Whatever you do, don't look back

By the time Jiang Chen brought Zhao Qian back, a large crowd of students had gathered in the clearing outside the guest rooms. With something this serious happening, Sun Zhibing had naturally messaged everyone to return right away.

Everyone was chattering about the night's events when Zhang Lu suddenly shrieked, "Qianqian! Thank goodness, you're back!"

Hearing this, Sun Zhibing, who was counting heads, hurriedly turned around. At the sight of Zhao Qian, he let out a long sigh of relief and strode over.

"Zhao Qian, how are you? What happened? Are you hurt?"

A crowd of students gathered around them as well.

Seeing so many classmates, Zhao Qian wiped her tears and cried even harder. Between sobs, she said, "I... I'm fine. Jiang Chen saved me. I ran into a psychopathic murderer. He didn't hurt me. Luckily, Jiang Chen got there in time."

A psychopathic murderer?

A chill ran through everyone who heard those words.

They also looked at Jiang Chen in surprise. They had never expected this normally unassuming classmate to be so formidable when it mattered, rescuing Zhao Qian from a murderer.

"How are you feeling? Do you need to go to the hospital?" Sun Zhibing gave Jiang Chen a grateful look. Without him, he probably would have lost his job. Then he turned to ask Zhao Qian.

"No, I'm fine." Zhao Qian shook her head.

"...Then why are you still clinging to Jiang Chen?" Jiang Xinyi said pointedly from the side.

Jiang Chen had rescued her earlier too. By now, she had recovered her composure and was standing with her classmates.

Everyone thought Zhao Qian had really encountered a murderer, but Jiang Xinyi knew that thing was a hundred times more terrifying than any murderer!

"Ahem, right..." Zhao Qian blushed.

The walk from the other side of the lake had taken seven or eight minutes, and she had actually regained her strength long ago. But after such a terrifying experience, being in Jiang Chen's arms made her feel safe, so she had been reluctant to let go.

After releasing him, Zhao Qian stole a barely noticeable glance at Jiang Xinyi. When she discovered that Jiang Xinyi was also staring straight at Jiang Chen, she gave a cold snort without knowing why.

Li Jie gave Jiang Chen a thumbs-up from the crowd. This guy had finally wised up. He'd hooked two girls at once.

Neither girl was one of those flashy sluts who had asked Zheng Shaoming for a better room, either. One came from a well-off family, while the other's family was of ordinary means, but she studied hard and was a renowned top student in their department.

Next, Sun Zhibing began frantically sending messages to the department group chat, telling everyone to come back. When the head count came up short, he called several students as well.

Finally, after nearly twenty minutes, almost all the students had returned.

But once he finished counting, Sun Zhibing's expression turned grim. He made several more calls, none of which were answered, then said with a dark look, "Three students are missing: Yang Zhi, Zhao Xiaodong, and Zheng Shaoming. Does anyone know where they went?"

"Sir, I think Zheng Shaoming went that way with Steward Zhang as soon as we arrived at the Mountain Villa." A student pointed toward the mountains.

Sun Zhibing was an adult, after all. However foolish he might have been, he could now put a few things together. Hearing this, he gave a cool grunt of acknowledgment, then turned and asked, "What about Yang Zhi and Zhao Xiaodong? They're not answering their phones. Does anyone know?"

"I remember Zhao Xiaodong saying his stomach hurt after dinner, and he went to the restaurant restroom. Yang Zhi's close to him, so he probably went along to wait for him," a male student said, raising his hand.

Sun Zhibing nodded. "Everyone stay together here. Whatever you do, don't split up again. Zhang Chong, keep an eye on your classmates."

After asking the class monitor of Class One to watch over the group, he walked up to Jiang Chen. "Jiang Chen, sorry for the trouble again, but could you come check the restaurant with me?"

Jiang Chen shook his head and turned to Zhao Erhu. "Should I go, or will you?"

Zhao Erhu considered it for a moment. "There are a lot of people here. I'll stay."

His meaning was clear: he was stronger, so he was better suited to protecting more people.

"All right!"

Jiang Chen turned and left.

Sun Zhibing tried to follow, but Zhao Erhu grabbed him. "Sir, you'd better stay here. You'd only get in the way with something like this."

Sun Zhibing froze briefly, then seemed to realize something and hurriedly nodded. "Okay, okay."

Jiang Chen headed toward the restaurant. On the way, he ran into Supervisor Wu, who was hurrying along. As soon as she saw him, she asked, "Well? Did you find your classmate?"

Jiang Chen nodded.

"Thank goodness!" Supervisor Wu also breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she was unaware of many things too.

"Tell me everything you know. What exactly has happened at this Mountain Villa?" Jiang Chen stopped her to ask.

He was currently in his Demon Transformation state, and his gaze carried an intense pressure. In the darkness especially, he resembled a beast poised to hunt. One look made Supervisor Wu's blood run cold.

Her curvy body shuddered violently, and she said fearfully, "A lot really has happened here. The previous staff all died, for instance. I was only transferred here a little over twenty days ago."

"All I know about is the gardener's death, and a few people who died under very strange circumstances over at the restaurant."

"One of the dead was the old security guard who used to work nights. Every night after midnight, he was responsible for closing the doors and switching off the lights around the Mountain Villa before going to bed."

"But during one of his night patrols, he stumbled upon a murder in the foot massage parlor on the restaurant's second floor."

"They say that when the old guard opened the door, all he saw was the victim's body. Terrified, he hurried downstairs to get help. But as he ran, he kept feeling that something was wrong, as though there was an extra set of footsteps behind him."

"He looked back several times along the way but never saw anyone. Only when he reached the glass doors outside and looked behind him using the reflection did he discover something horrifying. The killer had been following right behind him the entire time!"

"Once discovered, the killer murdered the old guard on the spot."

"Another security guard from the previous staff told me about this. Apparently, he was in the surveillance room at the time and witnessed the whole thing. But not long afterward, that guard also died in the restaurant. When he died, his neck was twisted backward in a very strange position."

At this point, Supervisor Wu glanced around, seemingly a little frightened herself.

"After all that, you still dare to stay here?" Jiang Chen scrutinized her.

"To be honest, people will risk their lives for money. Zheng promised me a five-hundred-thousand bonus if I worked here for a month." Supervisor Wu smiled sheepishly.

"Also, after that, another eerie story started circulating among the Mountain Villa staff. They say that if you go to the restaurant at night and hear an extra set of footsteps, you must never look back. You're fine as long as you don't notice it, but once you discover the thing following behind you, it'll go berserk and kill you!"