Chapter 79

Jiang solved the ghost baby, and all the illusions around him disappeared. Only the scattered shards of glass in the corridors could prove that everything that had just happened was real.

There was still some time before the next call, so he naturally continued his search. According to Jiang's speculation, among the remaining three paranormal phenomena in the song, the last one could be set aside for now. The one about the dripping water could occur anywhere with a faucet, most likely in the toilet. The one about the human flesh soup should be in the canteen on the ground floor of another building.

The map of this script was not particularly large, but it had many restrictions, similar to the script of the House of Usher, and perhaps even more difficult.

Jiang was currently in a five-story teaching building, which was lower than the main building. According to his plan, whether to go to the upper four floors was debatable. If he went, he might trigger the dripping water event before Siyu, and there was also a chance to trigger side quests or hidden tasks. If he didn't go, he should head directly to the canteen of the third building, where he would likely encounter the event described in the fifth line of the song.

Although Siyu had answered the call quickly and claimed to be "fine," and even hung up on him, Jiang still felt a vague unease. Thinking about it, she didn't seem like the type to make a fuss, so perhaps he had said something wrong?

After thinking for about a minute, Jiang decided to go to the canteen. This was a script for two players, and it was unknown what impact one player's death would have on the other. If the system said, "Due to the death of the player, the other party cannot communicate and will be directly held responsible, being pursued by ghosts indefinitely," Jiang would be in trouble...

Jiang's goal was to quickly reach level 15. To achieve this, completing the main quest was a prerequisite, as only by completing it could he earn the 40% experience reward based on his current level. Therefore, he decided to complete the main quest first.

He left the building, crossed a concave-shaped open area between three buildings, and entered another building through a simple corridor.

Pushing open the door, he entered the canteen, which was quite spacious. As usual, he scanned the area with his flashlight. The canteen was neatly arranged with long tables and benches, and there were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, but pressing the light switch had no effect. The floor was covered with plain tiles, and the walls looked unremarkable. There was a row of sinks to the left after entering. The southeast corner had a serving counter, behind which was the kitchen. On the other side was a small convenience store, and nearby was a vending machine. Blue trash bins about a meter high were scattered around. Overall, it was a standard, clean student canteen.

So... where was the human flesh soup?

So far, Jiang had not noticed any abnormalities, and it seemed that just wandering around the canteen would not trigger the plot. After some thought, he concluded that he needed to go to the kitchen...

Just as he thought this, his phone rang. Jiang looked at it and realized it was already time for the call, so he answered it immediately.

The call began with a brief silence.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier," Siyu apologized first.

"Ah... it's fine, I said something wrong," Jiang replied, quickly changing the subject. "How are you now? Have you triggered any new events?"

Siyu replied, "I'm in the women's restroom on the second floor of the main building, in the farthest stall."

Upon hearing this, Jiang realized something was wrong, as he noticed a slight, almost imperceptible tremor in Siyu's voice, and her breathing was unstable.

"Are you okay?" Jiang asked in a serious tone.

"I...," Siyu hesitated, not mentioning her injury, "I heard dripping water, went into the restroom, and saw blood dripping from the faucet. As I approached, the blood flowed faster, and then a voice came from inside the mirror, as if something was trying to come out... I didn't look up, and when I turned around, the restroom door closed by itself and wouldn't open." She spoke quickly, and her voice became increasingly unnatural. "I lowered my head, didn't look at the mirror, and hid in a stall. Now there are feet outside the stall door, standing still. I... can't fight right now, I'm trapped..."

Beep—Beep—Beep—

This time, it wasn't Siyu who dropped the call, but the call time had ended, and it was automatically disconnected.

While listening to her, Jiang had already left the canteen and was running towards the main building.

A system warning soon sounded in his ear: [Warning, you must not approach your teammate knowingly. Continuing this behavior will result in both of you being pursued by ghosts as punishment.]

"Damn... this isn't the time to worry about that..." Jiang said irritably.

He performed the Jazz Dance step, sprinting past the "No Running in the Hall" sign, quickly circled around the side of the main building, and rushed through the front door. After glancing at the floor plan in the first horizontal corridor on the first floor, he immediately dashed up to the second floor and headed straight for the women's restroom...

The school wasn't that big, and with a clear destination, it took him only three minutes to reach the restroom door.

The door was closed, and there was no sign of blood seeping through the bottom. However, Jiang couldn't turn the doorknob, and he couldn't call out to Siyu, as the system had restricted direct communication between them.

Next, Jiang struggled with the door lock. He held his phone under his arm, held the flashlight in his mouth, and tried to pry the kitchen knife into the door crack while turning the doorknob with his other hand, but it was to no avail.

Clearly, the door wasn't "locked," but rather fixed by some unknown force. Picking the lock wouldn't work.

No choice... he had to break the door.

Bang—Bang—Bang—

Jiang's shoulder was in pain, and at this moment, he envied people like Long Ao Ming, who were tall and strong. If Long was here, this wooden door would be no problem; his arm was almost as thick as Jiang's thigh, and he could probably break the door with a few swings of his shield.

But Jiang could only imagine it. At this moment, he could only rely on his somewhat thin shoulders to repeatedly ram the wooden door.

Siyu, trapped in the stall, also heard the banging. Although it was faint, she quickly realized what was happening, as she tried to call out but found she couldn't. The only explanation was that Jiang was nearby.

Knowing that he was coming to save her, Siyu's courage returned, and she was even quite moved. However, she immediately thought of the consequences of Jiang's actions, which would result in both of them being pursued by ghosts.

The situation could easily turn from Siyu dying alone to both of them dying after Jiang saved her...

Jiang's attempts to break the door cost him some survival points, but his efforts were not in vain. After more than a minute, he finally broke through the door. As the wooden door, which separated the abnormal space, was forcibly opened, a strong smell of blood immediately hit him.

Jiang felt a clear dizziness. After the door opened, the scene in his eyes became strange, as if it were an old film, with a faded and unnatural appearance.

The toilet was covered in blood. He had to be extremely careful not to slip when stepping on the blood, and when lifting his feet, he felt as if his shoes were being stuck. The faucet in the sink was spewing red liquid, and the blood had already overflowed from the basin, continuously flowing onto the floor.

"Do not look up at the mirror" was a very straightforward hint. Siyu had mentioned in the call that she didn't look at the mirror.

Jiang believed that because she didn't look, she was only trapped and didn't suffer more severe consequences. He took a few steps forward, shining his flashlight, and saw a vague blood shadow standing by a wall at the far end of the toilet. The ghost's form was that of a girl in a school uniform, completely covered in congealed blood. In front of this blood shadow, the light from the [Constant Light Lantern] could be seen coming from a stall.

Jiang wanted to attack the ghost but suddenly found his feet unable to move. The blood on the ground came to life, wrapping around his ankles like liquid claws, firmly anchoring him to the ground.

He let out a cold laugh and then made a very bold move...

Jiang turned his head and directly looked at the mirror above the sink.

In the mirror, Jiang had no eyes, and two black, bleeding sockets stared back at him. The moment he saw this image, the blood shadow shifted its target and approached him, appearing in front of him almost face-to-face.

At this moment, Jiang could see that under the ghost's black, matted hair, there was no human face. Its head was composed of many human eyeballs, which moved and oozed blood from the gaps...

The ghost immediately extended its claws, reaching for Jiang's eyes, probably to gouge them out and add to its head. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the ghost's body, except for its head, was made entirely of blood.

Jiang's body was free to move, and his fear level was zero, so he was not about to sit and wait for death. In a split second, he was faster than the ghost, swinging the pipe wrench at the "eye head"...

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