Wu Zhongyou shook his head decisively this time: "No, his family's reaction after his death was completely normal... this sounds strange, but there were absolutely no hauntings at his home." Bai Ru made an "Mm" sound: "That should be normal." Wu Zhongyou frowned deeply, shaking his head again: "That's what's strange to me, why it was only my little nephew who returned, and why he kept coming back for such a long time." Bai Ru sighed softly.

On this point, she currently had no insight either. After a moment of thought, she asked, "Your little nephew now..." Wu Zhongyou let out a long, drawn-out sigh, a look of profound sadness washing over his face.

He murmured, "He's gone. They are all gone..." Bai Ru started, surprised.

After a long silence, Wu Zhongyou continued, "Then one day, my brother suddenly told me that my little nephew wasn't coming home at night anymore. To tell you the truth, I was initially very happy about that.

But not long after, my brother and sister-in-law were hit by a small truck when they were walking together—perhaps they were completely distracted while crossing the road. They didn't make it after being rushed to the hospital; they were just gone..." Bai Ru changed the subject, asking, "Have you ever told anyone about these things?

That Principal Liu?" "No. Didn't you know he had an accident too?" Bai Ru was momentarily stunned.

She hadn't heard anything about his predecessor from Principal Hao, so hearing this from Wu Zhongyou suddenly caught her off guard. "Had an accident?

What happened?" Bai Ru asked. "It was reported as a heart attack.

He died right in his office." Bai Ru knitted her brows: "Such a coincidence?" "I heard it from Old Hao." "Principal Hao? Why would he tell you?" Wu Zhongyou suddenly realized: "Oh, speaking of which, that's why I ended up taking this job in the school library." Bai Ru had no choice but to keep listening.

When Wu Zhongyou received the death certificates for his brother and sister-in-law, he was utterly disappointed. The reports only cited accidental death, with no suspicious circumstances mentioned.

Yet, deep down, he refused to believe it; he felt their deaths were inextricably linked to the school. For a period, he haunted Fu Xing High School—day or night.

He didn't know why he went, but his feet would invariably carry him to the school gates whenever he left the house. Then one day, he bumped into Old Hao by chance.

Old Hao was standing by the roadside, looking intently at something, when the collision occurred. It wasn't enough to knock him down, but it caused the item in his hand to fall to the ground.

Seeing he had run into someone, Wu Zhongyou naturally bent down at once to help pick up what had been dropped, intending to quickly apologize after retrieving it. However, as he picked up the fallen object and looked closely, he gasped in shock.

It was a wallet, and inside the open wallet was a photograph—a picture of a child. Wu Zhongyou recognized the child instantly: it was the same child he had seen crying in the storm drain.

Startled and alarmed, Wu Zhongyou found himself speechless. It was Old Hao who reached out, took the wallet from his hand, and chuckled lightly, "No problem at all." Wu Zhongyou stared at him, his mouth hanging open in alarm, and pointed a finger toward Old Hao's wallet.

Old Hao didn't pay much attention to his expression. He gently smoothed the photo inside the wallet.

Seeing the hand Wu Zhongyou pointed with, he casually remarked, "That's my grandson. He went missing..." Perhaps unwilling to say too much to a stranger, he immediately stopped talking, nodded slightly to Wu Zhongyou, and turned to walk into Fu Xing High School.

Just then, Wu Zhongyou heard someone address him as "Principal Hao." Watching Principal Hao's retreating back as he entered the campus, Wu Zhongyou desperately wanted to rush forward and explain everything to him. But quickly, he hesitated.

He didn't know where to even begin, or rather, he didn't know what the point would be, even if he truly told Principal Hao what he knew. It was only at that moment that he decided he had to find work at this school, to observe up close what secrets were hidden within its walls.

Coincidentally, not long after, he noticed the school was hiring maintenance staff. Although he technically held teaching qualifications, at that time, he couldn't be certain if he still possessed the capability for that kind of work.

When he went to apply for the janitorial position, he met Principal Hao again. Seeing him once more, Wu Zhongyou didn't know what to say; he could only offer a silent smile.

Unexpectedly, Principal Hao recognized him. Perhaps it was because Wu Zhongyou hadn't managed to utter a single word during their two encounters, the Principal developed a misunderstanding.

He heard Principal Hao say to the applicants: "This comrade might have a speech impediment; please be appropriately accommodating." Hearing this, a thought stirred within Wu Zhongyou's heart. What followed was relatively smooth.

A Wu Zhongyou with damaged vocal cords was thus created. Simultaneously, due to his previous work history, he was successfully placed as a library administrator.

Since taking the job, Wu Zhongyou maintained an extremely cautious and low profile in all his daily words and actions. Gradually, everyone came to know the library as having a mute administrator, though hardly anyone paid him much mind.

That was hardly surprising, as the library was never a place that drew much attention anyway. But this group did not include Principal Hao.

Principal Hao was fond of books and frequented the library often, either reading or checking the catalog entries, paying close attention to the stock levels, and periodically selecting new books to add to the collection. Over time, he and Wu Zhongyou grew familiar—though this familiarity was rooted in Principal Hao's demeanor toward Wu Zhongyou.

When time permitted, the Principal seemed to enjoy conversing with Wu Zhongyou; though most of the time, he was the one doing the talking. Perhaps this was because Wu Zhongyou played the part of an attentive listener perfectly in his presence.

Of course, at this point, Wu Zhongyou had not yet learned about the disappearance of Principal Hao's grandson. He mainly listened to the Principal discuss work troubles and petty domestic matters.

Occasionally, Principal Hao would even vent about the mess left behind by his predecessor. It was during one of these moments that Wu Zhongyou learned about the former Principal Liu dying of a heart attack in his office.

Then, one day, without any prior warning or signs, a third bizarre student death occurred on campus. Wu Zhongyou felt deep regret.

The library wasn't that far from the Second Teaching Building, and he always left the school late, yet he hadn't managed to prevent this from happening, despite paying attention to the area every day when he left. That student was found dead at the bottom of the stairs on the second floor.

At first glance, it looked like a fatal fall down the steps resulting in a cracked skull. But Wu Zhongyou later overheard a rumor: during the autopsy, two-thirds of the student's blood was found to be missing, yet there were no corresponding large bloodstains at the scene.

The occurrence of this "accident" forced Wu Zhongyou to begin taking the entire situation seriously. He devoted all his spare time to gathering details from these series of unexpected student deaths, trying to piece together some coherent thread.

Naturally, he conducted all of this in secret. Unforeseen by him, before he could find any thread, Principal Hao suddenly appeared at the library one evening just as he was about to close up.

Wu Zhongyou was startled to see him standing at the doorway and hastily swept the papers he was writing under the circulation desk, pretending to examine the book index. Principal Hao walked up to him and asked with a smile, "Not off work yet?" Wu Zhongyou quickly concealed his panic, forcing a smile.

More often than not, he simply smiled at Principal Hao. Unexpectedly, the next sentence Principal Hao uttered nearly made him cry out in shock.

Principal Hao inquired, "You seem to have been paying a lot of attention to the Second Teaching Building these past few days. Is there something wrong over there?"