Chapter 9: 9

The loudspeaker on the third floor resounded once again, calling them to lunch. 

Before they knew it, half of the day had passed.

Neither Lin Yi nor Qin Zhou planned to go to lunch. Rather, they didn’t have the time.

 

 

Lin Yi used his little finger to stuff into one of the small holes on the floor. He then used his thumb and placed it against his little finger to measure the depth of the small hole. “A little more than one knuckle deep.”

Qin Zhou looked at his fingers. The little genius’s hand was very beautiful; with narrow, slender, with well-defined knuckles, it made his fingers appear longer than most. It clearly showed the depth of the small holes. 

“Once we clearly find out what that things is, we’ll know whether the wardrobe will be of any use or not.” Qin Zhou looked away.

 

Lin Yi asked, “How will we do that?”

“We’ll look elsewhere first.”

Qin Zhou said as he walked outside. There was no longer anything to see in Room 310. Now, he planned to go to the second floor.

 

“The second floor?” Lin Yi walked behind Qin Zhou, keeping a distance that was neither too far nor too near.

“Yeah.” Qin Zhou said, “The old dorm manager dragged Wang Duo’s body to the second floor.”

The two reached the second floor and when they turned around the corridor, they discovered that there was an iron door separating the landing and second floor corridor.

 

Qin Zhou touched the big lock on the iron door. “It’s locked.” 

Lin Yi took a step closer. The iron gate was a fence type. Although the door was locked, they could still see into the corridor.

A long dragging trail, like a mop had passed through, left a bright sheen in the middle of the dust covered expanse.

He carefully looked at it. The trace stopped abruptly at almost the center of the corridor. If the rooms on the second floor corresponded with those on the third, then that room should be… Room 204.

Directly below Lin Yi’s room. 

Lin Yi reported to Qin Zhou what he’d seen. Qin Zhou too looked into the corridor.

Unlike the third floor, there were no lights in the second floor corridor and despite his 20-20 vision, he couldn’t see anything.

Actually, he had already rule out the possibility of Lin Yi being the 7-7 Monster. Monsters would never let themselves be the target of the NPCs. But Qin Zhou held suspicions about Lin Yi’s identity in his heart. He deliberately said, “Let’s go to the other side and have a look.”

This dormitory building had two stairwells. On the right, where they were now, was locked but it was yet unknown if the left side was also locked. 

“There’s no need to go.” Although the little genius was dishonest, he wasn’t the scheming sort.

Hearing Qin Zhou’s suggestion, he did think there was anything much behind it. He looked towards the end of the corridor off into the distance and said, “It’s also locked over there.”

 

Even after a long time, Qin Zhou said nothing.

He turned to look at Qin Zhou. “Senior?” 

He then saw something from Qin Zhou’s expression and he immediately reacted, quickly explaining his night vision ability. “I’m partially color blind.”

“En.” Qin Zhou remained noncommittal. He asked, “Are you sure it’s also locked over there? Did you see anything else… What’s with that expression?”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“It’s bitterness.” Lin Yi said, “Senior, you violated the spirit of our contract of cooperation. I’m feeling very regretful and sad. It’s making me want to cry.” 

Hlc Itbe: “…Ktfc ktja rtbeiv P vb?”

Olc Tl atbeuta obg j ktlif jcv rjlv, “Gbc’a vb la cfza alwf.”

Hlc Itbe kjr regqglrfv. “Pa’r atja rlwqif?”

Olc Tl: “Sc.” 

Hlc Itbe: “Qtja lo atfgf lr j cfza alwf?”

Olc Tl: “Ktfc, la kbeivc’a yf jiibkfv atf cfza alwf joafg atja.”

“You’re surprisingly good-tempered.” Qin Zhou’s lower lip ticked up. “Alright, I agree.”

Lin Yi also smiled at him. He then continued looking at the corridor, “I don’t see anything except the drag marks. The most important thing is Room 204.” 

But if they wanted to enter Room 204, they needed not only the key to Room 204 but also the key to the iron gate.

Lin Yi turned his head and glanced at Qin Zhou. “Senior, I’ve got a daring idea. ”

Qin Zhou: “Okay.”

They were together from the first beat. 

There was no need to guess that the keys must be in the old dorm manager’s room.

And so, the two headed down from the second floor, stopping at the corner of the corridor, where they could just see the duty room.

 

The door and window of the duty room were closed. There was no detectable movement. The two of them couldn’t be sure whether the old dorm manager was inside or not.

Lin Yi stuck his head out to look but the glass window was so dirty and tinted green that he couldn’t see if anyone was inside. 

“Have you ever done anything like imitating a dog to steal chickens?” Qin Zhou asked.

Lin Yi shook his head: “I’m a very good student.”

Qin Zhou: “If the old dorm manager is inside, you trick him to come out and I will take that opportunity to sneak in and find the keys.”

Lin Yi: “Okay.” 

Lin Yi carefully walked over. He first knocked on the door of the duty room, “Mister, are you there?”

No response, no movement.

Lin Yi turned to look at Qin Zhou. Qin Zhou understood and walked out of the corner.

Although they didn’t know why the old dorm manager wasn’t in the duty room, it was better for them that he wasn’t there. 

Since they’ve determined the scope of the rule of death for tonight, Lin Yi no longer shied away from this window in the duty room. Listening to Qin Zhou’s approaching footsteps, Lin Yi tried to push the glass window. “Senior, the door is closed. This is the only way through if we want to get in.”

Qin Zhou just gave an “en”. “Is the window locked?”

Lin Yi said: “It’s locked, but the quality of this window’s not that good. A good shove should get the latch to give.”

His statement was accompanied by a “kacha” sound– 

Lin Yi really had managed to open the locked glass window from the outside.

Qin Zhou: “I can’t believe you’ve never stolen anything.”

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Lin Yi: “Being able to open windows and being a good student are two…”

He stopped mid-sentence. 

Lin Yi was pushing the glass window aside. The glass window opened, overlapping with the other one as it slid along the window frame’s rails, slowly revealing the counter behind the window — and the old dorm manager staring at him quietly.

Caught off guard, their eyes met and Lin Yi’s scalp went numb.

 

No matter how bold he was, the sight made his heart beat several times faster. He immediately pulled the window close, back to its original position, blocking the very, very unsettling gaze of the old dorm manager.

As quick as a flicker of light. 

Qin Zhou grabbed his wrist, pulling him away and quickly fleeing the first floor. Behind the glass window, the old dorm manager remained motionless but below his lids, his cloudy eyeballs twitched, moving in their sockets to follow after their movement.

Back in Room 305, Qin Zhou stared at Lin Yi, “Little genius, how are you?”

This was the first time Qin Zhou saw Lin Yi’s frightened expression.

In the course of fleeing to the third floor from the first, Lin Yi had already recovered. He looked down at his wrist and only then did Qin Zhou release him. 

Without the skin-to-skin contact, Lin Yi finally completely relaxed. “I’m fine, it was just that his sight was too unsettling.”

When he looked at you, it gave the sensation of being peeped at. For Lin Yi being looked at like that was no less disturbing than finding someone under his bed and not only that but he and the person under the bed locked eyes with their faces almost cheek to cheek.

“F*ck.” Qin Zhou scolded: “There must be something in the duty room. There’s something fishy about that old dorm manager.”

These were nothing but superfluous words. 

But there was nothing they could do. Their attempts at finding clues had been thwarted. The second floor was closed with an iron gate and their plan to find the keys was disrupted by the secret spying of the old dorm manager.

The hope for life was cut off several times and time passed without them managing to do anything. The loudspeaker in the corridor of the third floor blared. It was time for dinner.

Lin Yi rubbed his stomach.

Qin Zhou glanced at him. “Let’s go.” 

Lin Yi: “Huh?”

Qin Zhou: “Let’s eat.”

Lin Yi: “Oh, right.”

Because Wang Duo had died in Room 103, the others ate more at lunch and refused to come for dinner. After all, dinner meant that nightfall was coming and this was when NPCs could kill. 

When Lin Yi and Qin Zhou arrived at Room 103, only Cheng Yang was inside.

“Boss, I turned Room 303 upside down.” Cheng Yang said immediately upon seeing them. “But I found nothing, no clues.”

 

Pained and depressed: “And it’s getting dark again. Who knows which Yuanzhong will die tonight? Oh, Buddha preserve us, don’t let it be me.”

After he finishing speaking, he turned back to Lin Yi and Qin Zhou, “Of course, don’t let it be Lin Yi Xiong either. Let alone Boss.” 

Lin Yi: “Thank you, Cheng Yang Xiong for your blessing.”

Unfortunately, he was next.

Qin Zhou glanced at Lin Yi, the Yuanzhong. The little genius who was being targeted by the rule of death looked calm; he didn’t seem to despair at Cheng Yang’s bad news.

He had been to many Rule Worlds and he has seen many people die in front of him; classmates, good friends, and competent subordinates from the student union. 

Death was never far from them. When it did come, they cried, they roared and even ended their own lives with their own hands. From their fragility in the beginning to their numbness now, the only emotion that remained was the grief of the fox for the dying rabbit. No one could tell when his life would end.

The dinner was soon over and the three of them exited Room 103. Lin Yi glanced at the apartment lobby again. The door of the apartment was still locked and the duty room was dark.

Maybe he’d gotten PTSD from being stared at by the old dorm manager, Lin Yi felt like he was being watched again.

Back on the third floor, after Cheng Yang returned to his own Room 303. Qin Zhou stopped Lin Yi. “Are you full?” 

Lin Yi: “I’m full, ready to start off on my journey.”

… Qin Zhou said, “Do you not even spare yourself with this mouth of yours?”

In order to prevent Lin Yi speaking more golden words, Qin Zhou explained, “An empty sack cannot stand upright. Only when you’re full can you have the strength to be strong. Little genius, do your best tonight.”

Lin Yi nodded. “Okay, I will try my best to survive.” 

The two weren’t yet at that point where they could exchange their last words and entrust the other with handling matters. Qin Zhou went back to Room 305 and Lin Yi went back to his Room 304.

Looking up, the wardrobe still blocked the window.

Lin Yi looked around the room for the nth time. The bed was bolted down and there weren’t many things in the room that could be used to increase the weight.

He moved the table against the closet. This kind of table was practically weightless. Lin Yi thought of the metal canister under his bed. 

When he moved it, he could tell there must be a lot of gold and silver coins in it, because it was very heavy; heavier than this set of table and chair.

He got down on all fours, ready to take out the metal canister and put it on the table to add weight and increase the chances of stopping the thing outside from crawling in.

 

Lin Yi was tall and his arms, naturally, weren’t short. With simple extending of his arm, he already reached the metal canister. And when his hand had just touched the metal canister, his fingertips feeling the coolness of the metal——

Boom clink clink clink; Boom clink clink clink. 

Lin Yi paused his movements and pricked up his ears to try and make out the distance and source of the sound.

Boom clink clink clink; Boom clink clink clink.

Boom clink clink clink; Boom clink clink clink.

The sound was still far away and the source seemed to someone inside the building, downstairs, walking around. This person must be very heavy, so the sound was dull. 

Then — click! click! click!

This sound immediately reminded Lin Yi of the densely packed small holes in Room 310. That thing was now at the foot of the building. It then started climbing along the wall like a Boston ivy.

Click.

The nails poked into the mottled wall and it pulled its body upwards. 

Click.

Up again.

The clicking sound was slow and rhythmic. The thing outside the window climbed unhurriedly — little by little, slowly, without any rush.

Then. 

The ‘click’ sound disappeared.

It had reached its destination.

 

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