Chapter 28: Dragon Cry Middle School (Part 5) Part 2

Yet because of its power to make the fake real, countless people still flocked to it.

Ye Xuechun scratched his head. “Creating something from nothing? That’s too unscientific. Does something like the Mountains and Rivers Brush really exist? Feels like the Divine Temple made it up.”

He muttered the last part very softly, afraid other Oracles might overhear and snitch.

To lend credibility, Jiang Yiyue explained, “You’ve heard of the ‘drawing dragons and dotting the eyes’ story, right? The protagonist, Zhang Sengyao, used the Mountains and Rivers Brush for that.”

“Even if the Mountains and Rivers Brush exists, it seems hard to snatch,” Ye Xuechun said. “You entered this Weird Domain just for it? What if you can’t get it? You’d have come for nothing.”

Jiang Yiyue muttered softly, “I know it sounds overreaching, but I nearly died in the last Weird Domain. I realized I can’t stay weak. Even if I don’t get the Mountains and Rivers Brush, I have to kill the Weird of this domain to boost my Spirit Energy. I never want to be at others’ mercy again!”

That feeling of powerlessness was too agonizing. Before, she had always fled from Weirds, stagnating in place.

But after that last experience, she knew evasion was useless. Hesitating only delayed death. Only by fighting proactively could she grasp a chance at survival.

Ye Xuechun didn’t mock her ambition. Instead, he said earnestly, “Thanks for sharing the clue about the Mountains and Rivers Brush. I hope you achieve your goal.”

Jiang Yiyue opened her mouth to say more, but the class bell rang just then.

Yun Xueqing said, “Back to class.”

Jiang Yiyue nodded and finally warned, “A lot of people from the Divine Temple came to this Weird Domain. Be careful.”

Her words jolted Yun Xueqing: Did Jiang Yiyue know Fu Wuxuan’s identity?

Hadn’t Su Bai successfully erased her memories last time?

But no matter how many questions, there were no answers now. He could only ask her next time they met.

The morning’s first two periods were Chinese classes—perfect naptime for the mentally exhausted Yun Xueqing, letting him doze openly in class.

The next two periods involved dealing with Weird classes, requiring taut focus. He finally endured through the morning. At lunchtime, the three met at the pavilion to exchange information.

Fu Wuxuan rested his fingertip on his chin. “People from the Divine Temple, huh? I’ve already noticed that there are quite a few from the Divine Temple in the school, disguised as students and blending in among them.”

Yun Xueqing had still been a bit drowsy, but upon hearing this, he lifted his eyelids. “Then you should be careful not to let them discover your identity.”

After all, he now had a deadly grudge against the Divine Temple, and he couldn’t use his Oracle powers at the moment. If he were discovered, it would mean death.

Fu Wuxuan tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile that wasn’t all that relaxed. “Although I work for the Divine Temple, not many people recognize my face. Only the higher-ups in the Divine Temple have seen it.”

Yun Xueqing asked, “You’re still wrapped in bandages even in the Divine Temple?”

He had previously thought the other party was injured and had no choice but to wrap himself in bandages, but now it seemed like it was just a habit.

Fu Wuxuan felt it necessary to explain. “In the Divine Temple, it’s not bandages; it’s a mask—a very handsome mask.”

He deliberately emphasized the latter half of the sentence.

Yun Xueqing pressed, “Why wear a mask?”

Was there some unavoidable reason to hide his identity?

As he pondered this, he heard Fu Wuxuan chuckle lazily, a somewhat roguish expression appearing on his face. “Because it’s handsome.”

As a high-level figure in the Divine Temple and the savior they publicly promoted, wearing a mask gave him an air of mystery and distance, making him seem unattainable. That was the only way to match the prestige and status of a savior.

Yun Xueqing remarked, “…Though the motive is pretty shallow, it’s convenient for escaping now.”

Ye Xuechun, listening to their conversation from the side, looked utterly confused. “Are you two speaking in riddles? Fu Wuxuan, are you being hunted by the Divine Temple people?”

Fu Wuxuan had no intention of revealing his identity to him and casually made up a lie. “Because I didn’t like the Divine Temple’s current High Priest, so one time I masked up, passed by, and beat him up. Then the Divine Temple started chasing me.”

This reason sounded far-fetched, but Ye Xuechun felt that with Fu Wuxuan’s personality, he could totally do something like that. He casually agreed. “The Divine Temple’s current High Priest? You mean the former High Priest Leng Xian’s younger brother Leng Yin? That guy’s not much to look at. I heard his Spirit Energy isn’t that strong either—just this gloomy vibe, nothing like Leng Xian at all.”

At this point, he couldn’t help but sigh. “Speaking of which, that Dong Jun is totally insane. I used to admire him so much, but he inexplicably killed the High Priest. Weren’t they supposed to be good brothers? Why did he kill the High Priest? Internal strife? Or fighting for power?”

He spoke like a young man casually commenting on current events from the newspaper—part lament, part casual gripe—completely unaware that he was trash-talking the real deal right in front of him.

Yun Xueqing kindly reminded him, “We should probably avoid this topic.”

Ye Xuechun lightly replied, “Oh,” then suggested, “How about we exchange information then?”

Yun Xueqing and Ye Xuechun shared the matters about the Orphanage and the Mountains and Rivers Brush, while Fu Wuxuan smiled faintly. “I don’t have much here, just investigated the causes of death for the Yin Shixing and Yin Yan brothers.”

Ye Xuechun asked, “How did you investigate?”

They had tried asking classmates too, but the classmates’ mouths were tighter than a duck’s beak—they wouldn’t spill a single detail about the brothers no matter what.

Fu Wuxuan smiled. “I’m a teacher, after all. I have some special methods, like gently telling them that if they don’t talk about these two brothers, I’ll take them to the office for a chat. Once they heard that, they were very cooperative.”

Clearly, Fu Wuxuan was threatening the classmates, but his tone was light and airy, carrying a faint chill. When it reached Ye Xuechun’s ears, he inexplicably shivered, feeling a bit scared: Why did the other party keep looking at him with that subtle expression today?

Yun Xueqing calmly asked, “How did they die?”

Fu Wuxuan’s tone remained that light and floating quality, never quite landing. “Yin Shixing is unclear, but Yin Yan died by jumping off a building.”

Jumping off a building—this method of death easily made them think of the students who had jumped in the past couple of days.

“What was the specific reason?”

Fu Wuxuan shook his head. “That, I couldn’t find out, no matter how I threatened or cajoled them.”

Yun Xueqing showed no reaction, while Ye Xuechun sighed. “Doesn’t that mean the clue is broken again?”

Fu Wuxuan smiled. “Not necessarily.”

“There’s another clue?”

“No,” under their gazes, Fu Wuxuan drawled slowly, “but we can find it ourselves.”

Ye Xuechun asked, “How do we find it? We can’t just summon their souls and ask the Yin brothers directly, right?”

Fu Wuxuan grinned. “No need for us to summon him—he’ll come on his own.”

Yun Xueqing’s eyes flickered as he immediately understood. “Earthbound Spirit.”

Fu Wuxuan nodded, a look of approval on his face. “Smart, exactly that idea.”

Those who died by suicide would repeat the scene of their death, especially those who jumped to their deaths—they would, at midnight 12 o’clock, endlessly repeat the process of their demise at the spot where they died.

These spirits trapped in repeating death couldn’t enter the reincarnation cycle and were collectively known in the occult world as Earthbound Spirits.

Ye Xuechun’s face fell. “But we have curfew at night. If we don’t head back by 11, the Dorm Supervisor might kill us.”

Fu Wuxuan pulled a grin. “No problem. You two can stay in the dorm; I can go alone.”

Letting the other go alone to face the Earthbound Spirit made Ye Xuechun’s conscience twinge a bit. As he wrestled with the dilemma, he heard Fu Wuxuan’s tone turn eerie. “Your dorm has a mini Weird Domain too, right? Staying long-term with those two Female Ghosts will easily lead to assimilation.”

Ye Xuechun: “…”

Mentioning this made him feel a real ache.

Yun Xueqing noted, “You have them there too?”

“Of course, it’s the same school. You two are in the student dorms, while I’m in the staff dorms—can’t escape either,” Fu Wuxuan sneered. “But I live alone, so I get to enjoy the company of two Female Ghosts at once.”

Yun Xueqing asked, “Is there a way to kill them?”

If they didn’t figure out a solution soon, in another two nights, forget Ye Xuechun—even he himself might have his sanity affected.

“Temporarily no leads, but I’ve figured out the origin of these Female Ghosts,” Fu Wuxuan explained leisurely. “Dragoncry Middle School was originally a girls’ school, only admitting female students. In the Weird Domain, a school full of girls has heavy yin energy, an imbalance of yin and yang, leading some to mutate.”

Ye Xuechun asked, “Those Female Ghosts are the mutated female students?”

“No,” Fu Wuxuan shook his head. “Though it was a girls’ school, it bizarrely hired male teachers and a male Dorm Supervisor. They embodied yang, but yang couldn’t withstand the yin—they were the first to be invaded and mutated.”

Yun Xueqing said, “The first to mutate was the Dorm Supervisor.”

“Exactly,” Fu Wuxuan explained. “Remember Dragoncry’s school motto?”

Ye Xuechun recalled, “Hoping sons become dragons, one roar amazes the world?”

Fu Wuxuan continued, “Dragoncry Middle School valued grades above all. The Weirdified teachers and Dorm Supervisor’s mindsets became extremely radical due to the school motto—any behavior unrelated to studying would be harshly punished.”

Yun Xueqing inferred from his words, “So the Female Ghosts locked in the mirrors are actually the punished female students?”

Fu Wuxuan nodded. “Some girls loved beauty—that’s human nature—but when the mutated Dorm Supervisor checked the dorms and saw girls doing things unrelated to studying, he punished them.”

Ye Xuechun’s eyes widened. “What punishment?”

Fu Wuxuan paused for a moment before saying, “Since those beauty-loving girls liked looking in mirrors, the Dorm Supervisor locked them inside the mirrors.”

People who loved mirrors, yet trapped inside them, forever reflecting others’ faces but never their own—that was the cruelest punishment.

The female students locked in the mirrors gradually Weirdified amid the accumulating resentment day by day, ultimately fully becoming Weirds, integrating with this Weird Domain.

Ye Xuechun was speechless for a moment. “This school is way too bizarre.”

Yun Xueqing’s expression cooled slightly. “This school has too many secrets, too many unknown things.”

The smile on Fu Wuxuan’s face eased, a faint chill at the corners of his mouth. “No matter how many secrets it’s hiding, we’ll know tonight.”

Tonight, they would meet the Earthbound Spirit.