Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Boss Zou swallowed. After one last glance at the bleachers, he stepped onto the court.
Even Cheng Miao, who knew little about sports, could see that the liberal-arts class was playing desperately hard. Boss Zou and Zhou Jian had thrown everything they had into winning.
The game ended at 4:20 p.m. The liberal-arts class won.
Zhou Jian stood beneath the basket, his face alight with the joy of escaping death. He waved toward the bleachers, then suddenly felt a heavy blow to his temple.
“Sorry, bro. My hand slipped.” A player running past had missed while collecting the basketball and struck Zhou Jian in the head.
Normally, that kind of accident was common on a basketball court. Zhou Jian thought nothing of it. Unsteady on his feet, he stumbled two steps in the direction of the impact and slammed headfirst into the basketball support.
A long screw had not been driven all the way into the frame and protruded from it.
The screw pierced Zhou Jian’s temple, pinning him to the basketball support.
The bleachers were too far away for anyone there to see clearly. Players bustled around the court, and no one paid attention to the motionless Zhou Jian.
Only Boss Zou realized something was wrong. As he stared at the pool of blood spreading beneath Zhou Jian’s feet, an ominous suspicion screamed louder and louder inside him.
He opened his mouth, but his throat was parched and no words emerged. As if bewitched, he walked toward Zhou Jian against his will.
“What are those two doing? Why haven’t they come back?” The bearded man rose to get a better look. “Lucky bastards. Looks like no one’s dying today.”
The moment Boss Zou reached Zhou Jian, the massive basketball support crashed down. A steel rod punched into Boss Zou’s chest and pinned him above the floor.
Zhou Jian still hung from the screw beside him. The basketball support looked like a smashed building set, its base the only part left upright while the rest lay scattered across the court.
Screams and wails nearly tore the roof from the gym. Every student shoved and fought their way outside, leaving the grim-faced players behind.
“H-How? They won too!” The bearded man stared blankly. He had almost been chosen for that game. He had almost been the one pinned to the floor.
Cheng Miao jumped down from the bleachers and approached the two bodies.
“Search them.” She reached into Zhou Jian’s pants pocket. She needed to know whether the pair had taken something or cheated in some way.
The auntie, the bearded man, and Old Yu huddled off to one side, too frightened to approach. The old man stroked his goatee without moving. Qiao Jin and Qian Ming watched with smiles as Cheng Miao trained her teammates.
Qi Jiajia sneered at Lin Zhu. Pale-faced, he bit through his lower lip. Then he closed his eyes and reached into Boss Zou’s pockets as stiffly as a corpse.
Cheng Miao found nothing on Zhou Jian. Lin Zhu, though terrified, searched with painstaking care. He removed the ring Boss Zou had been wearing. It was an Item.
The ring could reduce physical damage by seventy percent, but its effect had not been consumed.
Neither man had cheated. They had not even used an Item. Why had they died?
Cheng Miao swept her gaze across their athletic jerseys, and inspiration flashed through her mind.
“The liberal-arts class is the science class’s rival. The liberal-arts class isn’t allowed to win!” Cheng Miao declared with certainty.
Qiao Jin had reached the same conclusion. She nodded. “Most of our rules are identical, but whenever we compete against the science class, we can’t beat Tan Tao’s class.”
Everyone fell silent. The rule seemed absurd, yet it was not entirely unreasonable. Without Boss Zou’s and Zhou Jian’s deaths, no one would have dared claim with certainty that this was a rule for the liberal-arts class.
“In other words,” Cheng Miao said, looking at the players from her own class, “our class must never lose to the liberal-arts class. Remember that.”
Freckles held Chen Yu’s hand, and the two nodded together. On the first day, the sight of a corpse had made Freckles want to vomit. Now she could follow Cheng Miao’s reasoning.
That was growth.
Growth nourished with blood.
The Dean met with the players again, focusing on calming everyone down.
No students had died since the players arrived, and even the lines around the Dean’s eyes had softened. People were selfish. As long as someone else was dying, they always found a way to adjust.
“I heard you were very fond of Tan Tao, Dean,” Cheng Miao said.
The Dean paused, then nodded. “Yes. He was my finest student.”
Cheng Miao asked nothing more. She had noticed a fragrance in the Dean’s office, something like incense burning in a temple.
It was faint. She could not be sure she had smelled it at all.
When Cheng Miao raised the subject in the cafeteria, most of the players merely stared at one another. Qiao Jin finished her porridge and swept back her hair. “Xiao Ming and I will take a look around the office later.”
They were both veterans, so Cheng Miao was not worried.
Qin Musong was even more experienced, yet his performance in this instance had been unremarkable. Given his personality, Cheng Miao already found it surprising that he had stayed with the main group for so long.
She had the distinct impression that Qin Musong was very fond of Qi Jiajia, in the way an elder might cherish a child.
Qi Jiajia had no idea how to accept kindness from someone far stronger than she was. She kept avoiding him.
By nightfall, the group had lost six people. Everyone was subdued, with no desire to talk.
Qiao Jin and Qian Ming went to the Dean’s office in search of clues. Lin Zhu returned early to rest. He feared he might be chosen again that night and wanted to conserve his strength.
Qin Musong had vanished. Perhaps he had an idea he wanted to test. Old Yu shared a room with him and usually felt perfectly safe there, but he did not dare sleep while Qin Musong was gone.
The old man and the bearded man each had a room to themselves. Neither enjoyed talking, so they exchanged brief goodnights and retired.
The auntie was alone in her room. She had wanted to stay with either Qiao Jin or Cheng Miao, but Qiao Jin’s room was full, and she was afraid to sleep in the bed Sister Li had used in Cheng Miao’s room. She had no choice but to return to her own.
Cheng Miao lay beneath the mosquito net, staring overhead. She could not shake the feeling that she had overlooked a clue.
The excessively strict rules for good students kept expanding during the day. What about the rules at night?
Why had the greasy man died? How had Lin Zhu survived? And what connection existed between the laboratory where Lin Zhu and the others had been trapped and the note Qi Jiajia had found in the classroom…?
Her thoughts tangled like a ball of yarn, tightening the more she pulled at them.
“Cheng Miao, someone’s here to see you.”
Cheng Miao rolled out of bed and leaned out. Chen Yu and Freckles stood in the doorway.
The two girls smiled brightly when they saw her. “Cheng Miao, Qiao Jin asked us to tell everyone that they found traces of a ritual array in the office.”
“A ritual array?” Cheng Miao had not expected such a significant discovery.
Freckles nodded. Lights-out was approaching, so she quickened her speech. “Qiao Jin said she’ll explain the details tomorrow. She wanted us to tell you now so you’d be prepared.”
“Also, Brother Qin said he went back to the equipment room and found a clue about a corridor.” Chen Yu recalled Qin Musong’s words and repeated them.
“This corridor… Something is wrong with this corridor. I can’t get out…”