Chapter 25 | The Crazy Persona Must Not Collapse

Before long, Ye Li spotted Le Jun waiting on the sports field from afar.

Yet surprisingly, there was no thick fog billowing behind Le Jun at the moment.

Unlike before, when the dense fog had converged toward the center from all around the campus, this time it seemed to originate from the back gate and spread straight toward the front gate.

Le Jun had clearly noticed the unusual situation on Ye Li's end as well and ran over to meet them.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“No idea.” Ye Li shook her head, panting. “Where are Qi Yezhou and the others?”

“They're waiting over by the classroom building.” Le Jun joined their sprint.

“Let’s regroup with them first.”

Ye Li and the others continued rushing toward the classroom building.

The thick fog was spreading faster and faster, that eerie rustling sound practically right behind them, leaving them no choice but to push their pace even harder and run for their lives.

At last, right before the thick fog could overtake them, they reached Qi Yezhou and Luo Jiajia waiting under the clock tower.

All seven of them had successfully rendezvoused.

“Look! The fog stopped!” Le Jun blurted out suddenly.

Ye Li looked back and saw that the thick fog had indeed halted at the perimeter of the classroom building, no longer spreading forward.

Swirling all around them, the dense fog spared only the classroom building and the small plaza in front of it.

Only then did Ye Li stop, resting her hands on her hips, completely winded. Her lungs felt like they were about to burst, and a dry, nauseating tightness gripped her throat, accompanied by the faint, coppery tang of iron.

She never imagined this “surprise” would be so deadly—it had nearly run her to death!

Aside from Le Jun, who had joined them halfway, Yi Lin’s trio was in no better shape, each panting and utterly exhausted.

Chen Xiaoxiao, who had long since kicked off her boots and been running barefoot the entire way, collapsed onto her backside, unable to even pull herself back up.

Although they had already suspected as much, seeing Ye Li actually bring Yi Lin's trio back still left Le Jun and the others astonished.

Luo Jiajia, in particular, wore an expression not just of shock, but of uncontrollable panic.

Right at that moment, light suddenly blazed from the classroom building, looking dazzlingly bright against the dark surroundings.

Stung by the sudden glare, everyone reflexively shut their eyes and turned their heads away.

Once their eyes adjusted to the glare and they looked back, they saw that the dilapidated, abandoned classroom building had reverted to its clean, pristine daytime state. A light had turned on in the center of the hallway on every single floor, yet the place remained utterly deserted.

“Ah—!”

Beside them, Luo Jiajia suddenly shrieked.

Trembling all over with terror etched across her face, she pointed at the ground ahead and screamed, “Blood! There’s blood on the ground...!”

Following her gaze, everyone saw a large puddle of dried blood manifesting on the pavement ahead.

The outline of the stain traced an odd shape, vaguely resembling the silhouette of a human body.

It was as if someone had once lain prone there while blood pooled and flowed around them...

Ye Li's dark eyes flickered slightly, realizing something in an instant.

The others caught on as well.

An eerie silence fell over the air, a creeping chill settling into everyone's hearts.

Just then, Qi Yezhou, who had been standing beside Luo Jiajia, abruptly looked up at the building ahead. No one knew what he saw, but his expression warped drastically, and heedless of everything, he bolted straight toward the classroom building.

By the time anyone reacted, he had already vanished into the dim stairwell, leaving behind only the sound of rapid footsteps heading up.

The remaining six exchanged glances, uncertain whether they should follow him.

Yet even as they hesitated, the grotesque “minced flesh” previously concealed within the thick fog began seeping out from all directions, slowly writhing toward Ye Li and the others.

Yi Lin's trio hadn't witnessed how horrifying these abominations were, but Le Jun and his companions had experienced it firsthand.

In unison, everyone turned their eyes toward Ye Li.

“What do we do now?” Le Jun asked.

“What else can we do?” Ye Li rubbed her chin. Her tone was helpless, yet her eyes gleamed with interest. “Go upstairs and check it out!”

This “minced flesh” was clearly herding them into the classroom building. If they didn't go in, they would die.

So what were they waiting for? Time to go adventuring!

Unlike Ye Li's palpable excitement, the others were weighed down with dread and anxiety.

In their eyes, the classroom building was like a terrifying monster gaping with wide jaws, waiting for its prey to deliver themselves into its maw.

The entire classroom building was an L-shaped structure spanning six stories, with seven classrooms on each floor—two floors per grade.

There were staircases at either end: the right staircase was at the far end next to the restrooms, while the left staircase sat at the inner corner of the L-shape.

Qi Yezhou had sprinted up the staircase at the inner corner, so Ye Li and the others prepared to take that way as well.

Before heading up, however, Ye Li picked a nearby classroom at random and pushed the door open to take a look inside.

Reluctant to step inside, the others waited by the classroom doorway; only Le Jun followed her in.

Ye Li reached out to flip the light switch, but the lights didn't turn on.

Inside the dim classroom, rows of wooden desks and chairs stood in neat lines. Open textbooks and workbooks were scattered across the desks, making it seem as if only a second ago the room had been bustling with students talking and laughing, only for everyone to vanish into thin air the next instant.

The eerie scene provoked an inexplicable sense of dread.

Ye Li picked up a textbook from the desk in front of her and casually flipped through it. Finding nothing unusual, she was about to put it back when she noticed a strange texture against her fingers.

Lifting the textbook again, she carefully felt the cover and indeed discovered something on it.

Leaning down, she used the light filtering in from the hallway to inspect the desk surface and saw a small pinch of grayish-white powder, resembling ashes left behind after something had burned.

“Find anything?” Le Jun leaned over and asked in a low voice.

“A bit of ash,” Ye Li said, picking up a book from the neighboring desk as well. She found ashes underneath that one, too.

Seeing this, Le Jun casually turned over books on several other desks and indeed spotted the same powder beneath all of them.

“Looks like it's on every desk.” Curiosity piqued, Le Jun pinched a bit of the ash and rubbed it between his fingertips. “What kind of ash is this? The color is a bit weird.”