031
Mo Ci turned his head to look at Jiang Huali.
He was somewhat dissatisfied.
"Why?"
Jiang Huali suddenly realized that she had talked too much. Even if she hadn't said anything, Mo Ci probably wouldn't have let anyone else see it, just like before.
Her words made the atmosphere strange.
Jiang Huali shook her head, muttering to herself, probably still half asleep.
She was about to find an excuse to explain, but Mo Ci just stared at her for a while. After she shook her head, a blush inexplicably appeared on his face. He looked away and said coldly, "They can't see."
Jiang Huali was a little confused, but her companion's voice was getting closer and closer, so she stopped thinking about it.
Jiang Huali walked toward the direction from which the shouts came, while Mo Ci silently followed behind her, staring at the few strands of hair sticking up on her head.
Jiang Huali successfully reunited with Qi Man and the others. When asked why she didn't hurry out after the fire started, she made up an excuse to avoid the question.
"There was a bit of trouble, but it's been resolved."
Qi Man didn't ask any more questions, but only glanced behind her.
Back in the dormitory, Jiang Huali took out the core and handed it to Qi Man.
Qi Man packed it into a prop box.
Qi Man asked, "Xin Mingqing has already kidnapped the vice principal. Shall we go now?"
Jiang Huali nodded: "Let's finish this quickly."
It's time to end this.
When I went downstairs to Xin Mingqing's dormitory, the vice principal was tied to a chair with a rope.
The rope binding the vice principal was not an ordinary rope, but a high-end prop.
In addition, the vice principal had a knife stuck in his chest; the blade was completely black and the handle was bent.
Jiang Huali couldn't help but take another look.
Xin Mingqing looked over and asked, "Is it okay over there?"
Qi Man nodded, took out the box, and gestured, "It's ready."
Xin Mingqing's gaze fell on Jiang Huali. "It's your turn."
Jiang Huali nodded and stepped forward.
She pulled out a dagger, and everyone present looked over.
A layer of black mist condensed on the dagger, flowing along the blade. Jiang Huali lowered her eyelashes and felt a pair of cold hands grasp the hand that held the knife.
The vice principal seemed to sense something. His previously composed expression froze. He stared intently at Jiang Huali's hand, his cheeks twitching slightly, and his voice was hoarse: "You can't kill me."
He tempted, "Put down that knife. Don't you want to get out? I can help you, even the remaining core... Hehehe..."
Before the vice principal could finish speaking, it was as if an invisible force had grabbed his neck, and he made a struggling sound in his throat.
Everyone present sensed that something was wrong.
Jiang Huali frowned, but felt a cold force in her hand pulling her forward. With a "whoosh," the knife went in and out, but no blood came out. Only endless black energy surged towards Jiang Huali.
The black mist was blocked by an energy shield halfway through its journey. Jiang Huali looked over and saw that Qi Man had used a prop.
The current situation is clearly unexpected; the energy shield cannot withstand the black energy for long and is cracking inch by inch.
Just as the energy shield failed, the black mist that filled the sky was suddenly absorbed by the dagger in Jiang Huali's hand, and not a trace of it dissipated.
It's so cold.
Jiang Huali breathed a sigh of relief. Mo Ci was standing behind her, embracing her with his hand on her forearm.
The chill seeped through my clothes, and the dagger in my hand emanated a piercing coldness.
At this moment, a flame emerged from the tip of the dagger in Jiang Huali's hand, burning down the blade to ashes without burning Jiang Huali in the slightest.
The vice principal's desiccated corpse also spontaneously combusted and turned to ashes.
The presence behind them also disappeared.
"Just like that... he died?" Qi Feng murmured from the side.
His expression was complicated; he sensed that Jiang Huali was somewhat different from before.
He used to always be a drag on, but recently he's suddenly become the main force.
No… Qi Feng shook his head. He’s been dragging his feet lately too.
But there are some differences.
The remaining people cleaned up the scene, and Jiang Huali returned to her dormitory.
While in Qi Man's dormitory, she told Qi Man and the others that the way to obtain the core was through a deal she made with Zhao Yu. Zhao Yu gave her a dagger and told her to kill the principal and vice-principal in order to find out the whereabouts of the core.
She naturally omitted some details, because Zhao Yu did not have a dagger capable of killing the principal and vice-principal, and Jiang Huali did not expect that the principal also had a core in his possession.
On their way back, some other players seemed to realize something and observed them from the corridor or nearby.
Jiang Huali opened the dormitory door, and the dim light instantly flooded in.
The lights in the dormitory were off; only a candle was lit.
The candle was placed on Jiang Huali's table, its small flame flickering.
Zhao Yu sat on the edge of the bed, with her back to the door.
Jiang Huali walked over, and Zhao Yu looked at her.
Zhao Yu took out the core, smiled slightly, and handed it to Jiang Huali, saying, "Thank you."
Jiang Huali didn't directly touch the core; she took the box and had Zhao Yu put it inside.
The two sat facing each other. Zhao Yu remained silent for a while before speaking.
"This primary school was indeed abandoned because of a fire."
"I also died in that fire."
After Xiaotian's accident, Xiaolan's condition worsened, and her family arranged for her to take a leave of absence from school so she could recuperate at home for a while.
Then one day, perhaps it was a sunny day, or perhaps it was a rainy day, Zhao Yu couldn't quite remember.
Xiao Lan's body was pulled from the river, and there were marks on her neck from being strangled with a rope.
shocking.
No third person was found at the scene, and the matter was quickly closed.
On another day, in the same place, at the same time, the vice principal's body was found in the river, with ligature marks on his neck as well.
Everyone says that the village is haunted, because two people have died in the same way.
But Zhao Yu knew that it must have been a ghost that came to take the vice principal's life.
How could the vice principal, who lived in the town, have drowned in the village river?
After the vice principal died, strange things suddenly began to happen at the school.
Some students reported that crying and sobbing could be heard coming from the dormitory toilets after lights out.
One day, Teacher Qian went to the restroom on his way to class, but he didn't come back when get out of class ended.
He was eventually found dead in a toilet stall by students who went to relieve themselves after class; his death was gruesome.
Rumors of the school being haunted spread like wildfire.
Some students were so frightened that they dared not come to school, and their parents came to the school to demand an explanation.
One Friday afternoon, the students were on holiday, and the teachers were gathered in the large conference room for a meeting.
The meeting's content was that the homeroom teacher should do a good job of reassuring students and parents.
Zhao Yu and the principal had a heated argument.
The meeting ended on bad terms.
That night, a fire broke out in the office building for no apparent reason.
The weather was dry, and the fire spread to the teaching building next to the office building. That night, Zhao Yu was grading students' papers in the office and accidentally fell asleep.
When she woke up, the fire had become increasingly intense.
She saw Xiaotian.
Xiao Tian told her to run quickly, but the thick smoke was choking and the fire was fierce. In the end, Zhao Yu still perished in the sea of fire.
Only three people died in the fire that night: the principal, Zhao Yu, and Director Luo.
"Director Luo?"
Zhao Yu looked at her skin, which was gradually turning black, and smiled gently. She said to Jiang Huali, "Director Luo's sister passed away from illness many years ago. Her husband was a gambler who ran away with the last of the family's money after her death, leaving behind only a daughter who was a few years old."
"That girl is Xiao Lan."
"Later, Xiao Lan lived with her maternal grandparents in the village, and Director Luo would visit her from time to time."
"But Director Luo also has her own family. By the time she realized something was wrong with Xiao Lan, it was too late."
"That fire was set by Director Luo."
However, the primary school's infrastructure was outdated and dilapidated, with aging electrical circuits. Coupled with the dry and windy conditions, the fire spread to the teachers' offices in the school building.
After that fire, three people died at Hope Primary School: a principal, a director, and a teacher.
The teaching and office buildings were also destroyed by fire, making it impossible to continue teaching for a while, and many teachers transferred to other schools.
The students were also dispersed to several rural primary schools in the surrounding area.
The reconstruction work was delayed, and because of the ghost stories, the Hope Primary School was abandoned after that.
"I've been here for who knows how long, and I thought it would continue like this forever, trapped in a cycle."
Until she saw the person next to Jiang Huali.
She knew that the opportunity to end everything had come.
Zhao Yu was also part of the instance, and given her meticulous nature and being of the same origin, she knew exactly who that person was.
An unknown entity, almost as powerful as the "core," that has never been seen before.
Zhao Yu finally looked at Jiang Huali.
"After saying all that, I wish you good luck in the end."
"And goodbye."
The instance is collapsing.
Everyone realized it.
At the same time, the game system's cold announcement sounded.
[The main quest "Finding the Truth Behind the Abandonment of Hope Primary School" has been completed by some survivors. Due to an unknown data error, the dungeon boss has been defeated, and the dungeon has been cleared by all players.]
[Dungeon exit open; dungeon closing time remaining: 3 minutes.]
Jiang Huali stood up and walked towards the door, with a huge fire burning behind her. Zhao Yu sat in the fire, still with her back to the door.
The dungeon exit was at the end of the dormitory corridor. Amidst the chaos, Jiang Huali found Qi Man and handed her the box containing the core.
Qi Man said to her, "Go out first."
The group moved toward the exit, with Jiang Huali lagging behind at the very back of the line.
Qi Feng walked ahead of Jiang Huali. Just as he was about to step out of the exit, he subconsciously turned back to urge her, "Hurry up... Jiang Huali?"
There was no one behind him.
"Qi Feng! What are you still standing there for?"
The exit was about to close, and Qi Feng was pulled out by Qi Man, who was walking in front.
The "Hope Primary School" instance has been closed. Congratulations to all players who have completed it.
Everyone returned to the mission hall, and the group stood there, their faces somewhat grim.
Qi Man asked, "Where is Jiang Huali?"
Xin Mingqing, standing to the side, asked in surprise, "Didn't they come out?"
Qi Feng said, "I don't know either! She... she just suddenly disappeared!"
Qi Man frowned, her gaze unintentionally falling on the box in her hand.
The bottom of the box felt a little strange. Qi Man hadn't noticed it at first, but when she turned it over, she saw a small piece of paper stuck to the bottom of the box.
There are three words written on it.
Don't wait for me.
-
Jiang Huali was plunged into darkness.
There wasn't a single ray of light here. She had arrived here the second before the "Hope Primary School" instance closed.
My hand was suddenly touched.
The man stood before her, and as if realizing there was no light, he raised his hand, and a cluster of flames lit up, floating in mid-air and illuminating a corner.
Jiang Huali subconsciously closed her eyes, then opened them and looked around.
It was quiet all around, the ground was soft and the soil was loose, and there seemed to be some plants on both sides, which looked like dead trees.
Looking up, it was still pitch black.
At the moment the flames appeared, there seemed to be some rustling sounds from small animals around.
Jiang Huali's gaze returned to the person in front of her.
When Mo Ci saw that she was finally looking at him, he smiled with delight.
For a fleeting moment, a blood-red light flashed in his eyes.
"Now, it's time for you to keep your promise."
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