Stay and Make Woodcarvings with Me

Nothing particularly hostile to them occurred along the way; at most, some swaying, corpse-like ornaments appeared on the shadows of the trees lining the road.

But visual intimidation alone is hardly a minor crisis for the researchers.

Their slowing down was somewhat deliberate; as a result, when they reached the last half of the journey, there was no one in sight except for a faint light coming from the first floor of the dormitory building at the very front.

Yu Xing squinted and looked around. "That must be the dormitory supervisor's seat."

"Hmm." In the darkness, Zhao Yijiu had the best eyesight. "That's the duty room."

The entire boys' dormitory building and the adjacent girls' dormitory building were silent. Every window was covered by thick curtains, making it impossible to see what the students inside were doing.

The only thing that's certain is that they're all still awake.

As they got closer to the dormitory building, the four people who had returned the latest but were the most composed vaguely heard a strange sound coming from the dormitory supervisor's office, like someone gnawing on wood. However, the sound stopped as soon as they stepped onto the ground in front of the office.

The small window of the duty room was open as if it were daytime, and the warm orange-yellow light illuminated the small room. The dormitory supervisor with the sweet voice was still sitting upright in her chair, and some new things were spread on the table in front of her.

For most of the day, every time I passed by the dormitory gate, I would see this young female dorm supervisor sitting there with a subtle smile, as if she hadn't moved an inch all day. The female dorm supervisor would even raise her hand to greet them, "You're back? Is today's study session over?"

"The dorm supervisor works so hard, what are you doing so late at night?" Wen Qinghuai would always take the initiative to talk to the dorm supervisor, because the supervisor's inexplicable friendliness made them feel threatened, so they couldn't run away before the danger broke out, and they had to gather as much information as possible in advance.

"I'm making a small wood carving." The dormitory manager held a carving knife in her hand and showed them a small half-finished product. The palm-sized piece of wood in her hand had been roughly carved out, but what was unsettling was that it was another baby's head.

During the day, she enthusiastically felted wool there, and at night she started making wood carvings, but the theme was always small baby heads. Yu Xing's gaze subtly glanced at the dormitory supervisor's stomach, and this obvious hint made him suspect that the dormitory supervisor's abnormality might be related to "children".

Unfortunately, the dormitory supervisor's desk blocked her view of her stomach, Yu Xing couldn't see anything. She looked away, smiled, and said, "It's quite beautiful. We won't disturb the supervisor's artistic creation any longer; let's go upstairs first."

Previously, every time they went upstairs or left the dormitory, the dormitory supervisor's eyes would be fixed on their backs until they were out of sight. That strong feeling was definitely not an illusion.

Fortunately, the female dorm supervisor only liked to keep an eye on them and hadn't done anything else. But at this moment, when Yu Xing said they were going upstairs, the female dorm supervisor suddenly smiled unusually kindly, "Students, wait a moment."

The four of them paused as they were about to go upstairs.

Zhao Yijiu glanced at the dormitory supervisor with a gloomy look. At night, all the abnormalities that the teachers had not shown during the day were revealed. Who knows if the dormitory supervisor also has a daytime state and a nighttime state.

"What's wrong, dorm supervisor? We're a little late and we're in a hurry to go upstairs to study." Wen Qinghuai deliberately showed a slightly anxious expression, but this time, the "very easy-going" female dorm supervisor did not kindly let them go upstairs. Instead, she stared at them slowly, scraping the carving knife on the table.

A deep mark was instantly left on the desk, making them realize that the female dorm supervisor, who looked frail, was actually a ruthless character who could embed a carving knife into the desk with a casual scrape.

"My wood carving has some flaws, but I'm a perfectionist," the female dorm supervisor said softly in her sweet voice. "Could two people stay behind to help me with my feedback?"

This invitation was clearly not a good thing, especially the female dorm supervisor's voice, which sounded very friendly during the day, but at night it floated on their faces like the hair of Female Ghost, only sending chills down their spines.

Zhao Mou knew that the best excuse for this school was to study. Regardless of whether others believed it or not, as long as they were in a learning position, they would have to let people go, no matter how unwilling they were, because the school rules stipulated that one should not deliberately disturb or interfere with other people's studies.

He gave a polite but clearly reluctant smile, "Dormitory supervisor, it's so late, it's not good for us to stay here, you're going to check the dorms tonight."

"Stay here and help me out. You can come up with me when it's time for room check. I'll remember you helped me." The female dorm supervisor tilted her head, predictably becoming difficult.

"Dormitory supervisor, it's not that we don't want to help you with the wood carving, it's just that time is too tight right now. We have a test next week, and that test is very important to us... You should know that, every minute and every second is precious." Zhao Mou naturally had his ways of dealing with unreasonable demands. "And making wood carvings is probably still too..."

He left something unsaid, seemingly not wanting to be too harsh, leaving it to be understood rather than explained.

Zhao Yijiu was, after all, his younger brother, and they had a certain understanding on these matters. So, acting like someone who couldn't read the room and had very low emotional intelligence, he said before the female dorm supervisor manager could speak, "That's true, we don't have the time to accompany you to do wood carving right now."

Zhao Mou feigned embarrassment. "Why are you talking to the dorm supervisor like that...?"

Zhao Yijiu's icy tone couldn't have been more fitting at this moment. "Because she's wasting my study time."

The female dorm supervisor closed her mouth, probably because Zhao Yijiu's blunt words had shut her up.

Yu Xing watched from the side, not missing a single subtle expression from the female dorm supervisor. He noticed that when female dorm supervisor was rejected, she didn't hide her ferocity like Jack did; her smile was as fake and fixed as the cafeteria cook's.

Finally, after a few seconds of silence, the female dorm supervisor spoke again, "Two people stay here with me."

It wasn't a request, it was a command.

The situation reached a stalemate. When someone who seemed to be trying to harm them abandoned their excuses and became unusually direct, their rhetoric lost its effectiveness in refusing them.

Wen Qinghuai frowned inwardly, considering whether to say that doing so violated school rules and that they could file a complaint against her.

Falling out with the dorm manager on the very first day would definitely do more harm than good. They would still need to stay in the dorm for several days, not to mention there would be room checks every night. Who knew what kind of things this female dorm supervisor would do during these necessary procedures after things turned sour?

Yu Xing chuckled and changed her approach to stall, "Dormitory supervisor, what artwork is so important that it absolutely has to be finished tonight?"

The question caused the female dorm supervisor to pause for a moment. She looked down at the half-carved wooden sculpture, seemingly troubled.

So far, this is the only question that has caused the dormitory supervisor's expression to change. Everyone felt a chill, realizing that the object represented by this wooden carving might have an unusual effect on the female dorm supervisor.

"It looks like a baby. Do you like babies?" Yu Xing smiled, and when it came to hitting the nail on the head, no one present was better than him. "Or are you sculpting the likeness of your own child? I didn't expect the dorm supervisor to look so young and already have a baby."

The female dorm supervisor's lips twitched uncontrollably. Her gaze slowly focused, finally settling completely on Yu Xing. After scrutinizing her for a moment, a hint of doubt seemed to flash across her eyes.

This emotion was so subtle that only Yu Xing, who was looking directly at her, could notice it. He saw the female dorm supervisor's brows furrow slightly, giving her the immediate impression of a robot whose programming had malfunctioned.

After a moment, she ignored Yu Xing's question, resumed her sweet smile, and offered a somewhat conciliatory explanation. "I don't want to waste your time either."

"But two people have not been punished tonight."

Punish?

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow. He remembered what he had mentioned to Zhao Yijiu during evening self-study: they might have unknowingly triggered some kind of condition, which was why ghosts would specifically come looking for them.

He was initially unsure whether the trigger condition was met only by the two of them and Qu Xuanqing, who had left the classroom, or by all five deducers who came in.

Based on what the female dorm supervisor said, it should be the latter.

He and Zhao Yijiu had both experienced attacks from ghosts, but Zhao Mou and Wen Qinghuai, who had been in the classroom, seemed to be fine, and they hadn't mentioned being haunted by ghosts in the classroom.

In other words, was the female dorm supervisor's sudden invitation actually an attempt to make up for the attack that didn't happen during evening self-study?

"Winter and Derek," the female dorm supervisor said, still determined to get things done despite her bluntness, her sweet smile utterly unsettling, "Would you two please stay and help me out?"

The certainty in the painting clearly indicates that the artist intended to keep both of them from the beginning.

Zhao Mou and Wen Qinghuai exchanged a glance, realizing that this invitation was mandatory and they probably couldn't avoid it.

"I'd like to ask, what would happen if they didn't agree to help, or if I planned to replace one of them?" Yu Xing, however, intended to continue to fleece the female dorm supervisor, since female dorm supervisor actions had revealed a lot of information to them.

"No, you can't. I won't agree to you swapping them." The female dorm supervisor gently shook her head at him, as if looking at a mischievous but affectionate child. "If they keep refusing... they won't be able to sleep well tonight."

Sleep safety in dormitories will be compromised until certain conditions are met.

Having obtained the information she wanted, Yu Xing helplessly shrugged and patted Zhao Mou and Wen Qinghuai on the shoulders. "Then you two will have to stay and help the dorm supervisor with this. Good luck! Sam and I are going up first~"

From his behavior, Zhao discerned his attitude and realized that Yu Xing must have some thoughts about the so-called punishment.

After all, the female dorm supervisor said that two people had not yet been punished, which meant that Yu Xing and his brother had already gone through the "punishment" process. The two of them did not even show any signs of worry, so the punishment was probably not very severe.

It's not very strong for those who perform calculations.

Having made up his mind, Zhao Mou nodded. "Okay."

Wen Qinghuai also sighed. He wasn't afraid of this; on the contrary, it was a good opportunity for him to gather information, but he still needed to be mindful of his attitude.

The four of them were forced to separate downstairs at the dormitory building. Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu entered the dormitory, locked the door, and then asked at the same time:

"If you're worried, why don't you use your shadow to go down and take a look?"

"Do you need to go down and observe that dormitory manager?"

After asking the question, the two fell silent, and simultaneously received their answers.

No worries, no need.

"There's nothing to worry about with this kind of attack." Zhao Yijiu was the first to leave the doorway and walk towards her small space separated by the curtain. "Zhao Mou is very smart, and he also knows some carving skills. If he's just being harassed by the female dorm supervisor, he won't suffer any losses."

"Yes, since it's a supplementary punishment, it should be about the same difficulty as the attack we experienced. Even ordinary students have a chance of surviving this kind of attack, so how could Zhao Mou be stumped?" Yu Xing agreed with a smile. "And there's Wen Qinghuai, he's a lone wolf-type star predictor, very capable."

Although Wen Qinghuai is rather thin and gentle, and you don't see many sharp edges after spending time with him, he has actually been a star predictor for much longer than Zhao Mou, and his predictions are highly rated, consistently occupying a high position in the prediction video sales section.

What do these two have to worry about? They were just arguing their case, trying to see if they could politely refuse the demands of the school staff.

"Yu Xing," Zhao Yijiu suddenly called out to him in a deep voice, her tone turning somewhat sinister, "Someone touched my things."

Yu Xing was startled, then realized what was happening and looked into his cubicle. His textbooks, which he had laid out when he went to evening self-study, were still on his desk, and most of the ornaments were still there, but for someone who pays attention to details, it was easy to tell at a glance that things had been moved.

"Oh dear, someone touched my things too. It seems someone entered our dorm while we were away for evening study." There was little surprise in his tone.

Zhao Yijiu then turned around, suddenly remembering something. "Did they come in while we were away to search for the missing book in the library?"

Although they argued with Director Gene for a long time, and Gene seemed to be persuaded by them, they were still suspected. Therefore, it was not unreasonable for them to sneak into their dormitory and rummage through their things.

The key is...

Zhao Yijiu stared at Yu Xing: "Where's the book? Is it still there?"