We watched even the most timid Gao Mingqiang take action, so naturally, no one else would hesitate. They all followed Gao Mingqiang’s movements, crossing in the same way. The process was a bit dangerous as we didn’t know the depth below. Falling would have been disastrous. It was an extremely deep, dark hole, and we had no idea how it had formed.
During the crossing, He Xin kept staring into the abyssal black hole, her expression growing more anxious. For a moment, her legs trembled so violently that her forward progress slowed. “He Xin, don’t be nervous! Don’t look down!”
“Dad, my eyes are out of my control!” Just as she finished speaking, her left leg suddenly stepped out, and she was about to lose her balance. I pulled hard, securing her back against the wall, and tried to maintain my own balance. At this point, He Xin was caught by Gao Mingqiang, and we hurried to move across.
It was a close call, but we all made it across. After all, we were well-trained, and walking such a narrow path was no major issue. Once we arrived, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. He Xin said to me sheepishly, “Dad, it’s my fault. If just now…”
“It’s okay, just be more careful next time!”
“Will we have to pass through here again to leave?”
“Perhaps not. There should be another exit behind here.”
As I spoke, we continued forward. For some reason, ever since Gao Mingqiang’s sulk earlier, his courage had grown significantly. It wasn’t a feigned bravery, but a genuine fearlessness in his advance. I noticed his limbs were no longer trembling.
Following him, I suddenly noticed a sign on the corridor that read: “Dean’s Office!” He Xin gasped. “Could this be the legendary Dean’s Office?”
“It’s not ‘could be,’ it should be. Everyone be alert, and open fire immediately if anything happens!” I instructed. Everyone acknowledged with a “received,” and our weapons were all pointed towards the Dean’s Office. When we reached the door, I kicked it open with a bang. At this moment, for some reason, Gao Mingqiang directly charged in, as if he had returned to his own home and was excited.
He immediately sat in the Dean’s office chair and started spinning it vigorously.
“Mingqiang, what are you doing?” I asked in surprise. But Gao Mingqiang completely ignored me. He looked around excitedly, as if he had arrived at a comfortable workspace. He placed his legs on the desk and swayed them from side to side, the chair creaking under him. We surrounded him, about to stop his antics, but he surprisingly pushed us away with immense strength.
At this point, Xie Chuchu seemed a little angry. She grabbed his shoulder and scolded, “Mingqiang, what are you doing?”
“Get lost! I’m the Dean, hehe! I’m in charge here. You mental patients should be back in your rooms! Why are you here?”
Gao Mingqiang said with a strange laugh, veins bulging in his eyes. He kept pushing Xie Chuchu with his hands, a cold, evil smile like a demon’s appearing on his face. His strength was immense; not only Xie Chuchu but all of us were pushed aside.
Xia Hou directly intervened, coordinating with Xiao Yuande. He struck the back of Gao Mingqiang’s head. However, Gao Mingqiang didn’t faint. Instead, he glared fiercely and roared like a zombie, lunging to grab Xiao Yuande!
We were all pulling him back from behind. But at this moment, a strange clicking sound came from outside the Dean’s Office. It sounded like someone was rushing towards us. Zhang Keying, her attention divided, guarded the door with her gun. We expected the person to burst in, but before they reached the Dean’s Office, the sound gradually faded away!
We remained silent, staring at Xia Hou and Xiao Yuande, who were wrestling with Gao Mingqiang. Although Gao Mingqiang was strong, his martial arts skills were far inferior to Xiao Yuande’s. After several dodges, coupled with a hook punch and a knee strike, Xiao Yuande knocked Gao Mingqiang to the ground. He knelt on Gao Mingqiang, pinning him, and put handcuffs on him from behind!
“Mingqiang must be crazy. It can’t be because of the surroundings!” Xiao Yuande pulled him up, pressed him against the wall, and cuffed him to a pillar.
Gao Mingqiang cursed like a mad dog, repeatedly calling us mental patients who shouldn’t be there and needed to return to their rooms for treatment.
“You’re rebelling! You dare to imprisonish me? When I get free, I’ll inject all of you with sedatives!”
“Mingqiang, do you know what you’re saying?” I came up to him and noticed his pupils were extremely dilated. Zhang Keying also walked over. After a brief observation, she said, “His mind has been damaged. I don’t know what happened? Wasn’t he fine just now?”
“His emotions fluctuated, and he was affected by it. We must maintain psychological balance,” Xie Chuchu explained.
I recalled that in certain environments, the more afraid a person is, the more they tend to see strange things. These are merely psychological effects, or emotional fluctuations can also lead to trouble in such places. This is why Xie Chuchu advised us to stay calm. This situation is like Gao Mingqiang’s now; once his mind is damaged or disturbed, it’s difficult for him to recover here.
“He’s like us. He didn’t see anything, so he shouldn’t have become like this?” Xiao Yuande raised an objection.
“Everyone’s psychological resilience is different. Gao Mingqiang is the weakest among us in this regard. If he’s still like this later, we’ll have to ask He Qing for help!”
I nodded in agreement with Xie Chuchu’s assessment. We could only leave Gao Mingqiang here for now. We exited the Dean’s Office and entered the outer corridor. Strangely, we found no footprints on the ground, yet based on our memories, someone had definitely approached this area just now!
“Perhaps the other party used shoe covers?”
“Even shoe covers would leave a trace. Gao Ming… no, Xia Hou, did you bring it?”
Xia Hou understood I needed a wide-spectrum light source instrument. He took it out from his forensics kit and examined the ground. After some time, he shook his head and said, “I found nothing. It’s estimated that Da Xingren and the others got into trouble here before they even arrived.”
“The others probably didn’t even come here, they must have met their end in the Dean’s Office!”
As I spoke, I looked back at the Dean’s Office door and suddenly felt a sense of unease. I rushed back inside. However, the moment I entered, I discovered Gao Mingqiang was gone!