A heavy bolt of lightning split the thick dark clouds, instantly illuminating the office.
Mingqiao turned his face away and closed his eyes to avoid the dazzling light, and a drop of cold sweat dripped down his pale face again.
He pulled the door handle of the office countless times in vain, but still couldn't get out.
This was the second hour he had been locked in his office.
The cell phone next to me kept ringing. Even though the battery was almost empty, the noisy and electric male voice never stopped.
【Follow the rules, otherwise you will bear the consequences. 】
After being locked in the office for an hour, he answered the phone. The same sentence kept repeating, and each time it was said, it would pause for five seconds before repeating again.
When Mingqiao heard this inexplicable remark for the first time, he thought it was just a prank by students.
After all, there were a few boys in the class who were quite naughty and rebellious, and it was not once or twice that they deliberately called him in the middle of the night to wake him up.
But when he realized that he couldn't hang up or mute the call and could only let it ring, a chill ran up his spine.
Especially when the girl who had been hiding in the corner and hardly spoke a word was suddenly frightened by these words and screamed, he couldn't ignore it any longer.
Mingqiao let go of the door handle, leaned against the wall somewhat weakly, and turned his gaze to the girl not far away.
She said her name was Jiang Wen and she was a junior high school student. She had been trapped here for ten hours. Before Mingqiao came in, there was another boy locked together with her, but that boy was already dead and even his body was left behind.
Her eyes were swollen like walnuts from crying, and her voice was trembling when she spoke. She had to say a sentence several times in a staccato manner: "Teacher, can we still go out?"
Mingqiao looked at her and nodded gently. His voice was clear and steady, which made people feel at ease: "It will definitely work. Don't be afraid. If you can't bear it, just take a nap."
Jiang Wen burst into tears again: "Teacher, will we die? Just like Cheng Ran."
"No." Mingqiao's heart was beating. He didn't know what to say to comfort her at this time. After a brief hesitation, Mingqiao pursed his rosy lips and gave a positive answer, "Believe me, okay?"
In fact, Mingqiao himself didn't know whether they would die or not, but facing the students, he couldn't show his fear. Even if he was scared, he had to pretend to be calm and reassure the students.
Jiang Wen twisted her fingers nervously and looked up at Mingqiao. Although he was an adult man, he was thin, fair-skinned, and had pretty features. He looked and sounded gentle, a pure, weak pretty boy. But Mingqiao's eyes were bright and firm, and he was really sincere. She was uneasy, wondering whether to place her greatest hope on Mingqiao.
It was still raining outside, and the big raindrops hit the glass, forming irregular water stains.
Another thick flash of lightning flashed by, but the thunder that usually accompanies lightning was not heard once.
The glass windows, which usually have very poor sound insulation, can now block out all sounds.
The room was so quiet that it was a little eerie, especially when Mingqiao deliberately slowed down his breathing, the only sound he could hear was his own slightly panicked heartbeat.
His long eyelashes trembled slightly, and his fingers clenched tighter.
All these phenomena indicate that this is not a simple prank.
【Follow the rules, otherwise you will bear the consequences. 】
Five seconds later, the voice on the phone rang again.
Mingqiao took a deep breath, picked up his phone and took a look.
The upper left corner shows that it is now 14:14.
The eerie silence surrounded him, forcing him to surrender, but Mingqiao really didn't know where to start, nor could he figure out what was going on.
Before leaving get off work, he was locked in this office by his most trusted superior. The doors and windows that seemed like they could be used for escape could not be smashed, so they could not get out and were faced with the risk of death at any time.
He thought of his superior, the simple and kind dean of teaching. When Director Jiang locked the door, his usual smiling expression, like the Maitreya Buddha, was gone. The muscles on his face were stiff and strange, and his face was covered with yellow-brown wrinkles and deep grooves. The most terrifying thing was his eyes, which seemed to be covered with a layer of gray fog. The white of his eyes and the pupil could no longer be distinguished. He looked like a demon from hell.
Mingqiao felt his scalp tingling just by thinking about it.
His current thoughts have become absurd to the point where, as a person who has always adhered to materialism, he now actually doubts whether he has really encountered an evil ghost that is seeking revenge. After all, that's how it plays out in horror movies.
【Follow the rules, otherwise you will bear the consequences. 】
If Mingqiao hadn't been afraid of scaring the students, he would have thrown the phone against the wall so that it could no longer make any sound.
This is not a solution.
He had no doubt that if the two of them remained trapped, they would die here, just like that boy.
He didn't want to die yet, and he didn't want this student to die either, so they had to get out.
rule.
He lowered his head, his smooth bangs cast a shadow over his dark pupils. He chewed on the two words carefully, trying to extract some useful information from them.
There is no doubt that this matter must be related to the "rules". If they want to escape from this office, they must start with the rules.
Follow the rules, where are the rules? Rules about what?
Another thunder flashed outside the window. Jiang Wen trembled, then suddenly picked up a chair beside him and smashed it towards the window.
"!"
Mingqiao's eyes widened instantly. He had tried to break the glass many times before but failed. However, Jiang Wen broke it easily. The glass shattered from the center, and the regular lines spread out to the sides. As several pieces of broken glass fell to the ground with a clang, the mobile phone not far away started to ring. But this time it was not the familiar words of following the rules, but bursts of children's crisp laughter.
His whole body trembled violently and he turned to stare at the phone that had fallen to the ground.
As soon as the laughter stopped, the familiar male voice sounded again, but this time the content was completely different.
"Welcome to Xingchuan No. 1 Middle School. Our school has a history of 100 years and has always been well received. The school is student-centered and has always been committed to cultivating outstanding talents.
I hope you can spend a happy and fulfilling high school life in our school, explore your potential and realize your dreams.
During your stay at school, please abide by the following rules to ensure that you can adapt to campus life as quickly as possible.
1. Keep in mind your identity as a student.
2. Students should and must consciously take care of school public property.
…
The penalties for violations include, but are not limited to, death. Once again, follow the rules or you will bear the consequences at your own risk.”
"It's the content of the student handbook!" Jiang Wen stopped crying. She grabbed her hair like a madman, with a relieved smile on her face. She shouted to Ming Qiao: "Teacher, it's coming! It's coming! I can go out!"
"Who is it?"
Mingqiao felt something was wrong from the moment Jiang Wen smashed the glass. Jiang Wen must know something, or she had gained some experience from the dead boy.
He had to get to the bottom of this so that they could escape their current predicament.
But just when Mingqiao had sorted out his thoughts and was about to ask, everything in front of him turned dark.
The pitch-black darkness made the office even more eerie, and Mingqiao shuddered. His first reaction was to find Jiang Wen to confirm her safety, but before he could find her, Jiang Wen let out a sharp scream.
"Jiang Wen!" Mingqiao was immediately anxious. The air was filled with the smell of rusty blood, which made people want to vomit. Jiang Wen's screams of pain and the sound of chewing exploded in Mingqiao's mind. The complete loss of vision made his sense of smell and hearing more sensitive, and his fear was magnified countless times.
Mingqiao clenched his teeth and quickly followed the sound. He knocked over many tables and chairs along the way, but he didn't want to waste even a second.
"Ah——" Another scream that seemed to pierce the sky was heard. At this moment, Ming Qiao finally found Jiang Wen who was hiding under the desk.
She was shaking violently, and the moment Mingqiao touched her, a few drops of warm liquid sprayed onto Mingqiao's face.
Mingqiao raised his hand and rubbed it.
His Adam's apple rolled up and down, and his other hand suddenly touched something behind Jiang Wen.
"It" appeared out of nowhere in this office, with a body temperature similar to that of humans and a soft and smooth touch. The moment Mingqiao touched it, "it" immediately gave up Jiang Wen and began to attack Mingqiao with all its strength.
After a sound of bones breaking, pain swept through Mingqiao's brain.
A piece of his finger was bitten off, and the dull feeling of the teeth turned the pain into torture.
Mingqiao's facial features were distorted due to the pain. Cold sweat broke out all over his body, and his clothes were soaked with sweat and stuck to his skin.
But he couldn't care less. Instead of letting "it" continue to attack Jiang Wen, Ming Qiao hoped that "it" would attack himself.
When "it" bit Mingqiao's palm again, Mingqiao grabbed "it"'s neck with his backhand and pulled "it" out from under the desk.
Mingqiao clenched his fist and swung it at "it" fiercely.
But "it" seemed to feel no pain and refused to let go.
Mingqiao immediately gave up and picked him up from the ground, stumbling towards the window that Jiang Wen had just smashed. When he started to fight, he found that "it" was not very strong and had a weak attack, but it had an amazing bite force and was as hard to deal with as a piece of taffy. The first way Mingqiao thought of was to throw "it" out of the window and use gravity to counteract the bite force.
But before he reached the window, the phone rang again, and the caller ID forced the phone to emit a bright light, which was particularly dazzling in the dark environment.
“Dear teachers,
Our school is committed to becoming one of the top middle schools in the city. While providing students with a comfortable learning environment and atmosphere, it aims to cultivate talents and focus on developing students' good qualities.
This teacher's manual records the code of conduct that our school's faculty and staff should and must follow in their daily teaching activities.
Please read the teacher's manual carefully and abide by the rules, otherwise you will bear the consequences yourself.
1. Keep in mind your identity as a teacher.
2. Provide full assistance to students when they need it.
…
The penalties for violations include, but are not limited to, death. Once again, follow the rules or you will bear the consequences at your own risk.”
Teacher's manual?
When has there ever been anything like this in school?
A flash of inspiration suddenly occurred to Mingqiao's mind.
It seems that there is such a thing, which was just distributed today.
He remembered that the manual was only the size of a palm, very thin, with a blue cover and silver gold foil, and looked somewhat formal and high-end.
But because he was too busy, he just flipped through it and didn't read it carefully.
Now the teacher's manual suddenly appeared on the phone instead of simply repeating the words "follow the rules". Could it be because he triggered some "conditions"?
After a few sharp beeps, the phone continued to ring:
“98. Please believe that our school will fully protect teachers and students.
99. If you are unfortunate enough to encounter danger, please immediately turn to page 109 of a nearby exercise book and send the answer to the first question via text message to this number.
Message from the principal: Please protect our students and yourselves. If possible, please take our students out of school as soon as possible. During this period, do not break any rules, otherwise you will bear the consequences. "
As soon as the words fell, Mingqiao's dark pupils shrank suddenly. He remembered that the last item in the original teacher's manual stopped at "97. City No. 1 Middle School really exists." It can be seen that the last two items and the principal's message were added by himself during this phone call.
There was no more sound from the other end, but what was said on the phone just now was enough to make him frown.
Mingqiao teaches history and is usually accustomed to nitpicking. He could read a slight inconsistency between the two rules, and he was sure that the teacher's manual mentioned on the phone was not drawn up by the same principal.
The thing in his hand was still struggling violently, attracting all Mingqiao's attention back. He took a few quick steps holding "it" and slammed it hard towards the broken glass.
The glass, which was already unable to bear the weight, fell off in a large area due to the impact, forming a circular gap with a diameter of half a meter. The remaining glass around it scratched the skin of Mingqiao's arm, but he was still pushing "it" out.
As Mingqiao wished, "it" was hung outside for not long before it loosened. The moment "it" fell out, the office regained its original brightness.
Mingqiao closed his eyes and shielded his face with his arms to avoid the glaring light. He took his hands away after he slowly got used to it.
He looked at himself with lingering fear and found that the bitten-off finger was still intact on his hand, and there was no trace of the arm that was scratched by the glass.
Mingqiao turned to look at Jiang Wen again and found that she was also fine. She was just curled up in the corner, hugging her arms and legs even more tightly.
Mingqiao finally felt relieved.
"Your male classmate also broke the glass, right? So in the darkness that time, you heard him being eaten, so you were scared and helpless, and when you were desperate again, you chose the same way to end your life." Mingqiao looked at Jiang Wen and sighed softly: "Why don't you believe me, kid?"
Jiang Wen didn't say anything, but just shed tears and buried his head even lower.
Now that the supplement to the teacher's manual gives a rule - "Open the workbook, do the questions, and send the answers." and it sounds somewhat reliable, Mingqiao is willing to give it a try.
As for Jiang Wen, no matter what she did with that boy, he didn't want to care. Now Mingqiao just wanted the two of them to get out together and live a good life.
Be it a prank or a supernatural event, he wanted to end this boring game quickly.
"You find a safe place to stay." Mingqiao turned to Jiang Wen and said, "I'll take care of this matter. We should be able to get out soon."
He saw Jiang Wen hiding under the desk in the corner with his own eyes. Only after he was sure that she was safe did he pick up the exercises at hand.
Actually, this exercise book was not his or for students. It was just pushed to him by the chemistry teacher at the next desk by accident.
Turn to page 109.
The first question is an organic chemistry question, which is about the esterification reaction between acetic acid and ethanol.
Mingqiao hadn't touched chemistry for many years, so he couldn't solve this problem no matter how basic it was.
So I had to get up and go to the chemistry teacher's desk to find the chemistry textbook.
Fortunately, he had just flipped through two books when he saw a book with "Basics of Organic Chemistry" written in big letters on the spine.
Following the instructions in the catalog, he quickly found the answer to the question, and the entire process of copying it down on paper and sending it as a text message took less than a minute.
The waiting time is not long.
A minute after he sent the text message, the noisy sounds coming from the corridor outside heralded his return to reality.
"Come on." Ming Qiao breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Jiang Wen hiding at the back of the office, and waved at her, "Let's go out."
His face had turned unnaturally pale without him noticing, which made his lips look even redder. He looked a little weak, but his back was very straight. He calmed himself down and tried to open the office door with lingering fear.
The office door opened with a slight pull, and he met Lao Jiang who was about to come in.
Old Jiang looked at him, then at Jiang Wen who was shivering behind him. Although his expression was still stiff and weird, it was no longer scary. "Mingqiao, Jiang Wen, I'm not saying anything bad about you. The daily running exercises are to improve your physical fitness. You can't escape. I'll let you go this time. Class is about to start. Go back to the classroom."
Mingqiao was so shocked that he couldn't speak.
He was locked in the office at 12:15, and considering he was trapped for more than two hours, it should be close to 14:30, but according to Lao Jiang, it was now exercise time, around 10 o'clock in the morning.
Besides, it was still raining outside. He glanced at the continuous rain. It was heavy, like the sea water pouring down upside down. Just standing in the corridor, the splashing water had wet the trouser legs of the three people. Even though the rain was much smaller than at noon, they definitely could not run exercises in this kind of weather.
Also, what does "you students" mean? Even if Jiang Wen is a student, he is not, so why should we lump them together?
No, there must be something wrong!
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