Missing
After checking in and informing the supervising teacher, students were free to explore and familiarize themselves with the surroundings. Dinner was a hotel buffet, and Teacher Wang, Zhang Rui, and the students sat together in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
“Huaishan City has a long history, and you can visit the old town if you have the chance,” Zhang Rui said. “However, it’s best to rest before the competition.”
After dinner, Liang An and Ling Xiao returned to their room to review their studies.
Liang An was reading, but he felt restless. He walked to the window and looked at the night view of Huai Shan City. The city took on a different appearance at night; the ancient buildings cast long shadows under the lights, as if hiding countless secrets.
At this moment, at the end of the corridor on the sixth floor, Wen Zhi was wandering aimlessly. He originally wanted to go to Liang An's room, but he didn't have the courage, so he simply strolled in the corridor, hoping to bump into Liang An who might be out for some fresh air.
As he approached the fire escape, he heard hushed voices.
Wen Zhi stopped in his tracks; the sound was coming from the stairwell. He quietly approached and, through the crack in the door, saw Zhang Rui with her back to him, the light from her phone screen illuminating her profile.
She was on a video call.
“...It’s all ready...Yes, Huai Mountain is the most suitable place…” Zhang Rui’s voice was very soft, but the echo in the stairwell allowed Wen Zhi to hear some words intermittently.
He held his breath and listened more carefully.
"How is Zhao Shen doing?" Zhang Rui asked.
Wen Zhi's heart tightened. Zhao Shen? The missing student?
After hearing what the person on the other end of the video call said, Zhang Rui nodded: "Okay... I'll proceed as planned..." Zhang Rui's voice lowered further, "Yes, he... might be suitable too..."
Wen Zhi was about to move closer when Zhang Rui suddenly turned her head, as if she had sensed something.
Wen Zhi quickly retreated, but it was too late. The stairwell door was opened, and Zhang Rui stood in the doorway, her phone already put away.
"Wen Zhi?" Her expression instantly shifted from cold to gentle. "What are you doing here?"
"I...I was taking a walk..." Wen Zhi tried to remain calm. "Teacher Zhang, you are here..."
“I’m video chatting with my family,” Zhang Rui said with a smile, but her eyes were sharp as knives. “It’s so late, go back to your room and rest. We need to familiarize ourselves with the venue tomorrow.”
Her tone was gentle, yet carried an undeniable air of command.
"Okay, goodnight, Teacher Zhang." Wen Zhi turned to leave, feeling Zhang Rui's gaze fixed on his back.
Zhang Rui didn't look away until Wen Zhi went into his room and closed the door. She picked up her phone again; the screen showed a blurry figure, its face indistinct.
"How much did he hear?" came a processed electronic voice from the phone.
“Uncertain.” Zhang Rui’s voice was icy.
"We can't keep him any longer. We need to adjust the plan and add him in as well."
“But the risks will increase,” Zhang Rui said hesitantly, staring at Wen Zhi’s door.
"Necessary risks".
After hanging up the video call, Zhang Rui stood in the corridor for a long time. Her fingers caressed the pendant on her chest, a strange light flashing in her eyes.
The second day was for familiarizing themselves with the examination venue. After breakfast, the team arrived together at the Huaishan International Conference Center—the venue for the competition.
The venue was grand and modern, a stark contrast to the rustic charm of the old town of Huaishan. Teams from various schools arrived one after another, filling the hall with a lively atmosphere.
"Everyone, follow me, let's go see the main examination room first." Teacher Wang held up a small flag.
Zhang Rui walked alongside the group, occasionally introducing the different areas of the venue to the students. Her demeanor was as professional and appropriate as ever.
When Ling Xiao arrived at the experimental examination room, Teacher Wang called him over: "Ling Xiao, come and help me check our school's equipment list."
"Now?" Ling Xiao looked at Liang An.
“Go ahead, I’ll go with the main group,” Liang An said.
Ling Xiao hesitated for a moment, but Teacher Wang was already urging him. He could only say to Liang An, "Don't wander off, wait for me to come back."
After Ling Xiao left, the group continued their tour. Liang An noticed that Zhang Rui kept checking her watch, as if she was waiting for something.
As they walked into a relatively quiet corridor on the west side of the venue, Zhang Rui suddenly said, "Wen Zhi, could you come here for a moment? There's a piece of equipment over here that I'd like you to take a look at—haven't you always been interested in precision instruments?"
Wen Zhi narrowed his eyes. He recalled the conversation he had overheard last night, and alarm bells rang in his mind.
"Equipment?" he said casually. "Sure, but it'll be boring for me to look at it alone. Liang An, aren't you quite knowledgeable about instruments too? Why don't you come along?"
Liang An was taken aback. He already had some doubts about Zhang Rui calling Wen Zhi away alone, and now that Wen Zhi had taken the initiative to pull him along, he felt even more uneasy.
Zhang Rui's expression stiffened for a moment, but she quickly smiled again: "Alright, Liang An, come along too. But the other students need to continue their tour, so let's not waste everyone's time."
Liang An wanted to refuse, but the other classmates were looking at him with urging expressions. He figured they were all in the meeting room and it shouldn't be a big problem, so he followed Zhang Rui to a room deep in the corridor.
"This is a backup preparation room, with some rather interesting equipment," Zhang Rui said as she opened the door.
The room was small, cluttered with miscellaneous items and spare equipment. There were indeed a few instruments on the table against the wall, but they didn't look particularly special.
“Look at this oscilloscope…” Zhang Rui walked to the table, her back to them.
In that instant, Liang An felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck, as if he had been pricked by something. He turned his head and saw Wen Zhi also looking surprised, his hand reaching for his neck.
"Teacher Zhang, you..." Liang An's words were cut short as the world before him began to spin and darken.
Then, darkness engulfed everything.
When Liang An regained consciousness, the first thing he felt was stiffness.
He was completely stiff. He couldn't move a single muscle, not even move his eyes. He was as if he were cast in concrete, with only his consciousness floating in the darkness.
No, it wasn't completely dark. Faint rays of light seeped in through the cracks. He realized he was standing, confined in a narrow, upright space. The space was moving, swaying slightly and rhythmically, like in a car. The wooden walls were inches away, and he could even smell the decaying wood.
Fragments of memories flooded back: the venue, Zhang Rui, that room, the stinging pain at the back of my neck...
Wen Zhi. Is Wen Zhi here too?
Where is Ling Xiao? Has he already realized he's missing?
Liang An tried to struggle, but his body wouldn't obey him at all. He couldn't feel his limbs, as if this body no longer belonged to him. Only his heart pounding heavily in his chest proved that he was still alive.
No, not entirely alive. This state is more like... being imprisoned. A prisoner trapped inside his own body.
The space continued to shift. Liang An could hear indistinct sounds, like distant voices or the whirring of machinery. He focused all his attention, trying to discern the sounds.
[That bastard Wen Zhi, nothing good ever comes of running into him.] Liang An cursed inwardly.
The shaking paused for a moment, then came the rhythmic sound of footsteps, along with a low, bell-like sound that came from near and far.
He recalled the unsettling legend of Huaishan City—the legend of corpse driving.
Liang An forced himself to calm down. Panic wouldn't solve anything. He tried to take deep breaths, but his chest felt constricted, and he could only manage shallow, short breaths.
Unbeknownst to Liang An, he was trapped inside a coffin. There were not just one coffin, but seven, forming a convoy, driven by a mysterious figure cloaked in black, with only his eyes visible, traveling along a remote mountain road in the western province.
A misty rain shrouded the mountains, reducing visibility to almost nothing. The coffin procession moved slowly, each coffin carried by two men dressed in black, their steps perfectly synchronized, as if they had undergone rigorous training. The cloaked figure at the head of the procession held a strange copper bell, which he gently shook every seven steps, producing a deep, penetrating sound.
From a distance, the entire convoy of coffins looked like it was conducting a mysterious sacrificial ceremony, silent and solemn, eerily chilling.
The mountain road was rugged, and occasionally local residents would be encountered. Upon seeing the coffin procession, these people invariably stopped, bowed their heads, clasped their hands together, and looked on with awe and solemnity. They didn't take photos, didn't discuss anything, but simply waited quietly for the procession to pass, as if it were a sacred and inviolable part of their faith.
The convoy continued its journey, passing through mist-shrouded bamboo forests, circling steep cliffs, and finally arriving at a secluded mountain peak. At the summit, a flat area had been artificially carved out, the ground paved with dark red stones in strange patterns, resembling some kind of ancient formation.
The coffins were placed one by one at the edge of the flat ground. The cloaked man made a gesture, and the coffin bearers silently retreated into the shadows, as if they had never been there.
Liang An sensed that the movement had stopped. He could hear muffled voices outside; there seemed to be many people, but it was unusually quiet. There was no conversation, only the rustling of clothes and low breathing.
Suddenly, a creaking sound came from above his head, and the coffin lid was opened.
As light streamed in, Liang An squinted and found himself standing inside an upright coffin. Two cloaked figures expressionlessly "carried" him out—they practically lifted him up, as his body was completely stiff and could only remain upright.
He was carried to a standing position to the side, barely able to move his eyes to observe his surroundings. It was a mountaintop platform, with paths leading down the mountain in front and behind, a cliff to the left, and a precipitous wall to the right. The platform was filled with people draped in black cloaks, densely packed, at least a hundred of them. They all stood silently, facing the center of the platform, their eyes fanatical and empty.
Liang An saw Wen Zhi opposite him. Wen Zhi had also been lifted from the coffin, his body stiff and unable to move, just like Liang An's, but his eyes were wide open, filled with terror. Wen Zhi's gaze met Liang An's, as if he wanted to convey something, but his mouth could only tremble slightly, unable to utter a sound.
Then Liang An saw a third person—or rather, something that had once been a person.
Zhao Shen.
Zhao Shen was bound to a cross in the center of the platform. His body was shriveled, his skin dark brown and clinging to his bones. He was already a mummified corpse, with only two black holes remaining where his eyes should have been. He was eerily held in a twisted "standing" position, as if he had experienced extreme pain before his death.
Liang An felt a churning in his stomach, and fear seeped into his limbs like ice water.
Then, he and Wen Zhi were also tied to the cross in the center of the platform, forming the three vertices of a triangle with Zhao Shen.
The cloaked figures on the platform began to chant softly, their voices uniform and monotonous, repeating syllables that Liang An couldn't understand. Their eyes grew more fervent, and some even began to tremble slightly, as if they had entered some kind of hallucinatory state.
A middle-aged man dressed in an elaborate black robe walked up to the center of the platform. His robe was embroidered with strange patterns interwoven with gold and silver threads. He wore a towering crown and held a twisted wooden staff with a dark red gemstone set at its head.
"The Cult of Eternal Life, remove sins and gain eternal life!" a cloaked figure suddenly shouted.
"The Cult of Eternal Life, remove sins and attain eternal life!" Hundreds of people responded in unison, their voices echoing through the valley.
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