Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 54 The Old Locust Tree and the Equipment Room

As noon approached, the whistle for physical education class pierced the sweltering heat of September.

Li Hua stood at the edge of the playground, sweat trickling down his temples.

He stared at the flagpole not far away. He didn't know why the flag-raising ceremony had been abolished at the start of the new semester. Now, it was empty, with no flag-raising or lowering, just a bare metal pole standing on a concrete base.

"Li Hua! What are you daydreaming about? Come and warm up!" The voice of PE teacher Zhang Han came from behind.

Li Hua slowly turned and ran towards the line, but his eyes were still glancing at the base of the flagpole. He clearly remembered Article 5 of the "Student Code of Conduct of Dachang No. 7 Middle School": "If you see a crawling baby under the flagpole next to the flag-raising platform, please pretend you didn't see it and walk away in the opposite direction."

Hearing that made him even more subconsciously pay attention to that spot. And the more he looked, the stranger the feeling became, as if something in the grass under the flagpole was watching him.

"Hey, Li Hua!" Cheng Mi bumped into him from behind. "Teacher Zhang is calling you!"

Li Hua blinked, let out a long breath, turned and ran towards the assembled group, but the feeling of being watched lingered.

Teacher Zhang Han was wearing a black tracksuit with a silver whistle around his neck.

"Today we're measuring one kilometer," Zhang Han said in a deep, powerful voice. "In order of student ID numbers, the first group, get ready."

Li Hua was absent-minded, his gaze unconsciously drifting towards the flagpole again.

"Li Hua, it's a thousand meters, are you confident?" Cheng Mi asked from behind.

"Quiet!" Zhang Han shouted sharply, and Cheng Mi immediately shut his mouth.

The first group of students was already standing on the starting line. The whistle blew, and they shot off like arrows. Li Hua went to stand in the shade of a locust tree to escape the heat, when suddenly… he felt something drip onto his shoulder.

He reached out and touched it; it was a transparent water droplet, but it smelled faintly fishy.

"Strange, it's not raining..." Li Hua looked up at the locust tree above, but couldn't see anything among the dense leaves.

Suddenly, he looked down at his surroundings.

Article 6 of the student code came to his mind: "There will be no red flashlights under the old locust tree in the southeast corner of the playground. If you see a red flashlight under the locust tree, please do not touch it and move away quickly."

Just now, out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to have caught a glimpse of something red beside him.

But now, looking down closely, there's nothing there.

"Illusion?"

"Second group, get ready!" Zhang Han's shout interrupted Li Hua's thoughts.

After the test, Li Hua's time was nearly twenty seconds slower than usual.

He collapsed, panting, beside the track, and Cheng Mi handed him a bottle of water.

"Are you still thinking about that photo?" Cheng Mi asked, frowning. "It's probably just Zhang Wei photoshopping it to scare you. You actually believed it?"

Li Hua took a big gulp of water, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to speak: "I just... I think I saw a red patch under the locust tree, but when I looked closely, there was nothing there."

Cheng Mi's hand trembled, and the water bottle almost fell to the ground.

"you sure?"

"I'm not sure, it was just a moment, maybe I was seeing things." Li Hua forced a smile.

Li Hua wanted to ask more questions, but then she saw Teacher Zhang Han walking towards them.

"You two," Zhang Han stopped in front of them, "go to the sports equipment room and bring out the mats. We're going to practice sit-ups later."

"Yes, teacher." Cheng Mi immediately stood up, grabbed Li Hua, and ran towards the equipment room.

The sports equipment room, located on the far east side of the playground, was a low, single-story building. Pushing open the creaking iron door, a musty smell wafted out. Li Hua fumbled for the light switch on the wall; the light flickered a few times before settling down.

"The mats should be over there," Cheng Mi said, pointing to a pile of equipment in the corner.

The two laboriously moved several vaulting boxes, revealing the mats underneath. Just as Cheng Mi bent down to move them, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something behind the shelf.

"Wait, what's that?" Cheng Mi put down the cushion and walked towards the shelf.

Li Hua followed over: "What's wrong?"

Cheng Mi went around to the back of the shelf, but saw nothing.

"Could it be that I'm seeing things too?"

Just then, the door to the equipment room slammed shut with a bang from the wind. The lights began to flicker wildly, and the ball equipment on the shelves began to sway slightly, making a teeth-grinding "clunking" sound.

"We have to get out!" Cheng Mi grabbed Li Hua and ran towards the door.

At that moment, the lights came on again. Li Hua and Cheng Mi rushed to the door, but it didn't budge, as if something was blocking it from the outside.

"Is anyone home? Open the door!" Cheng Mi pounded on the door desperately.

Li Hua also shouted, "Who is it? Who's blocking the door from the outside!"

The only response they received was an increasingly loud and eerie "clucking" sound from inside the equipment room, like laughter or the sound of joints grinding together.

Li Hua turned around and saw a basketball suddenly roll to the center of the room and roll towards him.

"Get out of the way!" a deep voice came from outside the door. The next second, the door was kicked open, and Teacher Zhang Han stood in the doorway.

"Get out!" Zhang Han shouted sharply, his eyes fixed on the equipment room.

Li Hua and Cheng Mi stumbled out the door and collapsed into the sunlight, panting heavily.

Zhang Han walked into the equipment room and picked up the basketball from the floor.

Then, he saw clearly...

A bluish-black handprint appeared on the red basketball!

The handprint is the size of a seven or eight-year-old child's hand!
"Professor Wang was absolutely right..." Zhang Han subconsciously rubbed his temples.

A dozen seconds later, Zhang Han came out of the equipment room. He closed the door and then locked it.

"You two," Zhang Han's eyes were unusually stern, "what did you see in the equipment room?"

"N-nothing," Cheng Mi stammered.

Li Hua also said, "We really didn't see anything."

Zhang Han stared at them for a long time, and finally sighed: "Remember, keep the student code of conduct in mind."

Then he pointed to the locust tree on the other side of the playground, "Especially that direction, don't go near it, don't be curious. Especially you, Li Hua, what were you doing going near the locust tree just now!"

When the bell rang, Li Hua's back was already soaked with sweat. He and Cheng Mi silently followed Zhang Han back to the teaching building, their shadows stretching longer and longer under the blazing sun.

"About the equipment room," Zhang Han suddenly stopped, his voice low, "Don't tell the other students."

Cheng Mi's Adam's apple bobbed: "Teacher, was someone blocking the doorway at the time...?"

“Some of the school’s old equipment needs repair,” Zhang Han interrupted him, his gaze drifting towards the locust tree in the distance. “The Academic Affairs Office will have someone to handle it.”

Noon, meal time.

The cafeteria was noisy. Li Hua, carrying his tray, unconsciously searched for a seat by the window—the one furthest from the playground.

"Are you still thinking about what happened earlier?" Cheng Mi took another can of Coke and pushed it in front of Li Hua. The water droplets condensed on the surface of the can spread into a small circle on the table.

Li Hua poked at the rice in the plate with her fork: "Why is it cola again?"

"It used to be Coca-Cola, but this is Pepsi."

The ketchup on the edge of his plate was scrambled by his fork, forming several winding red streaks.

Li Hua stared at the lines, recalling the faint red glow beneath the locust tree.

"Hey students, is this seat taken?"

The cool, clear female voice made them both look up at the same time.

Chinese language teacher Liu Yan stood by the table, holding a plate.

At this moment.

Inside a locked room in the kitchen.

Jiang Jin's boning knife was cutting and dissecting a pile of bloody, mangled chunks of flesh.

He still remembered Liu Yan's instructions: "Remember to collect all the pieces of meat that have been cut off, make sure nothing is left out. Don't ask me what kind of meat it is, you just need to know that it's perfect for practicing your blood decomposition technique."

(End of this chapter)