Chapter 313

"I just heard screams coming from inside, did some abnormal situation occur..."

"We saw it!" Xiyuanji Qilai spoke first, her voice still carrying a slight tremor, "Exactly the same as the photo on the forum! A black shadow with a rope tied around its neck, dragged into the water! Although... although it was only for a few short seconds..."

Classmate Tengyuan Kui nodded repeatedly to the side, adding with lingering fear:

"T-too scary! It felt even more real and terrifying than what we saw in the photo!"

Yukimura Lingyin said in a deep voice:

"There really was a ghost shadow, this is no joke..."

And the swimming force captain Xiaotian Tongzi, who was wearing a swimsuit, had her fingers tightly twisted together, her face still pale.

She whispered nervously, her voice filled with unease:

"It came again... sure enough, the school's swimming pool is really cursed!"

Hearing this, Classmate Tengyuan Kui hid behind Natsume Chikage like a frightened little animal, saying with a crying voice:

"It must be!"

"Woo-wahhh... I saw that ghost shadow with my own eyes, I must be cursed too! What should I do..."

Xiyuanji Qilai's face also turned pale, her calves trembling slightly:

"C-cursed?"

"I-is this kind of rumor really true?"

Xiaotian Tongzi had just come up from the cool water, and after experiencing this shock, she felt a chill run up her spine, her body trembling uncontrollably.

"There really is a curse!"

Her voice was lowered even further, as if afraid of being heard by something.

"It's just that the school... doesn't let us talk nonsense outside..."

Natsume Chikage arched his eyebrows, asking curiously:

"What's the situation? Can you talk about it in detail?"

Jinweitong also rarely took the initiative to ask:

"Tell us and let us hear."

Xiaotian Tongzi's fear grew even greater; she looked around before whispering:

"Many teachers have come to check before, and nothing could be found."

"But the physics teacher, Mr. Matsumoto, was particularly stubborn; he was a firm... materialist? He didn't believe in evil at all and insisted on investigating deeply."

She swallowed her saliva.

"But after he investigated repeatedly, and even supposedly saw the ghost shadow with his own eyes... the next day, he had a car accident. Although he wasn't seriously hurt, but..."

"After that, he became a completely different person, becoming somewhat superstitious and starting to believe in legends about ghosts and gods."

She looked up, looking earnestly at Natsume Chikage and the others.

"So... you really shouldn't investigate anymore. If you continue to pursue it, you might really encounter some misfortune..."

Hearing these words, Classmate Tengyuan Kui and Xiyuanji Qilai were even more scared, reaching out their hands in unison to tightly grab Natsume Chikage's arms on both sides, as if only then could they draw a little sense of security.

Yukimura Lingyin still maintained her reason, but her slightly pale cheeks also revealed her inner unease, and her footsteps moved closer to Natsume Chikage's side unconsciously.

Natsume Chikage looked at the two girls hanging on his arms on the left and right, scared out of their wits, and couldn't help but laugh.

But he didn't say much, just smiled, then looked at everyone and asked:

"So, besides seeing the ghost shadow inside just now, did you find any other details or information that might explain this abnormal phenomenon?"

Yukimura Lingyin heard this, immediately collected her mind, fell into deep thought, and after a while, stated calmly:

"The ghost shadow's duration from appearance to complete disappearance was very short, between about three to five seconds."

Classmate Tengyuan Kui stammered, blushing as she squeezed out a sentence:

"In the swimming pool... there were quite a few girls wearing swimsuits at the time..."

Her voice grew smaller and smaller.

"Does... does this count as useful information?"

Natsume Chikage smiled and affirmed:

"It counts."

Xiyuanji Qilai suddenly remembered something and said "Ah" in surprise:

"By the way! Before or while the black shadow appeared, I seemed to vaguely hear a 'buzz' sound from under the water, like the sound of the filter starting?"

Yukimura Lingyin's eyes sharpened, quickly taking over the analysis:

"Could it be that the swimming pool's circulation filtration system starts at a fixed time, and the disturbance of water flow or bubbles, combined with special light, accidentally formed that kind of black shadow?"

Xiaotian Tongzi immediately shook her head, denying this guess:

"The teachers had already thoroughly investigated this possibility. The switch time of the filtration system and the recorded time of the black shadow's appearance have absolutely no fixed correlation."

Yukimura Lingyin's cold eyebrows frowned slightly, but she was not discouraged.

Her bright eyes flashed with even more determined curiosity, and she even took the initiative to propose:

"Then, can I go in and check carefully again?"

"Perhaps it was too chaotic just now, and some key details were missed."

Natsume Chikage nodded:

"It's good for you, Classmate Yukimura, to go back in and check carefully."

"Actually, I already have a rough idea about this event, but I need someone to cooperate with the observation inside the pool."

As soon as this was said, everyone present was stunned, looking at him in unison.

Classmate Tengyuan Kui widened her eyes in astonishment:

"N-Natsume-kun... do you mean that you have already discovered the truth?!"

Natsume Chikage nodded candidly:

"Mm, I have some speculations."

Xiyuanji Qilai's eyes instantly became like lit-up stars, filled with curiosity and excitement:

"Natsume-kun—I'm curious—please be sure to tell me!"

Xiaotian Tongzi was in a state of unbelievable fear, waving her hands repeatedly:

"How is that possible... even a physics teacher as persistent as Mr. Matsumoto couldn't find any clues, and in the end... you should listen to my advice, really don't pursue it anymore, you might really encounter misfortune!"

Natsume Chikage shook his head, his tone peaceful yet firm:

"The ghost shadow is fake, and even the so-called curse and misfortune are just imaginations of people attaching coincidental events together."

"All abnormalities stem from a series of coincidences superimposed under specific conditions."

Yukimura Lingyin frowned slightly, her delicate eyebrows, and asked:

"So... what exactly did you discover? What is your line of thought?"

Natsume Chikage heard this, his gaze slowly lifted, thoughtfully sweeping over the empty hallway of the old teaching building in the distance, the giant moon school emblem standing above the playground, and finally falling back onto the faces of his companions filled with suspicion and expectation.

"Although I can't be one hundred percent sure," he spoke slowly, his voice carrying a kind of reassuring steadiness, "but the general outline and key of the whole event... I do have a clue."

He took out his phone to check the time.

"You wait here for a moment. Wait for my call, and cooperate with the observation according to my instructions."

"While the sun hasn't completely set yet and the light angle is suitable, we might... be able to reproduce that 'ghost shadow' on the spot."

Yukimura Lingyin pursed her lips, her brain running at high speed, repeatedly dismantling and reorganizing every detail she had just seen, but she still couldn't piece together the "outline" described by Natsume Chikage.

How on earth did he see it?

She frowned slightly, choosing to stay by the pool, intending to witness with her own eyes how he would achieve the so-called "reproduction."

Classmate Tengyuan Kui hurriedly grabbed the corner of Natsume Chikage's clothes, her voice trembling:

"N-Natsume-kun! I... I'll go with you! I'm so scared to stay here alone..."

Jinweitong also took a small step forward, reading in her flat, waveless tone:

"I'm scared too, I'll go together."

Xiyuanji Qilai raised the camera in her hand, full of expectation:

"If Natsume-kun can really reproduce that scene, I must record it! Senior Xiaotian, is that okay?"

Xiaotian Tongzi crossed her arms, seemingly wanting to draw a little warmth from herself; she hesitated and nodded:

"O-of course... the other girls in the pool have basically been scared away now."

"And, if you can really solve the Seven Great Mysteries that even the teachers are helpless about... I think the school side won't object."

She paused, still unable to help but remind again, her voice weak:

"However... I declare in advance, if you are 'cursed' because of this and have any problems... please don't blame me for not reminding you in advance..." ===== CHAPTER 314 =====