Chapter 73
Pei Zhao moved closer to Zhou Yuli, lying on his chest, and said, "I like it when you change your style occasionally because of your emotions. You didn't really hurt me. Even if you were angry, it was just some small punishment. You didn't even leave an indelible mark on me. Zhou Yuli, I can accept it."
Zhou Yuli lowered his head, and from his perspective, he could just see behind Pei Zhao under the quilt.
It looks even more creepy today.
Zhou Yuli kissed Pei Zhao's neck lightly and said, "Next time I will tell you in advance."
Pei Zhao was immersed in tenderness, but when he heard this, he suddenly raised his head and frowned: "Next time?"
Pei Zhao covered his painful back and couldn't believe it: "Do you want to do it again?"
He can accept it once, but that doesn't mean he can accept Zhou Yuli punishing him like this every time!
After all, he is the master!
But Zhou Yuli seemed to have made up his mind already.
"I've thought about it. The last time you felt guilty, it was because you hurt me in anger. Now I'm sad for the same reason." Zhou Yuli paused and concluded, "Since we can't help but fight when we're angry, the best solution is to take the initiative to apologize and accept the punishment when we're angry."
Pei Zhao opened his mouth wide, not knowing how to refute for a moment.
Zhou Yuli said to himself: "But there should be rules and regulations on what kind of punishment should be used. If it is exceeded, it will be considered irrational domestic violence. Domestic violence is not good."
Pei Zhao had nothing to say. How should I put it? His little Pinocchio has become more and more rigid.
Pei Zhao doesn't like being restricted, and he doesn't like running into obstacles again and again in a pile of rules. So he just frowned and asked, "What are the rules?"
Zhou Yuli really thought about it for a few seconds and said, "First, you must not hurt yourself under any circumstances. Second, you must not take risks alone."
When Zhou Yuli formulated these two rules, all he was thinking about was how to prevent Pei Zhao's behavior. But just as he finished speaking, he saw Pei Zhao getting up and looking at him with ill intentions.
"Oh? Then you have committed these two offenses as well!"
Zhou Yuli reacted for a few seconds, then smiled helplessly: "Well, I'm sorry, I apologize, do you want to punish me now?"
As he was about to stand up, Pei Zhao stopped him, "Forget it, forget it, let's just keep the account first." Pei Zhao was helpless, Zhou Yuli always took everything seriously.
Zhou Yuli had no choice but to lie back and let Pei Zhao lean on him and rub his back.
After rubbing for a few times, Pei Zhao felt so comfortable that he felt sleepy. Just then, Zhou Yuli's cell phone rang. Zhou Yuli picked it up and listened for a few seconds, his face changed instantly.
"What's wrong?" Pei Zhao asked.
"It's Bai Zhou. He said... Zhou Ran is missing?"
"Clam?"
Pei Zhao got up in an instant, all sleepiness gone.
·
Zhou Ran is missing?
Pei Zhao didn't believe it.
But the phone call was indeed unreachable, and no one responded to the message. Fortunately, Pei Zhao had asked about the location of Zhou Ran's club competition last night, and Pei Zhao made a prompt decision: "Let's go to the next province now."
Bai Zhou and Lan Ji also hurried back, and the four of them took a taxi and headed straight to their destination.
On the way, in order to prevent Pei Zhao from pressing on the wound, Zhou Yuli and Pei Zhao sat in the last row. Pei Zhao leaned on Zhou Yuli and kept dialing Zhou Ran's number, but no one answered.
Zhou Yuli supported Pei Zhao with one hand and couldn't help asking Bai Zhou: "How did you find out that Zhou Ran was missing?"
Bai Zhou and Lan Ji sat in the front row. Lan Ji rested his head directly on Bai Zhou's legs, looking extremely tired. Bai Zhou was in high spirits. He took out his cell phone and handed it to Zhou Yuli: "Look at this."
Above is a text message, the sender's note is "Zhou Ran", and below is a simple message.
【Jium,】
"What is this?" Zhou Yuli frowned.
"Lan guessed it was the first few letters of help, but he sent it out before he finished typing it." Bai Zhou said, "I called again, and no one answered."
"What help?" asked Pei Zhao who was busy on the phone.
Zhou Yuli handed the phone to Pei Zhao, who took a look and immediately asked, "Why was it sent to you and not to me?"
Bai Zhou was stunned for a moment, and thought for a long time, "Could it be because the word Bai in the address book starts with b, and the word Pei starts with p?"
Pei Zhao shook his head: "I called Zhou Ran last night, there is no need to use the address book."
Bai Zhou: "Then I don't know. But it's very strange. Zhou Ran and I are definitely not as close as Zhao Zhao. Why did he send it to me and not to Zhao Zhao?"
Pei Zhao had the same problem. He couldn't understand why he should tell Bai Zhou instead of him.
At this time, Lan Ji's voice was heard.
"Could it be because, if we tell Bai Zhou, we will go together, but if we tell Zhao Zhao, maybe only Xiao Zhou and Zhao Zhao will go together?"
Pei Zhao thought about it and realized that this is the truth!
"It's very likely, so this information may not have been sent by Zhou Ran?" Pei Zhao analyzed.
"It's just a guess." Lan Ji helped Bai Zhou sit up and turned to look at Pei Zhao, "But it's certain that this is most likely a trap to catch the four of us in one fell swoop."
·
The car stopped at the destination indicated by Pei Zhao's navigation. Four people got out of the car, all looking unhappy.
This is a polytechnic university. The entire architectural style is more engineering-oriented and looks meticulous.
Pei Zhao first went to the guard to ask if there was any basketball game recently. The guard explained that there was indeed a basketball game in the school gymnasium the day after tomorrow, and they were still training now.
Because it was the open period for the competition, students from other schools were allowed to enter to watch the game. The security guard enthusiastically invited Pei Zhao and his friends in and pointed them in the direction of the basketball stadium.
However, after the four entered the school, they did not rush to the basketball court. Instead, they randomly found a teaching building that looked the tallest and took the elevator directly to the top of the building.
The rooftop was a platform with a high fence erected from the ground. Zhou Yuli stood there with his hands on the ground and his eyes closed. Countless extremely tiny wooden vines instantly spread out in all directions and turned into countless eyes that helped him to peek. In an instant, he understood everything about the situation in the school.
After a moment, Zhou Yuli opened his eyes and jumped down from a high place.
"How is it?" Pei Zhao asked anxiously.
"There was nothing unusual outside, but the basketball hall was blocked by a black fog. I tried to get in, but there was something wrong with the fog. I just approached and all the vines withered. I couldn't get in and I didn't know what was going on inside."
"Black fog?" Pei Zhao was stunned. "Another supernatural power?"
Zhou Yuli shook his head: "It's hard to say."
He couldn't enter the black fog at all, he just walked around outside, and didn't know where the black fog came from.
"What's the plan?" Bai Zhou asked.
Pei Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Let's find a place nearby to stay first, and then go into the basketball hall to have a look at night."
It was said to be night, but they woke up in the morning and took almost a whole day's bus ride to get here, so it was already evening. If they left the school and came back in at this time, they would inevitably be suspected by the security guard and it would be difficult to explain. So the four of them simply found a rooftop close to the basketball hall and waited for an opportunity.
Bai Zhou and Lan Ji went to the university practice center on campus and used their mobile phones to pay for a lot of food and drinks.
It's already autumn, so it's bound to be a bit cold. Lan Ji used ice to build four walls to block the wind, and Bai Zhou made a fire for warming himself. The four of them sat in the ice wall and felt like they were on vacation.
But because they were concerned about Zhou Ran, the four of them were in no mood.
After reluctantly eating some food to satisfy their physical energy needs, the four of them began to wait anxiously for the evening self-study get out of class at the Polytechnic University to end and most of the school lights to go out, then they would prepare for action.
"We asked around while we were shopping, and it seems that those who went to the basketball stadium for training these past two days haven't returned to the dormitory. However, because we were on campus, and club activities often last all night, it didn't attract much attention."
Zhou Yuli asked: "No one cares at all? Didn't the teacher who manages the gym find it strange?"
Lan Ji shook his head: "It is said that the teacher who manages the gymnasium has been missing for three days, and even the physical education classes he is in charge of have been suspended."
Pei Zhao sighed, "The students in this school are too careless. They are not in a hurry to investigate even though someone is missing on campus."
But the school cannot be blamed. After all, before he awakened his abilities, teachers and students disappeared in school—Pei Zhao would also rely on overnight activities.
But now that they know there is a problem with the gym, they feel that these teachers and students are in critical condition.
"We'll take action soon. Try to enter the venue first. Acting outside will easily cause panic." Pei Zhao arranged, "Zhou Yuli, after you go in, shut down the surveillance first."
They are not playing at home, so in order to avoid subsequent troubles, they’d better avoid the problem as much as possible.
At about ten o'clock in the evening, the entire campus was shut off with a buzzing sound, and the entire campus was plunged into darkness in an instant. But in the darkness, the four of them all looked in the direction of the gymnasium. The darkness there was different from that elsewhere and was purer in comparison.
"It seems there is really a problem." The four of them climbed over the wall in silence. Zhou Yuli held Pei Zhao, and Bai Zhou held Lan Ji, and they climbed down from the roof.
The stadium in the dark no longer hides its true appearance, as the black fog that Zhou Yuli had mentioned before entangles it tightly. The four of them went around in a circle looking for a breakthrough but to no avail, and finally decided to break in directly.
"Just charge." Pei Zhao was helpless. They really didn't want to resort to such a method that would alert the enemy unless it was absolutely necessary.
As soon as Pei Zhao finished speaking, Bai Zhou Lingframe raised his hand, and dozens of firebirds gathered from all directions and headed straight for the gymnasium.
The four of them did not hesitate and followed the firebird.
It turned out that the firebirds were not swallowed by the darkness, but burned the black fog and opened a path of flames.
As the four of them stepped in, they saw the black fog quickly gathering behind them without the firebird.
"Act quickly." This was the only thought in their minds.
Zhou Yuli instantly threw out several wooden vines and tied up the four people tightly. The other end followed the direction of the firebird's breakthrough and moved forward to find a fixed point.
The next second, the four of them were quickly and forcefully swept into the gymnasium by the reaction of the wooden vine and fell heavily to the ground.
Pei Zhao closed his eyes subconsciously, but Zhou Yuli was faster than him and stood in front of him.
Pei Zhao only heard two "cracks" but did not feel any pain on his body. He opened his eyes in disbelief and saw Zhou Yuli's painful expression. His body instantly returned to normal when his eyes met.
Pei Zhao hesitated to speak and finally said nothing.
The four people had obviously entered the black fog. They were surrounded by a bright gymnasium. The big white lights illuminated every corner of the venue like daylight.
Pei Zhao was puzzled: "The gymnasium is not without power?"
Zhou Yuli said, "Something is wrong. There is no one here."
There was no one in the huge and bright gymnasium. Where were the missing students?
"Look here!" Bai Zhou called them while they were thinking.
Pei Zhao and Zhou Yuli looked over and both frowned. It was a basketball lying in the middle of the court, stained with many fingerprints.
"This fingerprint is so strange, as if..." someone fell from a great height and was only able to stay from falling by clinging tightly to a basketball. The deep nail marks on the top of the fingerprints further illustrate this point.
Pei Zhao tried it with his hands and found it was exactly the right one.
"It now appears that someone made the basketball fly, forcing the student who was operating it to let go, but if he let go, it would just fall," Zhou Yuli stated.
Bai Zhou couldn't help but interrupt: "Why does it sound so outrageous..."
Pei Zhao also scratched his head: "It's indeed unreasonable. What about the fallen students? Is there anyone who is specifically responsible for handling them?"
Lan Ji squatted on the ground, melted a piece of ice, held it in his hand and poked the basketball. After a while, he said, "Look, the surface of this basketball is covered with dust, only the bottom circle, but the place where it touches the ground is not only clean, but the black circle on the ground is a circle larger than the shadow of the basketball without dust."
"What does this mean?" Bai Zhou squatted beside Lan Ji and asked curiously.
"That's very likely the case." Lan Ji raised his hand, rolled up an ice ball about the size of a basketball, and put it on the ground.
"Imagine if the ground here disappears, will we just be able to hold on to what's still there?"
"Yes!" Everyone nodded.
"If only people fall and the basketball is fixed to the ground, would they just hold on to the basketball tightly like they are doing now?" Lan Ji said.
Bai Zhou quickly continued, "The basketball changed its shape due to the squeezing, so it left traces of different sizes on the ground."
Pei Zhao applauded: "You two can go to work at the police station!"
Zhou Yuli nodded and said, "I also agree more with this analysis, so now," the four of them looked at the solid ground together and expressed the same doubts.
"How do you make the ground disappear?"
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