Before long, it was completely dark, and the lobby of the boarding school, which had been decorated as a banquet hall, was brightly lit.
At eight o'clock in the evening, the door of the lobby was pushed open from the outside in by a force, and the blizzard invaded the room and caught everyone's attention.
It lasted for about three minutes before the door was closed again, the chaotic snow flakes and wind were isolated from the outside, and there were nine more figures in the bright corridor.
They were wearing the school uniforms distributed during their lifetime, standing upright and lifeless, with a small white flower on their chest without exception.
Although everyone had already prepared in their hearts, they were more or less frightened when they saw the nine classmates who climbed out of the tomb. After a short period of stunned, several newcomers even covered their mouths with their hands to prevent themselves from being disgusted and uncomfortable. Fear to vomit.
These deceased classmates maintain the state they were in before they died. For example, the two gangsters in 101 only have a pair of skeletons and the hair on their heads. For example, the two boys in 108 still look like wooden men. The saddest one should be Guo Xian. , the swelling of the corpse made him look even more bloated.
The nine sleepwalkers who were lucky enough to survive tonight looked at their dance partners and felt a little apprehensive. This dance was destined to be unpleasant.
Only Chi Nan was present.
The familiar footsteps sounded from the stairs, Chi Nan raised his head and greeted his dance partner.
At this time, the teachers and daughters stood on the dance floor: "Good evening, classmates, I'm glad to see the nineteen classmates gathered here again, there are still four hours, we will usher in the most special day, some of you I will also be graduating from boarding school smoothly, and I will send my best wishes to everyone.”
"Next, please find the dance partner you invited and spend the last happy time together."
"Brother Nan, do you remember the dance steps I taught you last time?"
229 is very dedicated to playing the role of a doctor. To this day, he still hasn't taken off his white coat, standing in front of Chi Nan with his lips raised.
He made an inviting gesture to Chi Nan, who noticed that the guy was politely wearing gloves.
Chi Nan knew that 229 was not willing to let this body cry in front of everyone.
"I don't remember at all," Chi Nan said truthfully, holding 229's hand, "You can teach it again."
229 smiled, lowered his voice and said in his ear, "Okay, I see."
The rest of the sleepwalkers are not as lucky as Chi Nan. Their dance partners die in a variety of strange ways, and the biggest thing in common is that they are all creepy.
Because the teacher said before that one could choose a same-sex dance partner, and everyone gave priority to the more familiar classmates. Jiang Liang was forced to be assigned to Guo Xian, who was in the same dormitory, and danced with a bloated uncle's corpse on the eve of his birthday. He could almost be called him. Worst experience ever...
The music sounded, the absurd dance officially kicked off, and the dance floor was full of demons.
Originally, there was an insurmountable boundary between the living and the dead, but in the singing of this night, the boundary was diluted or even eliminated. The dance of the dead and the living was like a carnival ceremony, using death as a sacrifice to welcome the coming of February 29.
229 taught the uncoordinated Chi Nan to dance like the last time on the cruise ship at dusk, laughing while teaching.
Chi Nan pursed his lips and glanced at him: "Can I look at your pocket watch?"
229 paused, then laughed again: "Unfortunately, there is no chance now."
Chi Nan: "...Oh."
229 looked at him: "Why do you suddenly want to watch it again?"
"I want to confirm something." Chi Nan did not directly inform 229 of his conjecture.
229 just narrowed his eyes slightly, and did not continue to ask. After a long while, he suddenly smiled deeply: "Brother Nan, there are some things you may not want to know."
Chi Nan: "...Oh."
"In other words, knowing may not be a good thing for you."
Chi Nan was careless again.
The time flow of the dance party was artificially speeded up, but it was only three dance songs, and the clock had already struck eleven.
There's still an hour to go to the much-anticipated 29th.
The female teacher paused the music and stood at the seat above the ball again: "Happy times are always short, congratulations to all the students, you have successfully completed the ball under the guidance of tarot divination, and no one broke the school rules tonight."
As the music faded away, the nine souls who crawled out of the cemetery stopped all movements, frozen in the middle of the dance floor like sculptures.
"Please return to the students who have said goodbye in advance. The following is the time for the living," the female teacher turned to the nine dead souls, "Thank you for your participation tonight."
As she said that, she bowed deeply to the nine dead souls, but in the blink of an eye, the dead souls disappeared from the bright banquet hall.
Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. Chi Nan and Tang Yu's inference was correct. Tarot suggested that the two partners at the dance party must have a sacrifice. The method of inviting the deceased sleepwalker not only avoided death, but also within the scope of the rules.
Everyone was lucky enough to escape "Death".
Only Chi Nan's dance partner was still there.
229 put his hands in his pockets and stood aside, admiring the final fate of the remaining ten sleepwalkers as a bystander.
"Congratulations again to the ten students who abide by the school rules. Next, we will usher in the most ceremonial part of this semester and the most anticipated part of the teacher." The female teacher swept her gaze to the restless people, "I think many of you have already guessed. Here comes what the special day to come means."
"I have prepared the most delicious graduation gift for you, I hope you will like it."
As soon as the female teacher finished speaking, a huge double-layer cake was pushed out from the cafeteria.
The lights in the lobby were also instantly darkened, and the half-light was more disturbing than complete darkness.
It was the last moment, everyone suppressed their nervousness and excitement, you look at me, I look at you, and finally all looked at the clock pointing to eleven o'clock.
There was still an hour, but they had a hunch that the dreamers of this school would never let them spend their last time in peace.
Only Chi Nan looked at the cake without blinking.
The cake is full of white bell flowers shaped with fresh cream, and clusters are placed on the red and bright cake embryos, which look delicious.
"The bottom of that cake is red...it's not made of human blood, right?" Liang Han glanced at the cake under the dim light, his voice trembling.
Chi Nan looked closer and shook his head calmly: "It should be red velvet cake, it's delicious."
Liang Han: "..." Why do people still care about the taste of cakes
229, who was noticing Chi Nan's every move, smiled not far away.
Then the female teacher took out a small square box: "In order to celebrate the most special moment, the teacher has prepared a surprise for you."
The moment the box was opened, all the sleepwalkers stuck their heads out. With the dim light, they saw nine colored candles neatly packed in the box.
The female teacher hadn't explained the specific rules yet, and Tang Yu's face sank as he counted the number of candles.
"This is a special birthday candle. Only people who have a birthday on February 29 can light the candle." The female teacher showed the candle in her hand to everyone with a serious look. "A candle symbolizes the life of a classmate. Only when the candle is lit can you continue your life, otherwise..."
She cracked her red lips and smiled stiffly.
Tong Yu also had a premonition that something was wrong: "Why are there only nine, we obviously have ten left."
The female teacher stopped laughing: "Classmates, some problems need to be solved by yourself."
Whether it's dance partners or candles, the school will always provide less than they actually need, as if they were deliberately pitted against each other.
Tang Yu: "What else do we need to do after lighting the candle?"
The female teacher said brightly: "As long as you are pious enough in your heart, in the process of lighting the candle, each student will have a chance to draw a lottery, and the prizes are very rich."
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone was in an uproar, and Tang Yu hurriedly asked: "Excuse me, this lottery session... Does it need to consume our favorability points?"
The female teacher curled her lips: "Of course not, this is an extra gift from the head of the school to the students."
Chi Nan: "Can you tell us a little bit about what the lottery prizes specifically include?"
Female teacher: "For example, some practical props that can help you to pass the customs smoothly in the future, like the "regret medicine" obtained by classmate Guo before, or an opportunity to ask the dream maker a question, are all precious to you. "
That is to say, if they got the candle and lit it smoothly, they would not only be able to get out of the nightmare copy alive, but also get a precious lottery chance because of it.
Correspondingly, one of them sleepwalkers not only can't draw the lottery, but also faces death because he can't light the candle.
Tang Yu stayed with Chi Nan for a long time and learned some tricks. He thought about it and said, "If we cut a candle in half, and then cut off the wax block in the second half to expose the wick, there would be no problem. Are there two candles? The teacher didn't say how long it would last, but only said that if you draw a prize, you can..."
Unfortunately, he was interrupted by the stern voice of the female teacher before he finished speaking: "This classmate, must not do anything to damage the candle, otherwise it will anger the person in charge of the school who made the candle by himself."
Obviously, the person in charge of the school that the female teacher said was 229 who was standing there watching the play.
Tang Yu hurriedly silenced, biting his lip at a loss.
Chi Nan asked the female teacher calmly, "Can I use my own candles?"
The female teacher raised her eyebrows: "Of course not, it must be a candle made by the person in charge."
"He made it by himself," Chi Nan took out the little candle that Ye Chang left him from his pocket, "Teacher, this should be fine, right?"
The female teacher's expression froze directly, and she instantly entered a state of downtime.
After a long while, he nodded stiffly: "Very good, very good, yes."
Everyone was confused, Tang Yu looked at Chi Nan with a subtle expression, although he was full of doubts, he suppressed it out of courtesy and respect.
Chi Nan put the little candle on the cake, he glanced at 229 subconsciously, and said, "Thank you."
229 raised the corners of his lips and replied with his mouth shape, "You're welcome."
"Okay, please start the lottery by lighting candles in the order of the dormitory numbers. Note that the candles must be lit and blown out by themselves, otherwise they will be punished as violating the school rules."
The female teacher made the rules very clear. The sleepwalkers were worried that something might go wrong during the candle lighting process.
Chi Nan was the last of them all, yawning after waiting for 229.
I saw Chi Nan methodically insert the small candle man into the white bell flower cream, light it with the help of the lighter sent by the teacher, and close his eyes in the candlelight.
His luck stopped at the seemingly most useless prize, but it was exactly what Chi Nan wanted: [You get a chance to ask the system a question, remarks: You don't need to consume any favorability, but the system has the right to keep silent , please think carefully before asking questions.]
Chi Nan has long thought about it, and without hesitation, he asked the question in his heart—
"Please tell me what secrets are hidden in 229's pocket watch"
Although 229 had clearly rejected him once just now, and the system also noted that he might remain silent, Chi Nan still insisted on trying again.
But almost the moment Chi Nan asked his question, 229, who received his question, pressed the "Reject" button on the system interface.
Although he is not afraid of being known by Chi Nan, this is an uncontrollable thing for him now. He is keen to watch the changes in Chi Nan's expression and inner struggle, but...
229 couldn't explain what he was worried about, or what he was running away from...
He summed up all the unexplainable emotions as: Save the most interesting part for last, just like saving the strawberry on a cake until the last bite.
Revealing your identity to Chi Nan is the so-called strawberry on the cake.
He must let Chi Nan know his identity in the perfectly set time, scene, and story background, so as to ensure enough drama and appreciation to satisfy his greatest interest...
229 was so convinced of himself that he chose to refuse with peace of mind.
So less than half a second after Chi Nan asked the question, he received a rejection message from the system—
[Sorry to inform you that the question you asked was classified as [Keep silent] by Dream Maker 229, and you will not be able to get an answer]
That's it... Chi Nan felt a trace of regret in his heart.
Chi Nan was about to open his eyes when the system suddenly flashed without warning—
[Sleepwalker Chi Nan, please note that although your question was rejected by Dreammaker 229, it was accepted for review by a system administrator with higher authority]
Chi Nan was stunned for a moment, a system administrator with higher authority? Could it be that the dream maker with power above 229 intervened
Does this 229 usually offend many colleagues
[Your question has been reviewed by a system administrator with higher authority, and now you can view the secrets of the Dream Maker 229 pocket watch through the system virtual interface]
As soon as the system's voice fell, the pocket watch that 229 carried with him appeared in Chi Nan's line of sight.
[Please sleepwalker Chi Nan to check the secrets belonging to 229]
"thanks."
The beat of the heartbeat seemed to be faster, and even the breathing was a little out of rhythm. Chi Nan felt that a certain nerve supporting him was tense. This may be the "nervous" emotion that humans usually talk about.
But why are you nervous? Chi Nan himself can't tell...
He stretched out his hand and opened the cover of the pocket watch in the virtual interface of the system. Even if it was virtual, this pocket watch felt very similar to the 229, and it felt cold to the touch as if it had just been taken out of the freezer...
The glass on the pocket watch has a shallow crack, the watch seems to have been dropped and broken, and the time on it has long stopped—
Always stopped at 12:20.
Chi Nan fixedly looked at the stationary hour and minute hands. At 12:20, this was the power-on password of his mobile phone, the key number for the final unlock of the first nightmare book, and the owner of this body... You Yu's death time .
Chi Nan is all too familiar with this combination of numbers...
He silently closed his pocket watch and thanked the system again.
After opening his eyes, Chi Nan blew out the candles on the cake.
229, who was standing not far away, didn't seem to know that he was betrayed by the "higher authority manager", and he still had that half-smile expression on his face, as if he was admiring Chi Nan, who was completely under his control.
Until he and Chi Nan made eye contact, 229's eyelids suddenly jumped violently, and a subtle premonition surged in his heart.
Chi Nan didn't say anything, he cut a cake on his own, and carefully wrapped the cream on the blade on the red velvet, making the cake on the paper plate look rich and thick.
He took the cake and walked towards 229, because the light in the lobby was too dim, this time, 229 couldn't see Chi Nan's expression clearly.
Until Chi Nan handed the cake to him and said in a low voice, "Happy birthday."
229's eyelids twitched again, and he didn't speak.
Chi Nan repeated: "Happy birthday."
"Happy birthday, You Yu."
Chi Nan said.