Chapter Sixteen: At Least Half Compensation?
After checking the situation in the classroom, Luxianbei originally intended to leave.
The group of people in the classroom were just a bunch of reckless young people who dared to play the Ouija board game even after knowing the reason for Shihhekou Middle School’s closure.
Even if they offered her money, Luxianbei would still have to think it over.
Those reckless youths were unaware of how dangerous this abandoned school was; Luxianbei was very clear about it. As far as she knew, at least two urban legends were lurking within the current campus.
There’s a saying: “Heaven’s punishment can be contested, but self-inflicted wounds lead to d*ath.”
Luxianbei came to hunt urban legends, and she had no time to waste with them. For reckless youths like these, even if she kindly warned them, they probably wouldn’t listen.
Forcing them to leave might provoke their rebellious feelings, causing them to mock her while continuing to put themselves in danger.
However…
Perhaps because they regarded Luxianbei as an Ouija board spirit, accompanied by the repeated chanting of spells, Luxianbei surprisingly felt her hunger somewhat alleviated.
Although she didn’t understand why the spirit energy provided by four or five people was not much more than Uncle Zhang Shan’s, she was on the verge of starvation, so she couldn’t afford to be picky.
Not having to fight and still getting something for free was already pretty good.
Luxianbei remembered what Liu Banxian, who had been fortune-telling at the Mudan Street, had said: out of ten fortune tellers, nine were fake. Most just said good words to please the customers.
Isn’t it just blowing smoke? Who can’t do that? She was excellent at it!
Recalling Liu Banxian, Luxianbei sighed lightly. Liu Banxian was quite friendly to the children living on Mudan Street, but he was too greedy.
Once, when she asked Liu Banxian if his fortune-telling was real or fake, he shamelessly asked her for 998.
Would Luxianbei give it to him? Of course not!
Since then, she had never seen Liu Banxian again. According to neighborhood gossip, it seemed he had either starved to d*ath in winter after failing to swindle money for a long time or was taken away by the urban management officers.
At first, Luxianbei didn’t quite believe that Liu Banxian could starve to d*ath, but today, she believed it.
If everyone were like that girl who asked the question earlier, not inquiring about romantic relationships or destinies but jumping straight to math problems, they wouldn’t just starve; they’d be infuriated.
Can’t there be less trickery and more sincerity, with everyone contributing a bit of love so that the world can embrace a beautiful tomorrow?
…
Seeing that the “Ouija board” in the hallway hadn’t answered her questions twice, Du Sixian smiled slyly.
She turned around with a smile, looking meaningfully at her companions, “It really is a fake! I want to go out and take a look. Who’s coming with me?”
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then shook their heads in unison.
They just liked seeking thrills, barely on the edge of d*ath, but they didn’t plan on dying!
Still pretending? Du Sixian pouted, slinging her camera around her neck and picking up a scattered metal table leg from the ground, then dashed toward the door.
Du Sixian rushed out, leaving the others looking at each other.
At the moment they witnessed Du Sixian running out, they saw a figure with white hair in the corridor turn and run away, prompting them to collectively gasp.
“Ah—!”
“Why didn’t you stop her? That could very well be an urban legend!”
“Do you think she’d listen to us if we said something in that state?”
The group whispered among themselves, just then, Du Sixian’s loud call echoed through the hallway.
“Stop! I see you!”
“Come on! Let’s bump into each other and see if I don’t smash your dog head!”
Everyone, “…”
After a spell of silence, the Brazilian Warrior God whispered, “Has the witch always been this fierce? I never noticed it in the group before.”
“Not sure. But isn’t she a bit too intense? Did she just scare the urban legend away?” Liangyue replied.
“Darling, what should we do now?” Yun Meng asked, wrapping her arms around the Pharaoh’s elbow, raising her head gently, “Continue the Ouija board game?”
“Let’s forget about that?” The Pharaoh frowned slightly, pausing, his expression somewhat strange, “The Ouija board spirit has already been scared away by the witch.”
…
Luxianbei held the Ming King statue, sprinting through the teaching building, while Du Sixian closely pursued her, their game of chase quickly leading them outside.
In an instant, the dilapidated campus under the night sky became lively, with the sound of cheerful running footsteps resonating throughout.
Luxianbei fled haphazardly, soon reaching the boundary of the campus. Seeing no road ahead, she glanced around and locked her gaze on a building not far away.
The building had six floors and appeared much larger than the teaching building. Large patches of white porcelain tiles on the outer walls had fallen off, giving the impression of being stained.
The front door was wrapped with thick iron chains, adorned with several heavy locks, and the windows had been boarded up with wooden planks.
Luxianbei stared at the building for a moment, then glanced back in the direction of the footsteps behind her, turned around, and dashed toward the building.
When she reached the front door, she noticed a discolored seal still affixed to it, showing no signs of being damaged. It seemed this building hadn’t been opened since it was sealed.
After pausing at the door for a moment, she heard Du Sixian’s footsteps drawing closer. Luxianbei frowned slightly and turned to run around the building, and after a few strides, she saw a window that wasn’t nailed shut.
Frowning slightly, she stepped forward and gently pushed it open, hearing a soft creak as the window cracked open a gap.
The air filled with an old, decayed smell rushed in, and as she gazed into the pitch-black room behind the window, she hesitated for a moment before jumping inside.
Sitting on the ground with her back against the windowsill, she listened as Du Sixian’s footsteps passed by outside, gradually fading away. She let out a long breath.
However, once she settled down, she suddenly realized something was off.
Wait! Why did I run just now?
But, let’s be reasonable, I’m not being cowardly, right?
I’m not being cowardly; if my guess is correct, this could even be seen as acting courageously by helping an ignorant girl in danger in a more discreet way!
After pondering for a moment, Luxianbei settled her mind and began to survey the room she was in.
It appeared to be an Art Supplies Classroom, with old art supplies scattered all around, several dusty sketches strewn about, and the immature techniques paired with low completion levels made the figures on them appear somewhat distorted and grotesque.
Pulling her gaze back from the scattered sketch papers, Luxianbei suddenly jumped as she casually scanned the corner of the room and discovered someone seemed to be standing there.
That person leaned against the corner, half of their face hidden by a canvas, blending into the darkness, their face seemingly smeared with some kind of stain, staring blankly in her direction.
Who is that? How long have they been there? Have they just been staring at me?
The thought of possibly being watched in the dark by a strange person for several minutes made Luxianbei feel uncomfortable, as if insects were crawling all over her.
Was that an urban legend residing in this school?
Luxianbei thought, gripping the Ming King statue tightly and adopting a ready-to-strike posture as she gradually approached the person in the corner.
Perhaps due to the lack of psychological burden when dealing with urban legends, after making the guess that the person in the corner might be one, she found herself significantly less scared.
She moved closer inch by inch, and it felt like the dark veil was slowly being lifted. Just as she was about to see the person clearly, a beam of light suddenly illuminated her from behind.
“Uh—Hoo—!”
With a weak voice mixed with gasps, a ghastly face abruptly intruded upon her line of sight.
Her pupils constricted momentarily, and she instinctively took a step back, only to realize that what stood before her wasn’t a person or an urban legend, but a painting.
It was a highly realistic portrait, appearing as if it could easily be mistaken for a person hiding in the corner under low light conditions.
On the canvas was a girl in a white dress, lying on the ground in a large “M” shape. Her body and face had been playfully decorated with red paint by some mischievous student, making it look as if she was covered in grotesque wounds, collapsing in a pool of bl**d.
The beam of light behind Luxianbei came from Du Sixian’s phone, which also illuminated the eerie oil painting.
After seeing the painting, Du Sixian was startled, and her previously high spirits in exposing the fake immediately dissipated as she stared at Luxianbei’s long hair, now a pale red, and her heart raced.
Only at that moment did she realize that her actions of chasing Luxianbei across half the campus were somewhat excessively reckless.
What if she really was an urban legend?
What if she deliberately ran away to lead me and my companions astray and brought me here on purpose?
Thinking of this, Du Sixian became even more flustered, feeling a bit parched and hot all over, and her body started to tremble uncontrollably.
“Are you… are you a human or a ghost?”
The trembling voice reached Luxianbei’s ears, and she rolled her eyes.
Weren’t you so fierce just now? Keep going!
Now you’re scared? Had you encountered a malicious urban legend, you probably wouldn’t even know how you died.
Luxianbei thought to herself, turning around weakly, “I’m a human! Don’t hurt me; I’m just here to live stream. I just wanted to joke around a bit, and I didn’t expect…”
Du Sixian pointed the flashlight at Luxianbei’s face.
The light illuminated the girl’s delicate features; she pressed her small lips together, and there was no strange expression on her face, appearing instead like a scared beauty.
After carefully examining Luxianbei, Du Sixian furrowed her brows, seeming to doubt that she was lying.
Did I go too far? Did I scare this young girl like that?
No, I can’t take all the blame.
She looked like she was only fourteen or fifteen, maybe not even in high school yet. Instead of focusing on studying, she was out here doing live streaming? Trying to scare people.
As she pondered, she leaned against the metal table leg and then stopped about a meter away from Luxianbei.
“Live streaming?” Du Sixian asked, puzzled. “Where’s your live streaming equipment?”
“When you were chasing me, I ran too fast and lost it…”
Du Sixian awkwardly scratched the back of her head, “Uh… sorry, I didn’t mean to. I was just…”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei’s eyes brightened slightly. “If it really doesn’t work out, will you compensate me? You will, right? After all, you have some responsibility here, don’t you?”
Du Sixian twitched her lips. Is this girl really so straightforward? Just after determining that I have no ill will, she’s already trying to bargain?
“I can at most compensate you a portion; you said it yourself, I only have part of the responsibility.”
Even the landlord doesn’t have free money! What’s more, I’m not even a landlord. Du Sixian thought.
“At least half, right?”
“…” Du Sixian pondered for a moment and then impatiently replied, “Half it is; it can’t be more than that!”
Seeing Du Sixian agree, Luxianbei felt a surge of joy. It’s not like I intended to trick you; consider it compensation for interrupting my free ride!
