Before heading out, Duanmu Huai inquired with Shajuye about the air raid shelter. Indeed, according to Shajuye, most students were aware of the shelter. It was located just behind the playground on the western side of the school, rumored to have been dug to avoid air raids. Of course, now it functions more like a warehouse, primarily storing some disaster relief materials and props that are only used during large-scale events and rarely on regular days.

So except for some seniors who had been to the shelter to retrieve items for cultural festivals or sports meets, most people typically would not go near it.

According to Shajuye, the place felt a bit creepy, and since this school was all girls, there weren't many who were particularly bold, so no one usually approached it. She had gone in to move props before, but Shajuye stated that in her view, there wasn't anything particularly special about the air raid shelter… at least not in her opinion.

But now...…

"Heh heh heh..."

Duanmu Huai lifted his head, looking at Mianmu Zuoniao, who was happily skipping ahead like a bird, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. It was now dusk, and since classes were over, the students had long left the school, either returning to the dormitories or going home. The vast campus instantly became eerily silent like a ghost town, not to mention that they were currently walking down a wooded path toward the shelter, something that would normally make others feel very anxious.

Yet, right now Mianmu Zuoniao exhibited a carefree eagerness, as if she were going on an outing… as if she had no fear whatsoever.

Staring at Mianmu Zuoniao's form, Duanmu Huai couldn't help recalling what the petite girl, who resembled a middle schooler, had told him after the investigation in the dormitory.

"In terms of capability, Zuo Niao Princess ranks just below Yu Yeji among the Five Swords, but to me, she seems more like a monster—no one can understand what Zuo Niao Princess is thinking, or if she thinks anything at all. In truth, many times, Zuo Niao Princess would plan, but it wasn't for any particular goal, nor did she care about the benefits of doing so. Simply put, she did it because humans employ tactics… so, in my view, rather than being a human, she is more like a monster mimicking human behavior."

Duanmu Huai somewhat understood what the girl meant; a monster couldn't comprehend the significance of human behavior, it only knew that humans acted in certain ways, so it imitated. Indeed, Mianmu Zuoniao exuded that kind of feeling too. Despite her carefree, cheerful appearance, like she was off on a delightful spring excursion, Duanmu Huai could not sense any genuine happiness or joy emanating from her aura. She was much like a digital pet in a game—when it nuzzles against a player or wags its tail, it's not a real display of affection, merely a programmed command response.

Mianmu Zuoniao gave Duanmu Huai a similar perception, as if she wasn't actually happy, not excited, with no clear-purpose or objective. She seemed like an empty shell, perhaps even oblivious to the reason behind her actions.

Well, that makes sense, given her SAN value reached zero.

"It's right here~~~"

At this moment, Mianmu Zuoniao halted, pointing ahead with a playful grin. Duanmu Huai looked in the direction of her finger and saw a black, gaping hole not far off at the hill. As they got closer, steps led them downward, accompanied by a rusty metal sign that read "shelter," which had been weathered and rusted over time.

Duanmu Huai took out his phone and turned on the flashlight, heading down the steps while Mianmu Zuoniao followed behind, humming some indecipherable tune.

Descending the stairs, the first thing they saw was a thick iron door, slightly ajar, not locked. Duanmu Huai reached out, pushed it open, and walked into the inner hall.

The air raid shelter was chillingly damp, as one would expect from an underground structure. Duanmu Huai felt around for a switch nearby and turned it on, causing the dim bulbs to flicker briefly before lighting up the initially pitch-black space.

It seemed there was still electricity here after all.

Duanmu Huai brought his gaze back and began examining the warehouse under the dim light. There was a corner of the warehouse with items resembling hurdles for races and a few deflated rubber balls. It was clearly a storage area for school equipment. On the other side stood several somewhat tattered beds, and in the center, a few classroom desks and chairs. However, the desks and chairs weren't stacked like in a warehouse but spread out as if a classroom had been set up here.

Apart from that, the air raid shelter appeared quite spacious, with a full view from one end to the other, indicating no presence of humans.

Neither the dead nor the living could be seen.

First things first, check out those desks. If luck is on our side, perhaps we might find some clues.

With this thought, Duanmu Huai moved forward, approaching the desks and carefully inspecting them. He chose the one facing the entrance, laid his hand on it.

"Whoosh———!"

Suddenly, a shadow darted out from below, racing towards the door. However, as it reached the entrance, Duanmu Huai caught just a glint of a cold flash, followed by Mianmu Zuoniao's longsword pinning the shadow firmly to the ground.

It was a giant rat.

Its head impaled by the sharp longsword, the rat was dead before it even had the chance to struggle. Mianmu Zuoniao merely stared curiously at the slain rat before swiftly withdrawing her sword and continued humming, spinning around in circles...…

"......"

Truly peculiar.

Duanmu Huai silently retracted his gaze, placing his hand back on the desk, then closed his eyes.

And then, before him, time started to reverse once more...…

"Ka-da."

The dim electric light illuminated, dispelling the darkness of the underground air raid shelter.

Then, Duanmu Huai "saw" two girls walk in.

"It's here!"

The one leading was the Literary Girl, holding a book in one arm, raising a photo high in the other, as if making a comparison.

"The photo was taken right here!"

Speaking aloud, Literary Girl walked further in, while the Athletic Girl behind nervously glanced around with a flashlight.

"Let's hurry and take the photo; I'm afraid Lord of the Five Swords will find out...…"

"Don't hurry, it'll be quick. As long as we, like our predecessors, capture a supernatural photo here, that fifty thousand cash prize will be ours!"

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Duanmu Huai silently shook his head, looking at the enthusiasm of the Literary Girl.

The Athletic Girl, although wanting to leave, was still pulled by the Literary Girl deeper into the shelter. The Literary Girl seemed to have matched the position against that photograph, raised her phone, and aimed it at herself and the Athletic Girl.

"Okay, I'm going to take it!"

"Mm...…"

The two stood together, and then the Literary Girl blinked her eyes.

"One, two, three...…"

"Click."

Then, the flash went off, and the Literary Girl excitedly retrieved her phone and opened it in front of her.

"Let me see how it turned out...… Ah, look!"

As she was checking the photo, the Literary Girl got excited as if she discovered something, hurriedly beckoning to the Athletic Girl beside her. The latter leaned over to take a look, her face instantly turning pale with fear, backing away hurriedly.

"This, this, you wouldn't be scaring me on purpose, would you?"

"Why would I scare you, this is a real supernatural photo! I finally captured a real supernatural photo!"

Unlike the terrified Athletic Girl, the Literary Girl was jumping up and down with excitement, while Duanmu Huai looked at her as if she were a dead person— doesn't this fool know what this means?

But then, suddenly the Literary Girl stopped, and she looked around, then turned to the Athletic Girl.

"Did you just talk to me?"

"Huh? I didn't say anything just now?"

Hearing the Literary Girl's inquiry, the Athletic Girl was taken aback and shook her head, her face turning unpleasant again.

"Let's go. Now that we've finished taking pictures, we should leave too!"

"Ah, umm...…"

Just as the Literary Girl was somewhat reluctant to leave, suddenly, the originally dim electric lights went out, and for a moment, the entire shelter fell back into darkness. Only the faint glow from their phones illuminated a small area around them.

"Eek—————!"

At this moment, the Athletic Girl finally couldn't bear it anymore, screamed, and stumbled as she turned to run towards the entrance.

"I'm leaving, I can't take it here anymore!"

Shouting, Duanmu Huai watched as the blurry figure of the Athletic Girl ran towards the entrance.

Next, no one knew what happened.

Duanmu Huai only saw the phone that the Athletic Girl had been holding, glowing, suddenly fly away violently as if struck by something, hitting the wall beside with a "bang". This also startled the Literary Girl, who raised her phone's flashlight to shine forward, calling out the Athletic Girl's name.

"Hey? What happened? Are you okay? What's going...…"

But before the Literary Girl could finish speaking, she suddenly stopped, and her phone quickly fell to the ground. Then it was kicked away by her frantically shaking feet. In that instant, with the help of the phone's light, Duanmu saw that the Literary Girl seemed to be entangled by something and was suspended in mid-air — and then there was no more movement.

After that, the entire warehouse returned to a state of deathly silence and darkness.

Seems like that's how it is.

Duanmu Huai frowned as he looked at the warehouse once again swallowed by darkness.

It's clear that those two girls indeed came here and were attacked. Although it's unknown what attacked them, it's certainly not stray cats or dogs. And from the looks of things right now, it's probably even that no bodies were left behind...…

Thinking this, Duanmu Huai opened his eyes, and then he saw — a pitch-black warehouse, and Nemume Satori, who was holding a phone to his chin, staring wide-eyed at him.

"...…What are you doing?"

"Just playing around. The power suddenly went out just now, so I thought this would be more fun."

"Power outage?"

Duanmu Huai furrowed his brows slightly, but just at that moment, he suddenly heard an eerie laughter coming from an unknown direction.

"Heh heh heh heh...…"

"Hmm? What sound is that?"

Nemume Satori curiously placed a hand by his ear, listening, while Duanmu Huai silently clenched his fists and scanned the surroundings.

The laughter seemed to come from all directions, making it impossible to pinpoint its exact location. Just as Duanmu Huai was about to further focus his mind, suddenly, he sensed a bizarre aura rushing towards him!

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