Zuo Si was now trapped on the third floor, unable to escape. If there was truly no other way, he could only stand by the wall and shout for help, hoping that Meng Miaoxue and Ge Hong would hear him.
Although ghosts could not stray too far from their host, coming to this school was still within the realm of possibility. Zuo Si had conducted experiments before; for vengeful spirits like Meng Miaoxue and Ge Hong, leaving their host for several kilometers was not an issue.
It seemed to be related to the strength of the ghost; the reason the woman in red could follow Zuo Si was likely because of her formidable power.
To eliminate a malevolent spirit, one must first identify who the spirit is. But Zuo Si currently had no clues at all. He was acutely aware of the cunning nature of these spirits, which made them nearly impossible to guard against! In fact, among the six students in front of him, it was entirely possible that one of them was a malevolent spirit!
The six children before him were unable to communicate, and if he wanted to find clues, he would have to search within this building. Although the building was not large, it had six floors, and the classrooms and offices combined must have at least dozens of rooms. Even if there were clues, finding them would have to wait until dawn.
Zuo Si rubbed his chin, beginning to ponder everything that had happened since he arrived at the school. What were the unusual occurrences?
‘… Wait a minute!’ Zuo Si suddenly realized that the most unusual thing was the third floor?!
“Why did that ghost trap me on the third floor? Why is there only one intact desk here?”
“Whether on the first floor or the sixth, every classroom has several usable desks, yet the third floor has only one?” Zuo Si looked incredulously at the desk before him. Could the clue be right here? If the clue truly lay within this desk, then this school must have ghosts aiding him. Otherwise, such a coincidence would be impossible.
Without considering anything else, he decided to check if there was indeed something inside this desk. He reached into the desk’s hole, but found nothing—just emptiness.
Holding a candle, Zuo Si examined every corner and discovered that there were also some carvings beneath the desk. They were identical to the carvings on the desk in the confinement room. This was definitely the work of the same person.
“This is the desk used by that student in the classroom.”
“I helped him dispel his Heart Demon, so he helped me in return?”
“Could it be that the one who saved me on the sixth floor was also him?”
Just moments ago on the sixth floor, both the burly student and the one radiating heavy killing aura seemed poised to attack Zuo Si. Yet, for some unknown reason, they stood there like the other students, completely motionless. Without someone helping, this would be utterly inexplicable.
Zuo Si searched the entire desk thoroughly, and finally, in a gap above the desk hole, he discovered a diary.
Signed: Ye Yingjie.
The diary was not thick, and it was covered with a layer of plastic, remaining relatively well-preserved. Zuo Si carefully opened the first page and began to read the contents inside.
September 1, Tuesday, sunny. Today is the first day of middle school. The teachers and classmates are all very friendly. The homeroom teacher is called Liu Zhendong, and he has a rather amusing black mole at the corner of his mouth. I am very happy and will work hard to study; I absolutely won’t be the last in class anymore.
September 3, Thursday, overcast. Today is the third day of interacting with my classmates. The girl sitting to my left is named Cui Yuanyuan; she is very pretty, and I get nervous every time I see her. Is this what love feels like? The boys sitting behind me, Chen Lei and Li Mengchao, seem like little rascals. They often glare at me as if they don’t like me. I’m so afraid they will h!t me; Chen Lei is tall and strong, it must hurt a lot if he h!ts me.
September 15, Tuesday, light rain. Today I got h!t, by the homeroom teacher, because I let Cui Yuanyuan copy a love song’s lyrics, and she told the teacher. The homeroom teacher is so fierce, so scary.
Fortunately, Teacher Qin helped to stop him; otherwise, I was really afraid I would be be@ten to death.
After school, I was stopped by Chen Lei and Li Mengchao. They said I was trying to steal their girlfriend and beat me up again.
When I got home that night, my parents also found out about this incident. They said I was writing love letters and dating early, and they h!t me for the third time.
I am so scared; it seems there is no safe place in this world.
September 16, Wednesday, clear weather.
Today, Teacher Qin said she would help me catch up on my studies. She said I hadn’t learned well in elementary school, and if I didn’t study hard, I would always be at the bottom of the class for the rest of my life.
Although she didn’t smile at me, I felt that she cared about me, and I experienced an unprecedented warmth.
October 7, Wednesday, clear weather.
Teacher Qin has been tutoring me for 20 consecutive days. Throughout the National Day holiday, she came to my house every day to help me catch up on my studies. I believe that in the next exam, I will definitely achieve a good result.
Today, Teacher Qin rarely chatted with me a bit. She asked me what my biggest wish was.
I said I wanted my parents and teachers to stop h!tting me.
Teacher Qin patted my head, and a tear fell from the corner of her eye.
I asked her why she was crying, but she shook her head and didn’t say anything.
I asked her what her biggest wish was. She said she hoped to receive a love.
I asked if she wanted to find a boyfriend. She said yes, but also no.
October 15, Thursday, heavy rain.
Teacher Qin committed su!cide by jumping off a building. I knelt in the rain, crying sadly, feeling like the whole world had collapsed. I didn’t understand why the teacher would do this.
Teacher Qin’s mother came to claim the c0rpse. She didn’t cry; she just kept cursing herself for raising a useless child.
She felt that she had wasted so much effort.
October 16, Friday, clear weather.
I heard the rumors circulating in the class about me and Teacher Qin, which were unbearable to hear.
Two classmates who were relatively close to me told me that these rumors started circulating when Teacher Qin was tutoring me. They originated from Li Mengchao’s mouth.
I hate him.
After school, I stopped Li Mengchao and Chen Lei. Although I knew I couldn’t win, I had to do this for Teacher Qin.
No matter how much Chen Lei h!t me, I just sat on Li Mengchao’s body and slapped his face.
At that moment, it felt extremely satisfying.
… The content at the back of the diary is almost all repetitive.
Ye Yingjie’s grades plummeted; he gave up studying and was frequently be@ten by Liu Zhendong and his parents, confined to his room.
He hid everywhere but couldn’t find a place where he felt safe.
At the end of the diary, there were many ‘death’ characters drawn with a ballpoint pen, and from these ‘death’ characters, one could even feel the emanating hostility.
Closing the notebook, Zuo Si sighed deeply. The lives of Qin Shuangya and Ye Yingjie were unfortunate.
There are probably many people like them.
This is the result of the cultural deficiencies of their previous generation, the misunderstanding of education.
With the continuous progress of the times, Zuo Si believes that such examples will surely become fewer and fewer.
The music of the music box suddenly stopped, and the six children looked at Zuo Si in unison.
After a moment’s hesitation, Zuo Si still prepared to wind it up so that these poor children could listen for a while longer.
But before he could move, he saw the group of children pointing at the desk in front of him.
Then they all disappeared.
Zuo Si looked down and found a large black character written on the desk.
Escape!