Lin Yi looked at Xu Shunkang and muttered, "Judging by his tone, it seems like he knows a lot of secrets about the school district?"
Wei Liang promptly said, "I heard that the Sports Students and Art Students are original students of this school district, not participants like us who are here for the experience, so they definitely know more secrets, but I also advise you to not pry into it..."
"If the school intends to cover up some secrets, they are sure to be tight-lipped from top to bottom, and... a school that offers thirty thousand yuan for a seven-day experience class, how could they not have any secrets?"
"My thoughts are that we should just attend the classes obediently, then take the money and leave."
"Doesn't your grandma still need money for medical treatment? Stop overthinking things!"
A shade of bewilderment appeared in Lin Yi's eyes, "Gran... grandma?"
Wei Liang's expression turned serious, "Damn, you've even forgotten this?"
Lin Yi couldn't help but frown.
Wei Liang quickly emphasized, "You came here to get money for your grandma's medical expenses, Old Lin!"
Upon hearing this, the blankness in Lin Yi's eyes faded considerably, and he nodded, "Oh... that seems right."
He then fell silent for a while, before speaking, "Then at least... we should wait until we confirm Maozi's safety, right?"
When Mao Feiyang entered the staircase, he felt as though he had lost something, a sense of isolation from the world, which, at the moment Mao Feiyang closed the door, was so profound that Lin Yi felt Mao Feiyang had left this world from that instant on.
This subconscious urge to complete the picture was like an inexplicable will, prompting him to find Mao Feiyang.
"Before that, I still want to clear up some things as much as possible."
"Even if we don't think about that swamp-like dense fog or the strange figures in the mist, and the bizarre streetlights, at the very least, we need to figure out what that never-ending staircase was about, right?"
"I'm afraid Maozi might be trapped in there and can't find his way out."
Wei Liang was conflicted, "Then... at least we should wait until we get back to the dorm, right?"
Lin Yi and the others knew before coming here that they would be randomly assigned to different classrooms, but they were able to choose their dormitory, so the six of them decided to live in the same room for mutual support.
Upon hearing this, Wei Liang glanced at the window.
The outside of the Teaching Building was engulfed in darkness; a thick mist enveloped the entire school district like a blanket, and the pitter-patter of raindrops incessantly struck the windowpanes, then slid down with the direction of the wind, as if someone was scraping the windows.
"It's raining." Wei Liang's expression turned grave, "It's not raining heavily, I wonder if it will stop by nine o'clock..."
The student rules stipulate that one can only return to the dormitory between 21:00 and 22:00; if unable to return, one must spend the night in the classroom.
Lin Yi subconsciously glanced at his watch.
20:34.
He then looked outside the window again.
Pitch-black, with nothing visible except the raindrops hitting the glass bit by bit.
He seemed to think of something, squinted his eyes, and then stood up to walk to the window.
He breathed on the glass, wiped it with his sleeve, and then pressed his face against it to look outside.
However, at that moment, he saw his own reflection in the glass; his reflection was very far from himself, conservatively estimating the thickness of the window glass to be over 6cm!
"Such specifications?!"
His pupils suddenly dilated, and he got quite a shock!
"Is this military-grade blast-proof glass?!"
He hurriedly looked at the other windowpanes, but the more he observed, the more his heart pounded.
"All the glasses in this classroom are of this specification, even those on the side close to the corridor!"
He took a deep breath, slowly suppressed his shock, and again pressed his face close to the glass, observing the environment outside.
The mist outside the Teaching Building was thick and dense, like a blanket covering the school district, so heavy that not even moonlight could pierce through it.
His gaze kept moving until he found a few sparse lights amidst the rain and fog...
Those were streetlights, seen from the windows of the Teaching Building, the scattered lights were like strewn pearls.
"Indeed, it is complex, and just like the map said... they're spread out. Then why didn't we see these streetlights when we came, but saw them one by one instead?"
He squinted again, unable to help but recall the initial scene.
Had he missed something, or was reality really like that?
He felt a distortion in his perception... but after all, facts are black and white; they wouldn't oscillate back and forth, would they?
It was in this moment, that strange sensation of being guided in thought appeared again, stealthily infiltrating Lin Yi's considerations—
"What's going on?"
Thus, he thought about it without even realizing it.
But as soon as he started to think, a wave of tiredness emerged from the bottom of his heart.
He felt strained and fatigued, as if he couldn't wait to stop thinking and just fall asleep...
A strong sense of alertness surged in his heart, forcing himself to detach from thought and pull his will back to reality.
Gradually, as he became more lucid, he heard Wei Liang's voice next to his ear.
"Old Lin! What the hell are you doing! Old Lin, Old Lin!!!"
Right then, a hand was placed on his shoulder, shaking him frantically.