Pink Hair gave Ruan Xing a thumbs-up.

With a gentle pull of the threads, the poisoned and unconscious mouth was split into several pieces, revealing a scarred woman within.

Ruan Xing asked, "Can you walk?"

The woman trembled. "N-No—"

"Walk by yourself."

Ruan Xing saw that the woman’s legs were fine, just surface wounds at most. His own stamina wasn’t great, and he had no intention of carrying a burden like Pink Hair.

The woman was furious but dared not speak.

Ruan Xing: [How bad is the pollution?]

Fu Gui: [A little high. She should take a pill.]

Pink Hair handed the woman a pill, which she quickly grabbed and swallowed.

Pink Hair: "Who are you? How did you end up here?"

The woman’s face showed fear. "I-I'm just an ordinary person, a victim too. My family lives on Twelfth Street. M-my father works at the Research Institute. You can scan my ID chip!"

"This place is so remote. How did you get caught up in this?" Pink Hair squatted down.

"I came with my friends. We used to be students at this school. After it shut down, we all went our separate ways. But for our reunion, we decided to meet here. We didn’t expect to get caught in this."

"You were a student here? Then you should know what happened at this school. Why hold a reunion in such a dangerous place?" Pink Hair propped his chin on his hand.

"We didn’t think too much about it. It’s been so many years, and this place was 'purified' by the 'Knights.' We thought it would be fine."

Ruan Xing’s ears twitched. This was the second time he had heard the term "Knights." The first was from the driver.

[What are the Knights?] Ruan Xing asked Fu Gui.

Fu Gui was silent for a long time before finally speaking:

[You’ve seen many types of abilities—wind manipulation, animal communication, metal manipulation, special abilities, etc. But among them, the most unique and valuable is purification.]

[Those with purification abilities can cleanse pollution sources without any risk. After passing the Tower’s selection, they become 'Knights' and enter polluted zones to purify them.]

Ruan Xing was stunned. [Purify pollution sources?]

A chill ran down his spine.

He thought about how he had recklessly absorbed magic in the polluted zones twice now.

Fu Gui seemed to sense his unease. [Your ability works differently from theirs. There are only three Knights in the entire Tower, and no one who awakens a purification ability has ever awakened another ability. It’s complicated, and explaining it now won’t help.]

[For now, just know that you’re safe. Even if Fu Zhi has some doubts, he won’t turn against you immediately.]

Ruan Xing let out a small breath of relief.

[Will I run into them during missions?] He was curious about these people.

Fu Gui jumped onto his other shoulder. [They usually work alone and stay hidden. Dealing with them is difficult.]

They must be really powerful.

"You’ve got guts, huh!" Pink Hair shook his head after hearing the woman’s story. "The pollutants here are tough to deal with. You really are like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. But you’re lucky you ran into us."

The woman’s expression shifted to desperation. "You’re from the Investigation Corps, right? Take me with you! I can guide you!"

Pink Hair had no patience for reckless people like this and was about to ignore her, but Ruan Xing spoke up. "Let’s go. I have questions for you."

The woman looked overjoyed—until she heard his next words, and her smile froze.

"What is the last classroom on the 15th floor?"

She stammered, "The… last classroom?"

Ruan Xing frowned impatiently. "What was it used for?"

He wasn’t about to charge in without knowing the situation first.

The woman glanced at Pink Hair for help, but he just lifted his chin, signaling her to answer honestly. Resigned, she replied, "It was the broadcasting station."

"The broadcasting station?"

"It handled everything from lost and found to daily announcements. The entire school could hear the broadcasts from that room."

Ruan Xing understood. So it was like a radio station.

Pink Hair was curious. "Why are you asking about that classroom?"

Ruan Xing: "My crow said the pollution there is severe."

Pink Hair was surprised. "So that’s why you pulled me over? Your crow’s pretty impressive."

He instantly grasped Fu Gui’s ability.

The woman, not understanding their conversation, looked nervous. "I advise you not to go in there. People died there before. The first person to jump to their death did it from there. Their head was smashed to pieces, and their limbs were twisted beyond recognition."

Pink Hair raised an eyebrow. "Big Sis, why do you sound like you saw it happen yourself."

The woman trembled. "Because the first person who jumped was my friend."

"She must have seen a ghost at that time. She was mumbling something, and she couldn't even hear me when I tried to talk to her. Then she just jumped.

After that, more and more people jumped—not just from the broadcasting station, but from the rooftop and even the teachers' offices.

It started with students and then spread to teachers, school leaders, and even outsiders. It was like they were possessed, jumping one after another. The cleaning staff couldn’t keep up. In summer, the garden reeked of corpses…

The situation spiraled out of control. Later, I got a talisman from an uncle at the Quarantine Center, then transferred to another school so I was safe. But many of my friends died in the incidents."

Her eyes filled with terror as she recalled the past. Her already messy makeup made her look a bit unhinged.

Same story as the driver’s… not much useful information.

Pink Hair and Ruan Xing exchanged glances. "That room should be safe now. Do you want to stay here or come with us?"

The woman trembled violently.

"I want to go with you! It’s too dangerous here!"

"We’re heading to an even more dangerous place. It’s the most polluted area," Ruan Xing explained.

The woman looked at the writhing, twitching appendages on the ground. One even brushed against her foot, its tiny mouth biting at her skin.

She screamed and jumped away. "I’m going with you!"

On the way, Pink Hair asked if she knew someone named Yueyue.

Her expression changed drastically. She stammered, then started talking about the person.

"Actually, she was my husband’s ex-fiancée."

Yueyue came from a wealthy family and was the head of the broadcasting station. Her sweet voice filled the daily announcements, and she was titled the school goddess because of her beauty.

Coming from an influential family, she was graceful in every move and had an enviable engagement.

"Yueyue and my husband were in an arranged marriage between their families. But my husband was brilliant and ambitious—he had no interest in a spoiled rich girl who was only good-looking and had a nice voice.

Like a scene straight out of a romance novel, the privileged young man rejected his family's arrangement. He struggled, yearned for freedom, and ultimately fell in love with a commoner girl."

The woman continued her story, describing the endless rumors and gossip she and Wang endured once they got together. The girl, Yueyue, had even gone mad with jealousy.

“She cornered me in the restroom, made me lick her shoes, and forced me to kneel and apologize. What could I do? Behind her weren’t just her devoted lackeys but also an entire powerful family!" The woman’s face twisted in pain. “At that time, my father was just a small-time employee. What power did he have to resist them?”

Pink Hair: “And then?”

Woman: “Thankfully, my husband protected me. That’s the only reason I survived their bullying.”

Just like a classic story’s female lead, she had suffered at the hands of a cruel, jealous rival—but in the end, she won. She graduated and married her prince.

Just like a secondary female lead in a novel, Yueyue was driven by jealousy, making the academically successful yet ordinary-background heroine suffer abuse and exploitation.

Clearly, this woman had successfully played the role of the heroine. After graduation, she even married the prince.

"Yueyue tried everything to destroy me. She used her family’s influence to pressure the teachers, forcing my classmates to isolate me. And then—she even tried to use pollution to kill me!"

Her voice turned sharp.

"Do you know how rare pollution is in the inner city? She planted a polluted object on my seat… but she didn’t know that my best friend often sat there. In the end, it was my best friend who got infected and… she died! Right in front of me!"

Her eyes burned red as her emotions spiraled out of control. “I hate it! My best friend was so kind. She didn’t deserve to suffer like that!”

Pink Hair felt something was off about the story, but he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly.

Just as he was about to speak, Ruan Xing stopped him.

They had arrived at the last room.

Unlike the other rooms, this one had no window on the door, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Ruan Xing pressed his ear against the door and listened. “There’s something inside.”

Fu Gui: [The whole room is polluted.]

Ruan Xing gestured for the woman to step back.

Pink Hair stood in front. "Hey, newbie, shouldn’t you be a little more cautious?"

Ruan Xing was slightly surprised by his sense of responsibility. Since he was willing to take the lead, he simply said, “Thanks for your hard work,” and took a few steps back.

Pink Hair cracked his knuckles. “Let’s see what kind of monsters dare to scare people.”

Huh? Shouldn’t the focus be on what kind of pollution they were dealing with?

Ruan Xing felt he was missing the point, but before he could say anything, he had already kicked open the classroom door.

Unlike the well-lit classrooms they had seen earlier, this room looked like it had been abandoned for decades.

The chairs were scattered messily and covered in thick dust. The dim lighting and tightly drawn curtains made the space feel even smaller. Directly in front of them was a massive conference table.

At the head of the table sat a bound figure, their head lowered, and their fate remained unclear. However, their silhouette seemed familiar.

“Husband!” The woman tried to rush forward, but the tentacles wrapped around the figure stopped her.

The middle-aged man suddenly raised his head, revealing that his original facial features had been replaced by blood-red mouths. His face now had four gaping mouths, all moving as he spoke. “Wife, you’ve come to join me?”

The woman let out a piercing scream and collapsed onto the floor.

Ruan Xing quickly fired a shot, blasting the creature’s head apart.

Black liquid gushed from the skull, splattering onto the woman’s face. Amidst the dark fluid were strange, solid red fragments. The woman wiped her face, and a tiny red object stuck to her hand.

The red, spindle-shaped thing opened and closed like a mouth. “Wife, don’t you miss me? Why did you kill me?”

It was a mouth—his brain had been entirely replaced by mouths.

Without a host, the red mouths quickly lost their vitality and became lifeless black masses.

The woman was too terrified to move, so Ruan Xing knocked the thing out of her hand.

"He was already a pollutant."

Suddenly, Ruan Xing realized why the middle-aged man seemed familiar—it was Wang, the same person who had led him into the classroom earlier.

He still remembered how the indistinct female students had described Wang: handsome, wealthy, fond of his commoner girlfriend.

The woman murmured, “How could this happen…? The script… this isn’t how the story was supposed to go…"

Seemingly in shock, she began rambling incoherently.

Ruan Xing frowned but ignored her and began searching the room.

Pink Hair suddenly exclaimed, “Hey, I’ve seen this person before.”

He pointed at a group photo hanging behind the table. At the center of the picture, a girl with straight-cut bangs and jet-black hair beamed brightly.

“She’s the one who took me to the classroom when we got separated.”

Ruan Xing flipped through the drawers under the photo, then suddenly looked up. “What was your best friend’s name?”

The woman numbly answered, “Her name was Minmin.”

“Did you know she was close with Yueyue?”

Ruan Xing held up a photo showing Minmin and the bob-haired girl. The two were standing close together, arms linked and smiling intimately.

The woman’s expression twisted. “That’s impossible!”

“But photos don’t lie, Big Sis,” Pink Hair commented, taking the picture for a closer look. “This girl was the one who made me teach the class. Honestly, none of them were that bright. They didn’t even understand philosophy. How are they supposed to graduate?”

Below the group photo, a red microphone stood out among the black equipment.

Just as Ruan Xing was about to grab it, the microphone suddenly crackled, and a harsh buzzing echoed throughout the campus.

Someone tapped the mic, and a familiar female voice came through: “Hello, dear listeners. Welcome to the Campus Voice program. I’m your good friend, Yueyue.”

It was the pollutant!

The microphone’s sound spread far and wide, reverberating through every corner of the school.

"I’m so happy today! All my dear friends have gathered here, just like that afternoon years ago when we laughed and chatted together. This time, we even have new friends joining us! Three young guests who will surely make our reunion even more fun…"

The woman suddenly screamed and collapsed against the wall, hugging her knees and mumbling incomprehensibly.

Pink Hair furrowed his brows and focused on the red microphone. “Could this be the source of the pollution?”

The moment he finished speaking, the world spun.

Ruan Xing found himself seated in a brightly lit classroom.

To his left was Pink Hair, further left was the driver, and to his right was the woman. Fu Gui had been tossed into a corner.

Ruan Xing's legs were shackled to the chair by two metal restraints, and a chain secured his waist to the seat—just like the restraints in an interrogation room.

At the front of the classroom, a metallic speaker crackled to life.

“Nice to meet you, dear listeners. The sun is shining beautifully tonight—perfect for a game.”

"The name of the game is Truth or Dare."

"Is everyone ready?"