She looked at Bai La La and Gu Xiang Kai with a serious expression. "But if the lights in the room are off after you open the door, don't hesitate. Run for your life."
From Zhu Xi Ning's perspective, what she saw wasn't a specific person, which meant that once someone was caught by whatever opened the door in the darkness, there was no possibility of survival.
Bai La La and Gu Xiang Kai listened intently, while Jiang Xi Cheng stood to the side, feeling somewhat surprised.
He hadn't expected Nan Yue to know this already, and in even greater detail than himself.
Jiang Xi Cheng had been delaying his turn for the Dormitory Inspection precisely because he knew the risks involved.
But hearing Nan Yue now, it seemed the danger was conditional.
Or rather, it wasn't the Dormitory Inspection itself that was dangerous, but opening the door when the lights inside were off.
Jiang Xi Cheng smiled bitterly to himself. He had thought to offer her a favor, but Nan Yue had returned it in the blink of an eye.
As the time approached, the group went together to wash up. Some had originally wanted to take a shower, but since Liu Kai had died in the shower room, no one dared to enter today.
Nan Yue returned to her room and lay on her bed, waiting for Bai La La to return from the Dormitory Inspection before going to sleep.
Nan Yue thought silently. Why was the Dormitory Inspection dangerous?
Why hadn't they encountered any danger yesterday?
Darkness... what was the trigger?
The deaths of Jiang Mu and Liu Kai must have triggered something, which was why places that were originally safe had become so dangerous for them.
Where was the trap in the Dormitory Inspection?
Jiang Mu was likely set up by Engineer Yang. What had he done?
However, Jiang Mu wasn't much braver than Liu Kai or Zhao Zhenzhen. If something was extremely difficult, he wouldn't have dared to try it. Nan Yue estimated that whatever he did likely had low risk, or at least seemed risk-free based on the clues they currently possessed.
Was it because Jiang Mu went out at night?
Nan Yue hesitated. There were no rules stating one couldn't go out at night.
Should she... give it a try?
Nan Yue clenched her fists. The danger was lower in the early stages of the mission; tonight was the best time to take a risk.
"Sister Nan..."
While Nan Yue was deep in thought, Zhao Zhenzhen suddenly spoke.
"Are you blaming me too?"
Nan Yue remained silent for a moment. "No. Your schemes are harmless to me. Even if you hadn't suggested it last night, I would have been the first to go for the Dormitory Inspection."
"That is because I have my own code of conduct, not because of what you said. If I don't want to go, no one can force me."
Nan Yue's voice was flat. Although her words were honest, Zhao Zhenzhen suddenly felt her face flush with heat.
Nan Yue's complete lack of agitation made her feel more embarrassed than the words of Jiang Xi Cheng or Zhu Xi Ning.
Nan Yue looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost 23:00.
Click.
The door opened, and Bai La La returned.
Seeing Nan Yue get up to look at her, she wore a smile and waved her hand.
【Everything went smoothly!】
Nan Yue breathed a sigh of relief.
With a click, it was 23:00. The school dormitory lights were turned off simultaneously, and the room plunged into darkness.
Bai La La rustled as she climbed into bed, leaving only the sound of shallow breathing in the room.
Nan Yue had made up her mind to get up tonight and see if anything would happen while she pretended to go to the restroom.
Before falling into a deep sleep, Nan Yue thought to herself that she used to find it unfair—why was her life the only one so desperate and painful?
Every night she was tortured by that kind of fear.
Now that she was in a mission... this ability was actually quite useful.
Perhaps it really was a blessing in disguise.
Nan Yue had a very precise sense of time and woke up around two in the morning. She got out of bed quietly, stretched her limbs, and opened the door to head out.
However, when she turned around, Bai La La had followed her out.
Nan Yue's brow twitched as she asked silently with her eyes, 【Why did you follow me?!】
With an innocent face, Bai La La quickly wrote two lines.
【I need to use the restroom too.】
Nan Yue was helpless and could only signal her to be careful. The two of them walked toward the restroom one after the other.
Nan Yue was on high alert. The lights in the hallway were on, and it was very quiet, with only the sound of their light footsteps.
When they reached the washroom, Nan Yue glanced inside; everything was normal.
Nan Yue hadn't actually needed the restroom, but she felt a bit helpless when Bai La La quickly finished her business.
She knew this girl didn't actually need to go.
The two of them slowly walked back to their room. The way back was peaceful, with nothing happening.
After closing the door, Nan Yue squeezed Bai La La's shoulder in the dark, and both of them went back to bed to sleep.
The next day, when Nan Yue was awakened by the bell, she waited intentionally, but no screams followed. It seemed no one had died last night.
During breakfast, the atmosphere and everyone's mood were relatively lively because of this fact.
Zhao Zhenzhen usually talked a lot, but after being rebuked several times yesterday, she still hadn't recovered and ate her meal quietly.
After eating, the group dispersed. Zhu Xi Ning looked a bit listless.
"There's still no movement from my awakened ability."
Gu Xiang Kai glanced at her and offered a rare word of comfort.
"Awakened abilities usually need to grow. You might only be able to use yours once per mission for now."
Zhu Xi Ning opened her mouth but said nothing.
She wanted to say that what she had seen hadn't been confirmed yet, but on second thought, if it wasn't confirmed, it meant no one died. She couldn't exactly hope for what she saw to come true.
But if it didn't come true... was her awakened ability malfunctioning?
While Zhu Xi Ning was overthinking things, Nan Yue was holding a meeting with her four-person group.
"Bai La La and I went out last night and didn't encounter anything."
Gu Xiang Kai's lip twitched. He knew that with Nan Yue's courage, nothing she did would be surprising.
"Then Jiang Mu must have done something he shouldn't have."
Gu Xiang Kai spoke and then fell into deep thought. He was wondering... could the reason nothing happened last night be because the quota was met?
"We've been here for two days and two people have died. Is there a death quota for each day?"
The more Gu Xiang Kai spoke, the more likely he thought it was. "That's why Engineer Yang and the others need to set traps for us. Someone must die every day, otherwise something even more terrifying might happen."
Zhu Xi Ning listlessly pointed out a flaw. "But if you count the time of death, Jiang Mu died on the same day as Liu Kai."
Gu Xiang Kai: "...Oh, right."
Nan Yue felt Gu Xiang Kai's idea had some merit. "The school definitely has a death requirement over a certain period; otherwise, there would be no need for Engineer Yang and the others to lead Jiang Mu to his death."
"But I think there's another possibility. We are different from Jiang Mu and Liu Kai."
"They acted alone."
Jiang Mu went out alone in the middle of the night for unknown reasons, and Liu Kai encountered that child because he was waiting outside the shower room by himself.
"But those of us who don't have classes also stay in our rooms alone."
Nan Yue gave Zhu Xi Ning a meaningful look. "So I think it's best not to act alone from now on."
"We all know that the difficulty of the mission will only increase as time goes on."
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