Chapter 88: Death Class 7 (Part 12)

The three returned to the classroom after breakfast. The students inside looked listless. Zhang Zhu had skipped breakfast and was sitting alone at his desk. Some students would glance at him from time to time, but no one spoke to him.

The cynical boy who liked bullying Liu Ya was drained of energy. His eyes, with dark circles under them, stared blankly into space.

Zuo Tiantian: [Why does everyone avoid Zhang Zhu?]

Xiao Muyu thought for a moment and replied: [Last night, Luo Zihao was after Shen Qingqiu and I. Maybe witnessing someone’s death or being the last person they see before death makes you a priority in the game. They appeared to know that, too.]

Zuo Tiantian: [The students in this class seem resigned to their fate. No one is trying to figure out the truth. They’re just waiting to die. That’s very disadvantageous for our investigation.]

Shen Qingqiu stretched out her hands, cracking her knuckles. The sound echoed through the classroom. The students nervously stared at her. With her school bully aura, Shen Qingqiu had an intimidating presence over students of Class 7.

Shen Qingqiu: [Looks like I’ll have to pressure some boys and girls again.]

However, before Shen Qingqiu could do anything, the class’s English representative stood at the front of the room. She asked the students to help move things.

Something different was happening, albeit a small one. But Xiao Muyu and the other two paid close attention.

Some students brought in two stacks of books for listening comprehension. There was one for each student, ordered last month.

Group leaders distributed the books until only brown paper wrappers and twine for tying the books remained on the podium.

The English rep, Zheng Tingting, glanced around from the podium. She pursed her lips, her expression darkening. Raising her voice slightly, she asked, “Everyone, check if you took extra copies.”

“The books were ordered based on headcount,” she added when no one responded. “There should be one extra.”

Everyone knew why there was one extra. The students, lost in their thoughts, lifted their heads at Zheng Tingting’s words. They looked down at their desks. No one had an extra copy.

Zheng Tingting repeated her question, then walked around to check. But there was no extra copy.

Zuo Tiantian also glanced around and murmured, “Maybe one copy was left out?”

Zheng Tingting gave her a look but didn’t respond. She tidied up the wrappers and threw them in the trash before quietly returning to her seat.

Xiao Muyu furrowed her brows, lost in thought. Was the missing book just an accident, or was it a hint at something? Discrepancies in distributed materials weren’t unheard of. Were they being overly sensitive?

A boy named Xu Qing, sitting on the fourth row behind her, weakly muttered, “It’s not like this is the first time. One’s always missing.”

Xiao Muyu immediately turned to look at him. Xu Qing flinched at her sudden reaction. He stammered, “W-why are you staring at me?”

Xiao Muyu pressed him, “What did you just say?”

He froze for a moment, looking flustered. “W-what did I say?”

“The last thing you said.”

Perhaps it was Xiao Muyu’s overly serious expression. The boy hesitated before finally repeating himself. “I-I said one’s always missing. You already know that.”

Xiao Muyu turned away without saying more. Her brows unconsciously knitted together.

Lessons continued as scheduled. Xiao Muyu let her mind drift amidst the physics teacher’s lecture.

They had already covered all new materials at this point in senior year. The classes mainly focused on problem-solving. Right now, the physics teacher was explaining a common exam topic—magnetic fields, often presented in the final question.

Xiao Muyu found herself paying attention for some unknown reason. The challenging problem and its concept felt distant from her current reality.

Hearing the teacher mention the Lorentz force left her dazed. Still, she had studied it before—and mastered it well. She had no issue understanding the lecture.

She couldn’t help but recall Shen Qingqiu’s title. She checked her own title, which she had nearly overlooked.

There was indeed an “Activate” button below it.

Nothing was more useful than the title of “Top Student” for a student. Xiao Muyu saw no reason to reserve it. So, she clicked to activate it.

Zuo Tiantian blinked, then let out a resigned chuckle. She remembered that title. If Xiao Muyu had “Top Student”, Shen Qingqiu should have “School Bully”.

It brought to mind certain novels she’d read. Other players came into these instances to clear trials and tribulations. The two, on the other hand, were just a top student and a school bully flirting.

Xiao Muyu had always been smart. She maintained outstanding grades during her school years. With the “Top Student” title activated, the problem on the board was even less of a challenge for her.

Picking up a pen, she effortlessly sketched out the magnetic and electric fields. In no time, she had drawn the precise trajectory of the electron’s motion.

When the teacher finally reached this step on the blackboard, her answer perfectly matched his.

After activating the title, even if Xiao Muyu wasn’t focused, a glance was enough for her to grasp the teacher’s explanation. Time seemed to pass more quickly as a result.

The morning’s third period was biology, taught by Class 7’s homeroom teacher. His gaze lingered on Zhang Zhu upon entering the classroom entered. He hesitated as if wanting to say something but remained silent in the end. Words were meaningless at this point. Zhang Zhu met his eyes briefly before lowering his head onto his desk.

“You’ve all been working hard lately,” said the homeroom teacher. “The pressure is high with the college entrance exams approaching. So the school has organized a spring outing tomorrow. Normally, this wouldn’t be possible. Take this opportunity to relax. Maybe everything will be better once you graduate.”

The students looked up at his words. Their dull eyes flickered with a faint glimmer of hope.

Would things get better once they graduated?

Xiao Muyu sent a message in the group chat: [Looks like Class 7 isn’t completely restricted from leaving the school.]

Su Jin: [Then the restriction on leaving must be time-based.]

Aside from two incidents, the rest of the day was uneventful. The students acted as they normally would.

Xiao Muyu’s group still hadn’t uncovered any new clues.

Shen Qingqiu had gone out again. This time, she cornered Zhang Zhu’s close friend, Li Yuehang—the boy who had entered the dream with him last night. She pinned him in the hallway.

Shen Qingqiu stood nearly 1.7 meters tall. It didn’t look out of place when she slammed Li Yuehang—half a head taller than her—against the wall. Even without her school bully aura, surviving countless life-or-death situations had made her ruthless. Li Yuehang was so terrified he could barely stand.

“W-What… what do you want?” he asked shakily.

Shen Qingqiu loosened her grip. Her gray eyes stared at him with little warmth. “Why does Zhang Zhu always bully Liu Ya?”

Li Yuehang looked surprised. It took him a while before he stammered, “Bully her? I… I don’t know why. They just… got used to it.”

“What did she do to make you guys treat her that way?” Shen Qingqiu couldn’t stand how immature these kids were, playing these cruel games.

“She… she doesn’t talk much. She looks delicate but withdrawn and never accepts kindness from others. There were people in the class who used to like her. But everyone somehow started hating her in the end. People gossip about her from time to time.”

“And what about you?” Shen Qingqiu sneered.

Li Yuehang’s face instantly turned red. He stammered, “I—I didn’t…” he stammered. “I… I only joined in when Zhang Zhu did.”

Shen Qingqiu gave an unamused snort. “How considerate of you. Is anyone else in class being bullied? Or… has there ever been an incident caused by bullying before?”

Li Yuehang looked a little dazed. “Maybe… no, I mean—no, I don’t think so. No.” His expression suddenly turned tense and uneasy.

Shen Qingqiu let out a cold laugh. She suddenly pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into the wall right beside his head. It scared him so much that he gasped, his legs nearly giving out beneath him.

“Aah! What are you doing?!”

“Is it a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’?” Shen Qingqiu’s gaze was razor-sharp, her words coming out fast and forceful.

“Isn’t it normal for classmates to have conflicts? Liu Ya is not the only victim. Huang Meng and even I have been bullied at times. But an incident… I can’t say. It feels like there was one, and maybe not. I don’t remember. I really don’t.

“You… you’re a bully, so why are you asking me? *Sobs…*”

Shen Qingqiu had frightened Li Yuehang into tears despite his large build. She looked at him disdainfully. However, this reaffirmed for her that trying to get information directly from others was unlikely to work.

The thought irritated her. Half the day had passed. Zhang Zhu was still alive, but Shen Qingqiu had no idea for how long. Would there be another game tonight?

Frustrated, she looked at the sobbing boy. Her annoyance deepened.

“You’re a man,” she scolded. “Aren’t you ashamed to be crying like this?”

The boy whimpered. He couldn’t take it anymore. It wasn’t just Shen Qingqiu. Last night’s experience had nearly broken him.

“I’m not a man yet… I really can’t take this anymore!”

Shen Qingqiu glanced at him. Her lips moved before she spoke indifferently. “You all will be done playing sooner or later. Since you’re all just waiting to die, why not figure out what caused Class 7 to end up like this? Why is only Class 7 doomed?”

She turned and left. Li Yuehang stood there with a distant gaze, his face going through several emotions.

Meanwhile, Xiao Muyu and Zuo Tiantian stood quietly in the corridor, watching her.

“Found something?” The calm question carried no expectation.

“You didn’t expect anything.” Shen Qingqiu leaned against the railing. She turned her head to look at Xiao Muyu. “So, of course, I didn’t find anything.”

Xiao Muyu remained silent. Shen Qingqiu glanced at the sports field and sighed. “He cried out of fear but didn’t say much. He wasn’t trying to hide anything. But we can conclude Class 7 students have forgotten something. When talking about bullying, that boy’s emotions looked off. He kept contradicting himself, saying it both happened and didn’t. That just proves our guess was right.”

Xiao Muyu nodded. “It looks like we’ll have to investigate on our own.”

Chen Kaijie started a group chat while they were discussing. Xiao Muyu glanced at it and clicked in.

Chen Kaijie: [Can we do a voice call?]

Xiao Muyu: [Yes.]

Chen Kaijie’s voice came through once the call connected.

“Leader Xiao,” he sounded serious, “I checked my dispatch records and the bureau’s emergency call records this morning. In addition to the cases involving students getting into trouble, I found something strange.

“In January this year, just before their winter break, there were two instances within four days where I was dispatched to Yuanning High School. But here’s the odd part—aside from the dispatch time and the officers assigned, all other information, including the caller’s details and incident report, are blank.

“I also found the physical records, but they’re mostly unreadable due to damage.”

Chen Kaijie sent a few photos. Among them were two screenshots displaying the 110 Command Center’s emergency call records.

The incident location was Yuanning High School. Calls came in on January 4, 2010, at 12:30:29 and January 8, 2010, at 20:25.

In the case type column, the record from the 4th was marked as “public security”, with the case details listed as “brawl”. However, the case details for the 8th were blank, which stood out strangely.

None of the three spoke as they examined the images. They opened the handwritten incident report. The officer who received the call was Chen Kaijie, as indicated by his signature.

The section for call details and response measures had several lines of writing. But as if it had been soaked in water, the ink had blurred beyond recognition.

Xiao Muyu squinted, trying to make out the words. She managed to identify one line: [The case has been accepted and resolved, with both parties in agreement.]

The second report, however, was ruined. None of it was legible.

“You asked your colleagues at the station about this?” Xiao Muyu asked, staring at the images. How did it end up like this?”

“I did.” Chen Kaijie was so furious his face had darkened. He also sounded indignant. “Every other officer involved in the case has resigned. The rest of the staff act like they have amnesia. No one remembers a thing. Even the system errors in the records can’t be traced to a cause. Whatever this is, it doesn’t want us to know the truth.”

“No need to be angry.” Xiao Muyu remained calm. She stared at the images in the group chat. Her fingers lightly tapped against the railing. “At least one thing is certain. My deductions were correct. The more it tries to hide, the more it proves we’re on the right track.”

At that moment, there was an indescribable charm about her, as if nothing could escape her. Her tone was casual yet filled with absolute confidence. Her presence made those around her feel at ease.