Du Sixian held the edge of the white porcelain plate, and fine beads of sweat oozed out from the palm of her hand.
‘Should I tell them or hide it from them? I want to protect my mistress, but I can’t let An Qing down, or I can destroy it.’
Thinking about it, Du Sixian lingered in front of the desk for a long time until An Qing’s and Hua’s badges vibrated.
“Did any of you find anything?” Jiangli’s voice sounded. “If not, come over to the auditorium as soon as possible. We found something over here.”
Jiangli was never the type of person to make a fuss. If she said that she found something, it must be something big.
Du Sixian glanced towards them, and seeing that they were distracted, she stuffed the porcelain plate into her clothes.
I need to dispose of this somehow, she thought to herself.
“Jiangli must have found something big. I suggest we go there immediately,” An Qing said. “There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual here for the time being.”
Hua simply nodded, leading her team out of the classroom. However, her eyes swept past Du Sixian, and she found it weird that she was lingering at that table for too long.
‘Forget it. She’s a newcomer. It’s probably nothing.’
In the depths of a dilapidated school, there is a building that is much smaller than other buildings. It imitates the curved dome built by the National Center for the Performing Arts and is equipped with some Roman pillars.
This is the auditorium of Shihekou High School, with a total of two floors.
A few minutes ago, Jiangli’s group felt a strange wave of psychic energy. The floor-to-ceiling glass doors were all locked, and there was a thick layer of dust on them, making it impossible to see clearly what was inside the auditorium.
Standing in front of the doors, Jiangli was considering whether to break into the auditorium to save time or wait for her members to find the key. However, one of her team members shouted, “Operator Jiangli, there is an emergency exit back here!”
Soon, she came to the emergency exit and saw that the thick iron gate of the exit was deformed and heavily damaged as if it had been smashed through by somebody. Between the gaps was a hole that could fit exactly one person inside.
“I’ll head in first,” Jiangli announced. “You can follow me after I confirm that there is no danger inside.”
“Understood!”
Jiangli took a step into the auditorium, and a dazzling silver light gathered at her feet as it travelled up her legs. Soon, her lower body was wrapped in silver-white armour that shimmered a pale blue, and her walking stick had transformed into a great lance.
Jiangli channelled her psychic energy in an attempt to sense danger, and after confirming that there was nothing inside, she called out to her team members to enter.
The three entered one by one and turned on their flashlights.
There is a walkway that can accommodate four or five people standing in a line and extends four or five metres forward. The walkway turns to the right, leading directly into the auditorium.
The surrounding walls are yellowed, with mildew spots on the corners of the walls, and there are bits of trash scattered on the ground.
Jiang Li took two steps forward and suddenly stepped on something under her feet, making a soft noise. She frowned slightly as she brought her leg up and saw a mouse corpse with all of its innards removed, leaving only skin.
Jiangli brought her leg down, crushed the skin with her heel, and continued moving forward. Soon, they came across a large iron door.
Jiangli stepped forward and gently pushed the iron door. Accompanied by a soft whining sound, a strange smell whiffed from within.
Corpses, Jiangli thought as she smelled that all-too-familiar stench. To be exact, it was the stench of urban legend corpses.
Without staying too long, she pushed open the door and stepped into the auditorium in two or three steps. Seeing the scene inside, her face sank.
The members of the Night Division were all psychologically and mentally resistant to the horrors they would encounter in their line of work. However, when they saw the scene in the auditorium, they couldn’t help but tremble, and one of them even dropped his flashlight in shock.
The auditorium was imitating major theatres—tall, wide halls with nearly a thousand seats spread out in a fan shape.
The turbid air is accompanied by a gloomy, cold draft, and at a glance, all of the seats were densely packed with shadowy figures.
The figures stared forward at the stage, like an audience unwilling to leave.
The curtains of the stage were a dull white, yellowed from the erosion of time.
Glancing at her team members, who were all petrified, she walked forward, grabbed the figure, and tossed it in front of the three of them.
“No psychic fluctuations. This is not an urban legend.”
The three-pointed their flashlights towards the figure on the ground, and they saw that it was merely a sandbag puppet made with sheets and pillows.
These sheets were the bedding in the dorms, but since all the students here were rich, they didn’t use the bedding provided. When the Night Division first came here, they found a large amount of bedding piled up in the storage room.
The sandbag puppets were noted in the Records as rough in workmanship, with the vague appearance of a person. However, these dummies have a human face drawn on them, and the classes and names of students were written on the back of these puppets.
“Maybe the graveyard shift wasn’t that bad,” one member spoke up.
“Oh my god… Is it moving?”
When one of the members put their foot on the puppet, his boots caught on the rope of the puppet’s chest, which flung the puppet straight towards him.
“Haha! It just got stuck to your boot! We’ve done this mission so many times, and you’re still scared of the puppets?”
“How would I know it’s not alive?”
Jiangli silently shook her head at her team’s banter and swung her lance in the air, walking in the direction of the stench. Walking down the aisle, she gradually walked to the front of the stage.
At this moment, there was a sound of metal collapsing, and the curtains immediately fell with a whoosh, flooding the entire auditorium in a cloud of pungent dust.
When the dust settled, Jiangli saw more than a corpse-like puppet in performance costumes standing on stage. Shrouded in darkness, they were forced into various poses and seemed to twist their broken bodies ever so slightly.
Du Sixian held the edge of the white porcelain plate, and fine beads of sweat oozed out from the palm of her hand.
‘Should I tell them or hide it from them? I want to protect my mistress, but I can’t let An Qing down, or I can destroy it.’
Thinking about it, Du Sixian lingered in front of the desk for a long time until An Qing’s and Hua’s badges vibrated.
“Did any of you find anything?” Jiangli’s voice sounded. “If not, come over to the auditorium as soon as possible. We found something over here.”
Jiangli was never the type of person to make a fuss. If she said that she found something, it must be something big.
Du Sixian glanced towards them, and seeing that they were distracted, she stuffed the porcelain plate into her clothes.
I need to dispose of this somehow, she thought to herself.
“Jiangli must have found something big. I suggest we go there immediately,” An Qing said. “There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual here for the time being.”
Hua simply nodded, leading her team out of the classroom. However, her eyes swept past Du Sixian, and she found it weird that she was lingering at that table for too long.
‘Forget it. She’s a newcomer. It’s probably nothing.’
In the depths of a dilapidated school, there is a building that is much smaller than other buildings. It imitates the curved dome built by the National Center for the Performing Arts and is equipped with some Roman pillars.
This is the auditorium of Shihekou High School, with a total of two floors.
A few minutes ago, Jiangli’s group felt a strange wave of psychic energy. The floor-to-ceiling glass doors were all locked, and there was a thick layer of dust on them, making it impossible to see clearly what was inside the auditorium.
Standing in front of the doors, Jiangli was considering whether to break into the auditorium to save time or wait for her members to find the key. However, one of her team members shouted, “Operator Jiangli, there is an emergency exit back here!”
Soon, she came to the emergency exit and saw that the thick iron gate of the exit was deformed and heavily damaged as if it had been smashed through by somebody. Between the gaps was a hole that could fit exactly one person inside.
“I’ll head in first,” Jiangli announced. “You can follow me after I confirm that there is no danger inside.”
“Understood!”
Jiangli took a step into the auditorium, and a dazzling silver light gathered at her feet as it travelled up her legs. Soon, her lower body was wrapped in silver-white armour that shimmered a pale blue, and her walking stick had transformed into a great lance.
Jiangli channelled her psychic energy in an attempt to sense danger, and after confirming that there was nothing inside, she called out to her team members to enter.
The three entered one by one and turned on their flashlights.
There is a walkway that can accommodate four or five people standing in a line and extends four or five metres forward. The walkway turns to the right, leading directly into the auditorium.
The surrounding walls are yellowed, with mildew spots on the corners of the walls, and there are bits of trash scattered on the ground.
Jiang Li took two steps forward and suddenly stepped on something under her feet, making a soft noise. She frowned slightly as she brought her leg up and saw a mouse corpse with all of its innards removed, leaving only skin.
Jiangli brought her leg down, crushed the skin with her heel, and continued moving forward. Soon, they came across a large iron door.
Jiangli stepped forward and gently pushed the iron door. Accompanied by a soft whining sound, a strange smell whiffed from within.
Corpses, Jiangli thought as she smelled that all-too-familiar stench. To be exact, it was the stench of urban legend corpses.
Without staying too long, she pushed open the door and stepped into the auditorium in two or three steps. Seeing the scene inside, her face sank.
The members of the Night Division were all psychologically and mentally resistant to the horrors they would encounter in their line of work. However, when they saw the scene in the auditorium, they couldn’t help but tremble, and one of them even dropped his flashlight in shock.
The auditorium was imitating major theatres—tall, wide halls with nearly a thousand seats spread out in a fan shape.
The turbid air is accompanied by a gloomy, cold draft, and at a glance, all of the seats were densely packed with shadowy figures.
The figures stared forward at the stage, like an audience unwilling to leave.
The curtains of the stage were a dull white, yellowed from the erosion of time.
Glancing at her team members, who were all petrified, she walked forward, grabbed the figure, and tossed it in front of the three of them.
“No psychic fluctuations. This is not an urban legend.”
The three-pointed their flashlights towards the figure on the ground, and they saw that it was merely a sandbag puppet made with sheets and pillows.
These sheets were the bedding in the dorms, but since all the students here were rich, they didn’t use the bedding provided. When the Night Division first came here, they found a large amount of bedding piled up in the storage room.
The sandbag puppets were noted in the Records as rough in workmanship, with the vague appearance of a person. However, these dummies have a human face drawn on them, and the classes and names of students were written on the back of these puppets.
“Maybe the graveyard shift wasn’t that bad,” one member spoke up.
“Oh my god… Is it moving?”
When one of the members put their foot on the puppet, his boots caught on the rope of the puppet’s chest, which flung the puppet straight towards him.
“Haha! It just got stuck to your boot! We’ve done this mission so many times, and you’re still scared of the puppets?”
“How would I know it’s not alive?”
Jiangli silently shook her head at her team’s banter and swung her lance in the air, walking in the direction of the stench. Walking down the aisle, she gradually walked to the front of the stage.
At this moment, there was a sound of metal collapsing, and the curtains immediately fell with a whoosh, flooding the entire auditorium in a cloud of pungent dust.
When the dust settled, Jiangli saw more than a corpse-like puppet in performance costumes standing on stage. Shrouded in darkness, they were forced into various poses and seemed to twist their broken bodies ever so slightly.
