Leaving
There were two class photos, one missing Lu Zuo Zi, the other missing Jiang Xinhong and his friend. The positions of the other classmates were almost identical, but a closer look revealed slight differences in their expressions. Xia Rui Bei was shocked by the eerie discovery: "These photos...were taken of the same people in the same place?"
"Yes," Li Dongyuan said. "Definitely not photoshopped."
"Why did Zuo Zi leave this photo behind?" Xia Rui Bei didn't dare hold the photo anymore, dropping it as if burnt. "I...I still don't understand..."
But from Ruan Nan Zhu and the others' expressions, everyone except her understood what had happened.
Xia Rui Bei pleaded to Li Dongyuan with her eyes. He gently patted her head, saying: "Don't worry, you'll probably understand soon."
Xia Rui Bei: "..." Are you petting a house pet?
Lin Qiu Shi also grasped the meaning behind Zuo Zi's photo. Sighing softly, he looked at the two photos.
Bullying happened in many schools, though not always fatal. Some teachers ignored it, unaware things could become so serious.
"Let's go," said Ruan Nan Zhu, checking the time. "They'll be on lunch break soon. We can intercept people."
"Let's go," Li Dongyuan stood up.
Jiang Xinhong lived nearby and went home for meals. They hid near the school gate to ambush him after class. But oddly, Jiang Xinhong didn't appear. His friend Mu Kai showed up instead.
Through questioning, they learned Mu Kai was once Jiang Xinhong's classmate before an incident placed him in another class.
Mu Kai was burlier than Jiang Xinhong with a volatile temper. "What do you want with me? I know nothing!" he said.
"Let's talk somewhere private," Li Dongyuan said. "You wouldn't want anyone else hearing this."
Mu Kai was about to argue when Ruan Nan Zhu waved the class photo before him. Seeing it, Mu Kai's face paled. He stammered a few words before agreeing to follow them.
They brought Mu Kai to a secluded grove behind the teaching building. Terror and barely suppressed panic showed on his face.
Ruan Nan Zhu cut to the chase: "You and Xinhong killed Zuo Zi, didn't you?"
Mu Kai jumped, shocked speechless before indignant denial took over. "What nonsense! I don't understand you. She clearly died in a car accident—"
"Car accident?" Ruan Nan Zhu interrupted. "Wasn't it you and Jiang Xinhong who—"
Li Dongyuan gestured for him to stop. "Do you mind?"
"Five minutes?" Ruan Nan Zhu asked.
"Fine," said Li Dongyuan.
Ruan Nan Zhu grabbed Lin Qiu Shi's hand and walked off.
Confused, Lin asked, "What is it?"
"Let's give Dongyuan five minutes to handle that guy."
Incredulous, Lin said, "He...can really hypnotize people?"
"Forgot how he almost hypnotized you yesterday? White Deer leaders have special skills. It's not that strange."
They left Li Dongyuan alone for five minutes. Despite being rivals outside, he didn't want them seeing his methods.
Exactly five minutes later, they returned to the grove. Li Dongyuan had already gotten the truth.
"Say it again," he told Mu Kai.
Clearly not himself, Mu Kai repeated mechanically: "Xinhong and I killed Zuo Zi. We wanted to bully her and pushed her towards a roadside bin. But we pushed her onto the road instead. A car ran over her, crushing her legs..."
Li Dongyuan: "You could have saved her then?"
Mu Kai's expression twisted, seemingly struggling before submitting. "Yes...we could have saved her but didn't. Xinhong pulled me away...He said we'd go to jail for this. I didn't want to go to jail..."
Hearing Mu Kai's words, rage welled up in Lin Qiu Shi.
It must have been winter. Had Mu Kai and Xinhong called an ambulance instead of abandoning Zuo Zi, perhaps she wouldn't have died from blood loss and despair.
"Despicable," Lin Qiu Shi frowned.
Li Dongyuan snorted. "That's not the worst part. Why did your class mock her with that song after her death?"
At the mention of the song, Mu Kai's body shook, his face even more terrified than before. He stammered, "It...it wasn't my intention. The rest insisted...Xinhong and I tried to stop it but failed."
Finally, Ruan Nan Zhu asked the crucial question: "Did you sing it?"
Mu Kai slowly shook his head. "No...we didn't dare...we didn't dare..."
The killers didn't dare sing that haunting song. But the rest of the class had, dooming themselves. The murderers escaped retribution out of fear.
After hearing everything, Li Dongyuan smiled gently. He took out a notebook, handing it to Mu Kai. "Go on, you know it."
Seeing the lyrics, cold sweat beaded Mu Kai's forehead. His fear intensified but Li Dongyuan's voice sounded in his ears: "You wanted to sing it. Why fear? It's safe here. Go ahead."
Mu Kai's throat moved. Finally he sang: "Zuo Zi called herself Zuo Zi since young, how silly. She loved bananas but could only eat half, how pitiful. Zuo Zi went far away, will she forget me, how lonely..."
As he sang, a squelching noise came from below. "Step back, something's under us," Lin said.
With the last lyric, white hands erupted from the earth, grabbing Mu Kai's feet.
Lin Qiu Shi thought the hands would drag Mu Kai under. But Zuo Zi crawled out instead. Grabbing Mu Kai's legs, she said with twisted happiness: "It hurts, give Zuo Zi back her feet..."
Rapid blood loss quickly weakened Mu Kai. Clutching the severed leg, Zuo Zi looked blissful, ignoring the rest. She pointed in a direction, holding up one finger.
The horrifying scene vanished, Mu Kai's corpse pulled underground. Only the pool of blood remained.
Xia Rui Bei vomited heavily nearby. The other three stayed calm.
Ruan Nan Zhu took out the photo again. Another figure had joined—Mu Kai with a rigid smile beside Zuo Zi. Zuo Zi's smile now chilled their blood. One space remained...
"If you couldn't take a class photo while alive, I'll fulfill your wish after death." Li Dongyuan said gently. "What a romantic girl."
Lin Qiu Shi always felt something was off with Li. Now he realized the problem was serious. Yet Ruan Nan Zhu was also smiling...In some ways, the two were scarily alike.
Lin Qiu Shi quietly inched closer to the white-faced Xia Rui Bei.
"Let's go. One left." said Li Dongyuan.
On the way, Xia Rui Bei asked: "Shouldn't we tell the others the door's open?"
"No need," Li Dongyuan said. "They'll check the old school building. Nothing guards the door now anyway."
Lin recalled the monsters always guarding opened doors. He wondered if the others could escape. But leaving had taken all their effort too.
This time, Ruan Nan Zhu didn't open the door but passed the key to Li Dongyuan instead. "You do it, Rui Bei."
Xia Rui Bei nodded and eagerly unlocked the iron door. Light flooded out as it creaked open. A paper fluttered to the ground which Xia snatched before rushing in.
Li Dongyuan smiled. "Until we meet again."
Ruan Nan Zhu said nothing, just looking at him.
Unperturbed, Li Dongyuan maintained his smile and entered the tunnel. Ruan held his hand out to Lin. "Let's go."
Lin took his hand and they crossed over together.
The warm light dispelled the chill. Having left that frightening world, Lin found himself back in the sunny villa with the dogs playing inside. He sat on the sofa, drinking water.
Coming downstairs, Cheng asked if all went well. Lin said yes, it was smooth. He asked if Ruan was upstairs then headed up after Cheng nodded.
Knocking on the unlocked door, Lin entered and froze. Ruan Nan Zhu had just stripped naked, a dress laid out nearby. "We're both men. Why so shocked?" Ruan said casually.
"Oh...right." But Lin still felt awkward, unable to reconcile the Ruan here with Zhu Meng's smiling face. The disjointed images made him inexplicably blush.
Noticing, Ruan teased, "That good looking?"
Flustered, Lin denied it...then saw Ruan's imposing figure approach. Intimidated, he nearly backed away but stood his ground. "I just feel it's a bit unfamiliar."
"Oh?" Ruan asked, "So do you prefer Zhu Meng or me?"
Lin despaired at the absurd question. "You're the same person!"
"Hm?" Ruan waited expectantly.
Sensing danger, Lin's self-preservation kicked in. Suppressing his conscience, he calmly said, "Of course it's you, Ruan."
Only then did Ruan smile, relaxing Lin.