Bai Ru hesitated, bent down to pick up the manila envelope, glanced around one last time, and then turned back into the room. She placed the envelope on the desk, pulled out a chair, sat down, and opened it.

The envelope contained nothing but a photograph. Bai Ru examined it closely; it was a black-and-white picture, about seven inches in size, looking quite old, its corners slightly yellowed. The photo depicted a little boy, whose features were somewhat indistinct, but one could tell he was about seven or eight years old, with an innocent and lovely face, wearing a smile full of youthful charm.

This picture seemed to be a magnified copy of an original, but why leave it for her? Bai Ru flipped the photo over to check the back and was startled to find three characters scrawled there in blood-red ink: The First.

Bai Ru froze. The First? The first what?

Just then, the sound of footsteps descending the stairs echoed from outside the door. Bai Ru quickly slipped the photograph into her pocket, glanced once more at the envelope to confirm there was nothing else of note, and tucked it into a nearby box piled with other documents.

She turned just as the dean of students, wiping sweat from his brow, hurried in.

Bai Ru smiled slightly and asked, "All done?"

The dean looked puzzled. "Nothing at all. I don't know who called me; strange. Maybe it was a wrong number."

Bai Ru remained silent, realizing someone had deliberately drawn the dean away to deliver this photograph to her.

"So, how is the data collection coming along for you, Ms. Reporter?" the dean inquired.

"Almost there," Bai Ru replied casually.

"Then... when will you begin the interviews?"

Bai Ru sighed inwardly and conceded, "Should be shortly."

The dean wrung his hands. "That's wonderful! Principal Song just called me; he said the interview schedule has been arranged."

Bai Ru called Gu Yi, telling him to hurry back and resolve the current predicament.

In fact, the interview order arranged by Vice Principal Song was quite precise; naturally, she herself was first on the list.

When Gu Yi returned, he indeed sorted out the issue. Perhaps it was past experience, but he actually coached Bai Ru on nearly thirty essential questions a reporter should ask. Coupled with the mobile phone recording, the great reporter Bai was thus successfully manufactured.

Only after smoothly navigating past Vice Principal Song did Bai Ru find time to tell Gu Yi about the photograph.

Gu Yi stroked his chin thoughtfully upon hearing the story. "Did you notice anyone suspicious in the library?"

Bai Ru shook her head. "No. When I left, there were only a few students in the library; no teachers were around."

Gu Yi frowned. "It might not have been a teacher. Did you notice? The teacher turnover here seems quite high. I dare say very few teachers who were here when the school was first built are still around."

Bai Ru hummed in acknowledgment. "I checked briefly. Indeed, I found contact information for a few former teachers, but it probably won't be very useful."

Gu Yi secretly pocketed the photograph Bai Ru handed him. "I'll find a place to look this over," he said, then excused himself to use the restroom, leaving Bai Ru.

At that moment, the dean, who had been accompanying them, emerged from the principal's office, having just received instructions from Principal Song to escort Bai Ru and her companion to the conference room to interview other staff members.

After a while, Gu Yi returned from the restroom with a strange expression on his face. Since it wasn't convenient to ask in front of the dean, Bai Ru followed him, along with the dean, to a conference room.

"I'll go fetch the teachers," the dean said, stepping out of the room.

Gu Yi immediately leaned close to Bai Ru and whispered, "Principal Hao is involved."

Bai Ru startled. "What?"

"I saw this photo at his house. On one picture in his album, the child was the same person as the one here—it seemed to be the very same photo, just a bit blurrier," Gu Yi explained.

"Are you sure?"

"My eyesight isn't perfect, but I'm not blind," Gu Yi pouted.

Bai Ru smiled. "I didn't say I don't believe you. What do you think is going on?"

Gu Yi pondered. "It looks like this child must be Principal Hao's grandson."

"The back of the photo has three characters: The First. What do you think that means?"

Gu Yi pondered further. "Come to think of it, in the album, I really only saw pictures of this child at that age. There were no later ones. Could this child be the first person to die in this school?"

Bai Ru had to admit this was a possibility, and the most likely one. Otherwise, why would someone send an anonymous photo with 'The First' written on it? To dismiss it as a simple prank seemed hard to justify.

Although they hadn't gained much concrete evidence within the school itself, they had uncovered a clue: the haunting incidents seemed deeply connected to Principal Hao.

Bai Ru kept thinking about the photograph, and during the interview, she occasionally spaced out, forgetting the questions she was supposed to ask. The dean, sitting beside her the whole time, kept staring at her.

Gu Yi considered the situation, coughed lightly, and covertly raised his wrist to point at his watch, signaling the dean. The dean immediately understood, waited for the opportune moment, and interjected, "Perhaps we should go eat first? Principal Song has already reserved a restaurant for us."

Bai Ru secretly let out a sigh of relief. However, using the excuse that she needed time to organize the collected materials, she politely declined the arranged lunch.

Under the dean's guidance, she and Gu Yi walked toward the main gate. Having refused the principal's reserved restaurant, they intended to find somewhere else to eat on their own. To their surprise, the dean was absolutely against this, insisting there were no decent eateries near the gate and that he must find a restaurant that was at least passable to host their meal.

Eating wasn't the real objective for Bai Ru; she just wanted a place to sort out her thoughts. Gu Yi, however, agreed to the dean's suggestion.

After intentionally creating some distance from the dean, Bai Ru asked Gu Yi, "Why did you agree to eat with him?"

Gu Yi shrugged. "Think about it. Reporters from the city come to interview the school, and they refuse the meal arranged by the hosts. Do you think that looks credible?"

Bai Ru rolled her eyes but offered no rebuttal.

Just then, an elderly man walked toward them from the opposite direction. His appearance was unremarkable, his precise age hard to gauge, but his face was etched with deep wrinkles, the mark of a man who had endured much hardship. Only the deepest, most unquenchable sorrows or trials leave such heavy lines on a man's face. He wore a plain jacket and walked with his head slightly bowed. He nodded briefly to the dean as he passed and continued on. The dean merely nodded back casually, paying the man no further mind.

However, as the man passed beside Bai Ru and Gu Yi, both of them distinctly heard him murmur in a very low voice, "One point, library."

They both froze simultaneously, but the man had already quickened his pace and moved away from them.