The six students who came to the school to report to the principal seemed worried that the school might discipline them over the recent adventure. As a result, they stammered through their account of the events, complicated by the interjections of several parents, leaving Principal Hao utterly confused for a long time, unable to grasp the sequence of last night's incident.

Helpless, he decided to retrace the exact route the students had taken during their adventure, leading the group of students and parents, to clarify precisely where things had gone wrong.

They first arrived at the bust. It was a rather ordinary face, lined and kind, with eyes slightly closed. When the bronze statue was cast, the wealthy merchant had not requested that pupils be carved into the half-lidded eyes.

Principal Hao pointed at the statue and asked the six students, "What time did you all arrive here yesterday? Did you start from this spot?"

The six students stared at the statue, silent for a long moment, their expressions strange.

Principal Hao asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"Last night, we were supposed to meet at the gate at half-past eight. At that time... the statue we saw had its eyes open, with two holes in the middle that looked like pupils," one round-faced boy said, his voice filled with disbelief.

Principal Hao thought for a moment and asked the teachers accompanying them. Some said the eyes had always been half-closed, while others admitted they hadn't paid attention. When he questioned the six students again, they sheepishly admitted that, apart from last night, they had never really noticed the statue’s appearance.

Principal Hao did not press the issue further and instead asked where they went next.

The Second Teaching Building.

This building was constructed during the early years of the school's founding and had four floors in total. The first and second floors contained supplementary classrooms, while the third and fourth floors housed various teaching laboratories. Reaching it required passing through the main teaching block, and along the way, almost no one spoke.

As they neared the teaching building, the round-faced boy suddenly whispered, "Actually, after we entered the building yesterday, we found there was electricity inside, which we thought was very pointless."

A small, thin boy next to him chimed in, "Yeah, we even deliberately climbed all the way to the fourth floor. Every staircase had exactly thirteen steps; there was no fourteenth step at all. We thought that legend was just a complete fabrication... Didn't we, Principal?"

Principal Hao smiled and nodded, standing at the entrance of the teaching building and turning to the students, "That's right. Legends are often exaggerated rumors, fabricated just to scare people. Everyone must not believe them..."

Just as he was about to continue, he heard gasps and hushed murmurs from the accompanying teachers. He turned back to them with clear dissatisfaction, and the glare he shot their way instantly silenced them.

"What is going on? What are you whispering about?" Principal Hao asked, frowning.

After a pause, one of the teachers leaned in, seemingly intending to whisper something in his ear. Principal Hao waved his hand impatiently, "Stop mumbling. Just say what you have to say directly."

The teacher straightened up and whispered, "There was a power outage across the entire district yesterday for maintenance. There absolutely couldn't have been any electricity."

Everyone present was startled by this revelation. The only female student among them let out a small shriek, "Impossible..." The parent behind her quickly embraced her.

The round-faced boy and the thin boy exchanged a look, then shouted in unison, "The stairs..." They broke free from the hands holding them and dashed toward the teaching building, running straight to the staircase entrance.

"One, two, three... twelve?"

They stared with wide, disbelieving eyes and counted again, refusing to accept it.

Still twelve.

"Thirteen, it was thirteen," the thin boy's voice was laced with near-tears.

Everyone followed them. His parent held him close, whispering comforts. Although the round-faced boy also looked terrified, he managed to say, "The third floor, in the third-floor lab, we left the faucets running..."

Even though it was daylight, Principal Hao felt a suffocating pressure welling up inside him. Looking at the others, he noticed that a shadow of unease had involuntarily fallen over everyone's face, and breathing suddenly felt difficult.

When they reached the door of a biology lab on the third floor, Principal Hao took the lead, grasped the knob, and pushed. The door wouldn't budge an inch.

"We always lock the doors when they aren't in use..." a teacher muttered casually, but immediately clapped a hand over their mouth in shock.

There was no need for further explanation; everyone realized the implication: if the door was normally locked, how could the students have entered last night?

Principal Hao's face darkened. He immediately ordered someone to find the staff member in charge of keys and have the door opened.

Under the three faucets in the lab's sink, there was a distinct patch of dark reddish residue.

"Could that be blood?" Principal Hao’s heart clenched abruptly.

No one spoke; everyone was gripped by an undefined terror.

"And... the restroom..." the round-faced boy murmured weakly, nestled in his father's arms.

Principal Hao recognized the gravity of the situation, a heavy layer of worry settling over him. After a brief deliberation, he instructed the others to remain in the lab, taking only two young, strong male teachers with him, and they hurried toward the restroom at the end of the corridor.

Outside the corridor window, sunlight cast a pale light through the glass. In the still, cold hallway, only the sound of the three men's footsteps could be heard.

The restroom door was closed. Principal Hao stood before it, took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and pushed it open.

A pungent, metallic smell of blood instantly assaulted them. Taking a couple of steps forward, inside the first stall, a male figure was kneeling before the toilet bowl, his neck almost severed. Splattered blood was everywhere, already dry and black. His head hung grotesquely to one side, seemingly still swaying slightly, revealing endless terror frozen in his wide-open eyes.

"Ah..." A cry filled with sorrow and pain erupted behind Principal Hao. It was the mother of one of the two missing students who had followed them in, Lin Rui's mother. She screamed involuntarily and collapsed on the spot.

One of the teachers standing behind Principal Hao instinctively turned and rushed out of the restroom, vomiting into the hallway. The father of the other missing student, Li Jin, however, fought back the urge to retch and rushed inside almost frantically, checking cubicle by cubicle, muttering desperately, "Li Jin, Li Jin..."

Since a homicide had occurred, the police naturally took over the investigation immediately. However, Principal Hao's mind kept circling back to that terrifying legend.

He then called Bai Ru’s friend and recounted the general outline of the situation. But that friend was currently away on official business in another city and couldn't return immediately, leaving Principal Hao with no choice but to seek out Bai Ru.

The narration essentially concluded there. A thorough search of the entire campus had yielded no trace of the missing student. Furthermore, the police, through their inquiries, had largely eliminated all teachers who were on duty that night. The only unresolved point was the round-faced boy's report that a gatekeeper had spotted them as they left the school last night. Because the night had been overcast, they couldn't see the gatekeeper's face clearly, only hearing that the voice sounded like a man's.

Yet, Principal Hao offered a bitter smile to Bai Ru and Kuang Feifan: "The gatekeeper scheduled for last night had a sudden family emergency and took leave. The substitute hadn't been notified due to an oversight, so, in reality, there was no gatekeeper on duty at the school last night."

Kuang Feifan glanced at Bai Ru; at this moment, she held more authority to speak than he did. Bai Ru thought for a moment and asked, "Have there been any previous incidents of student deaths at the school?"

Principal Hao sighed, "It wouldn't be true to say no. I took over as principal seven years ago. I heard that before then, a student had committed suicide by jumping from a building due to excessive pressure. During my tenure, three other student deaths occurred. Although the police ultimately ruled them suicides, I have never felt entirely at ease. That’s why I always urged the teachers to alleviate the students' burdens as much as possible, but then there’s the pressure for graduation rates..."

Bai Ru interrupted him, pressing further, "Do you recall the times these three student deaths occurred?"

Principal Hao tried to recall, "One happened when I first took office seven years ago, and then there was one about five years ago, and another the year before last. I really can't recall the exact dates..."

Bai Ru tentatively asked, "Is it possible that the times of these three student deaths all coincided with a full moon night?"

Principal Hao froze, then asked in horror, "You suspect it's... related to the legend?"

Bai Ru replied, "It's just a guess, which is why I asked."

Principal Hao struggled to remember for a long time, finally shaking his head in resignation: "I'm sorry, I truly have no recollection, I can't remember if it was a full moon night before they died."

Bai Ru gave a comforting smile, "It's alright, if you can't recall."

Principal Hao said unwillingly, "Should I send someone to check? But... there's still a student missing; I don't know..."

Bai Ru shook her head, "No need for now. Finding the student is the priority."

Kuang Feifan nodded in agreement from the side, "Yes, the critical period for a missing person case is the first forty-eight hours. Uh..." He stopped himself, realizing this wasn't a typical kidnapping, and quickly closed his mouth.

Bai Ru, however, nodded, "That statement applies here too."

Principal Hao asked, "So... what are your plans now?"

Bai Ru replied, "We still need to go to the school. The missing student should still be on campus."

Principal Hao seemed unconvinced, "But we searched almost the entire school today and found no trace of that student."

Bai Ru said calmly, "Sometimes, you can't find things just by looking."

Since they had decided to go to the school, they didn't linger at the restaurant. Principal Hao insisted on paying for the meal. Bai Ru declined a couple of times before letting him, knowing the elderly man understood he couldn't find the missing student on his own and was using the meal as a token of gratitude.

While Principal Hao stepped out to settle the bill, Kuang Feifan asked Bai Ru, "Are you confident? Are the things inside the school powerful? Are you... in danger?"

Seeing Kuang Feifan's expression full of concern, Bai Ru couldn't help but feel happy. She smiled playfully, "Although I don't know, I'm not worried about myself. You should worry more about yourself. If you come with me this time, your risk factor will be much higher than mine."

Kuang Feifan felt a surge of boldness from her words and puffed out his chest, "What's there to fear? I've seen things before. Just because you've seen a ghost doesn't mean you have to be afraid of the dark. I'm the type who stops fearing the dark after seeing a ghost... Besides, don't I have you?"

Towards the end, he suddenly leaned close to Bai Ru, playfully and ingratiatingly grabbing her hand.

Bai Ru shot him a look. Footsteps sounded outside the private room door. Kuang Feifan quickly sat up straight. Principal Hao pushed the door open, rubbing his hands and face, trying to gather his spirits, and managed a strained smile, "When should we leave?"

Bai Ru glanced at her watch: "Now!"