"Wait a minute.”
Yang Lin suddenly said, “If that’s the case, doesn’t it mean that our disobedient behavior today will also lead to us being replaced?!”
The earlier child hadn’t done much wrong; he simply talked during class and was caught by the teacher, which led to his replacement!
Their sneaking out of school was far more serious than that!
Gu Zhan still looked calm. After a moment of thought, he said, “There’s an opportunity... The exams are coming up soon. If they’re angry, we can tell them that after the weekend, the exams will start. If they replace us now, it will affect our scores. I think they will at least wait until after the exams to make any changes.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” As soon as he said that, Yang Lin immediately realized, “As long as we do well on the exams, we should be able to avoid a disaster.”
[I was still wondering if they were going to change the rules, but I didn’t expect him to think so quickly.]
[He couldn’t have thought of this excuse from the very beginning, could he?]
Yu Yezhou said, “In that case, let’s not stay out too long. We should hurry home.”
Gu Zhan added, “Also, if we manage to escape safely after getting home, remember to call and let me know.”
“Got it, understood.”
Everyone nodded. They knew the way back to their homes, and it wasn’t far from there, so they dispersed and headed home.
When Gu Zhan arrived at his front door, as expected, “Father” was waiting for him.
Upon seeing him, the puppet-like face looked extremely angry.
Gu Zhan spoke up first, “Dad, I was tricked. That person told us that if we followed him, he would have a good way to improve our grades. But when I followed him, he just wanted to take me out of town.”
The angry puppet paused for a moment, “A way to improve grades?”
Gu Zhan lowered his head, appearing quite remorseful. “I’m sorry. The exam is on Monday, and I really wanted to get a good score.”
The puppet paused, carefully examining Gu Zhan.
Gu Zhan kept his head down, looking genuinely remorseful.
[What a good performance!]
[He’d be wasted as an actor!]
[This NPC was completely fooled by his act.]
[What about the others?]
[I just came back from Yu Yezhou’s livestream. No kidding, everyone is keeping their guard up; this whole team is full of drama queens!]
On the other side, at Yu Yezhou’s house, his parents appeared much calmer, but they were still very angry about their child running away from school.
Yu Yezhou simply lay half on the sofa. “Crying and throwing a tantrum,” he complained, “The gym class at school is so boring! The exam is next Monday, how can we still have time for gym class? They should change all gym classes to math classes; even language classes would be better!”
“Of course I left school to find the library! I wanted to study at the library, not waste time on gym class like those people... Why didn’t I go? Of course, it’s because the town doesn’t have a library... Ah, there is one, but I couldn’t find it. I thought my parents would worry, so I came back early.”
His words flowed one after another, leaving no chance for the NPCs to interject.
The audience in the live stream expressed their amazement.
[The best move in this round was definitely his.]
[The NPCs were left dumbfounded.]
Just as Gu Zhan expected, what worried these "parents" the most was their children's grades.
With exams approaching, they concocted an excuse that their class skipping was for study. The parents, though suspicious, did not get angry.
The group successfully navigated through the crisis.
However, the cost was that they had to stay home for two days over the weekend to review.
Gu Zhan's puppet parents reluctantly complied, but they clearly had no intention of enjoying the weekend. In the living room, they sat on either side, watching Gu Zhan study.
Reluctantly, Gu Zhan opened his textbook and began to copy from it.
Study time was always painful, even if it was just elementary school material.
Finally, after enduring two days, the school day arrived.
Although Gu Zhan had fooled the two puppet parents, their attitude in the past few days had been average at best, hinting that they could discard him at any moment.
Before leaving, the female puppet said to Gu Zhan, "You must work hard on the exam and aim for a good ranking, understand?"
Gu Zhan replied, "Got it, Mom."
She didn’t even say goodbye, just watched him get in the car and leave.
When he arrived at school, he found that everyone else was already there. After greeting each other, they chatted briefly about their weekends.
They all used “the exam” as an excuse to avoid punishment for skipping school on Friday. Having been cooped up at home for two days studying, they were reminded again before leaving to strive for good results.
After their conversation, Yang Lin glanced aside and said quietly, "Have you noticed? The atmosphere in the classroom feels off today."
Normally, before class, the children would gather together chattering away, only returning to their seats after the bell rang.
But today, with a long time until class started, they were all quietly seated, waiting for the teacher.
Yu Yezhou said, "Looks like, even without skipping class, everyone's feeling the same pressure."
He took a deep breath and said, "This is just elementary school material; there’s no reason we should fail. Let’s do our best."
Not long after he spoke, the bell rang, and everyone returned to their seats.
Soon, the teacher entered.
Gu Zhan noticed that today's teacher seemed different, moving much more stiffly, holding a thick stack of exam papers.
The teacher distributed the papers, passing them from the front to the back.
Gu Zhan and his friends were in the back, so they received their papers last.
Once the papers were handed out, the teacher announced, "The first subject is Chinese, with a duration of sixty minutes. No early submissions, and make sure to double-check your answers for any mistakes."
"The exam starts now."
The classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only the sound of pens scribbling.
All the students wrote diligently, unwilling to waste a second.
Gu Zhan thought something unexpected might happen during the exam, but nothing did.
And so, sixty minutes later, the first exam was over.
There were two subjects in the morning, with a thirty-minute break between each, much more generous than the usual recess time.
As soon as they finished collecting the papers, they left the exam room and gathered in the hallway to discuss their situations.
The exam content was unsurprisingly what they had learned over the past few days—elementary school material.
Yang Lin looked a bit worried. "I think I got some right... but there were a few questions I'm not so sure about."
"You can answer wrong on elementary questions?" Yu Yezhou said, sounding uncertain himself. "Well… there were a few questions I’m also not sure about."
Having been away from elementary school for so long, it was natural to be uncertain about some answers.
"Forget it," Yang Lin said, giving in first. "It’s still better than those real elementary school students; we should be fine."
Gu Zhan noticed her unease. Even though she kept trying to reassure herself, the tension remained.
He felt the same way, suspecting that things weren’t as simple as they seemed.
Yu Yezhou said, "Let’s each take a break; the second exam is about to start."
Gu Zhan headed to the restroom.
The restrooms here were all single stalls, and when he entered, Yu Yezhou was just coming out.
They exchanged a glance, and Yu Yezhou even helped him close the door.
When Gu Zhan finished washing his hands and came out, he found the restroom empty. Standing in front of the sink, he stared at his reflection in the mirror, momentarily stunned.
[Hey? Didn’t they say the restroom couldn't stream? Why is there suddenly a video?]
[Earlier, while I was in the stall, the live stream was still connected with Yu Yezhou. Why did it suddenly separate?]
[Something's off, brothers.]
Gu Zhan’s reflection froze with his movements, but he didn’t leave; instead, he frowned at his reflection for a while, suddenly reaching out to knock on the mirror.
[What’s he doing?]
[It moved! The one in the mirror is moving!]
[Damn, why is he so calm?]
The "Gu Zhan" in the mirror remained in its original position when Gu Zhan raised his arm. After Gu Zhan knocked on the mirror, it suddenly tilted its head and grinned at him.
The tongue hidden behind its lips morphed into a long, forked shape like a cold-blooded creature, licking its lips slowly, teasingly… Its gaze was evil and alluring, studying the real Gu Zhan outside the mirror.
It felt so out of place.
It was as if someone had hijacked his body.
This feeling made Gu Zhan extremely uncomfortable. He frowned and pressed his palm against the mirror to block the reflection of "Gu Zhan."
The mirror "Gu Zhan": "…"
Never had he seen such a reaction! The mirror "Gu Zhan" seemed provoked, reaching out as if to climb out.
However, Gu Zhan's response was much quicker.
He grabbed a mop off the floor and swung it hard at the mirror. The glass shattered with a crash, and the "Gu Zhan" inside shrieked, clutching its eyes, which had been cut by the shards, and quickly vanished from the broken mirror.
Gu Zhan picked up the nearby water bucket and casually swept the shards of the mirror into it, directly placing the lid on top.
With the light refracted, the chaotic reflections in the mirror also disappeared.
He turned to walk toward the door, and as expected, it wouldn't budge.
When Yu Yezhou left, he only gently closed the door, so it couldn’t possibly be locked.
Gu Zhan banged on the door, hoping the people outside would hear him.
But there was no sound at all from outside.
At that moment, the bathroom light started flickering, and the faucet behind him turned on by itself, spewing out blood-red water...
Where the water pooled, a human figure seemed to materialize, gradually taking shape on the reflective surface...
[Exams aren’t that simple; he’s done for. He’s being watched.]
[This place isn’t going to kill anyone, but the exam results might not be great.]
[Well, even if he takes the exam seriously...]
All four faucets in the bathroom turned on to the maximum. Water quickly overflowed from the sink. Gu Zhan tossed the mop into the water, wanting to shatter the surface.
However, the water didn’t behave like a mirror. The disturbance quickly returned it to its original state.
Countless twisted, writhing reflections of himself appeared on the water's surface, slowly creeping toward him.
Outside, after Yu Yezhou closed the door, he didn’t leave.
He wanted to wait for Gu Zhan to come out, so they could return to the classroom together.
But time ticked away, and Gu Zhan still hadn’t come out.
Moreover, there was no noise at all from the bathroom.
Yu Yezhou felt a bit worried; he leaned against the door and knocked.
There was no response.
What was going on?
[Stop waiting! Your teammate won’t come out.]
[If you leave him, you can still make it to the exam. If you keep waiting, you won’t make it either!]
Yu Yezhou couldn’t see the bullet screen and had no intention of leaving.
After realizing Gu Zhan wasn’t responding, he decided to go in and check, but he found the bathroom door wouldn’t open.
After struggling for a few minutes, Xu Yu and Yang Lin also came out of the classroom.
“What are you still doing here? The exam is about to start!” Yang Lin said anxiously. “Where’s Gu Zhan?”
Yu Yezhou replied, “He went in, but the door is locked.”
“What happened?” The two stepped forward, trying to pull the door open.
But it was clear that this door couldn't be opened with brute force.
The three of them looked grave.
Xu Yu said, “He’s probably trapped.”
Yang Lin quickly pieced together the situation. “What should we do?”
Waiting here wouldn’t help; it would only risk missing the exam.
But if they didn’t wait... what if Gu Zhan was in some life-threatening situation and needed help? If he managed to get out only to find no one there, it would be a betrayal of their teammate.
After a brief consideration, Yu Yezhou said, “Wait.”
He had his reasons.
The one sent away from 221-4B might not necessarily be dead; perhaps he was taken somewhere else. If Gu Zhan was sent away due to poor grades, it would mean leaving the town...
Exploring the dark side of the story was part of the exploration.
Yang Lin also didn’t want to abandon Gu Zhan, but standing there seemed futile.
She said, “Let’s try to break the door down.”
No sooner had she said this than there was a loud crash from the bathroom door, shaking the entire wall!
“What the hell!” Yang Lin, standing the closest, exclaimed and jumped aside!
The next second, a sharp axe blade slammed through the wooden door!
This sudden change startled everyone, and they all stepped back, only to see the axe quickly retract.
Then, another powerful chop came down.
“What is this…” Yang Lin’s face showed hesitation.
Could it be that Gu Zhan had been killed by a monster? Was that monster about to come out after him?!
“No, that shouldn’t be the case,” Yu Yezhou also looked shocked.
How could he possibly be killed so quickly?!
No, that was Gu Zhan!
“Bang!”
Another loud noise! Half of the door shattered, and whatever was inside looked ready to come out.
Yang Lin panicked. “Quick! Think of something!”
In the next moment, a hand reached out from within.
The owner of the hand seemed impatient, pushing the broken door panel aside and tossing the splintered wood to the side.
It nearly hit Yu Yezhou.
Everyone sensed something was off and froze, but the next second, the axe struck again, completely shattering the door panel.
Gu Zhan squeezed out from inside, shocking everyone.
He was soaked, and after stepping outside, he threw the axe down on the ground, irritably clutching the hem of his clothes as the water dripped down.
Comments