He slowly walked into the living room, bringing an unspoken intimidation to the group.
Everyone fell silent; they were already sitting on the sofa, and Xiao Ming towered over them.
Sang Yue's voice trembled a bit, "Y-You… why are you out?"
"The teachers are here, so of course I have to come out and take a look," Xiao Ming replied in a rather dull manner, dragging a chair over and plopping down next to the group.
With his presence, no one dared to speak.
He felt less like a student and more like a prison guard.
"Did the teachers come to find me for something?" the mother cheerfully stood by without speaking, and it was Xiao Ming who spoke first.
At this question, Sang Yue fell silent and forced a couple of laughs, "Haha, I just wanted to check on the students and see how they’re doing…"
As she spoke, she covertly glanced at the men beside her.
Yu Yezhou and Gu Zhan didn’t know what to say. They exchanged glances with Sang Yue, signaling her to speak cautiously.
Sang Yue had no choice but to ask indirectly, “Um, it's about classmate Xiao Ming. Your grades at school haven’t been very good. Has there been some change at home recently that might have affected his performance?”
What she really wanted to know was about the child's father.
But when the words reached her lips, they became quite indirect.
The mother was taken aback for a moment and replied, “No, everything at home has been normal lately.”
She looked at Xiao Ming and asked, “Haven't you been studying properly?”
Xiao Ming replied sullenly, “No.”
His gloomy demeanor, combined with his unusually tall stature, made even a simple answer feel oppressive. He didn’t look very happy, and his gaze fell on Sang Yue as he asked in a low voice, “Did I do something wrong?”
Sang Yue was suddenly at a loss for words.
What did he mean by "wrong"?
She wasn’t even Xiao Ming’s actual teacher—how could she know if he had made a mistake?
She forced a laugh, trying to brush off the question, “No, I just came to visit and learn about your family’s situation.”
Then Sang Yue chatted with Xiao Ming and his mother for a while, but the conversation never seemed to get to the point.
Until Xiao Ming's mother stood up and said, “I’ll go to the kitchen and make some tea for you.”
She gracefully walked toward the kitchen, and the sound of chopping vegetables echoed again.
The whole family felt strange—why was she chopping vegetables to make tea?
Sang Yue shifted her position, just about to say something, when Xiao Ming suddenly stood up.
In the astonished gazes of everyone, his tall figure loomed over them...
What was happening?
Xiao Ming walked over step by step.
…………
“Ah!”
Sang Yue was drenched in sweat and suddenly opened her eyes. She realized she was still standing on the ground, her limbs intact.
She nervously touched her arms, mumbling, “My hands... my legs...”
All intact, all intact!
It was only then that she came to her senses and turned in terror to look at the others, finding their expressions were similar to hers.
Sang Yue exclaimed in horror, “Did we just... just now?”
Yu Yezhou's expression was serious: “You’re not mistaken; we were just killed.”
By that so-called “child” named Xiao Ming, who had butchered them alive.
The pain of death could never be erased from humanity.
Yu Yezhou glanced at his status panel; this death had surprisingly lowered his sanity value by a third.
If this was death, they wouldn’t survive more than twice before turning into monsters!
But they didn’t even know why they triggered the death!
What kind of instance was this?
Yu Yezhou felt lost and looked to Gu Zhan for help. Gu Zhan’s expression wasn’t good either; he frowned slightly as he stared at his own attribute panel.
Others couldn’t see their system attribute panels.
Yu Yezhou asked, “Is your sanity value okay?”
“Mm.” Gu Zhan replied, “It dropped a little.”
As expected, the value Gu Zhan lost should be the same as his, yet he said it only dropped a little.
Looking at his expression, he didn’t seem to be affected much.
Yu Yezhou sighed deeply. Comparing himself to others was frustrating; in the previous instance, even when Gu Zhan had fallen into a deadlock, he managed to turn the situation around before death came.
But what about this time?
They were still in that same white room; everything seemed stuck in a loop.
Yu Yezhou sat down on the ground. “Let’s take a break and figure out what exactly happened.”
The others sat on the ground as well.
The system was considerate enough not to interrupt them.
Yu Yezhou said, “When we first arrived, the system asked us a question. It wasn’t difficult, and we quickly answered that Xiao Ming committed suicide because of his poor grades. We took on the role of Xiao Ming, appearing in the bedroom, and the door was closed at that time. We didn’t know what was happening outside. After opening the door, we saw the corpses all over the floor.”
“In other words, if Xiao Ming commits suicide, he won’t be able to prevent his mother or the female teacher from being killed… um, it’s still uncertain whether the one who was killed was the female teacher or his mother. In any case, if Xiao Ming doesn’t die, he will…”
At this point, Yu Yezhou's expression became somewhat frozen.
After all, they had just been killed by Xiao Ming.
He couldn’t help but recall what had just happened.
The pain of limbs being torn from his torso, the agony of watching as he cut open his own belly and pulled out his intestines...
Every part of his body felt phantom pain.
Yu Yezhou rubbed his arms and glanced at Gu Zhan.
He had clearly gone through the same experience as them—why did he show no signs of abnormality?
Gu Zhan picked up where Yu Yezhou left off.
“If Xiao Ming doesn’t die, he will find a way to kill us.”
Sang Yue’s face showed terror: “Are we supposed to go fight Xiao Ming?”
With Xiao Ming's height of nearly two meters and his strength and agility, how could they possibly defeat him!
Gu Zhan said, “Actually, this instance has already left us a possibility.”
“What?” Yu Yezhou suddenly turned his head.
He really didn’t want to stay here any longer.
Gu Zhan said, “In our answers, we stated that Xiao Ming committed suicide due to his poor grades. As long as we make him commit suicide, perhaps everything will be resolved.”
Yu Yezhou had never thought that the plot of the instance would hide a solution.
But making an NPC commit suicide…
Yu Yezhou hesitated: “Is that really possible?”
“Let’s give it a try.” Gu Zhan said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding scene changed. They found themselves back in the living room.
Last time, they were dismembered by Xiao Ming in this very spot.
The snow-white walls were splattered with their blood, and the heart-wrenching pain still lingered in their bodies.
It’s hard not to be psychologically affected by this scene.
“Bang bang bang.”
The familiar sound came from the kitchen again, and through the open kitchen door, the figure of the mother could be vaguely seen.
Once again, this scene made everyone's hearts tense!
Soon, the mother came out holding some fruit, and upon seeing the people in the living room, she revealed a kind smile: “Teachers, thank you for coming to our home for a visit. Here, have some fruit.”
She placed the glistening fruit knife on the table with a “thud,” causing Sang Yue to tremble violently.
She unconsciously shrank back.
That fruit knife… it was the same knife that Xiao Ming used to slice open Sang Yue’s abdomen and pull out her intestines…
“Ugh!” Sang Yue couldn’t hold back anymore and bent over, retching.
Her movement caught the mother's attention, and she shifted her gaze slightly in that direction.
Yu Yezhou supported her and hid her behind him.
The mother smiled and asked, “Is this teacher feeling unwell?”
Sang Yue quickly sat up straight and shook her head.
But at that moment, Gu Zhan coldly said, “Where is Xiao Ming?”
As soon as he mentioned Xiao Ming’s name, everyone shuddered.
Why did he bring up Xiao Ming’s name? Did he want Xiao Ming to come out?
He was a murderer!
The next moment, Gu Zhan said, “Please let him come out immediately.”
The mother appeared hesitant: “Xiao Ming just got home and is resting.”
Yu Yezhou also pulled Gu Zhan back, fearing that his aggressive behavior might cause trouble.
However, An Heyan smiled at Gu Zhan, clearly believing he had a plan.
Gu Zhan didn’t change his attitude, and after a while, Yu Yezhou released his grip on Gu Zhan’s shirt and said to the mother, “Yes, let him come out quickly.”
The mother sighed and said, “Alright, I’ll go get him.”
She stood up and slowly walked toward Xiao Ming’s room.
She knocked on the door, and suddenly, there was a loud bang from inside, as if something heavy had crashed against the door.
The mother jumped in surprise, her back stiffening slightly.
In the living room, Yu Yezhou quietly asked Gu Zhan, “Did you have a plan by calling him out?”
Gu Zhan replied, “Don’t forget, we are teachers now. Teachers naturally have an advantage over students.”
Yu Yezhou doubted, “Really? We were also teachers last time.”
Gu Zhan said, “Last time, our attitude was too weak.”
Yu Yezhou: “…”
Being weak can get you killed.
Isn’t being strong likely to lead to a worse death?
The mother remained persistent, standing at the door and calling inside, “Xiao Ming, come out. Your teachers are all here, and they want to see you.”
There was silence for a moment, and then the door was opened.
It was still the burly Xiao Ming stepping out from inside.
The moment she saw him, Sang Yue trembled violently.
Xiao Ming seemed to notice Sang Yue’s fear, his fierce eyes locked onto her.
It seemed he retained the memories from the last cycle!
This thought flashed through everyone's minds, terrifying them; he used that same gaze to dismember them last time!
The phantom pain still hadn’t faded, making it hard for them to face the murderer who killed them.
“Bang!”
Just when everyone was terrified, a fruit platter suddenly flew out, and they heard Gu Zhan coldly shout, “Do you dare come out?!”
Xiao Ming suddenly shivered, a hint of confusion appearing in his eyes.
The coldness that was unmistakably there vanished in an instant, and at that moment, his expression resembled that of a typical middle school student.
“Te… Teacher…”
This Xiao Ming was actually afraid of the teacher!
Under the astonished gazes of Yu Yezhou and others, Xiao Ming slowly lowered his head.
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