Chapter 24

The group sprinted toward the teaching building. Competitors they passed along the way, looking miserable and listless, glanced up at them before lowering their heads again, utterly drained.

Sailor, still not grasping what was happening, ran alongside them and asked blankly, 'Why are we running? What is Jiang talking about? Why are they so sad?'

Wenren Lian gave him a pitying look. 'We're taking you to get first place.'

Sailor was stunned for a moment, then grinned foolishly. 'We won?'

Ge Zhu sighed. 'Sailor, you're a lucky one.' He'd done nothing, just drifted along, and was about to clear the level.

By the time they reached the Office, Liu Zhi had already been arrested by the police. He clearly hadn't anticipated this sudden arrest; his meticulously combed hair was disheveled, his expression wretched as the officers escorted him into the car.

Other teachers clamored, 'Officers, why are you arresting Teacher Liu? Teacher Liu hasn't done anything illegal.'

Jiang Luo stood at the edge of the crowd, watching the scene.

The Competition organizers clearly knew a murder had happened here—they even knew the sequence of events, the killer's identity, and the victim's.

They'd called the police in advance. Whether or not any student managed to find their answer, the police would storm the School the moment the Competition ended to arrest the culprit.

To deduce the entire chain of events without alerting the killer or even conducting a search—Jiang Luo could think of no one but the judges.

He touched the Yin-Yang Ring on his wrist, which still hadn't activated, then snapped back to the present. He and his companions wove through the crowd and entered the Office.

Unexpectedly, when they arrived, the Shanhai University team was already preparing to smash the wall.

Liu Zhi's desk was by the window, its back not facing another desk but an empty space, which led directly to a white wall.

Exterior walls were usually 240mm thick, but Jiang Luo could tell at a glance this one was 360mm—more than enough to fit a person inside, with room to spare.

Bai Ye Feng was sitting on Liu Zhi's desk.

He was leisurely flipping through a newspaper. The fluorescent light cast on his face, carving a jagged line between light and shadow across his features.

If you dressed Bai Ye Feng in a crisp Tuxedo and leather shoes, he'd look the very picture of a teacher.

'You're here,' Bai Ye Feng said, setting the newspaper down and smiling at the slightly winded Baihua University group. 'Why the rush?'

Jiang Luo's face was faintly flushed from running, fine beads of sweat glistening at his temples. He smiled, not quite a smile. 'Classmate Bai, what are you all doing?'

Bai Ye Feng made a thoughtful sound. 'We're looking for the answer.'

'What a coincidence,' Jiang Luo said, his smile blooming like a flower. He walked past the Shanhai University students and gently placed a hand on the wall. 'We're looking for the answer, too.'

Originally, Jiang Luo hadn't been particularly fixated on first place.

But once he realized Bai Ye Feng wanted it, he decided he absolutely had to have it.

Chi You's purpose in manipulating Bai Ye Feng to enter this Competition—only the Yuantian Pearl was worth such elaborate effort from a malevolent ghost.

It just showed how good the Yuantian Pearl was, that even a ghost couldn't resist its lure. Thinking of the pearl, Jiang Luo recalled the one that went missing from the funeral shop on the Head Seventh Day.

Had Chi You taken it that day? Had absorbing that pearl made him so powerful that night?

If that were true, Jiang Luo would never let Chi You get his hands on another one.

He smiled and stroked the wall. 'Classmate Bai, I received two calls from the first missing girl the other night. She wanted me to dig her out, to set her free. I promised her I would. What you're doing now puts me in a difficult position.'

The Shanhai University students opened their mouths to curse him, but good-looking people always got some leeway. Faced with Jiang Luo's smile, they mumbled for a while without getting a word out, then turned to look at Bai Ye Feng.

Bai Ye Feng stood up and walked step by step toward Jiang Luo, chuckling softly. 'Classmate Jiang, there's an order to things—first come, first served.'

Jiang Luo watched him calmly, his beautiful eyes slowly lifting, his lips unhurriedly curling. 'Bai Ye Feng, so you do know about first come, first served.'

He glanced sidelong at the Shanhai University students, his smile radiant. 'You clearly heard my conversation with the female ghost last night and learned where she was hidden. Yet today you bring your people straight here and talk to me about principle?'

'Don't say you didn't hear it—I won't believe your lies,' Jiang Luo said, turning to a Shanhai University boy nearby. 'Hey, how did Bai Ye Feng lead you here? Did he follow clues step by step, or did he suddenly just know the answer was here?'

'Well...' Sweat dripped down the boy's forehead. He couldn't come up with a response.

Because what Jiang Luo said was true. Bai Ye Feng had said nothing, just led them directly to the Office.

Even as they prepared to smash the wall, they didn't know why they were doing it.

Stealing someone else's answer and claiming it as your own—while you could do anything to win, in the eyes of these university students who hadn't yet graduated, such behavior was deeply shameful.

Was this really something Bai Ye Feng would do?

Xu Yan opened his mouth to speak up for Bai Ye Feng. Wenren Lian walked over and patted his shoulder lightly. 'Classmate, one must have Honesty. Did you really find clues pointing to the body being inside the wall?'

Xu Yan hesitated, then finally closed his mouth.

Jiang Luo looked around the room, then finally fixed his gaze on Bai Ye Feng, a faint smile playing on his lips. 'Classmate Bai, who do you think was first?'

Bai Ye Feng watched Jiang Luo with a profound, dark gaze that slowly seemed to envelop him like encroaching shadow.

Suddenly, someone in the wall-smashing group threw down his tool, his face flushed with stubborn defiance. 'I'm not doing this. We didn't find the clues. I don't want it if it's not ours.'

The person beside him tugged at his sleeve. The boy spoke even louder. 'Why are you pulling me? So we lose—I have a clear conscience!'

The others' expressions wavered. They looked painfully at the wall, then at the tools in their hands.

At this moment of extreme dilemma, Jiang Luo suddenly sighed. 'Forget it. Let's each take a step back. We'll treat it as if we discovered the answer together.'

All eyes turned to him.

Jiang Luo said with a bitter smile, 'I believe Classmate Bai had his reasons—he just wanted to get you all to the next round. Our two schools combined have fewer than twenty people here. Since we're all present, why not cooperate and advance together?'

These words were magnanimous beyond measure, filling the Shanhai University students with intense shame. They had previously viewed Jiang Luo with hostility, had cursed him behind his back. They never expected him to be so generous—not only letting bygones be bygones but also handing them half the answer outright.

They felt both gratitude and shame, their lips moving soundlessly for a moment, unable to speak.

Zhuo Zhongqiu flexed her wrists. 'Shall we do it together, then? Let's get the body out first.'

Seeing no objection, they were about to start when the Shanhai University students stopped them in unison. The young people muttered, 'We'll smash it. You just watch.'

With that, they all began hammering at the wall.

The wall soon cracked with several thin fissures. As the cracks opened, maggots came pouring out. The Shanhai University students gasped, then smashed the wall with even greater force.

Jiang Luo watched, perfectly composed. He'd nearly had his victory snatched away, yet now he'd tricked others into smashing the wall for him willingly, guilt-ridden, without feeling the slightest bit of shame himself.

Someone walked over to him with light steps.

Bai Ye Feng gazed at the wall and murmured, as if to himself, 'That mouth of yours is truly astonishing.'

Jiang Luo turned his head and smiled at him, those lips that spun endless lies red, bold, soft, and beautiful. 'Thank you for the compliment.'

The wall was smashed open by the group, revealing four corpses. Adding Wang Xin Hui, the number perfectly matched the count of girls who had gone missing since 2012.

They faced away from the crowd, their backs turned. Their hair and bodies were crawling with insects, the stench of decay instantly filling the Office.

One of the female corpses was positioned directly with its back to Liu Zhi's desk.

The final question was solved. Jiang Luo took out his Mobile Phone and sent a message, then turned to Bai Ye Feng, his tone almost gentle. 'Classmate Bai, I still have a few unresolved questions. Would you come with me to look for some clues?'

Bai Ye Feng smiled. 'Of course.'

After what had just happened, he didn't seem angered by Jiang Luo's provocation—if anything, he appeared even more intrigued.

But who could know what terrible, cruel thoughts lurked in the heart of a malevolent ghost.

The two of them left the Office alone.

It was an overcast day. Dark blue clouds shrouded the distant sky, seeming to encircle Changqing High School at its center.

'The Old Campus has a Swimming Pool,' Jiang Luo said with a smile. 'Jin Yuangao mentioned he used to meet the female ghost there when she was alive, and that he hid in The Sewer from the pool. I'm curious why the ghost stopped trying to kill him once he went underground. Classmate Bai, you're well-traveled. Shall we go take a look?'

The Swimming Pool was at the back of the School, its water still in place. Inside the quiet natatorium, dark blue ripples drifted silently.

But they saw what looked like a person in the middle of the pool.

The figure was submerged at the bottom, seemingly already drowned.

Being a warmhearted and kind person, Bai Ye Feng frowned almost imperceptibly, his eyes utterly still, yet he still jumped into the water to save them.

His movements were swift and agile. He grabbed the person and tried to swim upward, only to find he was holding nothing but an empty, floating garment.

Bai Ye Feng froze, his expression instantly darkening. He turned to swim back the way he came. The moment his head broke the surface, a foot clad in a Doc Marten boot landed on his shoulder.

The boot's upper was clean, without a speck of dust, but its sole bore traces of the mud from the walk over, leaving a neat, gray imprint on Bai Ye Feng's shoulder.

Bai Ye Feng looked up expressionlessly along the boot, past Jiang Luo's cargo pants and jacket, and settled on Jiang Luo's face.

Jiang Luo looked down at him from above, his long hair spilling over his shoulders.

In his hand was a dagger, its tip wrapped in a Spirit Paper, pressed against the center of Bai Ye Feng's forehead.

The red mole on the back of the black-haired youth's left hand looked like freshly spilled blood. One foot raised, he pinned Bai Ye Feng firmly in the icy pool water with formidable strength and control.

The dagger in his right hand had an extra ring compared to the last one. The ring was looped around his pale wrist, the prominent knob of his ankle bone caught beneath the metal band. If anyone tried to take the knife from him this time, they'd have to cut off his entire hand.

'Look at that,' Jiang Luo said, tilting his head, his arrogant, striking features wearing a mocking smile. 'Our Mr. Ghost fell for it.'