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墨書 Inktalez
The school, converted from the Ancient Temple, appeared increasingly desolate and eerie under the night sky. The two unusually tall Huangguoshu trees could be seen from miles away, their towering forms casting a shadow over most of the school grounds.
All the lights in the school had been turned off, except for the classroom of Seventh Grade Class Two, where Zhiqing, a class officer, felt uneasy about her classmates Ziya and Sun Meng handling the cleaning duties alone.
Zhiqing stealthily approached the shadow of the Huangguoshu tree, believing she was hidden from view. Little did she know that Ziya and Sun Meng were pretending to fetch water, carelessly dumping dirty water right where Zhiqing was hiding.
"Hey! What are you two doing? Is this on purpose?" Zhiqing shouted as she jumped out from her hiding spot, worried they might splash more water on her.
Ziya and Sun Meng stifled their laughter and feigned surprise. "Class Leader, who are you playing hide and seek with? Why are you seeking refuge under the Tree Elder?"
"Don't tease me. I came to check on you out of kindness, and look what happened—I got pranked by both of you," Zhiqing said as she walked into the classroom. "Not bad; it seems you've finished."
"If the Class Leader says we're done, then we can take a break, right?" Sun Meng chimed in playfully, eager to wrap things up. Only Ziya knew they had only cleaned half of the room. She hesitated to tell Sun Meng about the fingerprints she had seen earlier, fearing it would cause more panic. Curiosity gnawed at her; she wanted to see what kind of specter might be lurking around.
Zhiqing smiled silently as she wiped her finger across a bulletin board, revealing a light layer of brown dust. "Ahem, I can help out; it just depends on what you say."
"Great! Thank you, Class Leader!" Sun Meng clapped her hands in delight.
Ziya rolled her eyes and picked up a rag to continue wiping the window frames. Zhiqing had hoped someone would speak up but received no response. Feeling bored but having already spoken up, she knew she had to help.
What they needed most at that moment was water. Remembering how she felt by the sink earlier, Sun Meng asked, "Class Leader, could you get us some water?" Her words rippled through the air like a stone thrown into still water, causing Zhiya to pause her cleaning and glance at Zhiqing and Sun Meng before smiling slightly without saying anything. Caught in a dilemma, Zhiqing quickly grabbed a bucket and headed toward the sink upon hearing Sun Meng's request.
Being a local, Zhiqing was well aware of the legends surrounding this place. According to stories he had heard, there were tales of vengeful spirits associated with the Yellow Crane Tower—stories filled with twists and turns. At that moment, he dared not let his imagination run wild or speak of such things. As they say, when you mention Cao Cao, he will appear; he understood that well enough. Besides, in this vast campus at that moment, only the three of them existed together. He turned on the faucet, and water gushed into the bucket with a rhythmic sound.
As night deepened further, the eaves of the Yellow Crane Tower loomed like a Demon Leader above them, sending chills down Zhiqing's spine. A sudden high-pitched cat's meow startled him into quickly shutting off the faucet and hurrying back to the classroom with only half a bucket of water.
At this time, Pomelo Grove was shrouded in darkness; it was impossible to distinguish one branch from another. As he approached closer to the Huangguoshu tree, Zhiqing suddenly spotted something white writhing at its roots and heard faint rustling sounds reaching his ears.
A wave of fear washed over Zhiqing as he thought to himself, What is that? He hurried a few steps down the corridor, feeling too apprehensive to investigate further. All he could do was quickly bring the water to the classroom to help them finish cleaning and then leave.
“Ziya, do you think the class monitor likes you?” Sun Meng asked.
“Cut it out and get to work. Stop talking,” Ziya coldly interrupted Sun Meng's chatter. The window frames were already cleaned, and Ziya didn’t care how others had done it in the past; when it came to cleaning with Sun Meng, she was meticulous.
“It’s just a question. You’re so cold; you don’t even like talking to others,” Sun Meng seemed to be defending Zhiqing.
“I’m back,” Zhiqing said as he entered, catching the tail end of Sun Meng's words. He nodded at her with a smile.
“You’re back, so what? Why make a fuss? Are we supposed to welcome you?” Sun Meng retorted, shoving the hard bread Ziya had given her into Zhiqing’s hands, trying to tease him.
Ziya jumped off the bench and wrung out a cloth in the bucket of water Zhiqing had just brought. “The window frames are clean now; all that’s left are the desks and benches. Class monitor, I have a suggestion: in the future, we can have three or four people do the cleaning together. It wouldn’t hurt to shorten the rotation time. Plus, during winter, we have less time in the mornings, so it would be a bit rushed, right?”
“Yeah, we can change that. Do we have any more cloths?”
“Here, I’ll tear one in half for you,” Sun Meng said as she washed another cloth in the bucket.
“Alright! You guys clean the desks while I tell you a story. How about a story about our school?”
“Sounds good!” Ziya agreed while bending down to wipe the legs of the desk.
“Don’t! I don’t like those creepy stories you tell,” Sun Meng said suspiciously, glancing outside. A thin layer of mist had begun to form outside, and she felt a bit hungry.
“Class monitor, why don’t you go check if there’s any food left in the cafeteria? I’m really hungry.”
"Well, okay, I'll go take a look."
Ziya furrowed her brows as she quickly wiped down the desks and chairs. What she had thought would take just an hour to clean seemed to be taking longer today for some reason, and it felt strange.
Squatting on the floor, Ziya meticulously wiped the surfaces, while Sun Meng stood upright. The classroom door was open, and since Zhiqing might come back in soon, Sun Meng didn't bother to close it.
A woman slowly walked in, looking up as if she hadn't noticed anyone in the classroom, and directly sat down in the front row. Sun Meng was puzzled about how this person had entered; she just stared at her back, feeling a bit odd that the woman sat there without moving or saying anything.
"Hey! Who are you? Can't you see we're cleaning? How are we supposed to work with you here?"
Hearing Sun Meng speak, Ziya thought she was addressing her and replied without standing up, "If you don't tell me you can handle this alone, why are we in this situation?"
The woman seemed to ignore Sun Meng's words, remaining still in her seat. Ziya's comment caught Sun Meng off guard. Did Ziya not see someone had entered?
"Ziya, I'm talking to her!" Sun Meng shouted at Ziya.
"What?" Ziya stood up, looking puzzled at Sun Meng. She only saw herself and Sun Meng in the classroom; where was this third person?
"Her!" Sun Meng pointed at the woman and said to Ziya.
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