# Chapter 24: The Mysterious Shop (Twelve)
"In the school's notice board, a love letter she had carefully preserved suddenly appeared posted for all to see. It was a letter she had written to the class heartthrob—a handsome boy who, despite his poor grades, was warm-hearted and athletic, making him quite popular at school."
"When the students learned about this, they suddenly became curious about this invisible girl. They came to her classroom, found her, and were greatly disappointed. With disdain and contempt, they mocked her, saying, 'How could someone as ugly as you dare to like the class heartthrob? How dare you expose such a cringe-worthy love letter for everyone to see?'"
"Those words pricked her heart little by little... She cried, crying for the first time, clutching her doll in the rain, crying sorrowfully..."
At this point, the doll's swaying head suddenly stopped. Then, watching the young man as he slowly rose, a gentle breeze softly brushed against Qi An's body, faintly outlining his frail silhouette. A thought suddenly popped into the doll's mind, making it even more心虚—as it sneakily glanced at him.
He's so thin... I need to fatten him up and make him fair and healthy.
But why is he getting up now?
Was it because I told the story badly?
Not only did I wake him up, I also failed to lull him to sleep!
"And then what?" Qi An didn't quite understand why its mood had instantly turned low. The doll suddenly lowered its head, then kept looking up to glance at him, as if it had remembered some grievous sin, wearing an expression like a wronged little wife.
The doll's tone when speaking became indescribably despondent. It seemed to have lost interest in telling the story, witheringly and hastily saying a few words, "Then, the class heartthrob transferred schools, and the school dismissed a teacher, saying he had no professional ethics and had leaked exam papers to students in advance..."
The doll swayed its beautiful little skirt—something it loved doing most in its daily life—but even so, it still didn't cheer up. The doll drooped its head, feeling depressed, and said, "In the end, she became the target of oppression..."
"That girl gained the attention of the entire school—not just her classmates but also the teachers..."
The doll's story ended here. Qi An's dark eyes flickered with deep meaning. He thought of that girl who had been surrounded by all the boys like the moon around a constellation, possessing an almost perfect appearance yet always distant toward the boys who tried to curry her favor. Qi An looked at the doll with its fluffy head hanging low and reached out to gently stroke its soft, smooth hair.
This gesture was like silent comfort.
The cold, sinister gazes around began to grow warm. The ghosts circling the young man all had a different gleam in their eyes. The doll's despondent expression froze on its face as it微微仰着头 looked up at Qi An, then a blush spread across its rough face.
It reached out to grasp Qi An's hand, happily nuzzling against it with its face, then happily lifted its skirt and twirled in circles.
He really doesn't嫌弃 me!
**[Students, we reiterate once more that for your own safety and orderly discipline, you must abide by school rules. Boarding students will be checked at 11:00 PM. Movement on campus is strictly prohibited at night. Do not assume that merely being in your dorm during check-in is sufficient—you must remain inside. Anyone found violating the rules will be immediately criticized and disciplined.]**
**[Furthermore, regarding the missing students, our school administration has investigated and found the truth. There are no ghosts or supernatural forces at work as some of you have speculated. The missing students have returned and sincerely admitted their mistakes—it was merely a group prank. Given that this is their first offense, we have decided on the following disciplinary measures...]**
After class, the discipline principal's stern voice echoed continuously across the entire playground. Due to the student disappearances, the school had entered a state of high alert. But unexpectedly, except for Qi An, all these students had returned to school just before dismissal, unanimously claiming that their disappearance was merely a prank.
They despised that the school had restricted their freedom, so they wanted to express their rebellious hearts through this act.
Although many questions remained about this incident, the school's alert status was still temporarily lifted. This also facilitated the transfer students' next move.
"I was wondering what my parallel universe self would be like—turns out it's just me before I joined the Transmigration Bureau." Ji Xiaoyu murmured in a white, misty passage. Her tone carried some impatience mixed with recollection. "You guys too, right?"
The mirror in the auditorium could reflect one's parallel universe self at specific moments in time.
This was another supernatural incident within the academy.
They had come to the location where this supernatural incident occurred in the dead of night and successfully triggered it. Near midnight, the mirror in the auditorium transformed into something like a water curtain, like a film that could be pierced through. With a light touch, they entered this passage.
The white mist around them gradually formed scenes after scenes. The scenes around Ji Xiaoyu contained only herself. According to the description of the supernatural incident, she guessed that everyone saw their own scenes.
"Yeah." Zhao Qizhu smiled sweetly with studied nonchalance.
Zhang Zhaoqi's dark eyes flickered. Upon hearing their conversation, he furrowed his brows, saying nothing but inexplicably slowing his pace, lingering at a certain section of the tunnel as if lost in thought.
This tunnel wasn't short. When they walked to the end, the white mist suddenly turned red.
A deep crimson door appeared before them. This door seemed somewhat damp, its red so dark it appeared black. Ji Xiaoyu suddenly felt the air grow cold and sinister. She shrunk her shoulders and asked tremulously, "This isn't the door leading to that shop, is it?"
Zhang Zhaoqi gave her a cool glance, but his expression turned somewhat grave. He then turned to glance at Zhao Qizhu. The latter pursed her lips unhappily but still very wisely stuck her head out to push the door open.
The moment her hand touched it, the sound of water dripping rang out.
Drip, drip...
This sound grew clearer, the intervals shorter and shorter, as if getting closer and closer to them.
Then came the sound of something heavy colliding.
Ji Xiaoyu held her breath and swallowed. She nervously looked all around. When she finally couldn't bear it any longer and gasped for air, she coughed a few times急促ly. Her voice turned hoarse. "What's that smell?"
"Can't Big Sister even distinguish this smell?" Zhao Qizhu giggled. When Ji Xiaoyu turned to look at her, she extended her originally pale palm.
There was shocking, deep crimson on it. Zhao Qizhu raised her hand and stuck out her tongue to lightly lick it, the vivid red leaving a mark on her lips. The girl's voice remained sweet as ever. "It's the smell of blood,哦."
Ji Xiaoyu's expression froze.
"Go in first." Zhang Zhaoqi gazed at the door with furrowed brows, then calmly stepped inside first.
Zhao Qizhu嘻嘻笑着 propped the door open. Ji Xiaoyu exchanged a glance with the girl before mechanically moving her legs forward. After she had fully entered, Zhao Qizhu蹦蹦跳跳地欢快 walked back to the front of her.
Ji Xiaoyu stared rigidly at the two people whose expressions didn't change in the slightest, then恍惚地 turned her head to glance at the door behind her. Her face turned pale as she hurried to catch up.
That door was moving.
Like something breathing,起伏着 with vitality.
And it was continuously seeping blood. Down the door, dark blackish-red blood dripped down below, dyeing the door a deep crimson.
Ji Xiaoyu, looking back, clearly saw the pool of blood under the dim light of the door. That blood was visibly spreading rapidly.
This door—like a peeled organ, constantly dripping blood.
Drip, drip.
"This painting..." Zhang Zhaoqi, walking at the very front, suddenly halted his steps. His eyes, which had been constantly scanning the surroundings, froze on one spot.
The place they entered was indeed something resembling a shop. Under the dim oil lamp, aside from a side door on the west, the other three sides were lined with shelves holding various items.
The items were miscellaneous. Zhang Zhaoqi took a cursory glance and withdrew his gaze, but his attention was captured by a mural hanging directly in front.
The painting was yellowish, but the image was exquisite.
Its background was beautiful—a warm scene filled with Western romantic atmosphere. Azure sky, languid white clouds, grand halls, and meticulously crafted sculptures.
But Zhang Zhaoqi's gaze wasn't on these. Instead, it fell directly on the center.
There was the back view of a young man there—a frail-looking youth, his elegance matching the entire painting. Since it was only a back view, Zhang Zhaoqi couldn't make out his features. But strangely, the moment he saw the young man, his heart instinctively knew this was a young man of exceptional appearance.
Yet surrounding this young man was a circle of black mist—an evil black mist completely at odds with the painting's beauty. Although this black mist was some distance from the young man, it firmly occupied the space around him.
Zhang Zhaoqi's habitually cold eyes微微变暗. He gazed at the black mist around the young man with an indecipherable expression.
Faintly, Zhang Zhaoqi seemed to see pairs of eyes within it—pressing red, filled with intense love and madness.
The rare beauty in this painting was like... a prison.
"Who's there?" A hoarse voice came from the side room. Zhang Zhaoqi furrowed his brows and shifted his gaze to the source of the sound.
Ji Xiaoyu hurried to stand behind Zhang Zhaoqi, watching nervously the small door being pushed open.
Through the door gap, she saw a... dripping with blood.
Ji Xiaoyu suddenly shuddered. She thought of the colliding sound she had heard earlier.
She suddenly realized that sound was very similar to the sound people make when chopping bones with a large knife.