Paper scraps drifted into the wind, making it impossible to tell paper from snow.
Advancing along a special path was like a lone boat pushing upstream across a boundless lake.
And those wielding the poles were both guides and staff members.
Aboard the vessel that was the Paper Scraps Barrier, the shadowy being was the library's guide, standing at the "bow" as they headed toward their destination.
The Black Figure had neither a physical body nor even an incorporeal form. It existed only as a voice hanging over everyone's heads, reciting every rule it knew, word by word.
With two guides supporting it, the vessel became steady and sturdy enough to carry them toward their destination.
Every breath of the freezing air sent an icy stab through their lungs, but it also sharpened everyone's senses.
Luo Ge's hands had been treated and bandaged. With somewhat unsteady steps, he came to Ji Li's side and said quietly:
"You heard the cafeteria's rules, right?"
Another set of rules had joined the recitation in Haunted Academy, and everyone had already heard them repeated seven or eight times.
Judging by that, the cafeteria was not a place Tiannan Academy had abandoned, but it did possess a certain unrestrained quality.
Perhaps that was precisely why its guide had also been acknowledged, lending the Paper Scraps Barrier more power to continue expanding.
Using his sword sheath as a cane, Ji Li struggled to lift his leg out of the snow and set it down again. Breathing heavily, he watched the path ahead and replied:
"You said there was another ghost hiding in the cafeteria. Did you see it?"
"No."
Luo Ge frowned and shook his head, then glanced back along the tree-lined avenue, where the main gate was visible at the far end, and said quietly: