A mysterious realm descends, and I defy fate in comics.

Chapter 64 Shan Qing

Jiang Xingni had considered what possibilities the new instance might open.

Perhaps it was brought by the newly introduced Su Yanzhi?

Jiang Xingni had long been prepared for the fact that he would be absent from the comic for a period of time—perhaps an entire arc.

But Jiang Xingni really didn't expect that the new dungeon would start from his own place.

Don't say that maybe it's just a coincidence. Jiang Xingni dismissed this extremely unlikely idea from his mind and painfully reminded himself that this was a comic book world.

Although comics cannot encompass everything that happens in this entire world.

However, Jiang Xingni did not believe that as a new member of the main character group, he could avoid being involved in the comic's plot.

Imagine Jiang Xing looking back at his high school alma mater—which is also Xiao Jiming's alma mater—to investigate a paranormal event, but this paranormal event is not shown in the comic and has nothing to do with superpowered people or anything like that. What are the chances of that happening?

The long string of words went through Jiang Xingni's mind and made her want to laugh.

Moreover… if it were her… Jiang Xingni pondered in his heart. It couldn't be considered insignificant.

After all, she was the first "outsider" to join the main characters.

Moreover, he and Xiao Jiming came from the same high school. With these advantages combined, it would be strange if nothing happened to Jiang Xingni.

She sighed silently, then continued listening to Xu Niannian's sobbing complaints on the other end of the phone.

Xu Niannian is an ordinary high school girl, and Jiang Xingni can see the qualities in her in most people her age.

I got the class's grades during evening self-study, and then checked their scores one by one. I could grumble and complain to Jiang Xing for half the class.

The worst time I cried wasn't because of the breakup, but because I performed poorly in the senior year exam and fell to outside the top 200.

A girl who cares about grades and the future, who keeps saying "the worst that can happen is death," but who will still head towards the future without hesitation.

Jiang Xingni thought to himself.

"Take your time," Jiang Xingni sighed, her tone calm.

The trust built up over the past two years successfully brought Xu Niannian's sobs to a gradual halt on the other end of the phone. She choked up for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice still carried a hint of tears.

"A few days ago, a girl from our school jumped off a building."

"You know, jumping off buildings isn't uncommon. Didn't someone from the high school next door jump off last year?"

"She's dead. Well, it's not uncommon for people to jump off buildings. Suicides are quite common. A few months ago, a high school sophomore committed suicide by drinking pesticide, and last year someone drank himself to death."

"But, but ever since she died, something... has been off at our school?"

"The teachers told us to draw the curtains so we wouldn't look out, and there were some forbidden places we couldn't go into. But why? In the past, when someone jumped to their death, the windows were simply sealed up several times over. Why is it so strange this time..."

"Then yesterday, or what time was it, I went with you guys to see what had happened—"

"I saw that girl, the girl who jumped off the building a couple of days ago. She fell from the sky again and again. She jumped, right in front of me, blood was everywhere, all red, and then there were bones, brain matter, red, white and yellow all mixed together."

She was smiling at me.

Her words were incoherent, interspersed with sobs and muffled speech.

But Jiang Xingni understood what she was saying.

"The little girl who died," the girl asked softly, trying not to upset Xu Niannian. "What was her name?"

Fortunately, Xu Niannian truly trusted Jiang Xingni.

Jiang Xingni had already left school in the winter, so naturally she was unaware of these events that had occurred after she left.

"Ji Shanqing," Xu Niannian said. "The name of the girl who died was Ji Shanqing."

*

When Xu Niannian first heard the news that someone in her school had died, she didn't take it seriously.

After all, it's high school, and it's the senior year of high school. The pressure is so great. Who hasn't said something like, "If I don't do well on this exam, I'll jump off a building"?

It's just that some people take action, while others only talk the talk.

Xu Niannian herself had made such jokes before, and then her friends teased her, saying, "Go ahead and jump, pick a good day to jump."

"We're counting on you jumping off a building so we can get half a day off to make ends meet."

After all the calculations, the only person who hadn't made such a joke was actually Jiang Xingni.

When Xu Niannian thought of this, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Of course, she knew how much Jiang Xingni had sacrificed for his goal, and she also knew how lucky she was compared to Jiang Xingni.

However, this did not prevent Xu Niannian from being jealous of Jiang Xingni—Jiang Xingni was able to reach her liberation sooner than her.

This didn't stop her from genuinely celebrating for Jiang Xingni in her heart.

Therefore, upon hearing the news that another girl had jumped off a building, Xu Niannian simply sighed, asked for the girl's name, and then, with a slight sense of guilt, enjoyed her two-half-day holiday.

——Ji Shanqing.

Xu Niannian didn't know the owner of this name, but gossip always spreads very quickly in school.

Even though Xu Niannian didn't deliberately inquire, news about Ji Shanqing still reached her ears.

A little girl from an impoverished family, a little girl who was bullied at school, a little girl whose father sent her to high school bundle by bundle of firewood, a little girl who was hoped to have a better future after graduation.

Of course, some people say that she skips school all day long, and her family is already struggling so much, but she still doesn't know how to save money and asks her family for money.

Xu Niannian didn't know which version of events was correct; after her death, she couldn't even protect her own reputation.

Of course, she knew these rumors were just something her classmates were spreading among themselves when they were bored in high school.

After a while, when no one cares about this matter anymore, it will naturally be sealed away and no one will mention it again—as if this girl named Ji Shanqing had never existed.

Xu Niannian has accepted this outcome.

It wasn't until she took a taxi that she inadvertently started talking to the driver about Ji Shanqing.

The girl recounted all the rumors circulating at school to the driver in a calm and even tone.

But she saw the driver stop the car with great excitement and then show her the chat history on his phone.

"I was the one who gave her a ride the day she went to buy pesticides," the driver said, his voice choked with emotion.

It was only at this moment that Xu Niannian felt a sense of desolation that came from nowhere.