective, this school bully, Su Qing, seems
quite suspicious. Could he be... ‘It’? After all, it would already be
commendable for an arrogant young master to not scream and pass out upon seeing
a decapitated head. How could he still count the number of people?]
[Moreover, the way those ghosts treat him is completely
different. Initially, only his white candle didn’t extinguish, and he was the
only one who didn’t die for breaking the rules. He also led us to the archive
room.]
[Even the mirrors in the classroom were discovered by him.]
The short-haired player paused and replied in the group with
three words, [He is not.]
[Where is the evidence? Where is the analysis? Just three
words, “He is not”? That’s too arbitrary. I think this school bully is the most
suspicious in this instance.]
[I heard that demons can disguise themselves in beautiful
forms just to deceive people. I bet this Su Qing is probably the main boss of
this instance.]
The short-haired player couldn’t be bothered to argue with
that player and typed directly, [Then write down the name Su Qing and fill it
in when you die.]
If the school bully was the boss of the instance, would he
also manipulate the average score of that exam?
You see, the more deaths there were, the better it was for
the instance boss. Many restrictions on the instance boss could only be lifted
by sacrificing lives.
The short-haired player couldn’t be bothered to argue with
players who couldn’t think clearly, so he went directly to find Xiao Shiyi, who
had the blueprints.
The blueprints were in proportionate sizes. They went
straight to a shop to have all the keys custom-made because there were quite a
few keys. It took them nearly an hour.
After the keys were custom made, they headed towards the
principal’s office.
***
On the other hand, Ruan Qing slept straight through until the
evening, and it wasn’t a natural awakening. A knocking sound awakened him.
As soon as the knocking sound rang, Ruan Qing instantly
opened his eyes and instinctively scanned his surroundings. There was nothing
unusual, except that the sudden exposure to the room’s light made his eyes
uncomfortable.
Ruan Qing sat up and rubbed his temples. How could he sleep
so deeply when he was alone?
Did... Su Zhiwei do something to him? Or was he just too
exhausted?
The knocking sound resounded again, accompanied by Su
Zhiwei’s voice, “Little ancestor, are you awake? It’s time for dinner.”
Ruan Qing’s hand paused. Dinner?
Because of the curtains in this room, it was relatively dim,
and the light in the room had been on since Ruan Qing entered, so he couldn’t
tell if it was day or night.
Ruan Qing picked up his phone and checked the time. It was
already... half-past seven in the evening.
Ruan Qing was now certain that Su Zhiwei did something to
him.
Under normal circumstances, he would never have deep sleep
for more than five hours, even more so in a highly vigilant state, he would be
lucky to have ten minutes of deep sleep.
But he had slept for several hours straight.
Probably because Ruan Qing didn’t respond after the second
knock, Su Zhiwei opened the door directly. He saw that Ruan Qing was already
sitting up and smiled. “Awake? Do you want Uncle to carry you downstairs?”
Su Zhiwei said, genuinely wanting to lift Ruan Qing.
Ruan Qing avoided his hand, got out of bed, and left the room
without looking back.
The table downstairs has already been set with food, and it
looks very tempting.
Ruan Qing walked downstairs slowly, followed closely by Su
Zhiwei. When Ruan Qing reached the table, Su Zhiwei politely pulled out a chair
for Ruan Qing.
Ruan Qing sat down without hesitation and picked up the
cutlery to start eating.
Su Zhiwei used a chopstick to pick up a dish for Ruan Qing.
“Try this. Is it delicious?”
When Ruan Qing took the first bite, he noticed that the taste
of the dish was different from what he had eaten before. It seemed that Su
Zhiwei had prepared this table.
Ruan Qing paused for a moment but continued eating. After
all, if Su Zhiwei wanted to drug him, he could do it with any dish. Besides,
Ruan Qing didn’t think there was a need for him to be drugged.
Using Su Father and Mother to threaten the original owner,
the original owner had no choice but to comply.
Su Zhiwei didn’t mind Ruan Qing’s disregard, nor did he
continuously stare at him. Instead, he picked up his chopsticks and started
eating together, making Ruan Qing feel comfortable.
Only after Ruan Qing finished eating did Su Zhiwei put down
his chopsticks, elegantly wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin, and
looked at Ruan Qing.
“Older brother and sister-in-law are not around lately, so...
how about Uncle moving in to accompany you?”
