Bai Rujing listened quietly as Wu Zhongyou recounted his story. When he first began, he wrote far more than he spoke, but gradually, his speech became more fluid. Though his voice remained hoarse, it was no longer as labored as it had been initially.

When he reached the part about the people carrying someone toward the sewer entrance, he paused, seemingly ready to conclude, when Bai Ru couldn't help but ask, "Are you certain that person was dead?"

Wu Zhongyou, already sweating profusely with his brows deeply furrowed, showed a flicker of terror across his wrinkled face at Bai Ru's question. After a long pause, he managed to say, "Yes. The person they carried out was unclothed. I've seen dead bodies before, and the one being carried clearly exhibited large patches of rigor mortis. Furthermore, I could tell it was an older man, only..."

At this point, Wu Zhongyou abruptly fell silent, his expression turning strange.

Bai Ru prompted him gently, "Only what? Since you've already started, why not tell it all at once."

Wu Zhongyou licked his lips. Perhaps his hand was sore from writing so much, he shook his wrist before continuing, "My vision was blurry then, and I kept feeling like the person being carried wasn't actually dead. Even though I was certain about the rigor mortis, and you have to understand, his skin was shriveled and covered in wrinkles—skin no living person should have—I still saw his hand move. It was a stiff, open-and-close motion, but it was definitely moving."

He spoke these words quickly, indicating how deeply that scene was etched into his memory, unable to fade over time.

Bai Ru watched Wu Zhongyou without speaking.

Wu Zhongyou managed a wry smile. "Of course, now I can tell you that person was definitely dead, but at the same time, they really weren't."

Bai Ru offered an encouraging smile and nodded toward Wu Zhongyou.

Wu Zhongyou took a deep breath. "The reason I can be certain is because, after that, I felt compelled—driven by some strange impulse—to go down and take a look..."

His body involuntarily shuddered, and he continued his tale haltingly; this time, he spoke more than he wrote.

Wu Zhongyou watched the movements of the people by the car intently. He saw them carry the person retrieved from the trunk, along with the child, down into the sewer. Before long, one of them reappeared and exchanged a few words with the man in the suit waiting by the car. That man seemed reluctant but eventually got out, grabbed a bag, pulled a large mask over his face, and also descended into the sewer.

Since these people had left the surface, Wu Zhongyou had a perfect chance to leave the building, yet he couldn't explain why he stayed put inside, waiting for them to return.

Time seemed to pass relatively quickly. Led by the man in the suit, several figures gradually emerged from the sewer back onto the ground. Frankly, they showed no fear of passersby; although this area was a school construction site, the entire district was considered a desolate wasteland in Qingshui County.

After the man in the suit got back into his car, the others replaced the manhole cover before also getting into their vehicles. Soon, the two cars departed the site, one following the other.

Only after the vehicles were completely out of sight did Wu Zhongyou emerge from the doorway of the building. By this point, he was drenched in sweat.

Just as he said, he could have immediately fled, but as if guided by an unseen force, his legs moved almost against his will, drawing him slowly toward the manhole cover.

At that moment, Wu Zhongyou still wasn't entirely convinced the corpse taken down had been moving; he mostly thought he must have been mistaken. However, he strongly suspected this group had come here at night specifically to dispose of a body.

He wanted to go down and confirm that the body had indeed been dumped into the sewer before deciding whether to call the police.

With that thought, he looked around, searching for a tool to pry open the manhole cover.

The construction site was certainly not lacking in "tools." Wu Zhongyou easily found a length of rebar and managed to wedge the cover open. He peered in; it was pitch black, but this didn't deter him—he had naturally brought a flashlight when inspecting the construction progress.

Shining his light inside, he discovered the space was quite large. This spoke to the quality of older sewer systems; they were built spacious, unlike the engineering in some places today where a slight rain can cause a "flood."

Just then, a gentle breeze swept by, carrying a scrap of paper from somewhere. It fluttered down and drifted into the opening.

Wu Zhongyou swallowed hard, a knot of apprehension tightening in his stomach. He had a distinct feeling that something dreadful lay beneath.

After pondering for a while, just as he was about to leave, he suddenly thought he heard a faint sound, like sobbing, drifting up from below. Startled, he crept closer, listening intently. At that precise moment, another gust of wind blew down the shaft, creating a low, echoing howl. He was convinced this sound was interwoven with a slight cry.

Could it be the child? Had the child not died?

This thought took root and refused to leave. After much hesitation, Wu Zhongyou finally decided he had to go down and investigate.

He clenched his jaw, steeled his resolve, flashlight beam steady, and began climbing down the rusted ladder.

When his feet finally touched the sewer floor, he let out a breath. He swept his flashlight around, realizing the space was indeed vast, though the foul stench filling the air forced him to cover his nose and mouth.

Unsure whether to proceed forward or backward, he stood still, straining his ears, hoping to catch the sound of sobbing again. Strangely, once he was below, aside from the occasional whistle of the wind, there was silence.

Frustrated, he decided to pick a direction at random. Based on the time it took those men to descend and ascend, they couldn't have been down there for very long, meaning they couldn't have traveled far.

Holding the flashlight ahead, he moved forward slowly. Not far in, he spotted a right-hand turn ahead. After rounding the corner and walking a short distance further, the beam of his flashlight illuminated a hole in the right-hand wall, covered by a wire mesh screen.

Curiously, he shone the light into it. The beam pierced the mesh but was quickly swallowed by an impenetrable blackness; he couldn't make out anything inside, as if it led only to infinite darkness.

Just as Wu Zhongyou was about to pull the light back and continue moving forward, a distinct sound, characteristic only of running feet, echoed from within the darkness.

He turned his gaze back toward the mesh with renewed curiosity. Suddenly, a small figure burst out of the darkness, stumbling under the glare of his flashlight. In the light, he saw a child, tears streaking a face frozen in terror.

The child also saw the beam of light, extended both hands, and cried out in a trembling voice, "Save..."

But before the child could finish, Wu Zhongyou watched in horror as a pair of pale hands shot out from the darkness behind the child, gripping the child's shoulders firmly, and swiftly dragging the figure back into the gloom.

Immediately after, Wu Zhongyou heard a scream—a piercing shriek he knew he would never forget as long as he lived. He could distinguish that the sound belonged to the child, but the sheer despair of impending death resonated so deeply that Wu Zhongyou felt as though a pair of hands might materialize behind him at any moment to seize him too.

He didn't know what happened to the child, nor could he afford to know at that moment. Acting purely on instinct, he instinctively backed away two steps, spun around, and fled. He ran—almost mechanically—until he reached the ladder he had used to descend, scrambled back onto the surface in a panic, and ran straight home without looking back.

Wu Zhongyou’s recollection broke off again here, but the look of abject fear remained fixed on his face.

Bai Ru reached out and gently took Wu Zhongyou’s hands, which were twitching erratically on the table, and murmured, "It's alright. Relax, just relax..."

Wu Zhongyou jerked his hands away, gasping great drafts of air, and only gradually regained some semblance of calm.

Bai Ru watched him until the terror seemed to recede from his features before asking, "Was that child the one in the photograph?"

After a long silence, Wu Zhongyou nodded.

Bai Ru frowned slightly and inquired further, "Did you know then, or..."

Wu Zhongyou shook his head. "No. I fell ill as soon as I got home—a high, persistent fever. I was eventually hospitalized. The doctors said I was raving nonsense that no one could understand, and that my brain was close to permanent damage. In short, I spent nearly a month in the hospital before I showed any improvement."

Bai Ru hesitated briefly. "Then why are you at this school now?"

Wu Zhongyou let out a long, heavy sigh. "Because of my little nephew. He was, you could say, the first student here to die accidentally."