Chapter 123: Three Won’t Do Without the Fourth 16

A deathly silence fell over the room. The students’ faces were blank with confusion.

Wang Aiguo asked, "Daoist Zhou, what mirror are you talking about? Where did a mirror even come from?"

Zhou Bushan spoke with solemn gravity, "Why do you think ghosts always linger at the places where they died? It is because they have lost their consciousness and reasoning. Their minds are shrouded in a thick mist, rendering them unable to see the world outside. They only remember the final moments before their deaths, or perhaps they are fixated on unfulfilled regrets. That is why those who fell from heights haunt the corridors, the drowned haunt the riverbanks, and those who perished in traffic accidents wander the intersections... Most of these spirits dissipate over time, though a tiny fraction may turn into monsters due to deep-seated resentment! But even then, they would never leave their original locations without a reason."

Zhou Bushan’s expression was severe as he pointed out the window. "That mirror just now, positioned directly facing the teaching building opposite us, served as a highly provocative signal to the spirits! It acted like a beacon lit for a ghost lost in the mist. It was that mirror outside the window that lured the vengeful spirit into this room!"

Everyone was terrified upon hearing this.

"Could there be mirrors in other rooms? We need to check them immediately!" Wang Aiguo said anxiously.

Zhou Bushan’s face darkened. "Before we rested, every room had been checked. That mirror was not there originally; someone among us tampered with it! They deliberately lured the spirits from outside to this place!"

Everyone was shaken by Zhou Bushan’s words. They looked at each other, unable to believe that a fellow student could do such a thing.

A girl sobbed quietly, "When can we finally go home? I can't take it anymore... I want to leave. I don't want to stay here."

Seeing the girl cry, Zhou Bushan panicked slightly and quickly softened his tone to reassure her. "You don't need to be too afraid. Although the traitor is among us, as long as we stay together at all times, they won't dare to act rashly."

His comfort was ineffective; the mere thought that a classmate could be the culprit only deepened their terror.

Shi Xianyu watched them in silence. They were all afraid, anxious, or deeply worried. Who could the traitor be? Was it Xia Yu, whom everyone suspected? The mentally unstable Bai Yuxi? Or Lu Min, who seemed completely uninvolved?

After a moment of thought, she spoke to Zhou Bushan with a grave expression, "Wan Qianqian died in the first-floor women's restroom. Could it also be..."

Zhou Bushan’s face changed slightly as he realized the implication. "Ah! I will go check right now!"

The first floor had become a forbidden zone in everyone’s minds, and no one dared to approach it. However, since Zhou Bushan was heading down, the others had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow.

Zhou Bushan and Shi Xianyu entered the women's restroom. Wan Qianqian was still lying where she had fallen. After some time, her body had stiffened, and her expression had become even more gruesome.

Shi Xianyu could not bear to look for long. After searching the restroom to no avail, she gathered her courage and lifted Wan Qianqian’s upper body. Beneath the nape of the girl's neck, she discovered a comb.

Zhou Bushan’s face looked even worse than it had upstairs. He pulled the comb from beneath the corpse, tossed it into the sink, and performed a ritual, chanting incantations until the object was burned to ashes by a sudden flame.

"Wan Qianqian had her hair permed, and the hair on that comb clearly isn't hers..." Shi Xianyu felt a chill run through her body. She looked back at the students standing outside the restroom, who appeared so innocent, and said, word for word, "Someone... placed that mirror outside the dormitory window and left this comb in the restroom."

The group looked on in panic, eyeing their companions with dread.

Xia Yu stood stiffly in the crowd, her face pale as she muttered, "When I first started middle school, I heard about it... A murder happened at Yaoming Middle School years ago. A senior student broke up with her boyfriend, but he wouldn't let it go. One night, after she finished showering in the dorm and was brushing her hair, her boyfriend climbed through the window to beg for reconciliation. They started arguing, and during the struggle, he... he strangled her to death..."

Wang Aiguo’s teeth chattered with fear. "Th-that comb... it should have been in the girls' dormitory. Why would it appear here?"

Shi Xianyu looked at the two girls who had gone to the restroom earlier. "You heard Wan Qianqian talking to someone. Did you hear clearly what was said? The comb was likely brought into the restroom by that person."

The girls replied tremblingly, "Although it sounded like she was talking to someone, we only ever heard Wan Qianqian’s voice. She said that Du Xiaoling hated being labeled while she was alive, yet after death, she was labeling everyone. She said she never harmed Du Xiaoling and asked why she was being treated this way. She also said... she said if anyone really wanted to harm Du Xiaoling, it had to be Xia Yu."

Once the words were out, everyone’s gaze fell back upon Xia Yu.

Xia Yu no longer felt anger. She gave a hollow laugh, tears streaming down her face as she murmured, "So, that’s how Qianqian saw me..."

Wang Aiguo asked with deep unease, "Xia Yu, did you kill Du Xiaoling? We are all classmates, with no grudges between us. I'm begging you, if you did it, just admit it! Don't drag us down with you!"

Xia Yu lifted her eyes to look at him and said coldly, "Drag you down? Who among the people here dares to say they are innocent?"

"Xia Yu, what do you mean by that?!" someone immediately retorted. "We only ever talked to Du Xiaoling about schoolwork and rarely had any private interaction with her. You and your friends formed a clique and ran the school like you owned it. Now that you've had a falling out and your 'plastic' friendship has imploded, you're dragging us into this? On what grounds?"

"That’s right, we barely even spoke to Du Xiaoling."

"Xia Yu, do you think you're still that wealthy young lady from before? Who are you putting on airs for? We're not buying it."

"It's precisely because you were always so high and mighty, looking down on everyone, that Yuxi grew closer to Xiaoling. Xiaoling’s personality was so much better than yours."

"What a 'sisterhood'—it’s laughable. Just a bunch of fake, plastic friends..."

As the students traded insults, Xia Yu’s face grew increasingly pale, as if she were being flayed by their words, her heart pierced by a thousand arrows.

As for Bai Yuxi, she did not offer a single word of defense for the isolated Xia Yu, burying her head in Lu Min’s arms and weeping silently.

Zhou Bushan, least equipped to handle interpersonal disputes, looked helplessly at Shi Xianyu.

"Mutual resentment and shifting blame are meaningless." Shi Xianyu frowned at the students. "Instead, why don't we consider this: since everyone is here, who brought the comb? The third-floor corridor is L-shaped. Anyone living in the corner rooms could have slipped down the fire escape while Daoist Zhou wasn't looking, gone to the girls' dormitory to retrieve the comb, and placed it in the restroom. But Xia Yu’s room isn't in the corner."

When Shi Xianyu finished speaking, everyone panicked, especially those living near the corner.

"How is that possible? After what happened, who would have the guts to run outside?!"

Shi Xianyu remained expressionless. "The person who trapped you all here certainly has the guts to do it."