Chapter Thirty-Eight: Frightening Li Dongxu to Tears

It was already midnight. The streetlights had gone out, and the school gate was shut, making entry through the front impossible.

So, the three of them simply chose to climb over the wall.

The night was deep and silent, with no teachers patrolling, so they boldly entered the campus.

When they reached the statue, Li Dongxu looked up, checking that both eyes of the statue were open. Only then did he feel at ease.

It seemed the legend was nothing more than a scary story—not worth fearing.

Yet, even so, when he arrived at the foot of the classroom dormitory building, he still hesitated to go inside.

Yuan Zhikong, who had yet to hear that horror story, only knew from Wang Hui that there’d be barbecue after the adventure.

His mind was full of the thought: take a lap here, pocket a figurine, and enjoy a free meal—what a bargain!

He was about to walk in when Li Dongxu stopped him.

“Wait! We need to prepare before going in.”

The others eyed him with confusion, but Li Dongxu nonchalantly produced a mirror and hung it around his neck.

“This is a monster-revealing mirror, blessed by a master, imported from Daxia. With this mirror, all evil spirits will flee!”

He spoke with great bravado, but Xiao Zi, using the Blood Demon’s Eye, examined it and concluded it was merely an ordinary bronze mirror—he’d likely been swindled.

Li Dongxu adjusted the mirror, glanced at his own reflection, and beckoned, “Let’s go. Whatever demons and monsters are here, they’ll all die when they meet me!”

He sounded fierce, but once inside the dormitory building, he clung to Yuan Zhikong like a timid cat.

After they finished climbing one flight of stairs, Wang Hui began counting.

“Hm, twelve steps in total—nothing wrong.”

Yuan Zhikong looked at Li Dongxu, shook his head helplessly, and said, “The sorrows and joys of humans are not shared; I find you awfully noisy.”

With that, he strode ahead.

The staircase was short; in a blink, they reached the second floor. Just as Li Dongxu and Yuan Zhikong were about to proceed and finish quickly, Wang Hui called out to them.

“Hey… look at the stairs…”

He feigned terror, his voice trembling.

Wang Hui’s words startled Li Dongxu so much he immediately hugged the tall Yuan Zhikong. “What’s wrong? Has the thirteenth step appeared?”

“Not that—there were twelve steps just now, but suddenly there are only eleven,” Wang Hui said in a haunted tone.

Yuan Zhikong frowned. “Who says both flights must have the same number? Maybe the previous one had twelve, and this one has eleven.”

“But I counted twelve below, and coming up, it became twelve again,” Wang Hui insisted, his expression blank and incredulous.

He was truly an actor. Even Xiao Zi almost believed him.

Yuan Zhikong rubbed his chin, then began counting as he walked down.

“One, two… twelve… what the—?”

He was stunned. He went alone, while Wang Hui and Li Dongxu stayed put, so he looked up and asked, “Did either of you notice the steps changing?”

“No…no…” Wang Hui and Li Dongxu shook their heads with difficulty, eyes wide with fear.

“There’s something wrong here, absolutely. Brothers, let’s just leave.”

Li Dongxu was ready to back out.

“How can we leave now? Don’t you want to investigate the legendary restroom?” Wang Hui frowned. “Backing out at a time like this isn’t what a man should do.”

“Damn, the steps are back to eleven!”

Yuan Zhikong had climbed back up, his brows knit tightly, counting the steps over and over to confirm their number.

No matter how he counted, it remained eleven.

He looked at the trembling Wang Hui and Li Dongxu. “Did you come here because of some rumor?”

Li Dongxu nodded frantically. “We heard a few people mysteriously disappeared in this floor’s restroom, so we…”

“Oh no!” Yuan Zhikong became alert, scanning his surroundings. “If I’m not mistaken, we’ve all fallen into a trap.”

“What do you mean?” Li Dongxu was utterly confused.

“This world isn’t as simple as what our eyes see. Countless legendary monsters are real.” He paused, shaking his head. “No point in explaining—you want to survive, then run!”

To be honest, Yuan Zhikong’s words shocked Xiao Zi, Wang Hui, and Li Dongxu.

Wang Hui and Xiao Zi were surprised at how much he knew; ordinary people weren’t supposed to know about supernatural beings.

Li Dongxu was shocked by the phrase “countless legendary monsters are real.”

That sentence shattered his worldview, leaving him dazed.

“How do you know?” Both asked at once.

“I saw it in a forum post. I thought it was a joke, but then the post was deleted at lightning speed. With what’s happened in our town lately, it’s pretty much confirmed.”

Yuan Zhikong beckoned them urgently.

“Hurry up—there’s probably a merciless monster nearby!”

With that, he took the lead, quickly descending.

Li Dongxu was shaking uncontrollably, but he mustered his strength to push Wang Hui. “Hui, let’s get out of here—I’m too handsome to die.”

Wang Hui received Xiao Zi’s command: “It’s fine, just get them out.”

So he also feigned terror, grabbing Li Dongxu and running.

But Yuan Zhikong, at the front, halted.

“What? There’s another flight of stairs ahead!”

They were on the second floor; after one more flight, the exit should be visible. But now, they saw another staircase beneath the one below.

There was no time to ponder. After a brief hesitation, Yuan Zhikong rushed down.

But as they finished the descent, something bizarre happened.

They found themselves back on the second floor.

Li Dongxu’s legs gave out and he collapsed. “What… what is happening? Are there really ghosts?”

“It’s confirmed—we’re trapped by those monsters! And one is definitely watching us right now!”

Humans fear the unknown, and Yuan Zhikong’s words doubled that fear.

Li Dongxu nearly wet himself in terror.

To test his theory, Yuan Zhikong pulled out a key from his clothes and tossed it through the gap in the stair rail.

The next moment, an identical key fell from above, landing with a “bang” at their feet.

The sound echoed in the stairwell, resonating in their hearts and leaving them unsettled for a long time.