April 6th, Rainy
Luo Ning always said she was a great artist. Today, I fulfilled her wish and turned her into the most perfect handicraft.
My world is finally quiet!
...
Having read this far, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
Xu Ning subconsciously moved to Yu Nian's side to gain a bit of security. He asked tremulously, "Who on earth does the 'I' in this diary refer to? How come this person seems so twisted?"
Zhong Yaya also shivered. "And that line... What does 'the most perfect handicraft' mean? What did this person do to Luo Ning?"
Yu Nian frowned tightly. The diary was written intermittently with a chaotic use of pronouns, as if the owner only remembered to write a few lines every few days.
Moreover, there were obvious tearing marks on the pages, indicating that the owner had torn out several pages.
Yu Nian's long fingers flipped through the pages quickly until he reached the last few pages of the diary.
May 3rd, Sunny
Today, the school organized us to do a general cleaning in the art classroom. Teacher Cao He said there was a rotten stench in the classroom. Her nose is really sensitive.
I was startled. I took the perfume from my dormitory during lunch break and sprayed it all in the sculpture room. I accidentally broke the bottle and cut my hand on the way, but fortunately, the stench was finally covered up.
Speaking of which, Teacher Cao He is really partial. She only seems to pay attention to the good - looking and wealthy kids in the class.
Luo Ning and I saw her on the road. When we greeted her, Cao He could only see Luo Ning.
She praised Luo Ning for being good - looking and having high EQ, but she never even gave me a proper look. But my grades are much better than Luo Ning's. Why, wherever Luo Ning is, do I have to be an unnamed supporting role?
Cao He often praised Luo Ning for being an artist. Now, Luo Ning has really become a work of art. Teacher Cao He, are you happy?
May 12th
My mind is getting more and more confused! I clearly hid Luo Ning, but why is she still haunting me?
...
Xue Yier suddenly looked up after reading the diary. Her face was frighteningly pale.
"This diary is from a month ago, which means that after killing Luo Ning, the murderer still pretended to be in the crowd and lived a normal life for so long. Judging from her words, this person should be someone who often appeared around Luo Ning. This person is young, but her mind is so twisted!"
Yu Nian's eyes were fixed on the diary, pondering over several strange words.
Hidden, turned into a work of art, sculpture classroom, rotten stench...
Suddenly, Yu Nian's eyes lit up. He said to Feng Chengyuan, "I know where Luo Ning's body is."
Just as Yu Nian finished speaking, a "giggle" laughter echoed in the room. Xu Ning immediately shivered. This sound was very familiar. It was the sound he heard when he opened the door just now.
The clear voice of a young girl suddenly rang out through the barrier of time.
"Qiu Xuan, why are you still studying? Do you want to go out and play with me? You should combine work with rest!"
"Qiu Xuan, does this hairpin look good? It's a limited - edition one my dad brought back from abroad. How about we three each get one?"
"Qiu Xuan, do you like this red scarf? I want to give it to you."
"We'll be good friends for a lifetime, right, Qiu Xuan?"
...
The voice suddenly stopped, and then there came the sound of clicking leather shoes, as if a young girl was skipping home on a certain afternoon after class.
Yu Nian frowned and followed the footsteps.
When everyone returned to the sculpture room, the footsteps disappeared immediately.
Zhong Yaya covered her mouth in surprise. "You mean Luo Ning is here?"
Yu Nian looked at the sculptures in front of him, took out three vertical incense sticks from his pocket. The incense burned quickly, and the floating white mist drifted towards each sculpture in strands.
Yu Nian made a hand gesture, silently recited the soul - summoning spell, and softly called out the girl's name, "Luo Ning."
The whole room began to shake violently. Black and terrifying cracks appeared on the ground one after another. If anyone was a bit careless, they would fall into the abyss.
With two soft "creaking" sounds, the outer skin of a sculpture in the middle of the room began to peel off at a visible speed, piece by piece, and finally the inside was revealed.
The inside of the clay sculpture was not solid gypsum but hollow. Clumps of hair fell out from the cracks.
A body with a bluish - purple face gradually appeared in front of everyone. The body was extremely emaciated, and its limbs hung limply, like a dehydrated mummy.
The long hair of the body was scattered. Without the support of the clay sculpture, the head suddenly tilted to one side.
With a loud "bang", the body fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
A small metal object shining a pale silver light rolled to Yu Nian's feet. It was the name tag of Wanjv High School. The words had faded a bit, but the words "Luo Ning" could still be vaguely recognized.
Xue Yier gasped. "Luo Ning was made into a sculpture alive? How is that possible?"
Yu Nian explained with a solemn face, "What humans can't do, evil gods can."
Just as he finished speaking, everyone felt that the scene in front of them suddenly changed. They were actually standing in the corridor on the fourth floor again, but this time there was nothing around.
"Are we out of the mirror - within - a - mirror? But where is the other missing girl?"
Yu Nian remembered the two loud splashes he heard before empathizing with Luo Ning. He suddenly ran down the stairs and stood beside the pond behind the teaching building in the blink of an eye.
He was very fast. Everyone ran as hard as they could so as not to be left behind by Yu Nian.
Fu Sui couldn't help asking Yu Nian, "What on earth are you going to do?"
"Drain the water from this pond."
"... What?"
Before anyone could react, a huge snake suddenly appeared in everyone's sight. A whirlwind blew, and the snake roared. The water in the pond was sucked into the snake's belly in strands.
The scene under the water gradually emerged. Several fat koi were flapping their bodies on the mud. Under the moonlight, something shiny seemed to be glowing. After a closer look, Yu Nian found that it was a delicate and small hairpin.
Something yellowish - white seemed to emerge from the deep mud. It was a skeleton with a smooth surface washed by water. Its limbs were scattered all over the place, covered by mud and unknown waterweeds.
Yu Nian stared at the skeleton for a while and said softly, "She is Ji Jia."
Cao He stood beside the pond. Seeing this scene, she suddenly let out a scream and then covered the eyes of the classmate beside her.
She shed tears silently, her mouth slightly open, choking and unable to make a sound.
"How could this happen..."
Yu Nian scanned the crowd and asked softly, "Where is Qiu Xuan?"
The students looked at each other and shook their heads blankly.
Qiu Xuan had always been a nobody in the class. Only Luo Ning used to hang around her. After Luo Ning's death, no one cared where Qiu Xuan was.
Yu Nian calculated for a while and quickly ran towards the playground.
The cold wind howled. The thin - framed girl stood quietly in place, surrounded by thick black air, as if it was about to explode the next second.