Chapter 27: The Dragon Slayer Will Eventually Become the Evil Dragon
Under the nightfall.
In the abandoned teaching building, chaos ensued. Shadows darted about in the pitch-black corridors, their terrified screams echoed as they fled in all directions.
Meanwhile, in the empty, derelict campus, the sounds of wheels rolling and heels clacking against the ground broke the silence.
A woman dressed in a black trench coat, dragging a black suitcase, emerged from the deepest shadows of the campus, stopping in the open space in front of the teaching building.
She looked up at the third floor of the teaching building, now fully engulfed in flames, her brows furrowed as if deep in thought.
“Wow—wow—!”
Suddenly, the infant-like urban legend on her shoulder erupted into a piercing and eerie cry, urging her to leave. It was only then that she stepped forward, heading toward the main gate.
Moments later, an astonished curse rang out from in front of the school gate.
“Who on earth is so malicious!? How could they lock the door… Are they insane?”
Amid the angry shouts, a seemingly unattainable woman took off her high heels, rolled up her sleeves, and awkwardly climbed over the wall.
……
Lu Yibei’s body temperature gradually dropped. Her fiery red hair faded from red to white, and her consciousness began to clear.
Staring blankly at the devastated scenery around her, she recalled the events that had just transpired.
The already dilapidated classroom had cracked walls under the high temperature, turning black, with clear scorch marks from the flames.
In one corner of the classroom, Du Sixian leaned against the wall, sleeping quietly. Aside from her pale complexion and somewhat haggard appearance, it seemed she hadn’t sustained serious harm.
Through the window behind her, the corridor lay dark and eerily silent, the strange puppets that had been previously gathered vanished without a trace.
Notably, the four suitcases seemed remarkably intact despite the intense heat that could melt metal. They were open, emitting a faint putrid smell, and inside lay four charred puppets quietly.
The material of these puppets matched those she had seen earlier in the corridor, but they were significantly smaller, roughly the size of a palm.
Around the suitcases, aluminum desks had melted and re-congealed into solid blocks.
Reflecting a dim glow, the metal bore the marks left by the struggling urban legends, with horrifying shapes resembling limbs that suggested souls were imprisoned within, enduring pain.
Lu Yibei stared at those marks in a daze. Her memories of the recent events were not clear; she only recalled that after Du Sixian joined the ritual, she fell into a strange state.
She heard many voices calling out her name, saw hundreds of blurry faces, and then everything plunged into silence. In that dead stillness, she burned like a bonfire, seemingly ready to ignite the whole world.
Then, all that remained in her memory were fragmented pieces; she couldn’t comprehend their meaning. When she tried to explore them, a wave of dizziness overcame her.
Lu Yibei shook off her thoughts, rubbed her temples, overwhelmed with fear and confusion over her recent experiences.
Prior to this, she never thought that altering a hidden description in the spirit board game would lead to such consequences.
She felt that in that bizarre state, if she held on for just one more second, she might go mad.
Though this time, the power from that description had helped her escape danger.
But instead of feeling happy about potentially possessing a strong power within her, she was alarmed.
That power was volatile, chaotic, and hard to control, like a raging wilderness; the more she explored it, the more likely she risked being engulfed by flames, leaving her fearful.
Indeed, she was frightened! The kind that leads to insomnia, vivid dreams, and cold sweats.
It felt as if she was tied to a nuclear bomb that could explode at any moment.
Perhaps it was because I’m too weak, she thought. For future events like this, I should be cautious. No, I should avoid trying altogether. If it cannot be used by me…
Then I won’t use it!
……
The glass on the surrounding windows had completely melted away. The evening wind blew softly, bringing a slight chill that caressed Lu Yibei’s fair skin like cold little hands, causing her body to shiver slightly.
Only then did she realize her coat was missing, and she cursed internally, sensing trouble.
“cr*p! My silly coat couldn’t have been burned to d*ath, right? What… what do I do now?”
As Lu Yibei mumbled to herself, the warped door of the classroom was suddenly pushed open with a creak.
Her heart raced as she hurriedly picked up the Ming King Statue for protection. Then she saw it: her red and white windbreaker, standing upright, poking halfway through the open door like a curious little girl peeking in.
Let me see if she’s done!
“Pfft—!”
Seeing the coat’s sneaky yet adorable appearance, Lu Yibei couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Don’t let its silly appearance fool you; it’s quite clever in critical moments! Lu Yibei thought.
Hearing her laughter, the coat zipped over, wrapping itself around her shoulders before raising its hood and affectionately nudging her cheek.
……
Lu Yibei picked up the completely charred and questionable core of the urban legend from the ground and selected a suitcase that seemed more intact, preparing to pack them inside.
“Uh…”
With less than a meter distance to the suitcase, Lu Yibei suddenly felt a burning sensation in her eyes, and her vision began to blur.
The familiar discomfort!
Lu Yibei knew she was about to see some sort of illusion again. Frowning, she stepped back cautiously.
Better to avoid it if I can. Lu Yibei thought.
The bizarre state triggered by that description had greatly impacted her, leaving her disinclined to act recklessly again anytime soon.
However…
She never expected the illusion would come chasing after her!
“…” Lu Yibei fell silent, shrugged expressionlessly, and then resignedly accepted the gradual shift in the scene before her.
What other choice did she have? Since she couldn’t resist, she might as well enjoy it!
As she embraced the situation, who knows, maybe one day she’d get used to it.
Lu Yibei pondered aimlessly as her body fell sharply, plunging into darkness.
……
The sky was darkening, the setting sun filtering through cracks in the clouds onto the long corridor, casting a yellowed hue reminiscent of an old photograph.
Lu Yibei felt like an invisible ghost, quietly observing.
A sign labeled “Venting Room” gently swayed on the iron door, the soft padded doors on either side tightly shut.
At the end of the corridor by the window stood a tall girl in a Shihhekou Middle School uniform, gazing into the distance as if waiting for something.
The evening wind blew, tousling her long hair, and the slanting sunlight cast a bloody hue on the swan pendant hanging on her chest.
Soon, the faint sound of footsteps approached the corridor.
Judging from the number of footsteps, there were at least five to six people.
After a moment, those people entered the corridor and stopped next to the girl.
They were a mix of boys and girls, dressed in Shihhekou Middle School uniforms like the girl, yet their faces were blurry and indistinct, shrouded in a fog.
The group lingered by the girl for a moment, and one boy spoke first, “Lin Yiqi, are you really sure you want to do this? What if Zhao…”
Before the boy could finish, a girl interrupted him with a scream, “Hey! Don’t say his name! Don’t say his name! He’ll know!”
“Uh… yeah.” The boy paused and continued, “If you’re really set on killing him, we’ll help you!”
At this point, Lu Yibei was taken aback. She was witnessing a group of high school students, merely fifteen or sixteen years old, conspiring to commit m*rder?
They called the girl Lin Yiqi; if she was waiting for someone, it must be Zhao Ke!
While Lu Yibei was deep in thought, the group of students erupted into chatter.
“Exactly! That guy is a freak; we’ve had enough of him!”
“I think all the recent deaths at school are tied to him!”
“It’s definitely him! I heard he’s been raising evil spirits…” one girl said weakly.
“Did you hear what happened in Class 3? That guy somehow sneaked into the girls’ dormitory, and the next day, all the girls from that dorm jumped from the top of the experimental building.”
“He’s a monster—seventeen people, seventeen people are already dead! At this rate, we’ll either become his slaves or lose our lives.”
“No, there’s another possibility: we could go crazy.” someone added.
Lu Yibei, “…”
Listening to the students’ conversation, she could already imagine what Zhao Ke had been doing through the spirit board game.
Having been entangled with the evil dragon for too long, he’d become the evil dragon himself.
It seemed Zhao Ke had not stopped his prayers to the spirit board after getting rid of those bullies.
Instead, he continued to exploit the entity summoned by the spirit board to fulfill his twisted desires bred from long-term oppression.
Human desires are like rolling stones on a snow-capped mountain; once they start, they cannot be stopped, eventually leading to a catastrophic avalanche.
“By the way, Lin Yiqi, what exactly did he do to you?” a girl asked quietly, “that you hate him so much…”
“Enough!” the girl snapped, seemingly touched by a sore spot, interrupting the boy. As she spoke, her right hand gently caressed her abdomen, her gaze gradually turning icy.
“I’ve made up my mind. If he comes here today, I’ll make sure he stays forever.”
“I’m grateful if you’re willing to help me. If you aren’t, I’ll find a way to k*ll him myself.”
Hearing this, everyone responded in unison, “We agree, of course! We came prepared to eliminate the threat!”
The girl nodded slightly, “Then it’s settled. You hide in those venting rooms nearby. I don’t know what kind of abilities he possesses; I can only ambush him…”
Under the girl’s orders, the students quickly hid inside the venting rooms on both sides of the corridor, and as she watched the empty corridor brimming with unseen undercurrents, Lu Yibei realized she was witnessing the brewing and birth of a m*rder plot.
