Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Brother Zhang was a large man, and he could barely fit his limbs beneath the student desk. He tried to fold himself smaller, but the cramped position made him miserable.

Xiao Zhao had acted unstable from the moment they entered the instance. Now she sat behind him muttering endlessly, giving him a headache.

Brother Zhang twisted around and glanced back. Xiao Zhao’s head hung low, her black hair covering her face as muffled words seeped from behind it.

He was not afraid of ghosts, yet the sight raised goose bumps across his body. Rubbing his arms, he cursed her as a lunatic and faced forward again.

The teacher lectured enthusiastically from the front, but Brother Zhang could not focus.

He had left school long ago and had never studied hard even then. Unable to sit still, he shifted. The desk and chair creaked softly.

The woman behind him kept murmuring. Every minute felt like a year.

Propping his chin on one hand, Brother Zhang gripped a pencil in the other and doodled aimlessly across his notebook.

He would search for clues during the next class. The students’ schedules were packed. If the players truly followed the Dean’s arrangement, they would have no time for their mission.

They still did not know exactly what they were meant to do, but finding Tan Tao’s friends would be a start. One clue would lead to another.

As Brother Zhang considered this, something began to feel wrong.

What was it?

The teacher continued gesturing grandly at the board. The woman behind him continued muttering without pause, and her voice grew louder…

Louder!

Cold sweat slid down Brother Zhang’s back. Before, her voice had been no more irritating than a fly. Now it sounded as though she were whispering directly into his ear.

His neck locked. He dared not turn or move.

What if he looked back and discovered the ghostlike Xiao Zhao draped across his shoulders, hair brushing his neck as she whispered beside his ear?

Thump. Thump. His heartbeat grew deafening. His own imagination terrified him until sweat drenched his clothes.

Brother Zhang closed his eyes, then suddenly whipped around with the desperation of a man staking everything on one move.

Nothing. There was nothing there.

No pale face inches from his own, no ghost clinging to his back.

Xiao Zhao remained in her seat, long hair hiding her face as she muttered nervously.

Brother Zhang exhaled, wiped the sweat from his face, and collapsed over his desk.

Nothing was more frightening than people scaring themselves. He was definitely changing seats after class.

“Going to die… bound to die…”

Before he could relax, the voice returned like rot in his bones. It was right beside his ear. He had not imagined it.

This time, he understood what Xiao Zhao was saying.

That crazy woman!

Brother Zhang could not endure another minute.

Bang!

The sudden scrape of a desk and chair shattered the quiet classroom. Every eye turned toward him.

“Muttering, muttering! Will you shut up? We’re in class! Have you never attended school before? If you want to go crazy, why keep talking at me? ‘Bound to die’? You’ll be the first one dead!”

Brother Zhang’s dark face burned red, and veins pulsed across his forehead as he poured all his frustration onto the woman behind him.

Xiao Zhao stopped talking to herself. She hugged her body timidly and lowered her head even farther.

Cheng Miao frowned. That reaction was strange.

Xiao Zhao had been unstable since entering the instance and grew even more irrational after Qi Jiajia provoked her in the corridor. Sitting quietly through class was already out of character. Submitting immediately when Brother Zhang confronted her made even less sense.
Xiao Zhao had tried to slap Qi Jiajia after a single provocation.

Had her personality changed that quickly?

Before Cheng Miao could think further, the teacher left the lectern and asked what had happened.

“The student behind you was wrong to disturb your lesson, but you cannot shout during class either. That disrupts everyone else.” The teacher closed his lesson plan sternly and tapped Brother Zhang’s desk.

Brother Zhang’s face grew even redder. He lowered his head awkwardly and apologized.

“Enough. Pay attention.” After a brief reprimand, the teacher returned to the front.

Cursing his luck under his breath, Brother Zhang yanked his chair forward.

Crack. The chair back suddenly fell off.

The school’s chairs had metal frames with wooden seats and backs screwed into place. On older chairs, worn screws sometimes gave way and allowed the wooden backrest to fall. That was what had happened here.

The slab of wood landed beside Brother Zhang’s desk, leaving two rectangular metal bars protruding from the bare frame.

He scratched his head. He had not pulled that hard. Bending down, he reached for the wood beside his feet.

No!

Before Cheng Miao could shout, something seemed to trip Brother Zhang. His leaning body lost balance, and he crashed toward the upright metal bars.

Qin Musong reacted instantly from nearby, but he only managed to catch one of Brother Zhang’s arms.

With a wet puncture, the long bar entered Brother Zhang’s eye socket. Red and white matter clung to its tip as it burst through the back of his skull.

“Ah!”

“Someone died!”

The students fled the classroom screaming, leaving only the players and Brother Zhang’s corpse.

The Dean led the students to another classroom to calm them. Qiao Jin arrived with the nine liberal-arts players and joined Cheng Miao’s group.

“Damn, that’s a horrible death.” An auntie from Qiao Jin’s group squeezed forward to join the spectacle. One look at the body turned her face gray. She patted her chest and retreated behind the other players.

“Did he violate a taboo?” Qiao Jin carried a pleasant rose fragrance that softened the smell of death.

She performed a simple examination, her movements as graceful and delicate as if she were polishing fine porcelain.

“He interrupted the teacher.” Old Yu’s face was bloodless, and his words came out tangled.

A bearded man from Qiao Jin’s group tossed him a cigarette. Old Yu lit it with shaking hands and drew two deep breaths until he steadied slightly.

“He said Xiao Zhao kept muttering too loudly and disturbing him, so he lost his temper.” Old Yu summarized the incident, and everyone fell into thought.

Cheng Miao swept her gaze through the crowd and knitted her brows. “Where is Xiao Zhao?”

“Huh? Wasn’t she just here?” Chen Yu and Freckles looked around. How had someone vanished from directly under their eyes?

“She may have run out with the students. We didn’t notice,” Freckles suggested. Cheng Miao studied the young woman’s round face, sprinkled with freckles. She was neither pretty nor ugly, but distinctive.

The newcomer had excellent potential. She was brave and dependable.

“We need to find her. Brother Zhang’s extreme reaction may have been caused by something she did.” Lin Zhu and Qi Jiajia stood close around Cheng Miao. Neither had seen Xiao Zhao leave.

Before Cheng Miao could answer, pounding footsteps raced through the corridor, accompanied by a girl’s scream.

“Ah! Someone died in the women’s restroom!”