Chapter 52
Shen Liuxue paused in turning the pages, and it was obvious that she had also realized this.
The owner of the notebook only cut out this headline, and the following pages were not the articles in the headline, but obituaries of every accident in the school and the death of the students involved. Most of them were cut out from other places, and the paper was slightly different from the newspaper.
Without exception, these all contain the time and place of death. Perhaps because they really couldn't find the materials, some of them were written directly by hand.
The earliest time of death coincides with the time when the incident occurred in the Pen Fairy game in the mission information.
Mo Xuanji counted and found that the death toll was exactly thirteen.
"...Eleven, twelve, thirteen, thirteen people! Look at the dates of death, they all happened within a month." Zhu Changan pointed at the dates and exclaimed in shock. He realized that his voice was a bit loud at the beginning, so he deliberately lowered his voice for the second half of the sentence.
"Thirteen students have had accidents in just one month. This is so bizarre and abominable!"
"Whatever the reason, it's difficult for the school to explain to the outside world why so many students got into trouble in such a short period of time."
"Yes, so the school was temporarily closed the following month, and a notice was issued to relocate the school." Shen Liuxue turned to the next page, which contained the school's relocation notice and a certificate stating that the buildings on the campus were unqualified and posed a safety hazard.
Following this are articles from various sectors of society questioning the school and criticizing the principal's inaction, along with some odds and ends. Although the editing is a bit messy, it still reveals a lot of information.
"This school is really unlucky. Such a thing happened after only two or three years of operation." The system sighed in the sea of consciousness.
Tucked into the notebook were some completely faded punishment notices that looked like they had been torn off the wall. They all criticized students for playing "bad games," and the dates on them were older than the time the students had been caught.
Such an obvious targeted collection, the owner of the notebook is likely to know something.
"That is to say, many people have held summoning rituals before, but none of them have been able to summon this weirdness, but the three students who came later encountered it." Shen Liuxue fell into deep thought.
"The strangeness might not have been here originally, but was artificially introduced later." This was the most likely hypothesis at the moment. Mo Xuanji frowned slightly. He had a feeling something was odd, but when he looked closely, he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Hiss." Zhu Changan gasped. "Do you think it was done by those men in black?"
After all, they even dared to destroy the "flower buds" of the demon race. It is not impossible for them to do such a thing since they hate humans.
"Eh, there's nothing more to read." The notebook didn't have much capacity, and Shen Liuxue felt like she had reached the last page without turning many pages.
"It seems there is no useful information. Let's go." They have searched the distribution room inside and out, but found nothing except the notebook.
"Okay." Shen Liuxue put it into the storage bag casually.
Coming out of the back door of the distribution room, the human-made path reappeared before their eyes. Holding umbrellas, the three of them followed these traces all the way forward, and finally found a new clue around the corner.
It was a ghost. Its body was transparent, and its clothing was still the same old fashion. The ghost floated quietly, unresponsive to any stimuli around it. Even when Mo Xuanji and the other two walked up to it, it remained motionless.
The strange detector made a slight sound. Mo Xuanji picked it up and took a look, and found that it was not even the lowest D. At best, it was just contaminated with a strange aura.
The three of them looked at each other and shook their heads.
Someone must have performed a spirit-calling ceremony here. Some dirty white rice, chopsticks, and half-burned incense sticks were scattered all over the floor.
"These guys are really brave. They dare to do anything to attract attention."
Mo Xuanji shook his head slightly. He looked at it for a moment, then pulled out a map and drew a circle around his current location.
The group didn't stop there; new trails continued to extend further back. The three of them followed and unexpectedly encountered five or six ghosts. Without exception, they all bore traces of a summoning ritual. It was unclear whether these spirits had originally been there or had been summoned. All of them floated about with blank expressions, some filled with resentment, replaying the scene of their previous death.
Without exception, they were all immersed in their own world and didn't even glance at the three people.
"It's a bit scary." Zhu Changan couldn't help but rub his arms. "Are these people killed by strange forces? Their souls seem to be trapped, unable to reincarnate."
Mo Xuanji looked at the red circle on the map and suddenly said, "Liuxue, give me the notebook."
"good."
After receiving the notebook, Mo Xuanji flipped to the page that recorded the students' accidents. He compared the locations one by one, his expression gradually becoming serious.
"What's wrong?"
"These people are heading to the victim's primary death scene. The location where the spirit-calling ceremony was held is the same as the location recorded in the notebook." Mo Xuanji held up the notebook and the map. "Even the order in which we encountered the ghosts is the same as in the notebook."
He looked at his companions and whispered, "They must have had this notebook in their hands at the time, but why did it appear in the first place? If it was accidentally dropped, how did they find the corresponding locations in the correct order?"
Mo Xuanji had felt something strange when they were in the power distribution room. The notebook wasn't very dusty, its cleanliness standing out from the rest of the room.
"Maybe he took a picture of it with his mobile phone in advance?" Zhu Changan raised his right hand.
"Then there's no need to bring this notebook." Shen Liuxue shook her head. She crossed her arms and said hesitantly, "Could it be that after they got into trouble, someone deliberately left the notebook there?"
Zhu Changan's eyes widened immediately, and he looked around nervously: "Could it be that someone is watching us from the dark?"
Neither of the two friends said anything, and Zhu Changan became even more panicked.
"Don't be afraid, the teacher said that these low-level weirdnesses are restricted by rules. As long as we don't violate the rules, we will be fine."
The only thing Weird can do at this stage is to set traps to lure them into breaking the rules. As long as they don't take the bait, it can't do anything to them even if they stand on Weird's grave and dance.
"It feels like something..." After marking all the addresses in the notebook, Mo Xuanji muttered while looking at the map.
"It looks like a magic circle." The system suddenly spoke in the sea of consciousness.
"Magic array?" Mo Xuanji didn't know much about these things, so even with the system's reminder, he couldn't tell what kind of array it was at the first glance.
"Hmm? A magic circle?" Zhu Changan came over to take a look, feeling a bit overwhelmed: "I can't see it at all..."
"Why not ask the seniors? This kind of knowledge-related requests are not prohibited by the school and will not affect your grades." Shen Liuxue suggested.
The three people present were all newbies in formations, and they might not be able to figure it out even if they racked their brains. It would be better for them to seek help from professionals directly.
"Yeah." Mo Xuanji didn't make things difficult for herself. She quickly took a photo and sent it to Wilde, and soon received a reply from the other party.
[This is a magic circle. You didn't move the points, did you?]
【No】
[It's fine as long as it's still there. This formation looks unfamiliar. I'll check it out first.]
【good】
To save time, the three of them continued to follow the trail. These ghosts were scattered in various corners of the campus. Perhaps they had finally lost their patience, so after searching several scenes, they headed straight for the dormitory building where the incident occurred.
This is where the first strange and harmful incident occurred.
Zhu Changan looked at the dormitory building before him and felt a momentary dread. Vines covered the walls, their thick leaves completely enveloping the area. Honestly, if the colors were changed, the scene before him would be almost identical to the one in Xingfu Community.
"Ji Sheng might like this place." There are many plants, few people, and it is quiet. The only bad thing is that there is a weird creature hiding in the dark.
“Looking at the traces here, there is only entry but no exit. I guess this is the last place.” Shen Liuxue said as he took out the spirit sword from the storage bag.
"Let me go ahead this time." Zhu Changan volunteered: "Hehe, after this month of training, I can already control my superpowers with ease. And with the superpower effect added to my fists, they are quite powerful."
"Okay." Shen Liuxue did not insist and retreated to the left rear.
Mo Xuanji, as a ranged mage, was placed in the back row. On the one hand, it was convenient for him to cast spells, and on the other hand, he could help his friends hold flashlights.
The dormitory building was covered in dust, so the footprints of previous residents were particularly obvious. The footprints were particularly messy, as if someone had been running back and forth here and there. Some places even had scratches and traces, with a dark red tint.
Because they couldn't determine where the person was, the three of them had to take the dumbest but safest approach - checking room by room.
Zhu Changan pushed open the door in front.
Contrary to expectations, nothing in the dormitory building had been moved. Aside from the bedding and personal belongings, the beds, tables, chairs, and other furniture remained in their original state, albeit covered in a thick layer of dust.
Shen Liuxue noticed that Zhu Changan's movement in pushing the door was a little stiff: "Changan, are you feeling uncomfortable?"
"No, I'm fine," Zhu Changan said with a stiff face. Perhaps it was because of the strong sense of déjà vu, when Zhu Changan pushed the door open, his mind couldn't help but pop out the door-opening murder scene in horror movies.
The protagonist of the movie unconsciously opened the door and walked into the room, and then a dark figure rushed over. Upon closer inspection, it was a hideous, bloody thing...
Zhu Changan couldn't help but shudder. No, he couldn't think about it anymore. He was really going to scare himself. Every time he opened the door, the hairs on his body would stand on end, and even his supernatural powers were constantly at the ready.
Fortunately, movies are just movies after all, and they went on for several days without any problems. Zhu Changan breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little.
Mo Xuanji looked at the strange detector in his hand, and his inner self was filled with question marks.
After entering the dormitory building, the little thing seemed to have frozen, and the value remained at zero. This was not normal. If there was something strange here, its screen would always be lit even without displaying the level, instead of being gray like it was now.
Could it be that Guiguai is not at home today?
"I now feel like I've become the dorm manager checking the dormitories." Perhaps because he was a little bored, Zhu Changan made a joke.
"So, how does Aunt Zhu feel? Are the students well behaved?"
"Yeah, they're all very well behaved. The dormitory is very quiet and no one is talking - because there's no one there at all." Zhu Changan said as he pushed open the door and bumped head-on into a dark figure.
“Aa ...
A hideous black face twisted and let out a shrill scream, and Zhu Changan's heart was scared out of his wits.
"Chang'an!"
"Don't move, just stay there!"
There was a loud thud as the man inside fell to the ground, uttering a shrill scream. He clutched his head and cried incoherently for mercy, his hands shaking uncontrollably.
"Don't eat me! Don't eat me. I'm not tasty. I haven't bathed in three years. Please, I have an unmarried mother and an eighty-year-old fiancée. What will happen to them if I'm gone..."
After a moment of chaos, the three of them finally saw that it was a living person inside, not a ghost or something strange. Zhu Changan patted his chest, and the little heart that had jumped out of his throat barely fell back.
"Uh, hello? We are not bad people." Zhu Changan tried to say hello to him.
"Ahhhhhh!!" Perhaps because he was frightened before, Zhu Changan subconsciously let out a scream as soon as he opened his mouth.
Fortunately, the man quickly regained consciousness. He rolled over and hugged Zhu Changan's thighs. The middle-aged man, who was in his thirties or forties, burst into tears: "Yes, there is a monster! I don't want to die, please save me, the monster is chasing me, I want to go home! Wuuwuwu..."
Zhu Changan: Help, stop hugging my legs!
"Don't be afraid, we are here to solve this problem." Mo Xuanji and his companions looked at each other, took out an ID and opened it in front of him.
The middle-aged man was already frightened, and he believed it completely after just a quick glance. He let go of Zhu Changan and wiped away his tears.
Zhu Changan on the side was still confused. They were not official members of the superpower team yet, so where did the certificates come from?
Shen Liuxue quietly mouthed to him: "Student ID."
Zhu Changan suddenly realized.
"Wow, savior! I finally waited for you. It's really terrible. The monsters here eat people." The middle-aged man cried with tears and snot. Seeing this, Shen Liuxue handed him a pack of tissues.
Mo Xuanji cleared his throat and spoke according to his prepared remarks: "For the safety of you and your companions, please explain the whole story in detail."
The man nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I will tell you everything I know! This is what happened..."
The man was a photographer for an influencer's team, named Liu Lei. While they were called a team, there were only four people, including the influencer himself. The team's focus was on paranormal events and various strange stories.
The dream of the four of them is to become the most popular influencer on the platform one day. However, as a small internet celebrity, they are not very popular, and their income is only a small amount after each effort.
In order to become famous, this internet celebrity named Daily Ghost Encounters got a notebook from somewhere. He said the story on it was very interesting and could be used to write an article, so he planned this live broadcast.
According to the plan, the four of them would broadcast live here and summon ghosts as they walked, while the other two extras would cooperate in playing the ghosts and solve the unsolved case of the year based on the "clues obtained from the ghosts."
"Everything was going smoothly until a fan suggested that he wanted to see us play the Pen Fairy game and even gave us a rocket. Brother Sun (the internet celebrity) agreed on the spot when he saw that there was money to be made. I didn't expect... I didn't expect that this would actually attract some nasty people."
Liu Lei seemed to recall something horrifying, his body trembling uncontrollably. After a long pause, he continued, "Brother Sun was instantly swallowed by the black fog, leaving not even his clothes behind. We were so terrified, we forgot everything and just scattered. The monster chased the others first, not me, so I just ran... I don't know what happened to the others afterward..."
"Who were the people playing the Pen Fairy game at that time?" Shen Liuxue suddenly spoke.
"It was played by the three of them."
Mo Xuanji took out the notebook he had found earlier and asked, "Is this the notebook you're talking about?"
Liu Lei's eyes widened. He took it and looked through it carefully before quickly saying, "Yes, this is it! That's it! Brother Sun always carries it with him. Where did you find it?"
"In the distribution room." If I remember correctly, the distribution room is quite close to the gate.
Liu Lei's expression suddenly became strange.
"He, he... But, Brother Sun has clearly..."
That must have been put there by Weird. Mo Xuanji thought about it but didn't say it out loud.
"Um... have you met anyone else? How are they now?" Although he had already guessed the ending of the other two, Liu Lei still couldn't help but hold on to a glimmer of hope.
"They may be on other floors, and we haven't encountered them yet."
Liu Lei nodded and wiped away his tears.
The three of them looked at him, then put their heads together and discussed the next arrangements in a low voice.
"The other two people may be in danger." Mo Xuanji said.
"What if it's still alive? A B-level weirdness can't swallow a person in one breath. It might have used some means to transfer the person away."
"It's possible... The cameraman isn't participating in the game, so Guiyi won't attack him." Zhu Changan scratched his head. "What do you think? If we can stop Guiyi, can we directly find out where the missing people are?"
After hearing this, Mo Xuanji and Shen Liuxue were also a little moved.
"Try."
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