Chapter 53
Chapter 53
[System Message: Viewer *** tipped I’m Your Dad 1 gold coin]
[System Message: Viewer *** tipped I’m Your Dad 2 gold coins]
[System Message: Fan Sadako tipped I’m Your Dad 21 gold coins]
-Sadako: 21 means love you~
Qiao Yu chuckled softly. With a flick of his fingers, he raised a little heart. “Thank you~ I’d be even happier if you sent a ‘520’ next time.”
-Sadako: Got it, gei gei. I’m off to the construction site to haul bricks right now.
-Is this the legendary art of milking the fans??
-Sister Sadako, you’ve changed. You weren’t like this before!
Seeing that he kept interacting with the viewers in the Live Stream Room, the Painted-Skin Ghost grew a little anxious. She grabbed his wrist and asked, “Help me check quickly. Does this makeup go with this outfit?”
After saying that, the Painted-Skin Ghost pressed that sheet of human skin onto her face like a face mask, patting here and smoothing there. Before long, the human skin had fused seamlessly with her face, as if this was what the Painted-Skin Ghost had looked like all along.
Only then did Qiao Yu realize that the Painted-Skin Ghost was actually very beautiful. He praised her without the slightest stinginess. “You look great.”
The Painted-Skin Ghost seemed unconvinced. “Really?”
Qiao Yu nodded. “Really. You have the bones of a beauty. Your natural foundation is already good. Besides, good-looking people can wrap themselves in a rag and still look high-end.”
The Painted-Skin Ghost was delighted to hear that. She stepped forward and intimately looped her arm through Qiao Yu’s, tilting her head slightly. “You really know how to talk. I like chatting with you.”
The tense, drawn-swords atmosphere from just now felt like nothing more than a dream…
This scene stunned the other two streamers, and it also stunned the viewers in the Live Stream Room.
-The streamer is seriously insane. With just a few words, he coaxed the Painted-Skin Ghost, that aloof mature beauty, into a sweet little cutie~
-The Painted-Skin Ghost likes people praising her beauty, but she’s long since gotten tired of hearing things like her makeup is good or the skin she chose is pretty, okay! Look at how smooth our streamer is. He praised her for having the bones of a beauty, saying she was pretty to begin with. What an absolute menace. A real menace!
-Some unknown bro: Painted Skin, so love really does disappear, huh??
-Love doesn’t disappear. It just transfers. Hahaha…
-+1
-+9,999,000,000,000,000… Only after meeting the streamer did I learn numbers could get this big. (doge.jpg)
-I’m dying. Even the Bank of the Underworld wouldn’t dare print bills that large.
“Can you tell me how to leave this place?” Seeing that the Painted-Skin Ghost was in a good mood, Qiao Yu asked again.
When the Painted-Skin Ghost heard that Qiao Yu wanted to leave, her expression turned a little dispirited.
But Qiao Yu had called her pretty~ So…
“Fine. Come with me.”
With that, the Painted-Skin Ghost turned and walked out of Class F. Qiao Yu hurriedly pulled Brother Crocodile… no, Luo Ziwei along and followed her.
No. 23 thought for a moment, then quickly chased after them too.
But the moment he ran up beside those two, the Painted-Skin Ghost in front turned back and shot him an icy glare. “Ugly freak. Stay away from me!”
No. 23: “??”
He felt so wronged…
Could this face-obsessed world still be saved?!
But he didn’t dare protest. He could only slow down and trail far behind Qiao Yu.
During that time, the Painted-Skin Ghost led them up flight after flight of stairs, finally bringing them to the rooftop.
Then she pointed toward the terrace and said softly, “The way to leave is to jump from here.”
After saying it, perhaps even she felt it sounded rather unreliable, because she turned to look at Qiao Yu with a hint of unease in her heart. “Do you believe me?”
“I do. Thanks~”
Seeing that Qiao Yu did not doubt her in the slightest, Luo Ziwei’s face instantly turned pale. “No, Dad, are we really jumping…?”
Hearing this, the Painted-Skin Ghost turned and cast him a cold glance. “If you don’t believe me, you can stay here and keep me company.”
Luo Ziwei hurriedly took a step back and hid behind Qiao Yu.
Qiao Yu also seemed used to the fact that the other man always used him as a shield. Considerately, he shifted his body and blocked the Painted-Skin Ghost’s chilly gaze. “He’s timid. Don’t scare him.”
The Painted-Skin Ghost seemed especially tolerant toward Qiao Yu. The cold aura around her instantly withdrew.
Standing beneath the sunlight, her skin was delicate and smooth, as if giving off a faint, luminous glow. Her black suit jacket and trousers made her waist look slender and her legs long. The hand tucked into her trouser pocket revealed a stretch of pale wrist, where burn scars had congealed into patches of blackened char, inexplicably ruining that beauty.
Qiao Yu stared at her wrist for two seconds, then withdrew his gaze before the Painted-Skin Ghost noticed. After that, he slowly walked onto the terrace and stood at the edge.
Looking down from here, he could almost take the entirety of Yucai Academy into his eyes.
The deserted campus was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
It must be lonely, staying here all the time…
Qiao Yu lowered his long lashes and waved at the Painted-Skin Ghost with his back to her. “I’m heading back, then. If you get bored, you can call me.”
The Painted-Skin Ghost’s eyes brightened slightly. “Really? What’s your number?”
“You can ask Sister Sadako or the Phone Ghost. They have it.”
With that, Qiao Yu took a step forward, and his entire body pitched downward…
**
At that moment, in Class F, everyone sat ramrod straight. Their gazes kept drifting, consciously or not, toward the third-to-last seat in the row by the window, their eyes filled with lingering fear.
That was the streamer whose student number was No. 11. He had been locked in solitary confinement yesterday, and now that a full twenty-four hours had passed, he had been released.
The streamer’s mental state seemed to have gone wrong. His entire body was as taut as a bowstring. Every so often, he would look to the left, then to the right, then lower his head and mutter something to himself.
Head Teacher Liu acted as if he hadn’t seen a thing. He taught class when it was time to teach and remained just as strict with everyone else, his eyes like scanners as he tried to find the next person who would violate the School Rules.
After seeing the state No. 11 was in, who would dare act out? One by one, they sat up perfectly straight, terrified of being caught and locked in solitary confinement.
Shang Yan sat in the back row, just as upright as the rest of them, like a bright and eager little poplar tree. But on closer inspection, one would realize his pupils were unfocused and dilated.
It was as if… as if he were looking through the void at the other side of the world.
All of a sudden, his lashes trembled rapidly several times. He shot to his feet and raised a hand, making a motion as though he were trying to grab something…
“No. 54, disrupting classroom order. Water torture in the Punishment Room!”
Head Teacher Liu swiftly pressed the alarm. Immediately afterward, the Execution Squad rushed in and dragged away Shang Yan, who was radiating an intense aura of dejection.
Throughout the whole process, everyone stared blankly at Shang Yan, who had somehow violated the School Rules, unable to understand what on earth had happened…
**
His weight made him fall faster and faster. The breeze stirred up by his speed rushed against his face, whipping Qiao Yu’s hair into disarray and covering his pitch-black eyes.
In the blink of an eye, he was standing at the entrance of the teaching building again. Before him was still that smooth mirror, as tall as a person.
People came and went around him, and not a single one showed the slightest surprise at Qiao Yu’s sudden appearance.
Qiao Yu checked the time and realized it was already noon dismissal.
He turned and went to the cafeteria, intending to eat something quick before going back to the dorm to catch up on sleep.
He had only just walked out of the cafeteria when he saw No. 15 bounding over like a monkey, practically jumping up and down. Qiao Yu instinctively wanted to dodge, but who would have thought that bastard would charge straight at him as if he had wind under his feet and grab his sleeve in one swift motion?
“Bro, your companion got locked in the Punishment Room!”
Qiao Yu’s attempt to shake him off paused. Instead, he grabbed the other man’s fingers in return. “Punishment Room? Why?!”
“Ow, ow, ow!” No. 15 howled, nearly thinking his fingers had been broken. Seeing that Qiao Yu was only gripping tighter because he hadn’t answered, he hurriedly said, “Disrupting classroom order. They said water torture in the Punishment Room…”
“What classroom rule did he break?”
No. 15 seemed to have gone numb from the pain, his face filled with despair. “Class was going on, and he suddenly stood up. It was like he was possessed by a ghost. His whole vibe was gloomy as hell too…”
Holy crap. He couldn’t actually be possessed by a ghost, could he??
No. 15’s expression changed drastically, but Qiao Yu paid him no further attention. He let go of him, turned, and ran toward the teaching building.
Shang Yan was the director of the Security Bureau, so his streamer rank had to be high. But… right now, he couldn’t open the Live Stream Room, and he couldn’t even use items. Damn it!
And what the hell was water torture supposed to be?
Could Shang Yan’s pampered, money-raised, rich-boy body withstand water torture?!
Fuck. This was so fucking messed up!
-What’s wrong with the streamer…??
-He didn’t even change expression when he saw those terrifying ghost sisters with such high levels. Why is he so anxious now?
-The person upstairs must have just entered the Live Stream Room. The streamer and that companion of his have something going on. Now that he heard the guy’s getting water tortured, he’s probably off to save the damsel in distress.
-Case closed. The streamer is a top.
-But the streamer can tell lipstick shades apart… Can he really be a top?
-…Another day of not knowing whether I’m shipping the right couple. Confused~
-Amazing. People are already shipping them? The vibe in this Live Stream Room is so bizarre~
-I only started following this Live Stream Room a few days ago too. Even though the streamer is weird as hell, for some reason I just don’t want to leave…
Qiao Yu ran quickly into the teaching building and stopped in front of the building floor plan.
The school had six floors in all. The second floor held the classrooms, the third was for multimedia rooms, the fourth housed the teachers’ offices, the fifth had the archive room and counseling office, and the sixth was the principal’s office.
There was no such place as a Punishment Room at all. He hadn’t even seen a Detention Room.
Qiao Yu immediately opened the Live Stream Room and asked, “Where is the Punishment Room?”
-Not telling you, nyeh nyeh~
-Want to know? Give me a kiss.
-What kind of nonsense are you spouting up there?!
-Sadako: *****
-Sadako: Fuck, this stupid Live Stream Room won’t let me say it.
The moment Qiao Yu saw Sister Sadako’s comment, he understood.
The viewers in the Live Stream Room weren’t allowed to reveal Instance clues to the streamer. He didn’t get upset. “Sorry for the trouble, Sister Sadako. I’ll find it myself.”
After saying that, Qiao Yu stood where he was and pondered for a moment. His gaze slowly swept over the fourth floor on the floor plan, and then he walked unhurriedly toward the stairs.
School Rules, Article Five: Do not run, laugh, or roughhouse on the stairs.
Normally, Qiao Yu wouldn’t have cared about these damn School Rules, but right now he was in a hurry to find Shang Yan, so naturally he wasn’t going to make trouble for himself.
The viewers in the Live Stream Room watched helplessly as he went up to the fourth floor, then stood right in front of Head Teacher Liu and lit a cigarette.
The next second, Head Teacher Liu furiously pressed the alarm in her hand.
“Discipline Regulations, Article Seven: Smoking and drinking are prohibited. No. 18, you knowingly violated the rules. To the Punishment Room for flogging!”
At that, Qiao Yu immediately flicked away the cigarette he hadn’t even taken a drag from and quietly waited for the Execution Squad to arrive.
During that time, Head Teacher Liu saw the cigarette still burning on the floor and let out a shriek. As if she’d seen something terrifying, she abruptly backed away several steps.
Qiao Yu gave her a strange look. Then Head Teacher Liu forced herself to stand straight again and began lecturing him. “No. 18, do you not even have the most basic human morals? Smoking is bad enough, but you even litter. You’re simply the dregs of society, the scum of our Class F…”
Qiao Yu lowered his lashes, stepped forward, and stomped the cigarette out with a snap. Then he picked it up and threw it into the trash can nearby. Only then did he finally shut Head Teacher Liu’s endlessly nagging mouth.
The Execution Squad arrived quickly. Qiao Yu saw a man in a black T-shirt coming around the corner and took the initiative to walk up to him.
The man had clearly never met a student this eager to be taken away before. He froze for a moment before grabbing Qiao Yu by the arm and leading him back the way he’d come.
Then Qiao Yu watched, wide-eyed, as the man dragged him straight into a wall.
Qiao Yu: !!
He instinctively shut his eyes, but the pain he imagined never came. When he sensed something was wrong and opened his eyes, what he saw was a dim corridor. The candleholders on both sides, meant to hold candles, were completely empty, making the atmosphere inexplicably eerie and sinister.
Both sides of this corridor were lined with Detention Rooms. Detention Room One, Detention Room Two, Detention Room Three… The numbers continued all the way to sixty.
Only at the very end was the Punishment Room. When the door was pushed open, there was nothing but pitch-black darkness inside, not even the faintest trace of light.
“No. 18. Sentence: flogging-twenty lashes.”
After the member of the Execution Squad finished speaking, he shoved Qiao Yu inside, slammed the door, and left again.
The Punishment Room was deathly silent, making the faintest of footsteps especially distinct. Just one second before that cold presence approached him, the sound of metal striking rang out, like a nimble snake rapidly lunging in.
It seemed to be a chain…
Then a muffled thud sounded behind him, and the Punishment Room fell silent once more.
He stood there stunned for quite a while before he tentatively took two steps forward and called softly, “Shang Yan… are you here?”
But no one answered him. Qiao Yu couldn’t help feeling puzzled. Was the Punishment Room like the Detention Rooms, with one person to a room?
It was too dark inside. Qiao Yu’s eyes couldn’t see anything at all. He took out his phone, intending to light up the screen, but the next second, the chain hanging by his feet moved.
Caught completely off guard, the chain instantly coiled around his waist and yanked him forward several steps. Immediately after, he fell into an embrace carrying a damp, chilling aura…
Smelling that faint, familiar scent in the air, Qiao Yu’s heart, which had leaped into his throat, instantly settled back down. With some difficulty, he adjusted where his arm had landed and aimed the dim glow of his phone screen at the other person.
Darkness and light divided the bewitchingly beautiful face before him into two halves. In the shifting interplay of shadow and illumination, the emotions there were impossible to read…
“Shang Yan, are you okay?”
Qiao Yu tried to adjust the angle of his phone to see whether he was injured.
But the next second, the hand gripping his back suddenly tightened, pressing his entire body against that damp chest. The force was so great it was as though Shang Yan wanted to press him into his very body…
Just before Qiao Yu could struggle, a warm breath suddenly brushed close to his ear.
“Qiao Yu, was jumping off the building fun?”
Qiao Yu: “……”