C81 – Pathological Secret Admirer
by UntamedSFang Qinglin squatted at the rectangular basement doorway, only the stairs could be seen inside the gloomy and pitch black doorway.
Chu Chen’an locked eyes with him, his expression flashing with a hint of hesitation.
“Shall we go down and take a look?” Chu Chen’an looked at this unfathomable basement and couldn’t help but feel fear.
It was like an abyss that could drag one down into hell.
Fang Qinglin was also scared, but he still nodded and said, “Okay.”
Maybe the corpses were in there.
Chu Chen’an took out a small torch from his pocket, looked back at Pei Yan behind him, and stepped down the basement steps with Fang Qinglin.
Pei Yan followed closely behind Chu Chen’an, the light from the torch reflecting his tall shadow, giving Chu Chen’an an invisible sense of security.
The steps were a metre and a half wide and long, with a rusty iron fence on the left side as a handrail, the space wasn’t too cramped, but the surrounding area was too dark and eerie, and they could only use the weak light to walk down.
They had no idea how many steps they had descended.
But it still felt like they couldn’t get to the end.
Chu Chen’an and Fang Qinglin were uneasy and anxious; they could only see the next step in the swaying light.
The further down they went, the more they felt they were hanging in the air.
Chu Chen’an’s steps slowed down, and Fang Qinglin walked ahead, holding onto the iron handrail, sighing with every step, feeling like he was walking down the road to the Yellow Springs.
[TN: Yellow Springs — Underworld]
Chu Chen’an looked back at Pei Yan and couldn’t help but ask, “How much longer until we get there?”
“Soon.” Pei Yan walked on his side, holding his waist. “If you’re tired, I’ll hold you, An An.”
“Don’t.” Chu Chen’an shook his head and squeezed the torch into his hand.
When Pei Yan was by his side, he was actually less afraid than when he was alone.
Because he knew that Pei Yan was the behind-the-scenes NPC boss, and although he wasn’t involved, he must know something about the architecture of this place.
Besides, he had a companion with him.
“Chen, Chen’an, look at that.” Fang Qinglin held onto the handrail and suddenly tilted his head to look into the distance. “It’s so high up here!”
Chu Chen’an sniffed and titled his torch in that direction. Towering below was a huge underground chamber, with a lot of paint falling off the gray and black worn-out walls.
They walked down quickly and found that it was more like a huge chemical factory.
There were five or six transparent chemical pools that were two to three meters high, and the water inside was a murky scarlet color.
Next to the chemical pools were some machines similar to an assembly line, the end of which was connected to a drain, and unlike ordinary drains, the drain here was connected to a sewer gate underneath.
All around emitted a pungent chemical smell.
The smell was particularly unpleasant, and Chu Chen’an couldn’t help but gag after only inhaling a mouthful.
He covered his nose, and a hint of expectation flashed in his eyes.
Could …… it be here?
They came to the flat ground of the basement, Chu Chen’an held up his torch behind him and found that this basement was particularly high, and they were walking down from steps that were tens of metres high.
Just as Chu Chen’an and Fang Qinglin were amazed.
The liquid in the chemical pool suddenly boiled up, emitting a “gurgling” sound.
Chu Chen’an was startled and turned to look at the chemical pool.
Then they only saw that at the edge of the chemical pool, a rotten hand suddenly crawled out, and then revealed empty horrifying eyes, it was a rotten corpse rotten into visible white bones.
It was a rotting corpse that was so rotten that you could see the white bones. The rotting corpse revealed its sharp yellow fangs and was gnawing on a piece of meat with a leg bone, peering and laughing in their direction.
That piece of rotten meat might be someone else’s, or maybe it was its own.
The rotting corpses began to climb outwards, carrying with them a pungent stench.
“Jiejie …… meat …… eat meat ……”
Chu Chen’an opened his eyes wide and took a step back as Pei Yan wrapped his arm around his shoulders.
Pei Yan glared coldly at them when Chu Chen’an’s line of sight wasn’t on him.
The rotting corpses then stopped their climbing movements and hurried back into the chemical pool.
Fang Qinglin came to Chu Chen’an’s side, “Chen’an, in these pools, maybe ……”
..
Immediately after that, there was a “boom” from the basement, interrupting Fang Qinglin’s words, as if something had been shut down.
Chu Chen’an heard the sound and looked over, only to see that an iron door suddenly opened on one of the walls of the basement.
As the iron door opened…
He saw an old man in a suit walk out with a kind but out of place laugh, the man had grey hair and a pair of old glasses, he looked to be in his fifties.
The old man was followed by six security guards, all looking to be carrying lethal weapons.
Only when he approached did Chu Chen’an see what he looked like.
Chu Chen’an had vaguely seen this person during the opening ceremony.
This person was the headmaster of this school.
The headmaster smiled, ”Director Pei, why have you brought your students here. I think it’s still class time, aigoo, it’s not good to delay their studies, in a few days there will be a unified examination. If you want to bring them to visit, it’s not too late to come back after class, don’t you think ……”
“Headmaster, my child is curious,” Pei Yan put his arm around Chu Chen’an’s shoulder in front of the headmaster, his face cold as he said, “So I brought him here to take a look, it won’t be for long.”
The headmaster’s smile froze, then he continued to smile, “Yes, yes.”
Fang Qinglin and Chu Chen’an glanced at each other, and said politely to the old man, “Good day, Headmaster.”
“Hm.” The headmaster smiled as he looked around the chemical pool, “So has Director Pei finished his tour? These potions in the basement are used to disinfect, the smell can be too strong, it’s not good to stay here for a long time. Why don’t we just go out first?”
The headmaster was driving them away in both words and actions, and this also greatly increased the suspicion here.
The students who had inexplicably disappeared over the years might be here.
Pei Yan lowered his eyes and said softly to Chu Chen’an in his arms, “Want to watch for a bit longer?”
The headmaster kept his warm smile and looked at Chu Chen’an.
“Hmm.” Chu Chen’an avoided the headmaster’s creepy gaze as he looked towards the six huge transparent chemical pools, “Can I go over and take a look?”
“You can,” the headmaster was the first to speak, his smile so wrinkled that it blossomed, “Two students, after visiting these pools, we’ll go out?”
Although the headmaster’s words were gentle, they also carried a majestic aura.
Chu Chen’an and Fang Qinglin nodded their heads in unison, neither of them dared to meet the headmaster’s eyes, and they answered politely with their heads lowered, “Yes.”
“Alright.” The headmaster turned back and commanded a security guard behind him.
The security guard nodded and quickly walked to the wall and flipped six switches.
Only a “wow” sound was heard.
The scarlet pool water then sank inside the transparent container, converging in the underground sewer pipe and surging into the underground waterway.
The water and the iron railings of the sewer made a violent collision sound, causing Chu Chen’an to look at it a few more times.
The pool of water in the transparent container was quickly drained, it was empty, even the carrion from earlier was nowhere to be seen.
Chu Chen’an frowned, somewhat incredulous.
Impossible ……
How could there be nothing?
Fang Qinglin squatted down, propping up his face to see the water flowing cleanly in the underground waterway.
He also didn’t forget to exclaim, “The pipes of this underground waterway are really big.”
It could hold so much water.
Chu Chen’an was stunned as he also followed Fang Qinglin’s gaze.
“Want another tour to visit the underground water pipes?”
The headmaster joked and slapped one hand on Fang Qinglin’s shoulder, “Hahaha. Since the two students have finished looking, let’s go out first, shall we?”
Fang Qinglin and Chu Chen’an nodded their heads in unison and followed the headmaster out the same iron door he came through.
The headmaster smiled and glanced back at Pei Yan, who had his arm around Chu Chen’an, and said warmly again, “Two students, this basement is about the school’s disinfecting system which is under construction, and it hasn’t yet been made public to the majority of teachers and students in the school. So before the school leadership department has issued an announcement, please keep this little secret first, and when the school leadership department issues a notice, it will naturally be widely publicized, so that the construction is fair, transparent, and open, okay?”
Chu Chen’an felt as if the headmaster’s rhetoric had a fixed system; the same words would appear no matter what he said, as if he was talking about different things and as if he wasn’t.
He had always lived in a ward in the real world and hadn’t experienced real campus life.
Nor did he know if the ones in the real world were the same.
Fang Qinglin and Chu Chen’an nodded their heads in succession.
This passageway went straight to the downstairs of the teaching area, and across the street was the majestic administration building.
The moment Chu Chen’an stepped out of the passageway, he suddenly felt that the dazzling sunlight was a bit blinding.
It was probably because he had stayed in the darkness for a long time.
The security guards behind the headmaster were expressionless, their eyes cold and murd-erous.
Chu Chen’an thought about what would have happened to him and Fang Qinglin if Pei Yan wasn’t there.
Maybe they’d have already become rotting corpses in the chemical pool.
“Then the two students should go back to the classroom to study earlier, I’ll go back first as well.” The headmaster nodded respectfully to Pei Yan and led the security guard to the administration building.
“Okay.” Fang Qinglin and Chu Chen’an said in unison.
Fang Qinglin walked alongside the pathway under the teaching area and sat down on a stone pier.
Chu Chen’an frowned and tilted his head, looking towards the blue and turquoise lake not far away, and suddenly paused.
His mind subconsciously recalled the violent sound of water just now.
There was also the fishy smell of the underground waterway.
“What’s wrong?” Pei Yan stared down at Chu Chen’an, his expression blank.
Chu Chen’an returned to his senses and shook his head in a daze, “Nothing.”
“Let’s go home tomorrow, An An,” Pei Yan rubbed his cheeks, “I’ve packed all the things I want to bring home.”
“Okay ……,” Chu Chen’an held onto Pei Yan’s arm.
Pei Yan had already planned to him to the abandoned building, he didn’t dare to refuse anymore.
“Sh, what?” Fang Qinglin hadn’t reacted yet, “Chen’an, you’re going home? Dropping out of school?”
“Hmm.” Chu Chen’an was pondering as he said to Pei Yan, “Can I go back to the classroom with Qinglin to get my books?”
Pei Yan nodded, “Okay, I’ll wait for you here.”
……
Chu Chen’an pulled Fang Qinglin up and ran up to the rooftop of the teaching area.
“Chen’an, didn’t you say you were going to get the books?” Fang Qinglin ran with a slight gasp in his breath.
Chu Chen’an stood still with a gasp. “I know where all those bodies are hidden.”
Fang Qinglin’s eyes widened, and he cautiously looked around. Then he asked quietly, “Where is it? Isn’t there nothing in that building?”
Chu Chen’an stood up straight and raised his hand to point at the turquoise-blue dreamy lake.
The clues were indeed in the abandoned building, but the real hiding places of those corpses all surged into the bottom of the deep, bottomless lake.
It was the only place the underground waterways led to.
He couldn’t believe it either.
This amazingly beautiful landscape, situated in the middle of the school, hid countless corpses.
Fang Qinglin froze.
[Ding~]
[Congratulations on completing task two.]
[Reward Points: X600]
Fang Qinglin then excitedly hugged Chu Chen’an, “Chen’an! You’re too good!”
Chu Chen’an was shaken by him, bringing a smile to his face. “Quickly take a look at your control panel; are there any more extra quests?”
“Okay.” Fang Qinglin went through it carefully and said to Chu Chen’an with a smile, “No, it shows that I’ll be able to leave this copy in five minutes!”
Chu Chen’an thought about it.
This was Fang Qinglin’s first copy, it was relatively easy and there was no lag time.
Fang Qinglin’s eyes reddened as he smiled, and he hugged Chu Chen’an again, “Thank you, Chen’an. If I didn’t have you with me, I wouldn’t have been able to complete this copy so quickly.”
Chu Chen’an shook his head repeatedly, “No, no, I didn’t do anything either.”
Most of it was Pei Yan’s doing.
“There’s still something I haven’t told you, do you know why those roommates of mine weren’t harassing me afterwards?” Fang Qinglin said.
“Why?” Chu Chen’an asked.
Fang Qinglin smiled and said, “I took the tongue I retrieved from the basement of the school building to the dormitory and put it there for an afternoon, and when someone touched me at night, I grabbed that person’s hand and cut off three of his fingers with a knife that I hid under the pillow……. Later on, those people were so scared they didn’t dare to harass me anymore. The reason why I didn’t tell you is that I was afraid that you wouldn’t be with me if you knew about it.”
“No, you’re so brave.” Chu Chen’an gently patted his back, “Qinglin, your time is almost up, right?”
“Yes, there’s still a minute left.”
Fang Qinglin’s eyes reddened and he let go of him, “I hope …… we can meet again in reality.”
“Will do.”
As soon as the atmosphere became melodramatic, Chu Chen’an’s nose turned red, he smiled, “Then, let’s meet again in the real world.”
“Mm!” Fang Qinglin also smiled and nodded.
Soon.
He disappeared into thin air, perhaps quietly rushing to the next copy world.
Chu Chen’an looked at the empty blue sky in thought.
Perhaps there were thousands of other people just like them, rushing to different copy worlds, meeting hastily, and returning to the sea of people.
He thought about it for a few minutes.
Pei Yan was standing at the rooftop entrance, quietly looking at him.
Pei Yan went forward and wrapped his arms around him. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
Chu Chen’an leaned into Pei Yan’s arms and whispered, “Let’s go home now.”
He didn’t want to stay in this shi*tty school for a moment.
“Okay.” Pei Yan leaned over and kissed his forehead. He was happy that Chu Chen’an took the initiative to go home.
Pei Yan quickly took Chu Chen’an home.
Although Chu Chen’an’s mission two was completed, his system control panel didn’t show a hint that the copy was completed.
This indicated that he still had additional tasks.
As soon as Chu Chen’an arrived at the door of his home, he was embraced and kissed by Pei Yan all the way to the bedroom.
Pei Yan kissed Chu Chen’an’s earlobes and interlocked his fingers with his.
He presumed to possess everything about Chu Chen’an.
“Why is baby unhappy today?” Pei Yan wrapped his arms around his back, like a patient parent questioning him.
Chu Chen’an looked at the familiar ceiling and shook his head, “No.”
Only leaning against Pei Yan’s shoulder, like a young beast that was fidgeting.
He was kissed by Pei Yan again.
Chu Chen’an vaguely felt his eagerness, he was just in a daze and didn’t notice that Pei Yan’s words were wrong.
“Baby, welcome home.” Pei Yan kissed the back of his white hand again, his voice gentle and low, briefly confusing Chu Chen’an.
Chu Chen’an hadn’t yet reacted.
Only to hear “knock” a light sound, it was the sound of cold metal clasping together.
Chu Chen’an’s eyes widened, and he looked down in dismay.
The beautifully carved metal chain ring had already been fastened on his ankle.
Pei Yan lovingly held his hands and said softly, “Do you like it?”
This homecoming gift.
Chu Chen’an trembled, and he saw Pei Yan smiling, but his eyes had become more gloomy and terrifying.
Finally Chen’an got a good teammate, maybe even a friend, even tho for just a short while