Chapter 126 – Corrieff College (IX)

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Xiao Lan took the pocket watch given by Luo and they left the office separately.

 

Xiao Lan then came near the headmaster's office and waited for Luo to move the headmaster, creating an opportunity for him to infiltrate.

 

Shortly afterwards, Luo appeared in Xiao Lan's sight, entered the headmaster's office without incident and left a few minutes later with Mrs Weld, the headmaster.

 

Xiao Lan glanced at the time on her pocket watch and leaned towards the headmaster's office.

 

After checking that no one was around, Xiao Lan opened the door to the room and entered silently.

 

When he first entered, he almost thought it was dark.

 

Because the whole office is black in tone, the wallpaper is black, the floor is black marble, the velvet ornate curtains are still black, the curtains are half-covered and let in so little light that the room appears dim.

 

Xiao Lan stood by the window and looked out.
The view was excellent and the location was so high that from this office you could overlook almost the entire college.

 

The most common thing in the office, apart from black, is the variety of silverware, whether it be stationery, candlesticks or wall decorations, all of which are uniformly silver, shimmering conspicuously against the pitch-black background.

 

The desk in the Principal's office was covered with official documents relating to the College's affairs, in Mrs Weld's elegant script, the contents of which were meticulous but dull, and Xiao Lan looked through them without finding anything special.

 

The bookshelf next to the school is also full of educational and psychological books, all of which show signs of having been turned over, so it is clear that Mrs Weld is very involved in the education of her pupils.

 

It seems that this is just a normal office.

 

Xiao Lan's attention shifts to the closed door next to her.

 

Luo had told him that Mrs Weld spent her evenings in the office lounge, so her personal belongings must be there.

 

Xiao Lan leaned over the door and listened carefully for any movement inside.

 

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After finding the room quiet, he gently pried open the door to the lounge.
The lock on this door was much more complicated than the one in the outer room, but it was no match for Xiao Lan's well-honed lockpicking skills.

 

This room was also as dark as the office outside, even as the curtains had been completely drawn, resulting in a completely dark interior where nothing could be seen.

 

Xiao Lan had to turn on the [Nuclear Flashlight].

 

The moment he opened it he was in awe.

 

For appearing within range of the light was – Mr Weld.

 

I thought Mr.
Weld had been resting in a room not far from the headmaster's office because of his health.
How did he end up here?

 

And what was he doing alone in such a dark chamber, without making a sound.

 

Xiao Lan is trying to figure out how to get past the fact that the co-teacher broke into the headmaster's office.

 

He merely raised his hand to cover the corner of his mouth, as if to muffle a light cough that was about to come out.

 

But not on Xiao Lan, who entered the door.

 

Xiao Lan felt something odd and asked tentatively, “Mr.
Weld?”

 

Mr Weld remained silent and did not answer.

 

Xiao Lan took a few steps in and Mr Weld, head down, once again raised his hand to cover the corner of his mouth to suppress his light cough.

 

Xiao Lan frowned and took another step forward, this time standing directly in front of Mr Weld.

 

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This distance is more than a reasonable social distance between people, and it is reasonable to assume that a normal person would have noticed a large living person standing in front of him or her even if they were distracted.

 

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Mr Weld finally reacted, looking up at Xiao Lan with a soft smile on his face and a loving look in his eyes as he had seen his lover.

 

Xiao Lan looked at him and asked again, ” Mr.
Weld?”

 

Mr Weld still didn't answer, he just gazed at Xiao Lan quietly, as if…

 

When they first met, he gazed at his wife like that.

 

This is an odd situation, not to mention the fact that Xiao Lan and he had only met once, so how could Mr Weld have been so affectionate? Now that Xiao Lan has spoken to him twice, even if he has a hearing or speech impairment, he should be able to respond.

 

For example, signalling that the person can't hear you, or having someone write it down to communicate or something like that.

 

But he didn't react normally at all, just gazed at Xiao Lan with a gentle gaze until Xiao Lan felt a little creeped out.

 

Xiao Lan tried to take a step back and away from Mr Weld's presence.

 

Almost at the same time, Mr.
Weld again lowered his head and resumed the same quiet silence as before, during which he occasionally raised his hand to cover the corner of his mouth and coughed lightly.

 

Xiao Lan takes another step forward, and he looks up again to meet Xiao Lan.

 

When Xiao Lan backs up, Mr Weld resumes his head down.

 

He kept switching between these two movements, almost like a programmed machine.

 

Xiao Lan has a not-so-good suspicion.

 

He reached out and pressed his hand against Mr.
Weld's lateral carotid artery, which was cold to the touch, the texture of the skin soft but not warm enough to be human, and no pulse at all.

 

It's not even a living person!

 

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During the process of touching the side of the neck, Xiao Lan noticed what appeared to be something black on the back of Mr Weld's neck.

 

He ruffled the other man's long flaxen hair and found a patterned tattoo of odd black writing out of the back of his neck, which ran down his spine and spread to the area covered by his clothes.

 

Xiao Lan examined Mr Weld's body again and confirmed that the odd tattoo was almost all over his body, like a thread that tied his body together.

 

During this time, Xiao Lan also discovered a huge penetrating wound on Mr Weld's chest that could almost have ripped out his heart, which had been re-stitched and a new graphic tattoo added to it.

 

The words form a pattern of tattoos that look eerily deadly and at the same time a little demonic and artistic.

 

It seems that Mr.
Weld should have been dead a long time ago, but this bizarre tattoo manipulates his corpse so that he appears to be a living person and can perform simple activities.

 

It's like a mannequin.

 

Xiao Lan felt a chill run down her spine when she thought of the photo she had of the three of them, the happy family in the photo.
The Adeline in the photo appeared to be dead, Mr.
Weld had been turned into a manipulated mannequin, what about ……
Mrs.
Weld?

 

Xiao Lan restored Mr Weld's clothes to their original state and then turned his head to survey the lounge.

 

There is a lot more here than in the outer room, with a lot of silverware Xiao Lan does not recognise piled up on the table and several handwritten journals spread out, all of which contain difficult and incomprehensible entries.

 

Although the content is not readable, these handwritten notes contain drawings of the structure of the human body and similar tattoo designs previously seen on Mr Weld's body.

 

It would appear that Mr.
Weld's present state of affairs is the work of the headmaster.

 

What the hell is she working on?

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Xiao Lan continued his search on the table, and finally a handwritten note caught his eye.

 

The paper of this handwritten note is yellowed, and there have been many additions of paper and extra pasted inside, so that the whole appears full and can barely be closed by a band.

 

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This would be the oldest copy on the table.

 

Turn over the handwritten notes.

 

The first records are something that, like the other handwritten notes, seem like a heavenly book, and at a certain paragraph, the contents of them suddenly change.

 

[Hobson was killed!

 

[Adeline ……
Adeline is also dead ……]

 

[Who is it! Who is it? Why did you do it!!!]

 

[My Adeline, she's so young]

 

[It must have been painful to have your whole body shattered]

 

[I can save you, I can save you]

 

This Hobson is presumably Mr Weld's name and Adeline is indeed the headmaster's daughter.

 

It seems that something has happened to cause their deaths, and the headmaster, faced with this tragedy, decides to resort to his own methods to save them.

 

Interspersed is an intricate graphic in which Xiao Lan sees the full form of the tattoo design on Mr Weld, which appears to have been done by the headmaster at the time to resurrect his husband.

 

[No, Hobson's soul cannot be fused]

 

[Still not working]

 

[Failed again]

 

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[Why ……]

 

[Will you blame me if I have to make you into a normal spell puppet? Hobson]

 

When he saw the word “spell puppet”, Xiao Lan understood that this was Mr.
Weld's current state, not a real resurrection, but an empty shell, manipulated by a secret text, in which there was no soul, just like a human puppet.

 

This is followed by a large and more complex account, no longer of the mending of the body as in Mr Weld's, but seemingly because Adeline's body was so badly damaged that Mrs Weld had to reconstruct it for her.

 

The final form that emerges is one that Xiao Lan finds incredibly familiar – a female with two snake tails.

 

It was the same shape as the eccentric goddess statue in the auditorium.
No wonder that statue had never been seen anywhere else, but it was from the headmaster's own design.

 

Yet things did not turn out as the headmaster had hoped.

 

[Adeline ……
Adeline How did it get to this ……]

 

[Why did Adeline attack her mother?

 

[She's crazy]

 

[She's eating people]

 

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[How did this happen]

 

[No, I can definitely save you]

 

[Mum will make you the same as before]

 

[In order to keep you from hurting others, I'll have to lock you up for now, sorry]

 

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Next, things took a more bizarre turn.

 

After one attempt at a new method had ended in failure, suddenly there was a page with an additional handprint with blood on it.

 

[Adeline, was it you who gave me a human skin on the night of the red moon?

 

[Is this the material you were hoping for?

 

[Mother will save you]

 

[But ……
these skins are from the Academy kids]

 

[No, I can't do this to them]

 

[This must be Adeline's wish]

 

[Adeline ……
Adeline ……
Adeline ……]

 

[Sorry].

 

[Sorry].

 

[Sorry].

 

……

 

The pages that follow are filled with “I'm sorry”, scribbled and messy, and it is clear that the headmistress was struggling with this decision, and that she really did care about her students.

 

But in the end she chooses to harm the students for the sake of her daughter and to dispose of the bodies killed by Mrs.
Hong Yue.

 

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Perhaps the corpses and funerals that appear contradictory are motivated by such a struggling mentality.

 

On the one hand, she lets Mrs.
Hong Yue kill students to gather materials for her daughter's resurrection, and on the other hand, she feels guilty about it, which is why she creates new skins for the dead students and risks exposing them for their funerals.

 

[Adeline, Mum will make you strong]

 

[So that no one can kill you again]

 

[Our family will be as happy as ever]

 

After that the handwritten notes were reduced to a complex graphic content, and the rector never recorded his thoughts on them again.

 

Xiao Lan closed the handwritten note and frowned slightly.

 

The handwritten note solves most of his doubts, but it does not explain the reason for the Headmistress Weld's unchanging appearance, nor the sudden appearance and disappearance of little Adeline, and the clues to the level are still unclear.

 

Should we kill Adeline?

 

As if an important piece of the jigsaw was missing, Corrieff College remains a foggy place.

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Perhaps he should go and see Adeline next, even if the other man has turned into a dangerous monster.

 

On the way out of the headmaster's office, Xiao Lan spotted Dai Bumao and two others on the road, who had sneaked off the trail, and exchanged a knowing glance.

 

It seems that Xiao Lan is not the only one who has seized this opportunity.

 

Xiao Lan gave them a sign that they were safe for about half an hour and received a grateful look.

 

—

 

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Dinner time.

 

Today's restaurant has gone crazy for some reason and is serving up canned herring and mushroom soup with stargazing pie on top.

 

All are big names in world-class cuisine.

 

The students stepped into the restaurant with expressions of disbelief at the wonderful fragrance, and then switched from disbelief to lifelessness when they came face to face with the dead fish inside the stargazing pie in front of them.

 

Inevitably, life has its ups and downs.
……

 

The children of Corrieff Academy learned this prematurely.

 

However, for a man who has lived through his own dark cuisine for years and is still alive and well, this level of sophistication still does little to harm Xiao Lan's steel palate.

 

Xiao Lan finished her meal with the reverent eyes of the students around her.

 

Then the care of Faye Luo arrived as promised.

 

Luo came over to Xiao Lan and put his hand over his glasses: “Xiao Lan, can you explain why your review is so full of art? I am afraid that even if I gave a pen to a crawling insect, it would not be able to write such an excellent work.”

 

Once again, Xiao Lan's schoolboy persona has been cemented.

 

Xiao Lan: “……”

 

What art, the art of your painting?

 

Why does Luo have to set up such a twisted plot for every opportunity to meet?

 

Xiao Lan watched Luo's expression, and although he appeared unperturbed on the surface, he had a feeling that this guy was actually enjoying himself.

 

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Students around the room cast glances at the crowd.

 

“It seems that writing a review is too complicated a task for you.” Luo still looked at him with a serious face, “Tonight, come and clean my office.”

 

Turn around after saying that and walk away.

 

Xiao Lan stood up and followed righteously in front of the condemning eyes of her classmates.

 

I, the academic scum, will not be defeated.

 

The author has something to say.

 

Correct use of punctuation.

 

Luo: Tonight, come and clean my office ♂

 

Xiao Lan: ……