Chapter 17
Chapter 17
While the entire class sat quietly through the lesson, Xiao Huai suddenly raised his hand.
He Lecheng looked at him, signaling that he could speak.
Xiao Huai said, “Sir, I’m feeling a little unwell. I’d like to go back and sleep for a while. That… doesn’t violate school rules, does it?”
He Lecheng arched the end of one eyebrow. Under everyone’s watchful gaze, he walked to Xiao Huai’s side, bent down slightly, and smiled eerily.
In a deliberately gentle voice, he said, “Of course not. That doesn’t violate school rules.”
The moment he finished speaking, Xiao Huai stood to leave, only for He Lecheng to seize him. “But you don’t look unwell.”
Crack.
Bone splintered.
He Lecheng had snapped the bones in Xiao Huai’s left wrist.
The players’ pupils contracted in shock. They hardly dared to breathe. The room was so silent that each person could hear their own heartbeat.
Xiao Huai bit hard on his lower lip. The tips of his ears flushed red as he endured the pain, and beads of sweat formed on his brow, but the smile in his eyes never faded.
“How about now, sir?” He lifted his eyes slowly, not at all surprised that He Lecheng had broken his wrist.
He Lecheng released him with a soft snort. “Now you may leave.”
Only after Xiao Huai left the classroom building did a few ragged gasps escape him. Having his wrist snapped was anything but pleasant. The pain made his scalp prickle, and his left hand trembled violently.
He reached a landscaped strip, broke off several branches, and tore apart the white T-shirt he was wearing. With the strips of cloth and branches, he made a crude splint around the injury.
After several deep breaths, he ran swiftly back to the dormitory building.
* * *
Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!
Xiao Huai pounded hard on the dormitory matron’s door.
The knocking was the only sound in the vast dormitory building.
The static of a television still came from the matron’s room, though it was much quieter than it had been at night.
He knocked for nearly three minutes. By then, even his right hand hurt, and a faint blush colored his fair skin.
“Coming, coming. Who is it?”
At last, the matron’s voice came from inside. She opened the door with an irritated expression.
The sight of Xiao Huai’s deathly pale face made her pause. A moment later, she spoke.
“Oh, child, how did you get hurt so badly? Come in. I’ll treat it for you.”
There was no infirmary anywhere in the enormous Ivy Girls’ School.
But the entire purpose of a dormitory matron was to look after students. Whenever they needed help, they could turn to her.
Apparently, the same held true in this game.
The dormitory matron led Xiao Huai into her room.
Slightly yellowed wallpaper covered the walls, and the decor resembled something from the 1980s. An old-fashioned television stood in the center of the room, sunlight pouring through the window and spilling across its casing.
Alongside the school documents on her desk stood a framed photograph of three people.
The dormitory matron took out a first-aid kit and disinfected his wound. “My, my, that must hurt. Still, you did a pretty good job with the emergency treatment. I’ll stop the bleeding and secure it for you, but remember to contact your parents and have them take you to a hospital for a proper examination.”
“Thank you,” Xiao Huai said in a low voice.
There was no anesthetic. He could distinctly feel every movement the woman made as she treated him.
He did not make a single sound from the pain throughout the procedure. It was as though he had long ago grown accustomed to pain and had become exceptionally skilled at enduring it…
The bandage wound around his wrist, then looped behind his neck to support the arm.
Once the woman had finished tending to everything, Xiao Huai asked, “Ma’am, is the woman in that photograph your sister?”
The dormitory matron followed his gaze to the desk. “Oh, you mean her.”
She stood, brought over the photograph, and pointed to a woman with a face identical to her own. “She’s my older sister. She disappeared many years ago.”
Xiao Huai studied the picture. The dormitory matron stood on the left, only slightly slimmer than she was now. On the right was another woman, beautiful and blessed with a striking figure.
Between them stood a little girl.
All three smiled happily beneath the warm sunlight.
The dormitory matron sat beside him and gently stroked the photograph, her eyes filled with tender nostalgia.
Several minutes later, Xiao Huai parted his lips. “So you need help, don’t you?”
The dormitory matron looked at him in confusion.
“Would you like me to help you find them?” Xiao Huai’s gaze rested on the other two people in the photograph.
The matron stared at him for a moment. “You can help me find them?”
[Ding! Dormitory Rule Four has been triggered: the dormitory matron is very kind. If she needs help, please help her.]
[Do you agree?]
Xiao Huai smiled and nodded. “Yes, I agree. So please let me join the game of hide-and-seek.”
The moment he finished speaking, the dormitory matron’s pupils widened. She rose and led Xiao Huai to another room.
When she pushed open the door, a dressing table stood directly opposite the entrance, its mirror crowded with teddy bear dolls.
“Child, are you sure about this?” the dormitory matron asked, looking at Xiao Huai.
Meeting her gaze, he lifted the corners of his bloodless lips. “Yes.”
He walked to the dressing table and glanced sideways at the dormitory matron. “You treated my wound, after all.”
Besides, this game of hide-and-seek could only be played during the day.
Playing at night was when his chances of survival would become truly grim.
The dormitory matron handed him a little bear. “Take this with you, and you’ll be able to enter that world and join the game.”
[Brown Teddy Bear Doll]
[Item Description: A single-use item restricted to this instance. It is the key to another world. The doll serves as the player’s substitute; any harm inflicted upon it will be transferred to the player.]
[Note: Have you ever heard of a cursed doll?]
The instant he gripped the brown teddy bear doll, the sunlight gradually faded, and eternal night seemed poised to swallow everything.
When he blinked again, the dormitory matron was gone.
Night had replaced day. The doll in his hand glowed red. When he turned toward the mirror, his reflection was nowhere to be seen.
Xiao Huai knew he had probably arrived in another world. This was still Ivy Girls’ School, but it looked as it had more than a decade ago.
He pushed open the door to the dormitory matron’s room. Countless women’s giggles echoed through the empty corridor.
“Someone else is here to play hide-and-seek.”
“Hee-hee! Another human came to play hide-and-seek with us.”
Several lines had been written in blood across the corridor wall.
Large, crooked letters formed the heading: [Rules of the Game]
[1. Hide your doll well. Do not let the ghosts find it.]
[2. While avoiding capture by the ghosts, the player must find Miss Hanako’s doll.]
[3. The game will last for two hours.]