LRAB Chapter 19 The Blocked Path to Survival
Chapter 19 The Blocked Path to Survival
The air on the entire fourth floor was filled with an overly sweet smell of air freshener.
Lin Xiaoxiao and her group stood at the door of the psychological counseling room, which was locked with an old-fashioned brass padlock.
A wad of red cotton was stuffed into the crack in the door, like some kind of malicious joke.
Su Ke stood in the middle of the corridor, her hands clasped together.
Her previously perfect smile now seemed somewhat forced, and her gaze kept drifting towards the dean's office at the end of the corridor.
"Teacher Lin, you can't get in without the key." Su Ke's voice was very soft, with an undertone that she wanted to discourage him. "How about another day? The director should be resting right now. Disturbing him would have serious consequences, think about it..."
Lin Xiaoxiao ignored her hint, gently squeezed the utility knife in her pocket, and turned to look at Bao Ping, who was wiping his sweat: "Master Bao, as a key member of the logistics department, you should have a backup plan for this kind of door lock problem caused by equipment failure, right?"
Bao Ping's beady eyes darted around, and he instantly understood Lin Xiaoxiao's meaning—she wanted him to take the fall.
He glanced at the imposing mahogany door, then at the knife that could spring out of Lin Xiaoxiao's pocket at any moment, and swallowed hard.
"Fine, who told me to take this salary?" Bao Ping gritted his teeth, steeled himself, straightened his oil-stained work clothes, and said, "You guys wait here, I'm going to meet this director."
Bao Ping, his back hunched, slowly walked towards the mahogany door.
Having spent years navigating the underbelly of society, Bao Ping has his own survival philosophy: be soft when faced with hardness, and slippery when faced with strength.
In horror movies, it's not always the case that you have to fight head-on to survive; sometimes, playing it safe is a brilliant tactic.
"Thump, thump, thump."
The knocking was rhythmic and of moderate volume, expressing respect without sounding impatient.
"Enter"
A deep, resonant male voice came from inside the door, devoid of emotion but exuding an air of authority.
Bao Ping pushed open the door and entered, his face instantly plastered with a fawning smile.
The office is very large and exquisitely decorated.
Behind the huge mahogany desk sat a burly middle-aged man, dressed in a crisp Zhongshan suit, his hair neatly combed, clearly a strict and fair headmaster.
At that moment, he was holding a snow-white handkerchief and carefully wiping a trophy on the table.
"Director, you're still so busy! You're working so hard. Our school's high college entrance exam pass rate is all thanks to you, our pillar of strength!"
Bao Ping bowed and scraped as he approached, but instead of directly mentioning the keys, he first offered a compliment.
The head of student affairs paused, raised his eyelids, and looked at Bao Ping through his thick glasses as if scrutinizing a cockroach: "You're from the logistics department? What brings you here so late?"
"Oh, Director, isn't this the meticulous Teacher Lin?"
Bao Ping had a bitter face, as if he had suffered a great injustice. "She dragged Su Ke, the top student in our school, to this counseling room for counseling."
As Bao Ping spoke, he observed the director's expression. Seeing that the other party's emotions remained unchanged, he boldly continued his rambling: "I was thinking that if something really happened like in Building A, losing things would be a small matter, but if it disturbed the students' evening self-study and ruined our school's reputation, I couldn't afford to pay for that with my life."
Although his words were rough, every sentence accurately hit the school's sore spots—order, safety, and honor.
The head of the teaching department put down the trophy.
"That new teacher, is he very troublesome?" The director's voice turned cold.
"That's right, young people don't know the rules."
Bao Ping immediately seized the opportunity, appearing to share the same hatred as the director.
"Director, could you do me a favor and give me the spare key? I'll go in and take a look, and if everything's alright, I'll send her away after Teacher Lin finishes tutoring her students. I won't cause you any trouble."
The head of the teaching department stared at Bao Ping for a good ten seconds.
He felt like a piece of meat on a chopping board, with the other party assessing whether to start eating from the head or chewing from the feet.
Sweat poured down Bao Ping's back, but the smile on his face remained unchanged, and even became more humble.
Finally, the head of student affairs opened the drawer. A set of cold keys was tossed onto the table. He said, "Go and come back quickly." Then, picking up the white handkerchief again, he added, "Don't get my floor dirty."
"Alright, hold on tight!" Bao Ping felt like he had been granted a pardon. He grabbed the keys and turned to leave. It wasn't until he walked out of the mahogany door and closed it that he realized his calves were cramping.
"Damn it, that scared the hell out of me!" Bao Ping gripped the key tightly in his hand, strode towards Lin Xiaoxiao, shook the key in his hand, and a smug smile appeared on his face. "That old thing is not easy to fool, but I, Bao, am not someone to be trifled with either."
Lin Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief and immediately took the key to open the door to the counseling room.
"Go in, quick!"
The group filed in.
......
the other side.
Time is ticking away at a heart-stopping pace, with only 5 minutes left until the designated check-in time.
Lu Dan stood in front of the cement wall painted with a strange smiling face, his face gloomy.
"Bad kids, don't tattle." The large red characters were particularly glaring under the flashlight beam, as if mocking their helplessness.
"Uncle, the road is gone!" Zhang Kai was so anxious that he scratched his head and picked up the table leg with the nail and smashed it against the wall.
"Bang!" The table leg slammed against the wall, accomplishing nothing except for a few sparks and two nails flying off.
Lu Dan grabbed Zhang Kai, who was about to continue smashing things, and shook his head.
He glanced at his watch and pointed to the stairwell at the other end of the corridor.
Building B has two staircases. Since this one is blocked, let's try our luck on the other side.
The two turned and ran wildly, their lungs feeling as if they had been stuffed with scalding sand, each breath carrying a burning sensation.
Lu Dan's left ankle shadow throbbed wildly. His "roommate" seemed to sense the imminent crisis and was anxiously sending him danger signals.
The moment Lu Dan rushed to the other side of the stairwell, his heart sank.
In the same location, with the same blockade, an identical concrete wall stands across the entrance to the fourth floor, painted with that nauseating red smiley face.
"Bad boy, don't run away." This time the words were different.
"No way, uncle." Zhang Kai leaned against the wall and slid down to sit down. "The fourth floor is completely sealed off. Your time clock must be up there."
Lu Dan did not give up thinking.
The surface world has four floors, but the inner world doesn't. What does this mean?
This suggests that the fourth floor might be a so-called restricted area, or a repository of some kind of truth that can only be revealed under specific conditions.
Just then, a series of scraping sounds came from downstairs, like the sound of a mollusk dragging on the rough ground, accompanied by a fishy smell and the sound of dripping water.
Lu Dan hurriedly shone his flashlight down the stairs.
Two enormous, cloudy, yellowish eyes peeked out from the corner on the third floor.
It's that gecko monster that was terribly tricked by Lu Dan in Building A, it actually survived!
The gecko monster looked even more terrifying than before, its body covered in shredded cloth and rotten flesh, likely left by the ghost students.
Its once smooth gray skin became pitted and uneven, revealing its stark white bones in many places.
Enemies meeting are bound to be furious. The gecko monster immediately recognized the culprit in the security guard uniform on the stairs. It let out a mournful roar and its previously sluggish movements began to accelerate as it frantically climbed the stairs.
Ahead lies a sealed-off ghost wall, behind lies a vengeful demon.
Crises piled up.
Lu Dan grabbed Zhang Kai, who was lying on the ground, and rushed back to the third-floor corridor.
Since both the up and down roads are blocked, the only option is to use the terrain to maneuver.
But before he could get to the point, he had to do one thing first.
As he ran, he pulled out his patrol log from his pocket.
The flashlight beam was shaking violently, and the stench of blood was already creeping up my back.
Almost by muscle memory, Lu Dan tore through the paper with the tip of his pen while running, writing his final distress signal: [3rd floor, no 4th floor, everything normal.]
The moment he finished writing the last punctuation mark, Lu Dan whirled around and slammed the rubber baton in his hand hard against the lunging gecko monster. Then he rolled into an empty classroom next door and kicked the door shut behind him.
With a loud bang, the door panel was dented by the huge impact, and wood chips flew everywhere.
......
Lin Xiaoxiao was pulling Su Ke to sit on the sofa, trying to break down the defenses of this perfect class monitor with a gentle tone.
"Su Ke, I know you're actually very tired. Is being number one in every exam really what you want to be, or is it what others expect you to be?"
Su Ke's hand holding the water glass trembled slightly, her eyes were somewhat unfocused, and a crack finally appeared in the smile on her face.
"I...I don't know..." Her voice was very soft. "Sometimes I feel like there are two people inside me, one laughing and one crying. The one that's crying...is locked up."
Just then, Lin Xiaoxiao felt the paper in her pocket getting hot again.
She took it out and looked at it, her face instantly turning deathly pale.
[3rd floor, no 4th floor, everything is normal.]
These nine simple words convey a message of despair—there is no fourth floor in that world, and the other person is stuck!
"Something's happened!" Lin Xiaoxiao jumped to her feet. "Master Bao, keep an eye on them, I have to go..."
Before he could finish speaking, the doorknob suddenly turned, and with a "click," the door opened.
The burly headmaster, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, stood at the door, a stern yet insincere smile on his face. He held a snow-white handkerchief in his hand, his gaze passing over Bao Ping and Li Mu, landing directly on Lin Xiaoxiao.
"Teacher Lin, I heard you're here providing after-school tutoring for the students."
The head of the teaching department strode in, casually closing the door behind him, blocking the only exit.
"I happen to be quite concerned about students' mental health, would you mind if I sat in on the class?"
He walked to the sofa and sat down like a mountain, instantly filling the entire room with a suffocating sense of oppression.
Lin Xiaoxiao stood frozen in place, clutching the piece of paper with the distress signal written on it tightly in her hand—she couldn't move...