Footsteps suddenly echoed through the silent library. The damaged door was pushed open, and a man stepped out.
"Not a single person in the library. Do the kids behind the door really hate reading that much?"
Carrying two backpacks, Chen Ge stood in the corridor outside the library. The chance encounter he'd been hoping for hadn't materialized — there wasn't a soul here, and there was no one to pump for information.
"Where had they all hidden?"
Chen Ge wandered aimlessly down the corridor.
The blood-red campus behind the door seemed to be a completely sealed building, cut off from the outside world. Every single window had been boarded up with planks, and no matter how far he walked, Chen Ge couldn't find a way out.
"Hey! Which class are you from?" A stern voice rang out behind him. Chen Ge turned to look and saw that one of the doors he'd just passed had been opened. A short, stout middle-aged man stood in the doorway.
"Not Red-clothed..." Chen Ge glanced at the room's doorplate. Three characters were written on it: Academic Affairs Office.
"It's class hours right now. Stop wandering the corridors." The stout man saw that Chen Ge was paying him absolutely no mind, and his face immediately hardened. "Which class are you? Let me see your student ID."
"Student ID?" Chen Ge reached into his pocket, but his eyes never left the stout man in front of him. A dangerous glint lurked in the depths of his gaze.
The moment he'd laid eyes on the stout man, Chen Ge had already scanned him with his Dark Eye. He didn't know the man's identity, only that he wasn't Red-clothed.
"A first-year freshman?" The stout man took the student ID and examined it for a moment. His tone grew even harsher. "Skipping class right after enrollment? A kid like you needs strict discipline!"
He stepped out of the Academic Affairs Office and reached for Chen Ge's arm.
"What are you doing?" Chen Ge instinctively dodged. This was the world behind the door — he would absolutely not let anyone get close to him on a whim.
"I'm taking you back to your class, and I'm going to have words with the teacher who let you run around during class hours!" The stout man was getting angry. He widened his eyes, as though something far worse would happen if Chen Ge didn't comply.
"Fine, I'll go back to class with you." Chen Ge still remembered the task Chang Gu had given him — this was a perfect chance to find those students.
He stopped after speaking, seemingly waiting for the stout teacher to lead the way.
Seeing his dismissive attitude, the stout man's already sparse hair practically stood on end with rage.
"This is getting more and more outrageous." The stout man shoved the student ID back at Chen Ge and led him through the corridors.
The school was much larger than Chen Ge had imagined. They walked a considerable distance, descended another floor, and finally stopped beside a classroom.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The stout man knocked on the door. After a moment, a tall, thin man dressed impeccably stepped out. "Director Lei? Is something the matter?"
"Haven't you noticed one of your students is missing?" The stout man grabbed Chen Ge by the arm. "He's from your class — keep him in line! If I catch him running around during class hours again, you and he had both better be ready for punishment! This is getting more and more outrageous..."
The stout man left Chen Ge at the classroom door. He seemed to have other matters to attend to and stormed off in a huff.
"Director Lei?" The tall, thin teacher looked bewildered. He pushed up his black-framed glasses and looked Chen Ge up and down through the thick lenses. "You're a freshman?"