Kuang Feifan shone the flashlight up the staircase, unable to resist asking Bai Ru, "What did Principal Hao say again? The stairs should be twelve steps, right?"

Bai Ru swept her flashlight across the steps, then surveyed the surrounding hall. In their hurried entry, she hadn't truly observed the main lobby. It was much like any ordinary school: notice boards, photos and biographies of esteemed figures, a potted plant tucked in the corner—nothing particularly noteworthy in its arrangement.

She used the beam of light to examine the staircase further. They were currently standing on the landing between the first and second floors. On both sides, another flight of stairs continued upward. Given the current configuration, those two sections likely also had thirteen steps each.

Under the flashlight's glare, Bai Ru finished scanning the lobby. Turning back, she noticed Kuang Feifan consistently keeping his head down, his gaze unfocused. His flashlight beam only darted between his feet and the adjacent staircases, as if deliberately avoiding the wall directly behind their landing.

When they were climbing up, Bai Ru had already noticed it: the wall directly facing them was dominated by a colossal mirror. She wondered who had designed it; the mirror was so large it almost covered the entire wall, making it impossible to ascend or descend without being caught in its reflection, from the first floor all the way to the second.

A mirror in the dark inherently breeds a chilling, skin-crawling sensation, uncanny and deeply unsettling. This was especially true for Kuang Feifan, who had personally shattered several terrifying mirrors in that small building before.

Bai Ru understood what Kuang Feifan feared. She reached out and hooked her arm through his, then aimed her flashlight toward the second floor. "Let's go, upstairs. Ignore this place."

As they turned onto the left staircase, both involuntarily felt a wave of coldness and tingling run down their backs. But with Bai Ru close beside him, Kuang Feifan felt significantly more relaxed.

The stretch between the second and third floors thankfully lacked any mirrors, which allowed Kuang Feifan to secretly exhale a sigh of relief. However, a subtle expression of worry crossed Bai Ru's face.

They reached the third floor without incident. As before, aside from the stairs still consisting of thirteen steps, no terrifying phenomena materialized. Pushing open the door to the biology laboratory, they found a row of four-tiered metal shelving units against the far wall, each shelf holding numerous specimens of various flora and fauna.

When Kuang Feifan’s flashlight beam hit a corner, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Whoa!" Bai Ru quickly directed her light where he pointed. Against the wall stood a stark white skeleton specimen.

"Wow, no way, you’re scared of this too?" Bai Ru teased.

"Just expressing surprise, nothing close to fear," Kuang Feifan puffed out his chest and chuckled.

That gasp of surprise earlier had indeed been deliberate. Perhaps because Bai Ru was nearby, his current mood wasn't one of fear at all; instead, a spark of excitement had ignited within him.

To his surprise, upon hearing his retort, Bai Ru let out a soft sigh.

"What’s wrong? Not happy? Something bothering you?" Kuang Feifan asked, noting the sound of her sigh.

"Looks like we came all this way for nothing today," Bai Ru frowned.

"Why do you say that?" Kuang Feifan, deciding to take charge, pulled Bai Ru toward a nearby desk and chair for them to sit.

"It must be that the spirits in this building sensed something on us that frightens them, so they dare not show themselves or act against us," Bai Ru mused thoughtfully.

"You don't say. They're that tactical?" Kuang Feifan was mildly astonished.

"It's instinctual for them, not a sign of great intelligence."

"So what do we do?" Kuang Feifan couldn't help but feel a flicker of concern. "If they don't come out, does that mean you can’t find any trace of that missing student?"

Bai Ru nodded helplessly.

Kuang Feifan pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "It seems the only way forward now is for someone to go out and draw them out."

Bai Ru started, "You... guessed it?"

Kuang Feifan reached out and squeezed the arm Bai Ru was holding onto him. "I’m not an idiot. Ever since things went smoothly the moment we walked in, I found it strange. Plus, I noticed the worried look on your face, so I knew there was something off here. Looks like we are just too potent; we scared the ghosts away."

Bai Ru managed a smile, though it seemed slightly forced.

Kuang Feifan hopped off the desk he was sitting on, took his backpack off, and placed it on the surface. "Tell me," he asked Bai Ru, "what do I need to do?"

Bai Ru’s expression shifted, and the worry in her eyes deepened.

Kuang Feifan held her hand. "No need to say it. I understand. If you could be the bait, you would have done it already. If I'm guessing correctly, the ghosts in this place fear you even more than they fear me. Therefore, I’m the most suitable person to act as bait to draw them out."

Bai Ru remained hesitant.

Kuang Feifan understood she was worried about his safety, but given the current situation, if they couldn't lure the spirits out, finding the missing student would be impossible.

He leaned closer to Bai Ru, pulling her hand to rest against his chest, and whispered, "You don't believe that missing student is dead yet, do you?"

Bai Ru hesitated. "Fifty-fifty."

"That's enough. Even a ten percent chance is worth a try."

Bai Ru expressed her concern, "I’m just a little worried... if you can handle it."

"Don't worry. My nerves are probably quite thick, and my tolerance shouldn't be too bad. I managed to walk out of that small building unharmed; I should be fine now. Besides," he added, knowing what she truly feared, trying to keep his tone light, "won't you be right behind me, covering my back?"

His expression was serious, and Bai Ru knew that with no alternative, this was the only viable plan left. Finally, she made up her mind.

Kuang Feifan took the flashlight and walked to the sink on the far side of the laboratory, turning on the tap.

Under the beam of the flashlight, a stream of milky-white water splashed into the basin, spraying outward, yet a faint scent of blood seemed to drift through the air.

He let out a soft sigh. It seemed his treatment instantly changed the moment he was alone.

Turning off the tap, he shone the light ahead and walked alone to the laboratory's back door. He pulled it open and stepped out into the corridor. What he needed to do was simple: reach that restroom. Whether he could return safely depended entirely on whether their earlier arrangement succeeded; it would require a good measure of luck.

He reached the restroom door without any strange occurrences, which actually made Kuang Feifan feel uneasy. Had his bait failed? Was the elder spirit uninterested?

The restroom door was closed, sealed with an official police tape. As the site of the incident, it was naturally locked against unauthorized entry. However, Kuang Feifan and Bai Ru had already coordinated with Principal Hao; no matter how much they damaged things, the principal would handle the repercussions.

Kuang Feishan stared at the door before him, feeling genuinely conflicted. He simultaneously hoped the spirits would hurry up and bother him, yet he was slightly worried he wouldn't be able to handle them if they did.

With this mindset, he reached for the doorknob, turned it down, and pushed. The door didn't budge in the slightest. He tried again; still locked.

"What kind of joke is this?" Kuang Feifan muttered.

The sequence of events seemed to be diverging slightly from what he and Bai Ru had anticipated.

He let go and stepped back a few paces. Above the restroom door was a transom window, slightly ajar at an angle. He swept the flashlight to the left side of the corridor; this area was nearly the end of the hallway, where there was another small, closed door, likely a supply closet. The end of the corridor only held a radiator mounted on the wall and a closed set of double-paned windows, beyond which heavy tree shadows danced.

Legend pointed squarely toward this restroom; go in or stay out? That was the question.

He rolled his eyes heavenward in exasperation, stomped his foot hard. Even if he didn't enter, he needed to look closer.

Since the flashlight was a bit large, he couldn't hold it between his teeth as he’d imagined. Kuang Feifan carefully placed the flashlight on the floor, positioning it to illuminate the restroom door. He approached the door, jumped hard, grasping the top of the door frame with both hands. With a forceful pull of his arms, his body swung upward. The weakness he felt after his fever had mostly subsided since that dinner; while not at his peak, a simple pull-up was certainly manageable.

Through the slightly open transom window, he could barely make out the interior of the restroom. Although the lights were off, some external light filtered through the window, so it wasn't pitch black—everything simply appeared normal.

Kuang Feifan couldn't help but sigh in disappointment. Although this was unavoidable, it seemed their hastily arranged "sacrifice the cub to catch the wolf" plan had failed.

He subconsciously turned to look at the floor beside him, preparing to drop back down, when his peripheral vision accidentally swept across a mirror positioned above the sink near the door inside the restroom. In that instant, he thought he saw a flash of a greenish face in the reflection.

He flinched violently, nearly losing his grip and falling from the door frame, but when he craned his neck to look closely at the mirror again, there was no trace of a face.

Could it be I'm hallucinating from wishing too hard to see a ghost? Kuang Feifan held the frame with both hands, relaxing his body to drop, and just as he was about to let go and land, he suddenly felt something drip, drip, drip onto the hands gripping the door frame.

"Damn it, you shouldn't have even mentioned it..." Kuang Feifan sensed something amiss, quickly releasing his hold. As his feet touched the ground, he instantly pulled his hands back, intending to use the flashlight beam to see what he’d gotten on them.

At that moment, he realized something was profoundly wrong. Looking down at the floor, the flashlight was gone. He swept his gaze around carefully, certain the light hadn't rolled away somewhere else; it had truly vanished. His heart rate finally began to accelerate uncontrollably.

What's coming will come.

The substance on his hands felt sticky. Using the faint light filtering in from the window on the other side of the corridor, he lifted his hand to look. It was dark red, and as he brought it closer, he detected a coppery, metallic scent mixed with something foul and fishy. No need to ask—it was blood.

The protagonists of the horror movie hadn't appeared yet, but the terrifying special effects had certainly begun.

Kuang Feifan took a deep breath, trying to stabilize his emotions as much as possible.

Just then, a rustling sound came from the far end of the corridor. Immediately following it, a child’s high-pitched voice drew out the syllables, saying, "Unc... cle... are... you... look... ing... for... some... thing..."

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