Chapter 26
Chapter 26
In the classroom, the girl in red grew more and more distorted.
“Kekekeke…” Every student split their mouths into grins, and the desks and chairs began rocking back and forth as if an earthquake had struck.
Wei Sen remained unnaturally calm, pressing her lips together as she thought hard.
There had to be a way out. There had to be!
A thought suddenly flashed through her mind. She took a deep breath and looked at the little girl.
“This student here, your teacher is going to test how well you reviewed.”
As soon as Wei Sen spoke, the little girl deflated like a punctured ball, gradually returning to human form. She stood up mechanically, blinked, and seemed deeply confused.
Good. This worked!
Thinking that, Wei Sen asked, “Tell us, what did you learn in the last class?”
When the little girl heard the question, she grinned and said, “Teacher, I know this one! In the last class, I learned that life doesn’t have that many coincidences or chances to get something for nothing. We shouldn’t pin our hopes on things that happen by chance. Instead, we should keep our feet on the ground and work hard! Teacher, was I right?”
Her eyes, showing nothing but whites, stared fixedly at Wei Sen, as if trying to win some praise from her.
Wei Sen smiled. “Excellent answer. Please sit down.”
Wei Sen opened the lesson plan, picked up a piece of chalk from the desk, and wrote several large words on the blackboard: The Clay Pot and the Iron Pot.
“Students, this is the text we’ll be studying today. Everyone, please open your textbooks.”
Wei Sen looked at the students below. None of them had mutated, which meant her guess had been right.
The moral the little girl had recited came from the fable Waiting by the Stump for a Hare. In the lesson plan, the text after Waiting by the Stump for a Hare was The Clay Pot and the Iron Pot.
If she had not read through the entire lesson plan beforehand, she would probably already be dead in this classroom.
Wei Sen began teaching according to the lesson plan. The students were far more obedient than she had imagined.
Every single one listened attentively to her lecture. It was just that every pair of eyes stared at her without blinking.
On the wall at the very back of the classroom, directly facing the podium, hung a huge round clock.
Not only did Wei Sen have to teach, she also had to watch the time to make sure class did not run over, while keeping track of the number of people in the classroom.
Teacher’s Guideline Article 7: There are only forty-three students in your class. If you discover a forty-fourth student in the classroom, immediately close the classroom door, leave at once, and report to the Academic Affairs Office as soon as possible. Do not attempt to communicate with or come into contact with the extra student.
“Teacher Wei! Teacher Wei!”
Suddenly, a hoarse male voice came from outside the classroom.
Wei Sen instinctively started to look over, but then Teacher’s Guideline Article 8 abruptly came to mind:
During class, if you see a figure in the corridor outside the window, do not make eye contact with it. No matter what the other party says, do not respond. Remember: do not answer, do not answer, do not answer! Stay focused and continue teaching.
The thing outside the classroom was an Eerie Entity. It was trying to lure her into breaking the rules!
“Teacher Wei, why are you ignoring me? I’m Principal Zhang!” the voice sounded again. This time, it was closer, as though pressed right against the classroom window.
Wei Sen could not stop the corner of her eye from flicking toward the window. A blurry figure stood in the corridor, hunched over, wearing a shabby gray suit. Its face, however, was hidden in shadow, impossible to make out clearly.
She could not respond. She could not make eye contact!
Wei Sen forced herself to focus on the lesson. “Students, let’s continue with the second paragraph.”
But the voice refused to let up. “Teacher Wei, I have something to tell you. Come out for a moment…”
Wei Sen’s fingers nearly crushed the lesson plan in her grip.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed that the figure outside the window was slowly moving, as though trying to circle around to the classroom’s front door.
The students inside the classroom remained completely motionless. Then, eerie smiles suddenly surfaced on their faces, the corners of their mouths stretching all the way to their ears and revealing deathly white teeth.
Just then, a faint click suddenly came from the front door of the classroom, like someone was slowly turning the doorknob.
Wei Sen’s heart sank. That thing had come in!
No. She hadn’t broken any known rules. An Eerie Entity couldn’t hurt her.
Unless this Instance had hidden rules, and she had already violated one of them…
Even with that thought, Wei Sen decided to keep ignoring the man walking toward the podium.
She focused on teaching the students below, while the man slowly leaned his ghastly pale face toward her, closer and closer until it was almost right before her eyes.
Don’t look at him! Stay focused. Keep teaching!
Wei Sen turned around and wrote on the blackboard, using the motion to avoid the man’s face.
After a long while, she caught sight of him from the corner of her eye. He took a notebook and pen from his pocket, scribbled something down, then slowly turned and left the classroom.
Wei Sen let out a quiet breath of relief. The expressions of all the students below returned to normal as well.
Was that person just now the principal of this school?
What had he written in his notebook?
Under normal circumstances, when a principal entered a classroom during a lesson… it was for an inspection!
He was inspecting the teacher’s class!
Wei Sen roughly understood what had just happened, as well as what currently existed in this school.
Known living people: those of them who had been transported into the Eerie World.
Known Eerie Entity presences: Principal Zhang and the students.
She could also confirm which rule had been created by “It”!
At that moment, Wei Sen looked at the round clock at the back of the classroom. From the positions of the hour and minute hands, it was 9:10. There were still five minutes before class ended.
Perhaps it was because this was her first time teaching, but Wei Sen felt that a forty-minute class had become exceptionally long.
Wait!
Time!
Wei Sen suddenly realized something. While turning to write on the blackboard, she glanced at her wristwatch: 9:14!
But the clock at the back of the classroom showed 9:10. There was a full four-minute difference!
The watch was on her body, while the clock was in a classroom filled with Eerie Entity presences, so the clock had most likely been affected by Contamination.
If her guess was right, when the dismissal time of 9:15 arrived, the bell would not ring at all.
They were doing everything they could to make her break the rules!
Wei Sen set down the chalk in her hand and looked at the students below the podium, while keeping track of the time on her watch from the corner of her eye.
“The hard iron can may seem powerful…”
The instant the time reached 9:15, Wei Sen immediately stopped teaching. Outside, everything was silent. There was no sound of the dismissal bell.
At the same time, a tall boy in the last row of the classroom raised his hand and asked, “Teacher, so which one is stronger in the end, the clay jar or the iron can?”
Wei Sen did not answer. The rules had stated that she could not drag the lesson past the bell!
If she answered this boy’s question, that would mean she was still discussing class content during break time. It would be a violation of the rules.
Wei Sen raised her voice and said to the entire class, “Class is over! If you have any questions, ask them in tomorrow’s lesson.”
The tall boy’s mouth visibly turned downward. His gaze locked onto Wei Sen, but he could only sit back down resentfully.
Wei Sen left the classroom with her lesson plan in her arms. From the corner of her eye, she saw the boy’s head follow her direction, turning a full 180 degrees.
She was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw a figure coming straight toward her. It was that hunched-over Principal Zhang again!
Teaching Building Rules, Rule Four: If you notice someone walking in the opposite direction in the hallway, do not make eye contact or speak with them!
Wei Sen walked past him without making eye contact.
“Principal Zhang!” However, after they brushed past each other, Wei Sen took the initiative to call out to him.