Ch51 - Sha, Sha, Sha

Saturday.

It had been 47 hours since they entered the instance. Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang both believed that the paradoxical nature of this force meant it wouldn’t leave any traces in the world but Li Yinhang was still a bit worried. 

She used Jinjing University and added various keywords to it to search the Internet for abnormal deaths in the school in the past 10 years. She also went to the library and wandered in the newspaper and magazines area all afternoon.

Overall, there were over a dozen suicide incidents that caused a lot of trouble. They were due to love, graduation or family conflicts. None of them had anything to do with Room 403. Even the most tumultuous suicide incident involved jumping from the administrative building that was half a campus away from Room 403. They didn’t choose the extremely underused East Fifth Building as a suicide location.

In addition, the nine people selected were indeed all ordinary university students. Among them, the most problematic ones were probably the ‘sports trio’ who were bullies. There was also ‘Xie Xiangyu’ who peeped at the female dormitory. The others had no records of cheating or not returning at night.

Li Yinhang diligently took eight pages of notes before admitting that the top students’ conclusion was right. All the incidents related to Jinjing University that endangered personal safety had nothing to do with the rustling they were encountering right now. 

Nan Zhou also came to the library and picked books from the bookshelf behind Li Yinhang. He stuck his head out and saw Li Yinhang scratching her head while taking notes. Then he retracted his head again. He told Jiang Fang beside him, “She is doing useless work.”

This time, they met a ghost with no clear source. More accurately, it was just pure malice. Even if they added up all the incidents that had happened in the school since its founding and included the curses and resentments of the university students who died due to love or other reasons, it couldn’t achieve such a strong curse and erasure effect.

Nan Zhou added solemnly, “According to the law of conservation of energy, this isn’t scientific.”

Jiang Fang smiled. “I know.”

Then he said, “Still, this will allow her to do something. It is okay to pass the time.”

During the conversation, Nanji Star was too hot. He moved his round buttocks to emerge from the back collar of Nan Zhou’s sweater. Jiang Fang hooked the collar from behind to help Nanji Star, vaguely exposing the tooth print on the back of Nan Zhou’s neck.

Nanji Star jumped three times and ran up his shoulders. He chose the left clavicle that had the best position and feel and sank his buttocks down, comfortably nestling himself. His slender tail kept swinging like a windmill and he was very comfortable.

Jiang Fang asked Nan Zhou, “What book do you want to read?” 

“I’m not reading books.” Nan Zhou replied. “I like to go and walk around a bookstore when thinking about things.”

Then he gently took a breath. He had adapted to the unique smell of ink and he really liked it. It helped him to think.

Jiang Fang accompanied him through the sea of books. He asked, “What are you thinking about? Maybe I can help you.”

Nan Zhou answered, “Xie Xiangyu.” 

“You are still thinking about him?”

Nan Zhou turned to him. “I’m not thinking of him. I’m thinking of you.”

His words were extremely straightforward. Mixed with the light dust floating in the sunlight, it gave Jiang Fang the illusion that his heart was shot with an arrow of light. Jiang Fang lightly covered his heart with one hand. “Ah, it is my honor.”

Nan Zhou said, “You told me you know what he is thinking.” 

Jiang Fang smiled.

Nan Zhou couldn’t help saying, “You always smile at me.”

Jiang Fang murmured, “If I didn’t know your character, I would think you were deliberate…”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Gfilyfgjafis rqfjxlcu ilxf atlr, vfilyfgjafis tjculcu tlw, vfilyfgjafis vblcu rb… 

Pa almxifv tlr tfjga.

Rjc Itbe kjr mbcoerfv. “Lww?”

Aljcu Mjcu mtjcufv atf abqlm. “Tbe jgf jrxlcu jybea Wlf Wljcuse?”

“Tfr.” 

Aljcu Mjcu abemtfv tlr mtlc. “Po P kfgf tlw…”

Rjc Itbe jmalnfis lcafggeqafv tlw obg bcmf. “Tbe jgfc’a tlw. Ktfc ktja klii tf vb?”

Jiang Fang pursed his lips and smiled. He didn’t want to ruin his image in Nan Zhou’s heart. Thus, he had been deliberately hiding some of his innermost thoughts. Still, Nan Zhou’s words and deeds always gave him the courage or impulse to open up with the truth.

Therefore, Jiang Fang still used the words that were rejected by Nan Zhou. “If I were him, I would also use people like Sun Guojing. First, let him find out the dangerous path that I don’t want to go down. Second, eavesdrop on the communication between him and others so I can judge and understand the progress of the investigation.” 

Of course, the latter purpose was lost when it was discovered by Jiang Fang.

“Then I wouldn’t try to get rid of that force or find a way to life out of this infinitely dead door. The easiest way is to kill a player who shouldn’t have died in the order, trying to break the laws of that force completely.”

Nan Zhou raised an eyebrow. “Ah, that is a way.”

“It is a very effective, cost-efficient and easy way to handle it. If used properly, you can kill one person and save six people.” Jiang Fang added, “Also, Teacher Nan. Don’t forget that we are playing games.” 

“We are playing a game where we are ranked by player points. Scoring more than the opponents isn’t the only or most efficient way to win. The best thing is to have no opponents.”

Nan Zhou thought about this while Jiang Fang swallowed down all the words he hadn’t said. If it were him, he wouldn’t be as far away from everyone as Xie Xiangyu. He would fully integrate with everyone and cooperate with them. He would be sure to let Sun Guojing’s group be loyal and die for him. He could make sure that when Sun Guojing died, Sun Guojing would think it was due to the ghost.

Nan Zhou had an expression that said ‘it turned out to be like this.’

Jiang Fang asked, “How is it? Is it very bad?” 

Nan Zhou looked the same. “There is nothing bad. It is just another way of playing.”

He added, “Don’t you lose points if you kill your teammates? It isn’t worth it.”

Jiang Fang wondered, “What if the setting of this game is a  points system where the points are one large pool? The fewer teammates there are, the more points you can get from the points pool?”

Nan Zhou heard these words and slowly raised the thermos in his hand, taking a sip of the hot drink. Inside was honey water. He said, “If that is the case, the other teams will definitely try to kill us first.” 

“If they don’t do it, you won’t do it?”

“Yes,” Nan Zhou replied solemnly. “Otherwise, we won’t monopolize all the points.”

Jiang Fang subtly found Nan Zhou cute.

Nan Zhou told him, “This type of gameplay is simple but I don’t like it.” 

The feeling of breaking the neck of someone who looked like himself wasn’t happy at all.

“Yes, I know.” Jiang Fang said. “That’s why I won’t do it…”

At this point, Jiang Fang suddenly pressed a hand to his ears and took a small breath.

Nan Zhou’s expression became tense. “What’s the matter?” 

Jiang Fang saw Nan Zhou’s alert appearance so he lowered his head, one hand holding the bookshelf as he spoke in a shaky manner, “…I heard it again.”

This was Jiang Fang’s fourth time. He had heard the third sound when he went to the bathroom alone in the morning. As a result, the corridor he was walking down turned into an endless corridor. In addition, the heads of the great people on both sides had their eyes firmly locked on his body. They slowly turned as he walked, eyes extremely cold with bitterness. Jiang Fang tried to walk in a circle before immediately closing his eyes and walking backwards. Before long, he was back at the inflection point.

After hearing that Jiang Fang had heard the sound again, Nan Zhou’s knightly instincts immediately kicked in. He reassured Jiang Fang in his usual cold tone. “Don’t be afraid. It’ll be over soon…”

Then the next second, his eyes abruptly shifted to a corner not far away. Nan Zhou’s temperament was obvious. He was like a cat whose territory had been violated. Jiang Fang noticed the drastic change in expression and followed the gaze. Yet the place where his eyes landed was clearly empty. 

Nan Zhou whispered, “There is someone.”

He added, “…I feel.”

Jiang Fang licked his lips, moistening his already bright red lips. “You are too nervous. You should stay in your dormitory tonight and get a good rest.”

Nan Zhou turned around and locked eyes with Jiang Fang for a moment. He seemed to read a certain message in Jiang Fang’s eyes. 

He kept staring into Jiang Fang’s eyes and responded in a focused manner, “Okay.”

A short distance away from the two bookcases where the duo were standing. On a thin layer of dust on the side of the wooden bookshelf, three unclear fingerprints appeared.

Xie Xiangyu had just come. He didn’t dodge like the first time he was nearly caught by Nan Zhou. Instead, he stood behind the bookshelf and watched Nan Zhou who was standing beyond two layers of books.

The outline of the ear under the half-long curly hair. The side arc of the Adam’s apple. The well-defined tip of the elbow bone that was covered by the coat. The slightly blue veins on the lowered wrists. The ankles wrapped in white socks that were so slender it made one want to grip onto them. Everything was so perfect. It was perfect like a person who came out of a painting. 

Xie Xiangyu liked to eat yellow peach cake the best. Every time he ate cakes, he always liked to leave his favorite yellow peach for last. Therefore, he set his sights on Jiang Fang. Tonight, maybe he could solve the unimportant people first.

Nan Zhou had cared about Jiang Fang just now. It was so moving that it made Xie Xiangyu infatuated. He was looking forward to Nan Zhou waking up to see Jiang Fang’s broken throat and dead expression. It would be very, very pleasant.

***

This joy lasted until sunset, when the moon rose and night sank. 

Xie Xiangyu admired the moon on the roof of the dormitory for a long time. He regretted that there were still 10 days before the full moon and carefully conceived his farewell words when he sent Jiang Fang away.

“Jiang Fang, hello.”

Although at that time, Jiang Fang might not be able to hear his own voice. Still, there should be a sense of ritual.

In the past 23 years of life, Xie Xiangyu had led a boring life, wasting time. This was why he loved this Forces of Temptation that made him full of vitality. He also had a wish to be fulfilled. Therefore, killing Nan Zhou was necessary. 

Xie Xiangyu admitted that he did have a near-fanatical interest in Nan Zhou. However, people like Nan Zhou were destined to go to the end. If they met at that time, there would be no such favorable conditions.

Nan Zhou must die. It just couldn’t be today.

Xie Xiangyu was full of secrets and enthusiastic expectations as he came to the international students dormitory an hour after the lights went off. He knew that Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang had been staying here for the past two days. It was pitch black inside and people should’ve fallen asleep long ago.

Xie Xiangyu gripped the throat breaking pen in his left hand, took out the exclusive room card from his pocket and caressed the name ‘Jiang Fang’ written on the white sign. After confirming it was the original card, he placed the card face on the card reader and waited for the pleasant ‘ding’ sound, accompanied by the green light that allowed passage. 

However, what greeted him was a red light and the piercing sound of ‘failure to unlock’ in the hallway late at night. Before Xie Xiangyu could react, the door in front of him opened inwardly as fast as lightning. What came out was… a splash of flour.

According to the way the flour spread and the area blocked out in the air, Jiang Fang accurately strangled Xie Xiangyu’s throat. Before Xie Xiangyu could effectively resist or escape, Jiang Fang dragged him inside the dormitory.

Xie Xiangyu’s footprints were left on the flour. The door closed with a gentlemanly movement.

Meanwhile, Nan Zhou was in the stairwell on the fourth floor and climbing up with Li Yinhang. He faintly heard the noise from the seventh floor and abruptly raised his head. 

Li Yinhang felt a bit uncomfortable. “What’s the matter?”

Didn’t Nan Zhou say that he wouldn’t go back to the dormitory for international students this evening? He would go to his dormitory for a while before the lights went out.

Why did he suddenly change his mind? What did the words ‘I’m worried about him’ mean?

Nan Zhou had no intention of answering her questions. He sped up silently as he ran up the stairs. 

***

In the small struggle, Xie Xiangyu saw the dormitory room that was empty of all students except for Jiang Fang. There was a flash of light and Xie Xiangyu understood what had happened.

Jiang Fang knew everything. He had changed his key card early.

The trick couldn’t have been simpler. He just needed to destroy the components of the original room card and falsely claim that he had lost his card at the management office on the first floor. Then if he had swift hands, it was perfectly possible to replace the spare card with the old one that was broken. 

Jiang Fang had been guarding against him. Even… it was possible he had also thought of using the force mechanism in the instance to get rid of someone.

Jiang Fang slammed Xie Xiangyu against the wall. In the darkness, no emotions could be read from Jiang Fang’s pale eyes. In contrast to his violent actions, his voice was still elegant, deep and calm. It was as sweet as a cello. “You really disappointed me. You took the lead in this instance but this is how you play?”

Xie Xiangyu gasped and laughed, shaking the white flour from his head.

“You restrained him,” Xie Xiangyu declared. “You wasted his talent.” 

Jiang Fang’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Literally. You wasted Nan Zhou’s talent.” Xie Xiangyu grabbed Jiang Fang’s wrist. “If it was me, I would treat him well. I would take care of every corner of his body. After all, he is so interesting…”

Jiang Fang looked cold. If Jiang Fang had previously just been thinking about making the unstable factor of Xie Xiangyu disappear from the instance, now he planned to act. However, the sound of hurried footsteps outside broke Jiang Fang’s plan. The familiar sound of footsteps made Jiang Fang release his hand immediately.

Xie Xiangyu had always been waiting for an opportunity. He seized this chance and immediately seized Jiang Fang with a backhand. Unfortunately, his new weapon was too short to be suitable for unexpected close combat. It couldn’t be used in such a posture at all. This pose was too sub-standard. 

According to Jiang Fang’s experience, he had nine ways to counterattack and beat this person to the ground. Then he saw the backlit silhouette of Nan Zhou standing at the door and Jiang Fang gave up all resistance. He kept his controlled pressure, the side of his face pressed against the cold and hard table as he leisurely said, “Baby, help me.”