Feng Bujue and Passing Rain parted ways on the field. The former walked around the main building to head deeper into the school while the latter entered the education block that faced the school gate.
If the two could work together, this scenario would not be that difficult. They could discuss puzzles and share the burden of battles. When something scary happened, it would feel much better to have someone by his side. But now, they were restricted to work alone and had to complete the phone call that was obviously a trap. In other words, the difficulty and danger of the scenario had at least doubled.
In the earlier ballad, there were many clues about the location and specific objects, like the well, the steps, the mirror, the piano, and so on.
Disregarding everything else, the well was probably not in a building, nor would it be near a place like a football field. Therefore, it was most likely to be at a corner near the wall.
Feng Bujue followed this train of thought and walked around the main building. The moon was shining brightly, and it was like silver frost. There was no need to turn on the flashlight to see the road ahead. He did not move fast, and he kept looking at the time on his phone. It was time to make the call at the tenth minute.
Of the five elements, water was in the north, and Feng Bujue happened to find a well on the northern side of the school. The edge of the well was not high. It was made from white stones, and the surface of the stones was uneven. The mouth of the well was not sealed, but there were no ropes or buckets either.
About ten meters away from the well was an L-shaped building. Looking in from the window, one could see a long bucket and a row of faucets. Feng Bujue walked to the door and found some metal buckets and mops. It looked like this was a place to store cleaning tools.
Feng Bujue first entered the building to look around. He even counted the number of faucets and mops, but he did not find any useful clues. He walked out from the building and saw that the time had reached 9 minutes and 27 seconds. He picked up his phone and pressed the speed dial button.
The phone did not automatically dial, but a sentence appeared on screen. "Time is not up yet. Your next call should be from 10: 00 to 10: 45."
"So, that's how it is. I can only dial the number forty-five seconds after the time is up," Feng Bujue mumbled. He waited for half a minute, and when the time on the phone turned to ten minutes, he pressed the speed dial button. A string of numbers quickly appeared on the screen, and the first call began.
The beep only lasted for a single time before Passing Rain picked up the call.
At the end of the day, they were friends in the game. After entering the scenario, they had not exchanged a single word. Feng Bujue wanted to be courteous and say something along the lines of, "What a coincidence!" to greet the man, but before he could say anything, the man cut straight to the chase. "This main building is bigger than I expected, and the lights inside cannot be switched on. After entering the building, there are several rows of shoe lockers, and after passing them, there is a horizontal corridor. There is a map of the floor on the wall. For now, I'm still on the first floor. The plan is to search every floor, from 1F to the rooftop. I'll check every door. So far, there is nothing out of the ordinary. How are things on your side? "
This was the first time Feng Bujue had heard her speak so much in one breath, and he was not used to it. However, he understood that one minute was precious, and when Passing Rain answered the phone, she might be holding the phone to her ear with one hand and holding the lamp with the other. If she was ambushed at that moment, she would be in great danger. She would not even have time to grab her weapon.
Therefore, Feng Bujue followed her lead and replied quickly, "I found a well. It should be the place mentioned in the first sentence. I'm planning to study it." He paused for a second. "I'll give you a brief rundown of the song. The second sentence is referring to the ghost story of the 'thirteen steps'. I've taken a look around. There are three rather tall buildings on the campus, and the main building is the tallest. It has seven floors and a rooftop. I believe there is a high chance of triggering this scenario when you go up the stairs. Remember to count the number of steps. If there are thirteen steps on a floor, it means that you've entered a space filled with ghosts.
The third sentence should be referring to the toilet. If you hear the sound of water dripping coming from one of the toilets, then there is a high chance that … "
Du … Du … Du …
The busy tone continued. The one minute was over, and their first call ended just like that. The next call would have to wait fifteen minutes for Passing Rain to call Feng Bujue.
Even though Feng Bujue did not finish, that was all he could do. Actually, his reminder was unnecessary. Passing Rain had heard about the story of the thirteenth step before, and she remembered the content of the ballad more or less. In terms of fighting ability, Feng Bujue was overly worried about his opponent. He should be worried about himself.
He moved the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen. Feng Bujue tried calling again, and this time, the message that appeared said, "The time is not up yet. Your next call should be from 40: 00 to 40: 45."
"Hmm … I think I understand the meaning of this call now." Feng Bujue said, "One minute is barely enough to say a few words. The main purpose of this call is not for the players to help each other but for the players to drag each other down …"
His guess was correct … The system would only create this kind of setting for two players who were both very powerful. With their ability, even if they were separated, it would not create unbearable pressure.
However, the worry they had for their teammates could become a burden for them.
First, the two would be told that they could not travel together. Even if they ran into each other, they would not be able to communicate. Every once in a while, they would have to talk. Those who did not dial the other's number or did not pick up in time would be chased by the ghosts.
One could imagine what would happen if one of them did not receive the call from the other when the time was up, or if the other party did not pick up even though they had dialed the number. Then the person involved would be worried and would wonder why the other party did not pick up the call. Had they missed the call? Or had something happened to them? Other than that … would the other party be able to handle the ghost chase?
Even though the game's team menu showed whether the other party was still alive or not, that would not change anything because that was the only information provided by the menu. Other information like whether they were injured, where they were, how high their Terror Points were, and so on, would not change anything. Even if one of them had his leg severed by a ghost and was bleeding inside a locker, the other party would not be able to help. The person who was not chased would only have his mind filled with random thoughts. In the end, he would make a mistake due to the influence of his emotions.
Therefore … this kind of setting was better off without it. They could not talk at all and could not run into each other. It would save them a lot of trouble.
…
Since the phone could not be placed inside the backpack, and the pocket of the newbie outfit was purposely designed to be too shallow to fit anything, Feng Bujue had no choice but to hold the phone in his hand.
Even though he had no idea whether it would work or not, he still took out the wrench and held it in his other hand as he slowly approached the well. His steps were steady, and his nerves were taut. If any kind of trigger was triggered, he would react immediately.
The air around him suddenly turned cold. Just as Feng Bujue was about two to three meters away from the mouth of the well, a voice that sounded like a moan came intermittently from below. "Save … save … me …"
After the voice, the scene before Feng Bujue changed. In the next second, the night turned into dusk.
Beside him, a small and thin boy appeared. He was wearing a school uniform and a pair of glasses. Another three guys who looked like delinquents surrounded him and were talking at the same time. From time to time, they would knock on the boy's head or push him.
"Is this a replay of my death?" Feng Bujue said as he reached out to touch them. As he expected, his arm was like air, passing through their bodies. He could not touch them at all.
Therefore, he patiently watched, wanting to see what would happen next.
Actually, it was nothing special. It was just a simple extortion. However, the boy said that he did not have any money left and mumbled a few words. The delinquents were naturally unhappy. The boy was punched in the stomach, and he squatted down in pain. Then, he was kicked and beaten.
After beating him like this for a while, the three people seemed to have a new idea. They dragged him to the side of the well. One of them grabbed the back of the boy's collar and suspended his upper body above the well. The other two each grabbed one of his legs and raised it almost the same height as the edge of the well.
The boy was naturally afraid. He flailed his arms and yelled for them to stop, but the three did not seem to mind. If anything, they just laughed. This lasted for less than a minute. Then, tragedy struck. The boy fell down. It was unknown whether he was dead or alive.
At this time, the three delinquents were a little scared. They said a few words to deceive themselves, "I … I didn't want to let go … it's … it's because he moved around that … that he fell down, right … right?"
"Ah … Yes … Yes … This guy was careless …"
Just like that, they abandoned the boy and left without calling for help.
In the next second, all these illusions disappeared.
It was still a cold night. Feng Bujue was still standing two meters away from the well. He did not move. He looked at his phone again. When it happened, time had not passed.
"Save me …" The voice sounded again.
Feng Bujue took a deep breath and leaned closer to the well.
…
At the same time, in the main building.
In one of the staff offices, Passing Rain found a newspaper article that had been cut out on a desk. This piece of paper was very eye-catching. The content had been scratched out with a pen, and there were a few key words. One of them was the name of the school — Ye Jie High School. The main content of the article was about a dry well in the school.
In the sixth year of Heisei, a high school student named Takashi Tanaka was found dead in the dry well of Ye Jie High School. At the time, the police investigation concluded that it was an "accident." However, there was a rumor in the school that Tanaka might have committed suicide because he was bullied.
A week later, the three boys who often bullied Tanaka left home on the same night. After that, they were declared missing. In the end, their bodies were found in the dry well.
This time, although the police took this case seriously, they were unable to find the "murderer." In the end, the case was left unsolved.
"Tanaka's spirit came back for revenge." This kind of rumor quickly spread among the students.
In the seventh year of Heisei, another boy, Sakagami Yuichi, fell into a well and died. When the body was examined, in addition to the injuries caused by the fall, there were many strange bite marks on the body. The bite marks came from at least four different people.
Sakagami was a well-known bully in the school. His friend gave the police a statement that they were smoking nearby that day. Sakagami said that he seemed to have heard a cry of "save me." However, his friend did not hear it. He thought that Sakagami was joking and went home alone.
In the winter of the same year, two local biker gang members were found dead in the well. There were also more bite marks on their bodies. The fingers of the two victims were bitten off and could not be found.
In the eighth year of Heisei, the school sealed the well with cement. After that, there were no incidents for the next two years.
In the tenth year of Heisei, the cement cover of the well cracked for unknown reasons.
In the summer of the same year, three students went missing. On the tenth day after the first student went missing, a terrible stench came from the cracks of the well. The school had no choice but to break open the cement and found three more corpses in the well. The corpses had suffered different degrees of damage. Except for the head, which was intact, the rest of the body was shattered.
The rumor spread among the students and teachers again. "If you hear the cries of the spirit in the well for help, do not look. Otherwise, you will be dragged down."
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