Chapter 13
Chapter 13
I kept clapping until class ended, my hands nearly dislocating from the effort.
After dinner, I hurried back to the dormitory. Once everyone was present, I shared the information I had gathered in the restroom.
“Is the information from the restroom reliable?” Xiao Ze asked.
“Didn’t Brother Gu just say? Someone in the Study Room mentioned that the Student Council will attack unconditionally during the final days,” Huang Pang added.
“Are the people in the Study Room necessarily telling the truth? The rules state not to trust anyone easily.”
“Xiao Ze, what are you getting at?”
“I follow the rules to the letter. I don’t believe the words from the restroom.”
A sudden silence fell over the room.
Sun Huawen spoke up. “I respect everyone’s opinion, but I’m siding with Gu Tang.”
And so, the dormitory split into two groups: the Rule Faction, who followed the rules strictly, and the Neutral Faction, who didn’t follow them blindly.
“What do you call the group that doesn’t follow the rules at all?” Zhou Yiqiang suddenly piped up.
“The ‘Drop Dead’ Faction. Stop talking such nonsense,” Tao Ran snapped at him.
Neutral Faction: Me, Sun Huawen, and Zhou Yiqiang.
Rule Faction: Xiao Ze, Tao Ran, and Huang Pang.
From then on, the Neutral Faction sat together while the Rule Faction kept to themselves, neither side interfering with the other.
I went over the information again.
[1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7. One number ran away.]
“If I’m not mistaken, the missing number is 5,” Sun Huawen said.
“So what if 5 ran away?” Zhou Yiqiang asked.
“Including 5, there are seven numbers in total. The rules say we have to stay at school for a full seven days, but the message in the restroom said we absolutely must not stay for the full seven days. That means we need to find a time to escape before the seventh day.”
It clicked for me. “The number that ran away is 5.”
“And?” Zhou Yiqiang’s brain still hadn’t connected the dots.
“Today is the third day… So, what time on the fifth day do we make our run?”
At that moment, Tao Ran walked over to us and said, “Can I join you guys?”
“Aren’t you part of the Rule Faction?” Zhou Yiqiang asked.
“I want to jump ship now.”
“Are you a double agent?”
Just like that, Tao Ran defected from the Rule Faction and joined the Neutral Faction.
“Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!” Zhou Yiqiang suddenly cried out.
At this moment, I understood his feelings perfectly, because I had said those exact words many times yesterday.
“What’s wrong?” Huang Pang asked.
“The door won’t close!”
“What?!” we all exclaimed.
“I didn’t break it! It was just like this when I walked over!” Zhou Yiqiang explained frantically.
“I’ll go find the Dorm Supervisor,” Sun Huawen said, heading out the door.
[Inside the dormitory, if there is a problem, find the Dorm Supervisor.]
A while later, Sun Huawen returned.
“The Dorm Supervisor said if the door is broken, we should stay in a White Dormitory for the night. Someone will come to fix the door tomorrow.”
A White Dormitory definitely referred to an Annihilated Dormitory.
I thought of Zhang San…
Fortunately, there were quite a few Annihilated Dormitories, so we didn’t choose Zhang San’s.
Zhang San, let our ill-fated connection end here!
“Don’t forget the rules for an Annihilated Dormitory,” Sun Huawen reminded us.
[In an Annihilated Dormitory, do not eat anything inside, and do not speak to the people inside.]
After a few minutes of mental preparation, we knocked on the door of a White Dormitory.
“Welcome, welcome!”
The six people inside didn’t even ask why we were there; they just gave us a warm, enthusiastic welcome.
None of us spoke as we walked inside.
“You must be thirsty. Have some water.” Someone handed me a cup filled with an unidentified red liquid.
One look was enough to know I shouldn’t drink it.
I shook my head.
Right now, I was mostly worried about Zhou Yiqiang. He talked too much and wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box…
I hoped nothing would happen to him.
It wasn’t until I glanced at Zhou Yiqiang that I realized I had been overthinking it.
At some point, Zhou Yiqiang had used clear packing tape to seal his mouth shut tight.
Not only could he not eat, he couldn’t even speak.
All I could say was: Impressive.
Who would have thought that the smartest one here would be Zhou Yiqiang?