Chapter 16: Stop 21: Diaries

Chapter 16: Station 21: The Diary

It was a floral-bound notebook with a lock on it.

The lock had long since vanished, its clasp crooked and rusted. Clearly, not only was it old, but it had also been forcibly opened at some point in its past.

The pages were filled with dense writing that had been smudged by water, making it illegible. One could only discern that they might be journal entries from the layout.

Each page was adorned with colorful, girlish patterns, suggesting it was designed to appeal to young girls.

"Nothing here... even the names are blurred," Si Shuhao muttered softly. Next to her, Su Bo thought for a moment before saying, "This should be Jin Shuen's diary, right?"

"I'm thinking that Classroom 1130 might not have been where Class 9 actually was. Maybe the room Ye Ge went to, Classroom 1330, was where Jin Shuen really spent her time. After all, this diary was given by someone who sat in Seat 029."

Si Shuhao pondered this possibility.

"Indeed... Then who is that woman who played the Ouija board? From the description, she doesn't seem like a student. How did she come to possess Jin Shuen's diary, and why does she consider it the 'most important' thing?"

Susu suddenly recalled a detail:

"When the female school doctor chased after us, didn't she say something like 'burn that mother and daughter'? Could it be possible... that this woman who played the Ouija board is Jin Shuen's mother?"

"Sis, you're amazing!"

Si Shuhao clapped her hands in admiration but then asked,

"But knowing this doesn't seem to be of much use, right?"

The man's pale fingers gently touched the blurry diary, and he whispered,

"The most essential secrets of the Unseen Master usually hold the key to deciphering this world. As long as we can get to the classroom, we can see her past through this diary."

Susu asked in surprise,

"Then, can we find a way out through it? The schedule has been too tight these few days, and dealing with the Unseen Master's tricks alone is exhausting... We still have no idea where the exit is."

Hu Zhicheng waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry. I studied the map with Brother Ming last night. Apart from the entrance we used, there's a gate at the back of the mountain and another one to the outside world on the left side of the cafeteria. Although we're not sure about the direction of the platform, it should be behind one of these two doors."

Si Shuhao immediately clapped her hands.

"Awesome! Uncle Hu is indeed an experienced navigator!"

Hu Zhicheng chuckled at the compliment. Si Shuhao closed the notebook and returned it to Yan Qiling, then asked,

"How do we use this to see the past? Do we need to prepare anything?"

Holding the wrinkled paper that had become stiff due to dryness, the rough texture made the man's thumb slightly warm.

"At the right place, at the right time, and in the right way, it can be opened. But there's a price to pay."

His gaze turned profound, and his crimson-blue eyes held an unreadable restlessness.

"It contains the memories of the Master of the Endless Realm. This means that the Master could follow those memories and arrive at the location of the notebook... And there's a high chance they'll bear a grudge against whoever opens it."

Their expressions instantly changed, and Hu Zhicheng grew worried:

"Then... are you still going to open the classroom later?"

Putting away his notebook, the man spoke gently:

"It depends on whether we live long enough to reach that point."

Hu Zhicheng was somewhat confused, his tone cautious:

"Little Yan, I'm not quite getting it. Didn't they say that the Incarnations here have to follow certain rules? Shouldn't we... still be safe?"

Yan Qiling looked at the sun that was gradually brightening outside:

"....Didn't you ask me how I came back?"

"Last night, the monster in the teaching building kept chasing after me until I entered the dormitory. Just like the school doctor yesterday, it was stopped at the entrance."

While the others hadn't noticed anything unusual, Si Shuhao sensed something:

"The monster in the academic building can't enter the dorms? Wait, didn't we speculate before that there might be more than one Master of Chaos here?"

Suzhuo murmured in response:

"Well, if that's the case, then the dorms must belong to the female school doctor."

The room fell silent for a moment, leaving only the cool voice of the man who had spoken:

"At this point, I can roughly confirm that this school is divided into two factions: Jin Shuen and her mother on one side, and the school doctor and those four ladies who check the dorms at night on the other."

"As for the students in black plastic bags, they have lost their human consciousness and are merely pawns in the struggle between these two groups. Whoever's territory they die in, they serve."

His words cast an ominous shadow over the brightening sunlight:

"If I'm not mistaken, the school doctor usually operates in well-lit areas, while Jin Shuen prefers the darkness... It's daytime now, which means it's a time of light."

Si Shuhao felt a chill run down her spine:

"What about Ming Yiyang and the others then...?"

Yan Qiling rose slowly, picked up the smoking pipe by the bedside, and at the open door, a faint purple haze of smoke already enveloped the area.

"When we get through this current predicament, we'll go find them."

"Both of these Incarnation Rulers have lost their patience."

-

Ming Yiyang walked with the grace of a breeze, leaving Hu Gaoming struggling to keep up behind him.

Oh, dear brother, you're tall and have long legs, couldn't you just wait a moment?

But even if he had a hundred times the courage, he wouldn't dare voice such a complaint. So, he could only trail behind, running wearily.

Entering the infirmary was smoother than they'd anticipated. Just like yesterday, they encountered no obstacles.

However, all the medicine cabinets were securely locked, and they couldn't budge them no matter how hard they tried. They also failed to locate any keys.

While Hu Gaoming was pondering if there might be some puzzle to solve, he watched, dumbfounded, as Ming Yiyang casually grabbed a small wrench from a drawer and smashed the glass in just a few strikes.

Shards scattered everywhere. Ming Yiyang reached in, turned the lock deftly, and effortlessly opened the cabinet doors, leaving them all in awe.

Reining in his excitement, Hu Gaoming couldn't help but ask,

"Brother Ming, did you ever rob a bank before?"

The young man casually picked up a box of medicine and examined it.

"How would you know that?"

Hu Gaoming was astonished.

"Bro, did you really? You're joking, right?"

The youth's jet-black eyes swept over him nonchalantly, and he gave a wry smile,

"You just said it was a joke, and yet you believe it."

Hu Gaoming sighed in relief and focused on helping to find the medicine.

But soon, he realized that the text on these cardboard boxes resembled stick figures, completely indecipherable to him.

Watching Ming Yiyang meticulously selecting some medication, he was both worried and curious:

"Brother Ming, can you read Korean? Burn patients can't just use any medicine randomly. It could be disastrous if you get it wrong. From the looks of it, Brother Yan can't afford to be messed with..."

Ming Yiyang looked at him as if he was speaking gibberish:

"There's English on it, isn't there?"

As a academically challenged person, Hu Gaoming was hit by an unexpected blow.

He couldn't believe it and stammered:

"I thought..."

"What did you think?"

That you're as illiterate as me.

Knowing the young man's personality well, he chose to remain silent. Finally, he came back to his senses, gazing at Ming Yiyang's face for a while before realizing:

"Brother Ming, you must be a foreigner, right? Your Chinese is fantastic!"

Ming Yiyang thumped down a bottle of medical alcohol with an expressionless face.

"I'm from Guangzhou. Not only do I speak Mandarin, but I also speak Cantonese. Ask one more question, and I'll teach you a lesson right here."

Receiving a menacing stare, Hu Gaoming forced a ingratiating grin and mimed zipping his mouth shut.

For a moment, the only sound was Ming Yiyang's sweeping movements around the area.

Feeling restless, Hu Gaoming idly flipped through items before finally succumbing to curiosity.

"Brother Ming, aren't you specialized in treating sprains and strains... Did you study medicine before?"

Ming Yiyang held the first-aid kit against his chest and added a few bottles of iodine solution.

"Who says someone who treats bruises can't treat burns? Can doctors choose their patients? Of course, you treat whatever comes your way."

The place didn't quite sound like a legitimate medical facility.

Hu Gaoming, sensing that the anger had subsided in Ming Yiyang, cautiously asked,

"Brother Ming, do you have medical licenses?"

Ming Yiyang shot him a quizzical, almost amused glance.

"Why bother about licenses? Being alive is better than being dead," he replied.

After gathering the medicine, they found themselves unable to open the door.

Hu Gaoming's heart sank.

An icy chill that made the hair on his arms stand up swept over them, accompanied by a slow dripping of a cold liquid onto his forehead.

He lifted his head, trembling.

A shapeless mass of darkness was descending from the ceiling, greedily parting to reveal a mouth lined with closely packed, yellowish-white teeth. The rows of teeth seemed to stretch on endlessly, like the insatiable maw of an eel.

Desperate to run, his feet felt glued to the ground, refusing to budge.

The acrid stench billowed out, abruptly mingling with the darkness that descended upon them.

"What are you daydreaming about? Afraid you won't die fast enough?"

Thrown against the wall by his collar, Hu Gaoming nearly suffocated. Upon realizing he wasn't about to die immediately, he began gasping for air frantically.

Ming Yiyang, who had evaded the initial assault, shook the black slime off his wooden blade.

The fluid seemed to possess a consciousness of its own. It dripped from the blade and swiftly retreated back into the bizarre entity, leaving no trace behind.

His snow-white brows knitted involuntarily.

Anything that could heal itself was the most troublesome of all. It couldn't be burned or killed, indicating that the battle ahead would be a protracted and exhausting one.

Countless "little mouths" emerged from the strange creature's "body."

It seemed to know that they intended to escape, so it firmly occupied the area around the door.

The incessantly descending black liquid completely submerged the door, forming a membrane resembling veins that covered the lock and every crevice, leaving no room to maneuver.

The infirmary was on the fifth floor; clearly, jumping out the window wasn't an ideal choice either.

If that monster had left a portion of itself downstairs to ambush them, they would be walking straight into a trap.

The creature began to compress its body, revealing its eagerness for victory. It intended to overwhelm the two humans in front of it with a decisive, crushing blow.

They couldn't let it make the first move.

Ming Yiyang's eyes shimmered with a translucent pale purple glow as he tossed the heavy medical kit into Hu Gaoming's arms.

"Hold onto it."

As the creature surged forward like a jet of black ink, Ming Yiyang strode boldly to meet it, his blade slicing through the surging darkness!

In an instant, the black mist around him ignited into white flames, bursting into a breathtaking snow-colored fireball against the brilliant sunlight.