CH 12

“Putting it that way,” Lin Yi said, “it seems I’m the one who’s the most miserable.” 

Qin Zhou was about to say something else when there was another movement in Room 309.

“Xu Xiazhi…” Qu Jialiang suddenly thought of something, he threw himself at Xu Xiazhi, grabbing Xu Xiazhi’s collar. “Is your window closed?”

Xu Xiazhi looked awkward. He had already guessed what Qu Jialiang was going to say.

Sure enough, Qu Jialiang said, “Let me stay in your room tonight, okay? That way I won’t die.” 

Seeing Xu Xiazhi not saying anything, Qu Jialiang said, “The rules of death didn’t say that we aren’t allowed to room with someone else. Xu Xiazhi, please save me, save me.”

This was the easiest way, but also the most dangerous.

Without anyone in the room to obstruct that thing, it would be even easier for it to climb in through the window. Although there was no one in the room, the rule of death would have already been violated. No one could guarantee that the thing won’t chase Qu Jialiang to Xu Xiazhi’s room. Moreover, it might also kill Xu Xiazhi as well.

Qin Zhou glanced at Lin Yi and found that Lin Yi was staring pensively at Xu Xiazhi. He asked, “Did you discover anything?”

“Senior,” Lin Yi called to Qin Zhou and leaned to the side. He then whispered, “He’s acting a little weird.”

Qin Zhou asked, “Who? Xu Xiazhi?”

“En.” Lin Yi said, “I feel that Xu Xiazhi is unwilling to save Qu Jialiang.”

He had clearly seen that Xu Xiazhi was protecting Qu Jialiang. 

Qin Zhou stared at Lin Yi and said after a while, “That’s normal.”

Lin Yi: “Why do you say that?”

Qin Zhou: “Human nature.”

Lin Yi pursed his lips and fell silent. 

It seemed that Qin Zhou was used to seeing such scenes. He patted Lin Yi on the shoulder. “Have you heard the phrase ‘In the face of danger, even mated pairs fly apart’?”

Lin Yi nodded.

“Good.” Qin Zhou said, “Then you should work it out yourself.”

Two seconds later, Qin Zhou asked Lin Yi, “Have you worked it out yet?” 

Lin Yi: “!”

How could he expect him to work it out that quickly!

“You’re a genius with an IQ of 143.” Qin Zhou said.

“Cigluta”. Olc Tl rjlv, “Ktfc. Vfclbg, ulnf wf akb wbgf rfmbcvr.” 

Hlc Itbe: “Mbgufa la.”

Olc Tl: “?”

Hlc Itbe: “Po sbe tjnf atf alwf ab atlcx jybea atfrf atlcur, sbe’gf yfaafg boo atlcxlcu jybea tbk sbe’gf ublcu ab ufa atgbeut abcluta.”

Ktfgf kfgf akb jmalnf geifr bo vfjat, mbeqifv klat atf ojma atja tf kjr yflcu ajgufafv ys atf 7-7 Zbcrafg, Olc Tl vfolclafis kbc’a yf tjnlcu la fjrs abcluta. 

But they only have so many clues at present. The doors on both sides of the corridor on the second floor were still locked; if they wanted to break through, they’ll have to find the old dorm manager.

The two headed back to the first floor. But this time, the old dorm manager just stared closely at them. Even when Qin Zhou tried touching the main door once again, the old dorm manager said nothing and simply kept staring at them with a look that unsettled Lin Yi.

Having hit a wall here, Lin Yi proposed to visit other dorm rooms. Although he agreed with Qin Zhou and believed that the things in each of the rooms had nothing to do with the rules of death, since those things exist, they must also represent something.

But most importantly, there was a chopstick missing from breakfast. 

They went to each room and with the reason of searching for clues, they turned each room upside down. Everyone agreed to let the two of them search; after all, one was the president of the student council and the other was the one who had discovered the rules of death.

Unfortunately, even after searching through every room, they were unable to find the missing chopstick. When they returned to Room 304, Lin Yi took out a piece of paper and though he had no idea of what use they could be, record the clues they’d found in each room.

Room 301, Zhou Lingling, cotton products.

Room 302, Li Ying, books. 

Room 303, Cheng Yang, musical instruments.

Room 304, Lin Yi, metal canister.

Room 305, Qinzhou, clothes and cosmetics.

Room 308, Xu Xiazhi, Tobacco. 

Room 309, Qu Jialiang, diving gear.

Qin Zhou looked at Lin Yi’s handwriting. The little genius’ handwriting was neat, each stroke clear and precise. It looked like an primary school honor student’s handwriting exercise. He asked, “Any ideas, little genius?”

Lin Yi shook his head. “None for now so I’m just writing these down first.”

Qin Zhou asked again, “What about tonight? Any plans on how you’re gonna get through it?” 

He looked up at the wardrobe in front of Room 304’s window. Even without the second rule of death, it seemed that the closet would have a hard time blocking that thing tonight.

Just as he asked this, there was the sound of movement from the corridor. It was easy to tell by the sound that it was of some large object being moved.

Lin Yi stepped forward and opened the door. Sure enough, he saw Xu Xiazhi moving the large objects in his room to Qu Jialiang’s Room 309.

Cheng Yang, who was in Room 303 next door also poked his head out to have a look. Seeing that Xu Xiazhi was struggling to move things by himself, he scolded, “F*ck this, I swear I have the heart of a Bodhisattva.” 

After cursing, he went over to help Xu Xiazhi.

Everyone had heard Qu Jialiang’s scream and new that the window in Room 309 was open.

Seeing Cheng Yang step forward to help, Zhou Lingling came out from Room 301 to help as well.

The only one remaining, the red-eyed Li Ying, stood in the corridor, looking at everyone. 

Lin Yi and Qin Zhou didn’t move. Lin Yi knew that these large objects were useless. That thing’s nails could scratch through even ten wardrobes. If they didn’t use some other way to stop it, it would only be a matter of time before that thing gets in.

Lin Yi mentioned this to Qu Jialiang when he went to Room 309 to look for the chopstick. Qu Jialiang, looking as though he’d lost his soul, hadn’t responded. Lin Yi had no idea whether he’d heard him or not.

Qin Zhou was sizing up these people.

Monsters have a strong imitation ability. They’ve learned how to speak, learn how to do things, even how to express human emotions. 

“Xu Xiazhi can basically be ruled out.” Qin Zhou said.

Lin Yi nodded. The reason why Qin Zhou said this was because although Xu Xiazhi was the first person to move the big objects out of his room and into another, Lin Yi had also moved his wardrobe the day before and they couldn’t guarantee that the Monster hadn’t seen this and copied it.

Thus Qin Zhou’s use of the word ‘basically’.

“Then Cheng Yang can be completely ruled out.” Lin Yi said. 

Cheng Yang had been the first to take the initiative to help.

So the ones remaining were…

Zhou Lingling and Li Ying.

Zhou Lingling saw Cheng Yang going to help and immediately went to help as well. Li Ying remained standing where she was, looking on with trepidation, showing sympathy. 

Qin Zhou said, “Monsters do learn from humans but that doesn’t mean it can use them immediately.”

Lin Yi thought for a while and said, “Does Senior suspect Senior Sister Li Ying?”

Qin Zhou glanced calmly at Li Ying, “Her presence has always been very low and she doesn’t speak much.”

The 7-7 Monster has always existed on the campus code as ‘to be added’, proving that the 7-7 Monster is trickier and more difficult to deal with than other Monsters. 

However, this time Lin Yi and Qin Zhou had different opinions. He was actually more suspicious of Zhou Lingling. Many times, Zhou Lingling would chime in only after somone had said something first. The same was true now, Cheng Yang went to help first and Zhou Lingling followed.

Finding that Lin Yi was silent, Qin Zhou guessed what Lin Yi was thinking and he too looked at Zhou Lingling. These large objects were not light and Xu Xiazhi and Cheng Yang both showed a labored expression when moving them, so Zhou Lingling also showed a labored expression.

However, once Xu Xiazhi moves something lighter — things that aren’t heavy for boys are not necessarily light for girls. If Zhou Lingling doesn’t show a labored expression then, it would be easy to lock in the 7-7 Monster.

After they helped Xu Xiazhi move the big things into room 309, Qu Jialiang’s angry voice broke out, “Xu Xiazhi, what you’re doing is f*cking useless! If you really want to save me them let me go to your room. If you don’t want to save me then stop putting on this show. Take these things with you! I- Don’t – Need – Them!” 

Cheng Yang let out a “hey”. “Look here, Senior Qu Jialiang, we’re doing you a favor. It’s not our duty to help. Why are you asking someone else to die to help you? Lin Yi Xiong’s window is also open. Why can Lin Yi Xiong save himself while you force others?”

“If you don’t want these things, fine.” Zhou Lingling’s voice also rang out. “Just forget it.”

Lin Yi and Qin Zhou looked at each other. Zhou Lingling always waited for someone else to say something before following along, except for the first night, when she poked Lin Yi in the back.

Qin Zhou said, “Wang Duo had poked me before she poked your back.” 

However, his eyes were still on Li Ying. Li Ying was no longer standing in the corridor. She headed to Room 309. When passing by Room 304, where Lin Yi and Qin Zhou were, she quickened her steps. She then pulled Zhou Lingling and whispered to her, “Lingling, he… he doesn’t need help. Just come back, I… I’m scare by myself.”

Another imitation.

“It’s probably one of the two of them.” Qin Zhou didn’t deny Lin Yi either. He looked back at Lin Yi and said, “Be careful.”

He had to stop that thing from coming it. He also had to stop it from seeing him and on top of that, the 7-7 Monster was coming to his door. Lin Yi’s margin for survival was being squeezed tighter and tighter. Actually, it didn’t seem like he had any chance of surviving this. 

There was now an extra open window and a new rule of death; lunch and dinner were basically deserted that day.

Soon, it was evening once again.

As soon as it got dark, Lin Yi heard footsteps.

Not from the open window, but from the corridor. 

Lin Yi glanced at the warped wardrobe, then slipped to the door and put his ear against it, wondering if the footsteps came from Zhou Lingling’s Room 301 or Li Ying’s Room 302.

However, as he listened, his expression sank.

The footsteps came neither from Room 301 nor Room 302, but from the other end of the corridor.

Room 309! 

Qu Jialiang didn’t stay in his room. He ran out into the corridor!

If that thing entered through the window of Room 309 and saw that Qu Jialiang wasn’t there, there would be two possibilities as to what that thing would do. One was that it would go and find Qu Jialiang and the other was that it would come to Room 304 and find Lin Yi, who was in his room and have a desperate fight with him this night.

Qin Zhou had also discovered Qu Jialiang’s death-seeking behavior. After cursing him “idiot”, he knocked on the wall. “Little genius, you…”

Before he could finish speaking, there was a scratching sound from the wardrobe. 

The thing had come.

Zi!

Zi! Zi!

Just like last night, Room 304 was completely cut off and Qin Zhou’s voice stopped abruptly.