Chapter 15 Desperate Situation?

Before opening the door, Jun Xiangbei took out a palm-sized cloak item from his spatial backpack—"Shadow Walker's Sanctuary".

He gently draped it over his body, and his figure faded and disappeared as if it had been absorbed into ink, leaving only a very faint fluctuation of his aura.

"There's only one invisibility item. For safety's sake, I'll go alone. You keep an eye on the dorm for me," Jun Xiangbei said calmly.

Although Zhuge Jin said that the chances of encountering danger would be smaller if the two of them were together, Jun Xiangbei was used to going alone and was still worried, so he changed his decision at the last minute.

"Okay, be careful." Di Wenzhou was also scared and didn't want to go out, but he agreed without hesitation and whispered, adding a humanitarian reminder.

There was no response, but the doorknob was turned very slowly and silently.

Jun Xiangbei, invisible as a slippery fish, glided out silently and then gently closed the door behind him.

Inside the door, Di Wenzhou immediately locked it from the inside, leaned against the door panel, his heart pounding, and tightly clutched a talisman that emitted a faint glow in his hand.

Xin Yuan'er leaned closer, and the two looked at each other nervously, both seeing deep worry in each other's eyes.

Zhuge Jin's perception became even clearer as Jun Xiangbei left.

In his "vision," the entire dormitory building was no longer a physical structure, but a network of light composed of countless regular lines of light and shadow.

During the day, these lines are relatively still, but now, the rules of night, like a venomous snake awakening, writhe and slither in the darkness, exuding a chilling aura.

Jun Xiangbei's "existence" is like a tiny pebble thrown into this swamp of rules.

The "tap...tap..." sound came from the water room at the end of the corridor.

Jun Xiangbei's live stream:

"Let's begin! A nighttime raid on a haunted school toilet—a classic that never goes out of style!"

"The God of War has gone invisible. This item is awesome. I hope we can get back safely."

"Master Zhuge is as steady as a rock, still lying in bed. Is everything part of a plan?"

"What the hell is that dripping sound? Just listening to it gives me goosebumps!"

"The prophet said even numbers would reduce misfortune, so why not have Di Wenzhou come along? Wouldn't two people be safer?"

"Is the person upstairs stupid? There might only be one invisibility item. Two people make a bigger target and are more likely to trigger the rules. This is the optimal solution, Beishen."

"+1, besides, if something really happens, Bei Shen can be resurrected if he dies, but if that new player dies, he's really dead."

Jun Xiangbei moved with extreme caution, making his footsteps very lightly, almost without making a sound, while also trying his best to conceal his aura.

The dormitory doors on both sides of the corridor were tightly closed, like silent coffins, with no light coming through the cracks, creating a terrifyingly deathly silence.

Only from the direction of the water room at the end, the sound of dripping water and the dragging footsteps grew clearer, mixed with a suppressed, intermittent sobbing.

The closer you get, the more humid the air becomes, carrying a faint smell of rust and a fishy odor.

Finally, Jun Xiangbei arrived at the entrance of the water room.

The washroom had no door and was pitch black inside. Only near the window, a faint moonlight shone through, illuminating a figure crouching in the corner.

It was a figure wearing the same school uniform, but in an extremely strange posture.

She was on all fours, her joints twisted unnaturally, as if they had been broken and then haphazardly pieced back together.

She was soaked to the bone, her hair stuck to her face and the floor, and water droplets kept dripping from her hair and the corners of her clothes, making a "drip...drip..." sound.

The dragging sound was from her slowly crawling on the ground using her hands and feet.

Sobbing came from her lowered head, filled with helplessness and sorrow.

Jun Xiangbei held his breath; the invisibility effect was only temporary, and he needed to confirm it as soon as possible.

He approached cautiously, trying to make out her face or look for any features that could identify her.

However, when he was about three to five meters away from the female ghost, the wailing suddenly stopped.

The female ghost suddenly raised her head!

It was a face swollen and pale from being soaked in water, its features distorted, and its eyes reduced to two black holes. But Jun Xiangbei could clearly feel a venomous gaze sweeping over his location.

The invisibility item wasn't completely ineffective, but clearly, this level of vengeful spirit was extremely sensitive to the presence of living people and subtle disturbances in space.

Jun Xiangbei's live stream viewers were startled:

"Holy crap! We've been found out?!"

"Oh no! This ghost is incredibly strong!"

"Run, Beishen!"

"How was this detected? Didn't you use an invisibility item?"

Jun Xiangbei felt a chill run down his spine and froze on the spot, not daring to make any further movements, his breath almost stopping.

He gripped another offensive weapon hidden in his sleeve, ready to strike at any moment.

However, the female ghost only stared in his direction for a moment, her black hole-like eyes blinking, seemingly unable to be completely certain.

Then, the female ghost lowered her head again and continued to wail even more sadly. Her crawling movements became restless, and she circled around in place.

The crisis was temporarily averted, but Jun Xiangbei's heart sank.

Without getting close, the name cannot be confirmed. Time ticks by, and the invisibility item's effect is waning.

Just then, a cold, emotionless female voice suddenly rang out at the door of the washroom:

"Xue Ziyi, lights out is long overdue! What are you doing here instead of going back to your dorm to rest?!"

The voice appeared without warning, as if she had appeared out of thin air!

Jun turned his head sharply to the north and saw a female teacher in a dark suit standing at the entrance of the water room.

She was staring sternly at the female ghost on the ground, whose limbs were twisted.

Xue Ziyi's name appeared.

The female ghost on the ground, Xue Ziyi, trembled violently upon hearing the teacher's reprimand, and her sobs turned into fearful weeping.

She tried to curl herself up, but her twisted limbs made the action look both ridiculous and pathetic.

"I'm...I'm sorry...Teacher...I...I'm always wet...I can't sleep...I'm afraid of wetting the bed..."

Xue Ziyi's voice was broken and filled with fear.

"Excuses!" the female teacher interrupted mercilessly. "School rules clearly state that students must go to bed after lights out, and no one is allowed to linger outside the dormitory for any reason. Violating the rules will result in punishment: you'll have to clean all the toilets in the entire teaching building tomorrow!"

"Yes...yes...teacher..." Xue Ziyi replied, trembling.

The female teacher snorted coldly, her gaze sweeping across the entire washroom like a knife, as if checking if anyone else was there.

Her gaze lingered briefly on the spot where Jun Xiangbei was hiding, her brows furrowing slightly, but ultimately she found nothing. She turned and walked away with crisp, cold footsteps.

Xue Ziyi sobbed softly for a few moments, then, with difficulty and dragging her twisted limbs, crawled toward the girls' dormitory, her figure disappearing into the dark corridor.

The water room fell silent again, with only the dripping sound of the tap that wasn't turned off completely.

Jun Xiangbei breathed a sigh of relief. The goal had been achieved; the name corresponding to the last rule—Xue Ziyi—had been found.

The root of her suffering is likely related to "water," perhaps drowning, or water-related bullying.

The invisibility item's duration is running out; I must return to the dormitory immediately.

He dared not delay and returned silently along the same route at an even faster pace.

With the dormitory door just ahead, victory was in sight.

Just now, when the female teacher appeared next to Jun Xiangbei, Zhuge Jin noticed something was wrong.

Zhuge Jin calmly reminded Xin Yuan'er and Di Wenzhou, "Someone's here. Go to bed and stay there."

He sensed a strange power, a power that carried an aura of scrutiny and probing.

After being reminded, the two quickly climbed into bed, and Xin Yuan'er and Di Wenzhou squeezed into one bed.

At that moment, Jun Xiangbei's hand had just touched the cold metal doorknob—

With a creak.

The door to dormitory 205 was opened from the inside!

Jun looked north and saw the scene inside the dormitory through the crack in the door.

In the center of the dormitory, next to the empty bed that originally belonged to Jun Xiangbei, stood a figure.

He was a male teacher who wore an old Zhongshan suit, was thin, and had a gloomy face.

He wore an extremely eerie, twisted smile as his gaze slowly swept across every corner of the dormitory, finally settling on Jun Xiangbei's empty bed.

"Oh?" the male teacher said in a hoarse, deep voice, with a hint of cat-and-mouse teasing.

"Room 205, one person is missing. It's so late... Where did this student go?"

His gaze fell directly on Jun Xiangbei, who had just deactivated his invisibility and whose form had not yet fully solidified.

That eerie smile grew even wider:

"Disregarding the school schedule and staying out all night... are serious violations of school rules."

You headed north, and you've been discovered!

Zhuge Jin's live stream was filled with screams:

"Aaaaaaah, high-energy warning!"

"Holy crap, when did this male teacher go in? There wasn't a sound."

"It's over, it's all over, we're trapped at the door!"

"Zhuge Jin, the prophet, do something quick! The Northern God can't die here!"

"Holy crap, how do we get out of this situation? Will we lose enough credits? Will this trigger an instant-death rule?"

"Don't panic, don't panic. You've only broken one rule. At worst, you'll only lose 2 credits. You can't lose all your credits."

The air inside the dormitory seemed to be completely frozen.

Jun Xiangbei's figure solidified completely, and for the first time, an undisguised look of fear appeared on his usually cold face.

He was only one step away from the door, but that one step felt like an insurmountable chasm.

The authoritative aura emanating from the male teacher was far colder and more deadly than that of Teacher Li during the day.

He had no doubt that any rash action could lead to a devastating blow.

His mind raced, considering every possible solution: force his way in? Explain? Use offensive tools?

However, the success rate of each plan was pitifully low, and it was very likely to implicate other people in the dormitory.

Desperate situation!

At this critical moment—