Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 75 Dark Blue and Grayish White (Eighth Update! Requesting Monthly Tickets! Requesting Subscriptions!)

Li Hua looked up sharply.

Someone was already sitting in Lin Xiaoyu's seat.

However, from behind, Li Hua couldn't see her face clearly.

But her arms... why is the skin tone a little off?
It looked bloodless, like grayish-white plaster!

Liu Yan was also startled and looked up.

"Lin Xiaoyu, why were you absent this morning?"

Lin Xiaoyu's voice was very soft, with a strange hoarseness: "Teacher, I... have been here all morning."

Li Hua stared at her back and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Liu Yan frowned: "You didn't come this morning, and the class monitor even went to ask about it."

She remembered Article 11 of the faculty and staff code of conduct.

Lin Xiaoyu didn't answer, she just lowered her head.

The classroom was eerily quiet.

Liu Yan sighed, "Please wait a moment, everyone. I'll be right outside."

A short while later, Liu Yan returned, followed by Director Chen from the Academic Affairs Office.

On the first day after arriving at the school, the Ghost Riders headquarters repeatedly emphasized that there were two people on campus who had to cooperate absolutely and that no questions could be asked of them regarding matters related to the rules.

One was Dr. Cheng from the Medical Affairs Office, and the other was Director Chen from the Academic Affairs Office.

Director Chen said:
"Lin Xiaoyu, come to the Academic Affairs Office."

Lin Xiaoyu slowly stood up, still keeping her head down, and followed Liu Yan out of the classroom.

Li Hua's gaze followed them until their figures disappeared at the end of the corridor.

"This is too harsh. Skipping half a day of class doesn't warrant going to the academic affairs office, does it?" Cheng Mi said in a low voice. "This is too severe."

Li Hua also felt something was off.

Did you notice when Lin Xiaoyu arrived?

"No, there isn't."

"I didn't notice either. I remember she wasn't there when I rang the bell."

The strangest thing was that Lin Xiaoyu's deskmate was also completely bewildered: "When did she come in and sit next to me? I didn't notice at all!"

At the entrance of the Academic Affairs Office.

Liu Yan pushed open the door, and then Director Chen led Lin Xiaoyu inside.

Liu Yan closed the door, then bent down and looked at the ground.

Countless black, shriveled bee corpses fell to the ground with a clattering sound.

The corpses of those Soul-Eating Bees...

It's made of iron.

She had always kept the Soul-Eating Bees in the classroom, but none of them noticed when Lin Xiaoyu's empty seat had been occupied.

They then followed Lin Xiaoyu, but along the way, these Spirit-Eating Bees fell off along the way!
and……

She can't remember Lin Xiaoyu's face at all from just now!
All I can remember is that her skin tone... was grayish-white!
This is completely different from those bluish-black ghost infants!
She could deal with those ghost infants using Gu worms; the only problem was that their numbers were endless within the ghost realm.

But this "Lin Xiaoyu" is different!
She felt that if she had attacked directly just now, she would probably be dead by now!
It seems she greatly underestimated the supernatural tide... Those students who heard the broadcast and were pulled into the Lost Layer did not simply turn into bluish-black ghost slaves!

About five minutes later, the door opened and Director Chen came out.

"Teacher Liu," Director Chen said to Liu Yan, "you can leave now. You don't need to worry about what happens next."

Liu Yan looked at Director Chen in front of her. This person was very mysterious, and he was not mentioned in the original work.

"Okay, thank you, Director Chen."

"Don't worry about it. For now, don't come to the registrar's office. Also, remember one thing."

"You say."

"Rules are sacred," Director Chen said solemnly. "Remember these six words."

……

As soon as the Chinese class ended, a buzz of discussion immediately filled the classroom.

"Why was Lin Xiaoyu taken to the academic affairs office? It's just half a day of absence, isn't it?" Chang Han looked at Lin Xiaoyu's empty seat with a puzzled expression.

"Who knows..." Li Hua frowned, feeling that something was off. She remembered that when the school bell rang in the afternoon, her seat should have been empty, but when Teacher Liu called roll, she answered.

Luo Fan suddenly leaned closer, his face pale: "Don't you guys find it strange? She clearly didn't come this morning, but just now she said she'd been here the whole time?"

"This... how would I know?" Song Yu forced a smile, but his fingers unconsciously tightened around his workbook.

Just then, the class bell rang.

English teacher Tong Qian walked into the classroom carrying her lesson plan.

"Roll call will be done before class begins."

The classroom fell silent instantly.

At the start of the new semester, roll call was exceptionally strict; it was mandatory to take attendance before each class.

"Cheng Mi."

"arrive."

"Li Hua."

"arrive."

"Lin Xiaoyu."

The classroom was deathly silent.

Then--

"arrive."

A familiar female voice rang out once again.

Everyone turned their heads sharply to look!

The figure with the head down appeared again in Lin Xiaoyu's seat!

Li Hua's blood froze instantly. He clearly remembered that Teacher Liu had taken her to the academic affairs office! He hadn't seen her come back in the entire time! Tong Qian's expression changed: "Lin Xiaoyu?"

"Here." The voice rang out again, this time with an eerie echo.

Tong Qian quickly walked down from the podium and went to Lin Xiaoyu's desk.

Her words trailed off abruptly.

Li Hua saw Teacher Tong's face turn deathly pale. She took two steps back abruptly, turned around, and rushed out of the classroom.

Less than a minute later, Director Chen from the Academic Affairs Office walked in again with a gloomy face.

Without saying a word, he grabbed Lin Xiaoyu's arm and dragged her outside.

This time everyone saw it clearly—Lin Xiaoyu's feet didn't move at all; she was "dragged" out.

“Now, move this chair that Lin Xiaoyu is sitting in.” Tong Qian’s voice trembled.

The two boys carefully moved Lin Xiaoyu's chair into the hallway.

"Continue with the roll call," Tong Qian said, trying to remain calm.

"Zhang Yu."

Then--

"arrive."

A weak female voice rang out from in front of Li Hua.

Li Hua shuddered. Zhang Yu was sitting in front of him! He watched as this girl, who had also been absent that morning, was now sitting upright in her seat!
"Zhang Yu?" Tong Qian asked, "I checked the attendance sheet this morning. Why weren't you here?"

"Teacher, I'm here this morning." Zhang Yu's voice sounded a little strange to Li Hua. "I've been in the classroom the whole time."

Director Chen reappeared and took Zhang Yu away.

“Now, check the homework.” Tong Qian’s voice had completely changed.

Tong Qian quickly flipped through the pages when suddenly her hand trembled.

Li Hua saw two exercise books fall from her hands—

One book had "Lin Xiaoyu" written on the cover, and the other had "Zhang Yu" written on it.

This is... the English composition book that Song Yu collected this morning!

Tong Qian's fingers trembled slightly as she opened Lin Xiaoyu's English homework.

Although she was a demon tamer who had witnessed all sorts of bizarre phenomena, she still felt a strong sense of unease at this moment.

Her English level is excellent, high enough to pass the IELTS and TOEFL directly; otherwise, she wouldn't have been chosen as an English teacher.

But she has never wished her English to be worse than she does now.

Lin Xiaoyu's essay begins with:
"Yesterday's last class, the school song 'Radiance' will be played on the radio..."

She read it aloud, her voice exceptionally clear in the quiet classroom, so I simply translated it directly into Chinese.

"But the broadcast system malfunctioned, and instead of singing, it played shrill static... Then, mixed in with the static, came the cries of a baby..."

Her speech slowed down, and her face gradually turned pale.

Suddenly, she felt a chill on the back of her neck, as if something had pressed against it—

A blurry human face is slowly emerging from beneath her skin.

Tong Qian's nickname is Ghost Face Tong Qian, and she discovered that when she read these words, the ghost face was actually... triggered?
If she were to test the SAN value now, she would find that the SAN value is plummeting.

Tong Qian slammed her notebook shut and flung it away as if she'd been burned.

"Song Yu!" Her voice trembled slightly, "Throw away these two notebooks...right now!"

Startled, Song Yu grabbed Lin Xiaoyu and Zhang Yu's homework, strode to the trash can outside the classroom, and threw it in without hesitation.

The bell rang, and the oppressive atmosphere in the classroom finally eased a little.

Luo Fan sat in his seat, but his eyes remained fixed on the trash can.

Lin Xiaoyu's homework book...

He hesitated for a moment, then, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he quickly walked over and picked up the two notebooks from the trash can.

What exactly did she write?
He carefully opened Lin Xiaoyu's notebook, continued reading, and translated directly:

“The baby…”

Based on his English knowledge, Luo Fan mentally translated the sound into Chinese: The baby's cries on the radio were becoming clearer, as if they were coming from a very far place, yet also as if they were right next to his ear...

The baby was crying? I think I heard it yesterday, but after he lay down on the table, he quickly got sleepy and fell asleep.

Suddenly, the pages of the notebook became wet, and a drop of clear liquid seeped out from between the words and slid down the page.

Luo Fan's fingers trembled as he recalled the warning in the student handbook, which stated that if an unknown liquid was found seeping from a notebook, it should be immediately placed in the red storage box.

He returned to the classroom and looked at the red storage box on the podium.

But he gritted his teeth and didn't let go.

Lin Xiaoyu was the girl he had always secretly loved...

He inexplicably stuffed his workbook into his clothes and hid it inside his school uniform.

In the evening, the school bell rang, and the school song "Radiance" began to play over the loudspeaker.

This time, the broadcast worked normally, and the singing was clear and melodious:
As dawn broke, the sound of students reciting their lessons filled the air.

The footsteps of youth echo across the campus.

An ocean of knowledge, wings of dreams.

We are here, chasing the light.

After the singing ended, an announcement from the Academic Affairs Office came over the loudspeaker:

"Zhang Yu, Lin Xiaoyu, and Song Wei, students of Class 5, Grade 12, have withdrawn from school effective immediately due to personal reasons."

The classroom erupted in an uproar.

"Drop out of school? All three of them together?" Cheng Mi frowned.

"Did they plan this out?" Li Hua replied in a low voice, but a sense of unease lingered in his heart.

Why does this whole thing feel... increasingly off?
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(End of this chapter)