Chapter 53 : Chapter 53
Chapter 53: The Midnight Cafeteria
Everyone carries a memory buried deep within their heart.
It is a memory sealed in the darkest corner, one that cannot withstand the light. Most of it is filled with despair and pain. Yet because it is so deeply engraved, it can never truly be forgotten.
One day, it will find its way back to you.
The moment the girl saw the school gate and the general layout inside, the most fragile and untouchable memories in her heart surfaced once again.
She was far too familiar with this place.
She could never forget it for the rest of her life.
Every blade of grass and every tree—from the school gate and its surrounding walls to the dormitory building with its slightly smoke-stained exterior—everything was so familiar.
Exactly the same as it had been in her memories.
It was not that she did not want to forget this place.
She simply could not forget it.
If it were possible, she would rather never remember anything related to this school or the orphanage again.
But she did not understand why she had returned here.
Was this world not supposed to be merely a task world?
A world that was meant to be a beautiful and dreamy campus romance comic.
And her own world?
That had been a world filled with bastards everywhere.
An old bastard leading a group of little bastards to bully another bastard—for the sake of that bastard’s child.
She kept telling herself that the school in front of her was fake.
Just a coincidence.
The same layout, but a different story.
Yet this thought clearly could not deceive herself.
“I came back… I actually came back…”
At that moment, the girl had even forgotten about Lu Liangting beside her.
She walked stiffly to the gate and grabbed the black iron lock hanging from the metal gate.
At this moment, the last bit of illusion in her heart was mercilessly shattered.
A coincidence could not possibly be so precise that even the bloodstains on the lock were exactly the same.
Click.
The black iron lock in her hand suddenly opened on its own and fell to the ground.
The rusty iron gate slowly creaked open.
There was clearly no strong wind blowing.
The girl stared at the dark and silent campus with vacant eyes.
Ignoring Lu Liangting’s calls behind her, she stepped inside alone.
Behind her, Lu Liangting had just said that he wanted to separate from her.
But now that he saw the girl walking inside as if her soul had been taken, he hurried forward to chase after her.
Yet the moment he reached the gate, the two open iron doors suddenly slammed shut with tremendous force.
The iron lock was still lying on the ground, yet no matter how hard Lu Liangting pushed, the gate would not budge.
Lu Liangting’s expression darkened.
That girl earlier—her name was Shen Shuyun.
To be honest, he was not particularly annoyed with her.
He simply thought that Shen Shuyun behaved very strangely. She never considered other people’s feelings, and she was extremely violent.
Aside from those two points, she was actually not a bad person.
Of course, it would have been even better if she had not drawn hearts all over his desk with red paint and stabbed a butcher’s knife into it.
There was also another issue.
After he found Shen Shuyun, explained everything clearly, and firmly rejected her, she did not leave.
Instead, she stuck to him even more closely.
That was also very troublesome.
This time was no different.
For some reason, Shen Shuyun somehow knew the purpose of his visit to Dongcheng No.13 Middle School.
No matter what he said, she insisted on following him and kept saying strange things like, “Someone wants to kill you. Only if I stay with you will you be safe.”
In the end, he could not argue with her.
When she said she also needed to complete a task, he had no choice but to let her come along.
Who would have thought that something would go wrong the moment they arrived at the task location?
After what happened to Xia Han last time, Lu Liangting truly did not dare allow himself to become separated from his companions again.
He swiftly climbed over the gate and entered the school, quickly chasing after her.
But after running only a few steps, he realized something was wrong.
Shen Shuyun had disappeared.
She was completely gone from his sight.
Under normal circumstances, she could not have gone so far in less than ten seconds.
Lu Liangting swept his flashlight around.
In the direction of the cafeteria, he seemed to see a figure.
Without thinking further, he quickly walked toward it.
He clearly remembered the task instructions.
He could not make loud noises here.
Running was therefore not an option.
“Sigh… I should go take a look.”
As he passed by the dormitory building, he shone his flashlight inside briefly.
He did not notice that Zhao Mingyue had arrived here even earlier than he had.
“It is already midnight. I hope nothing goes wrong.”
His head ached.
In the future, when performing tasks like this, he absolutely must not bring anyone along again.
Even coming to a place like this alone was extremely dangerous.
If he brought a teammate along, both of them might die.
Places like this were extremely dangerous.
The ghosts inside would not reason with you.
If they wanted to kill you, they would kill you.
Not every task location was like Sunshine Apartments, where there were even kind ghosts willing to help.
Lu Liangting did not move too quickly.
He remained vigilant of his surroundings at all times.
Unlike Zhao Mingyue, Lu Liangting quickly realized what was wrong after entering the campus.
It was far too quiet.
There was not even the faintest chirping of insects or birds.
He knew that inside this school, making too much noise would attract the boss here.
That was the Fierce Ghost responsible for the massacre at the school.
At that moment, he noticed a detail.
Aside from the faint smell of burning and mold in the air, there was now an additional stench.
Lu Liangting did not pay too much attention to it.
He pushed aside the overgrown weeds and followed a narrow path leading toward the school cafeteria.
Five minutes passed.
Or perhaps it felt more like half an hour.
The sense of unease in his heart never disappeared.
He noticed that the stench in the air was becoming stronger and stronger.
It had even overwhelmed the burnt and moldy smell of the teaching building.
He also had a suspicion.
The foul odor seemed to be following him from far behind.
Without realizing it, his pace gradually quickened.
Suddenly, the stench that had been trailing him vanished.
In its place came a rich and fragrant smell of meat.
Yes.
The smell of meat.
Lu Liangting was absolutely certain his nose was not mistaken.
The smell of cooked meat was common.
The problem was—It was exactly midnight.
What kind of person would be stewing meat at this hour?
In a daze, Lu Liangting lifted his head.
He saw a two-story building surrounded by wild weeds.
On the pitch-black door were two blood-red characters.
Cafeteria.
The aroma of meat was drifting out from inside.
In a school that had been abandoned for many years, the cafeteria at midnight was releasing the smell of cooked meat.
Even Lu Liangting could not help but feel a chill crawl up his spine.
“I should go inside and take a look. Hopefully Shen Shuyun is in there.”
·
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“Someone’s here!”
At the exact moment Lu Liangting began walking toward the cafeteria, Zhao Mingyue—still inside Room 404—instantly tensed up.
She had not seen Lu Liangting himself.
But she had seen the beam of his flashlight.
That was something ghosts could not imitate.
“Sister Yu, someone has entered. Can you confirm this person’s identity?”
“Too far away. I cannot sense it. No matter who it is, be careful.”
“Mm… Wait…”
“Sister Yu, do you think the person who came might be Lu Liangting?”