"You mean Ma Yiyi is Ma Xiaolin's daughter?" I still couldn't believe it. "Just now, Ma Yiyi spoke with that strong Beijing dialect. How could she be Ma Xiaolin's daughter?"
Sun Fatty gave a forced smile, not quite sincere. "No doubt about it. You think I'd waste my time framing that Ma guy for nothing? After that incident, I dug into Ma Xiaolin's background. He has a daughter right here in this women's academy — she's been here since elementary all the way to senior three. After speaking standard Mandarin for more than ten years, you can barely detect the original dialect anymore."
He paused, then continued, "At first, I thought it was a dead end. But unexpectedly, the academy's principal came looking for me. You think I risk my life working as a janitor here for nothing? It's fate. On my first day, Ma Yiyi gave me a good scolding — today's little incident is just interest on that debt."
"Dasheng, Ma Xiaolin is Ma Xiaolin. His daughter hasn't wronged you. You're not trying to make the child pay for the father's debts, are you?" I looked at the increasingly excited Sun Fatty, feeling uneasy inside.
"What do you take me for? Am I Sun Desheng some kind of lowlife?" Sun Fatty shot me a sharp look. I stared back silently, thinking, Aren't you?
My first official day at Vermilion Bird Business Academy started with skipping class together with Sun Fatty. In the following days, besides hearing someone call my name mysteriously on the first day, nothing else suspicious happened. Several directors had set different formations around the academy, but unfortunately, after such a long time, there was no reaction. I asked Director Hao Wenming a few times, but he couldn't explain it either. However, among the investigators, there was a saying that the previous disappearance cases at this women's academy were just coincidences, unrelated, and there might not be any more "abnormal" disappearances.
The Bureau of Paranormal Investigation cannot be leaderless. Gao Liang stayed in the academy, and his phone never stopped ringing. By the morning of the fourth day, intelligence reports came in—an emergency had occurred in Nanhai. Old Qiu, who remained at the Bureau, had already rushed there, leaving only Deputy Director Wang Ziheng in charge of the second division at the Bureau.
Director Gao finally couldn't sit still. He hurried toward Nanhai with Directors Hao Wenming, Ouyang Pianzuo, and most of the investigators, while Director Hugo returned to the Bureau to take charge. Before leaving, Director Gao spoke with Director Wu for quite a while. Judging by their tone, it seemed Gao wanted Wu Rendi to come along. But to my surprise, Wu Rendi stayed behind at Vermilion Bird Business Academy to finish the physical education course he had never once attended.
Originally, Xiao Heshang didn't need to go, but Gao Liang wouldn't allow the Old Master Xiao to stay guarding Director Su's side. After some persuasion, Xiao Heshang surprisingly agreed and left Vermilion Bird Academy with the main team.
Although I didn't know what exactly had happened in Nanhai, a sentence left by Director Gao gave a hint: "You stay for three days. If no abnormal situation occurs after three days, you all report to Fuzhou."
Their departure didn't affect the academy much. As long as Yang Xiao and Wu Rendi stayed, even if everyone else left, the girls wouldn't have any ideas.
Another day passed with no abnormal situations. The formations set by the directors showed no changes, and we had begun preparing to leave the women's school and head to Nanhai.
One day before Director Gao's deadline, I stayed in the classroom for a rare moment, watching the unusually beautiful math teacher give me the last lesson. I had already learned her name over the past days—Zhao Minmin. Unfortunately, she was already taken. Her boyfriend came to the academy gate almost daily, and they would chat for half a day (Zhao lived in the school dormitory). I had seen them several times when I went out to buy cigarettes. Each time, I sighed silently—he got here earlier than me.
Just as I lamented knowing Teacher Zhao too late, suddenly my heart tightened. The air pressure around dropped sharply, and a wave of unease swept over me. Immediately, I sensed the formation outside had been activated.
I didn't have time to think. I shoved the desk aside and, under everyone's stunned gaze, rushed out to the corridor.
Finally, it had come!
Behind me, Chief Xiong and the others ran out as well. From the classroom next door, Yang Xiao and an investigator named Mi Rongheng also rushed out. We all stared in one direction—at a solitary building about two hundred meters away.
"What's that place?" Yang Xiao pointed at the lone building and asked.
Vermilion Bird Academy was huge, and there were many places we hadn't been to. When Yang Xiao suddenly asked, no one could answer.
A teacher nearby peeked at us but quickly withdrew.
"What are you doing skipping class?" Teacher Zhao also came out of the classroom. Our earlier behavior had startled her, and by the time she reacted, we were already outside. Hesitating briefly, she decided to follow us.
Yang Xiao didn't buy it. Without looking at Teacher Zhao, his eyes remained fixed on that solitary building as he asked, "What's that building over there?" His tone clearly challenged Zhao directly.
Teacher Zhao glanced at him but didn't answer. Her eyebrows knitted into a tight knot — it was obvious she was utterly disappointed in these unruly "students."
Yang Xiao grew impatient and finally turned to glare at Zhao Minmin, shouting, "I'm asking you!"
Seeing Zhao trembling with anger, I felt a bit sorry and whispered, "Teacher, you don't know, he has manic episodes. Don't provoke him, just tell him and it'll be fine."
Zhao gave me a glance, took a deep breath, and said, "That's the old campus building. Now it's used as a warehouse!" With that, she ignored us and went back into the classroom, slamming the door behind her with a loud bang.
"Let's go down!" Yang Xiao said as he was already at the stairwell. There was no elevator in this teaching building, so we rushed down the stairs. Outside the main gate, we saw Sun Fatty running over from a distance, pointing at the old building and shouting, "There's something wrong inside!"
"Got it!" I replied, "Isn't that why we all came?"
Within moments, we had arrived at the old building's entrance. The main door was wide open as if welcoming us.
Sun Fatty looked at us, still uneasy. "Why isn't Director Wu here? Let's wait for him."
"No need. We go first." When Sun Fatty mentioned Wu Rendi, Yang Xiao's expression suddenly turned strange. He pulled out a small metal piece about the size of a five-cent coin and started rubbing it in his hand.
The strength in Yang Xiao's hands was astonishing — with one hand rubbing, the other catching what fell. After a few rubs, the metal piece turned into a pile of powder.
With a flick against the wind, the metal powder ignited with a sharp "pop," forming a huge fireball. Oddly, although the flames looked fierce and blue, the fireball gave off no heat.
The fireball rose and floated toward the wide-open door of the old building.
We couldn't understand what Yang Xiao was doing. The fireball seemed directed by an unseen force. Once inside, it exploded repeatedly — ten or more times — before splitting into dozens of fist-sized smaller fireballs.
Those small fireballs floated to different corners inside the building. After two or three minutes, Yang Xiao's eyes suddenly narrowed as he muttered an unfamiliar syllable.
Then a series of explosions sounded from inside — like firecrackers on New Year's Eve. Thick brown smoke poured out from all corners of the building.
Seeing the smoke, Yang Xiao exhaled deeply, his expression relaxing slightly. He looked back at us and said, "Go in. Stay together. Don't separate. No one inside my sight will be able to harm you."
Sun Fatty glanced inside nervously. "Are you sure we don't wait for Director Wu?"
"You stay here and wait for him if you want." Yang Xiao snorted and turned, leading the way inside. Investigator Mi Rongheng followed second, then Xiong Wanyi, Yun Feiyang, and Ximen Lian.
"Lazi, they have enough people. You and I wait here for Wu Rendi." Sun Fatty looked at me with longing.
I shook my head. "Dàshèng, you stay here." Then I quickened my pace to follow the others. Sun Fatty clenched his teeth and followed last.
The old building was dilapidated. The classrooms had been turned into storage. Once inside, the uneasy feeling intensified. This was the epicenter of the abnormal pressure we had sensed.
Yang Xiao looked back at us again. "I'll say it again — no matter what, do not scatter," he said firmly. Hearing this, we all grew tense. Except for Yang Xiao, the rest of us drew out our batons, flicking them sharply in the air (our pistols were locked in the dorm storage).
After a few steps, Yang Xiao stopped, looking up at the ceiling while mumbling, "Above."
He then motioned for us to follow and headed upstairs.
We followed him to the second floor. The upstairs was a large sports equipment warehouse. At the far end, one of the small fireballs Yang Xiao had released was still burning in midair.
Below it, a pile of flames flickered strangely — unlike Yang Xiao's blue fireball, these flames were pale yellow and burned downward, which was very odd.
Yang Xiao stared at the flames on the ground, stunned. He seemed unable to identify the origin of these flames. Fortunately, they didn't look threatening and weren't burning strongly, flickering intermittently as if they could be easily stomped out.
We all gathered closer, and Yang Xiao did not stop us. He stood nearest the flames, trying to study them.
Suddenly, without wind, the flames flickered wildly. We thought they were about to go out, but instead, the flames surged upward to over seven feet tall. The yellow outer flames whipped toward the ceiling.
The sudden flare startled not only us but Yang Xiao as well.
But this shock seemed to trigger a realization in him. His facial features contorted, and he shouted back to us, "Damn it! We've been set up! Get out! Get out now!"
Unfortunately, his warning came too late. The flames ignited the fire sprinkler above, triggering the entire system.
The sprinkler water, stored for who knows how long, looked as black as unrefined crude oil — neither oil nor water — and reeked with a foul stench.
We couldn't avoid it. The foul liquid drenched us from head to toe. The moment the black water hit my head, I suddenly felt dizzy — a sensation I knew well, like the few times in childhood when my head was washed with black dog's blood. The water in the sprinklers was definitely some kind of cursed black blood.
Sure enough, after being soaked, the building's eerie pressure faded. The oppressive feeling vanished, replaced by a strange muddled clarity.
After shouting to evacuate, Yang Xiao jumped down the stairs and dashed out first. The black water drenched him as well. We followed, escaping the building.
"What kind of water is this? It stinks!" Xiong Wanyi and Ximen Lian took off their clothes to wipe their hair. Among us, Mi Rongheng was the first to react — after wiping himself haphazardly, he stared at the old building's gate, dumbfounded. He couldn't sense any abnormality inside anymore.
Yang Xiao's face was grim. I leaned close and lowered my voice, "Old Yang, is your Heavenly Eye blocked too?"