Linda continued to watch Charles as he ate nonchalantly, speaking as if discussing a trivial matter.
"Have you gone mad? If you kill Matthew, who will help us break the curse? Who will help us get out of here alive?"
Linda couldn't fathom why Charles would make such a baffling statement, but judging by his tone, he wasn't joking. He was serious about killing Matthew.
Finishing the last bite on his plate, Charles looked up and said gravely, "If you're still counting on him to help us break the curse, we're already as good as dead."
Intrigued and concerned, Linda moved closer to Charles and whispered, "Why would you say that?"
Charles spoke with eerie calm, "Because he lied."
"Lied? How do you know?" Linda's brow furrowed.
Charles lightly tapped his finger on the table, reflecting on the events of last night, and continued:
"Firstly, he claimed he's just an investigator, not a student of this school. Don't you find it odd how detailed his description of Leopold was? He even knew about the moment when Leopold saw Benjamin groping Lily."
Linda froze, realizing she hadn't considered that detail before.
"Secondly, I've gone through the complete list of students, and there's no mention of Leopold, Benjamin, or Lily."
Linda sank into deep thought.
Charles pressed on, "Thirdly, that basement wasn't just stumbled upon by Leopold... I even suspect he might have constructed it."
Linda looked up at Charles, her eyes full of confusion.
If she could still rationalize the first two points, this third claim seemed downright absurd to her..
"The curse in this school has already spread to most corners, involving all the teachers and students within. How would he find the time to construct such a large basement in the face of so many malevolent ghosts?"
Charles continued, "And the most important point—no dust."
"Huh?" Linda seemed somewhat puzzled.
"I said, there was no dust in the basement."
Recalling last night, Charles elaborated:
"I purposefully checked many corners last night."
"The tables, sofas, even some magazines—almost no dust. It was very clean."
"People generally don't clean basements.Unless someone's frequently living there."
"As you said, constructing such a basement in the face of malevolent ghosts would be nearly impossible after the curse. Therefore, the basement had to be built before the curse struck."
Linda was stunned.
Charles' observational skills—could they be any sharper?
"But if he's deceiving us, what is his motive?"
Charles explained:
"Psychology suggests that purposeful lies often contain a mix of truth and falsehood."
"To make the lie more logical and believable, it often needs to incorporate some elements of truth."
"For example, even if there isn't a evil spirit form of Leopold in the underground parking area of Zone A, there's definitely danger beyond our imagination."
"And Matthew does indeed want to go into that well marked 'sewage.'"
"Only, once he goes in, he won't come back out. That's why he lies, to have me distract that outside entity."
After Charles' explanation, Linda now believed that the seemingly friendly Matthew was actually a fraud.
....
Linda took off her long stockings and handed them to Charles.
After storing them away, Charles heard Linda ask, "What should I do tonight?"
"You don't have to do anything," Charles replied.
"Whether we succeed or not depends on tonight.With some luck, we might break the curse here tonight!"
Darkness fell.
Charles and Linda met at the agreed-upon location. Both were fully prepared and headed toward the storage room.
"Charles, I still don't quite understand.What do you need my stockings for? Are you planning to strangle Matthew?"
Charles lifted a finger to his lips.
"Less talk."
He didn't want to explain to Linda.
Although obedient, the girl was a bit too chatty for his taste.
Faced with Charles' mysteriousness, Linda ceased her questioning. She just watched as Charles tore the black stockings into strips.
Arriving at the storage room's basement, the two found Matthew, who had been waiting there for some time. He appeared somewhat...anxious.
"What took you so long?" Matthew complained.
"We need to move quickly; we don't have much time left. When the bell rings for the third time, those ghostly mists will once again fill every corner of the campus!"
Charles nodded.
"No problem."
The trio left the storage room, cautiously heading to the underground parking area of Zone A under the moonlight.
There were three exits in total. The two followed Matthew around the perimeter, listening carefully as he outlined their escape routes and tactics for distracting the evil spirit.
As Matthew spoke, a kind of unnatural excitement crept into his demeanor.
Linda, who was deliberately watching him, became increasingly certain of Charles' suspicion.
Something was wrong with this guy!
They entered from the east side, which was the route where Matthew planned to lie in ambush.
Matthew led the way, unaware that Charles discreetly took out an object, similarly dark green and round, and affixed it to a metal rod on the side wall of the entrance.
At the top of this device was a loop, connected to a thread almost invisible in the dark. The other end of the thread was concealed in the sleeve of Charles' school uniform.
Matthew ducked into a corner and instructed them, "Leopold's evil spirit is lurking just ahead. When you go past, deliberately make some noise to attract its attention. Then, you run in opposite directions—one to the north exit and the other to the west."
"Follow the routes we've discussed!"
"Once you draw it out of the underground parking lot, I'll be able to grab the weapon, destroy its body, and break the curse!"
Charles cast a glance ahead.
"No problem," he said. "Wait for us to lure it away before you make your move. We only have one shot at this; let's not be hasty!"
Matthew nodded.
"Good!"
Charles and Linda then began to slowly move toward Area A, sticking close to the walls and using the parked cars as cover, straining their eyes for any sign of the evil spirit of Leopold.
A cold wind swept through the entrance, making Linda shudder in the darkness. She was incredibly tense, so much so that she could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her chest.
But she wasn't the only one gripped by nervousness; Matthew was equally tense, his whole body trembling.
Ever since the incident that had turned everything sideways, he had been barely scraping by for months in this cursed school. By now, he had reached his physical limit.
His hunger was intensifying, yet there were fewer and fewer corpses of his former companions left for him to consume.
Whether or not he could continue to survive rested on the shoulders of these two, on their ability to draw away that terrifying evil spirit...