Chapter 43

"Be careful, follow behind me."

The top floor had already been sealed off, and at this point, Zhou Xian had no way of retreating.

"Do you think we can't leave anymore?"

Beidou looked at Zhou Xian.

"It's not that we 'think' we can't, it's that we definitely can't."

After seeing the second sentence of the Draconic script appear in the real world, Zhou Xian already knew that something beyond the ordinary had definitely appeared in this reality.

And now, this thing was definitely inside the old school building.

"Am I the one who's gone mad, or is it the world?"

It was too absurd.

However, Zhou Xian, who had obtained a peculiar ability, didn't seem to have the right to say that.

"Why does this scene feel so familiar?" The one speaking was not Zhou Xian but Beidou.

"Do you know something?" Hearing Beidou's words, Zhou Xian immediately countered.

"This? I've experienced similar missions in games. I've seen scenes like this before. Usually at this point, if we just turn around, we can see some dark shadows flash past our field of vision." As he spoke, Beidou deliberately leaned in front of the flashlight.

Zhou Xian subconsciously moved his head away: "Don't joke around, how could this happen in the real world—"

Before he could finish, Zhou Xian seemed to notice something flash by in the darkness beside him...

"Hey, did you see something just now?"

Seeing Zhou Xian's troubled expression, Beidou finally sobered up.

"Probably..."

Zhou Xian couldn't clearly describe what he had just seen.

"What should we do now?"

"..."

How was Zhou Xian supposed to know what to do? The situation had clearly already gone beyond his control.

"—Wait, you said it felt familiar, like in a game?" Zhou Xian suddenly remembered what Beidou had said.

"Yeah, right. I've done similar missions before."

Hearing Beidou's words, Zhou Xian calmed down: "Now that you mention it, it does feel that way."

Combining the discussions with Martin Luther King in the game world and the inexplicable appearance of the Draconic script, Zhou Xian had a vague but very bad feeling.

"Could someone be performing a ritual to summon a demon, imitating the game world?"

If that were the case, then all the abnormal phenomena here would make sense. In the game, such "haunted" modes were probably due to similar reasons. But what Zhou Xian found puzzling was: why would the abnormalities in the game appear in the real world? However, since the Draconic script could indeed have an effect in the real world, it was not impossible that someone was performing a ritual here. No, it was very likely.

"Although it's hard to believe, it seems to be the case... So, there must be an altar somewhere in this school building."

Looking out at the pitch-black world outside the window, Zhou Xian realized that the best course of action was to find the altar and destroy it.

Otherwise, he and Beidou would likely be trapped here. If they were lucky, they might even become food for the demon after it was summoned.

"The school building has three floors. If there really is an altar, it should be in the middle of the building... which means it's probably on the second floor..."

As they spoke, Zhou Xian and Beidou finally descended to the second floor, the location he had just analyzed for the altar.

Beidou blinked and looked at Zhou Xian: "Should we check it out?"

"There's no other choice."

Carefully pulling Beidou along, Zhou Xian entered the second-floor corridor.

The corridor was empty, just like when he had come here before. Outside the second-floor windows, however, was a surging darkness, not the original scenery. Something seemed to be trying to surge in from this darkness, but it was being blocked by some force.

"Let's search room by room from here."

The dark classrooms were unsettling. Pushing open the creaky old wooden door, Zhou Xian shone the flashlight into the first classroom.

The desks and chairs were neatly arranged, and both the blackboard and the floor were spotless. It was as if it were from the last century. If not for the eerie atmosphere, this sense of time travel would have been a pleasant memory.

"Looks like it's not here." Zhou Xian vaguely sensed something was off, but he couldn't pinpoint what. After finding no abnormalities in the classroom, he led Beidou out and headed to the next one.

The old school building had no large windows facing the corridor, only two skylights near the top. So, every time they entered a classroom, Zhou Xian had to push open the door, and the creaking of the old wooden door in the empty space was truly unsettling.

"Strange..."

After searching the second, third, and even the entire second floor, Zhou Xian still hadn't found the altar.

"Ah, this place doesn't seem to have the altar you mentioned, Zhou Xian." Beidou looked out at the pitch-black scenery outside the window, bored.

Could he have guessed wrong?

Zhou Xian couldn't help but glance out the window and shine the flashlight on it.

In the chaotic darkness, something seemed to be surging and peering...

"!!!"

This familiar feeling immediately triggered Zhou Xian's memory!

"Follow me!"

Zhou Xian pulled Beidou back to the first classroom they had checked. He closed his eyes and focused.

"Right, there's the same sense of unease here as outside the window." The problem must be here.

"But there's nothing here. Do you think the altar is hidden in another dimension?" Beidou walked to the front of the classroom and tapped the desk.

"Ouch!" She suddenly lifted her hand.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Xian approached.

Beidou stared at the desk, then touched it again, feeling something was off: "Strange, this isn't wood, it's... stone?"

Hearing Beidou's words, Zhou Xian went over and touched the desk. The cold, hard texture was indeed stone. But why did the desk feel like this? And the shape of this "stone" didn't seem to match the desk.

"—Illusion!"

Zhou Xian immediately thought of this.

"Illusion? What do we do?" Beidou looked at Zhou Xian.

"If it's an illusion from the game, maybe this will work..."

Zhou Xian had Beidou hold the flashlight while he bit his finger, letting blood flow out. He dripped the blood on the ground, forming a strange array.

If a player from the game were here, they would recognize that Zhou Xian was using a dispelling array from the game. Although it wasn't a skill, as a seasoned player, he had encountered many such arrays.

"—Complete."

Almost as soon as Zhou Xian said this, the entire dark classroom seemed to tremble, and a terrifying aura filled the room!

"Bang, bang, bang!"

The surroundings began to collapse, and the world before Zhou Xian's eyes changed. After a moment of distortion, the room was filled with a blood-red light, and the classroom transformed into a pentagram array. At each of the five points of the pentagram was an altar, and the podium had become one corner of the pentagram altar!

Almost as soon as he saw the altar, cold sweat poured down Zhou Xian's face.

"Zhou Xian, if I'm not mistaken, this is a... sacrificial altar?"

Hearing Beidou's words, Zhou Xian nodded: "Right, I had a mission before to deal with such a sacrificial altar."

A sacrificial altar is used to offer things to please deities or demons, in exchange for power from these beings. Deities are more lenient; sometimes a sheep or a pig can make a deity protect a region. But demons are different; to summon a demon, a bizarre ritual is required, involving offerings of blood or even human lives.

"This altar has been here for quite some time. I wonder who is doing this."

Who could it be?

Scenes from the past flashed through Zhou Xian's mind.

"Swallow Heaven Club!"

The name of this club suddenly appeared in Zhou Xian's mind.

"—Not bad, you figured it out. Zhou Xian, you're quite impressive."

Suddenly, a figure clapped and walked in. It was none other than Li Zheng, who had gone missing.

At this moment, Li Zheng was dressed strangely, not in regular clothes but in a robe like those in the game, and he held a staff, clearly resembling a game mage.

Zhou Xian protected Beidou behind him and looked at Li Zheng: "The Swallow Heaven Club's actions are too extreme. Even if they want to win the championship at all costs and sabotage the main players of the seed team, such despicable behavior will only raise suspicion."

Li Zheng clapped and praised: "Not bad, Zhou Xian, you figured that out. Yes, Ying Tianlong isn't very smart, I just had to nudge him a little. My goal was to stir up the audience's emotions, making them suspicious, angry, and hostile. These negative emotions are all good materials for the sacrifice, hahahaha!!!"

Zhou Xian now understood everything. The mysteries of the past were now clear.

But Zhou Xian didn't feel relieved, because at this moment, he noticed a faint blue film around Li Zheng. This was clearly the protective shield skill that only game mages could use!