With this thought, Qin Ming gripped his Bloodfall Sword and continued walking forward. His ears occasionally picked up eerie rustling sounds, and white shadows continued to flicker in front of him. However, without exception, whenever Qin Ming focused, everything was still empty.
The academy was vast, with thousands of examination cubicles. After walking for half an hour, Qin Ming suddenly had a thought. Since there were so many cubicles, the secret might be hidden inside one of them. He pushed open the cubicle to his right. The table was uneven, and the cubicle only contained a stool, with nothing else inside.
Qin Ming pushed open another cubicle. This time, he noticed a deep red box in the corner of the wall. It was small, about one foot square, with a rusted iron lock hanging from it. Qin Ming raised his Bloodfall Sword and with a loud crack, broke open the lock. He opened the red box, and in an instant, a bloody hand appeared before his eyes.
Startled, Qin Ming took several steps back. It was the hand of a child, delicate fingers covered with frostbite and stained with fresh blood. What was this? Why was there a child's hand inside the box?
Qin Ming's heart raced, and his pulse quickened as if his heart was about to leap out of his chest. He quickly moved on to the next cubicle, but there was no box there. He continued opening several more cubicles until he finally found another red box. When he opened it, he was horrified to find a blood-soaked child's ear inside, also covered in frostbite.
Who could be so cruel to do such a thing?
Qin Ming stepped back from the cubicle, his mind spinning. At that moment, he suddenly heard a shout. It was Ma Qiang's voice! He rushed toward the sound.
"There's a ghost! There's a ghost!"
Ma Qiang, the burly figure, came charging out of a cubicle, swinging his fists wildly. "There's a ghost! But I can't hit it!"
He seemed somewhat relieved when he saw that Qin Ming had finally calmed down.
"Qin Ming, there's a ghost! Inside the cubicle, there was a half-arm of a child, covered in blood."
Before Qin Ming could respond, they heard a shout from the distance. It was Qing Xuan's voice. Qin Ming and Ma Qiang ran toward it. Turning a corner, they saw Qing Xuan and Liu Zonghuo furiously swinging their long knives, looking very tense.
"What's going on? How did we get separated earlier?"
"I don't know, but there was a white shadow that kept blowing air by my ear. It was so freaky!"
"I found a wooden box in a cubicle. Inside was a child's foot... covered in blood."
Qing Xuan took several deep breaths and glanced at Qin Ming, who had been unusually calm compared to the others. This made the normally aloof Qing Xuan feel a slight respect for him.
"Qin Ming, what do you think?"
Before Qin Ming could answer, Ma Qiang clenched his fists and shouted aggressively, "What should we do? As far as I'm concerned, we should just tear down this entire exam hall! Or maybe set it on fire!"
Liu Zonghuo frowned and shook his head. "I tried, the flames didn't work on these cubicles!"
At this, Ma Qiang was taken aback, and Qing Xuan's expression grew even more serious. She walked over to Qin Ming, holding her blade with both arms.
"Qin Ming, what do you think?"
Qin Ming furrowed his brows slightly and said, "Senior Yun once told me that spiritual realms are formed from the lingering resentment of either a time traveler or the native inhabitants. If we don't solve the underlying logic, brute force will be completely useless."
Ma Qiang, Qing Xuan, and Liu Zonghuo fell into deep thought.
"Have you noticed the red boxes in these exam cubicles?"
"Of course! When we opened them, they were full of blood. It's either an arm or some chunks of flesh. It's disgusting and creepy!"
"I also noticed! And all the boxes I opened had pieces of flesh and skin, looking like they belonged to a child. It's so pitiful."
Qin Ming nodded.
"I'm wondering if these body parts, though messy and disorganized, could hold new clues if we piece them together."
Qing Xuan, Liu Zonghuo, and Ma Qiang all fell silent, thinking hard. Piecing together body parts felt incredibly sinister!
After a few moments of silence, Qing Xuan spoke first. "I think Qin Ming's idea is right!"
"Then let's do as Qin Ming suggested and gather all the body parts," she continued.
Qin Ming pointed to the exam cubicle in front of him and said, "This is the Earth District, Number 8. I'll piece them together here. You all collect the pieces of flesh and organs and bring them here."
"Alright, we'll do that!"
Qing Xuan and the others immediately went into action, disappearing into the darkness.
Qin Ming moved a table from the cubicle, preparing to assemble the body parts on it.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew through the air!
[Warning: Danger level increased by 100 times! During this danger period, the growth of lucky points is accelerated by 100 times!]
Qin Ming raised his head and saw a white shadow standing in the corner of the cubicle. The figure had its head lowered, long hair cascading down its shoulder. It wore a scholar's bamboo basket on its back and held a pen in its right hand. The pen's tip was dipped in blood, dripping one drop at a time onto the floor.
Qin Ming's hair stood on end, his heart racing as if it would leap out of his chest. Summoning all his courage, he asked, "Who... are you?"
The white shadow didn't speak!
Qin Ming grabbed his Bloodfall Sword, which glowed with a faint blue light. He gripped it tightly and swung it in a sudden strike!
"Whoosh~"
The white shadow vanished once again.
When Qin Ming turned back around, he saw the figure had reappeared on the rooftop, maintaining the same eerie posture, quietly facing him. It didn't speak, nor did it attack—it was utterly strange!
In the next moment, Qing Xuan arrived, holding two ears, Ma Qiang holding half an arm and one hand, and Liu Zonghuo carrying two thirds of a severed leg.
Qin Ming glanced up at the white ghostly figure on the roof. It still stood motionless, as if it were watching him.
Qin Ming chose to ignore it for now and focused on piecing the body together!
He channeled his spiritual energy into the blue Bloodfall Sword, which emitted a faint glow, illuminating the table!
The blood-soaked pieces of flesh emitted an unbearable stench of blood. Qin Ming's heart raced, and his hands trembled with nervousness.
He had only ever pieced together puzzle cards before, but who would have thought he would be putting together a corpse now?
And worse, it was the body of a child.
Who the hell could be so cruel?
Qin Ming gritted his teeth, enduring the foul stench as he painstakingly pieced the body together.
At first, the organs Qing Xuan and the others brought were relatively intact. But as time passed, there were more and more skin-covered pieces of flesh, making the process increasingly disturbing and gruesome.
As he worked, Qin Ming's mind was racing.
This is hard! Too hard!
And to make matters worse, there was a ghost watching him work.
Finally, when the body was taking shape, Qin Ming could make out that it was the body of a seven or eight-year-old girl!
He had just placed the last piece of skin-covered flesh when suddenly—
The white ghostly figure that had been standing on the rooftop let out a deep, mournful cry.
"Wuuuuu..."
The sound echoed throughout the entire Gongyuan, like a wailing, vengeful spirit trapped in eternal torment.
Qin Ming, Qing Xuan, and the others stared intently at the white figure.
Suddenly! The entire scene in the Gongyuan changed drastically.
The previously pitch-black surroundings seemed to brighten, as if the sun had risen.
Around them, many ethereal figures began to appear. They wore scholar robes in white, blue, and green, with bamboo baskets on their backs, and carried writing tools like brushes, ink, and paper. Each of them walked confidently toward the Gongyuan.
Qin Ming and the others stood on the main path.
But to their surprise, these students didn't seem to notice them at all!