El hibisco como pintura

Capítulo 14

"Lin Nana, we shouldn't have treated you like that before. It was all our fault. Please don't take it to heart." Wang Qin said, looking around in fear.

"Even if you become a ghost, you must let us go. We know... we know we were wrong..." Lu Yao's voice was almost choked with sobs.

“These star-shaped candies were your favorite when you were alive. We bought them especially for you.” Wang Qin pointed to the bottle on the podium. Just then, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew the window open, making a creaking sound. Lu Yao was so frightened that she dropped her flashlight and hugged Wang Qin tightly, her body trembling uncontrollably, repeatedly saying:

"We...we were wrong...please don't hurt us..."

"We didn't mean to... We'll never do it again..."

Gao Xiaoyuan, who was huddled in the corner, peeked out slightly. She didn't know why the two girls were so scared, but she could tell that their relationship with Lin Nana was extraordinary, so they might be students in Class 0 of the first year of high school. Thinking of this, Gao Xiaoyuan decided to stand up and ask for details, but at that moment, the sound of a violin suddenly rang out in the classroom.

The sound was beautiful and melodious, clearly a world-famous piece of music, but I couldn't quite place it for the time being.

"A ghost!" Lu Yao screamed, clutching her head and squatting on the ground again.

Wang Qin was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground, staring at her surroundings in terror.

Who was playing the violin? Gao Xiaoyuan's heart tightened. She had heard cello music here before when she found an MP4 player. Could the violin music be coming from another MP4 player or something else? Gao Xiaoyuan instinctively wanted to stand up, but just then she heard a bang. Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw a flashlight lying on the ground shining on the podium, which was shaking.

Gao Xiaoyuan was stunned.

"This...this..." Lu Yao was so frightened that she fell to the ground, then quickly crawled to Wang Qin's side, crying out, "Is the podium...is the podium moving?"

Wang Qin's face was ashen, and after her lips trembled slightly, she managed to utter a few incomplete words: "It... moves... Who's there!"

The podium continued to shake, and the bottle on it slid back and forth with the shaking, finally crashing to the ground with a deafening shattering sound.

Wang Qin and Lu Yao screamed at the same time and immediately hugged each other.

Gao Xiaoyuan covered her mouth with her hand, astonished by what she was seeing. She had no idea what was hidden under the lectern.

Just then, the lectern suddenly tipped over to one side, revealing a dark hole underneath.

"What...what is that?" Lu Yao asked fearfully, pointing her trembling index finger at the hole.

"I...I don't know! I don't know!" Wang Qin cried out in fear.

Gao Xiaoyuan gripped the flashlight tightly, her eyes fixed on the hole, not daring to blink. She could even feel cold sweat beading on her palms.

The violin continued, repeating the same music over and over.

Wang Qin and Lu Yao had no time to appreciate the beautiful music. They kept backing away and were about to reach the place where Gao Xiaoyuan was hiding when something suddenly flew out of the dark cave, and more and more of them flew out.

Gao Xiaoyuan's pupils dilated as she discovered that the things flying out of the hole were actually colorful candy wrappers.

"Candy wrappers, they're all candy wrappers!" Lu Yao finally burst into tears.

"How could this happen! How could this happen!" Wang Qin was dumbfounded, looking at the candy wrappers flying everywhere, appearing panicked.

"It's Lin Nana, it's Lin Nana!" Lu Yao cried even harder, "She won't let us go! She definitely won't let us go!" Lu Yao shouted as she desperately pulled at Wang Qin.

"No?..." Wang Qin suddenly shook off Lu Yao's hand, quickly stood up, and rushed out of the classroom.

"Wang Qin! Wang Qin!" Lu Yao cried out in fear, scrambling to her feet and glancing at the hole in terror. "Wait... wait for me!" Lu Yao shattered a shard of glass on the ground and rushed out of the classroom.

The violin music continued, but Gao Xiaoyuan had no mind to appreciate it. She slowly stood up, held her breath, and walked slowly toward the cave entrance.

The sound of the violin seemed to be coming from inside that cave.

Gao Xiaoyuan bit her lower lip, walked to the cave entrance, took a deep breath, and then mustered her courage to shine the switched-on flashlight into the cave.

A worn-out violin appeared in the beam of light, and the two hands holding the violin were covered in dried bloodstains.

"Ah—" Gao Xiaoyuan screamed and turned around, fleeing the classroom of Class 0, Grade 1 as fast as she could.

The violin music suddenly stopped at that moment.

Four star-shaped candies placed on the seat

Gao Xiaoyuan was in a very bad mood today. She walked sleepily down the school corridor with her eyes half-closed, bumping into classmates who passed by several times. She had apologized countless times this morning. All the trouble started last night, from that dark hole.

The thought of that hole made Gao Xiaoyuan tremble. She quickly wiped her face, trying to forget about the hole and clear her head.

Upon entering the classroom, Gao Xiaoyuan threw down her schoolbag and slumped onto the desk.

It was morning self-study time, and usually, their homeroom teacher, Ms. Duan, wouldn't be there; the students were free to manage their own time. Gao Xiaoyuan decided to take a nap so she'd be alert for class. Just as drowsiness crept in, images of the two girls from yesterday—Wang Qin and Lu Yao—suddenly flashed through her mind.

Who are they? Could they be students from Class 0 of the first year of high school? Why are they mentioning Lin Nana? And why are there star-shaped candies that Nana loves?

"Gao Xiaoyuan!" A voice suddenly rang in Gao Xiaoyuan's ears, startling her so much that she almost fell off her chair. Fortunately, a hand reached out in time and pulled her back.

Gao Xiaoyuan opened her eyes groggily and looked to her side, only to see Chen Shuai's handsome yet slightly roguish smiling face.

Didn't you sleep well last night?

"Hmm," Gao Xiaoyuan yawned and replied haphazardly.

Chen Shuai suddenly leaned close to Gao Xiaoyuan's face and whispered mischievously, "Is it because you missed me?"

Gao Xiaoyuan was startled. Looking around at her classmates, she saw several girls casting resentful glances at her. Gao Xiaoyuan was so angry that she quickly shook off Chen Shuai's arm, glared at him fiercely, and then got up and ran out.

Chen Shuai watched Gao Xiaoyuan leave, a faint smile appearing on his face, but it quickly turned into worry.

Gao Xiaoyuan ran straight to the toilet after leaving the classroom, and immediately turned on the tap as soon as she entered. When the cold water flowed out, Gao Xiaoyuan brought her face close to it, letting the icy water splash on her face, only in this way could she fully wake up.

Wang Qin, Lu Yao, Wang Qin, Lu Yao, Wang Qin...

For some reason, those two names seemed to be rooted in Gao Xiaoyuan's mind, impossible to shake off. Just then, two girls walked in, washing their hands while chatting.

Why didn't Wang Qin come today?

"I don't know either."

"She still owes me money, she's not going to refuse to pay me again, is she?"

"You know what kind of person she is, so why did you lend her money?"

"Sigh, what can I do? I guess I'm just unlucky."

Wang Qin! Gao Xiaoyuan raised her head, wiped the water off her face, and looked at the two girls beside her.

The two girls were wearing the same school uniform as Gao Xiaoyuan, but they didn't seem to know each other.

"Excuse me..." Gao Xiaoyuan hesitated for a moment, but still decided to ask, "Do you know Wang Qin?"

Upon hearing Gao Xiaoyuan's question, the two girls looked over at the same time, sizing her up and down.

"She's in our class, what's wrong?"

"Do you know Lu Yao?" Gao Xiaoyuan thought to herself. There are many people in the world named Wang Qin, especially since the name sounds very ordinary, so there is a possibility of having the same name. But if they also know Lu Yao, then this is not a coincidence or a case of having the same name.

“They’re both from our class.” As one of the girls said this, she looked Gao Xiaoyuan up and down with a wary gaze.

"May I ask which class you are in?" Gao Xiaoyuan was overjoyed. It seemed that Wang Qin and Lu Yao were not students in Class 0 of Grade 1, but they must know something about Lin Nana.

"Are you a freshman? Why are you asking so many questions?"

"I...I've heard of them, so I wanted to ask, could you please tell me which class you're in?"

The two girls exchanged a glance, and one of them said, "We're from Class 2 of the second year of high school, but I advise you not to go near those two. They're not to be trifled with." After saying that, the two girls turned off the tap, shook the water off their hands, and left the restroom.

"Class 2, Grade 11." Gao Xiaoyuan thought for a moment, then suddenly turned on the tap and ran out quickly.

When Gao Xiaoyuan reached the third floor, she saw many students running into a classroom, as if something had happened. Gao Xiaoyuan walked towards that classroom.

Inside the classroom, a group of students huddled together, seemingly watching something.

Gao Xiaoyuan looked up and glanced at the class sign hanging on the classroom door.

Class 2, Grade 11.

Isn't this the class that Wang Qin and Lu Yao are in?

Gao Xiaoyuan slowly walked in, squeezed into the crowd, and peered inside.

Lu Yao huddled in the corner, trembling, her terrified eyes fixed on the table in front of her.

There was a glass jar on the table, containing a star-shaped candy.

It's star-shaped candy again! Gao Xiaoyuan's heart tightened, and an ominous premonition suddenly arose in her mind.

"No, don't come looking for us, no! No!" Lu Yao screamed as if possessed, her body trembling more and more violently.

Gao Xiaoyuan quickly asked the student next to her, "What happened here?"

"I don't know either. I got up early this morning for class and saw this bottle on Wang Qin's desk. At first, none of us reacted, but when Lu Yao came in and saw the bottle, she went crazy!" a kind student replied.

Gao Xiaoyuan frowned and looked at Lu Yao again.

Lu Yao covered her head with her hands and closed her eyes, clearly terrified.

Gao Xiaoyuan looked at the glass bottle on the table again. The star-shaped candy lay quietly inside, seemingly waiting for someone to open it.

Gao Xiaoyuan couldn't help but walk to the table and pick up the glass bottle.

The students around them made soft noises.

Gao Xiaoyuan ignored her and opened the bottle cap on her own, took out the star-shaped candy, and carefully unfolded the candy wrapper.

A deep red "death" character was engraved on the white star-shaped candy, and Gao Xiaoyuan could even smell the bloody odor emanating from the "death" character.

Gao Xiaoyuan gasped, staring intently at the word "death" on the candy. What did this word represent?

"Ah—" Suddenly, several screams came from outside the window, followed by a commotion.

Gao Xiaoyuan didn't have time to think and rushed to the window. Just then, something suddenly fell in front of the window.

When Gao Xiaoyuan saw what it was, a look of horror appeared in her eyes.

Wang Qin hung from the window, a thick hemp rope around her neck, her head drooping to one side, her hands and feet swaying weakly, her eyes bulging as she stared intently at Gao Xiaoyuan.

Gao Xiaoyuan stared blankly at Wang Qin, who seemed to be staring back at her. Just then, Wang Qin suddenly spat out a pink candy.

Gao Xiaoyuan felt a sudden darkness before her eyes, and her entire body fell backward.

Suddenly, a pair of strong hands caught Gao Xiaoyuan and held her tightly in their arms.

I don't want you to get hurt.

A gentle breeze was blowing, and a bird seemed to be singing.