Congratulations on Your Successful Escape

Chapter 9

But…there seemed to be something wrong.

Mo Yi frowned, keenly aware of a sense of discordance.

The speed of the mist changed too fast! At this rate, it would be able to occupy the entire building during the next break.

The whole process took less than 3 hours, but the survival time they were given was a full 5 hours!

—— This was a dead end that made it impossible to survive.

A shuddering chill climbed up Mo Yi’s back and he couldn’t help looking out the corridor window.

The window frame twisted by steel bars showed the boundless darkness outside. In the dark, the suspended countdown was shining with a faint blue light and the seconds passed quietly. However, at this moment, in Mo Yi’s eyes, it seemed like it was hurrying them onwards to their death, looking down at them from mid air with cold mocking malice.

Jiang Yuanbai, who was on the side, discovered that there was something wrong with him and asked, “What’s wrong? Why is your face so bad?”

Mo Yi was pulled back from his thoughts by his voice. He was taken aback for a second, and then he seemed to remember something. A little light of hope was rekindled in his gloomy eyes.

That was right! Jiang Yuanbai and Shen Lei had survived the previous escape games! Since they were able to survive, it meant that this game would definitely leave them with a chance to live!

But… now, no matter whether they stayed or walked onwards, as long as the class dismissal bell rang and the mist began to spread, they would only be left to die.

—— So, would the teacher’s office on the fourth floor be the turning point in this deadlock?

Mo Yi turned his head and looked at Jiang Yuanbai with a pale face. His eyes were startlingly bright. “We have to go upstairs as soon as possible.”

Just then, the class bell rang. As it rang, the entire corridor changed at a speed visible to the naked eye and was finally restored to its original state.

“Moreover, within these 45 minutes, we must think of a way to go upstairs,” Mo Yi added.

At this moment, Jiang Yuanbai who was slowly getting his energy back, realized that the speed of the mist had made their chances of survival almost impossible, and the blood in his face drained away in an instant.

He held Mo Yi’s arm a little eagerly, and said with a trembling voice, “Then, what are we waiting for, we should go now …”

Mo Yi’s eyes, which looked at him as if he were mentally deficient, seemed to pour cold water on him, causing him to swallow the rest of his words in his throat. He let go of Mo Yi in an embarrassed manner.

“The ghosts on each floor are preventing us from going upstairs. Going to the stairwell now will only court death.”

Jiang Yuanbai calmed down, scratching his head, embarrassed, and humbly asked, “Then, what should we do next?”

“Look for clues.” Mo Yi raised the notebook and document in his hand and his lips formed a smile, “Since the ghosts on each floor are related to Zhao Qiulan’s resentments, as long as know what her resentment is, we can figure out how the ghosts kill people.”

—— Only this way could they be prepared when they go upstairs.

Jiang Yuanbai’s face was a little heavy, and he nodded slowly.

According to the experience from the previous two floors, under the premise of not going upstairs, as long as they didn’t court death by actively disturbing the location of the ghosts: such as Li Yunya who went to the bathroom, and Shen Lei and the others who took the initiative to step into the photo’s illusion, they should be safe.? And on this completely unfamiliar third floor, every step was likely to be met with a lightning bolt.

But the classroom of Class 3 was a special existence: since it would appear on every floor, if there was any other existence there, he was afraid that it already would have killed him on the first floor.

What’s more, new clues may be found there.

After making up his mind, Mo Yi pushed open the door of the classroom and sat down on the ground in the back of the classroom. He reopened the notebook and began to read where he had left off last time.

There was very little content left. The time passed between each dated entry was getting longer and longer, the number of incomplete and scribbled on pages was increasing more and more, and the handwriting had become more and more messy and incomprehensible. The only thing that remained unchanged was,” Today will be a beautiful day.”

One of them caught Mo Yi’s attention: “September 1, 1994. I was welcomed by my classmates. They …” Then there was a large section of blacked out handwriting, and the final concluding remark was four small, crooked words: “It will be today.” Then, it abruptly stopped.

The sentence was not finished… why?

Mo Yi was a little confused and simply handed the notebook to Jiang Yuanbai, exchanging it for the folder he was reading and flipped through it.

The folder was very thin, and it was obviously Zhao Qiulan’s personal file.

Mo Yi stared deeply at the photo at the top of the file for a few seconds.

It was a small, thin, and weak young girl, wearing a big and dirty old shirt. She looked withdrawn and timid, showing a shy smile to the camera.

Mo Yi took a deep breath, discarding the emotion that surged up in his heart for a moment, and continued to look down and read.

The information given was pitiful.

It contained only her enrollment time, test scores, and other cold numbers.

Mo Yi turned the page, and the request for time of leave caught his attention:

December 21, 1993. Requested seven days of leave. Reason for leave: Funeral. Reply: Permission granted.

After seven days happened to be the 28^th, which was the day when the father’s name was missing from the notebook.

Mo Yi was thoughtful and kept reading.

On January 7, 1994, there was a new leave slip. This time, the leave slip was granted for more than half a month. The reasons for asking for leave were fright, funeral, and … record.

Combining it with the story of Hanako, a clear clue was put together. The mother killed her father, and then went to her daughter’s school to commit suicide. The innocent child lost her parents in just a few days and was stigmatized as being a murderer’s daughter.

Mo Yi turned to the next page and was immediately alarmed by the dense and small red words on it. All the major and minor demerits were recorded, such as fighting, stealing, cheating, and so on.

Could it that after the loss of her parents, this young girl became a delinquent? But in the next second, Mo Yi gave up on that idea.

Because after every disciplinary action, there would always be several identical names.

They were either involved in fighting, or they were reported and snitched on by others. Among the more than twenty disciplinary actions, the occurrence rate of these people’s names was astonishing,

At the bottom of the page, there was a note in enlarged bolded text about a disciplinary action: September 1, 1994. First level disciplinary action, warning to withdraw from school. Reason: The spreading of obscene/pornographic materials.

—— September 1, the most unusual date in the notebook, where not even “Today will be a beautiful day,” was written.

Mo Yi’s gaze became chilly and he picked up a yellowed photo from the file. The thin girl’s clothes were disheveled as she lay curled up, sobbing. The torn shirt couldn’t cover the young developing body underneath. The traces of being beat up were printed on her skin, and several hands were stretched out from behind the camera, firmly clasping her limbs to prevent her from resisting.

Mo Yi’s eyes darkened, and his face looked cold under the light.

He know knew, on the second floor, why the photos became the ghosts that decided their lives and deaths.

Mo Yi stretched out his hand, about to turn to the next page, but Jiang Yuanbai, who was beside him, exclaimed in surprise, “Hey! Look at what I found.”

Mo Yi looked up and saw that he had picked up a piece of paper that had fallen by his side and with a look of excitement, said, “I shook the notebook just now, and this came out of it!”

Jiang Yuanbai looked at the piece of paper. His excited expression just now became a little lost, and he said with a puzzled face, “What…I got happy for nothing.” After that, he said with a smile, “However, he he, it turns out that little girls of any age would like this kind of thing.”

Mo Yi’s heart jumped, and he looked at the crumbled paper.

It was actually a magazine cover that was neatly cut out and carefully folded. The design now looked extremely simple and crude, and the colour scheme was also very harsh. However, a row of headlines in the lower left corner firmly caught Mo Yi’s eye.

“Interesting Topic: Seven Incredible Wonders.”

When he saw the small print, his thoughts flashed through his mind like a fierce thunderbolt!

All the clues were pieced together in his mind and rose to the surface.

Mo Yi’s breathing was a little short, and his eyes were astonishingly bright. He seemed to hear his blood surging against his blood vessels, beating in his eardrum rhythmically.

He was a little excited for a long time.

Mo Yi took a deep breath and stretched out his finger to show Jiang Yuanbai.

Jiang Yuanbai looked intently and saw the small words under the headline:

“Moving photos, the Thirteenth Step, the sound of a bouncing ball in the empty gym … the mirror at night, and Hanako in the bathroom. What are the Seven Incredible Wonders?”

Jiang Yuanbai also suddenly realized, “So … 712 is actually the order of the Seven Incredible Wonders?”

Mo Yi held his breath and nodded, his voice a little unsteady, “It should be.”

Jiang Yuanbai’s voice was excited. “Then we know what’s on the third floor! The second one of the Seven Incredible Wonders! The Thirteenth Step!”

The Thirteenth Step. The rumour was that if someone counted the steps of the stairs at night, they would fall into a different dimension when they reached the thirteenth count.

Although he didn’t know why, he always felt something odd in his heart.

It was as if there was a sense of discord.

Mo Yi looked out the window.

Their time was running out. In 15 minutes, the bell would ring again. If they didn’t reach the fourth floor before time ran out, there would only be death.

He shook his head as if he wanted to get rid of the strange feelings in his mind. Then, he decisively gathered up the notebook and folder and stood up. Although he was anxious, he didn’t show it on his face. He quickly said to Jiang Yuanbai,” Let’s go. We can only give it a try.”

When they reached the stairwell, Jiang Yuanbai suddenly stopped.

“If you didn’t know, then it’s okay. Of course you wouldn’t count the steps. But now, you have to tell yourself not to count the steps … you can’t help but count it!” He was slightly falling apart.

Mo Yi thought for a moment, “How about singing Two Tigers?”

“…” Jiang Yuanbai couldn’t believe it. “Are you serious?”

Mo Yi nodded sincerely. “Yes, it can distract your attention.” After that, he began to climb the stairs while loudly singing Two Tigers. Jiang Yuanbai stood in place with a blank face and looked at his back.

He merely listened to Mo Yi’s rising and falling voice from anew, “You see, I’m coming up.”

…

Should he tell Mo Yi that his singing of Two Tigers was out of tune?

Jiang Yuanbai pondered for a second.

Then he decided to hide this secret in his mind.

In the end, he still believed in Mo Yi’s abnormal theory. He opened his mouth to sing Two Tigers and began to climb up the stairs. Sure enough, he arrived at the fourth floor safely.

Although there was no mishap, it was in no way smooth.

Jiang Yuanbai crouched down and took a deep breath, a thin layer of sweat covered his back.

As expected, the ghosts here didn’t want them to go upstairs.

During the process of climbing the stairs, he heard someone whispering in his ear while slowly counting, as if tempting him to count in his mind. Fortunately, he was brainwashed by Two Tigers. Otherwise, he was afraid that he would have been lured away long ago.

Jiang Yuanbai’s heart rejoiced and he looked up, preparing to thank Mo Yi.

But he saw the man who had been overly calm along the way, uncharacteristically showing a surprised expression, and his dilated pupils were staring fixedly in front him.

Jiang Yuanbai followed his line of sight and was also stunned.

The stairwell was blocked by a solid wall. No traces of a gap were exposed, weighing down the people present until they nearly suffocated.

Jiang Yuanbai panicked, raised the fire axe and slashed, but the sharp axe blade slid against the wall, leaving no trace.

An atmosphere of despair slowly came.

—— There was no fourth floor at all.