Teaching Building

May 6, X023, 18:54.

In the area around S City University's Teaching Building, Green Apron Chef recommended tomato meat sauce pasta to Lin Yi and the others. The scene was as still as a relief sculpture.

Lin Yi froze for a second. Terror exploded in his mind, and his body began trembling involuntarily, yet his brain became utterly calm.

He drew a deep breath, then looked toward the Security Guard's back without sparing another glance at the chef or the tomato meat sauce noodles. He started walking, following the Security Guard at an unhurried pace.

The chef watched him with a beaming smile, endlessly recommending tomato meat sauce pasta. That gaze stayed fixed on him, and as he moved, the chef slowly turned like a puppet.

As Lin Yi passed the chef, he could clearly feel the mist churning. He could also sense that there was no living creature giving off warmth beside him.

Yet he could feel the Green Bibbed Chef's gaze: cold, greedy, vicious, naked... and hungry.

The hairs on his arms stood on end.

One after another, the others passed the Green Bibbed Chef, ignoring the chef's presence as well.

Mao Feiyang brought up the rear. Just as he was about to leave, Lin Yi's voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"Mao."

Mao Feiyang instinctively looked back.

In the mist about to be swallowed by darkness, the Green Bibbed Chef's head drooped, the corners of that mouth curved like a clown's.

Just then, muffled thunder rumbled deep in the night sky.

Lightning flashed across the sky, briefly illuminating the Campus.

Within the mist, strange shadows twisted and overlapped. They retreated deeper into the fog, yet remained neither close to nor far from everyone.

Mao Feiyang's pupils widened slightly.

Lin Yi's voice came from the Green Bibbed Chef's mouth, carrying a faintly bewitching quality.

"Mao."

"Mao."

"Come with me."

"Come with me..."

"Heh heh heh..."

"Drip... drop..."

A raindrop drifted onto Lin Yi's face.

Lin Yi looked up. The gloomy night sky seemed to sink down like the roof of a collapsing cave, so oppressive that he could barely breathe.

Wei Liang's trembling voice rang out. "Lao Lin, it's going to rain..."

Lin Yi felt a little panicked too. He watched the Security Guard's back, but the guard still showed no intention of quickening the pace.

Even the employees in chef uniforms following behind showed no reaction.

Gritting his teeth, he asked in a low voice, "How far is it from the Cafeteria to the Teaching Building?"

"Huh?" Wei Liang froze.

Lin Yi glared at him. "Haven't you been here before? At lunch, how long did it take to walk from the Teaching Building to the Cafeteria?"

Only then did Wei Liang catch on. After thinking for a moment, he said, "About... ten minutes or so, but that was under normal conditions."

"What do you mean, 'normal conditions'?"

"Normal conditions means when the fog isn't too thick. This weather is very abnormal."

Lin Yi hurriedly checked the time.

19:13.

"19:13... We met the Security Guard before six thirty. More than forty minutes have passed..."

He narrowed his eyes.

Rubbing his nose, Tian Bufan murmured thoughtfully, "The Student Rules say that if we encounter abnormal weather, we must immediately seek shelter nearby. We can even disregard some of the rules..."

"From the looks of it, abnormal weather should be more dangerous than some of the strange buildings..."

Judging by the Student Rules, this Campus clearly contained some buildings that were not quite normal.

"But why?"

Tian Bufan touched the few raindrops that had drifted onto his face, his brows slightly furrowed.

Seeing Tian Bufan thinking, Lin Yi did not interrupt him. Suddenly, he noticed something. A short distance ahead of the Security Guard, the outline of something enormous emerged faintly beneath the dense mist, like some kind of building.

Scattered around the building were many dim points of light resembling fireflies. They were streetlamps.

The curtains of light cast by the streetlamps formed a passage, opening a path beneath the thick fog.

A visible path leading to the building ahead.

"The Teaching Building? Or... something else?"

Every rule in the Student Rules concerning buildings and abnormal weather raced through Lin Yi's mind. Finally, he reached a conclusion.

"The best option during abnormal weather is to follow the streetlamps to the nearest building for shelter. Staying put and waiting for the Security Guard comes second."

Tian Bufan had thought of this too. He looked at Lin Yi.

Having made his decision, Lin Yi also looked at him.

"Go?"

"Go."

"Then let's go!"

"I'll lead. You bring up the rear! Liangzi, Wei Sang, Kuai Kuai, Mao, move! Don't look back. Ignore everything and follow me!"

With that shout, Lin Yi broke into a run. By the light of the old oil lamp in the Security Guard's hand, he charged toward the nearest streetlamp pole.

Wei Liang took a deep breath, pressed his lips together, gritted his teeth, and followed.

The others followed one after another.

"Mao, you go first. I'll cover the rear."

Seeing Mao Feiyang standing there blankly, Tian Bufan quickly patted his shoulder.

Mao Feiyang seemed distracted. He looked stiffly at Tian Bufan, then immediately rushed into the fog after Kuai Hongji.

Tian Bufan frowned and could not help looking back the way they had come.

The Green Bibbed Chef was long gone. Only the dragonlike Chef Queue remained, gripping the Iron Chains as they disappeared into the dense fog.

Lin Yi charged through the mist like an agile cheetah. But as he left the curtain of light cast by the Kerosene Lamp, the churning fog around him immediately surged toward him like ocean waves.

Mournful whispers and bizarre calls mingled with the sound of the waves, like the sound of a whistle drifting on the wind from the far side of a distant world. They became invisible hands that pierced the mist and seized Lin Yi's limbs.

Some strange whisper seemed to mingle with that ethereal whistling. Its syllables belonged to no human language, and the indistinct pronunciation seemed to say:

[fa...nTo...me...]

[fanTo...me... fRa...]

As the sound emerged, an intense sensation of resistance immediately enveloped Lin Yi, as though he had sunk deep into a mire.

"Damn!" Lin Yi gritted his teeth, his pupils widening slightly. At that moment, he felt as though some ominous will were burrowing into his brain like a horsehair worm.

Just then, a rustling sound of stone scraping against the ground came from the mist.

Without the deterrence of the Security Guard and the old Kerosene Lamp, and with the streetlamp's curtain of light still some distance away, the things in the mist immediately seized the perfect opportunity and closed in faster.

The pressure hung over Lin Yi's head like an enormous boulder, ready to crush him flat at any moment.

At that critical moment, Lin Yi heard calls amid the wavelike whispers and sobs. Those calls, mingled with the sounds of [fanTome], sounded like-

"Lin Yi! Lin Yi!"

The voice came from behind him, sounding like an urgent cry from Mao Feiyang's mouth.

He instinctively wanted to turn around.

But at that very moment, his scalp suddenly prickled, and his hair nearly stood on end.

He snapped awake.

"The Student Rules!"

"I can't look back!"

"Don't look back!"

He fixed his eyes on the streetlamp pole ahead. Nothing else remained in his vision.

At that moment, he seemed able to make out even the lettering on the pole!

"Teaching Building-108."

"Charge!"

Lin Yi unleashed strength unlike anything he had ever mustered. Though every step was agonizingly difficult, the streetlamp pole gave him a powerful sense of safety.

Especially a streetlamp pole standing in front of the Teaching Building!

The fog and resistance pressed Lin Yi down until he was nearly sprawled across the cobblestones, like someone trudging over dunes in a sandstorm.

His eyes were slightly red with congestion, and a beastlike roar rose from his throat.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Just as the dense fog was about to engulf him, a steady, powerful force came from behind.

"Move!" Wei Shan's low roar rang out. His powerful arms pushed Lin Yi through the dense fog.

"Pop..."

As he stepped into the light, the soft amber curtain fell like a cleaver, completely cutting off the mist behind him.

At that moment, Lin Yi felt as though the mountain pressing down on him had suddenly shattered. An unprecedented sense of ease washed through his body.

Grabbing the streetlamp pole, he looked back into the mist by the amber light. Wei Shan, Wei Liang, and the others charged in one after another. At the boundary of the fog, pitch-black shadows lurked and hid, while whispers that sounded alternately near and far were scattered into disarray by the wind.

"What exactly... is in the mist? They seem terribly afraid of the light..."

Lin Yi looked around and found that the Security Guard had long since vanished. He had no idea where that dragonlike queue had gone either. Everything they had just experienced seemed like a dream.

He looked again at the building looming almost directly before them, only one streetlamp pole away.

The curtains of light falling between the streetlamps connected, forming an hourglass-shaped passage.

"Drip, drop..."

A few raindrops drifted down, immediately setting Lin Yi's nerves on edge again just as he had relaxed.

"This isn't the time to catch our breath. We're only out of danger for the moment." Tian Bufan calmly studied the building ahead. "If I'm not mistaken, that should be the Teaching Building."

"Whether it is or not, let's get there first." Lin Yi lowered his head and checked his watch.

19:23.

"It took me ten minutes to run those few steps?!"

Lin Yi was startled. This time, Tian Bufan had already taken the lead and started forward.

"Come on. What are you spacing out for?" Kuai Hongji elbowed Lin Yi, urging him along.

"Coming." Lin Yi and Wei Liang hurried after them.

Watching his roommates' backs, Mao Feiyang stood in place, somewhat dazed. Suddenly, Lin Yi's voice sounded behind him again.

"Mao."

"Stop spacing out. Hurry!"

"Keep up with them!"

Mao Feiyang seemed to develop a headache. Holding his forehead, he shook his head lightly, a trace of confusion flashing through his eyes now and then.

"Mao, hurry up!" Kuai Hongji's impatient urging came coldly from beneath the streetlamp.

Mao Feiyang jolted, and the calls lingering around his ears abruptly vanished.

He realized something, cold sweat already covering his back.

He broke into a run and caught up with his roommates.

Reaching the last streetlamp pole before the building, Lin Yi looked up.

The enormous building a short distance ahead towered like a mountain into the dark, oppressive sky. Brightly lit inside, it resembled a torch burning in the night.

"It's the Teaching Building."

Following Tian Bufan's gaze, they saw the enormous words "Teaching Building" on the building's facade, clearly visible even in the darkness.

"We've reached the Teaching Building." Only now did Lin Yi's heart finally settle.

Yet Wei Liang screamed in terror. "No! Lao Lin, no! There's something wrong with this Teaching Building!"

Wei Liang pointed a trembling finger at the Teaching Building, his voice filled with terror. "The Teaching Building only has four floors... But this one, it, it, it..."

Lin Yi froze and looked where Wei Liang was pointing.

"One, two, three, four..."

"Five..."

"Six..."

"Seven..."

Faintly visible beyond them was... an eighth floor, piercing deep into the fog-filled sky!

"What?!"

His gaze wavered violently. His heart, which had only just settled, leaped into his throat again.

"The Student Rules didn't mention this!" he said.

Wei Liang said, "The Student Rules didn't... But the Teaching Building Rules did!"

"Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-"

The fog churned, and fine rain blurred the air.

The mournful whispers drifting near and far and the rustling scrape of stone sounded unusually piercing. The oppressive, damp surroundings seemed capable of crushing everyone's psychological defenses.

"There's no time to think about all that. We have to get inside before it really starts raining!" Lin Yi said, lowering his voice.

Faced with unknown dangers, avoiding danger was impossible. The only thing they could do was choose the relatively less dangerous route.

"Move! To the Teaching Building!" Lin Yi took the lead and charged toward it.

They encountered no problems on the way from the last streetlamp pole to the Teaching Building. It was so normal that Lin Yi instead felt something was wrong.

However, ever since entering the Campus, Lin Yi had felt uneasy, but that feeling had eased noticeably when he stepped onto the Teaching Building's steps.

Temporarily out of danger, Lin Yi took a few calming breaths, then began surveying his surroundings.

Although the internet said this was a newly built Campus, Lin Yi could see nothing "brand-new" inside the Teaching Building. It made sense, though: with such terrible weather and geographical conditions accelerating the process, any building would take on an old, weathered appearance.

Still, to Lin Yi's relief, there were at least students in this Teaching Building. They were all hurrying along, however, and even when they brushed past them, they did not spare them another glance.

Even so, Lin Yi could sense the warmth of fellow human beings from them, something he had not felt at all along the way through the fog...

These must be the people who arrived earlier for the college life experience. Just like Wei Liang on his last visit, they didn't encounter this strange Abnormal Weather, Lin Yi thought.

After looking around, Tian Bufan immediately headed toward the Teaching Building's stairwell.

Watching Tian Bufan walk away, Lin Yi could not help patting his own head, then shaking it gently. His thoughts felt somewhat hazy, as though the surroundings had affected some part of his perception...

But he soon noticed a conspicuous notice board standing nearby and pushed that haziness aside.

He walked over and saw the following written on the Notice Board:

"Dear college life experience participant, if you are reading this notice, it means you have successfully overcome the effects of the Abnormal Weather and reached the Teaching Building. Please follow the instructions below to obtain your Student ID and begin your college life experience:

1. Please follow the stairs down to Basement Level One of the Teaching Building, then look at the first door on your left. If the sign on the door reads 'Teachers' Office,' please knock and state your purpose.

You will meet your Head Teacher, who will register you and issue your Student ID."

"If what you see is not the 'Teachers' Office' but some other room, please do not enter. Continue down the stairs until you reach the Teachers' Office."

"2. Before obtaining your Student ID, do not believe anything anyone says, and above all, do not enter any classroom other than the Teachers' Office."

"After obtaining your Student ID, please take care to keep it safe. You may discuss matters concerning Student IDs with other students, but under no circumstances should you lend your Student ID to anyone, even just to let them take a look."

"Losing your Student ID will cause a great deal of trouble. (This sentence is bold and underlined.)"

"3. After obtaining your Student ID, find the classroom on the corresponding floor to begin your college life experience."

"4. If your circumstances do not match any of the above, and you feel that you are getting lost and are experiencing symptoms of physical discomfort, please do not go any farther down. Immediately go up the stairs on your left, and leave when you see the sculpture standing at the stairway entrance."

"You will meet the Art Teacher and begin an artistic journey."

"We wish you a pleasant experience."

After reading the notice, Lin Yi looked toward the stairwell beside it.

The stairwell entrance was a heavy, blue-gray fire door for an isolation room, and the emergency exit sign gave off an eerie green glow.

Tian Bufan went over, pressed the handle down hard, and slowly pulled the door open. A cold, clammy draft seeped through the gap, as though an underground ice cellar lay hidden behind it.

He pulled the door all the way open. Beyond it, the stairwell led down to a basement.

Old-fashioned incandescent bulbs hung in the stairwell's narrow, confined passage. Dust mingled with an earthy smell drifted through the air, and visible particles of gray haze filled almost the entire passage. At a glance, it looked like a mine tunnel from the last century.

Just as he was about to enter the stairwell, Wei Liang suddenly grabbed his hand and cried, "Lao Lin!"

Lin Yi turned his head in confusion.

Beneath his baseball cap, Wei Liang's face was filled with terror, and his voice trembled like a flag in the wind. "Lao Lin, don't go..."

"If I remember correctly, the Teaching Building... doesn't have a basement at all!"