29 Menggui High School (29)

I'll leave my student with you for a while.

His response in the morning was to use a rhetorical question to threaten the group of children into studying harder.

But now, his answer is neither evasive nor dodging: "No."

After he finished speaking, the dormitory returned to silence.

In the pitch-black darkness, Xie Yunhuai stared blankly at the ceiling.

Qin Fu'an will not stay at this school forever; even if he becomes a teacher there, he will leave.

The other party seems very determined about the future and has somewhere to go.

What about yourself?

Having been trapped in a cycle of reincarnation for so long, I've finally seen a glimmer of hope to break free from this quagmire. So, where should I go after leaving here?

Xie Yunhuai didn't know. He thought that perhaps completing the college entrance examination was just a beautiful illusion. Maybe even after taking the college entrance examination, when he opened his eyes again, he would still be wearing his school uniform and sitting in that classroom again.

Qin Fu'an didn't delve into what the 18-year-old was thinking. His mind was still replaying the scenes from the past two days, trying to find a trace of something that had been overlooked.

I remember the first page listed the requirement for passing the test: a graduation certificate.

It is known that one must take the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) to obtain a graduation certificate.

Two days have passed, and there are only three days left until the college entrance examination.

But the next day was Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve, no one was injured or killed. Was it due to the dungeon design, or did something unexpected happen?

Qin Fu'an listed all the points that had puzzled him over the past two days in his mind, and decided to find the answers to these questions as soon as possible during the day tomorrow.

Her pale green eyes slowly closed, and when she opened them again, she found that the world outside the window was still pitch black.

But Qin Fu'an was certain of how long he had slept; it should be the morning of the third day now.

He looked around the dark dormitory, threw back the covers and got up, intending to go to the window to check.

Perhaps the movement of getting up was a bit too abrupt, because soon there was also a commotion on the bed next to me.

Xie Yunhuai opened his eyes groggily, his gaze first landing on a figure getting up and walking towards the window in the dormitory.

Noticing Xie Yunhuai's gaze, Qin Fu'an turned his attention away from outside and looked at him.

"Awake? Do you feel unwell anywhere?" he asked from the window.

Xie Yunhuai shook his head first, then realized that Qin Fu'an might not be able to see it, and answered softly, "No."

He paused for a moment, then got up and walked to the window, asking curiously, "What are you looking at?"

The next second, he saw countless slender, shadowy figures wandering below the dormitory building.

The night was already dark enough, but the blackness on these figures seemed even more intense, as if it were dyed with another color, making them strangely conspicuous in the same darkness.

"...What is this?" His voice was somewhat hoarse.

Qin Fu'an seemed to sense the sudden unease in his heart. Hearing this, he raised his hand to rub the top of his head and said calmly, "Don't be afraid, we'll deal with whatever comes our way."

Xie Yunhuai stared blankly at the wandering shadows downstairs, as if he were witnessing a nightmare from which he could never wake up.

"Let's go out and take a look, and bring our weapons." Qin Fu'an pulled the stunned boy back to the dormitory.

Holding the disassembled steel pipe in his hand, Qin Fu'an listened to the sounds outside the door, then tentatively opened the door a crack.

The shadowy figures wandering the dormitory corridor all turned their heads to look at them at once.

The world was pitch black.

Only deep within those pairs of dark, empty eyes, seemed to hide wisps of faint, scarlet will-o'-the-wisps.

Qin Fu'an was prepared to fight the enemy.

But the shadowy figures merely stared at him silently, none of them rushing forward to attack him.

Qin Fu'an's brows furrowed slowly as he looked at the dark figures and the dormitory doors being pushed open from the inside. He inexplicably recalled the proctor's words from last night: "Tonight is Christmas Eve."

Perhaps the so-called "Christmas Eve" doesn't mean that the evening study session is peaceful, but rather that from the moment it's announced, a long Christmas Eve begins.

In the werewolf game created by humans, Christmas Eve means no one is injured or killed, but there is another possibility: someone dies and is then brought back to life by a prop, so the night is peaceful.

So what kind of Christmas Eve am I facing now?

Qin Fu'an composed himself and tentatively took a step outside.

Behind him, Xie Yunhuai followed closely with the bubble machine, unaware that his own body was undergoing unknown changes in the darkness.

Qin Fu'an stepped out and waited outside the door for a while. The wandering shadows continued to watch him silently, and none of them made any move to attack.

Qin Fu'an's heart sank slightly. He turned around and knocked on the only closed dormitory door in the building.

As soon as the knock was made, a trembling voice came from inside: "B-Boss, is that you knocking?"

Clearly, the two of them had been awake for a while, but they hadn't dared to come out because they noticed something was wrong.

After Qin Fu'an responded, the two cautiously opened a crack in the door to peek out. Once they confirmed that the person standing at the gate was indeed Qin Fu'an, they were as excited as if they had seen a relative and immediately opened the door without hesitation.

"Boss, what's going on here?" Yak asked curiously first, with Bai Song following behind him, wary of the dark figures staring straight at them.

Qin Fu'an shook his head and quickly made a decision while the two waited anxiously.

"Try going down first. If we can't get down, we'll come back. If we do get down, we'll try to contact the other two players."

"What if we can't get in touch?" Bai Song suddenly asked.

Qin Fu'an replied calmly, "Then forget it. If we can live, we will; if we can't, it's fate."

The two: "..."

Well, this answer isn't surprising. Thinking about it, I'm even a little glad that I live on the same floor as this big shot.

Having made his decision, Qin Fu'an didn't delay. He needed to figure out as soon as possible what this long "Christmas Eve" really meant and how to end it.

After a brief conversation, he led Bai Songya and Xie Yunhuai down to the dormitory building.

The group tried to walk through a group of ghostly figures, and Qin Fu'an even tried to touch them.

The result did not surprise him; these shadows were indeed all empty souls, and could not be touched by flesh and blood alone.

Perhaps that's why they weren't attacked.

"Could we try to communicate with them?" Xie Yunhuai asked in a low voice beside Qin Fu'an.

Because he remembered that Qin Fu'an could see and hear the behavior and voice of his own soul, and perhaps the souls of these classmates could also communicate, so that he could quickly find out what happened last night.

Unfortunately, Qin Fu'an shook his head at him.

"Unable to communicate."

He had tried it as soon as he woke up and stood by the window, but the wandering spirits below were all in a daze, their facial features indistinct.

Perhaps they have long forgotten who they are, with no memory, no name, no identity, and naturally, no intelligence to communicate or a clear appearance.

This coincides with the recollections of the school's senior officials that Qin Fu'an recalled last night.

Qin Fu'an led them swiftly through the wandering ghosts and shadows. These ghosts were like strange pollutants; as they passed through their bodies, they were quickly covered in a thick layer of black.

But this was just an illusion. After successfully meeting up with the other two female players downstairs in the dormitory, Chen Qi took out a flashlight and gave one to each of Qin Fu'an and Bai Song.

"I bought it before the game started, because it's not safe to walk alone at night, whether in real life or in the game."

Chen Qi gave a brief explanation.

Qin Fu'an held the flashlight in his hand, and the two quickly integrated the information they currently had about the copy and their guesses about the current situation.

“I think the key point is still that Christmas Eve,” Bai Song said first. “It should be dawn now, but not only is it not dawn, the students in the school are also violating the school rules and wandering around the campus.”

“That’s right. According to the school rules we know, they have long violated the rules. But I’ve observed those dormitory doors, and they all open from the inside. These students must have come out on their own initiative.” Chen Qi nodded in agreement with Bai Song’s idea.

Ark thought for a moment and guessed, "Could it be some kind of curse? Like how they transform at night, these students are like that too. We need to find a way to lift their curse?"

Qin Fu'an did not deny their discussion and conjecture, but still made a decision immediately: "We will split into two teams, one to the teachers' apartment and the other to the teaching building. After checking the situation separately, we will meet up near the cafeteria."

It's uncertain whether any of the ghostly figures are teachers, or whether there will be any changes or clues in the teaching building, so everyone knows that Qin Fu'an's suggestion is correct.

But the question is: how do we divide the teams?

Everyone wants to be on Qin Fu'an's team because he's powerful, and being with him guarantees safety.

However, none of them were the type to immediately express their thoughts and fight for their own interests, so they remained silent and waited for Qin Fu'an to assign teams.

Qin Fu'an saw through their thoughts and without hesitation reached out to pull Xie Yunhuai, who had been quietly following him, aside. He calmly said, "He and I are on one team, and the four of you are on another team."

Before they could ask any more questions, Qin Fu'an solemnly instructed, "Pay close attention to the changes in those ghostly figures around you. Keep an eye on each other's backs. The situation is unclear right now, so cooperation is the only way to find a better chance of survival for each other."

He was used to and even disgusted by the deceit and treachery of humankind, so before leaving, he specifically reminded them: "Always pay attention to your companions, after all, you never know whether the person walking next to you is a human or a monster."

That one sentence gave all four of them goosebumps.

After he left with Xie Yunhuai, Yake suddenly shivered, rubbed the goosebumps off his arms, and asked the other three with tears in his eyes, "Did any of you understand what the boss meant by his last sentence?"

It can't be what I think, right?

No way, no way, in this day and age, there can't still be those little tricks like turning into a human and hiding in a crowd to wait for an opportunity to strike, right?

So the expert was probably just using a metaphor, right?

But this statement couldn't withstand deep thought. The more he thought about it, the more creeped out he felt. After that, the four of them tacitly kept a considerable distance from each other, fearing that one of them might suddenly turn into a monster and attack them.

On the other hand, Qin Fu'an did not immediately lead Xie Yunhuai to the teachers' apartment. Instead, he familiarly grasped the boy's thin wrist and pulled him towards the cafeteria.

"Aren't we going to the teachers' apartment?" Xie Yunhuai was led by him and didn't feel that anything was wrong. He still remembered Qin Fu'an's instructions to divide the group into teams and make arrangements for them.

"I'll go, but you're not."

As soon as Qin Fu'an uttered those words, the boy behind him, whom he was leading forward, suddenly stopped.

Qin Fu'an stopped and turned around.

In the pitch-black night, the boy's slender figure seemed to be stretched out invisibly, making him appear even more thin and fragile.

"Why did you stop?" Qin Fu'an stopped and waited for him.

Upon hearing this, Xie Yunhuai pursed his lips, his eyes fixed intently on Qin Fu'an, who was standing close by, before asking him in a low voice, "Why am I not going? You lied to them."

Why don't I go?

Are you going to abandon us?

[Is it because we're too noisy?]

Did we eat too much? I can eat a little less next time~

[You're a liar, you don't keep your word, you're a bad person!]

[Don't abandon us, he'll starve to death...]

Xie Yunhuai's questions and the murmurs of Xie Yunhuai's spirit entities all flooded into Qin Fu'an's ears, creating a strangely lively atmosphere in the otherwise silent campus, reminiscent of the life of the living.

Qin Fu'an tilted his head and looked at the boy who was standing there with a tense body. The darkness concealed many things that could reveal people's hearts, but Xie Yunhuai could never hide his secrets from Qin Fu'an.

“I don’t want to abandon you.” He took a step forward, leaned closer to Xie Yunhuai, and coaxed him with a light laugh: “Just come with me. Don’t worry, I’m not so bad as to take you to be sold.”

The answer was irrelevant.

But after saying that, Xie Yunhuai obediently let Qin Fu'an lead him forward.

The two walked through countless thin, dark wandering spirits and finally arrived at the only place in the campus with lights on.

"Sir, it's so late, is there anything you need to buy?" The dozing sales clerk woke up instantly upon seeing Qin Fu'an.

Qin Fu'an stepped aside, revealing the boy standing quietly behind him.

"I'll leave my student here with you for a while, and I'll come back to pick him up when it's light." After saying that, Qin Fu'an smiled and asked the clerk, "I just want him to sit here for a bit until it's light. Given our relationship, such a simple storage service shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The sales clerk, who was just about to refuse, was speechless.

Here we go again, all that talk of so-called relationships and interests!

But after mentally complaining, he still nodded with a smile on his face: "Of course, but for a small shop like ours, this kind of special storage service requires collateral."

How could they possibly ask for nothing and offer free storage? Their boss is notoriously stingy!

"Collateral?" Qin Fu'an repeated the word, raising his eyebrows as he asked, "So, can I understand that after accepting the collateral, your supermarket will be fully responsible for his safety during the storage period? And if he gets injured, how do you plan to compensate him?"

Salesperson: "..."

Goodness, I just mentioned the collateral and you immediately asked about the compensation process. You look like a decent person, could you be some kind of fox spirit in disguise?

While inwardly grumbling, it appeared exceptionally proud, patting its chest smugly and saying, "Don't worry, as long as he stays obediently in our supermarket, even if this school is destroyed, I can guarantee his safety!"

Qin Fu'an wasn't surprised by the confident tone of the words; otherwise, he wouldn't have brought Xie Yunhuai here.

However, Qin Fu'an still quickly and meticulously listed the regulations and had the two shop assistants sign two copies of the mortgage contract with him.

If Xie Yunhuai suffers any accidental injury or death during the extended storage period, the two employees of the supermarket and their boss will be required to provide compensation or even large sums of money.

Similarly, the value of Qin Fu'an's collateral was also not low.

The initially reluctant shop assistant stared wide-eyed at the crimson bead Qin Fu'an had placed on the counter. He immediately signed the contract without hesitation, and the two ghosts grinned from ear to ear as they held the strange bead.

In addition, Qin Fu'an used his remaining salary to pay for the storage fee.

After all this was done, Xie Yunhuai, who had been quietly watching from the side, turned his head and asked Qin Fu'an, "Will you come to pick me up when it gets light?"

Qin Fu'an looked into the boy's clear black and white eyes, and after a moment, lowered his gaze and nodded with a light smile: "Of course, I'll come to pick you up when it's light."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and ruffled Xie Yunhuai's soft, fluffy black hair, gently instructing him, "Be good and wait for me here. Don't wander around after dark."

“…Mm.” Xie Yunhuai nodded obediently.

The two sales clerks who witnessed this scene, after Qin Fu'an left, curiously stepped forward and asked him, "Young man, is Teacher Qin really just your teacher? Or some kind of relative or older brother? He was willing to give up something so precious to protect you..."

Before she could finish speaking, she was startled into shutting her mouth by the cold, piercing gaze that the boy suddenly looked up at her.

The sales clerk was unwilling to admit that the intense sense of crisis she felt the moment she was being watched far outweighed the pressure Qin Fu'an had exerted earlier.

But it learned to keep quiet under that gaze.

And in his heart, he kept cursing Qin Fu'an, this walking vixen and scourge.

Does he even know what kind of students he's storing? And they need to be stored in a supermarket for safety? Then who's going to guarantee the safety of those two working ghosts?!

Once again, she gritted her teeth and swore to herself: Next time, next time she would never listen to Qin Fu'an's nonsense again. Before he could make any tempting request, she would immediately and without hesitation refuse him!

Ignoring the sales clerk's reaction, Xie Yunhuai turned around and watched Qin Fu'an's figure gradually disappear into the night.

He still didn't turn on the flashlight, so as soon as he walked a little further away, it was as if he was swallowed by the endless darkness. No matter how hard Xie Yunhuai tried to open his eyes, he couldn't see his figure anymore.

Only after Qin Fu'an's figure had completely disappeared into the thick darkness of the night did Xie Yunhuai find a place to sit down in the supermarket, and then stare blankly out the window in the direction Qin Fu'an had left.

[Streamer, what did you mean by what you said to those players before?]

[Is it really okay to go alone? This dungeon seems a bit strange. Even if you're very strong, you're likely to run into trouble if you're alone, right?]

[Wait, could the streamer really have a crush on this NPC? I've felt something's off since yesterday; I've never seen a player and a dungeon NPC be so close!]

[Upstairs, so what? The livestream doesn't say players can't date NPCs, and we can watch for free! From yesterday to today, I've been smiling like a doting aunt until my face is stiff. Such a sweet and adorable friendship, and they don't even charge us! What more could you want?]

[A fellow fan appeared upstairs! I've been shipping them for two days now too. Just now, when the streamer took Xiao Xie to the supermarket for storage, I wanted to tear the screen off and rush in front of them to hand them a marriage certificate!!]

[...Ahem, we've gone off-topic. Shouldn't our focus be on the anomaly caused by this dungeon's sudden change? So why did it turn out like this? I searched the forums, and no one else has encountered this situation in this dungeon.]

[I've watched at least ten different player perspectives of "The Haunted High School," but I regret to inform you: I don't know, this has never happened before.]

[Maybe the streamer can trigger a special storyline?]

[Wow, this streamer managed to turn an escape room dungeon into a storyline, even managing to have a romantic relationship with an NPC! Who would believe that?]

[...]

On his way to the teachers' apartment, Qin Fu'an watched the dense barrage of comments in his live stream.

Seeing that the audience's conversation was getting more and more off-topic, Qin Fu'an raised an eyebrow and answered one of the questions: "Those words were just casual remarks. As long as they can be more vigilant, that's fine."

His sudden speech startled the viewers who had been entertaining themselves by watching the live stream for the past two days. The chat was silent for two seconds before a dense barrage of comments appeared again.

But this time, all he received were condemnations for ignoring the audience and a dazzling array of donations.

There were also people among them telling Qin Fu'an the good news that his live stream had risen to the top of the rookie rankings.

The journey was eerily quiet, so Qin Fu'an started interacting with the comments section.

"They're wary of each other because of what I said? Isn't that a good thing? It's always better to be vigilant than to be foolish and get taken advantage of."

"Why should I remind them? Of course, it's because there are bad people among the crowd. What if you deliberately incite them to kill each other, and they are not mentally strong?"

“I’m slandering you? Don’t defame people. I’m just saying there are bad people among the masses. As long as you don’t take it personally, I’m not slandering you.”

"What do you think of Xie Yunhuai? Hmph, you've already used up your three chances to answer questions. Ask again tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, the live chat erupted in boos, all accusing him of maliciously abducting innocent NPCs.

Qin Fu'an raised an eyebrow and smiled smugly, but did not deny it.

So in the end, the only ones who got hurt were the audience who were unilaterally shown off by Qin Fu'an.

Not only that, Qin Fu'an also asked them if they played games, and whether the games would give them wives.

Audience: QAQ.

I'm warning you, don't go too far!!

-

During the time spent joking around, Qin Fu'an finally managed to navigate around most of the campus and arrive at the equally dark teachers' apartment.

Once he got there, he finally took out his flashlight and shone it upwards to survey the apartment building.

The room door was tightly closed, unlike the situation in the student dormitory where doors were wide open.

There was no lock downstairs, so Qin Fu'an walked straight in. The beam of his flashlight swayed as he moved through the narrow, dark stairwell, occasionally illuminating blurry, eerie, and grotesque human faces.

[Author's Note]

Anzai: I'm temporarily storing my poor, harmless, obedient wife here.

Salesperson: QAQ I'm just a part-time worker, what did I do wrong?

Thank you so much for all the free tickets and nutrient solutions, my darlings! Love you all, mua~

.

Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine:

One longan and one lotus seed;

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution:

23 bottles contained auspicious words;

14 bottles of neon;

MI 12 bottles;

Yilin, 10 bottles of sake per cup;

7 bottles of great salted fish;

A lone boat in the clear rain, the book I've been squatting over has yet to be updated again, Shandong steamed buns and fish 5 bottles;

2 bottles last year;

wa, Blue Frost Sugar, Moon Window, ~Swallow, Leaves Fall Silently, Flowers Bury the Soul, Tomb, Filthy Nine-Bottle 1 bottle;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!