Chapter 42 Grave Numbers Above All 4 Sixth Middle School
The floor that Ms. C and Mr. C brought them to was the sixth floor. Looking down from the corridor towards the edge of the atrium, you could see the floor below clearly. If someone had really jumped off the building, there would have been a lot of traces.
"It's really haunted..." Woman C clutched her head and trembled. Her legs were so weak that she leaned against the railing and couldn't continue walking towards the changing room.
Although the other girls weren't as afraid because it wasn't a place they needed to stay permanently, they were still full of worry. It seemed that, apart from Wu Wangwang's changing room, everyone's place had some problems.
The girl in question, A, was the most silent and composed among them. She raised a possibility: "Could it be that the places the referee chose for each of us have been places where people have died? And that they died in violation of school rules?"
If the death was due to violating school rules, then according to Wu Wangwang, as long as the school rules are followed, one can avoid being taken away by the ghosts of those who died before.
"But what if it's the other way around? What if a ghost dies because it broke the school rules and becomes a ghost? It wants to follow the rules, but it wants to take us away to follow the rules for it. What if it does?" the girl asked, trembling.
Despair immediately appeared on the girls' faces.
Wu Wangwang withdrew her gaze and, seeing them in disarray, raised her voice slightly: "Don't panic. I'll give you another piece of advice: in the game, never make assumptions or preconceptions. Even if you see something, you should doubt its authenticity. Remember the last dungeon I went to with Gao Hu?"
Everyone only knew Ling Yuanshan, so when they suddenly heard Wu Wangwang call out Gao Hu, no one reacted. Even the third girl asked who Gao Hu was.
The woman patted her on the shoulder: "It's Ling Yuanshan. They said we can't use his real name, so remember it."
At this moment, the girls finally remembered what they were doing and nodded in agreement.
Wu Wangwang continued, "In the last instance, the information we all received was about the rules of death. The more you believed those things, the faster you died. You must remember that in the instance, apart from the referee, even what you see or hear may be false. Don't let these things cloud your judgment and cause you to lose your mind in the game. Even if you only lose half of your mind, you are not far from death."
Therefore, players who have completed the game many times will eventually become indifferent and numb. This is the only feasible and forced way to calm down. It is quick and effective. Not everyone has a strong heart like Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan.
Now, Wu Wangwang is teaching these children, who have never even experienced death, how to face the horrors that are about to unfold.
Today's dungeon was relatively forgiving. If it were a dungeon where it was a life-or-death struggle from the start, none of them would have survived, and they wouldn't have had a chance to learn how to protect themselves from Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan.
After listening to Wu Wangwang's words, the girls rested on the spot for a while. Once they were able to walk again, at Wu Wangwang's suggestion, they didn't ask for help and walked on their own. Regardless of their physical condition, what they needed most in the dungeon was to run fast, since no one could help them.
The changing room isn't far. Just walk through the atrium and then through four classrooms. It's also around a corner, in a rather secluded spot.
"We're here. This is the place. Everything seems normal. I didn't find anything strange. My cabinet is also very clean and tidy." After entering the room, Woman C quickly opened her cabinet for Wu Wangwang to see, hoping that Wu Wangwang could find some useful clues.
After a quick observation, Wu Wangwang found that the girl's closet contained some books and a set of sports uniforms, which were probably for physical education classes. However, judging from the creases on them, the original owner hadn't taken a physical education class in a long time.
It makes sense, really. In schools with strict management, the physical education teacher is always sick once you get to the second year of high school. He's never fully recovered. I don't know why the school hires a teacher who's always getting sick. Maybe they have too much money to burn.
Besides that, Wu Wangwang carefully turned every page of those books. She noticed that this NPC was very hardworking, so hard that his textbooks were filled with notes. Where he couldn't finish writing, he made a thick notebook, added a table of contents, and continued writing.
The girl looked on with envy and said, "Wow, you're working so hard! I've always wanted to work this hard, but I'm just lazy and I always forget things halfway through."
"This is firsthand information. Students in the regular class, the NPC you're replacing is working very hard. I'd like to know, by your standards, is this level of effort difficult to achieve?" Wu Wangwang asked, holding up her notebook.
Although Wu Wangwang's question was strange, the girls didn't think much of it. They all talked at once, describing how this level of effort was extremely difficult to achieve. Even if you only put in the effort without thinking, copying so many times and having so much understanding still requires perseverance.
Wu Wangwang pondered for a moment: "Then... how much time would it take to do that? I mean, we already have long hours of classes at school every day. According to the student rules, the teaching buildings are locked, and lights are not allowed in the dormitories. Is there enough time left to do all this?"
The girls thought for a moment, and girl A said, "If this wasn't accumulated in the first two years of high school, it would be impossible to do it in the third year alone. There are too many tests in the third year, and it's impossible to finish them all. People who work this hard would definitely listen to the teacher more and try to do the tests, so they wouldn't have time to take notes."
"The biggest inconsistency is that something that couldn't have been done happened. Remember this, classmate. Be careful for the next month. This notebook might have been made by violating school rules. We haven't yet clarified the consequences of violating school rules, so it's best to be cautious." Wu Wangwang directly and clearly told the girl C the result, afraid that she wouldn't understand if she spoke vaguely.
Wu Wangwang didn't break open the other cabinets because she was afraid the girls wouldn't be able to handle them properly. If they lied and then felt guilty, it would be all over. She and Ling Yuanshan dared to break them because they could lie without batting an eye. The students were too inexperienced to do that.
Then they went back to the stairwell, where the boys were already there.
After exchanging information, it was found that the boy's locker was in poor condition, very poor. It was dirty and messy and he didn't take notes there. However, it wasn't the kind of messy locker that Ge Nan had, which was deliberately bullied. It just seemed like the owner wasn't very clean. He didn't like cleanliness and didn't like studying. It felt like he was a bad student who was just skirting the edge of school rules.
Moreover, Ling Yuanshan also did not dismantle the lockers in the boys' changing room. His thinking was the same as Wu Wangwang's: since the students couldn't do it, they shouldn't take the risk.
Nothing strange happened to the boys. Only the girls saw the person who fell in the courtyard. The person had long hair, and based on the hair, they determined it was a girl. Wu Wangwang saw it clearly, but she didn't say anything.
Ling Yuanshan said, "There are many reasons why someone might jump off a building, so we can't make a judgment lightly. The only thing we can do is to be more careful in the future and pay attention to people who might break the rules. Sometimes there are ghosts who deliberately break the rules to lure you into doing something together. Remember to always keep a calm mind no matter what you encounter."
Then they returned to the art building and decided where to go first according to the floor order. The dance studio always had a huge mirror, and most schools placed it on the upper floors, so the order from bottom to top was art class, performance class, and dance class.
As soon as everyone took the elevator to the art class floor, they smelled the mixture of charcoal pencils, paints, and turpentine. The students were quite familiar with it; even those who weren't art students had taken art classes when they were young and were no strangers to the smell.
This floor is made up of different painting classrooms, labeled according to category, such as sketching, gouache, watercolor, oil painting, etc. Classes with a large number of students are labeled with 1, 2, 3, etc., so you can clearly know which one is which.
The students assigned to the art class were female student B and male student B. Their school cards showed their classes: the former studied traditional Chinese painting, and the latter studied oil painting. They were studying completely different subjects.
As she passed by the traditional Chinese painting classroom, the second woman said in distress, "I've never even held a brush in my entire life, and now I have to take a traditional Chinese painting exam. I might as well just die."
Hearing her complain, the woman suddenly stopped in her tracks: "Wait...wait a minute, everyone wait a minute!"
Everyone turned around, wondering what she had discovered.
“There’s something strange. I’ve looked into the art exams, and the unified exams are all over in March. The judges said that the college entrance exam is a month later, which means that it’s May now. In May, all art and sports students will have to come back to study academic subjects. So what’s the point of our class division?” Nv Ding hurriedly brought up her discovery.
Since none of us are art students, we don't really know. Ling Yuanshan and Wu Wangwang are both seniors, but they just started here and have been in the hospital frequently for the past two months. They have no idea what it's like for art students and thought that being assigned to a class meant being separated forever.
I didn't expect that the art students' class division was just a difference in the exam format. In the end, they still had to return to their original classes and study for the college entrance exam according to their chosen subjects.
Wu Wangwang subconsciously took out the student handbook and flipped through it, but couldn't find the relevant rules, and her heart tightened immediately.
The students slowly realized that it was indeed the case. Although everyone was immersed in their studies, they had heard of art exams and campus recruitment, but they didn't know the specific time and procedures.
Ling Yuanshan's expression was solemn: "If that's the case, then besides the student code of conduct that's publicly available, we might also have a hidden set of rules. Generally speaking, these kinds of hidden rules are filled with human lives."
Everyone's faces turned pale instantly. There were only a few people in the class to begin with, what lives could they possibly take to make up for it? They might as well just say that they might all die here.
Male C cursed again: "When I get out, I'll definitely kill that damn art student! If I can't get out, I'll leave it to Ling Yuanshan and Ge Nan. You have experience, so try your best to survive and avenge us when you get out!" Although this statement was rather unpleasant, everyone nodded in grievance and agreed with it. Since things had come to this, they were already dead, but they couldn't die in vain. They still had to take revenge.
Ling Yuanshan looked helpless: "Don't be so negative. Maybe the hidden rules are to protect the players? Anything is possible. Don't set preconceived notions for yourself."
With Ling Yuanshan's reassurance, everyone continued walking forward and found the changing room. Unlike the other changing rooms, these were art students after all; each person had drawn something different on their locker, each with a very personal style and looking very beautiful.
The changing rooms here are separated by gender. I went to the girls' room first. Inside the locker were various calligraphy brushes and Xuan paper, as well as some small painting tools. The locker was also filled with paintings of various flowers, insects, and birds. It is clear that art students are very inspired as long as they are not on paper.
After opening the cabinet, the woman took out a very small ceramic jar from the deepest part of it: "I found this in there. It's so small that I almost thought it was some kind of doll. Then I found out that this thing can be unscrewed, but I don't know what's inside."
When the ceramic jar is screwed shut, it looks like an adorable little kitten. You can remove the head, and the body part is the jar itself. Inside, there is a odorless, red, viscous substance. It looks like ink pad, but it's not that thick. It's also too thick to be mistaken for paint.
None of us are art students, so we don't understand this at all.
Wu Wangwang took it, sniffed it gently, and then asked hesitantly, "I know what it is, but are you sure you want to hear it?"
Asking this question usually tells you that something inside is definitely not normal. But since we're already in the game, we have to listen even if we don't want to. The second woman said she would listen with a long face, and the others didn't say anything, tacitly agreeing.
So Wu Wangwang took back the cat head cover and put it back on: "This is ink made from fetal mud. I was born in a very small village where many people aborted female fetuses, or even if they were born, they would try to kill them. But they were superstitious, so they would give those female babies to sorceresses."
This was said using the original owner's hometown as a pretext. In reality, what Wu Wangwang was talking about was a secret method. It is said that female infants are often aborted, so some of them cannot be reincarnated multiple times or are killed after reincarnation, and they have a lot of resentment. Some temples will specially enshrine these infant spirits to dispel their resentment. Infertile couples can also come to ask the infant spirits to be reincarnated.
However, these infant spirits have no physical bodies; they can only reside in the statues or clay pots of temples. Their physical bodies are the best materials, and legitimate temples have rules against using them. But charlatans and sorcerers in private don't care about these rules. Some of them are inherently wicked and will use them when they see an opportunity.
The red stuff in the kitten's jar is actually ink made from a fetus. This ink is often used by sorcerers and charlatans to draw talismans, and it works very well. Reputable masters with spiritual power usually use chicken blood, dog blood, and red ink, relying on their own magical abilities to make it effective.
Unskilled swindlers, in order to make it work, will use unorthodox formulas to concoct such things. Regardless of whether the runes are drawn correctly, because the ink is good, it will definitely have an effect. As for whether it will be worse or better after it has an effect, that is unknown.
After hearing Wu Wangwang's brief description, the students huddled together and quietly moved away, unable to believe that such a thing existed in the world.
Wu Wangwang put the cat jar back in the cabinet and said, "I just smelled it. The ink in this jar has no smell. It's possible that someone who knows a lot about ink making used a lot of herbs to cover up the bloody smell. Considering that the NPC is a student of traditional Chinese painting, she should have this ability."
The second woman was almost stunned: "Then why would you do that?"
How terrifying is that?
A fetus, something that can only be obtained through abortion, not only are you not afraid, but you also take it back and make it into ink paste, keeping it in the cabinet every day. Aren't you afraid?
Ling Yuanshan pondered: "The concept of a fetus is a common setting in games. It's nothing more than your own pregnancy, your friend's pregnancy, your classmate's pregnancy, or your teacher's pregnancy. If you go to a hospital to collect it, there won't be just this small jar. Besides, the NPC is a minor, and no hospital would dare to sell it to her."
"You mean the information I received is about this ink made from a fetus?" the woman asked, her hands trembling.
“Yes, but this is against the rules.” Ling Yuanshan said, flipping to a page of the student handbook, which clearly stated that early romantic relationships were not allowed, and if early romantic relationships, sexual intercourse, or pregnancy were discovered, the student would be expelled immediately.
There wasn't even an option to deduct credits; it was simply expulsion, which meant failing the test if discovered.
The second girl's face turned even uglier: "What? If this thing is discovered and the teacher comes to investigate, I won't be able to explain myself at all, and I'll be expelled immediately!"
Wu Wangwang comforted her: "It's okay. Even if the teacher comes to check and reports you, just insist that it's red paint, that you made it yourself, and that because your technique wasn't good, it didn't solidify into ink sticks, but the painting still looks pretty good."
"But what if they make me draw a picture on the spot to prove that this is just ordinary paint?" Woman B was on the verge of tears.
"Then just paint whatever you want. No matter how unusual the materials are, it's just a can of paint now. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. When you don't have a weapon, would you dislike the thigh bone in your hand?" Wu Wangwang gave an irrefutable example.
To be honest, if this were a mass grave and there were no sticks to pick up, I think even a human thigh bone would be acceptable.
With the new information, the woman locked the locker, and everyone went to the men's changing room next door.
After what had just happened, the second man's hands were shaking as he opened the cabinet. Not knowing if he would encounter anything else, he stood aside with a mournful face and pleaded, "Gao Hu, Ge Nan, could you please give me a heads-up about what you found? I think I'm about to have a heart attack."
Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan nodded in agreement, and then began to inspect the cabinet. The students dared not look and stood far away, waiting for the two of them to speak.
This NPC is an oil painting student. Even though he's a boy, the cabinet here is decorated with fancy paintings. In addition to brushes, oil painting paper and turpentine, there is a small bottle containing granules. Wu Wangwang reached out, took it out, opened it, smelled it, and found that it was salt, coarse sea salt.
I looked through it, but there was nothing hidden in the sea salt; it was just a bottle of salt.
Ling Yuanshan asked, "What is it?"
"Salt? Do you need salt to paint oil paintings?" Wu Wangwang asked, puzzled. She didn't know much about foreign paintings, but she did know about ink wash painting, so she immediately recognized what Chinese painting was. However, oil painting was not something she was familiar with.
The other students shook their heads, but Ling Yuanshan knew a little about it. He said, "I do know how, but apart from masters, ordinary people don't use this kind of technique. They prefer to use minerals, grind them up, and sprinkle them on the painting to create a kind of physical shimmer. Salt, on the other hand, will peel off and mix with the colors once it gets wet, so it's not easy to work with."
Wu Wangwang capped the bottle: "Is it possible that this NPC is too poor? The teacher wants to paint a picture with minerals, but he can't even afford the cheapest minerals, so he uses salt instead?"
Ling Yuanshan chuckled: "No, high school students' painting is just the basics. The basics will naturally use the simplest paints, paper and pens. These things are icing on the cake after you become famous. Teachers won't let students who are building a foundation take such crooked paths."
That explains why there's a bottle of sea salt in Man B's closet. Apart from that, there's nothing special about it, and it actually provides less information than the closet of Woman B next door.
Just as they were about to leave, the woman turned back for another look and said, "Could that salt be for warding off evil spirits?"
Wu Wangwang asked in surprise, "Exorcising evil spirits? I've never heard of salt being able to exorcise evil spirits. Are you planning to salt ghosts to death?"
In Wu Wangwang's understanding of the Eastern system, there are no cases of using salt to exorcise ghosts. Occasionally, people use lime powder or sulfur powder to exorcise evil spirits because these two things were considered disinfectants in ancient times. People believed that these could exorcise evil spirits and prevent illness. Other methods of exorcising evil spirits are simply a matter of local customs.
The woman laughed: "Pfft... No, this custom doesn't exist in China anymore, but I think that artists usually follow paintings from other countries. It's very popular to use salt to exorcise ghosts in other places. If someone happens to be someone who hates folk culture and is obsessed with foreign things, they'd naturally be more willing to believe what outsiders say about using salt to exorcise ghosts."
The students all agreed with the girl's statement, finding it very reasonable. Otherwise, he was an oil painter who didn't need salt, and the neighbor had killed a fetus to make ink paste. If this floor was haunted, he would have tried to ward off evil spirits.
Ling Yuanshan reminded Girl B and Boy B: "If the information you two obtained is related, then you should be careful whether you violated school rules when you came into contact with each other. If two people violated the school rules in the first place, and one person makes a mistake, according to the school rules, both will be held accountable."
They knew more about the news, but the students had become numb. In just a short while, they gradually began to understand the players' feelings. No wonder the players all had deadpan expressions.
Then they went upstairs to the performance class. After two rounds of demonstrations, they no longer needed to explain the rules and were much faster. In the performance class dressing room, they found an oil-paper umbrella and a script. The girl was in a hurry and was the only one in the performance class, so she didn't dare to look at it. She changed into her school uniform and left in a hurry.
Now, Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan carefully examined the document and discovered that the oil-paper umbrella was written in the script. The NPC, Nü Ding, played the role of a dream woman in the script, which is the literal meaning of a gentleman's dream lover. She only existed in the gentleman's fantasy and had few scenes, so she was easy to act.
But at the end of the script, someone used a red pen to scribble over the names of the female and male leads, and from the strokes, you could see the hatred in the heart of the person who scribbled them.
The woman was at a loss, staring at the umbrella and the script, hoping that she was a real NPC and not someone from her dream appearing in person.
When they arrived at the dance studio, everyone was exhausted, but they all forced themselves to stay awake and persevere.
The dance studio's changing room is completely different from other changing rooms. It has mirrors everywhere, giving you the feeling that you can't hide from them. Also, the dance studio's changing room is much larger than other changing rooms. It is only divided into male and female areas, not into two separate rooms.
The locker room was quite large. The two students who were leading the way walked in, and they had only gone halfway when suddenly the third boy screamed. He scrambled to Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan's back, wailing, "Mirror! Mirror!"
Since there were mirrors all around, everyone was startled by his actions and hurriedly gathered around Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan. However, the more they tried to hide, the more they realized that no matter how they hid, there were always mirrors reflecting their images. These young people, who usually loved looking for mirrors, were now all terrified of them.
Wu Wangwang looked around, confused: "What's wrong with the mirrors? They're all perfectly clear."
The boy, C, clung tightly to Wu Wangwang and Ling Yuanshan's school uniforms, tearing the holes in Wu Wangwang's clothes even wider. He exclaimed in horror, "I was doing my hair in front of the mirror just now, and I made a peace sign. The reflection in the mirror actually picked a rock and beat me!"
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Author's Note: [End of Chapter]
Wu Wangwang: Are you upset because you lost at rock-paper-scissors? [Question mark]
Ling Yuanshan: ...[Laughing and crying while covering face]
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