Chapter 48

On the other side.

The movie was not over yet. Lu Yueling used the excuse of going to the bathroom and slipped out from the back alone, her mind still in a mess.

So what was going on now?

Lu Yueling was very confused. But there was one thing she was sure of - she should have entered the "ghost story area" as Xu Ming and the others often said.

She actually had no idea about this thing. Before this, the only ghost story area she had been to was the Butterfly Building, and her only two understandings of that place were that there were ghosts in it and it was difficult to escape.

Of course, the former was no big deal for Lu Yueling now. She was dead, so what was there to be afraid of? If a ghost came to attack her, at best it would be a fight, and the other party might not be able to beat her.

...Having said that, at this moment, standing alone in the empty cinema passage, Lu Yueling could not help but feel a chill down her spine.

She suspected that this had something to do with the movie she had just watched - she had just been dragged into the screening room as "Guo Shuyi". Not long after, movies started playing inside, and it was a horror movie, telling a story about a school student who lost his footing and drowned, and then turned into an evil spirit...

Not to mention, the movie was quite scary.

Lu Yueling, a dead man, was stunned for a moment, and a little girl sitting next to him was so frightened that she dropped her small bag on the ground, scattering her things everywhere. When Lu Yueling was about to come out, she was still searching in the dark on the ground. Just then, a small medicine bottle rolled to her feet, and she picked it up and gave it to the other party.

Then she slipped out smoothly. She wanted to look for clues everywhere first, but she didn't expect that the aftereffects of the movie surged up at this moment, making her suspicious. The hair on her shoulders couldn't help but bounce slightly.

"No, no, calm down... I'm a ghost, I'm not afraid of ghosts. It's funny, this is..."

She kept repeating in her mind, looking behind her for the umpteenth time. The long corridor continued to extend into the depths, giving people an inexplicable illusion that there was no end.

Lu Yueling calmed down, turned around, and walked towards the bathroom step by step based on her memory. As she walked, she tentatively picked up the work badge hanging on her chest and shook it gently - she remembered that others had said that this thing could guide her to find Xu Ming's location. However, no matter how she shook it, the small badge would just hang in the air and spin in circles.

Just at this moment, she heard a burst of hurried footsteps behind her, followed by a familiar call -

"Guo Shuyi!" She heard the voice coming from not far away, "Where are you going, come with me!"

Lu Yueling was still thinking about the work badge, and her first reaction was to hide the work badge in her clothes. After hiding it, she was about to answer, but suddenly she realized something was wrong.

...The footsteps were wrong.

Lu Yueling recognized that voice. It was the voice of the girl she met in the bathroom, the one who called her "Guo Shuyi". While watching a movie together just now, she also roughly figured out the other party's identity - one of "Guo Shuyi's" friends and also her classmate. The two of them often made appointments to hang out together. This time, there were also several other students traveling together.

Of course, this is not the point. The point is that Lu Yueling had just deliberately observed their clothes. Regardless of gender, they all wore flat-soled sports shoes that were easy to move around in.

However, the footsteps that just sounded were click, click, click...especially crisp.

Lu Yueling could tell at once that they were leather shoes. Leather shoes with heels.

...which meant that the people who were calling her now were not her "companions" who came with her.

Who could it be?

Lu Yueling's expression suddenly froze because of this question. Behind her, the person who called her seemed to have not noticed her abnormality at all, and kept calling, and the voice kept echoing in the deep corridor:

"Guo Shuyi, where are you going, come with me!"

"Guo Shuyi, where are you going, come with me!"

"Guo Shuyi--"

While speaking, the footsteps did not stop for a moment. But if you listen carefully, you will find that this voice has always been treading in the same place, with no intention of getting closer.

... This cognition made Lu Yueling's scalp tingling more and more.

What the hell! How long has she been in this place, and she can bump into this! Can they learn from the Butterfly Building, at least let her sleep peacefully for two nights...

This monster is also not doing his job. Why not do something else instead of coming here to scare your fellow creatures... Wait, come to think of it, are I and it in the same industry? It doesn't seem so. If it dies, it's the same species...

Then it's the monsters here that are bad. They're so big, can't they even tell the difference between their fellow creatures and humans? Go to hell! Garbage!

Lu Yueling thought angrily, and the inexplicable anger that suddenly rose up in her throat slightly weakened her fear. However, at this moment, she realized an even worse fact -

she couldn't move.

Unable to move, unable to turn around. Only her eyelids could still blink slightly. She tried to move her hair, but it took a lot of effort, and her hair only moved weakly, as if it was also restrained by something.

Lu Yueling: "..."

Well, she was really a little scared now.

Not only her hands, feet and hair, but also her tongue and lips became heavy, as if they did not belong to her. At this moment, the footsteps behind her, which were supposed to be treading in place, seemed to have completely woken up and began to gradually approach, getting closer and closer...

"Guo Shuyi." As it approached, the voice was still calling her pseudonym, "Where are you going, come with me quickly..."

...I don't.

Lu Yueling gritted her teeth secretly.

I can't agree, I can't go with it - this thought climbed higher and higher as the footsteps approached, until the moment when her shoulder felt the coolness, it climbed to the highest point.

Lu Yueling's hair almost exploded when she caught a glimpse of the pale hand on her shoulder. In her panic, she didn't notice that her lips and tongue were able to move, and she instinctively made a sound:

"I don't--"

"Don't answer!"

A strange voice suddenly came out, and almost at the same time, something cold was splashed on Lu Yueling's face!

Lu Yueling shuddered, and felt as if she had just woken up from a nightmare, and all the heavy feelings of oppression suddenly faded away. She subconsciously looked at her shoulders, and then looked behind her, everything was empty.

Only in front of her, stood a strange girl, thin and tall, with fair skin. One hand was raised high, and the metal lucky bead hanging on the wrist was shaking gently, and in her hand was a mineral water bottle that was already half empty.

Lu Yueling: "..."

Something slid down her cheek. She reached out and touched it, and sure enough, it was all water.

"Uh... sorry, sorry." Seeing that she seemed to be fully awake, the girl was finally relieved and quickly took out a pack of tissues and handed it to her.

"I'm sorry, I called you several times just now and you didn't respond. I felt like you were about to be infected. There was no other way, so I said to try splashing water on you... But you know what, you see, it's quite effective, right?" "

...Ah? Oh..." Lu Yueling was still a little confused. She took the tissue, muttered thank you quietly, and began to wipe her face silently.

Fortunately, as the water stains on her face were gradually wiped away, her originally dizzy brain became clearer. Although she still didn't understand the situation, at least she understood one thing.

I must have been possessed by some strange thing just now, just like being paralyzed by a ghost. It was the girl in front of me who woke me up.

Thinking of this, Lu Yueling raised her eyes again, and added a thank you to the other party a little embarrassedly. After thinking about it, she couldn't help but say: "By the way, what exactly do you mean by 'being tricked' just now..."

The girl's face suddenly became serious when she heard it.

"To put it simply, you are being stared at by a strange thing. It will make you feel uncomfortable and scared, and its purpose is just to make you respond to it. Once you respond to it, it will really catch you!"

Lu Yueling: "..."

The question is, why do you know so much?

“I saw it in the mutual aid box.” The girl took the paper package returned by Lu Yueling as if it was a matter of course. “Come to think of it, did you not see the correct prompt? People like us cannot leave the theater during a movie, otherwise it will be like what happened just now. Even if we are just walking on the street, we will be stared at by strange things…”

Lu Yueling: “…???”

No, wait, explain clearly, what do you mean by “people like us”? How come they suddenly started recognizing each other as relatives...

She was confused, but the girl continued talking to herself. While talking, she did not forget to pull her to the side so as not to block her in the road:

"Let me tell you, luckily I was smart. I went to the bathroom just now to check it out and saw that the box was open. At that time, I thought, it's over, maybe someone else is here? When I looked inside the box, I felt even worse, because the clues inside were not complete, you know. Even the two cards I put in before were gone, and I didn't know if you took them away. And you were not in the bathroom anymore. So I happened to be free at this moment, so I hurried out to look for it. If I'm lucky, I can still find it before anything happens...

" "Fortunately, fortunately, I did find it. "

The girl said, and showed a relieved expression again. Lu Yueling looked at her, but she felt that the question marks in her mind became more numerous.

"Well, interrupt me." She was silent for a moment, and finally couldn't help raising her hand, "By the way, who are you?"

What's the matter with this déjà vu feeling of an enthusiastic senior sister coming to pick you up when you entered the university?

When the girl heard this, she was stunned for a moment, but looked at Lu Yueling seriously, as if she had asked something strange. After a moment, she said "Oh" as if she suddenly realized something.

"You... just came in?" She asked in surprise, and after thinking about it, she added, "I mean, you just became 'Guo Shuyi'? "

…" Lu Yueling was asked this question by her, but she didn't know how to answer. After a while, she nodded hesitantly and honestly.

"No wonder." The other party showed an understanding expression, and then straightened her face, "In this case, I have to introduce myself first."

She said, slightly leaning to the side, facing Lu Yueling, and nodded seriously again:

"Guo Shuyi, nice to meet you."

Lu Yueling: "…?"

*

At the same time, on the other side.

After finally seeing off the classmates with concerned faces, Xu Ming closed the door, then let out a long breath, turned around and looked around the room behind her.

To be precise, it was her "dormitory".

It was a four-person dormitory with a bed and a desk underneath, and the room was very clean. At this time, everyone else was in class, and Xu Ming was the only one in the room, which made her feel a lot more comfortable.

In fact, it stands to reason that students cannot enter the dormitory at will at this time, at least that's what the classmate who brought Xu Ming back said - but Xu Ming couldn't help but talk nonsense, from how he was a miscarriage of justice, all the way to his painful despair about this world, and then all the way to his complication of dysmenorrhea caused by his painful despair...

Anyway, the result was that the little classmate believed it.

He believed it so much that he comforted and advised him at the same time, in order to make Xu Ming calm down as soon as possible . , and even went to ask the teacher for a note of absence on her behalf in the name of dysmenorrhea, and even walked her all the way back to the dormitory...

This made Xu Ming feel a little embarrassed.

Of course, no matter how embarrassed she was, she still had to do everything she had to do. Xu Ming quickly locked onto "Guo Shuyi's" bed and simply looked through the things on the table, but unfortunately she didn't find anything - they were just very ordinary stationery.

She didn't find any useful text information, and her textbooks were all brand new. The only thing that made Xu Ming feel fortunate was that she found the key to the dormitory - she borrowed the key from the dormitory manager when she came in, and at that time she was worried that it would be inconvenient to move around without her own key.

But other than that, there was really nothing valuable. This forced Xu Ming to shift her attention to other corners of the room.

Fortunately, this time, she finally found something.

——Behind the dormitory door, there was a Conan poster, but only the upper half was pasted, and the lower half was hanging. Xu Ming tried to lift up the poster, and sure enough, he found another thing pasted on the door.

A simple dormitory accommodation rule.

At first glance, most of the rules are very normal, and the weirdest one is only "there must be no garbage in the trash can during the sanitation inspection"; only the last three items are hard for Xu Ming not to care:

[16. If you find that there is inexplicable leakage, water accumulation, cold and dampness in the dormitory, please report it to the dormitory manager in time, and cooperate with the dormitory manager's arrangements to temporarily move to other dormitories.

[17. If you find that your roommate suddenly has large unexplained water stains on her body, and she has been out of your sight for more than ten minutes before that, please leave the dormitory immediately and seek help from the dormitory manager.

[18. If the dormitory you originally lived in has had water leaks, etc., please pay extra attention to your roommate's condition in the first three days of moving into the new dormitory. Remember that a dormitory can only accommodate a maximum of four people. ]

"Well..."

Xu Ming stared at the three rules for a while, then decisively took out his phone and took a picture first.

After taking the picture, his face showed some thought again.

- So, in this area of ​​strange stories, there is at least one kind of monster that is very "watery".

I just don't know whether this is directed and acted by the domain master himself, and double-insured; or whether the monster is a dodder, and therefore the domain master is jealous of it.

Of course, it cannot be determined that this set of rules must come from the domain master - although Anxin Gardening once said that the first set of rules encountered after entering the core area of ​​strange stories must come from the domain master, but firstly, it is not certain that this is the core area, and secondly, I am taking a shortcut now, not going to class but directly entering the dormitory, and the process is different from that of normal entrants.

If we follow the normal process, the first set of rules that a normal entrant would come into contact with should be the school rules or class rules or something like that...

Xu Ming pursed his lips slightly, and finally made up his mind. After quickly changing into his school uniform and schoolbag, he carefully ran down the stairs.

Beiwan No. 2 Middle School is a coeducational school. Because most of the students are day students, there is only one dormitory building. Girls live on the third, fourth, and fifth floors, and boys live on the third floor and below. The dormitory manager is on the first floor. There are two staircases in the north and south of the building. No matter which way you go, you will eventually pass by the small duty room where the dormitory manager is.

Xu Ming was wearing a school uniform and carrying a small schoolbag at this time, and he felt much more confident. Before leaving, he greeted the aunt on duty. The aunt was quite nice. She specifically asked if she was feeling well. After getting a positive answer, she waved and let Xu Ming go to class. After thinking about it, she added as usual:

"Remember to stay away from the artificial lake!"

Xu Ming: ...

"Yeah!" Her eyes swept over the middle-aged woman on duty in front of her again. She turned her eyes slightly, responded neatly, smiled and waved again, and the moment she stepped out of the dormitory building, her smile instantly withdrew.

...Yes. This is another place that makes her feel strange.

Whether it is the enthusiastic little classmate before or the dormitory aunt just now, they are very different from the "passers-by" she met in the ghost stories before. Putting aside the fleeting weirdness when she realized that she was not "Guo Shuyi", the rest of the time, their performance was normal.

This behavior is different from those employees in the Rubik's Cube Building who pretend

to be normal. Even if the latter try hard to cover up, they will always be exposed as different from ordinary people, and the smell of discord is particularly strong. However, the two of them... their behavior and emotions are so natural, even real.

So normal, it seems that they are people living in this world.

...NPC.

Or the kind with a very advanced algorithm.

This word inexplicably emerged from Xu Ming's mind, and then she frowned. For some reason, Xu Ming didn't like this term very much.

On the other hand, this situation also made Xu Ming feel a little more at a loss - I always feel that this strange story is very different from the ones I encountered before, and it might be more difficult to deal with than the Hongqiang and Butterfly in the past...

Sighing secretly, Xu Ming raised his head again and quickly scanned the surroundings. Taking advantage of the fact that there were not many people on campus at this time, she silently quickened her pace.

Her goal was very clear. Since the dormitory rules showed a fear of "water", and the dormitory manager mentioned "stay away from the artificial lake". There is a high probability that there is something over there. It happens that she has time now, so she can go and explore it.

Of course, for safety reasons, she must not get too close. It's enough to watch from a distance.

And soon, Xu Ming found that she might have thought too much -

there was indeed a large artificial lake in the center of the school. However, at this moment, the artificial lake was surrounded by a circle of thick and high log fences. If you want to get through, you can only rely on climbing over it, and that requires nimble hands and feet.

Not to mention that she didn't dare to get close, even if she dared to get close, she was afraid that she couldn't get through at all.

The good news is that outside the fence, she still found what she wanted smoothly.

It was a wooden sign. Standing far away from the artificial lake, if it weren't for the six big bold words "No fishing or swimming" at the top, Xu Ming would not have realized that this sign was related to the artificial lake.

Below the big words, there are several lines of small words. Xu Ming carefully moved forward, and several rows of clear print instantly came into his eyes:

[To ensure the personal safety of students, all teachers and students must do the following:

[1. Do not stay near the water.

【2. There is a fence next to the artificial lake in the school, please keep this in mind.

【3. Do not feed the fish. There are no fish in the water.

【4. If you see bubbles or signs of movement of living things on the water surface, please tell yourself that it is a fish.

【5. If you see a girl lingering inside the fence, ignore her.

【6. If you see a girl slipping and falling into the lake, ignore her.

【7. If you see a girl calling for help in the water, ignore her. And,

【——Run!!!】

……!

The last three words, written in a dazzling red color, plus three exclamations, suddenly appeared in front of Xu Ming's eyes, which really scared her.

She quickly adjusted her breathing, then looked around vigilantly and took out her mobile phone furtively. Just when he was about to take a photo facing the sign, he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder.

Xu Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he turned around and bent his elbow to hit

the opponent! Qiu Yufei taught him this, whether it worked or not is another matter, but he should use it first!

Unexpectedly, before he hit the opponent with his elbow, he heard several screams. Then he saw a tall girl retreating in a hurry, and when she retreated, she did not forget to raise her hands high, with an expression of "Don't hit me, I'm a good person."

At this time, another girl next to her also spoke in panic:

"Don't hit me, we are good people!"

"..." Suspicious eyes swept across their faces, Xu Ming slowly withdrew his hands, stood up straight, "What do you mean?"

"Well... This is indeed a problem, wait for me to think about how to say it..." The girl with the princess cut muttered awkwardly and looked at her companion for help. The tall girl was very calm and didn't care that she almost got beaten up. She said directly, "You are Guo Shuyi, right?"

Xu Ming: "...Yes."

"What a coincidence." The tall girl continued, laughing softly, pointing at the two of them, "Us too."

Xu Ming: "..."

Xu Ming: "???"

*

"...No, wait a minute. I still don't understand."

On the other side, in the cinema.

Lu Yueling tried hard to digest everything she heard, her brain was still a little dizzy:

"You mean, you are also called Guo Shuyi. Besides, this weird... I mean, there are several Guo Shuyi in this world?"

"Yeah." The girl next to her nodded seriously, and unconsciously stroked the lucky beads in her hand while speaking, "Of course, our original names were not Guo Shuyi. But to be on the safe side, in a place like this, it is better to continue using the name Guo Shuyi. You don't know, some 'passers-by', once they find out that you are not 'Guo Shuyi', their faces will change quickly...

"Of course you can also give yourself a nickname, and often call it in your heart to make sure you don't get confused. For example, I like to call myself Bonnie..."

Lu Yueling: "..."

"Okay, hello Bonnie. "She automatically regarded that sentence as a real self-introduction, and pointed at herself, "Lu Yueling."

Unexpectedly, the girl who called herself Bonnie was even more surprised after hearing it.

"What is that, is it your real name?" She widened her eyes, "Do you still remember your name?"

...?

"What do you mean?" Lu Yueling asked subconsciously, "You don't remember?"

"..." In response to her, the girl's eyes slowly moved away.

So, you really don't remember it?

Lu Yueling identified the other party's expression, and after a moment, she couldn't help but sighed softly.

"Forget it, it's not a big deal. I guess I'm about to forget it."

She said, stretched out her hand to smooth her hair, and sat up straight again:

"Then tell me about it next. After entering here, I became 'Guo Shuyi'... and then what? What should I do? "

*

At the same time.

In a public restroom near a bus stop in the south of the city.

A panting German Shepherd rushed in and stopped in the public area inside. After sniffing for a while, it let out a low howl. Then the folded umbrella tied to its back trembled slightly and fell to the ground with a snap. The next second, the umbrella unfolded by itself, and a slender figure appeared under the umbrella.

"Is there no one in there? "Landor put away the folding umbrella in his hand, looked around and waved to the German Shepherd. The German Shepherd came closer, and was touched twice by him. The smooth body suddenly began to twitch and shake. Immediately afterwards, accompanied by a strange sound, the body of the German Shepherd suddenly turned into a ball of black smoke and shrank inward. In

the blink of an eye, it condensed into a small puppy that was less than the size of a palm, lying on the ground, whining.

"Yeah, I know. You go back first. I'll find you when I need you - Yeah, I'll call you when I find her. "

Landor said as he stuffed the crawling puppy into his clothes. He looked down at the badge on his chest and couldn't help sighing.

He knew that he should follow.

Xu Ming had just taken back the rule book and physique. Her body was still very unstable. The probability of encountering dead people and getting into strange stories was relatively high. Moreover, her characteristic was idiocy. Although she had a strong ability to save her life, she also needed companions the most.

At this time, the whale fat man who was originally tied to the rule book was not there yet...

Now he was There is Lu Yueling following him, but it is really hard to say whether she is reliable or not - as a "newcomer", Landor has to admit that her soul foundation is indeed quite good, and she still has her own roots. The problem is that she herself doesn't understand anything yet.

Her understanding of ghost stories may not be as much as Xu Ming's friend surnamed Qiu. She is also completely unskilled in her own strength. Not to mention the experience of dealing with enemies.

According to Xu Ming, the friend surnamed Qiu is busy looking for a job recently. Gu Yunshu went to the city Looking for relatives inside. At this time, I should be with him. Although he is not of much use now... but for the sake of safety, he should go with him.

Unfortunately, for some reason, he is too sensitive to the sun and cannot walk outside for a long time; in fact, if it weren't for the sun umbrella Xu Ming gave him, which was just enough for him to curl up and hide, he might not be able to get here in time.

So next, all I have to think about is how to get in...

Landor thought to himself, looking at the work badge on his chest again. I saw There were red threads floating on it, slowly pointing to a point in the air.

Landor stretched his hand forward tentatively, and the bell hanging around his neck began to tremble slightly. As he moved, the trembling became more and more intense.

This made Landor feel more relieved. He took a deep breath, stretched out his hand suddenly, grasped the trembling bell, and quickly

took another step forward - the back of the hoodie soon disappeared into the bathroom.