Translator: CinderTL
"What does this have to do with the sculpture you mentioned?" Jiang Cheng asked.
Judging by the security guard's behavior, his death wasn't an accident. He had been targeted by something that was determined to kill him.
Yuan Xiaoyi sighed, her gaze conveying a sense of calm to Jiang Cheng. "Because it happened so suddenly—less than ten minutes after leaving the police station—and in such a gruesome way, everyone who recalled the security guard's recent behavior couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines."
"The case itself was nothing special. A large truck was driving normally, albeit a bit too fast. The security guard had simply lost his mind and darted across the road."
"But the investigating officer was thorough and uncovered a crucial piece of information from a witness nearby."
"This witness had been standing at the crosswalk, waiting for the red light, when the security guard suddenly charged diagonally across the street from the opposite side at high speed."
"There wasn't much traffic at the time. Had the security guard simply continued running, he wouldn't have been hurt. But the strange part was that he stopped abruptly in the middle of the road."
"But..." Yuan Xiaoyi looked up, her gaze strange as she met Jiang Cheng's eyes. "At the time, the lane in front of him was completely empty! There wasn't a single car in sight!"
"He froze, as if paralyzed by something. He stared fixedly in one direction for about six or seven seconds before the accident happened."
Yuan Xiaoyi's words were clear: if not for those crucial seconds of delay, the security guard would still be alive.
Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment, a rough idea forming in his mind. He turned to Yuan Xiaoyi and asked, "Did you find out what the security guard was looking at before he died?"
Yuan Xiaoyi nodded, then whispered, "Yes. The police conducted a site simulation and brought back witnesses to stand in their original positions. The direction the security guard was staring at was..." Yuan Xiaoyi paused. "A coffee shop across the street."
Before Jiang Cheng could press further, Yuan Xiaoyi quickly added, "There's nothing special about the coffee shop. It's just an ordinary one with floor-to-ceiling windows. You can buy a cup of coffee and sit by the windows all afternoon, watching the scenery outside and killing time."
The Abnormality appeared the next afternoon. The police obtained a video taken by a group of students from a university club who happened to be at the scene. They had originally intended to film the traffic on the road, but instead, they captured the entire sequence of the security guard's death.
"In the video, the coffee shop is also visible, though only for a fleeting moment. But even in that brief glimpse, you can see a sculpture behind the coffee shop's floor-to-ceiling windows!"
"It's white and very distinct—the same one that was filmed in the Sculpture Hall!"
"A half-length human figure!"
Yuan Xiaoyi turned to Jiang Cheng, her voice trembling with fear. She looked like a frightened girl, her eyes filled with a heartbreaking terror.
"The same eerie half-length human figure reappeared at the scene of the security guard's death," Jiang Cheng mused, stroking his chin as if something had clicked into place.
Now the security guard's death was clear. The reason he had frozen in the middle of the road was because of the sudden appearance of this half-length human figure.
"That's right," Yuan Xiaoyi nodded repeatedly, adding, "And just like before, when the police questioned everyone at the coffee shop, not a single person remembered seeing the sculpture. No one had any recollection of it whatsoever."
"There are security cameras in the coffee shop, but they didn't capture anything," Yuan Xiaoyi continued.
"Later, after the police left, they reviewed the security guard's footage from the police station. The footage showed the security guard alone in the room at night, staring intently at the corner of the room without blinking."
"The police officer on duty that night found this strange and checked several times, but found nothing."
"But when Coco looked again, she noticed something odd. In the corner... on the wall facing the corner, there was a faint shadow."
Jiang Cheng asked softly, "You didn't see a person, but there was a shadow on the wall?"
"Yes, exactly," Yuan Xiaoyi nodded. "It was as if an invisible person was standing there."
"And it wasn't just this time!"
"The same thing happened at the psychologist's office, only it was even more obvious!"
Yuan Xiaoyi exclaimed excitedly, "There was only one coat on the hanger, but the shadow on the wall behind it had a head! And it kept swaying, as if it was about to fall off! I mean, the head... the head was about to fall off!"
"Calm down, Xiaoyi," Jiang Cheng said, reaching out and looking into her eyes. "It seems all this is connected to that half-body statue. The Urban Legends in the Sculpture Hall must have been caused by it as well."
"How did the school handle this later?" Jiang Cheng asked. "I mean, the Sculpture Hall?"
Yuan Xiaoyi sighed at Jiang Cheng's question and shook her head. "What else could they do? They moved all the sculptures used for the exhibition and closed the Sculpture Hall."
"Later, after the school got new leadership—a young leader from a big city who'd spent many years abroad—they didn't seem to care much about such things," Yuan Xiaoyi said with a hint of nostalgia. "Not long after the new leader arrived, everyone noticed the Sculpture Hall was being renovated. After a while, the renovations were complete, and it reopened."
"Did anything else happen after it reopened?" Jiang Cheng pressed.
"There were a few incidents, but nothing serious. Some visitors complained it was freezing inside—a bone-chilling cold that even thick clothes and hand warmers couldn't ward off."
"There were also rumors that the sculptures in the hall would mysteriously move. They'd be fine when the hall closed in the afternoon, but when the gates opened the next morning, their positions would have changed overnight. No one could ever figure out why."
At this point, Yuan Xiaoyi lowered her voice. "Because so many people know about the male teacher and the security guard, they've turned a blind eye to what happens in the Sculpture Hall. No one dares to investigate too deeply, as long as nothing gets stolen."
"Oh, and after that male teacher incident, no one dared to work the night shift in the art center building anymore. The School Security Department told the public that someone stayed overnight to keep watch, but everyone at our school knows that's just a cover-up. The security room is completely empty, just with the lights on."
"At 5 p.m., when it's still light out, the art center starts kicking out the last batch of students after their classes and then locks the gate."
After listening for so long, Jiang Cheng had heard mostly disjointed stories. He grew slightly impatient and cut straight to the point, asking Yuan Xiaoyi how to rescue Xiaoyu, who was trapped in the Urban Legends.
Sensing Jiang Cheng's change in attitude, Yuan Xiaoyi grew nervous. "Senior, please don't rush me. I might be rambling, but I really don't want to see anything happen to Xiaoyu. That's why I wanted to explain everything from the beginning."
"I don't have many friends at school. Xiaoyu is my best friend," Yuan Xiaoyi said, her voice tinged with grievance, her eyes reddening.
Jiang Cheng sighed inwardly. This girl was quite the actress, but he still played along, offering her comfort.
"Senior," Yuan Xiaoyi looked up, her eyes filled with a pitiful plea. "Xiaoyu told me that the things in the art center are sculptures... sculptures of that kind are alive, and there's more than one of them. They move at night."
"Even when she hides, she can still hear their footsteps, the sounds of them crawling and scratching on the floor. It's terrifying."
"Those things are looking for her. If they find Xiaoyu, they'll definitely kill her. No, not them... it's it. It's the right word!"
Yuan Xiaoyi seemed to have lost her soul, her words rambling incoherently. Jiang Cheng grew increasingly puzzled as he listened, but the last sentence caught his attention. "Because Xiaoyu knows its true nature, its identity. She's even seen it. That's why it's determined to kill her!"
This account struck Jiang Cheng as familiar. "Like the pursuit of that security guard?" he frowned. "And what do you mean when you say Xiaoyu knew its true identity?"
"Senior, that half-human statue seems to have a history," Yuan Xiaoyi whispered. "Someone later took the statue's photo around, asking around, and it was actually recognized. An old man, nearly a hundred years old, blind in one eye, lives in a town near our school."
"When he saw the photo, the old man's remaining eye widened in shock. He nearly collapsed from fright."
"After calming down for a long time, he finally sobbed, snot and tears streaming down his face, and confessed that he knew the person in the photo. He was a notorious bandit."
"Back then, leading a gang of bandits, he terrorized this area, burning, looting, and killing without mercy. His hands were stained with blood."
"He ravaged the villages and towns nearby, leaving nothing untouched. It's no exaggeration to say that even children would stop crying the moment they heard his name."
"That eye of his... that eye was blinded by this gang."
The old man ground his teeth in hatred. "He was captured by soldiers after liberation," he said. "He and his men were paraded to the execution ground and executed."
"At first, they said they'd shoot him," Yuan Xiaoyi said, mimicking the old man's voice. "But the people wouldn't allow it. The public's fury was immense. You can't imagine the scene that day. The crowd was a sea of people. Every household had lost a loved one to his cruelty. Some villagers even brought scissors and knives, desperate to flay him alive."
"The other bandits were shot, but not him. They didn't use a gun." Yuan Xiaoyi mimicked the old man's gesture, wiping her hand across her neck and whispering, "They beheaded him with an old-fashioned broadsword. A red cloth was tied to the back."
"The old man said it was a Ghost-Head Blade," Yuan Xiaoyi continued. "They say that if you're beheaded with such a blade, even King Yama won't accept your soul for reincarnation. You're doomed to wander as a lonely ghost for eternity."
(End of the Chapter)
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