Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang tiptoed behind Ying Xiaoya and sneaked into Chongwen Building, the senior high school building.
At 7:40, each class had already started their morning reading session, and the sound of students reading aloud could be heard from time to time in the teaching building. Ying Xiaoya ran all the way to the third floor of the senior class (3). She stopped at the classroom door, took several deep breaths, and seemed to be hesitating whether to go in.
Up close, Ying Xiaoya is actually quite beautiful. She has fair skin, delicate features, and a pair of very distinctive big eyes. She is very thin, and her hair is just below her ears, which makes her face look small and exquisite. She could easily pull off the look of a female lead in a campus idol drama.
She hesitated for a moment at the door before biting her lip and calling out, "Report!"
The classroom door opened, and a young female teacher with long, straight hair, wearing a suit skirt, said coldly, " Ying Xiaoya, do you know what time it is? I told you last week that we would have a vocabulary dictation this morning, and you're only now coming to class after the dictation is already finished?"
Countless eyes in the classroom were fixed on the doorway. Ying Xiaoya blushed deeply, lowered her head, and said, "I'm...I'm sorry..."
The female teacher frowned and let her in. Ying Xiaoya hurriedly ran to her seat, knocking over a boy's metal pencil case on his desk in the process. A loud "bang" echoed in the quiet classroom, scattering pens, erasers, and rulers all over the floor. Ying Xiaoya quickly knelt down to help him pick them up, whispering, "I'm sorry, class monitor, I didn't mean to..."
The boy bent down expressionlessly to pick up the stationery scattered on the floor and said indifferently, "It's okay."
Ying Xiaoya finally returned to her seat.
There are 40 students in Class 3 of Senior Three. Two students sit at each table. Ying Xiaoya's seat is in the fifth row near the door. Her deskmate is a slightly chubby girl with a ponytail. She asked her, "Are you okay?"
Ying Xiaoya shook her head, walked behind her deskmate to her seat, and quickly rummaged through her bag to find her English textbook.
The female teacher closed the classroom door, and Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou stood at the back door, continuing to observe through the small window.
A girl sitting near the back door spotted them. She glanced at Xiao Lou and whispered to her deskmate, "Who are those two?" "They're probably from the school's disciplinary office checking classroom discipline." "I've never seen them before. Are they new? They're so handsome." "They are... Shh, the teacher's looking. Don't say anything."
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou exchanged a glance, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
In the Red Heart 3 escape room, only being caught by security guards results in expulsion from the school; being discovered by teachers and classmates has no negative consequences. Yu Hanjiang leaned close to Xiao Lou's ear and whispered, " Professor Xiao, is it feasible for us to impersonate school teachers?"
Xiao Lou also lowered his voice and said, "It should be possible. This school has more than 300 teachers, so you definitely can't recognize all the students."
Yu Hanjiang nodded and pulled Xiao Lou back a step.
The two of them happened to be hiding in a blind spot of the third-floor security cameras, so they didn't have to worry about being seen by security. Plus, all the classes were in session during the morning reading period, making the corridor extremely quiet, and everything inside the classrooms could be heard clearly. Yu Hanjiang had chosen a spot where he could see Ying Xiaoya through the window.
After the brief incident of Ying Xiaoya being late, the English teacher continued the lesson in the classroom.
She asked the English class representative to distribute the monthly exam papers.
The moment Ying Xiaoya received the exam paper, all the color drained from her face.
The English teacher glanced at her and said coldly, "In this monthly exam, one of our students only scored 15 points! On a 150-point paper, even if you closed your eyes and just threw an eraser and guessed A, B, C, and D, you wouldn't get more than that score!"
The classroom was completely silent, and Ying Xiaoya's head was almost drooping under the desk.
The English teacher called out her name directly: " Ying Xiaoya ".
The girl stood up stiffly.
English teacher: "My family may be cursed—how should this sentence be translated?"
Ying Xiaoya whispered, "My family is..."
She had clearly forgotten the words, and stammered for a long time before being unable to finish her sentence.
The English teacher frowned, turned to look at the boy sitting in the third row in the middle, and said, " Xie Xinghe, you go first."
The boy whose pencil case had been knocked over by Ying Xiaoya stood up. He was tall and had a cold expression. He pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses, looked calmly at the teacher, and said clearly, word by word, "Maybe there is a curse on my family."
The boy, who was going through puberty, had a clear and melodious voice, which sounded especially good when he spoke English.
The teacher nodded in satisfaction, gesturing for him to sit down. Then, she looked at Ying Xiaoya and said, "Did you hear that, Ying Xiaoya? I just went over this question last week, and you skipped it? What were you doing during class?!"
All eyes turned to her. Ying Xiaoya lowered her head in shame, her body trembling slightly.
English teacher: "Bring your test paper to class today and stand in the back row to listen to the lecture!"
Ying Xiaoya brought her test paper to the last row. She lowered her head, her expression unreadable, and her clenched fists trembled.
Xiao Lou frowned. The English teacher had criticized her by name in front of all the students and made her stand as punishment in public. This would hurt a girl's self-esteem, especially since Ying Xiaoya was only seventeen or eighteen years old and sensitive. She probably couldn't handle being criticized like this.
Seeing Ying Xiaoya's head droop lower and lower, Xiao Lou suddenly felt uneasy.
A premonition.
Classes resumed as normal in the classroom, and the teacher began explaining the monthly exam paper.
After observing for a moment, Xiao Lou leaned over and whispered in Yu Hanjiang's ear, " Captain Yu, I feel something's not right."
Yu Hanjiang turned around, met his serious eyes, and asked in a low voice, "Did you find anything?"
Xiao Lou said, "For the dynamic story-driven escape room, we need to gather clues around Ying Xiaoya. Last week's monthly exam had so many questions on the English test, but the English teacher only asked Ying Xiaoya to translate this one. When Ying Xiaoya couldn't do it, the teacher asked Xie Xinghe to translate it again… I feel that this question should be a clue."
Yu Hanjiang frowned and pondered for a moment, then a fierce glint flashed in his eyes: "You mean 'my family is cursed'? The keyword 'curse' matches the last clue we received when we entered the secret room?"
Xiao Lou nodded: "That's right—this is a cursed school."
Upon entering the secret room, the last clue stated that Fenglin High School is a cursed school, and the reason the maple leaves are so red is because they have absorbed too much blood.
At the time, Xiao Lou only thought that the sentence was deliberately creating a scary atmosphere, but now it seems that it is not so simple.
curse?
Could the school massacre be related to a curse?
The two exchanged a glance, their expressions turning serious, and continued looking towards the classroom.
Nothing happened in the rest of the class. The English teacher kept going over the test paper until the bell rang, at which point she turned and left.
The classroom became lively, with students chatting in twos and threes, some borrowing Xie Xinghe's notebook to copy homework, some running out to the restroom, and others taking out bread to eat breakfast quickly, creating a chaotic scene.
Ying Xiaoya stood alone at the back of the classroom, her eyes filled with tears.
Her deskmate walked over and handed her a tissue, grabbing her arm to comfort her, "It's okay, Xiaoya. You didn't do well this time, just try again next month. Zhang Qing, that fierce woman, isn't just fierce to you; she's scolded a lot of people, so don't mind her."
Zhang Qing is clearly the English teacher from earlier.
Ying Xiaoya quickly wiped away her tears, forced a smile, and said, "Thank you, Yi Ru."
Just then, class monitor Xie Xinghe walked over with a cold face and said in a low voice, " Ying Xiaoya, you were late today, and our class lost 2 points. We definitely won't be able to be selected as an advanced class collective this week. Can you stop dragging Class 3 down?"
Ying Xiaoya paused, then lowered her head in shame: "Class monitor, I didn't mean to, I..."
Xie Xinghe frowned and said, "Remember to set an alarm next time, so you don't oversleep again."
Just then, a tall boy walked over and stood in front of Ying Xiaoya, blocking her way. He looked coldly at the class monitor and said, " Xie Xinghe, what are you babbling about? Can't you hear what she's saying? She didn't do it on purpose!"
Ying Xiaoya, her face pale, pulled at him: " Yu Hui, stop talking..."
Yu Hui raised an eyebrow and stared into the class monitor's eyes: "I just can't stand your hypocritical attitude! What the hell are you doing putting on airs at school? You think you're so great just because you're a class monitor?"
Xie Xinghe pushed up his glasses: "Am I wrong? She's been late several times this month, ask her yourself."
Two boys faced off at close range, one with a cold gaze, the other with an imposing aura. It looked like they were about to fight when suddenly a scream rang out: "Damn! The homeroom teacher is here!"
The entire room fell silent instantly. Everyone scurried back to their seats as if fleeing for their lives, pulled out their Chinese textbooks, and began to pretend to recite the text. The students who had been copying homework earlier were so frightened that they quickly stuffed their notebooks into their drawers. The four students at the back of the classroom also hurriedly returned to their seats.
Xiao Lou: "..."
It seems the homeroom teacher has a lot of authority in this class; these students are like mice hearing a cat meow when they hear the homeroom teacher.
The homeroom teacher, a middle-aged man with a plump build, walked into the classroom. His gaze swept across the room as he smiled and said, "Oh, you're all quite serious today? But your acting skills are rather poor; some of you are even holding your textbooks upside down."
The student in the front row who was holding the textbook upside down immediately turned it around, blushing.
The homeroom teacher rolled his eyes at him and continued, "The results of this monthly exam are out. Our Class 3 of Senior Three has gloriously become the last place among the science classes. One of our students even won the 'crown' of last place in the whole grade. It's truly a cause for celebration."
Students: "..."
Class teacher: "You all did so well! To celebrate your excellent results, there's no need for Chinese class today. Go to the playground and run laps so the whole school can see your talent— Yu Hui, lead the team, run ten laps first!"
A group of students were kicked out of the classroom with long faces.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were caught off guard by their homeroom teacher's unexpected actions. Before they could dodge, they collided head-on with a large number of students surging out of the classroom.
Many students looked at them curiously, and some girls whispered among themselves about who they were.
The homeroom teacher paused for a moment, then asked in confusion, "And who are you two?"
Xiao Lou stepped forward with a smile and extended his hand: "Hello, we are the new teachers of the first year of high school. My surname is Xiao, and this is Teacher Yu. We are getting familiar with the school environment. We hope you will take good care of us in the future."
Yu Hanjiang: "..."
He glanced back at Xiao Lou and found that the other man could lie without batting an eye; his reaction was incredibly quick.
Xiao Lou's impersonation of a teacher is essentially a natural fit for him.
The homeroom teacher clearly believed Xiao Lou's words, smiled and shook his hand, saying, "Teacher Xiao, Teacher Yu, you can take your time. I'll take the students to the playground first."
Until students and
Only after the homeroom teacher disappeared at the end of the corridor did Yu Hanjiang breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It seems that being discovered by students and teachers doesn't matter. There are too many teachers in this school. Your decision to impersonate a teacher was very wise."
When Xiao Lou was a university teacher, he didn't even know how many colleagues were in his department. It was normal for teachers from different grades to not know each other, given the large size of the university with over 300 faculty members. He smiled, turned around, and said, " Captain Yu, let's split up. I'll keep an eye on Ying Xiaoya; the search of evidence in the classroom is your responsibility."
Yu Hanjiang understood and nodded decisively: "Okay, I will search for clues about Class 3 of Senior Three. When you are following, be careful to avoid the surveillance cameras. Meet in the sky corridor on the third floor before class ends."
******