This pagoda could very well be a sign of things to come.
In the Bible's Old Testament, in the Book of Genesis, in order to reach heaven, humans gathered together on the plains and planned to build a tower that led directly to heaven.
This act angered God, and God secretly sent an incarnation to the human world and taught humans countless different languages, making it impossible for them to communicate with each other. Thus, the act of building a tower to heaven was put on hold.
This also represented an unfinished plan, a sabotage.
Zong Jiu frowned and pondered for a long time. He didn't even pay much attention to the class.
Fortunately, this wasn't a biology class, and there was no Mr. Nan who would always call him to answer questions. Thus, when he occasionally spaced out, the faceless teacher on the podium turned a blind eye and wouldn't punish a top student like him.
This time, the situation was definitely different from the previous one. It was truly dangerous.
The white-haired youth pressed his forehead and pondered. Finally, he opened the System Backpack again and drew a card.
This time, the question he asked was: How can I find a way to solve this situation?
This time, the card he drew was The Hanged Man.
The Hanged Man represented contemplation, scrutiny, and self-sacrifice.
Zong Jiu looked at it and seemed to realize something. He lowered his eyes and stuffed it back into the pile of cards.
If there was really no other way, he could only find the devil and let it complete the so-called "NPC cooperation reward."
But to be honest, even if it was a teacher hired by No.1 Middle School, it might be difficult to stop the execution according to the school rules. In addition, Zong Jiu didn't have much trust in the devil's character and felt that it would definitely cause trouble.
However, the appearance of the solution card just now made Zong Jiu feel a rare displeasure.
As expected, the devil regretfully told him that his authority in this dungeon wasn't that high.
Of course, with No.1's ability, it wouldn't be difficult to destroy this dungeon, but why would he do that?
This dungeon allowed the trainees to show their selfishness and malice without reservation. This was No.1's favorite drama.
The man's lips curled. "Don't worry. Since it's a reward, of course I won't let you be in danger. But the others … "
He spread his hands. "Then I can't help."
Fortunately, there wasn't only bad news these days. There was also good news.
The half-vampire placed Tsuchimyūmon's paper shikigami behind the iron door under the teaching building. Tsuchimyūmon had been seizing the time for the past few nights to use his shikigami to explore the area and obtained many clues.
The paper shikigami's one disadvantage: it was slow.
In addition, the Yin Qi in the Corpse Pool was too heavy, hindering the Yin Yang Master's spiritual power transfer. Therefore, the progress was much slower.
However, three weeks of time, no matter how slow it was, was enough for Tu Yumen to investigate the underground area thoroughly.
Behind the iron gate was a corridor.
There seemed to be a secret passage at the end of the passage. The paper Spirit-branded Retainer followed the passage and explored it. The paper Spirit-branded Retainer discovered that the passage led to a dirt wall outside the school. After all, the main gate was covered with cement and iron railings, and the school was surrounded by high walls that were intertwined with electric fences. Even though the School didn't allow the students to leave, could the School's leaders be the same as the students?
It was highly likely that this secret passage was the clue that the girl left behind in her diary. It was also the escape route that all the students wanted to find.
The Corpse Pool was on the right side of the corridor.
Usually, if a student committed a crime, they would be thrown into this room.
The Corpse Pool was surrounded by a sinister aura of resentment. Even through the thick door, one could smell the stench of decay behind the pool. There was also the constant rumbling of the biogas generator.
Countless broken limbs, blood, and brains were swept into this place mercilessly. The red and white things piled up and eventually turned into a stinky black color. Together with the dead branches and leaves, they became the best nourishment material for the No. 1 Middle School.
The faceless teaching assistants and teachers were even gloating about how many more students died this year compared to previous years. With more nutrients, the biogas generated more electricity. The hot water in the teachers' dormitory was comfortable, and they could even turn on the air conditioner for warmth. Everyone who heard this felt their hair stand on end.
The door on the left of the corridor was always locked, but according to the information sent by the paper Spirit-branded Retainer, there seemed to be someone behind this door.
Not only was there someone, but every month, the School's teachers would take turns to enter this door and come out again after a few hours. In order to avoid suspicion, the paper Spirit-branded Retainer didn't dare to approach and could only act according to the situation.
But one night, Tokumon suddenly handed a book to Zong Jiu with a serious expression.
Zong Jiu understood what was going on. After opening the book, he saw a small note written on it.
[The resentment is too strong. Contact with the paper Spirit-branded Retainer has been intermittent since early this morning.]
[Over the past two days, more faceless people have entered the door on the left. The last scene that was transmitted back was that the lights were turned on, and someone picked up the paper Spirit-branded Retainer from the ground. After that, contact was completely lost.]
Lost contact.
Zong Jiu's eyes darkened.
Even if they discovered a secret passage in the Corpse Pool that could allow them to escape from the School, it was useless. Their mission was to survive in No.1 Middle School for 120 days. No one could predict if this survival time would continue after leaving the school. If it didn't, what awaited them would be a dead end.
Zong Jiu thought of his stupid idea again.
Now that he thought about it, it wasn't a stupid idea, but he would have to wait until the final exam to use it.
At the end of the day, the most important thing right now was how to take Class 9 students through the second monthly exam.
Zong Jiu put the note back into the book and got out of bed.
It was the middle of the night, and there were only four hours before he had to get up. No matter how superhuman a trainee was, they still needed to rest. At this time of the day, the lights were already starting to go off, leaving only a few lights on.
It was dark, so it was inconvenient to get out of bed.
Zong Jiu carefully stepped on the only protrusion on the metal bed and stepped down onto the lower bunk bed. He was still holding the book in his hand.
In a moment of carelessness, his foot stepped on a hard, cold object through the thick black robe.
Zong Jiu lowered his head and looked at The Dark Wizard on the lower bunk. Half of his green eyes peeked out from under his hood.
At this moment, his eyes were like a lone wolf in the forest. He closed his fingers and looked down at the white-haired youth's foot that was stepping on his palm.
Zong Jiu: "…"
The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.
He didn't know if the demon was asleep or not, or if it was awakened by his foot, but it didn't stop him from going all the way. He stomped his foot hard and left. He handed the teaching materials in his hand to Fan Zhuo, who was not far away from him, who was seriously working on Mathematical Olympiad problems.
Only that pair of eyes were faintly looking at his back.
.....
Just like that, the time for the second monthly test was finally approaching.
By the end of the third exam, only four of the seven classes in the entire grade could barely meet the requirements.
One of them was Class 5, which had more than ten Faceless Trainees. Their conversion rate was still rising, and there were new Faceless Trainees converting almost every day.
The other one was Class 1, which had studied hard and finally crossed the line.
Other than that, Class 3, in which The Dark Wizard was in, also had five or six Faceless Trainees convert one after another, narrowly crossing the line. Similarly, Tokumon's Class 7 also used Faceless Trainees because the first Faceless Trainee appeared in Class 7. Although Class 7's class monitor was a half-vampire who was directly under Fan Zhuo's control, the small group of top students in the class was vaguely hostile toward him. They didn't follow the class monitor's orders and instead collectively pressured the weaker students like what Class 5 did.
But at least Class 7 still had Tokumon, and Tokumon was willing to protect the weaker students, so the situation wasn't as bad as Class 5's.
Under these circumstances, Class 9, Class 2, and Class 6 were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.
In this desperate situation, the weaker students in Class 2 and Class 6 weren't doing much better. The fastest way to improve their grades was to become Faceless Trainees. If a weak student became a top student, it would be able to increase the average score of the class by more than ten points, so why not?
At Zong Jiu's request, Class 9 applied for a change of dormitory. The dormitory was filled with both top and bottom students of Class 9. Not only was the learning atmosphere good, but it also provided the best educational resources.
Finally, it was time for the second monthly exam.
Before the monthly exam, Class 9 set aside three periods of self-study to do a set of papers and measure their average score.
Unfortunately, even though almost the entire class studied for seven days without sleep and rest, their final average score was still twenty points short of eight hundred.
Twenty points was like a natural chasm.
The Faceless Trainees in the class all had dark circles under their eyes and looked sad.
The bullet screen also felt sad with them.
[Sob sob sob sob, Class 9, please don't let anything happen to them.]
[What if they perform better tomorrow? There are always good and bad moments in every exam. They'll pass with a little push.]
[I really like Class 9. If Class 9 is in trouble, I'll really be 55555.]
[Sigh, everyone is already working very hard. Like 98 and 99, they practically don't sleep at all. Every day in class, they hold their books and listen to class to resist the urge to sleep. After class, they can fall asleep on their desks within ten minutes of class.]
Zong Jiu raised his hand. "Don't be afraid, everyone. We'll definitely pass."
"Do your best. Don't do anything stupid. I've seen everyone's hard work in the past seven days. Go back and have a good sleep tonight. Tomorrow, you must be in your best condition for the exam. "
He had already instructed the dormitory leaders of the weaker students to keep a close eye on them and not let them have any ideas.
Back then, when Class 9 had failed to achieve their goal, Class 99 and the others had thought of turning into faceless people to save the entire class. Now that it was obvious that they did not have enough marks, Zong Jiu did not believe that they would not think in that direction. Therefore, he specially made preparations in advance and told them to keep a close eye on them when they returned to the dormitory.
The white-haired young man's gaze swept across everyone. It was calm but full of certainty.
"Believe in yourself. Believe in Class 9."
####
The next day, everyone woke up early.
Class 9 Faceless Trainees all spontaneously organized the morning reading in class to prepare for the most difficult battle.
However, when a person walked into the class, the morning reading was dead silent.
As the person walked through the corridor mechanically, there were soft sobs.
Number 99 cried the loudest.
He rushed forward and wailed, sobbing uncontrollably.
"You're a f * cking dormitory leader … Last night, you were encouraging us and threatening us not to do anything stupid.
"In the end … In the end, what about yourself?!"
The dormitory leader stood there in a daze.
His face was smooth and empty, and he could no longer hear any response.