Chapter 15

After the girl left, Xia Tianqi also drove to a nearby hotel to rest, sleeping until noon the next day before he painfully got out of bed.

The experience of rolling down the stairs last night had left many unsightly bruises on his body.

"Damn, my smooth and tender skin is all ruined!"

Xia Tianqi posed narcissistically in front of the mirror, but during the process, he accidentally twisted his foot, causing him to cry out in pain again.

After quickly washing up, he called his mother with high hopes, but the result was the same: there was still no news from his grandfather, who would only return after he had had his fill of traveling outside.

However, this was not unusual, as in Xia Tianqi's memory, his grandfather would often suddenly go on trips for several days each year.

Sometimes he would return after about a week, but other times it could take three to four months, or even more than half a year.

Because his grandfather had always been like this, his parents had become accustomed to it and did not dare to interfere.

The phone call lasted nearly an hour before Xia Tianqi, with red eyes, hung up, feeling suddenly empty inside.

In the past, he had always been unwilling to listen to his mother's nagging, but this time he strongly wished she would talk to him for a while longer, as he was truly unsure whether he could survive the ordeal at Qihe Women's College.

"I must live! I must live! Live!!!"

Xia Tianqi clutched his phone tightly, raised his head, and roared several times until his voice became hoarse, then he stopped, panting heavily. However, his heart felt less heavy than before.

After a quick wash, Xia Tianqi checked out of the hotel and drove to a temple he knew.

Despite the many negative news stories about corrupt monks online, in the absence of a Taoist temple and without encountering any wise men, he could only try his luck by burning incense at the temple.

Even Xia Tianqi himself felt this was a desperate measure, but he truly had no other options at the moment.

He spent almost the entire afternoon in the temple, and it was almost dark when he finally came out, sighing deeply, with a bag full of "amulets" in his hand.

These amulets were all "invited" at a high price, almost depleting his entire savings. They included paper talismans, peach wood axes, peach wood swords, and other items, all of which he had packed and brought back.

Since he was treating the situation as a last resort, if the amulets worked against ghosts, it would be worth it; if they didn't, it would be normal.

In addition to these preparations, he also remembered the power outage from last time, so he bought two portable flashlights. This time, he did not prepare any for the other new students, as the previous experience had taught him that being a good person was not always easy, so he decided to be more selfish and focus on protecting himself.

In simpler terms, it didn't matter to him whether the others lived or died!

Xia Tianqi not only bought two flashlights but also, to his dismay, a kerosene lighter and a bottle of kerosene.

He bought these items as a precaution, to make it easier for him to start a fire if necessary.

After completing his preparations, he drove to a nearby internet cafe near Qihe Women's College.

The reason he did not go to the hotel to use the internet was that the hotel's internet speed was too slow, making it inconvenient for him to search for information.

Of course, another important reason was that he had a nickname, "Internet Cafe Prince," and he would always go into any internet cafe to test the internet speed.

Since this place was very close to Qihe Women's College, there were many small hooligans inside, who seemed to be waiting to pick up girls.

"A bunch of idiots, there's an internet cafe in the college, okay?"

Xia Tianqi mentally despised the small hooligans in the internet cafe, but he also acted tough, lighting a cigarette and, after exhaling a puff of smoke, asked the barista with a non-mainstream hairstyle:

"How much for an all-night session?"

"Eight yuan," the woman replied with a sour face.

"Damn, so cheap, only eight yuan for an all-night session!" Xia Tianqi was greatly surprised, as the cheapest all-night session at the internet cafes near his school cost 15 yuan.

"What are you so excited about? I said the machines are eight yuan for an all-night session!"

The woman, seeing Xia Tianqi's reaction, emphasized it again.

"I know it's the machines. Do you think I want to spend the night with you? Little girl, you can get a tattoo like a man, but don't be so vulgar, it's really uncivilized."

The barista looked to be about 18 or 19 years old, a typical little delinquent, with a few small hooligans sitting around her, looking like they were up to no good.

"None of your business! I'll do what I want, listen or not!"

"Then give me an all-night session and a bowl of noodles with a sausage. Oh, and two eggs."

"Put your own in the noodles, why not? You have so many requirements."

The barista glared at Xia Tianqi, but despite her complaints, she obediently went to prepare his noodles.

After getting his ID back from the counter, Xia Tianqi found an available machine nearby. His purpose was clear: to search online for information about Qihe Women's College and gather some intelligence.

He turned on the computer and searched for several keywords related to Qihe Women's College.

Such as [Qihe Women's College deaths]

[Qihe Women's College haunted]

[Qihe Women's College major incidents]

[Qihe Women's College strange events]

[...]

In short, he tried every keyword he could think of, but the results were minimal. There was no information online indicating that Qihe Women's College had ever experienced any particularly strange or fatal incidents.

"Maybe it really didn't happen, or... the information has been suppressed."

Although he did not find any valuable clues online, Xia Tianqi still felt that something had happened at Qihe Women's College, as there was no smoke without fire.

This was a common occurrence, as his own school had experienced a very serious incident that was never reported by the media, clearly due to the school's influence in "resolving" the matter.

"It seems reality is reality, and the stuff in movies doesn't work."

"Looking so cool, you thought you were someone, but you're just a loser. What are you doing, studying how to bypass the firewall?"

The barista, standing behind Xia Tianqi's sofa, held a box of noodles and said sarcastically.

"Little girl, don't talk so rudely. 'Loser' means nothing, I'm not that bad."

Xia Tianqi took the noodles from the barista and then turned to ask with a smile:

"I have a question. If you know the answer, I'll give you a pack of cigarettes, okay?"

"What is it? Asking if I have a boyfriend? If that's it, I suggest you give up, you're not even in my league..."

"Stop it, that's not what I'm asking. Do people from Qihe Women's College usually come here to use the internet?" Xia Tianqi interrupted the barista.

"Are you kidding? Who would have the time to come here? That would be so loser! The people who come here are from the nearby auto repair school, look at their faces."

As she spoke, the barista couldn't help but take a dig at the young hooligans sitting across from Xia Tianqi.

Xia Tianqi laughed, finding the barista increasingly interesting. He thought for a moment and deliberately said:

"Do you know, someone died at the women's college recently, and it was quite strange."

"What, you know about that too?"

The barista's eyes widened in surprise!