Chapter 8: Li Moran

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The door seemed to unlock itself for reasons unknown…

Ye Xinran’s eyes widened in disbelief. “The archives room is always locked. Why wasn’t it locked today?”

I didn’t tell Ye Xinran that just moments ago, the door had clicked open on its own—it was simply too strange to explain.

I stood at the threshold for a long moment, making sure nothing was amiss inside before finally stepping in.

At first, the door blocked much of the view, but once inside, I realized the room was nearly bursting at the seams with files.

Walking among the shelves, I felt as though the sheer weight of the documents might suffocate me.

“We’d better find what we need and get out of here fast! The smell in here is awful!” Ye Xinran held her nose, looking like she wanted nothing more than to leave immediately.

I had to agree—the stench was pretty bad.

But with so many files, where on earth should I start looking?

“What are you searching for? I’ll help.” Ye Xinran, seeing me wandering aimlessly, asked impatiently.

I hesitated. Looking for a file shouldn’t get her involved in anything dangerous.

“All the school’s death records.”

After a moment’s thought, I decided to tell her what I was after.

“Why do you want those?” she asked.

“I can’t say.”

With that, I turned and started searching the shelves myself.

The archives room was vast; we needed to find the file quickly and get out before Li Moran doubled back—otherwise, we’d be in deep trouble.

After searching for a while, all I found were records of model students and outstanding cadres—nothing I was looking for.

Just then, I tripped over something on the floor and went sprawling. I hit my head on a bookshelf, and as I did, a file tumbled down and landed squarely on my face.

Regaining my senses, I picked up the file to put it back, but out of the corner of my eye, I caught the details on the cover:

Song Limei, student of Class XX, year XX, homeroom teacher XX. Developed depression in the second semester of senior year and died by jumping from the building.

Reading that last line, my hand nearly shook the file from my grip.

How could it be such a coincidence?

A chill ran through me. Just then, the door to the archives creaked and slammed shut with a bang.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. Before I could say anything, Ye Xinran let out a piercing scream and rushed straight toward me.

“Tong Yang, this place is terrifying! Let’s get out of here!”

Girls always seem to imagine the worst.

Swallowing hard, I patted Ye Xinran reassuringly. “It’s nothing, just the wind.”

But I knew better. There was no wind here—there was no ventilation at all. The door had closed by itself, inexplicably.

But I couldn’t say that. It would only cause needless panic.

“Oh.” Ye Xinran relaxed, then suddenly shoved me aside, her cheeks flushed, lost in thought. Her gaze drifted to the file in my hand.

“You found what you were looking for?” she asked.

I nodded and continued reading.

Honestly, there was nothing remarkable about the file—a student with severe academic weaknesses who’d taken her own life. It was sadly common these days, with all the pressure students faced.

The file was unremarkable, not nearly as dramatic as I’d expected.

Yet the archives room still gave me an eerie feeling, and the records themselves made that feeling even stronger.

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The deaths recorded inside matched exactly what I had witnessed.

Two people arguing, accidentally killing one in the struggle; a faulty ceiling fan falling and killing someone; missing chemicals causing another death… and finally, the suicide by jumping.

If not for the dates listed, I could have sworn these were accounts of my own experiences.

What was going on?

“Hey, isn’t that our chemistry teacher’s name?” Ye Xinran, at some point, had come closer to look.

“Chemistry teacher?” I asked, puzzled.

Ye Xinran didn’t seem fazed by my ignorance. “You barely pay attention in chemistry class. The first day the teacher introduced themself, you were sleeping. Forgetting the name isn’t a big deal.”

Now that she mentioned it, that was probably true.

My cheeks flushed for a moment, but that wasn’t the main issue. What caught my attention was that every death record included a statement from the chemistry teacher.

Could the chemistry teacher be like me?

No… absolutely not.

Suddenly, I remembered the death in the infirmary.

I recalled that day during PE, Song Qian had been called to the office by the chemistry teacher.

Song Qian had gone to the office? The calcium carbide came from the chemistry teacher, and then she intended to kill Zhao Xiaoyang, but my unexpected interference ruined her plan and led to another classmate’s death.

If that were the case…

A wild idea formed in my mind, just as I was on the verge of grasping something, Ye Xinran hurriedly snatched the file from my hands.

“Oh no, someone’s coming back!”

Ye Xinran seemed to hear something, panic written all over her face.

She broke my train of thought, and before I could respond, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the distance.

Thud, thud, thud—

Just as the steps reached the doorway, they stopped abruptly.

A sense of foreboding crept over me. I pulled Ye Xinran into a corner to hide.

There, I spotted another file. Maybe it was coincidence, but this one contained detailed profiles of every new student—including myself.

Blood type, height, strengths, hobbies, even everyday habits—everything was meticulously recorded.

Why would the student council keep such detailed records? It didn’t make sense.

As I reached for the file, footsteps sounded again outside the door, making me jerk my hand back in fright.

Our hearts pounded as we crouched together.

I had no idea who was outside, but I just knew it wasn’t good.

After a moment, the footsteps resumed. I had barely sighed in relief when the door was suddenly kicked open.

It swung wide.

Whoever stood in the doorway radiated hostility.

The only possibility that came to mind was that we’d been caught.

No sooner had the thought formed than the figure at the door began striding directly toward Ye Xinran and me.

A wave of tension swept through me. I nudged Ye Xinran.

“What are you waiting for? Run!”

Ye Xinran glanced at me, then bolted for the exit.

“Neither of you is going anywhere!” a voice barked.

It was Li Moran.

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Strangely, my tension vanished, even replaced by a hint of relief.

Li Moran wouldn’t harm Ye Xinran.

But that didn’t mean he’d spare me.

“Tong Yang, are you looking for trouble? I heard you’ve been getting close to Xinran lately, but I didn’t expect you two to wind up here together!”

As he spoke, Li Moran swung a kick at me, catching me off-guard. The blow stung.

“Li Moran, don’t push your luck!” I snapped—he and I had never gotten along.

My words only made him angrier. He didn’t care if I lived or died; he just kept coming at me with everything he had.

If I weren’t worried that Ye Xinran hadn’t gotten away, I wouldn’t have taken it lying down.

“You dare yell at me? Who do you think you are?”

After a while, he seemed to tire out and stopped hitting me.

I was furious, but as the student council president, he wielded too much authority.

“So, what were you doing in the archives?” he demanded, only now remembering the real issue.

I just looked at him in silence.

At that moment, my phone began to vibrate. My heart skipped a beat—usually, a call at a time like this meant bad news.

But when I saw it was Ye Xinran, a wave of relief washed over me.

Li Moran snatched the phone from my hand and answered. The anger vanished from his face, replaced by a smile.

“Xinran? Looking for Tong Yang? He’s here, but tied up with something. We’ll be right down…”

After a few words, the call ended.

Li Moran snorted, shot me a look. “Brush the dust off yourself, and don’t tell anyone I hit you.”

All he wanted was to look good in front of the girl he liked.

I sneered and said nothing.

As we left the archives, I gently closed the door behind me.

Suddenly, with a click, the door locked itself.

In disbelief, I tried the handle. It was locked, sure enough.

“What’s taking so long? Move it!” Li Moran barked.

Puzzled, I hurried after him.

Strangely, as I walked downstairs, I glanced back at the archives window and felt as if a pair of eyes were watching me from inside.

“Tong Yang was with me in the archives. President Li, how do you plan to handle this?” Ye Xinran asked as she walked over.

Li Moran shrugged. “I have no intention of doing anything. If I did, it would be up to you to decide.”

And just like that, the whole thing blew over? It all seemed far too easy.

And why had Li Moran come back in the first place?

“Thanks for today,” I said to Ye Xinran as we reached the school gate.

She gave me a glance and walked off.

I watched her figure recede into the distance, then pulled a slip of paper from my pocket—the one I’d torn out earlier but hadn’t had a chance to read.

Gazing at the list of names, I looked back at the school buildings, an inexplicable chill running through me.

This school was truly terrifying.