Hourglass Project - Chapter 18

Nothing happened all morning, they relaxed a lot. After a nap in the afternoon they were supposed to go to the teaching building again, but Teacher Na Xi didn’t show up.

She was probably just the NPC who’d shown them the routes, once that was done she didn’t need to stick around.

The five of them walked under their umbrellas in the wind and snow, talking as they went. Fortunately, Sticky (the clingy girl) wasn’t following them this time, so they could be freer.

“I think that rabbit is really creepy,” Lin Yi said. “If tomorrow that rabbit is in a different seat, it’ll definitely be something bad.”

“What if it’s a bad thing after all?” Huang Yuhan countered. “You were the first to sit in the rabbit seat, maybe the rabbit’ll follow you.”

That wasn’t impossible.

Footsteps came from behind, mixed with voices.

“Wah… I don’t want to go to church…”

“Okay, okay, it’ll be fine…”

They turned back.

It was Sticky, being led by her roommate and two male players.

After the noon nap, Liu Jingtao and another roommate had been called out by a strange female teacher and not returned, so they hadn’t been with Li Moyao.

The roommate was the first to spot the five and immediately called to Liu Jingtao. Jingtao looked up, tears still on her face, in the next second she shouted, voice trembling and clinging, and ran over to Li Moyao.

Li Moyao’s heart dropped.

Sure enough, Liu Jingtao ran up, reached out and hugged her, burying her face in Moyao’s scarf as she sobbed.

“?!?!!?”

The other four were stunned.

She — she actually hugged Moyao?!

A girl they’d only just met! Moyao hadn’t indicated any closeness, and yet she was hugged like that!!

Holy—!!!

Confusing behavior! Confusing behavior!!

They all cried out inside.

Li Moyao was a little stunned too, hands frozen in her pockets. She hadn’t opened her arms.

“Oh, so she’s taken, huh.” One of the two male players said, suddenly enlightened.

The other, loving the scene, grinned and asked Moyao, “Why don’t you comfort your girlfriend?”

Moyao: “I’m not, I’m not.”

Huang Jijun hid her shock, coughed and smiled at them. “Sorry, Moyao is just closer to her. Not lovers.”

“Ah? Really?”

They looked puzzled.

“Yeah, not lovers.” Huang Yuhan smiled confidently and turned to Moyao.

Moyao cleared her throat, tugged the other girl’s hand away; the girl didn’t budge. After a moment, Moyao asked the roommate, “What’s wrong with her?”

The roommate explained. Liu Jingtao and several others had been called out by a female teacher after lunch and told their church summaries were not up to standard, they had to go to Teacher Na Xi. Teacher Na Xi decided they’d been unserious about the summaries and asked why. The punishment was that the lowest scorers, including Liu Jingtao and three others, would go to the Sacred-Word Church tonight for “re-education.”

Going to the church for re-education wasn’t a huge deal,  punishments were part of the game, but Liu Jingtao seemed to feel humiliated for personal reasons. That led to what was happening now.

Huang Jijun looked thoughtful, patted the girl’s back, and asked gently, “If there’s a reason you don’t want to go, you can tell us. Bottling it up will make you feel worse.”

Liu Jingtao sobbed and said, between hiccups, “I don’t want to go to the church… I’m scared… sob…”

“Scared? Why?” Jijun asked, not understanding.

She sniffed. “I don’t… I don’t know, I’m just scared.” Then, when no one seemed to get it, she looked up at Moyao with pleading eyes and stammered, “Moyao… can you… can you stay with me tonight?”

“???” Moyao was full of question marks but smiled. “Aren’t there other players?”

The tear-streaked, pitiful Liu Jingtao dropped her lashes and said softly, “…You make me feel safer. I… I want to be with you more.”

Listen to that!

If someone that shallow hears it, they might say yes on the spot.

Both of the leering men practically wanted to answer for her.

“…Thanks,” Moyao said, appreciating the compliment, then declined gently, “But the teacher probably won’t allow it~”

“No, no.  Just tell the teacher and it’ll be fine,” Liu Jingtao wiped at her tears and begged pitifully. “Moyao, please stay with me…”

What nonsense.

Huang Yuhan snorted inwardly and looked away.

Lin Yi frowned and asked bluntly, “Why would you want Moyao to go with you?”

Liu Jingtao saw Lin Yi’s slight displeasure and Tao Luo’s indifference and turned more tearful, stuttering, “I… I…”

Huang Jijun thought a beat and said, “Miss Liu, this is a micro-space. Everyone wants to survive. If you can keep yourself safe, that’s already good. No one will indulge you without reason. Please understand.”

She deliberately used the word indulge to point out that Liu Jingtao’s behavior was unreasonable, while at the same time presenting Moyao as soft and polite, which helped maintain a pleasant impression of them.

The two leering players snapped out of their fantasy and switched from pity to suspicion.

Moyao finally pushed the girl off, put her hands back in her pockets, and said gently, “Sorry, try to be more reasonable. Or you could use your ability to protect yourself.”

The long-haired girl stared at her, watery-eyed. The red under her eyes matched her scarf. Then she let go and moved past Moyao.

The roommate watched Liu Jingtao’s forlorn back with some pity but took no action.

Soon they went to class. Liu Jingtao wasn’t in the classroom, which confirmed everyone’s guess.

She definitely wasn’t in class!

Li Moyao let out a soft laugh and, entertained by her own thoughts, flopped forward on the desk to sleep.

Later, at 2:20 Teacher Na Xi came by. When she didn’t see Liu Jingtao, she asked the class, no one knew.

Several puzzled looks landed on Moyao, she understood they were wondering why she hadn’t acted to help. But thinking back, Moyao hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d only involuntarily ended up with a hug. It had been Liu Jingtao’s decision entirely.

After all, what fool would choose to accompany someone to a potentially dangerous, unknown church overnight in a killing-game? Especially when the rules explicitly said students must stay in their dorms at night.

Keeping a clear head in an apocalyptic survival world was essential, or you’d be asking Death to add you as a friend.

Moyao leaned back, yawned, and when Teacher Na Xi left she casually pulled a book free and opened it.

—On the Curse God: One of the higher-ranking gods among the divine. Extremely powerful, fond of nighttime thanksgiving and prayers. To those who betray it, it grants no forgiveness —A heavy sacred-word is placed upon them unless they find a way to destroy it. Once the method of destruction is found, the sacred-word upon the believer will disappear…

The Curse God’s representative statue was always placed in the Sacred-Word Church, signifying, “Bound to the earth, its power released impartially.”

Moyao read a bit and fell asleep in under three minutes.

Time unknowingly ticked forward.

“Moyao.”

Moyao’s thick lashes fluttered. She opened her eyes slowly, still lazy, and turned to meet a pair of pretty wide eyes.

Huang Yuhan slid her hand across Moyao’s back and planted a quick kiss on her half-shut eyelids. “Time to eat.”

“So clingy…” Lin Yi muttered from behind.

Moyao got up lazily, noticed there weren’t many players left in the classroom, yawned and smiled, “Let’s go~”

The five went out toward the stairs.

Out in the wind and snow they opened their black umbrellas, huddling close together under them.

22:00.

The Sacred-Word Church.

Below the statue dais, four players punished for misbehavior knelt on the floor, their uniforms intact.

Moonlight poured through the stained glass, spilling across the statue and over them.

The Curse God’s presence felt solemn.

Behind them the double doors stood wide open, as if never to close.

Winter nights were bone-freezing, the gale screamed with terrifying force. Combined with the sensory and psychological torment of their own confessed misdeeds, the punished players were terrified.

Tap. Tap. Tap…

Sudden footsteps made them all jump. A heavy-set figure approached.

Liu Jingtao watched the person come closer; when the figure’s face caught the scattered silver light, she screamed.

“Ah!!!”

They scattered, running out of the church in a clamor of screams that echoed through the academy.

Inside, Teacher Na Xi stood under the statue. Her smile, like carved stone, froze on her face, her eyes were pure black pits.

She slowly raised her head to the god’s face and said, “Such disobedient children; they have betrayed you… I am so sorry…,” her voice thick with false contrition.

Elsewhere in the academy, other scenes were unfolding.

“!”

Lin Yi snapped awake. A corridor came into view.

 Empty, moonlight slicing across the floor. To her right were two classrooms.

The teaching building.

How had she gotten there?

She quickly thought it through.

She was sure she’d lain down on the middle bed in their fourth-floor dorm. Now she was in the teaching building at night, still in her pajamas.

The cold made her shiver.

She scanned around, alert, and headed for the stairs. She had to try to get back to the dorm.

On the stairs she realized what might have caused it.

The white rabbit doll!

At the landing she saw something unexpected ahead and froze.

A white rabbit.

It sat under the parapet, red eyes fixed on her.

She didn’t look any longer and hurried down, but halfway down the stairs crisp footsteps sounded!

She looked over the railing and saw the footsteps ascending, and recognized the person.

Teacher Na Xi.

Confusion ran through her. When she caught Teacher Na Xi’s expression, she panicked and ran back up!

This was definitely not good!!

The footsteps below sped as if the person knew she was above and wanted to catch her. The faster they came, the faster Lin Yi ran. She considered jumping from a window but froze.

Tac-tac-tac-tac-tac…

The footsteps grew closer. She darted into an open classroom and hid behind the curtain in a corner, the echoes of high heels sounding like a death knell.

Soon the footsteps on that floor stopped.

She held her breath.

She seriously regretted not learning an invisibility trick from Moyao sooner.

Tac, tac, tac…

Teacher Na Xi’s urgent pace eased into a slow deliberate walk, as if she were deliberately toying with her quarry.

The terror tightened the room. In the dark, with the moon unevenly lighting things, Teacher Na Xi paused outside the classroom door.

Lin Yi broke into a cold sweat, utterly still.

Two long minutes felt like a century; then the footsteps resumed and moved away from that floor.

Still she didn’t relax. After a long wait she carefully drew the curtain back, fearful Na Xi might still stand at the door. When she saw no one she exhaled and crept out, trying to move as quietly as possible.

She checked the hallway left and right, above, more steps approached.

She swallowed and hurried toward the stairs.

There’s a phrase you should always remember: you can never tell whether tomorrow or an accident will come first. But in the game, accidents usually do.

Tac-tac-tac-tac…

The footsteps were heading to the stairwell!

Sh1t!!

Lin Yi panicked and ran downstairs, and Teacher Na Xi was right behind her!

She flew down the stairs, nearly twisting her ankle on the landing. Behind her Na Xi moved with a speed surprising for her age, her heels drumming as if she could cross the world in seconds. As Lin Yi rushed down, Na Xi’s steps were already at the next-floor landing.

Now the wind in her ears told her,

there’s a ghost on your tail.

Lin Yi gritted her teeth and sprinted toward the locked main door.

Bang!

Something stopped her speed as she hit the door and she tumbled into the snow!

Goddamn it…!

She cursed under her breath, scrambled up, and saw Teacher Na Xi approaching with those black, pupilless eyes and a smile. Faster than before!

She turned, pushing off with everything she had and dashed toward the dorm, snow flying up behind her.

Luckily she knew Flash!

She didn’t care what Teacher Na Xi did. Lin Yi flashed all the way to the dorm, shoved the door open and ran upstairs.

On the fourth floor she burst through the room door and dove straight into Tao Luo’s bed, burying her head under the covers without worrying about tracking snow there.

“Luo-bao, Luo-bao…” Lin Yi sniffled, nearly crying from relief as she clung to her.

Tao Luo was half-awake from the commotion, bewildered for a second, then steadying. She patted Lin Yi and asked, “What happened?”

“There was a ghost…” Lin Yi whimpered, burrowing into her.

Tao Luo glanced around, noticed the other roommate was staring in disbelief, flicked the light on, closed the door, and came back to find Lin Yi’s clothes filthy.

Eh… wash it and it’ll be fine.

She sat on the bedside and the other roommate came over to ask what happened. Lin Yi kept glancing over her shoulder as if Teacher Na Xi might be standing there.

Tao Luo and the roommate were a little taken aback by her nervousness but soon relaxed.

Lin Yi told the story in vivid detail, with gestures, and the room pictured it. The roommate admired her.

“Oh my god, you escaped?” she said, impressed. “You’re quite something.”

Lin Yi relaxed, smiled, “I managed.”

Tao Luo finally said, “We’ll discuss it with them tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Lin Yi nodded.

They fell asleep again. Lin Yi changed into pajamas; Tao Luo had to share the bed because hers had been dirtied.

A dreamless night.

—

“They’re dead?!”

“What?”

They all froze at breakfast and looked toward the man who’d just spoken.

“What happened? Tell us.” A player urged.

The man said, “When I came just now, I saw the players Teacher Na Xi had called yesterday, their bodies were dug out of the snow by a group of people.”

They were stunned, then hurried him to show the location.

The five followed and found the place, behind the church.

They arrived in time to see a few people dragging four bodies onto a pile of firewood. One of the bodies was the long-haired girl.

The four were still wearing black robes. Their faces were ashen, tinged purple, there were no obvious external injuries, but they were certainly dead.

The men dragging them seemed oblivious to the crowd and began preparing a fire. One took out matches.

Someone shouted, “They’re going to burn them!”

Before the shout could finish, Huang Jijun stepped forward and cried, “Wait!”

They stopped and turned to her.

“Why are you burning them?” she demanded.

One replied, “Clean disposal.”

“How did they die?” she asked again, as more players gathered.

“Trebled the Curse God,” they answered betrayed the Curse God.

At that, the group paused, then the men struck the matches and set the kindling and the black robes ablaze.

Perhaps it was the Curse God’s wrath, the flames leapt up and fully enveloped the four “traitors.”

No one stopped them, for reasons unknown.

Li Moyao stood a little back, hands in her pockets, watching the pyre with lazy eyes. The red scarf around her neck made her pale skin look even more luminous.

Tao Luo suddenly said, “Their scarves are gone.”

Huang Yuhan and Lin Yi turned. Li Moyao smiled and said lightheartedly, “Our scarves are gone too~”

“Yesterday’s scarves are gone~”

Tao Luo blinked, puzzled, and looked down at her own scarf.

The others looked too; at first they saw nothing.

Moyao smiled and hinted, “Pay attention to the color~”

“Damn, so precise.” Huang Yuhan was shocked.

“Mhm~” Moyao smiled back.

The scarf color, Moyao had noticed it had darkened slightly. Only a little, you wouldn’t see it if you weren’t looking. It took a keen eye.

Smoke billowed to the sky. Within five minutes the four bodies were reduced to ashes, gone entirely.

Even in the rules of the game, cremation was quick.  This severed human ties to the land with terrifying speed.

Not even the wails carried,  the absolute erasure was appallingly complete.