Chapter 91: Death Class 7 (Part 15)

Shen Qingqiu wasn’t numb to pain. She just knew how to endure it. But she was completely unprepared this time. She couldn’t control her expression, and a wince marred her delicate, alluring image.

She let out a restrained grunt. As her body went limp from the pain, she crumpled forward right into Xiao Muyu’s arms.

“It hurts…” Shen Qingqiu sounded so pitiful.

Afraid she would pull her wound again, Xiao Muyu hurriedly caught Shen Qingqiu. She let out a quiet snort. “I thought you didn’t know pain. It’s good that it hurts. Now shut your mouth and save some strength.”

Cleaning the wound was sometimes more painful than the wound itself. Teeth clenched, Shen Qingqiu buried her head in Xiao Muyu’s shoulder, not making a sound.

Xiao Muyu found this scene unexpectedly familiar. That long-lost sensation rose in her heart again.

In Instance No. 002, she had also dressed Shen Qingqiu’s wounds. But she had completely different feelings back then. Curiosity and confusion had occupied most of her thoughts. This time, however, concern filled her heart.

Despite her ruthlessness earlier, seeing Shen Qingqiu in pain had her softening her voice. “It’ll be fine soon. Bear with it.”

Cleaning the wound was painful, but Xiao Muyu’s hands worked gently. She soon finished the task.

Shen Qingqiu took a deep breath. Sweat beaded down her forehead and dampened her hair, but she looked in a much better mood. She glanced down at the bandages around her waist. They were neatly wrapped and beautifully knotted.

“How are you so skilled?” Shen Qingqiu also thought this the last time Xiao Muyu bandaged her.

Xiao Muyu paused for a moment but didn’t speak. She glanced at her, then reached out, seemingly roughly, to wipe the sweat off her face.

Shen Qingqiu squinted her eyes, allowing her touch. The smile tugging at her lips appeared incredibly captivating on her pale, beautiful face.

Xiao Muyu unconsciously softened her movements.

“Leader Xiao, you should clean your wound, too.” Su Jin wisely broke the moment.

The two finally turned away from each other.

“That little game earlier confirmed my hypothesis,” said Xiao Muyu. “We’ve also gained two more pieces of information. The culprit is not Liu Ya but is connected to her. Liu Ya must have been involved in the bullying incident. However, based on what we know, the extra person is not her. This is odd, but one thing is certain. We need to focus on investigating Liu Ya.”

The system responded immediately after she finished speaking.

“*Ding!* Congratulations to players Xiao Muyu, Shen Qingqiu, Su Jin, Zuo Tiantian, and Chen Kaijie for unlocking Instance No. 004’s main quest: Uncover the Truth Behind Death Class 7’s Curse! Current quest progress: 40%!”

Zuo Tiantian let out a sigh of relief after hearing the familiar notification. “It’s finally here. It seems we hadn’t gotten the announcement until now because we only had speculations, not concrete evidence.”

“Okay, it’s getting late,” reminded Xiao Muyu. “Let’s head back to class. We need to pay close attention to Liu Ya and those students whose grades suddenly dropped in January.”

“Got it,” the rest of the team replied in unison.

The evening self-study felt long. Yet, no matter how long it got, it would eventually end.

The classroom’s atmosphere felt somewhat strange. The sight of Zhang Zhu still alive gave everyone hope. Perhaps nothing would happen tonight.

Li Yuehang had no idea how many times he’d glanced at Zhang Zhu that evening. Once the bell rang, he hurriedly packed his things and rushed out, almost as if afraid a ghost would chase after him.

In his rush, he accidentally bumped into Lin Xue’s desk, knocking off the few books stacked on it.

The sound was very noticeable in the quiet classroom.

Xiao Muyu glanced over. She watched as Li Yuehang looked down at the books on the floor and then at Lin Xue. However, instead of stopping, he immediately walked off with another boy.

Xiao Muyu furrowed her brows. Without saying anything, she bent down to help Lin Xue pick up the books.

Among them was a notebook that had opened upon falling. Xiao Muyu picked it up. She noticed a drawing on the open page. It depicted a naked man in manacles and leg-irons, his head lowered as he pushed a giant boulder.

She recognized the notebook. It wasn’t Lin Xue’s, but probably her deskmate Liu Ya’s. Xiao Muyu had seen Liu Ya doodling in this notebook more than once during class. Was this what she had been drawing?

Lin Xue reached over to take it. She offered a grateful smile to Xiao Muyu. “Thanks.” Two dimples appeared on her cheeks.

Lin Xue was quite pretty. She had gentle features and fair skin. Her ponytail hairstyle revealed a smooth forehead, like a typical sweet-tempered girl of the sunny South. She looked at others with focus, exuding elegance.

“No problem.” Xiao Muyu handed the notebook back. She glimpsed the other page before it closed. It had the same drawing.

Liu Ya also stood up to help Lin Xue organize her things. “He knocked your stuff over and didn’t even say sorry,” she muttered with a sour look.

Lin Xue smiled. “Maybe he was in a hurry.” As Liu Ya reached out, Xiao Muyu’s gaze followed. She noticed a scar on Liu Ya’s right hand. She didn’t have time to look closely before Liu Ya’s sleeve quickly covered it. But it looked like a burn scar.

Liu Ya glanced outside without responding.

Lin Xue finished tidying up her things. She handed the notebook to Liu Ya, then worriedly looked outside. “It’s getting late again. Let’s head back soon.”

Liu Ya nodded. The two of them left the classroom, holding hands.

Xiao Muyu had been watching them from behind. Before she realized it, Shen Qingqiu was standing beside her, also watching them.

“Why are you staring at them so much?” Shen Qingqiu casually asked. “Did you notice something strange?”

Xiao Muyu shook her head, then recalled the drawing. “I saw what Liu Ya doodled in the notebook.”

Shen Qingqiu’s expression tightened slightly. “Is there something special about it?”

“Let’s talk while we walk.” Xiao Muyu said over her shoulder to Zuo Tiantian, “We’ll send you home first.”

It was getting dark. Since it wasn’t safe to walk alone, Zuo Tiantian didn’t resist. The three of them discussed the drawing on the way.

“A man pushing a boulder…” Zuo Tiantian immediately thought of a myth. “Is it Sisyphus from Greek mythology, punished to roll a huge boulder?”

“It should be.” Xiao Muyu’s eyes focused on the cobblestone path, her mind still revolving around that image. “There’s more than one drawing. I don’t think it has no meaning.”

“What’s she trying to express by drawing Sisyphus? Or is there some special meaning set by the system?” Zuo Tiantian pondered the description of Sisyphus she remembered. She started murmuring in confusion. “The gods condemned Sisyphus to roll a heavy boulder endlessly. When the boulder reached the mountaintop, it would roll back down, repeating the cycle. Sisyphus had to perform this meaningless, laborious task, forever.”

“So, is Class 7’s curse like Sisyphus rolling the boulder? Endlessly repeating with no hope in sight?”

Xiao Muyu shook her head. “That’s a reasonable interpretation. However, going through all that trouble to discourage us doesn’t seem necessary.”

Meanwhile, Su Jin and Chen Kaijie had also received the information. They each came up with a theory.

“I once read a short story that mentioned this painting,” said Su Jin. “It explained that the painting is a metaphor for Sisyphus’s endless task. In other words, it’s an infinite loop from which there’s no escape. Do you think this instance might be a loop too?”

Xiao Muyu suddenly stopped walking. Shen Qingqiu also felt an inexplicable unease in her heart. She turned to look at Xiao Muyu. For a moment, neither said anything.

“What’s wrong?” Zuo Tiantian blinked in confusion at their peculiar reactions. “Did you figure something out, Leader Xiao?”

Xiao Muyu didn’t respond. She seemed to be lost in thought.

“Leader Xiao.” Zuo Tiantian became anxious. “Leader Xiao, what’s going on?”

Xiao Muyu took an involuntary deep breath. She shook her head and whispered, “I’m fine. Just suddenly feel unwell.”

Shen Qingqiu quickly walked over. “What is it? Where do you feel unwell?”

Shen Qingqiu took Xiao Muyu’s hand. She immediately noticed her palm was cold and damp with sweat. She furrowed her brows. “What happened to you?”

Xiao Muyu glanced at her. “It’s nothing. I’m just a bit tired.”

Whether that was true or not, Shen Qingqiu knew Xiao Muyu didn’t want to say more.

“Xiao Zuo, we’ll see you off here,” said Shen Qingqiu. “Talk to Su Jin about the drawing. We’ll discuss it together later.”

The teachers’ dorms stood right before them. They could already see the main entrance.

“Okay.” Zuo Tiantian nodded. “Hurry and take Leader Xiao back. She’s been working so hard these past few days.”

Xiao Muyu had been the one most weighed down with thoughts. Using her brain was just as exhausting, if not more so, than physical labor.

Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu returned to the dorm after watching Zuo Tiantian safely enter the building. Despite the doubts in her mind, Shen Qingqiu didn’t ask any more questions. She just held Xiao Muyu’s hand as they quietly walked back.

Their four roommates had all washed up and gone to bed early. Xiao Muyu hadn’t noticed earlier but now realized one of them was Chen Xuan—Su Jin’s class representative. She was among those whose grades had dramatically dropped in the January finals.

Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu took a quick look. The four girls had paired up, each sleeping on the same bed. They were probably still terrified.

Shen Qingqiu could tell Xiao Muyu wasn’t in a good mood. While she was getting the pajamas for her, she smilingly asked, “Want me to sleep with you?”

Xiao Muyu only lifted her gaze to look at her. Shen Qingqiu thought Xiao Muyu was about to say something sharp.

“Keep your distance when we sleep.” Xiao Muyu spoke calmly. “Don’t crawl all over me.”

Shen Qingqiu stood there for a long moment without moving.

Xiao Muyu took the clothes from her hands and stiffly added, “This is an exception. Don’t overthink it.”

Shen Qingqiu gave a closed-lip smile. She said softly in the direction of the bathroom, “Got it. You’re reluctantly letting me sleep with you ‘cause you think I’m scared.”

The two of them shared one bed again that night. Shen Qingqiu properly stayed near the edge, being unusually well-behaved.

But the room’s single beds were only 1.2 meters wide. Although their slender figures didn’t crowd the bed, there wasn’t much space left. Xiao Muyu watched her for a while, then tugged at her. “Don’t blame me if you fall off.”

Shen Qingqiu’s eyes squinted. She scooted a little closer. “I won’t.”

Xiao Muyu turned her back to her and closed her eyes.

The lights went out, plunging the dormitory into twilit darkness. Only the dorm mother’s faint voice sounded through the door from outside, telling the students to be quiet and go to bed.

Gradually, everything fell silent.

Xiao Muyu originally planned to stay awake for a while longer to observe the situation. However, she couldn’t fight the fatigue and eventually drifted to sleep.

The two ended up snug against each other again in the middle of the night. They knew because both suddenly opened their eyes without warning.

Fortunately, they were still in bed. Unfortunately, the curtains were open again. White light streaked through the window. It was lightning.

The light from outside made them realize the other four girls had also woken up.

How? The answer was simple. Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu saw their blankets shaking. But why were they shaking?

The two of them soon understood the situation.

The student dorms had six-person rooms. Each room had three sets of bunk beds, with the head of the beds facing the window.

Something was wrong at this moment. They could see the situation outside the window. Visibility shouldn’t be this good at night. Yet now, lying in bed, they could see everything with a turn of the head.

Human nature was probably a mix of fear and curiosity. Unable to resist, they glanced outside.

And they saw it. The mummy that had come looking for someone last night stood on the lawn outside the dorm entrance. Lightning flashed again, briefly illuminating a much shorter figure standing beside it.

It was the upside-down Luo Zihao.

Xiao Muyu’s eyes flinched. Her heart started racing violently, and her mouth felt dry. What is this…

Shen Qingqiu grasped her hand. As she tightened her hold, Xiao Muyu’s breathing suddenly changed. Quickly looking over, Shen Qingqiu spotted a red figure.

It was a woman… no, a girl would be more accurate. She wore a red dress fluttering like a flame so bright that it looked almost blinding. This must be the same figure Xiao Muyu had seen on the first day.

Is this a gathering of ghosts? Are they trying to scare us to death in the middle of the night?

From their viewpoint, the three vengeful spirits should be looking at the nearby boys’ dorm, not the girls’ dorm.

As Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu tried to get a better look at the ghost girl’s face, she suddenly twisted her head around.

It wasn’t the way a living person might turn their head. Her head rotated ninety degrees, and her clear gaze locked directly onto them.

They had a clear view of that face, as if through a telescope.

Within seconds, that pale face turned into a mess of rotting flesh. The exposed blood-red underlayer shriveled and snarled into a charred mass.

The ghost girl smiled again.

Shen Qingqiu nearly jumped at the shocking sight.

Xiao Muyu’s lips parted, unable to stifle the urge to scream. But Shen Qingqiu quickly covered her mouth, pulled her into her arms, and buried them both under the blanket.

“Ah!” The shrill scream ringing in their ears came from the other girls in the room, who couldn’t contain their terror.