Chapter 8 Negotiations Break Down

  The corridor on the tenth floor really appeared, and it turned out that we were indeed trapped in an illusion before. We continued to walk up to the top floor step by step, but the door was locked with a large lock. I tried to open the door with the ring transformed into a knife, but this time the ring did not change at all. We had no choice but to return to a classroom on the 10th floor and lock the door.

  The classroom was very large, with a big piano standing alone in the center of the room, looking desolate. Wang Xue closed her eyes and asked: "What to do? I always feel that as long as we open the door on the rooftop, we can get out. But why can't the door be opened?" Liu Bei and Zhang Xin stared at the door nervously, I knew they were afraid of the man suddenly appearing, I felt like I had lost all my strength, and suddenly fell to the ground, my consciousness becoming blurry, with the last thing I saw being Ye Zi Ke rushing towards me.

  Black, very black, I don't know where I'm going, fearful, uneasy, afraid of being trapped. "Yezi Ke, where are you?" I cry out, feeling my way forward, alone in bearing it, alone in facing it, so suffocating. Footsteps come from behind, rushing towards me. "Don't come over!" I shout, the darkness in front of me suddenly disappearing without a trace, light appears, gradually illuminating everything, sunshine fills the air, birds singing, flowers blooming.

  The person standing in front of me was Nagi Kumorin. She said coldly, "Do you know what it means to be afraid? I thought you weren't afraid of anything!" I grasped Nagi Kumorin tightly: "Please, take us out of here!" Nagi Kumorin poked my forehead with her finger and said: "That man learned a certain forbidden technique after his son died, turning himself into that thing. He killed Hanae, cast a death curse on the school's new students, causing them to die unknowingly, and trapped the children in the space where he used his secret technique." I nodded and asked: "So is that man human or ghost?"

  Nan Yun'er stared into my eyes and said, "He's half-human and half-demon. Those who learn this evil art have already become abnormal in both mind and body. You need to think of a way to untie his knot." I thought of Xiao Han going through death for our sake so that we could escape smoothly, and my hand clenched into a fist.

  "By the way, that man had cast a spell on you, and I just helped you break it. Otherwise, you would have ended up in the pool of dead water too." My back felt chilly as I recalled the scene where that man beheaded Teacher Xu right before my eyes, and another wave of terror washed over me. "Also thanks to that boy who slapped you on the ear, which delayed your time of passing out." Nagu Yun continued: "I really wanted to help you, but I need some time to enter this sealed space. When you wake up later, be sure to open the door on the rooftop, and I'll be there waiting for you to take you back."

  "What about the others? Can I bring them back with me?" I asked, "You want to bring others back? Then you have to untie that man's knot, do you have a way to make him let go of those students?" Nagu Yun'er retorted, and I really didn't have that ability, to be exact, I was even more afraid of that man. "Wanting him to release the captive students, you have to face him directly and talk to him, dare you?!" Ning Xue. Nagu Yun'er looked at me with a mocking gaze, as if she saw the fear and unease in my heart. "I'm going back!" I said, then walked towards the back of Nagu Yun'er, "Where are you going?" Nagu Yun'er asked, "I want to walk out of your dream and go talk to Li Zhi." I closed my eyes and took big strides forward, "Remember, I'll be waiting for you on the rooftop! You have to come!" Nagu Yun'er's voice gradually faded away, my world spun around, and I felt dizzy.

  The moment I opened my eyes, Ye Zikuo's face appeared in front of me. At this time, I was lying in his arms, and I awkwardly got up and said, "Sorry, I'm probably too tired." Ye Zikuo stared blankly and said, "Next time you dare to scare people like that, you're dead for sure!" Looking at the piano, I had an idea.

  I opened the piano lid, turned around and asked: "Now I want to bring Li Zhi over, do you agree?!" Qi Qi was frightened and retreated, saying: "We are hiding from him, why do you want to do this?!" I looked at everyone and continued: "Want to go home?! Then we must have him lift the spell that imprisons you." "What if he doesn't want to?!" Liu Pei asked back, I didn't know how to answer. Ye Zikuo walked over and said: "You want to play the piano to lure him over, right? Which piece do you want to play, I'll accompany you."

  Behind him, Zhang Xin angrily scolded: "You're all crazy! How can you reason with that pervert?" "Don't mind what others say, I told you. Say, which one do you want to play?" Ye Zikuo asked, "'The Day I Lost My Love', will you?" I asked, and after he nodded, we started playing together. Wang Xue nodded at us, then comforted Qi Qi, Zhang Xin and Qi Qi.

  A faint sorrow was played out from our fingertips, passing through that door, and being transmitted to the man's ears. A inexplicable sadness flowed in my heart, I looked at Ye Zikuo, he gave me an encouraging look, indicating that I should be serious. Wang Xue and her friends were tightly hugging each other, as if everyone was about to part ways the next second. Sure enough, a "heh heh" sound came from outside the door, I wanted to stop playing the piano, "Just a little more, let's finish it together!" Ye Zikuo said without any emotion, the piano sound continued, the door creaked open, and the last melody was just finished.

  I walked up to Li Zhi and said, "Let's have a good talk!" Li Zhi stretched out his hand with bulging veins, trying to grab my neck. I quickly pulled out the ring, and a knife was placed on his neck, neither too tight nor too loose. "This knife can cut off one of your hands or even your head. I don't want any conflict with you, I just want to have a good talk." I pretended to be calm while speaking, desperately suppressing my trembling hand. Another hand appeared on the hilt, perfectly hiding my tremble. Ye Zikuo used another hand to rub my hair and said, "Add oil!" I nodded, staring at Li Zhi and asked, "Why are you so cruel! Release your seal, let us go!"

  Li Zhi's hoarse throat let out a laugh, "Hahaha", it turned out that this was his laughter, so strange, like a broken wooden puppet, piecing together its own body. "My son is dead, his dream was to study hard here, I won't let him be lonely! I want all the students in this school year to accompany him! Do you know? My son worked so hard, he was weak and sickly since childhood, for the sake of studying, he could risk his life. Finally, he got into this famous school, but that woman named Xiao Han, just because she had money, easily got in, that's it. But why did they have to wipe out my son! Why! So I flayed that woman alive, stuck her skin on the wall, and let her get what she deserved!" Li Zhi almost collapsed into a rage, "Shut up! Don't you dare say anything about Xiao Han!"

  Ye Zi Ke's knife slipped out of control and slashed towards Li Zhi, but Li Zhi just stared at Ye Zi Ke without saying a word, continuing to make "heh heh" sounds. Ye Zi Ke fell to the ground, clutching his right hand. I quickly looked over to see what had happened to him, only to see that Ye Zi Ke's right hand was deathly pale, and his face was as white as paper. "What's wrong?" I asked, grabbing his right hand. "He's not even human, how could he touch something like this?!" Li Zhi sneered at us, his eyes drifting towards Wang Xue and the others. "Why can't you all just stay in school peacefully? Why do you have to run away from here?" Li Zhi said, scaring Wang Xue and the others into retreating repeatedly.

  Ye Zi Ke gritted her teeth and stared at Li Zhi, asking: "What do you want to do with us?!" "What?! I want you all to never be reborn, forever stuck in this schoolyard, accompanying my son!" Li Zhi replied viciously. I helped Ye Zi Ke up and said: "Leave the rest to me, you guys hurry to the rooftop, our helper is there, go quickly!" A figure flashed by, and when I came to my senses, Qi Qi had already tightly hugged Li Zhi's leg: "Everyone, let's go!" Li Zhi tried to kick Qi Qi away, but was held even tighter.

  "Sorry, I'm a coward and love to escape, but everyone didn't give up on me, I'm really happy, so let me do something for everyone this time!" Li Zhi started kicking and punching Qiqi, Wang Xue, Liu Bei, and Zhang Yi all rushed towards Li Zhi, pinning him down. "Ning Ke! Remember what you said, take us home!" Wang Xue shouted at me, "So only if you go out can we go home!" Zhang Xin also looked at me and said, Liu Bei smiled at me for the first time and said: "Ning Ke! Hurry up and leave!"

  Wang Xue burst out laughing: "Sisters, we've finally had a good fight!" Tears streamed down my face without me realizing it. The negotiations had broken down, and Nagu Yun'er was right - I didn't have the ability to turn things around, and instead led everyone into another predicament. This time, I didn't hesitate, but glared viciously at Li Zhi: "You'll regret this!" I quickly left the classroom, with Yezi Ke's voice following behind me: "Where are you going?" Without turning my head, I replied: "Isn't his son here? I'm going to find him!" "You're being reckless again!" Yezi Ke shouted. I was really angry and annoyed, and retorted loudly: "Get out of my way! Right now, I don't trust anyone - only my own judgment!"

  After saying that, I myself feel too excessive. But the most important thing now is to find Li Xue Lin, his father killed so many people for him and ended up in a state of neither human nor ghost. But where should I go to find him? Just as I was worried, "You stop your footsteps and listen carefully." Ye Zikuo suddenly said, I stopped my footsteps, as if from the rooftop, I heard a boy's voice, a faint reading sound reached my ears.

  I stared at Ye Zikuo in shock: "His son jumped off the building to commit suicide, right?! I didn't misremember?!" Ye Zikuo ignored me and walked towards the stairs, with me following closely behind. The rooftop door that was previously locked was now wide open, and a boy's silhouette appeared before us. Upon hearing our footsteps, he turned around and looked at us, his pale skin and sickly face saying: "I'm going to die." After finishing speaking, he jumped off the rooftop, and before I could even process what had just happened, the boy reappeared on the rooftop, continuing to read his book. "What's going on?!" I muttered to myself, "He's constantly reliving the moments before his death, this is his emotional baggage!" The one responding to my voice wasn't Ye Zikuo, but Li Zhi. At that moment, he was looking at his son's silhouette, his face filled with pain as he continued: "I've let you all go. But who can let my son go?!"