Chapter 73

The fingertips were repeatedly pierced by fine red needles, yet as if they had lost Perception, they pressed down again and again in retaliation.

Why did you abandon me? I've already done so well...

"Why was I born to please others...?"

"Why can't it be you who are abandoned?!"

Resentment turned into hatred, and after the tears subsided, a resolute killing intent appeared in his pupils.

She found herself standing outside the bedroom door, while her parents sat in the living room making plans for their newborn's future, their eyes filled with anticipation.

The yellow dog placed a kitchen knife at her feet, its small eyes gleaming with excitement. "Tingting, you've finally realized that we shouldn't be the ones being abandoned!"

"Kill them! Before the new child is born, before you turn into this disgusting creature I am."

With reddened eyes, she bent down and picked up the knife.

The yellow dog narrowed its eyes, suppressing its excitement, and whispered encouragingly, "That's it! Kill them with the knife, then I'll eat them all up, and then no one will be able to hurt us anymore..."

"Take up a knife and fight against this unfair world, and end it all."

"End it all!"

Su Cheng looked at the gleaming blade in her hand, "But..."

Her expression was inscrutable, and she sighed wistfully, "Isn't it you who caused all of this for me?"

The yellow dog looked up in surprise; the knife was already plunged into its body.

"Song Yating."

"Aaaaaah!"

A shrill female voice came from inside the yellow dog's body, and the surrounding environment shattered, revealing its true state.

Su Cheng returned to the music room, a boning knife in her hand. The female ghost beneath the knife screamed and twisted, struggling in an attempt to escape.

The father is the Yan Xing, sitting on the ground with a confused expression, while the mother is the Mu Ling, overflowing with ghostly energy and struggling to break free from her restraints.

Song Yating had already sensed that Su Cheng possessed a powerful and intimidating treasure. Therefore, she planned to use the illusion to effortlessly kill the ghosts and the person she was trying to kill.

But she hadn't expected Su Cheng's resolve to be stronger than anticipated.

In her heart, she clearly believed that the teachers and students in this school were already in a state of mental confusion and were extremely easy to bewitch and control.

After freeing herself from the bindings, Mu Ling retreated quickly, keeping her distance from the boning knife, deeply wary. "Just now, you looked like you were about to chop me with a knife. I thought you were being bewitched by this female ghost."

Su Cheng shook her head, chanted the Fire-Attracting Art, and burned Song Yating's soul before the boning knife could absorb most of it. She couldn't let it devour another Vengeful Ghost.

"Buzz--"

The boning knife grumbled in protest, but that was all.

After Song Yating's soul dissipated, the resentment in the music room dissipated, and the chairs miraculously returned to their original positions, neatly rearranged...

Su Cheng watched this scene, gripping the knife tightly in her hand. She was certain that there were no other supernatural entities in the music room.

Or is it that "rules" affect everything, whether people or things?

The requirement that seats be arranged neatly can also be considered a rule.

If that's the case, then the "power of rules" is far too mysterious and unpredictable.

Did Song Yating pull them into the illusion, or did she use the power of the rules to dull or invade their consciousness?

Su Cheng thought about it more and more and felt that it was very likely that she had lost control of her emotions and acted out after reading the notes in the drawer.

However, in the end, her will broke free from the grasp of another consciousness.

A system-generated electronic voice echoed in my mind:

[Triggering the main quest: Bloody Baptism.]

The Golden Leaf High School instance will end upon completion of the mission.

Bloody Baptism?

This name doesn't sound like a good thing.

Su Cheng crouched down to examine Yan Xing.

Yan Xing's face grew even paler, her body tense as if trapped in a nightmare, her hands clenched into fists, and she murmured, "Mom... don't... abandon me..."

"Yan Xing, wake up!"

Su Cheng patted her cheek, guiding her Qi into her body. She was a little worried that she might become immersed in the dream, or wake up as a different person.

The Qi entering the Yan Xing's body is like sinking into a bottomless pit; it disappears as soon as it enters.

Su Cheng was somewhat surprised and tried again, but the result was the same. This was the first time she had encountered this situation with someone else.

But not long after, Yan Xing opened her eyes, her red and blue pupils tinged with a gloomy dimness.

She instinctively pushed Su Cheng away forcefully, rolled to the side, and gasped for breath until her pupils gradually focused.

Su Cheng frowned, patted the hem of her clothes, and stood up. "Are you alright?"

Yan Xing forced a slightly embarrassed smile. "Hey, Lucky Card saw me like this. Hopefully, they won't want to team up with me again."

A note from the author:

none

Chapter 73

Seeing that Yan Xing was still being sarcastic despite her appearance, Su Cheng was both amused and exasperated. This was the first time she had ever been called a "Lucky Card."

Before Su Cheng could bend down to help him up, Yan Xing had already dusted himself off and gotten to his feet, his voice weak from exhaustion. "I heard the system notification for the main quest, you should have heard it too, right?"

"That's right. What are your thoughts on the name ' Bloody Baptism '?"

"No, but I have a very bad feeling about it." Yan Xing pursed her pale lips. "I have a vague feeling that danger is approaching, perhaps related to the main storyline."

Su Cheng nodded. Yan Xing's premonition was indeed very accurate; she had also Perception the main quest in the music room before.

"Since you can't think of anything for the time being, why don't you go back to your dorm and rest? I'm planning to stay here tonight."

Most of the school's teachers had left by the end of evening self-study, and the remaining homeroom teachers had also left the school after checking the dormitories.

They were townspeople, so naturally they had a place to live in town. Su Cheng, however, didn't. Rather than searching for an inconspicuous place to stay in the dark, she might as well spend the night in the music room that had once been haunted.

"Okay, I'll continue looking for clues tomorrow. Hopefully, I can find another conscious contestant."

As Yan Xing reached the door, she turned back. "See you tomorrow, Teacher Su."

She smiled slightly, her pale face regaining some color because of her good mood, and her red and blue eyes sparkling with a unique brilliance as she smiled, as captivating as jewels.

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

After Yan Xing left, the music room door closed again. Su Cheng sat on the platform, which was one step higher than the lectern. After asking Mu Ling to keep watch outside for her, she settled down to meditate and absorb Qi.

I sat there, and when I opened my eyes again, it was just before dawn.

Su Cheng got up and did a set of stretching exercises. It was exactly 5:30 when the sharp wake-up bell rang throughout the school, symbolizing the start of a new day.

During those ten minutes, Su Cheng also witnessed a thousand people rushing towards the playground. The scene was very familiar; she had been one of those runners when she was in school, and she deeply resented the morning exercise routine.

I often worry that if I exercise vigorously right after waking up from a dream, I might suddenly die.

When Su Cheng arrived at the playground with the crowd, Gao Wen was already standing on the platform inspecting the area, and the homeroom teachers of each class walked towards their respective class lines one after another.

Class 1 is right at the front; it's very easy to find.

The ten-minute wake-up call stopped, and the playground was filled with neatly arranged square formations.

Gao Wen blew her whistle, and the students dragged their exhausted bodies and ran, shouting their class slogans every time they passed the platform.

Because if their voices didn't suit Gao Wen's taste, they would be punished by having to run.

Gao Wen scolded angrily, "Louder! Otherwise, you won't eat breakfast and will run on the playground until you're satisfied."

The ground was paved with pebbles, a practice the school had deliberately created because they believed that pebbles could press acupoints on the soles of the feet.

The entire playground lacked vitality, filled only with an ever-growing sense of resentment, like water bubbling and boiling in a pot, either the fire would go out and stop, or the boiling water would burst open.

After morning exercises, there's morning self-study, and then it's breakfast time.

Teacher Su Cheng's role meant she didn't have to relive the life of a high school student. While the students did their morning reading, she would grade and record the weekly test papers, checking the answers.

After the morning reading session ended, she finished grading the test papers. The form for recording the scores was to be handed over to Gao Wen, while Fang Tingrou was to distribute the test papers.

Of the 50 exam papers, 40 were only about 10 points away from a perfect score, while Shen Tingrou got a perfect score. Her answers, including the essay, were flawless in Su Cheng's eyes.

No one was below 100%, not even Mu Zhe who cheated.

Su Cheng returned to her office, where teachers were already arriving at the school one after another.

"What is this? Who put this here!" a teacher exclaimed.

Su Cheng quickly approached and saw the screaming female teacher holding a piece of paper with a drawing on it of her lying on a desk with a sharp knife stuck in her back, her hand outstretched in terror and pain.

"Whose prank is this!" The female teacher trembled with anger.

"I have one too!"

What does this mean?

"How could something like this happen at Golden Leaf High School?!"

Teachers kept letting out angry screams after they took their seats.

Some paintings depicted people stabbed through the body with a knife, while others showed them hanging upside down from the classroom door with their heads covered by a cap... The manner of death varied.

Su Cheng quickly returned to her seat, and sure enough, there were extra things on her desk as well.

On the white paper, the dark lines skillfully outline her figure, making it immediately recognizable as her.

Her neck was tightly bound by a straight line symbolizing a rope, and she was suspended from the classroom's electric fan.

The focus is on depicting her wide-open eyes, gaping mouth, and terrified expression.

The artist used a red pen to draw lines of varying shades on her body; these red lines represented wounds.

Blood flowed from the red lines, dripping onto the ground and pooling in a puddle.

In the bottom right corner are four red characters: Death Trial.

A death trial? More like a threatening painting.

Does this mean they'll hang her in the classroom?

Who could have done this...? The most likely candidate is a student. It's less likely that a teacher, as a colleague, would send each other drawings with such vengeful undertones.

Su Cheng's first thought was Mu Zhe, since she seemed to have only ever had a 'conflict' with him, about discovering that he had cheated during an exam.