When Qi Bai realized the situation was bad, she finally remembered the companion she had forgotten in the back of her mind.
But when she turned to look, there was no one behind her!
In just a few seconds of turning, everything around her suddenly felt utterly unfamiliar.
The previously clean and tidy stairwell was now covered in dust. The nearby handrail was rusted, the mottled iron stains in the dim light almost looking like dried blood.
Looking at the once-white walls, large patches of plaster had fallen off, leaving a gray, darkened tone spreading across the surface. Amid the chaotic darkness, several handprints were clearly visible.
“This is…” Qi Bai walked to the corner of the stairwell.
The scene before her blanked her mind.
The corner seemed like a separation zone: downwards led to the old stairwell as before, but upwards looked like a path straight to the gates of hell.
Dried, blackened, foul-smelling blood was splattered like a tipped-over paint bucket, covering floors and walls in large patches.
Red had become the most common color here.
Blood-stained handprints, claw marks from people struggling for their lives, and desperate messages left in blood by those in their final moments…
“Don’t… go!”
“Stop… the demon…”
“This isn’t a school!”
Qi Bai tried to decipher the writing on the walls, attempting to understand what had happened here.
Before coming, she had tried to ask Liu Changyu, who only warned her not to explore this place and didn’t know any further details.
The writings mentioned a school, so the witnesses of this stairwell incident must have believed they were in a school.
But something violent likely occurred, causing a logical contradiction in perception.
Coupled with the series of strange events Qi Bai had already experienced here, she strongly suspected she was encountering something supernatural.
After all, in a world with gods, encountering ghosts or spirits was hardly extraordinary.
But where was Chen Anlan?
He hadn’t run off in fear, had he?
Qi Bai’s mind flashed with a saying from her past life “Those who follow the protagonist aren’t necessarily teammates they could also be cannon fodder!”
She really didn’t want to be placed in that role!
Qi Bai felt a swirl of emotions inside, but outwardly she maintained a calm demeanor.
Behind her, on a wall, a pair of glaring eyes appeared, yellowed sclera bloodshot, staring unblinkingly at Qi Bai.
Qi Bai immediately sensed the anomaly behind her and whipped around…
The black wall was empty nothing at all.
The stairwell was silent, the only sound being her own breathing.
The previous anomaly felt like a hallucination.
A sudden unease gripped her this sensation of perceiving something yet not seeing it was deeply unsettling.
The unknown breeds fear!
Extreme fear breeds terror!
Too much terror breeds horror!
So… should she be afraid now?
Qi Bai thought, ill-timed.
But…
“System, query the C-Building rooftop bleeding incident at Imperial Capital University!”
Aside from some petty campus brawls, a key report appeared before her.
Imperial Capital University 521 Bleeding Incident At least the keywords were correct. Even if the report wasn’t entirely reliable, Qi Bai still had to try.
Query successful, points spent: 100.
Report: On Angel Star, Year 218, May 21, a sparse-starred night, the annual “Campus Festival” was held on the rooftop of C-Building. Many faculty and students of Imperial Capital University participated. During the lively evening, chaos struck: several performers went berserk, rushing off the stage to attack others; some students in the crowd underwent sudden transformations and assaulted those around them. The rooftop was drenched in blood. Government intervention followed. As it occurred on May 21, it is known by that date.
Campus festival?
On Blue Star, this would be akin to a temple fair.
Qi Bai wondered if it had the same meaning in this world.
Query “Campus Festival” traditions at Imperial Capital University.
Query successful, points spent: 50.
Report: Imperial Capital University was built on the core of an ancient battlefield. The campus founders were ancient heroes of that era. To inherit their wisdom and spirit, the “Huiying Society” and the “Campus Festival” were established. Due to the extreme violence of the “Rooftop God Festival Incident,” and to protect the reputation of the university’s noble students, the Campus Festival was officially canceled on June 6, Year 218.
Huiying Society?
This was a familiar term. Since it appeared alongside the festival, it was likely closely related.
Query Huiying Society activities prior to May 22, Year 218.
Query successful, points spent: 50.
Report: Major activities of the Huiying Society mainly involved elite selection and assessment. Formal members participated in significant university decisions, such as voting in noble tribunal judgments. Before Year 175, selection assessments were public, evaluating candidates’ overall abilities. After changes, elections were limited to high nobles, and assessments became private. For example, in Year 218, assessments involved “methods to surpass human limits” given by the previous members. Some candidates used extreme measures, resulting in serious consequences. Assessment methods were then changed from free-team trials to team-based trials under special department supervision.
Qi Bai, reading the system’s report, already pieced together the sequence of events.
In Year 218, some Huiying Society candidates, trying to pass the assessment, resorted to unscrupulous methods. The incident occurred on May 21 on the rooftop.
Qi Bai studied the far end of the stairwell again, unaware that behind her, a pair of enormous eyes had appeared once more on the wall.
The giant eyes were wide, showing a hint of confusion.
Qi Bai ignored them, her attention fully captured by the old iron door ahead.
It was a simple aluminum-alloy door, but its surface was warped and dented. Clear handprints made by someone pounding on it were visible.
Qi Bai traced the tormented door with her hands, sensing the screams, desperate slaps, and violent struggles of the students.
“Dong dong ”
“Dong dong ”
Like water droplets hitting a perforated metal sheet.
Before Qi Bai could locate the source, a cold breeze touched her nose a strong metallic smell of blood and rust exploded around her nostrils.
She quickly covered her nose with her hand and pressed herself against the wall.
Sure enough, when she lifted her hand, it was sticky and wet. Opening her palm, black-red pus and blood had covered her hand.
Instinctively, she looked up.