As the Ring of Beiming fell into the black fire purgatory, the crisis in the formations of Jincheng and Mucheng could be regarded as temporarily resolved.
For most of January and throughout February, Min Endong and Dong Muya were busy using the underground database of Ouyang Ancient House and the MM terminal system to investigate specific clues about the objects arrayed in the other three cities.
After the Spring Festival, the weather gradually warms up, and it’s time to start school. Qianqi and Lingyu waited for the progress of the investigation in Yongchuan Royal City, while Xia Qiu and Ouyang Xiaoleng returned to school.
During the winter vacation, Xia Qiu only briefly met Liu Lingmei twice, and each meeting was separated by a long time, so they were somewhat excited to meet each other in school. The entire classroom, except Ouyang Xiaoleng's seat, was immersed in lively greetings, until the familiar sound of high heels sounded again, Dong Muya walked in and stood on the podium, exactly as it was when school started in September last year, and the classroom was also It fell silent immediately as it did then.
"Hello, classmates!" Dong Muya looked around every corner of the classroom, and then continued, "We meet again! I know some people may not want to see me!"
Before he finished speaking, there was a burst of laughter. Today she looks energetic and full of energy. It had been a long time since Xia Qiu had seen her like this. Staying up late and being overworked often made her eyes dark and her face dull.
"Don't dare!" Dong Haofan responded mischievously.
There was another burst of laughter below. Dong Muya smiled at him and shook his head, and continued: "I hope everyone had a wonderful time during this winter vacation and gained something!"
When the word "harvest" was mentioned, her eyes specifically looked in the direction of Xia Qiu, which was profound.
"As usual, there will be an opening ceremony in the afternoon, followed by a class meeting. The class will have two contents. The first is a review of the holidays, and the second is an introduction to the school spring cultural festival in March. The two squad leaders can use the break to I’ll get some information from past cultural festivals here, and we’ll discuss it at noon.”
In the morning classes, teachers of various subjects not only introduced the teaching schedule of the new semester, but some also briefly chatted with the students about their vacation life.
The heavy damage suffered by Xia Qiu when he cracked the array objects in Mucheng became a great spur for Ouyang Xiaolen. During this time, when he returned to the royal city, he practiced his magic and fighting skills even harder, and he fell into extreme fatigue. status.
He lay tiredly on his desk and fell into a deep sleep all morning. When he opened his eyes again, it was already lunch break. When he looked up, he didn't see Xia Qiu in front of him. The smell of other students' lunches mixed in the air, making him feel suffocated, so he walked out of the classroom and headed straight to the rooftop.
But outside here, she found Xia Qiu sitting on the ground. The weather was suddenly warm but still cold. She put her down coat loosely on her shoulders, leaning on the fence and looking into the distance. Ouyang Xiaoleng walked to her side silently. It had been a long time since he had stood alone side by side with her. Her body exuded the fragrance that he was familiar with, which made his heart calm and made the concept of time blurry.
The art festival is divided into several parts. First, there are displays and performances by large clubs such as the choir, dance team, drama department, photography department, literature department, and fine arts department; then there are the students’ own free performances, including bands, cross talk, Dance and more. Each class may be used by a club as a venue for exhibitions or performances, and the recruited classes must assist the club in completing the layout of the venue.
There are many interesting legends circulating about the art festival, some of which are quite outrageous. For example, if you confess your love to your lover or the person you admire under the banyan tree on campus on the day of the art festival, then the two of you will have a happy ending. Others sound more like ghost stories, such as the warehouse where various props and equipment are stacked. Many people say that strange things will appear there.
Before the lunch break ended, Liu Lingmei and Du He came back from the teacher's office with a lot of information, including albums from cultural festivals in the past few years.
"I didn't expect this cultural festival to be quite formal! Xiaoqiu, look!" Liu Lingmei took a picture album from last year and walked to Xia Qiu's seat and said.
Xia Qiu took the picture album she handed over. In addition to photos of performances by the chorus and dance troupe, there were also pictures of the layout of each class exhibition area.
Liu Lingmei flipped through the picture album of last year's art festival in her hand, then pointed it to Xia Qiu and said: "Last year's Grade 1 (1) class was used as the exhibition area of the art department. Look at these picture frames. It’s beautiful, and there’s also the blue velvet on the table. I wonder what the result of the lottery will be this year.”
"I hope to make an exhibition area for the photography department. I wonder if they will take photos of beauties this year. Who is from the photography department in our class?" Dong Haofan came over and snatched the album from Liu Lingmei's hand.
"Go, go, it's so annoying!" Liu Ling gave him a white look and took the album back.
At this time, a boy in the class who didn't often talk to Xia Qiu came over. He stood behind everyone and hesitated for a while before summoning the courage to say to Xia Qiu: "I and the two boys from the foreign class are planning to form a small band to participate in the free party." We’re performing, but there’s no lead singer yet, can Xia Qiu help us?”
"Okay, I think it will work! Xiaoqiu, I really want to hear you sing!" Before Xia Qiu could answer, Liu Lingmei agreed.
"Okay, but I don't know how to sing many songs, and I have never performed with a band!" Hearing what she said, Xia Qiu was embarrassed to reject the boy again, but she still expressed her concerns. .
Seeing that Xia Qiu agreed to his request, the boy was overjoyed and responded: "It doesn't matter, we will arrange time to rehearse before the cultural festival!"
The Cultural Festival was scheduled to be held on the first Friday of March, and Xia Qiu's class was requisitioned by the Art Department like the previous one. Xia Qiu also had her first close contact with the band. A boy named Xue Ming, who was in her class, was the drummer of the band. There were also two boys from class 1 (3) of high school who played keyboards and guitars for the band.
The voice lecture theater has been temporarily used as a rehearsal room for small bands in the past two weeks. Each band has piled their instruments here and then reserved a time for rehearsal. Xue Ming, who was usually taciturn in the class, turned into a different person as soon as he picked up the drum sticks and sat in front of the drum set. His skills seemed to Xia Qiu to be quite good. The other two boys also played the instruments with great proficiency, which made Xia Qiu very excited. Feeling stressed.
Ouyang Xiaoleng was not interested in the art festival at first, but the director of the art department found him. It was probably because Liu Lingmei told him that Ouyang Xiaoleng was a painting genius. He rushed into the classroom during a class break and forcibly snatched Ouyang Xiaoleng's drawing book. As soon as he turned the first page, he entered a state of stunned state. After turning a few more pages, Ouyang Xiaoleng was shocked and made a decision immediately. , let him join the art department, and left him the best exhibition position. He was at a loss as to what to draw, and he didn't want to waste time on these trivial matters, so he simply decided to deal with it with an old painting.
Xia and Qiu have been very busy at school recently. While helping Liu Lingmei plan the plan assigned by the Cultural Festival class for the art department, she also rehearsed with Xue Ming's band. There seemed to be more smiles on her face, and she seemed to have more vitality than when she stood on the rooftop and stared into the distance on the first day of school. Ouyang Xiaoleng felt happy to see her like this, but she also felt lonely at the same time. She was always so far away from him when she showed her smile. Whether she was with Qian Qi or with other classmates, she seemed to be more cheerful. .
There were only three days left before the deadline for handing in the drawings. At night, he stayed in Ouyang's ancient house to rest. He casually opened the picture albums stacked in the corner, and the sketch he drew for Xia Qiu quietly fell down. The moment he picked it up, he was inspired and decided to paint a portrait of her again.
The day before the Cultural Festival, the big banyan tree in the school yard, which should have bloomed in May or June, unexpectedly bloomed. The tree turned pink and purple, making teachers and students who were passing by unable to help but stop under the tree.
Ouyang Xiaoleng also noticed this unusual sight. For them, plants that bloom untimely are most likely to be caused by dirty things. But he didn't feel that the tree itself had evil spirit. He couldn't help but worry that Qingyun's men might sneak into the campus. There were so many people in the school that it was not easy to find the lurking enemies. He had to remind him Xia Qiu always pays attention to the movements around him to avoid being attacked by surprise.
But there was no chance to talk to her since the morning, and she disappeared again during self-study in the afternoon. After asking, I found out that she helped Liu Lingmei go to the old warehouse to move the props for the venue. When Ouyang Xiaoleng heard about the old warehouse, he had some ominous premonitions, so he decided to help out and find out the truth about the old warehouse.
The door of the old warehouse was in the innermost part of the electrical control room on the first floor. When he was walking there, he met several classmates who were moving back cartons.
He grabbed one of them and asked, "Where is Xia Qiu?"
The man was obviously startled by him, blinked and replied: "We can't find the blue flannel even if we die. She and Lingmei are still staying in the old warehouse and continuing to search."
After Ouyang Xiaoleng heard this, he let go of the man's hand and ran towards the power control room. The boy behind him who had just been grabbed by him was still stunned for a while, unable to realize what happened.
The old warehouse had no windows and was illuminated only by a few dim lights. Perhaps due to the aging of the wiring, those lights would flash from time to time. The spacious space smelled of dust, and boxes after boxes of old items were stacked on rows of metal shelves. Many of them can obviously be eliminated and thrown away. Perhaps because the project is too huge, no one is willing to take the effort.
According to the teacher in charge here, the flannelette should be on the innermost row of shelves near the aisle, but Xia Qiu and Liu Lingmei rummaged through the cartons on the nearby shelves and couldn't find it.
When the lights above her head flickered again, Liu Lingmei moved closer to Xia Qiu and asked, "Xiao Qiu, do you think this place is weird?"
"It's nothing, it's just quite dusty!" Xia Qiu said disapprovingly.
"When you came to school this morning, you noticed that the banyan tree in the yard actually opened in March." Liu Lingmei's big eyes were full of horror.
"Yes, I noticed it!" Xia Qiu nodded.
"Many people say that taking a photo under the tree can lead to a marriage or something. Why do I feel that the tree is a bit evil..."
"Stop thinking so wildly!" Xia Qiu interrupted her and comforted her. After all, she had seen a lot of monsters, so she didn't pay much attention.
Suddenly, there was a "squeak" sound, and all the lights in the old warehouse went out.
"ah!"
Amid Liu Lingmei's scream, the entire warehouse fell into darkness. Oddly enough, with her shrill little voice, someone should have heard her and come to take a look, but the air was eerily quiet. The two of them were stunned for a while in the darkness. Only then did Liu Lingmei realize that she had a mobile phone with her. She gingerly took it out of her pocket and pressed it. Then the cold white light emitted from the mobile phone screen, and she was pulled towards the door by Xia Qiu. Who knew that the door of the old warehouse was locked at some point.
"Isn't it another prank by those boys? Let's see how I deal with them when I go back?" Liu Lingmei said angrily.
But Xia Qiu's attention was not on her words. She vaguely felt that in addition to her and Liu Lingmei's breath, as well as the strong smell of dust, there was something else mixed in the air. To be more precise, this space seemed to be a little different from the one she and Liu Lingmei were in just now. She couldn't help but guess that it was a lost path