AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016
Chapter 229 - 107 I Killed It_2

Chapter 229: Chapter 107 I Killed It_2

After interacting with Tian Bufan, he had more insights into the other passages, and at this point, some people were sparsely walking into the passage dressed in sports student uniforms.

This time he did not see the girl in the sailor uniform, but that was to be expected, considering that their concepts of time were not the same. Moreover, in some sense, the girl in the sailor uniform couldn’t even be classified as an "art student."

At least, that was the case up until the point he left the dream.

"Should I refer to them as ’they’ or ’it’?" Lin Yi couldn’t help but think to himself.

After watching the other passages for a while, he glanced at the Staff Passage.

But he had never seen any staff in the Staff Passage after several times.

In the end, he let his gaze linger on a trash can before silently retracting it and walking with Tian Bufan and the others toward the entrance of the Student Passage.

"Everyone be careful, this Student Passage is a bit strange," he said, fearing that Wei Shan and Kuai Hongji hadn’t heard his conversation with Tian Bufan clearly the previous night, so he briefly shared his experience once more.

Tian Bufan said, "The situation you described probably occurs after the mist fills the entire passage. When it’s full of mist, you can’t see the end, giving a sort of ’Penrose Stairs effect’..."

"But now there isn’t much mist, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem... Still, as you’ve said, let’s all stay alert," he continued.

"Mm."

The group entered the Student Passage.

The incandescent lights in the Student Passage were always on, plus the sun had come out, so the previously thick mist had almost dissipated, leaving only a thin layer floating on the steps like dry ice.

As a few of them walked in the Student Passage, they felt as if they were ascending the steps of a celestial mountain in the clouds.

Lin Yi silently observed the interior walls of the Student Passage. His previous visits had been overshadowed by eeriness to such an extent that he hadn’t properly observed it. Now, the discomfort had faded considerably, and with Tian Bufan and the others present, he had the chance to observe as he walked.

"There seems to be something interesting about these wall tiles," Tian Bufan suddenly remarked halfway through, then stopped on the steps he was on, slowly approached the wall in front of him, and began to quietly observe.

Lin Yi was drawn in by Tian Bufan’s actions and also approached.

The inner wall of the Student Passage was uneven, resembling the eroded stone pathways beneath bunkers, with the arc-shaped dome also giving the impression of an air-raid shelter.

After the mist had filled the Student Passage the previous night, traces of flowing water appeared on the walls of the passage, and even the steps beneath were covered by a thin layer of flowing water.

But now, there wasn’t a single trace of flowing water, as if the streams encountered the previous evening had never existed.

Approaching the wall, Lin Yi suddenly noticed what seemed to be man-made marks on the pitted walls, as if they had been chipped and hewn by an axe and then smoothed over.

Tian Bufan lightly touched the wall with his hand, his brow slightly furrowed.

"Did you find something?"

"There are some traces of patterns or symbols on the wall here, but they’ve been worn away," he replied.

"Maybe it was caused by the water flow," Lin Yi mentioned briefly about the events of the previous evening.

Tian Bufan said, "Indeed, flowing water can erode the landscape, but how many years would it take for water to penetrate stone?"

"So what you’re saying is... it was deliberately erased?"

Tian Bufan shook his head, "It’s not likely that it was deliberately erased."

"If someone wanted to erase these symbols, why didn’t they simply choose other materials in the first place when constructing it? Why wait until after it was built to erase them?"

"Perhaps... the people who built it and the ones who erased it are not the same?" Lin Yi speculated.

"You can keep that hypothesis," Tian Bufan said, "I have another one."

"What hypothesis?"

"Another hypothesis is that flowing water indeed eroded the geographical features here. You just mentioned that when you left yesterday, you heard the sound of water... "

"It wasn’t just hearing, I also stepped in water."

"So the flow of water is real, another layer exists here, and when the layer begins to fall, water will seep out from the walls."

"Combining the rule mentioned in the cafeteria’s regulations about the ways of entering and exiting the cafeteria with your previous hypothesis about ’nonexistent water,’ we might hypothesize that during certain periods, the Student Passage gets flooded."

"The cafeteria opens for dinner from 16:00 to 20:00, so the time period in question is likely after 20:00, when it’s dark and the weather is abnormal, causing the layers to fall and the water to surge into the passage."

"The speed of the water flow at that time might far exceed our imagination, to the point where it can erode the walls."

"This..." Lin Yi showed a look of surprise as he was shocked that Tian Bufan could always think of so many things.

"Of course, this too is a hypothesis."

"Two hypotheses, one caused by humans, the other by the layer... Without comparison, I would rather it be caused by the layer." Tian Bufan narrowed his eyes slightly, "Let’s go, no need to waste more time, let’s have breakfast."

The inner wall of the Student Passage was indeed somewhat special, but it did not delay them for too long. After a brief glance, they headed together toward the exit of the Student Passage.

Just as they saw the exit, Lin Yi suddenly felt a sense of "familiarity" that also made his spine tingle.

He knew that he would probably be greeted by the chef wearing a blue apron and the signature sinister smile.

He looked up and, indeed, at the end of the Student Passage, he saw that chef in the blue apron.

This was a very strange fellow; Lin Yi could sometimes see him, and sometimes he couldn’t.

The man’s position was in the blank space between the exit of the Student Passage and the entrance to the Student Cafeteria, and Lin Yi could only not see him when he was in that blank space. As soon as he left the blank area, whether inside the Student Passage or in the Student Cafeteria, he could see him.

It was as if the existence of the chef in the blue apron was meant to make Lin Yi doubt the reality and illusion of his surroundings.

"Fuh..." Wei Shan exhaled deeply in a low voice, his gaze filled with strong hostility as he looked at the chef in the blue apron, the corners of his lips slightly turning up, like a cautious and highly restrained wild beast.

"Wei Sang, can you see him too?" Lin Yi asked.

"We all can," Tian Bufan said calmly, "Don’t mind him, follow the rules, just ignore him."

Wei Shan nodded and looked away.

"Do you know what that is?" Lin Yi asked Tian Bufan.

If it was someone else, he probably wouldn’t have asked, like when he accidentally asked Xu Shunkang about the basement of the Teaching Building the night before last, causing Xu Shunkang’s face to turn pale.

Back then, he didn’t have a concept of "cognition" and "layers," but now it was different. He knew that asking the Sports Students a question beyond their cognition might harm them, but Tian Bufan was different.

The range of Tian Bufan’s "cognition" was a mystery.

But Tian Bufan shook his head and said wordlessly, "I’m not a deity, Old Lin. My information comes from the analysis and observation of anomalies, not from some divination at your every question to know the answer."

"The chefs in the cafeteria are a fairly complex group. Although they have only blue and green aprons to distinguish them, the details and division within them might be more complicated than those of Art Students."

"Just remember, a chef in a blue apron is not necessarily normal, but a chef in a green apron is definitely not normal, and that’s enough."