The feeling of being half-concealed and half-exposed gave the illusion that once one misstepped and fell down the stairs, they would plunge into an abyss.
Amidst the mist, a dim yellow light could vaguely be seen, like a lighthouse in the sea.
"Whoosh...whoosh..."
Near Lin Yi's ear, the sound of waves hitting the dark reefs faintly echoed again.
A look of confusion appeared in his eyes as he looked around and found himself still in the corridor, thus confirming that he had hallucinated again.
"Old Lin, are you alright?" Wei Liang's voice rang out beside his ear.
Lin Yi asked, "What just happened to me?"
Wei Liang replied, "I saw you pause suddenly and thought you had discovered something."
"Paused for a moment?"
Lin Yi was slightly stunned and asked, "Was it like what happened in the classroom earlier?"
"I don't know," Wei Liang shook his head, "It's just an indescribable feeling."
This was when Lin Yi looked towards the mist, the dense fog showed no trace, but he could hear a trickling sound near his ear.
In the mountainous wild areas at night, everything would be incredibly quiet, and once it rained, there would instantly be the sound of rain pounding on banana leaves.
"This rain isn't light," Lin Yi remarked.
Wei Liang asked in surprise, "You're not still thinking about going back to the dorm to sleep, are you?"
Lin Yi nodded, "If there's a chance, I definitely want to spend the night in the dorm."
From the rules, if treating these seven days of college life as a highly rewarding survival game, then by the rules, the dorm would be the only safe zone throughout the campus.
Of course, Lin Yi didn't understand some of the dorm's specific rules, especially the one concerning the timings of entry and exit.
But that didn't affect the fact the dorm was a safe zone.
Though the Teaching Building, no, the classroom, to some extent was also considered a safe zone.
"But with this kind of weather, there's definitely no way to go back," Lin Yi shook his head.
"Let's take it one step at a time, if worst comes to worst, we just spend the night in the classroom reading comics," Wei Liang shrugged.
Although he had looks, brains, and skills, when it came to "following rules," he was still completely committed.
Suddenly, Lin Yi stopped in his tracks, then asked in a grave tone, "Liangzi, how far have we walked just now?"
Wei Liang was startled, "I don't know, probably almost at the bathroom? What's up?"
Lin Yi glanced down at his watch.
21:08.
A foreboding feeling suddenly emerged from the bottom of his heart.
He turned his head as if possessed, his eyes instantly widened, his pupils trembling violently.
A classroom was just a short distance behind him, and the door plaque on the classroom was startlingly—
Group B Class 2!
"We've been out of the classroom for almost ten minutes, yet we're still treading in place?!"
Lin Yi felt a chill at the bottom of his heart and goosebumps emerged on his arms.
"What's wrong, Old Lin?" Wei Liang subconsciously turned his head.
"Don't look back, Liangzi!"
Lin Yi abruptly stopped him.
Wei Liang was so frightened that he sprang up from the ground, "Damn it, don't startle me like that, you scared me to death!"
But he obediently listened to Lin Yi and did not turn back.
"What's wrong, Old Lin, is something off?" he asked nervously.
Lin Yi suppressed the eerie feeling in his heart and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing, Liangzi, you just said we were almost at the bathroom, right?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"But we haven't seen Classroom B Group 1 yet," Lin Yi tried to keep his tone calm, "Don't you think we should have seen B Group 1 first since we turned left out the door?"
Wei Liang thought for a moment and nodded, "Right, we should have seen B Group 1 first, then the bathroom would be just around the corner."
Lin Yi affirmed, "That's what I was thinking."
"Classroom B Group 2 should be next to B Group 1... Classroom B Group 2 should be next to B Group 1..."
Lin Yi silently chanted in his heart.
He walked about ten steps.
A classroom appeared not far from him; through the mist, he looked intently and saw that the classroom's door plaque clearly marked "Group B Class 1."
"Old Lin, Old Lin, we've reached Class 1! The bathroom should be right nearby!" Wei Liang exclaimed excitedly, and he couldn't help but mutter, "Damn, why do I feel like we've been walking for centuries... Why does the Teaching Building seem longer than the last time I was here?"
"Strange..."
But Lin Yi couldn't feel happy at all; he looked at the classroom door plaque of Group B Class 1 as if he had seen a ghost, deeply certain that if he had not convinced Wei Liang that they were about to reach Group B Class 1, they might not have found it even by dawn tomorrow!
This suddenly reminded him of the absurd feeling he had while walking through the dense mist earlier—it was clearly just two street lamps not far apart, but running from one to the other had taken more than ten minutes!
A cold wind blew out from the mist, mixed with moisture that slapped against Lin Yi's face. Despite being in the mountainous area, Lin Yi seemed to smell a distinct fishy scent unique to the seaside...
The swashing sound of sea waves was about to echo in his ears again, but this time it seemed to carry more reverberations, as if it included some whispers from a much more distant place.
From far to near.
From soft to loud.
"Swoosh—"
"Swoosh————"
Lin Yi squinted subconsciously, as if he had received a certain calling, about to listen to that ancient echo.
He almost made out the sound: amidst the waves, a calling voice was embedded.
The calling voice was very urgent, very pressing...
As if washed by the waves, his body shook violently.
He heard that calling voice, but before he sank completely, his will tried to wake him up, thus the strange calling voice he heard gradually turned into a—from far to near—Old Lin...
"Old Lin..."
"Old Lin!"
"Old Lin! Old Lin!"
He was jolted awake, and the first thing he saw was Wei Liang's handsome face tinged with a bit of roguishness.
However, Wei Liang looked extremely anxious now, with eyes full of urgency under his cap, his hands pressing on Lin Yi's shoulders, shaking his body with all the techniques he had learned.
The calling voice... was Wei Liang's.
Lin Yi suddenly sobered up.
"Liangzi, did I just 'doze off' again?"
Wei Liang helplessly shook his head and said hesitantly, "Ah, Old Lin, you... well, I feel like something is really off with you. Are you okay?"
He looked at Lin Yi with concern, "Is it because you've been thinking too much along the way?"
Lin Yi looked down and nodded, "It's my fault, I shouldn't have thought so much."
In fact, Lin Yi knew it wasn't his fault; it must be some environmental factor around them, or perhaps not even from the environment, but more like... a psychological suggestion. Though he had later forcefully regained consciousness, that silently infiltrating guiding sense was the most dangerous element that entangled him in thought.
"Ah, this isn't your fault!" Wei Liang elbowed Lin Yi, "You love to think, unlike me... brainless."
"Pfft..." Lin Yi laughed, "This time it's all thanks to you!"
Wei Liang waved his hand, proudly saying, "Everyone has their strengths, not bad, huh!"
Lin Yi half-jokingly said, "I'm starting to understand why you managed to get through those seven days safely."
Wei Liang grinned, pointing ahead, "Hey, there's the restroom!"
Lin Yi immediately looked and indeed saw a restroom not far away, with a queue at the door akin to a dragon's length.
These were students coming to use the bathroom, many of whom had already finished.
"I suddenly don't feel the need to pee anymore." Seeing the dragon-like queue, Wei Liang momentarily lost his urge to urinate and couldn't help but exclaim, "Even the men's restroom can have such a turnout, tsk tsk tsk..."
Lin Yi quickly said, "We've come all this way, just queue up. We're staying overnight, right? Can your bladder handle it?"
"You're right—normally, if you were asleep, it wouldn't matter, but the classroom doesn't allow sleeping." Wei Liang shrugged helplessly.
Lin Yi shook his head noncommittally and smiled.
But as he shook his head and smiled, his gaze accidentally caught a corner of the corridor where there was no light...
Under the dim light overlapping with the mist, he faintly saw a slender figure standing there.
That figure just stood in the shadows, but its eyes seemed to be staring straight at him, as if it could charge at him any moment.