A relentless cool breeze swept through the campus.
The sun spilled its last warm yellow light, slanting down onto the campus, cloaking this strange place in a layer of false tranquility.
The NPC students, one by one, emerged from the teaching building with their backpacks, their expressions ordinary, tinged with a hint of numbness. However, among the students, there were also many who were clearly players disguised as “students,” hastily making their way toward the small grove.
—They were all players who had been drawn into Yan Wei’s side at this moment.
Now, the three from Broken Scythe had completely lost their competitive edge; the real competition against Yan Wei was never with these inconsequential individuals, but rather with the Ghosts/Monsters that lurked everywhere in this campus.
Yan Wei and Yan Mingguang had just come out of the dormitory building and walked a few steps back to the front of the small grove. Zhou Tian and Gao Ming, who had long since exited the archives, were waiting for them at the grove. Upon seeing Yan Wei and Yan Mingguang approach, Zhou Tian quickly stepped forward, holding a thin stack of papers.
“These are the remaining files and materials,” Zhou Tian handed the items to Yan Wei, his tone quite dejected. “Regarding Tang Yizhuo, He Luo, and Qian Xuanxuan, the student files and Punishment Notices we found earlier are almost everything. Although He Luo mentioned that the expulsion Punishment Notice was in the small grove, we confirmed that we didn’t see it in the archives. As for the others… this is all we have.”
Yan Wei lowered his head, weighed the materials in his hand, his brows slightly furrowing as he said, “Is this all?”
“These are the duty roster, class committee list, and the exam papers from the monthly and final exams. We’ve searched through everything related to He Luo’s class throughout the day, and this is all we found.”
Gao Ming nodded, “Right, Zhou Tian and I also looked at the exam papers. Tang Yizhuo was indeed the top of the class, and He Luo and Qian Xuanxuan had no issues with their scores in every exam.”
Yan Wei narrowed his eyes.
He flipped through the few materials, murmuring, “…this shouldn’t be.”
“Why?” Gao Ming asked, puzzled. “Yan Wei, haven’t you already pointed out He Luo’s true nature? If we can’t find the files, it means your guesses are correct, right…”
Yan Wei remained focused on the pages, seemingly oblivious to Gao Ming’s question, clearly lost in thought.
Yan Mingguang glanced at him, the usually reticent man rarely spoke up, “There’s still a layer of logic missing.”
Initially, He Luo had deceived them using the false identity of Luo He; if he was deceiving them, it indicated that there was a secret involved—subsequent events also proved that regardless of how Qian Xuanxuan turned out, He Luo certainly did not wish for the players’ well-being. From this point, finding He Luo and Qian Xuanxuan’s Punishment Notices, destroying them, would break the deadlock.
This was indeed a complete logic.
However, since He Luo and Qian Xuanxuan had retaliated against everyone together, why did it ultimately lead to Qian Xuanxuan dragging He Luo down from the rooftop to their deaths?
At present, they should find the Punishment Notices to deal with He Luo; they only needed to focus on the results, and indeed did not need to delve into this detail.
Yet, Yan Wei always felt an unsettling sensation in his heart.
This feeling lacked any logical support; from an absolutely rational perspective, their current progress had no issues. However, on a subconscious level, Yan Wei felt that something was still missing.
He finished looking through the seemingly problem-free exam papers and class committee list and came across the duty roster for He Luo’s class.
The content of the duty roster was minimal, merely detailing the duty assignments for all class members before the incident at school. Yan Wei skipped over the irrelevant student names and mainly glanced at Tang Yizhuo, He Luo, and Qian Xuanxuan.
September 14, Monday, blackboard cleaning, Qian Xuanxuan. … September 15, Tuesday, sweeping, Tang Yizhuo. … September 18, Friday, blackboard cleaning, He Luo. …
September 21, Monday, blackboard cleaning, Qian Xuanxuan. … September 22, Tuesday, sweeping, Tang Yizhuo. … September 25, Friday, blackboard cleaning, He Luo. …
November 30, Monday, blackboard cleaning, Qian Xuanxuan. … December 1, Tuesday, sweeping, He Luo. … December 4, Friday, blackboard cleaning, Tang Yizhuo. …
…….
Yan Wei closed the files.
“…there’s no problem,” he said, “Could it really be that I’m overthinking—”
He paused.
At this moment, players who were still alive had begun to arrive one after another. Meanwhile, the space not far away rippled for an instant, and in that rippling place, Yu Feizhou suddenly appeared before them.
“Yan Wei!!”
Without waiting for Yan Wei and the others to inquire, Yu Feizhou dashed past all the players and quickly ran to Yan Wei.
His arms were stained with some blood, likely from injuries sustained during a retrospective. But Yu Feizhou didn’t even bother to bandage it; he reached Yan Wei and immediately said, “I was pulled into a retrospective of a student killed by Qian Xuanxuan. It took quite a while to break the deadlock, but after breaking it, I got information about the Punishment Notices!”
As Yu Feizhou spoke, the sun slowly set, and darkness quickly enveloped the area.
At that moment, all the players present instinctively looked toward the suddenly darkened small grove—anyone with a bit of perception could sense the presence of dozens of Retrospective Illusions within.
However, Yu Feizhou showed no surprise: “This is the information I wanted to share with you. These are the retrospectives of students killed by Qian Xuanxuan, and Qian Xuanxuan’s retrospective is also among them. By breaking Qian Xuanxuan’s retrospective, we can obtain the Punishment Notices for both He Luo and Qian Xuanxuan. But these deceased students are controlled and suppressed, so as long as we enter, their retrospectives will absorb us immediately. Only after breaking all of these can we enter Qian Xuanxuan’s retrospective without any obstruction.”
Yu Feizhou’s brow furrowed, his tone tense.
“You should understand what I mean.”
Yan Wei put away the files that seemed to have no use, raised his gaze, and looked toward the dark, deep small grove.
He said, “I understand.”
Only after all the retrospectives were broken could they enter Qian Xuanxuan’s retrospective. And this was just the beginning; once inside, they would still need to break the deadlock, and only by breaking Qian Xuanxuan’s retrospective could they obtain the Punishment Notices.
Gao Ming asked, “So do we start breaking the retrospectives now? Did I miss something? Why do you all seem so serious?”
Yan Mingguang replied, “Time.”
Zhou Tian finally reacted, “How long will this take!?”
At this moment, players gradually gathered around, and a sinister aura began to spread throughout the campus. From all directions, there seemed to be fleeting Ghostly figures; several ghostly women appeared hanging upside down on the clotheslines of the dormitory building, and something seemed to be hanging from a nearby tree.
The players were almost there, and the hidden Ghosts/Monsters… could no longer hold back.
“Ah!!” Gao Ming suddenly spotted a pale Ghost face peeking out from beside a bed in the dormitory building, startled, he stumbled back a step, only to be caught by Yu Feizhou.
These Ghosts/Monsters were clearly about to act openly; time was running out.
Another cool breeze swept by, and the unbuttoned hem of Yan Wei’s uniform swayed slightly. Yan Wei stepped forward against the wind, as if trying to see everything in the small grove clearly.
His hair was lifted by the wind, and his eyes seemed to hold the wind itself, thoughts surging through him in an instant.
He said, “The reason Yu Feizhou was pulled in was that I used the Moon Wheel, causing a spatial fluctuation where we were at the time, which should have released the Retrospective Illusions that were supposed to come out at night, pulling Yu Feizhou in—this indicates that these ordinary deceased students’ retrospectives aren’t particularly powerful; only one person can enter at a time.”
He turned back, glancing at the players who had been pulled to their side by Lin Zhen, his brows moved slightly, and a smile slowly appeared at the corners of his mouth.
Yan Mingguang said calmly, “You have a plan.”
“Why do we need these Retrospective Illusions to tell us which one is Qian Xuanxuan? We can find it ourselves. Since these retrospectives can only pull one person in at a time, and we have so many people, we can all go in at once, and the last one left will be Qian Xuanxuan,” Yan Wei chuckled lightly. “Moreover, judging by the time Yu Feizhou took to break the deadlock, the first few hours of these retrospectives won’t be dangerous. So everyone can go in to secure positions, and when only the last one is left, I’ll go in, break Qian Xuanxuan’s retrospective, and obtain the Punishment Notices in the shortest time possible.”
He turned, smiling at Yan Mingguang in the eerie darkness, “Ice block, do you trust me?”
Yan Mingguang replied, “No.”
“Thanks for your trust then. So from now on, let’s hurry up, everyone takes turns going in to secure positions in the ordinary Retrospective Illusions, and when it’s down to the last one, I’ll go in to break Qian Xuanxuan’s retrospective. Yu Feizhou and Yan Mingguang will stay outside to guard the place we enter, to prevent us from being ambushed by Ghosts/Monsters when we come out.”
While Yan Wei was saying this, he kept the walkie-talkie on, and at this moment, he paused, tapped the tiny walkie-talkie in his ear, and said, “Hey, Lin Zhen, why haven’t you arrived yet?”
On Lin Zhen’s end, the sound of arrows slicing through the air was incessant, and his nonchalant voice came through, “Didn’t you see that the restrictions on Ghosts/Monsters in this instance have been lowered? I just finished pulling people for you, and on my way over, it got dark, and all these ghostly things popped up. Tsk, I have to fight my way back; it’s not that quick.”
“Alright, when you get back, stay with Yan Mingguang and the others outside.”
While they were talking, some players had already stepped forward, completely disregarding Yan Wei and the others, intending to confront the approaching Ghosts/Monsters. Gao Ming stepped forward to block them, predictably receiving disdainful looks in return.
Yu Feizhou frowned, “Those who have survived until now are somewhat capable; they were tricked into our side during the file search, but they might not necessarily trust you. What if they refuse to cooperate and go in?”
Yan Wei shrugged, “Then we’ll push them in.”
Yu Feizhou replied, “…that works too.”
Ten minutes later.
Only a few players remained by the small grove, and within the grove, Yan Wei could clearly sense that only two Retrospective Illusions were still open.
The last player from another organization approached him.
Yan Wei raised his eyes, casually saying, “Hey, are you going in? If you go in, just wait for me to break the deadlock; if you don’t go in, just wait for us to push you in.”
This player, however, showed no displeasure, merely shrugging, “I’ll go in. I just wanted to say something to you, the ‘useless’ one in everyone’s eyes, before I enter. You just pushed several players from different organizations in; even if you get out of this instance, you might face either an olive branch or hidden daggers. Why not just play the useless role to the end? I actually admire you; being able to dominate in such an instance without relying on any organization, you’ve made too many enemies, and I think it’s a pity.”
Yan Wei toyed with the coin in his hand, smiling, “Because being low-key protects oneself, while being high-profile protects those around you.”
The player paused, clearly not expecting such a response.
But before he could ask more, Yan Mingguang glanced at the approaching Ghosts/Monsters and without a word, kicked the last player who needed to go in into the small grove.
Yan Wei exclaimed, “…Teacher Yan, you’re a bit violent.”
Yan Mingguang remained silent, flipping his Long Whip and instantly repelling a Ghost/Monster that almost grabbed Yan Wei.
Yan Wei had long since gotten used to this person either being contradictory or simply silent; he just said, “Then I’m going in. Dealing with these overwhelming Ghosts/Monsters outside is far more dangerous than going back into the retrospective. You and Yu Feizhou will meet up with Lin Zhen later; the three of you need to be careful.”
“Mm.”
Yan Wei turned, taking one last look at the dark, eerie small grove, and stepped forward to enter.
The world spun.
The dim light twisted, and a few seconds later, bright light suddenly appeared before Yan Wei, causing him to instinctively raise his hand to shield his eyes.
Once he adjusted to the light, the scene before him came into view.
It was a girls’ dormitory. The beds on both sides had sheets in light, soft colors, and the desks were filled with many items clearly used by girls.
He was sitting at the foot of the lower bunk, and on the railing in front of him hung some slightly damp…
Women’s underwear.
“Damn!!!”
