Everything that had just happened was vivid yet felt like a dream.
Ning Wei was certain she now knew how to obtain the bus ticket.
The moon hung high, and it was still early before dawn.
Ning Wei re-entered Ming De Building, this time moving with even greater caution.
Instead of returning to the past, she moved unimpeded to the third floor.
The entire third floor comprised only the principal's office and the vice-principal's office, along with some meeting rooms for conferences and gatherings.
Apart from the offices, Ning Wei inspected the other rooms. They were so clean, devoid of even a speck of dust, that it seemed unlikely any clues could be found there.
Recalling the scenes she had witnessed earlier, she proceeded to the principal's office.
Her hand rested on the doorknob. With a gentle turn, the door opened smoothly, perhaps because no one expected anyone to be here at night.
She pushed the door open a crack, slipped inside, and gently closed it without a sound.
Upon entering, her gaze fell on the calendar hanging on the wall, which displayed the current date.
Then she looked at the photo album on the desk. However, the desk held nothing but a high-quality fountain pen and some useless documents.
Ning Wei frowned slightly and shifted her attention to the filing cabinets lining an entire wall behind her.
The moment her hands touched them, she was sucked into a vortex.
When she regained her senses, she was back in the dormitory.
However, the trees outside the balcony had not yet grown tall, leading Ning Wei to conclude that she must have returned to a past version of her dormitory.
She lay on the bed, unable to struggle no matter how hard she tried. With a sigh, she could only lie there with her eyes open helplessly.
Suddenly, she heard a sound. Ning Wei turned her head and saw her deskmate getting out of bed. The deskmate moved very cautiously, as if afraid of waking her other roommates.
A beam of moonlight shone in, and Ning Wei saw her walking barefoot on the floor, moving slowly towards the bathroom.
As the deskmate passed Ning Wei's bed, she clearly smelled blood on her, and even saw fresh blood flowing down her legs.
Unable to break free from her restraints, Ning Wei lay peacefully on the bed, replaying everything she had seen.
First, the establishment of this school was entirely due to the wealthy vice-principal. The current principal's relationship with him remained unknown.
Her deskmate was the principal's daughter, but she also had some unclear relationship with the vice-principal.
Although her deskmate's mother was the principal, she received no special protection at school beyond that of ordinary students. Instead, she suffered terrible bullying here!
She had endured unprecedented harm in this school, so that important person must be her!
But why, fifteen years later, did that deskmate still appear as a student? Had something happened to her, turning her into a female ghost?
When her deskmate finally emerged from the bathroom, her eyes were vacant as she looked at Ning Wei. It was clear she knew Ning Wei had been lying there the whole time!
Her lips moved, and she silently mouthed two words to Ning Wei: "Leave!"
Ning Wei cursed inwardly; she was here precisely because she wanted to leave!
As soon as those two words were spoken, Ning Wei felt as though she had regained control of her body.
She wanted to leave, but as soon as she moved, the familiar dizziness returned.
Ning Wei was on the verge of madness from these repeated experiences!
This time, she found herself in the canteen, hiding inside a vegetable basket.
Through the gaps in the basket, she saw the canteen uncle. He looked much younger now, but still had that lecherous gaze as he looked at a female student.
Just as Ning Wei had experienced, this student was being punished by a teacher to clean the canteen. When all the students had left and night fell, the demon impatiently reached out his fat hands.
The female student struggled and pleaded, but only met with more violent treatment.
On the butcher's block, a girl's hopes were severed by a sharp, invisible knife!
After his cruel act, the demon pulled up his pants and prepared to leave, not forgetting to issue a threat before departing.
In the entire canteen, only the girl's sobs remained.
Ning Wei watched her put on her clothes, then looked at the still-wet blood on the butcher's block, and at her despairing face.
When the female student left the canteen, Ning Wei also emerged from the basket and followed her, passing through a small grove of trees to the lake.
Without hesitation, she walked step by step into the water.
At first, it reached her knees, then her waist. Finally, losing her balance, she fell into the lake, leaving only her dark head visible.
She struggled not at all, her only thought was to die.
Eventually, she sank to the bottom, her discovery left to some unknown time.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was morning, and the body soon floated to the surface, bloated and pale, emitting a foul odor.
The most disturbing thing were her eyes. No matter how many times they tried, they refused to close.
The corpse, with its whites showing, stared at everyone who came to watch.
Finally, a person in high heels appeared. Under the admiring gaze of everyone present, she extended slender fingers and gently brushed the corpse's eyes, which then closed.
She spoke to the corpse in a soothing tone, "Rest in peace, it's all over now."
Her voice was very soft, heard only by Ning Wei and the corpse.
Ning Wei even felt the corpse struggling, resisting in anger, but it could do nothing, being merely a corpse.
The owner of the high heels arrived quickly and left just as fast. Ning Wei saw her face – it was her class teacher.
Her words were strange, as if she knew some secret.
The corpse's family soon arrived. After receiving a substantial compensation, they quickly took the body away.
This scene felt familiar. Ning Wei was reminded of the bruised corpse she had seen in the morgue.
She felt as though she had seen all the truth, yet a veil persisted before her eyes, preventing her from seeing clearly!
This must be the work of her deskmate!
Who was she really!
What was her purpose in making Ning Wei witness all this!
As she pondered, her deskmate appeared. Only Ning Wei and her remained by the lake.
Sympathy flickered in the deskmate's eyes. "She was very pitiful, wasn't she?"
Having witnessed the entire death, Ning Wei could understand the despair of that person.
Receiving no response from Ning Wei, the deskmate continued, "You shouldn't have come here. Hurry and leave."
At that moment, Ning Wei thought she had obtained the bus ticket. She reached into her pocket, but it was empty.
"It's not that we don't want to leave, but we can't!" Ning Wei said, staring intently at her deskmate.
This was the first time she had looked directly at her deskmate's face, and she felt a strange sense of familiarity!