Just then, the bell rang inside the teaching building. The students were chasing and playing as they flocked towards the building. The boys on the basketball court took one last reluctant shot before striding towards the teaching building.
Contestant Xu Ning scratched his head and murmured softly, "This illusion is a bit too real..."
Yu Nian lowered her eyes and said, "The more real the illusion is, the heavier the resentment accumulated in Wanjv High School. No wonder we have to sign a liability - waiver agreement. If someone gets injured here..."
Yu Nian didn't finish the second half of the sentence, but everyone understood what she meant.
A chill ran through them, and Xu Ning suddenly shivered.
The aerial camera gradually flew lower. The voice of the staff came through the wireless receiver, announcing the dormitory assignments to everyone.
"Xue Yier, Xu Ning, President Feng, and Yu Nian will share a dormitory."
Xue Yier:???
His face turned a dark shade of red as he shouted at the aerial camera, "This won't do! Yu Nian is a girl. How can she share a dorm with us?"
Fu Sui stood there with a cold expression. Hearing this, he subconsciously glanced in Yu Nian's direction, his expression a bit gloomy.
The aerial camera was silent for a while and then said, "To ensure the fairness and impartiality of the competition, all dormitories are randomly assigned."
Yu Nian didn't show any reaction. She pulled Feng Chengyuan and walked towards the teaching building.
Just as they reached the center of the playground, a woman in high - heeled shoes walked towards them. Behind her were several men in white clothes, each looking haggard and in a poor mental state.
The woman said to them, "You are here to help, right? Great! Come with me quickly."
Yu Nian's gaze fell on her name tag and confirmed that she was Cao He, a teacher at Wanjv High School.
Yu Nian didn't answer immediately but instead asked, "What happened in the school?"
Before Cao He could answer, the white - clothed man behind her impatiently said, "You don't know anything. What are you doing here in the school?"
"Xiao Liu, don't be like this."
Cao He gave an embarrassed smile and said to Yu Nian and the others, "Don't mind him. They are all teachers in the school. There have been some... supernatural events in the school these days. Everyone is in a state of extreme mental stress. They are really tired."
Feng Chengyuan exchanged a look with Yu Nian and asked the woman, "What kind of supernatural events?"
The woman hesitated, as if she was worried about something.
The white - clothed man finally couldn't hold it in anymore. "There's nothing to hide at this point. Wanjv High School is now a living hell!" He took a deep breath and explained, "The cause of the incident was actually very small. The senior - three students were under a lot of pressure. The school has a boarding system. Maybe they wanted to seek excitement, or maybe it was just a curious mentality. A few senior - three students played a spirit - summoning game in the dormitory. According to the students, they made a wish to the summoned spirit, and it actually came true. Because of this, more and more people played this game later, and that's when things started to develop in an uncontrollable direction. Everyone who played this game gained an ability... the ability to make a wish and have it come true."
Zhong Yaya looked a bit confused. "Being able to make a wish and have it come true. Isn't that great? It's the ability that so many people dream of."
Teacher Xiao Liu said in despair, "The scariest thing about the ability to make a wish and have it come true is that no matter whether it's good or bad, everything that appears in your mind will become a reality! For example, the nightmares you've had, the childhood traumas, the plots of horror movies you've watched... More and more people played this spirit - summoning game. These days, many students have seen extremely terrifying things. They were scared, so they had nightmares and imagined even scarier things... Under this vicious cycle, the school has become more and more chaotic! There are thousands of students in the school. The school can soothe the students' emotions, but it can't control their minds.
During the day, it's okay. But at night, everyone's minds become active. You can't even imagine how scary the campus is! I was on night duty that day. When I was patrolling the boys' dormitory, I suddenly saw a row of bloody heads smiling at me outside the window on the fifth floor. I almost had a heart attack... More and more demons and ghosts are emerging. We haven't slept for days and nights!"
Xue Yier was a bit confused. "Then just let the students go to sleep, right?"
"Sleeping is even scarier! When people sleep, their brains are still working. Dreams are illogical, and we don't even have time to react!"
Xue Yier frowned and asked, "Since it's so dangerous, why don't you let the students go home?"
Teacher Xiao Liu's face turned ashen. "If we let these students out, the world will be in chaos!"
After listening, everyone fell into silence, scolding the Dao Alliance for choosing such a tricky topic in their hearts.
They, as Taoists, were familiar with exorcising ghosts, but they had no confidence in dealing with things that were imagined out of thin air.
Xue Yier observed Yu Nian's expression and whispered, "Hey, what do you think of this?"
Yu Nian glanced at the gradually darkening sky and said calmly, "Although we don't know what kind of evil spirit the students summoned, this 'wish - coming - true' trick is just the same old thing in a new package. Since the students played the spirit - summoning game in the dormitory, let's go to the dormitory and take a look first."
..........
When they reached the outside of the dormitory building, everyone looked a bit lost.
The dormitory building was an old - fashioned tube - shaped building. Its gray appearance was a bit depressing. The peeling wall paint was on the verge of falling in the wind. It was extremely shabby.
Xue Yier twitched the corner of his mouth. "This is the dormitory building of your key high school?"
Cao He led the way in front and explained awkwardly, "This is the North Area. The new dormitory building is in the South Area, where there are more junior students. It's very noisy. The senior - three students are about to take the college entrance examination, so the school arranged them in the old building in the quieter North Area."
Yu Nian didn't say a word, thinking that it was no wonder ghosts were attracted if they lived in such a gloomy and dark old building!
As soon as they stepped into the dormitory building, they smelled a strong stench of decay. It was faint but they couldn't find the source.
Cao He led them to a dormitory on the fifth floor and still said worriedly, "You must be careful. It's best to seal all the doors and windows. No matter what happens at night, don't move around casually."
Xue Yier nodded perfunctorily and didn't take it seriously. When they walked into the room, they opened the window for ventilation.
The night was quiet. Feng Chengyuan and Yu Nian slept in beds facing each other.
Yu Nian gave Feng Chengyuan a talisman and whispered, "We don't know what terrible things will appear at night, so don't sleep too soundly."
Feng Chengyuan replied, "You be careful too. If you find something wrong, call me immediately."
Xue Yier, who was sleeping in the bed near the door, suddenly felt a tooth - ache. He rolled over speechlessly.
I don't know how long it had passed. The breathing of everyone in the room gradually became steady.
"Thud -"
Several continuous dull sounds came from the ceiling. It was a bit like the sound of steel balls bouncing on the ground, or like someone was constantly knocking on the floor upstairs.
Xue Yier sighed, "The students nowadays are really energetic. They still haven't gone to sleep so late."
Yu Nian, who had been "asleep", suddenly replied, "This dormitory building only has five floors."
Everyone woke up immediately. There was no one upstairs. So what was the sound echoing in the room right now?