Chapter 207: Bonfire Party
Campfire Gathering
"Let me explain, the way you were crawling was just a bit ridiculous, I couldn't help it."
Lin Ye suppressed his laughter, putting on a stern face as he said:
"Alright, if you want to die, you can tell me anytime. If you don't want to die, figure out a way to survive."
"What's the point of living even if we can survive when we've become like this?"
Another head student collapsed painfully on the ground, weakly twitching his tendrils.
"Li Yang is a member of some cult. Although I don't know why they turned you into this, they might have methods to change you back to normal humans."
Lin Ye began inspecting the small room. The walls were covered with numerous abstract patterns, but there was nothing else.
After the head students left, the two flesh sacs had already started to shrivel. Lin Ye cut open one of the flesh sacs and found a hole leading underground at the bottom.
Lin Ye tried cutting off a piece of the flesh sac and stuffing it into the hole. The piece disappeared in the blink of an eye - something below had taken it away. "Stay away from that hole. There's something down there."
Lin Ye stepped back several paces. The patterns on the wall seemed capable of opening passages to other areas, but he wasn't planning to go deeper anymore. After all, he was here to find students, and the depths of the ruins seemed extremely dangerous.
"Teacher, can we really change back?"
Head student Number One looked at Lin Ye with hopeful anticipation.
"How should I know? If you want to try, I'll help you. If you don't want to continue, I can help you with that too. You decide for yourselves, just like when you decided to follow Li Yang deep into the ruins."
Lin Ye turned and left the room. Dinner preparations should have started outside, and he still had many things to do.
"Follow or stay here - your choice."
Lin Ye didn't look back. The last two head students both chose to follow Lin Ye out of there - they simply didn't have the courage to stay.
........................
When Lin Ye returned to the campsite, dinner was almost ready. He brought the two head students to the basement of the Administrator Cabin. Until they found a way to restore their bodies, they couldn't be seen by others.
After settling the head students, Lin Ye returned to the campsite alone.
Dinner was served separately. Before all dishes were on the table, Lin Ye sat alone at the wooden table, sneaking bites of dinner.
"Teacher Lin, I've really troubled you this time. Let me offer you a drink."
Driver Wang looked much better than before.
He approached Lin Ye with a glass filled with yellow liquid, wanting to share a drink with him.
"I don't drink. You have it yourself."
Lin Ye ate the dinner Lin Jing had prepared for him, bluntly rejecting the toast.
"Just one drink, only one. Don't be so unsociable."
Driver Wang forcibly pushed the glass toward Lin Ye's face, trying to pour the liquid into his mouth.
"Fine."
Lin Ye took the glass, his hand trembling slightly as he spilled the contents onto Driver Wang's face.
"Sorry, my hand slipped. Did it get in your eyes? Let me take you to wash your face."
Lin Ye pulled Driver Wang toward the campsite's restroom.
"No need, I'll just wipe it off. You go ahead and eat."
Driver Wang covered his face, trying to distance himself from Lin Ye.
"That won't do. I don't like leaving things half-finished."
In other people's blind spot, Lin Ye struck Driver Wang's abdomen forcefully. The intense pain temporarily robbed Driver Wang of his ability to resist.
"Don't scream. You don't want others to see your face, do you?"
Lin Ye pushed Driver Wang, whose face was now covered with bloody flesh tendrils, into the storage room next to the restroom.
After locking the door and punching Driver Wang several more times, only when certain that Driver Wang couldn't resist did Lin Ye begin questioning him.
"Who are you people? Where's the real Driver Wang?"
"You'd better release me quickly. Time is almost up. If the preparations aren't completed by then, you're definitely dead."
Driver Wang growled angrily.
Lin Ye directly stabbed Driver Wang with a knife.
"What are you doing? If I die, you won't escape either! You and your sister will both die!"
Driver Wang clutched his stomach, speaking in rapid tones.
Lin Ye stabbed him again.
"Are you crazy? Stop stabbing! A few more stabs and I'll die!"
Driver Wang lay on the ground, afraid that Lin Ye would continue stabbing his abdomen.
Lin Ye stabbed into his back, the knife tip hitting ribs.
"Damn it, what exactly do you want to ask?"
Driver Wang was nearly breaking down. He didn't dare scream and ruin the plan, nor did he want to die in such a place.
Lin Ye said nothing, just calmly continued stabbing Driver Wang's back. Each time the knife tip hit bones in various locations. No matter what Driver Wang said, Lin Ye showed no intention of stopping.
Only after being stabbed over twenty times did Driver Wang recall Lin Ye's question.
"What's your purpose?"
Out of habit, Lin Ye stabbed once more.
"We need some young sacrifices. You've been chosen."
Driver Wang said urgently.
"I'll give you one chance to answer again. This is your final opportunity. If you lie to me again, I'll kill you."
Before the words finished, Lin Ye twisted Driver Wang's neck.
Of course, Lin Ye wouldn't give him a second chance. Those words were only to make him think about the answer and distract him.
Otherwise, knowing he was about to die, Driver Wang would definitely struggle with all his strength, which would be troublesome.
Numerous flesh tendrils grew from Driver Wang's chest. Lin Ye stabbed that area twice, and the tendrils shriveled.
After hiding Driver Wang's body, Lin Ye left the storage room, locking the door behind him.
"Teacher, where's Driver Wang?"
By the time Lin Ye returned, all dishes were served. Yang Hua and Lin Jing hadn't been sneaking food, sitting properly at the table waiting for Lin Ye to eat together.
"He had a couple drinks and wasn't feeling well, so he went to rest."
Lin Ye said casually.
"I see. Then we won't wait for him."
The three began eating. Dinner was extremely lavish, everyone was happy, and the campsite filled with laughter and joyful voices.
After finishing dinner, some students lit a bonfire in the center of the campsite. This was the traditional activity of gatherings - the campfire party.
Students surrounded the bonfire, roasting various prepared skewers. Next came the talent show phase.
"Teacher, tell us about the rumors here, the one from daytime."
"Yeah, teacher, you said you'd tell us tonight."
"Agreed, this atmosphere is perfect."
"Maybe not, feels a bit scary."
"Don't be afraid, rumors are all made up."
...
"Since you want to hear, I'll tell you. But before I do, I must emphasize one point - what I'm about to tell you are all real cases that actually happened, not stories made up to scare people."
"The incident began with a disappearance case. The missing girl was named Li Xiyue, 18 years old, a recently graduated student."
"Actually, she wasn't the first disappearance. Before her, many people had already gone missing."