After confirming the size of the five bottles, the next step was relatively simple.
As mentioned earlier, the rules of the Tower of Hanor were easy to grasp. There was no reason why Ruo Yu couldn't figure it out.
After another three minutes, the five bottles of wine were moved to the bottom row of the wine rack. Theoretically speaking, the number of steps they had to go through was the least.
When the last bottle of wine was moved to its place, the sound of gears and machinery suddenly came from the wall beside Ruo Yu.
Feng Bujue saw this and immediately stepped forward. "Here … Let me stand in front."
In places where they might encounter danger, Brother Jue would usually rush to the front. It wasn't that he was willing to sacrifice himself, but he believed that this choice was more efficient and safer.
Creak —
Just as Brother Jue and Ruo Yu switched positions, the wall at the end of the wine cellar slowly opened.
Behind the wall, a dark, narrow corridor appeared. The walls of the corridor looked like they were made of natural stone. The height and width of the corridor were similar to the wine cellar, but … the depth was unknown. They couldn't see the end of the corridor. They could only tell that it was winding forward.
"This path … Doesn't seem right." Ruo Yu looked inside and said, "The wine cellar below the headmaster's office should be a space between the first and second floor of the school, but this path …"
"It's fine. This means … From here on out, we will enter a subspace." Feng Bujue finished her sentence. "The settings in front of us are obviously independently generated by the system. It doesn't have much to do with the headmaster … If I'm not mistaken, we'll be close to the final plot if we keep moving forward …"
…
On the other hand, Xiao Tan and the others were on the other side.
Since Brother Jue wasn't present, An Yueqin, who had a flashlight in her hand, took the initiative to lead the way.
After leaving the headmaster's office, the four of them carefully went down to the first floor.
Since the "whoosh" sound was the sound of a sliding door, their search targets were naturally the rooms with sliding doors.
Fortunately, the school was not very spacious. Standing at the top of the stairs and looking left and right, the players discovered the anomaly …
At that moment, as far as they could see, the classrooms that had been opened earlier were still open. In other words … those doors had not changed.
However, the door of the "faculty office" that was supposed to be closed … had opened at some point in time.
"That … should have been opened by the guys at the field, right?" Xiao Tan looked at the door and lowered his voice to whisper to his teammates.
"Based on the fact that he opened the door to the staff office …" Phantom Dawn said, "Perhaps he is one of the teachers at this school?"
"Maybe," Xiao Ling said. "But he's definitely not the teacher of Grade Two Class A," she explained. "Because he's not one of the four adults in the group photo."
"I think … he might be the Class President Watanabe when he grows up," An Yueqin turned around and said.
"Hmm, that's possible." Xiao Tan nodded. "So far, all the NPCs … or monsters that we've seen appear to be the people in the group photo from Grade Two Class A, right?"
"No … there's one … we can't be sure," Phantom Dawn said. "It's the guy who was leaning on the window in the classroom and turned into black fog at the stairs." He paused for half a second to think. "I've seen his face before … and he's not one of the four adults in the group photo." He lifted his head to look at his teammates and said darkly, "If that guy is the Class President Watanabe …"
"Then who is the man on the field?" Xiao Tan finished his sentence and fell into deep thought.
"No matter who it is, let's move on first …" An Yueqin took a deep breath and said, "Phew … Let's not talk about the two people trapped upstairs. The two flashlights we have won't last much longer, so …"
Then, she moved forward toward the teacher's office. The other three did not say anything and followed closely behind her.
After a few steps, they reached the door of the 'teacher's office'.
And what awaited them was …
"Sorry, I'm late," the man in the room said to the players as soon as they appeared.
This man was the mysterious man who had been looking up at the school from the field earlier.
He spoke quickly, and there was no eerie feeling that was unique to ghosts. Furthermore, he was holding a flashlight in his hand.
All these signs pointed to the fact that … the man was a living person.
"Who are you?" An Yueqin asked. "What … are you doing?"
At this moment, the man was indeed busy with something, but she saw him spread out a few pieces of paper on a desk, and used a brush from who knows where to write some strange scribbles on them.
"What's wrong?" When he heard An Yueqin's question, the man suddenly stopped what he was doing and raised his head to look at the players with suspicion. "You … can't remember again?"
"What do you mean …" Xiao Tan heard something in the man's words, and he asked tentatively, "Can't remember 'again'?"
"Ah … I see." The man seemed to have confirmed something. He continued, "After all, you've been 'lost' for too long. It's normal for you to forget."
"Then, can you explain it to us?" An Yueqin, who was confused, asked again.
"My name is Shota Tsukamoto, and I'm a Onmyoji." Tsukamoto lowered his head and continued to work on the task at hand. "Although it may be rude to say this, I still have to tell you … you all died six years ago."
"What?" When the four heard this, they all had the same reaction.
Previously, Feng Bujue's speculation that the players were all ghosts was unfortunately correct.
"Don't worry, I'll explain it to you slowly." Tsukamoto's attitude gave people the impression that … he was already used to this kind of situation. He continued to draw talismans skillfully while saying, "This matter … has to start from the 47th year of the Showa era, which is 26 years ago …"
When the players heard this, they knew that the appearance of this NPC was likely to mean that the truth of the plot was about to be revealed, so they had no intention of interrupting and listened quietly.
"In May of that year, there was a fire at Chongu Elementary School." Tsukamoto began his narration. "The fire wasn't too serious, but … it still burned a student to death, and this student was your classmate … Suzuki Takayuki." He paused for a second, as if to give the players time to digest the information, and then continued, "Suzuki-kun was burned to death in the warehouse only one door away from the principal's office. Before he died, he knocked on the door desperately for help, but … unfortunately, principal Miyamoto was a drunkard. It happened to be lunch break, and Miyamoto, who had no classes in the afternoon, drank too much and fell asleep in the principal's office.
"It wasn't until the fire truck drove into the school that Miyamoto woke up, and at that time … Suzuki-kun, who was at the opposite door, had already inhaled too much smoke and was in a state of shock.
"Then, when the dazed Miyamoto saw the smoke, he instinctively ran away from the fire. He didn't know … Even at that time, if he could open the opposite door, there was still time to save Suzuki-kun.
"However, all of this is just a hypothesis … Suzuki-kun was burned to death in the end, and he became a vengeful spirit because of it.
"The next day, he killed another classmate in your class, Noguchi Eiji. However, at that time, this case was treated as a missing person case, and I only found out about this after some investigation.
"Then, on the third day, it happened to be the day of the Sanskrit Festival. Even though the town was remote and not famous, it had a long history. Since ancient times, the Mawang Shrine had always held its own three shrine ceremonies, and this custom had been passed down to the present day.
"However, the villagers didn't know that the Mawang Shrine's ritual that has been passed down for thousands of years was not just to worship Amitabha, Guanyin, and Mahasthamaprapta … It was to pray for the three Bodhisattvas to help the villagers suppress' it's' hostility."
"It?" When he heard the key word, Phantom Dawn reacted. "What is' it '?"
Note: In Tsukamoto's original Japanese, 'it' could be translated as' that child (A-NO-KO) '.
"'It' is an evil god that is suppressed at Mawang Shrine. No one can remember its name, but it is undeniably extremely evil and powerful …" When he said that, Tsukamoto seemed to be reminded of something, and his hands paused. "Sigh …" For some reason, he sighed. "Then … on the night of the Sanskrit Festival, Miyamoto snuck into the shrine. I believe … at the time, he was probably haunted by Suzuki's Specter. Driven by fear and desperation, he ran to the shrine to pray for God's protection. But … it was not God that responded to Miyamoto but … 'it'. "
"You mean …" An Yueqin heard this and continued, "Miyamoto released 'it'?"
"Yes, Miyamoto destroyed the Dharma of the three Bodhisattvas and tore open the seal that was suppressing 'it'," Tsukamoto said in a low voice. "And 'it', who regained its freedom, fulfilled its promise and helped Miyamoto deal with Suzuki's soul. But … Miyamoto soon realized that the thing that he had released was far scarier than Suzuki's Specter.
"'It' first descended on this school at the foot of the mountain. The next day, your homeroom teacher, Mr. Sato, encountered 'it' and lost his mind because of it.
Miyamoto didn't hold on for long. Two days later, he committed suicide at home due to excessive fear … "
So far, what Tsukamoto said matched the information that Brother Jue found in the old newspaper.
However, the content of the newspaper ended there, but Tsukamoto's story … was not.
"Unfortunately, 'it' wasn't going to stop there. Its killing had just begun …" Tsukamoto continued. "Two days after Miyamoto's suicide, a bloody case that shocked the whole of Japan happened in this school. It was known as the '520 Massacre.' On that day, several teachers and more than a dozen students in this school were killed in extremely cruel ways. When the police arrived at the scene, what they saw was a scene of purgatory on earth, and … seven survivors. "
At this point, Tsukamoto seemed to have finished his work. He looked up and glanced at the players. "Those seven people were second-year Class A students, which means … you guys."
"Wait …" Xiao Ling replied. "That's not right … we … there are only six of us."
"To be precise, there are six ghosts," Tsukamoto corrected her. "I know that … Listen to me and you'll know why there are only six of you left."
"That …" Xiao Tan seemed to suddenly remember something and said, "About the massacre … you said that 'it' killed everyone, but … how did the police close the case?"
"That case … there was no conclusion," Tsukamoto replied. "The police finally closed the case with 'the murderer could not be found.' They … would rather bear all the pressure of public opinion than publicize the results of their investigation."
"Why?" Xiao Tan asked again.
"I … seem to have guessed the reason …" At this moment, An Yueqin's expression became a little strange.
"Oh? What's the reason? "Xiao Ling also asked curiously.
"I think …" An Yueqin looked at Tsukamoto. "It's better for him to tell us …"
"Hmm …" Tsukamoto exhaled through his nostrils and continued, "The truth is difficult to accept, because the results of the investigation showed that … the ones who committed the massacre were the seven surviving eight-year-old children."
…
At the same time, Feng Bujue and Li Ruo Yu were on the same side.
The two walked quickly in the corridor for five or six minutes, and then they saw a light in front of them.
They quickly approached the light source and found that it was the exit of the corridor.
So, the two turned off the flashlights in their hands and walked out of the oppressive corridor.
When Ruo Yu, who was walking behind them, stepped out of the corridor, the mirage-like corridor behind them disappeared. When they looked back, they could only see a few ordinary country roads.
And the scenery that appeared in front of them … was the gate of Chongjiu Elementary School.
"Oh … is this another illusion?" Feng Bujue looked at the bright sun above his head and the school in front of him, and said with a smile.
"That's for sure." Ruo Yu continued, "Let's not talk about the time factor (it's impossible for the sun to rise so soon). In terms of space, we are now outside of Chongjiu Elementary School. If this is not an illusion, then we have already passed the level, right?"
"Then …" Brother Bujue continued, "Let's go in and take a look?"
"Let's go," Ruo Yu responded.
After the two of them finished talking, they walked into the "daytime version" of Chongjiu Primary School ….
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