The classroom building, the stairs, a head that had appeared out of nowhere.
"A school ghost story. The uncountable stairs," Ji Xun said.
Yuan Ci's gaze shifted slightly. "I'll go take a look. Wait here."
Ji Xun hurriedly caught his arm. "I'm coming with you."
"Ji Xun, you'd better stay here," Su Rang said, disagreeing.
He wasn't staying behind because he was afraid of dying, but because he feared his skills and reflexes couldn't keep up with Yuan Ci's. Going along might only make him a burden.
That went doubly for Ji Xun, whom he still considered a newcomer.
"Wait here."
As Yuan Ci spoke, Ji Xun only tightened his grip and insisted, "I'm coming with you."
Yuan Ci looked at him for a long moment. Seeing his resolute expression, as though his mind was made up, he could only sigh helplessly. "Stay behind me."
They had no idea where Yuan Ci's earlier kick had sent Wang Kaile's head, but when they reached the stairs, they saw a trail of blood winding down.
The classroom building had an ordinary switchback staircase. Ji Xun aimed his light upward, but the steps on the upper flight were clean, without a trace of blood.
From the landing in the middle, however, blood flowed down like a little stream.
"Where's Wang Kaile's body?" Ji Xun asked.
The blood was very fresh. Something must have attacked him on the landing halfway up; otherwise, there couldn't have been no blood anywhere else.
Yuan Ci shook his head, looking intently at Ji Xun. "Want to try something exciting?"
Ji Xun blinked. "What?"
"Count the stairs." Yuan Ci gave a wicked grin and held his hand out to Ji Xun, palm up. "Hold my hand if you're scared."
Ji Xun, oblivious as any straight guy, frowned. "What's scary about counting stairs?"
Yuan Ci: ...
According to the school legend, the staircase had one more step at night than it did during the day.
"Twelve steps." Yuan Ci looked up and counted them. "Let's go. If anything feels wrong, run."
Ji Xun acknowledged him and slowly followed him up the stairs.
Apparently, the school had undergone major renovations two years ago. The handrail was sturdy, and the stairs had even been given an anti-slip finish.
Yet Ji Xun felt uneasy as he stepped onto them.
A fluctuation of power. Someone was nearby.
His guard went up, and he wanted to warn Yuan Ci, but their surroundings were too quiet. Ji Xun didn't know whether this ghost story had a killing condition like the dorm supervisor's, so he didn't dare speak rashly.
After a moment's thought, Ji Xun reached out, caught Yuan Ci's hand hanging at his side, and squeezed it hard.
Yuan Ci looked back in surprise, then gave him an indulgent smile and mouthed, "Behave."
Ji Xun pressed his lips together and mouthed back, "Careful. Someone's here."
Yuan Ci raised an eyebrow without asking how he knew.
Seven steps, eight steps, nine-
At the eleventh step, they both drew a deep breath and continued upward.
Twelve steps.
Nothing happened. There was no thirteenth step, either.
Anything out of the ordinary meant trouble. In an infinite-instance world, nothing happening meant a greater danger lay ahead.
In the blink of an eye, the upper flight leading to the second floor disappeared, replaced by a wall.
"What now?" Ji Xun asked.
Yuan Ci's expression turned serious. He took a stone from his inventory: a Locust Stone, the cheapest throwing weapon sold in the shop.
He tossed the Locust Stone down the stairs.
Rumble, rumble-
The stone rolled down the stairs with a series of sharp clacks.
It should have reached the bottom in just a few seconds, but a minute passed, and the stone showed no sign of stopping.
"A loop," Yuan Ci said.
They could neither go up nor go down. They were trapped on the landing.
When Ji Xun didn't respond, Yuan Ci turned to him and found him shining his flashlight on the wall.
"What is it?"
"What do you think-" Ji Xun's expression was utterly serious. "What would happen if I tore this wall down?"
Yuan Ci wasn't one to follow the rules either. He considered Ji Xun's suggestion, and then the same eager gleam appeared in both their eyes.
Before they could try, a familiar warning sounded in both their ears.
[Warning-players must follow the correct method for clearing the instance]
Yuan Ci spread his hands. "There goes our fun."
Ji Xun pressed his lips together and resigned himself to searching for clues properly.
There was nothing obstructing the stairs, and the walls had been painted spotless, looking as good as new.
If the problem wasn't on the walls, it had to be beneath their feet.
"There's no way up, and going down puts us in a loop." Ji Xun frowned. "Could it be the landing in the middle?"
He shone the light onto the landing, but even after studying it for a while, Ji Xun couldn't see anything unusual.
Just as he was about to point the flashlight elsewhere, the pattern in the marble floor beneath his feet suddenly changed.
The original veins began to twist like an earthworm writhing on the ground, then slowly formed a shape.
It looked like a human face.
But the face had no discernible features, only a vague outline.
Ji Xun abruptly looked up. A faint, cold glint flashed directly in front of him.
Yuan Ci noticed it immediately too and instinctively reached to pull Ji Xun away, but Ji Xun moved faster, twisting sideways to dodge the attack.
"Watch out!"
The glint didn't stop. It continued closing in on them at speed.
Ji Xun dodged one, only to discover several more cold glints in the darkness.
Standing on the landing, they had very little room to dodge. Neither Ji Xun nor Yuan Ci could avoid being grazed a few times.
Even the slightest brush from that light left a deep cut across Ji Xun's cheek.
So this was how Wang Kaile had died.
Yuan Ci pulled Ji Xun into his arms, holding Ji Xun's back against his chest. Unable to stand such intimacy with another person, Ji Xun struggled to escape, but Yuan Ci's arm clamped tightly around his waist. Ji Xun felt as though he couldn't budge him an inch.
"Don't move. Look around." He paused, felt around twice with his hand, and clicked his tongue. "What's that tucked at your waist? A murder weapon?"
Around them, the cold glints crisscrossed like an impenetrable net, trapping them in the corner. Any further movement would send those glints slicing mercilessly into their flesh.
A thought flashed through Ji Xun's mind. "They're instrument strings!" he said gravely.
Yuan Ci froze, then reached out to touch the glint closest to him.
The instant his fingertip touched it, a bloody cut appeared, showing just how sharp the thing was.
It was indeed an extremely rigid strand.
"I'll explain once we're out." Ji Xun drew the "murder weapon" at his waist and slashed at the cold glints.
"Wow." Yuan Ci watched his movements admiringly and took a weapon from his inventory as well.
Unlike Ji Xun's long saber, Yuan Ci's weapon resembled a medieval knight's sword, large and heavy.
But the rush of air as he swung it down revealed just how lethal the sword was.
The taut strings broke in two and fell to the floor, where they continued writhing as though alive.
The face on the floor moved rapidly. With quick eyes and quicker hands, Ji Xun drove his long saber hard into it.
The face let out a piercing howl that seemed about to burst his eardrums.
The wall blocking their path finally vanished like an illusion. Several beams of light shone up from below, and at last Ji Xun heard Su Rang's voice, cracking with anxiety.
"Yuan Ci! Ji Xun! Say something!"
Before you continue