Chapter 927: I Will Lead the Way
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
Liu Gang’s group continued to move through the bas.e.m.e.nt. When they turned the corner, the cameraman stealthily took out his phone to look. There was a new message on it. “Come and meet up with me now! I think I have found the exit!”
“The a.s.sistant has found the exit?” The cameraman did not share this with Liu Gang but quietly sent a message back. “Where are you now? Where am I supposed to meet you?”
Muscle did not plan to share this message with others because he knew Liu Gang too well. The man had made such a big promise before millions of viewers on the livestream. Due to his pride, Liu Gang would never choose to escape, but Muscle was different. He had only been dragged there by Liu Gang to man the camera, so why should he suffer alongside Liu Gang?
“This Haunted House is too dark. If anything else happens, I will leave with the male a.s.sistant.” Muscle had a general plan. He held the camera with one hand and had his other hand in his pocket. On the surface, he looked unaffected, but he made sure that the contact with the ‘male a.s.sistant’ was maintained. Moments later, the message came from the ‘male a.s.sistant’.
“There is a hidden path inside the school. I saw one of the workers push open the mirror in the library. There is a path hidden behind it!”
Seeing the message sent by ‘the male a.s.sistant’, Muscle was quickly reminded of the paper notes that littered the ground after the male a.s.sistant disappeared. They had said the same thing; the school had hidden pathways that could lead them out of the two campuses.
He isn’t lying to me!
Muscle typed on one hand, “Are you at the library‽”
“Yes, where are you now?”
“Brother Gang wants to go to the staff dormitory. He is now completely bewitched by that Lan Dong. He refuses to listen to anyone else.”
“This Haunted House is too dangerous. I don’t dare go and find you. Please try to advise him! We will meet up on the ground floor of the library! Remember, the ground floor! There will be scare points around the corridor! Be careful!” the male a.s.sistant advised and repeated many key words. This convinced Muscle that the messages did come from the male a.s.sistant.
“Okay.” Muscle remembered the messages, but he did not share them with Liu Gang. After they left the male dormitory, none of them were in high spirits. In this Haunted House, time seemed to halt, and every second was tormenting. Without an ending, hope was slowly ground away, and despair grew in their hearts like a poisonous plant. The color of the corridor changed, and a fork in the road appeared. The left was the office block, and the right was the staff dormitory.
“We’ll go to the staff dormitory first. Mr. Bai’s room should have information related to the art club.” Ah Li supported himself by the wall. His eyes fluttered, and a child’s shadow seemed to stand in his pupils.
“Okay, after that, we’ll go and explore the office.” Lan Dong took out the keys. “I’m very curious about what secrets Mr. Bai is hiding.”
“I still think we shouldn’t wander about aimlessly.” Ah Li used to be Lan Dong’s follower. He had never gone against Lan Dong, but since entering the Haunted House, Ah Li had slowly begun changing. Lan Dong gave Ah Li a side-eye, ignored him, and entered the staff dormitory. The dormitory was separated into two bas.e.m.e.nt levels. They did not know where Mr. Bai’s room was, so they could only explore it one by one. Gradually, footsteps emerged in the originally quiet corridor. The sound was strange, like it came from above them.
“Something’s coming! We’d better move faster! Do not stay too long on the same floor! Mr. Bai’s room should be on the second floor!” Ah Li suddenly yelped. He pressed his temples, and his memory seemed to overlap. For some reason, he could remember where Mr. Bai’s room was. “He lives in the room in the middle of the second level’s corridor!”
Liu Gang was livestreaming, so he could not say anything to Ah Li. He just smiled. “You don’t work here, so how would you know where Mr. Bai stays?”
Lan Dong also frowned. “Did you find some clue that you didn’t share with us?”
“I suddenly remembered it. This place gave me a sense of familiarity, really! I’ve been here in my dreams before!” Ah Li did not care about the livestream anymore. He was very afraid; that déjà vu feeling was about to push him over the edge.
“You…”
“They’re coming! There’s no time to waste! We’re heading down now!” Ah Li was agitated. He appeared to see things that others could not. Without giving the others a chance to react, he turned to run down the stairs.
“Xiao Dong, is there something mentally wrong with your brother?” Muscle flinched. He could not stand Ah Li, who was acting like a madman.
“He was normal when we were outside.” Lan Dong and Xiao Chun followed behind Ah Li and entered the second bas.e.m.e.nt level. They pushed open the door in the middle of the corridor and found many things related to Mr. Bai, including the copy of Mr. Bai’s teacher’s cla.s.sroom doc.u.ment and many letters that the students had written to him.
“This really is Mr. Bai’s room! How did Ah Li know that?” With the truth placed before their eyes, everyone turned to Ah Li. Even those who had been making fun of Ah Li shut up.
“Have you hidden some clues by yourself!” Lan Dong was angry and pulled on Ah Li’s collar. “Why would you do that?”
“Brother Dong, I really suddenly remembered these details. I remember this Mr. Bai! I feel like I have been here before! The rumor about this world after death might be real!” Ah Li wanted to cry, but there were no tears. He was telling the truth.
“You liar!”
“Stop arguing!” Xiao Chun found a doc.u.ment on the living room table. The cover stated it as the seventh report for the supernatural phenomenon observation club. “This was left behind by Mr. Bai. Come and take a look!”
The handwriting was like chicken scrawl, and it was cut halfway through. “As the teacher responsible for the club, I noticed something strange during the club activities. The members of the art club have disappeared one by one. Where have they gone? After some investigation, I realized, in their last messages, there is a constant repet.i.tion of the word, ‘heaven’…”
“The art students have all gone to heaven? What is the meaning of this? We’re supposed to go to heaven to find the art club? The quest is to be completed in heaven?” Muscle grumbled.
“Heaven is the world after death. Is this term referring to a place at school perhaps, or have the members of the art club all been killed?” Lan Dong frowned deeper. “We’ve found the seventh report. To recover the whole truth, we need to find reports one to six. In any case, the general direction has been confirmed. We need to find ‘heaven’ at this school.”
“Heaven…” Ah Li appeared to be traumatized. He rushed into the camera and blocked Liu Gang. “Brother Gang, we mustn’t go there. We have to leave now.”
“Leave‽” Liu Gang resisted the urge to slap Ah Li but pushed him aside. “There is no reason to leave. We have found the clue. Now, we’ll go and check the office.”
Just as they prepared to leave, a dog’s barking suddenly came in their ears.
“Why is there a dog in the Haunted House?” Before they recovered, the door to the room suddenly closed. The footsteps walked away. The man who closed the door wore Mr. Bai’s teacher identification. He had an old phone model, and his voice was soft and kind.
“Twenty minutes have pa.s.sed; it is time to kick the difficulty up a notch. Tong Tong, help me contact the big sister in the tree hole. It’s time for her to s.h.i.+ne.”
At the same time, in the green garden in the middle of the school, a headless female body without a head slowly moved to the tree hole and pulled out her own head. Blood dripped, and a smile appeared on the woman’s beautiful face.