Cooking in the Monster Sanctuary - Chapter 11 - Part 2

“What is this announcement trying to tell us?” In the oppressive atmosphere, Qin Huai Shu felt like his heart was hanging in mid-air. He cautiously moved a bit closer to Lin Yu and whispered, “Did Zhou Hangyu die for money?”

“It’s probably more than that.”

She glanced at the nine-tailed fox that was getting closer to her and smiled faintly, then discreetly shifted her gaze away. “Those missing victims are definitely connected to Zhou Hangyu’s death. His brother has gone to great lengths to recreate the scenes from ten years ago, essentially aiming to recreate the past and make them experience the fear of being there.”

“The evening self-study session in No. 3 Middle School ends at around 9 PM. Zhou Hangyu screamed, and the security guard heard it around 10 PM, so what do you think he might have done during that one-hour gap?”

Qin Huai Shu’s tail twitched slightly, and he lowered his head to look at his watch.

They entered the campus at 9 PM, and now it was nearly 9:35 PM. By the time they reached the last scene, it should be exactly 10 PM. He spoke with a dry throat, “Just like us, he walked through all the campus legends.”

“The reason Zhou Hangxing forced the victims to personally experience these urban legends is likely because they compelled his brother, Zhou Hangyu, to commit the crime. As for why he had to do this, it should be closely related to the clue on the bulletin board,” Lin Yu continued. 

“Think about the note we received at the beginning: ‘If you want to find it, search for the seven campus legends.’ We misunderstood it from the start. It wasn’t a message from the mastermind to both of us.”

In this moment, the fragmented clues in their minds came together into a clear picture. Qin Huai Shu widened his eyes and said, “It was given to Zhou Hangyu by the victims ten years ago. They took away the prize money and hid it somewhere.”

The truth was surprisingly simple.

A boy who suffered from campus violence was forced to explore campus supernatural phenomena and died under mysterious circumstances. His younger brother, who relied solely on him, wanted revenge and first made the victims experience the fear of being inside these phenomena. Then, he killed them.

“Now the most important question is how Zhou Hangyu died.” Lin Yu sighed and looked at Qin Huai Shu with a smile, her eyes curved gently. “We only have three more scenes to investigate, and we should be able to find the truth. Let’s finish this quickly.”

The next phenomenon was the “Piano Solo in the Music Room at Midnight.”

At first, this scenario didn’t sound too threatening, but even so, Qin Huai Shu was startled when he heard the distant and ethereal piano music. As for seeing Lin Yu excitedly rushing forward and collaborating with an invisible pianist.

Qin Huai Shu gave up thinking.

Not only him, even the invisible musician seemed momentarily stunned, and the once-smooth piano melody noticeably trembled.

This definitely scared the invisible pianist, right? Who would approach a supernatural phenomenon so cheerfully and collaborate with an invisible player. Doesn’t this make her no different from a ghost trying to frighten people?

Qin Huai Shu didn’t know much about Western music, but he couldn’t help but feel that the piano piece was clear and delightful. 

With Lin Yu joining in, the initially gentle and lonely melody gradually transitioned to a passionate and intense rhythm, as if a long-lost windstorm had finally come, and the drifting notes turned into ships pushing forward relentlessly amid thunder and lightning.

The two performers vied with each other, each refusing to give in. When the storm subsided and the music eased, the piece was nearing its end.

Lin Yu stretched lazily, looked at the invisible pianist who wasn’t really there, and said, “Thank you. I haven’t played the piano in a long time. It was a pleasure working with you.”

There was a moment of hesitation from the other side.

Then, the invisible pianist played two symbolic piano keys, likely as a sign of agreement.

Qin Huai Shu stood to the side, becoming something of an emotionless clapping machine.

The “Ghostly Piano” phenomenon concluded peacefully. The next phenomenon had a somewhat eerie and horrifying atmosphere to it.

According to the legend, a girl had failed her college entrance exam and, unable to cope with the disappointment, chose to hang herself from a plane tree not far from the main building. 

Since then, every night, people would see the deceased girl swaying in the wind on the treetop. Every student who saw her would be plagued by misfortune.

This felt like a real horror movie. The girl in the previous painting at least had a fairly attractive face, but this one…

Qin Huai Shu decided rather spinelessly to keep his head down and avoid looking up at the treetops at all costs.

He was so focused on watching the ground as he walked that he didn’t notice Lin Yu had stopped walking, and he ended up bumping his forehead into the back of her head.

“S-Sorry!”

Even though his forehead hurt quite a bit, Qin Huai Shu conditioned by a good upbringing, was more concerned about Lin Yu. He gently rubbed the spot where he had accidentally bumped her.

After rubbing it for a while, he suddenly realized that this gesture seemed overly intimate.

The place he touched was warm and soft, and a sweet lemony fragrance lingered in the air. A surge of heat radiated from his palm to the top of his head, making his mind go blank for a moment.

The sensation of a girl’s touch.

A girl.

He must have been utterly confused.

“I’m sorry! I…”

Qin Huai Shu with a face as red as a tomato, hastily withdrew his hand. His palm had just returned to its fox-like shape was now back to being a cute and fluffy paw, with pinkish pads beneath the snowy white fur, making it look especially adorable and gentle.

He stammered as he raised his head, not daring to make eye contact with Lin Yu and instead directing his gaze elsewhere.

Then by chance, his eyes met those of the girl hanging from the tree.

People who died by hanging never looked good.

The girl’s face was congested from the lack of oxygen, and her black eyes were almost invisible. The protruding whites of her eyes were filled with horrifying bloodshot lines, and her tongue hung out of her mouth, grotesquely long.

Qin Huai Shu’s face went from red to white in an instant, performing a transformation rivaling Sichuan opera’s rapid mask changes. He clutched Lin Yu’s dress with his furry paw, which had just returned to its original form. Then, with a trembling voice, he said, “D-Don’t be scared, I-I…”

Lin Yu lifted her head and looked at the hanging girl with a serious expression.

After a long while, she earnestly told her, “Uh… you’re exposing yourself. It’s pink strawberries.”

Qin Huai Shu was utterly shocked.