Chapter 88: Hide and Seek

"It's the Pen Spirit..."

Jingzhe also realized it. She stood up and signaled everyone to retreat. The other two newcomers hid behind her.

It's easy to invite a god, but hard to send one away.

And the person who invited the god was no longer there.

Thump, thump, thump—

A knocking sound came from the door. Everyone looked sideways; no one dared to move.

However, the person outside wouldn't give up, one sound louder than the next, one sound more urgent than the next.

Thump thump thump—

Thump thump thump—!!!

Su Mian gathered her courage and took a peek through the hole, "It's Jiang Yue."

Jingzhe: "Where did she go just now?"

Jiang Yue had clearly followed them to the public restroom; why didn't she follow them back?

What happened to her outside? A string of doubts occupied Su Mian's brain. She realized this instance was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

The murder line might be the simplest part of the game. Hidden beneath the dead souls was a deeper secret; a moment of carelessness would cost one their life.

"Should... should we open the door?"

Shen Jiarui spoke in a low voice. Su Mian shook her head decisively, "No, she might not be Jiang Yue."

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Yue outside finally spoke, her tone carrying a sob.

"The Pen Spirit! The Pen Spirit has come back to find us! Open the door for me quickly!"

Su Mian gripped the doorknob tightly. Jingzhe protected the two behind her.

She shouted "open the door" at least ten times outside, each sound more hoarse than the last. Su Mian gripped the doorknob until she broke into a cold sweat, her palms wet and red.

She stared fixedly at the hole. A black shadow appeared behind Jiang Yue. The girl stopped screaming.

She opened her eyes wide, looked back in disbelief, and then slowly looked toward the hole, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood. Her head slid down the door frame.

Blood flowed in through the crack in the door. Su Mian frowned and turned to the side. What hit her nose wasn't the smell of blood, but the smell of ink.

She focused and realized it wasn't blood flowing, but ink.

"We are in danger."

Su Mian stared at the ink flowing to the center of the aisle and stopping—it was exactly where they had invited the god yesterday.

"She is Jiang Yue! Why didn't you open the door?!"

Chang Anning slapped away Jingzhe's hand, her tone excited: "You were too clever for your own good and got Jiang Yue killed! How can you be so cold-blooded?"

"I even asked you just now..."

Shen Jiarui didn't dare look ahead, covering her eyes and blaming them.

"Enough."

Jingzhe frowned, "Letting the Pen Spirit in would be a loss that outweighs the gain. Sacrificing one NPC to preserve our own lives is the most important thing."

If it weren't for the emergency, she would have beaten this Chang Anning up already. Acting like a saint at a time like this.

"He's already in."

Su Mian said abruptly. Cold sweat broke out on everyone. She took a deep breath, "Where is the A4 paper Liang Chuchu used that day? Find it, we'll ask one more time."

As soon as she finished speaking, they rushed to Liang Chuchu's bed to rummage. Su Mian picked up the ballpoint pen and placed it in the center of the aisle.

"Found it!"

Chang Anning crawled out from under the desk, her face covered in dust, and hurriedly returned to her original position.

Su Mian placed her hand on the ballpoint pen. The crisp sound echoed in the air.

"Pen Spirit, Pen Spirit, no offense intended. Please calm your anger. If possible, please leave."

Everyone held their breath and watched. The ballpoint pen slowly rotated and pointed to "No."

"It's over! We're all finished!"

Shen Jiarui screamed, "He's going to kill us all! I was the second one to ask, I'm going to die soon! Woo woo woo..."

She curled into a ball, recalling her entire life.

For some reason, Su Mian always felt that when the words "Pen Spirit" were called out, something was touching her head behind her.

But the touch was too light, just like the wind blowing past. However, now was not the time to think about this.

"Pen Spirit, Pen Spirit, what will it take for you to let us go?"

The ballpoint pen began to rotate again.

"hide-and-seek"

Jingzhe: "Hide and seek?"

Beep beep—

The electronic clock rang twice, the countdown changed to ten minutes, and with a click, the door opened by itself.

Jiang Yue's corpse was still lying at the door, dead with a hideous expression.

Su Mian stood up immediately and stepped over the corpse, "He gave us ten minutes to hide. Don't stay here anymore."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone leaped out, fearing that if they were a step late, they would be caught by the Pen Spirit inside. They all stepped over Jiang Yue, whose body was still warm.

Chang Anning wanted to follow Jingzhe; she looked very secure. But Shen Jiarui behind her was dragging her, saying she was going to die over and over. When she looked back, Jingzhe was already gone.

"You said it, I, I have a bright future. Follow me, I beg you..."

Shen Jiarui was incoherent. Chang Anning regretted calculating her fortune at that time; now she had found a burden to hang on herself. She couldn't take it anymore and shouted.

"If you want to die, don't drag me down! I can't die, I can't die!"

After saying that, she shook off her hand and ran wildly toward the corridor.

Su Mian and Jingzhe on the other side walked in the opposite direction.

Jingzhe: "The floor is locked. We can only move on the fourth floor."

She ran while looking, her face getting worse, "This corridor is empty, where can we hide?"

Su Mian looked back, "Behind the doors of the restroom and the stairwell. Pick one."

Jingzhe hesitated. Neither option sounded like a good one—one place had just had someone die, and the other place couldn't hide anyone at all.

But there wasn't much time for them to think now. She gritted her teeth and pushed Su Mian, "You go to the restroom!"

Her skills were decent; if discovered, she might be able to escape. Ragdoll Cat had thin arms and legs; if discovered, she would be caught after running two steps. She could only pray that no more supernatural events would happen in the restroom.

Su Mian was pushed into the restroom by Jingzhe. She blinked, appreciated her masterpiece, and immediately drilled into a stall on the side.

The ten-minute countdown ended. The entire floor was dead silent. She hadn't noticed when running just now, but it seemed all the dorms had their lights off, as if no one was there.

Tick, tick—

The sound of water was abnormally obvious in the empty room. In the darkness, human hearing was particularly sharp.

Su Mian's fingers curled slightly. She knew the source of the sound wasn't from the rain outside, but from the sink not far away.

Gradually, a trace of unease rose in her.

The restroom light suddenly turned on—dim, cold, and uncomfortable for Su Mian's eyes.

With a creak, she suddenly realized the one next to her had been pushed open, the sound of the door frame hitting echoing.

She was in the innermost stall. If it were the wind, the door next to her wouldn't move—

Her thoughts were interrupted. The door next to her was pushed open, and her heart was suddenly lifted.

So it wasn't the wind.

There was only one possibility, and that was... she was about to be found.

What to do? Rush out and escape? Or sit here and wait for death?

There wasn't much time left for Su Mian. The Pen Spirit was about to push open her door.

Su Mian gritted her teeth and twisted the doorknob, only to find the door locked tight and unable to open at all.

A powerful force pressed down on her hand.

She didn't even need to think deeply to know that the Pen Spirit had already reached behind her, tightly enveloping her, and even holding the hand she was about to use to open the restroom door.

"Found you." ===== CHAPTER 89 =====