Yuying University
Chapter 504: Backhand
As it turned out, being an “auditor” did come with some immunities.
While Suo Suo was being chased all over by the living dead, Wen Jianyan was able to stand still and carefully finish reading the letter in his hand.
Wen Jianyan lowered his head, quickly reading through the letter.
In truth, for someone whose exploration rate was now nearing one hundred percent… this letter didn’t actually contain much new information.
Its true value was in filling in the blanks.
Previously, Wen Jianyan had roughly pieced together the general timeline of events, but there were still unexplained gaps between several key points.
And now, these minor details were being filled in.
“…”
Wen Jianyan’s gaze fell to the very bottom of the letter.
[Goodbye]
The strokes of those two words were so deliberate, straight and proper. Even though the paper was wrinkled from being soaked with tears, one could still see the writer’s self-destructive finality.
Wen Jianyan’s fingers couldn’t help but tighten slightly.
Just then, Suo Suo’s panicked scream came from nearby:
“Big Shot!! Are you done reading yet!!”
His voice yanked Wen Jianyan from his thoughts. He quickly folded the letter and stuffed it back into his pocket. “Finished.”
Suo Suo, still being chased by the horde, gasped a sigh of relief. “In that case, let’s hurry and go—”
But before he could finish, Wen Jianyan cut him off:
“We’re not going after Wang Ni anymore.”
Suo Suo froze, almost doubting his ears. “Huh?”
Not go after the protagonist?
But without the protagonist, these living dead wouldn’t disappear!
Wen Jianyan said decisively, “We’re going to the boys’ dormitory.”
Suo Suo: “………………”
So you really don’t care if I live or die, do you?!
As unwilling as he was, without Wen Jianyan’s guidance, Suo Suo had no idea where the protagonist was now. So, he had to painfully agree to Wen Jianyan’s suggestion, leaving the cafeteria with him and heading for the student dorms.
The two of them sprinted all the way.
Soon, the gray walls of the dormitory building appeared not far away.
Wen Jianyan slowed his pace slightly. He turned to Suo Suo. “Wait for me a second.”
Hearing this, Suo Suo instinctively glanced back, his scalp tingling.
Because the protagonist was never nearby, every student they had encountered along the way had turned into a living corpse.
The number of zombies chasing them had now doubled from before, a vast, dense horde.
Looking at the terrifying number of living dead, Suo Suo broke down. “Wait? B-b-big shot, are you serious? How am I supposed to wait??”
“Just run circles around the building,” Wen Jianyan said without even looking at him, walking straight into the boys’ dorm and tossing a sentence over his shoulder. “I believe in you.”
Suo Suo: “…”
Ahhhhhhh!!
He swore, to this day, his biggest regret was ever getting involved with this guy!
Wen Jianyan left Suo Suo behind and walked quickly to the dormitory entrance.
Since the “candidate” was nearby, the people who should have been normal students were now living dead with stiff faces and a cold aura. They gathered at the entrance, their pale faces pressed against the glass door, staring at him from the darkness with empty eye sockets.
Wen Jianyan reached out and pulled the door open.
The living dead swarmed out. They ignored Wen Jianyan, who was right there, and all chased after Suo Suo, who was running laps around the dormitory in the distance.
In the “Integrity First” live room:
[Damn.]
[Hahahahahaha Suo Suo: I fucking thank you.]
After all the living dead in the dormitory had run out, Wen Jianyan turned and looked inside.
It was empty, and the furnishings were no different from his memory.
His heart began to beat a little faster.
Indeed, the contents of that letter were mostly things Wen Jianyan already knew.
But it wasn’t completely devoid of new information.
The letter mentioned a key item:
[A diary].
This immediately jogged Wen Jianyan’s memory.
He remembered that they had indeed found a diary in Richard’s dormitory… It wasn’t a collectible item, and its contents were unreadable, like some useless distraction in the instance.
Sound familiar?
—These characteristics were exactly the same as the letter from the cafeteria.
So, working backward, if the letter here could be read, then the contents of that diary should be readable too.
Wen Jianyan took a deep breath and stepped into the dormitory building.
The moment his foot crossed the threshold, the familiar blanking effect washed over him again, like a tide swallowing everything in his sight.
However, due to the building’s size, this time he had much more time than before.
Wen Jianyan looked up, his gaze directed towards the location from his memory. His vision passed through the rapidly paling walls and floor, and soon, his eyes landed on the area above him.
The familiar red glow appeared in his field of vision.
However, contrary to his expectations, this time, there were two sources of the red glow.
“…” Wen Jianyan was stunned.
One was located in the center of the dormitory building, and the other… was at the far end of the building.
Two distinct, unmistakable spots.
As he stood there in a daze, the wave of blankness surged before his eyes.
Wen Jianyan knew he couldn’t stay any longer, so he had to retreat quickly.
When he left the dormitory building, everything inside the entrance returned to normal.
He stood at the door, panting slightly, seemingly not yet recovered from the shock.
…There were two.
This explained a lot of questions.
Wang Ni’s letter said she had put everything she found inside the diary and mailed it.
However, Wen Jianyan clearly remembered that the diary they had found in Richard’s dorm had nothing tucked inside it.
This meant that in Richard’s dorm, there were actually two key “information carriers”: one was the [diary], and the other was the [item tucked inside the diary]. Wen Jianyan and his group had only found one—and they couldn’t be blamed. After all, these “information carriers” weren’t hidden items, and not only were there no hints, the text on them was also illegible.
And at that time, Richard’s dorm was a mess. Even if they had seen that “carrier,” they probably wouldn’t have been able to distinguish it from the pile of junk on the floor.
Behind him came Suo Suo’s panting, desperate voice:
“Big Shot! A-are you done yet!”
Wen Jianyan came back to his senses. “Done.”
He caught up with Suo Suo, who was being chased by the living dead and running laps around the dorm. Running alongside him, he gave a concise order: “Next, I need you to go into the dormitory building, to the fifth floor, room 504.”
His own room number had been 404, and Richard’s dorm was directly above his.
“There are two things inside you need to get. The first is a diary. If I remember correctly, it should be in the duvet cover of the lower bunk on the left as you enter.”
“As for the second thing…”
Wen Jianyan paused subtly.
“I don’t know what it is exactly. It could be a piece of paper, a drawing, or maybe a card, something that could be tucked into a diary.”
Suo Suo: “…”
“I-isn’t that a bit too vague?” Suo Suo asked tactfully.
“It should be in the washroom,” Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes slightly and said softly.
Richard had died in the washroom, but the item probably wasn’t on his body. After all, Orange Candy had been the one to search the body. If the item had been on the corpse, even if the text was unreadable, she wouldn’t have missed it completely.
So where was it?
Wen Jianyan froze, as if he had thought of something.
He said slowly, “It might be near the second sink by the window, and possibly stuffed in the drain.”
There was Richard’s bloody handprint on the second sink by the window.
And the drain was clogged with hair.
As Wen Jianyan mentally organized all the details, connecting them into a clear line, his speaking speed gradually increased.
“But it won’t be stuffed too shallowly—I once tried to dig it out with a toothbrush but found nothing—so you’d better find some sharp tool, cut the pipe underneath, and search carefully.”
As they talked, the two had already completed a lap around the dormitory, and the building’s entrance appeared not far away again.
“By the way,” Wen Jianyan said as if he had just remembered something, “this, this, and this, for you.”
Suo Suo fumbled to catch a handful of seed-like things from the other’s hand. “W-what are these?”
Wen Jianyan: “Large-scale arson tools.”
Suo Suo trembled, almost dropping them.
“The living dead in the dormitory have been cleared out,” or rather, they’ve been let out and are currently chasing them, but that was a minor detail, “but it’s a semi-enclosed space inside. The ones chasing you now will definitely follow you in. These fire seeds are for you. If you use them properly, you should be able to get out safely.”
Suo Suo held the fire seeds, looking at Wen Jianyan with a dazed expression.
What?
Could it be that you’re actually a good person?
“Alright, you can go in now.”
Wen Jianyan patted Suo Suo’s shoulder and smiled. “Remember, two of them.”
Under the sun, his eyes were dark, cold but sincere. “If anything is missing, I’m afraid you’ll just have to go back in again.”
Suo Suo: “…”
I take it back.
After giving all the instructions, Wen Jianyan gradually slowed his pace.
He watched as Suo Suo sped up, sprinting towards the dormitory building. Just before entering, a wall of crimson flames erupted, forming a fire barrier. The living dead, who couldn’t feel pain, seemed to fear the flames and stopped in their tracks, letting out piercing screeches. By the time the flames died down, Suo Suo’s back had disappeared.
Wen Jianyan stood where he was, slowly letting out a long breath. His palms were slightly sweaty.
The information he had given was definitely the most correct and comprehensive. However, as an “auditor,” although he wouldn’t be attacked by the instance, he also couldn’t participate in the official actions.
Wen Jianyan had done all he could. The rest was up to fate.
He hoped that Suo Suo was clever enough to find the items and get out of the dormitory alive.
Wen Jianyan’s eyes were downcast, his mind somewhat absent.
From under his sleeve, a cold, snake-like darkness seemed to sense his unease. It silently crept into his palm, rubbing against it, then sneakily wound its way between his fingers, seeming to have a particular obsession with the gesture of intertwined fingers.
Wen Jianyan: “…”
He stood motionless, letting the little dark snake swim into his palm, and then—
His fingers clenched with unexpected force.
A faint cry of pain came from below.
Fishing expedition, great success.
Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes, his mood seemingly improving considerably.
The wait, when one couldn’t participate in the action, was long and boring, but Wen Jianyan had found some ways to entertain himself.
Finally, after a long wait, there was movement from the dormitory door again. Through the door, he could vaguely see a sudden flash of fire from inside.
Wen Jianyan instantly perked up. He turned his head and stared fixedly at the dormitory entrance, holding his breath slightly, and silently counted down in his mind.
Ten, nine, eight…
When he counted to four, the dormitory door was violently thrown open from the inside. A figure covered in soot stumbled out. His face was blackened, and fresh bloodstains were on his body. He had clearly been through a very harsh battle.
It was Suo Suo.
The moment he rushed out, the living dead followed right behind.
Suo Suo screamed, “Ahhhhh, go, go, go!”
Wen Jianyan stood still. “Did you get the items?”
“You motherfucker…” Suo Suo couldn’t be bothered with etiquette now. Cursing loudly, he threw the things in his hand at Wen Jianyan. “Of course I got them!”
He gritted his teeth. “Can we go find the protagonist now!!”
“Of course!”
Wen Jianyan tucked the items into his clothes and waved with a concerned expression. “This way, follow me!”
Suo Suo: “…”
Fuck you. His fists were clenched.
Wen Jianyan led Suo Suo on a mad dash, and they soon arrived near the library. Just as they got there, they saw a male student walking out of the library in a daze—
It was Richard.
Once they got closer, the terrifying number of living dead was no longer a threat.
The cold aura receded from their bodies. Normal faces appeared under the sun, looking no different from ordinary college students.
Thank heavens…
Finally, a chance to rest.
Suo Suo gradually slowed his pace, gasping for breath. Sweat mixed with blood ran down his face, leaving white streaks on his blackened skin.
He had been in Nightmare for so long and had been through many chase scenes, but one that lasted this long and was this difficult was rare—
Especially with the person next to him who wasn’t being attacked, watching the show while forcing him to do things, which had raised the difficulty of this chase to a level he didn’t even want to recall.
Wen Jianyan entered the password and, with some tension, opened the diary.
Sure enough, just as he had guessed…
The contents, which had once been gibberish and random code, were now normal, readable text.
Wen Jianyan held the diary, feeling a layer of hot sweat on his back.
—He was right.
Indeed, this [Information] wasn’t useless, but could only be read under specific conditions.
Like now.
Wen Jianyan’s eyes lowered to read.
He soon discovered that although it was a single diary, it contained two different styles of handwriting.
Sometimes delicate, sometimes neat.
One part seemed to be written by a girl, then it would quickly switch back to a boy’s.
It seemed it didn’t belong solely to Richard or Wang Ni, but was more like a small notebook they shared, writing together.
The first half was rather unremarkable.
The delicate handwriting would complain about small conflicts with roommates; the neat handwriting would complain about the counselor’s poor management methods. They shared their daily lives, never writing anything that crossed the line into romantic ambiguity. It was as reserved and implicit as a chat between friends, yet with an intimacy and understanding that far surpassed ordinary friendship.
It was their little world for sharing secrets.
Like two shy little animals, secretly approaching each other, neither daring to say or do anything, only daring to sniff with their noses, quietly and carefully huddling together.
Wen Jianyan scanned through these daily sharings, a dozen lines at a time, searching for any content possibly related to the instance.
Soon, he found a few traces.
■ Year ■ Month ■ Day
Neat handwriting.
After sharing some daily trivialities, a paragraph was brought up.
[I heard the new principal is planning to expand our school and build a gym, the kind with a swimming pool. For that alone, I support his appointment. I just don’t know why he wants to change our school’s name. Nothing has changed, and the old name sounded better.]
■ Year ■ Month ■ Day
Delicate handwriting.
This time, the content was very short.
To be precise, only a line and a half.
[I don’t really like this principal.]
As if with some reservation, the line below was crossed out.
Wen Jianyan could only barely make out three words from the crossed-out content: [I once heard…]
Beyond that, the rest was blurred and unclear.
■ Year ■ Month ■ Day
Neat handwriting.
[Don’t worry, we’re graduating soon anyway. He won’t be able to affect us for much longer.
I have a basketball game next week. Do you want to come and watch?]
“…”
Wen Jianyan’s gaze paused for a moment on these seemingly ordinary few lines, then he continued to flip through the pages quickly.
Many pages in the diary had been torn out, leaving only a few bare stubs.
He soon stopped again.
■ Year ■ Month ■ Day
Neat handwriting.
[I heard the gym is about to be completed and should be open next week. It’s a pity we’re leaving school soon, probably won’t get to use it. The younger students are lucky.]
[Are you free tomorrow? Meet me at the entrance of the teaching building in the afternoon.]
