Zhou Bai walked up beside Qian Wangsun, appearing in front of thirteen seven-story dormitory buildings.
However, the dormitory buildings were pitch dark at this moment, with no light at all, clearly having been completely abandoned.
Zhou Bai curiously asked, "These dormitory buildings look fine. Why were they abandoned?"
"I heard that a fifth-year student had a cultivation deviation and mutated, but he didn't dare to tell anyone and tried to hide it. One night... he ate all the students on his floor."
"Fifth-year student?" Zhou Bai frowned slightly. Dao School trained students for five years, meaning the school generally had students from first to fifth year, five grades in total.
Qian Wangsun said with a grim face, "It's said that every night, people could hear chewing sounds coming from empty rooms, so they sealed this place off."
Seeing Zhou Bai's serious expression, Qian Wangsun laughed, "You don't actually believe that, do you? It's just a campus legend. These dormitories were replaced because the arrays were outdated. Our dorms, for our cultivation convenience, are all equipped with balanced spiritual energy arrays.
Ten years ago, there was a reform in the balanced spiritual energy arrays, and it was too troublesome to retrofit the old dorms with the new arrays. So, they simply built new ones. Dao School's campus is big enough anyway, so they didn't even bother to demolish the old ones."
Qian Wangsun looked at Zhou Bai with a smile, "I researched it. When Qingjing Sanren used to teach at Dao School, he stayed on the second floor of the seventh building. This notebook was found there, so I'm pretty sure it's written by Qingjing Sanren."
"If it were really written by Qingjing Sanren, the teacher would have taken it a long time ago. It wouldn't be your turn to have it." Zhou Bai shook his head. He didn't believe it was necessarily written by Qingjing Sanren. However, whoever wrote it, since it was related to the Tao Te Ching, he was inclined to investigate it.
"Wait, why did you come here?" Zhou Bai looked at Qian Wangsun in surprise. "How did you even find this thing in a place like this?"
Qian Wangsun said, "I'm Gong Tu, master of insight. Plus, I like to wander around the campus when I have nothing to do. I've been almost everywhere except a few Forbidden Lands. This place gave me the most yield."
When they reached the front of the 13th dormitory building, Qian Wangsun looked to the left and said, "The six buildings on the left are mine, the six on the right are yours. We'll meet in the middle and search the seventh building where Qingjing Sanren lived. Okay?"
"Buildings 8 to 13 are mine, 1 to 6 are yours, and we'll search the seventh building together last?" Zhou Bai nodded and said, "No problem. Let's get started."
Qian Wangsun threw out a crystal, which floated beside him and suddenly lit up, emitting a bright glow that illuminated the area around them.
Zhou Bai could see countless glittering patterns inside the crystal, forming various overlapping shapes, the lines of which emitted bursts of light, similar to filaments.
Qian Wangsun said, "This is a Light Illumination Array Stone. It uses Primordial Spirit power to convert it into light energy." As he spoke, he tossed one to Zhou Bai, "I'm lending it to you. Don't forget to return it when we're done."
Zhou Bai took the Light Illumination Array Stone and tried channeling some Primordial Spirit power into it. Beams of light immediately shot out from the crystal.
"Another piece of Xian Dao technology," Zhou Bai thought to himself, "This is really quite convenient. I feel like I can sustain this for a long time with my Primordial Spirit power."
Watching Qian Wangsun walk toward a building ahead, gradually disappearing into the darkness of the large door, Zhou Bai also used his Primordial Spirit power to control the crystal and walked toward another dormitory building nearby.
Seeing the sign indicating Building 6, Zhou Bai gently pushed the door.
As the door opened, it made a creaking sound. He looked at the dark corridor and rooms in the distance, resembling gaping invisible mouths.
Christina shivered and said, "Why did you come to such a place? It's so scary. I feel like I'm losing fur."
"There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a dormitory building. Besides, without anyone living here, there won't be any students mutating. In that sense, it might be safer than the occupied dorms."
Zhou Bai walked through the corridor while speaking, the light from the crystal scanning each room, clearly showing that they had been emptied and were now bare.
In the darkness, only the soft glow from the crystal and the sound of footsteps echoed through the empty corridor.
"There's nothing here. How did Qian Wangsun even find anything?"
Zhou Bai watched as one empty room after another passed by, each identical, feeling increasingly bored as he quickened his pace, watching each empty room pass by rapidly.
Suddenly, he sensed a blur in front of him, as if a white shadow flashed by.
Ah!
The sudden scream startled Zhou Bai, making his heart skip a beat. He angrily said, "What are you screaming about for no reason? You scared me to death."
Christina clutched her tiny chest and said, "I... I'm a little scared. What was that thing that just passed by?"
"It's probably something left behind in the previous room." Zhou Bai turned and boldly walked toward the room he had just passed.
A white shadow suddenly stood before him.
Ah!!!
Zhou Bai clutched his chest and shouted angrily, "Will you cut it out!"
Christina covered her eyes with her paws, shaking and saying, "I'm scared to death."
Zhou Bai rolled his eyes and looked at the white shadow that had suddenly appeared in front of him. It was a white round ball graffitied on the wall.
The center of the ball was a black square, with red lines hanging from the bottom of the square, making the whole pattern look like a bleeding eye.
But Zhou Bai couldn't make any sense of it.
He frowned, walked inside to check, and found the room completely empty, except for the eerie graffiti.
Christina curled up into a ball, trembling, "This isn't right, Zhou Bai. I feel so scared. Something's not right. Let's leave."
"You're such a coward," Zhou Bai said, "If you can't handle it, just close your eyes. I'll call you if there's any danger."
Zhou Bai shook his head, feeling that there was nothing notable in this room, left, and continued to search the dormitory building.
But the rest of the dormitory building revealed no further oddities, only room after dusty room, clearly abandoned for a long time.
Zhou Bai returned to the first floor. Passing by the room with the graffiti again, he couldn't resist taking another look to see if he could discern anything.
Staring at the pattern on the floor, he frowned. "Why do I feel like there are more red lines on this pattern? Did I misremember?"
Unable to confirm it and finding no other issues, Zhou Bai left Building 6 and headed for Building 5.
Looking at the sign for Building 5, Zhou Bai pushed the door open to enter.
As soon as he stepped in, a strong moldy smell hit him. The light from the crystal fell on the walls of the corridor, revealing patches of black mold and peeling walls, making the hallway look as if it had been soaked in water.