Having the Same Name as the Demon Lord of the Abyss - Chapter 14

Having the Same Name as the Demon Lord of the Abyss

After this obsessive round of looking out, seemingly disappointed that Ye Zun won’t come back for the time being, the class leader slowly left the windowside while positioning the dead classmate’s body, making the illusion that they were still studying hard, in order to deceive Ye Zun once he unknowingly returns to class.

Just a few seconds ago, as long as he stood a little outside to the right and looked down to the left, he would find Ye Zun hidden in the blind corner of his vision.

While the class leader was tidying up and fiddling with the corpse, in one breath, Ye Zun stood up and quickly dashed down the right corridor on his toes.

The class leader who was sorting out the corpse with his back turned to the outside suddenly froze. As if he noticed something, he slowly turned his head, aiming his eyes at Ye Zun who had disappeared past the entrance of the stairs.

He stood up, carrying a dripping axe, and followed him out of the classroom with an unhurried pace.

Ye Zun had never been so scared before. Even his breathing was shaky. He ran to the stairs quickly, accidentally slipping on something under his feet, and his entire body fell onto the checkered duffle bag on the corner.

Smelling a fishy iron-like scent at close range, Ye Zun’s pupils trembled and he suddenly realised something.

His throat bobbed once as he swallowed. He immediately unzipped the duffel bag, and his entire body knocked backwards in shock.

When he first saw the duffle bag, it was bulging with shapely lumps. It wasn’t old books at all, but human body tissues neatly organised after being chopped up.

At the very top was a while human head with its eyes wide open. The head looked at Ye Zun with its mouth open in terror. That face was the exact same of the class leader in the classroom just now.

——The corpse in the duffel bag is the class leader! The class leader is already dead, he was killed! Then who is the class leader in the classroom?

Ye Zun turned his head back. At the entrance of the stairs, a pale face slowly emerged, revealing a bloody axe blade.

Almost instantly, without any time wasted on hesitation, Ye Zun immediately sprinted up to the third floor without looking back.

The doors of all classrooms on the third floor were shut. In the quiet school, there was only the sound of teachers talking in their rooms.

Ye Zun wanted to shout: “There are ghosts! There’s a murderer! Lock your door and don’t come out!”

But it was as if something had placed a lock on his throat. He lost his voice in an instant, unable to utter a single word, as if fear had swallowed his voice.

“Lin! Lin! Moros, Moros!”

He couldn’t shout. The cry for help, which he thought was full of hysteria, was in fact only the faint buzz of weak mosquitoes and flies, stuck in the throat, unable to make a sound.

Fear to the utmost degree but he could only croak out a broken pant. The only sound he could make was in the bottom of his heart.

Ye Zun ran extremely fast, not daring to stop for a second. He also didn’t dare to open the doors to other classrooms, for fear of bringing disaster to outsiders.

——It is chasing me, only me!

He even began to regret why he went to the third floor. He should’ve run out, gone downstairs, and headed to an area with no one around.

He will doom those students!

Regardless of whether that thing is a ghost or a murderer, it has a weapon capable of killing in its hand. It must not go into the crowd!

Ye Zun ran to the middle staircase and sprinted downstairs without hesitation, jumping down three or five steps with every leap.

He didn’t know where the thing was, but he knew that it was still chasing him. The sound of the sharp blade of the axe slashing at the wall, even though it was far away, every impact was caught in his ears.

Ye Zun was no longer afraid. He hasn’t been afraid for a long time. Because fear can’t save him, it only made him calmer.

Run down the third floor, run to the second floor, and then the first floor!

At the corners of each floor, he would even stop for a moment and coldly look upwards: You, keep chasing me ba. I am waiting for you right here! Come ah! Don’t lose me!

Fear doesn’t need to be seen. When it nears you, you will know from the bottom of your heart that it is coming.

Ye Zun continued to run, ran out of the teaching building, and into the empty campus.

Then, opposite to him, there was the office building.

Even during class hours, there will be teachers in the office building who are temporarily absent from class. The teacher’s office has a phone, it can be used to call the police! He can contact security! In an office, he is more likely to find useful tools than compared to any other place, so he can buy time.

Since this is a game, it won’t give the player a must-die scenario, will it?

Running up the stairs, the first floor was empty, the second floor was dead still, and the third floor…

Ye Zun sharply turned at the corner, and before he could put on the brakes, he instantly ran into a person.

His whole body barrelled into the other’s arms from the inertia, but there was no pain from bones hitting. A pair of steady and powerful arms supported him, firmly grasping his shoulders and arms.

“What happened? Why did you suddenly come here during class time?”

The quiet and gentle voice was low and measured, as if any danger and anxiety could be suddenly resolved here, making people subconsciously produce a sense of security, thinking that they are saved.

Ye Zun tried his best to grab the priest’s arm and looked up at him with empty eyes. With a trembling body and a locked voice, he put all his strength into squeezing out the words: “Ghost…body in the bag…in the classroom…killing…all dead…”

He felt that he was extremely calm, not even a little bit scared. He was quietly annoyed with his disobedient voice and body. Why couldn’t he vocalise the warnings as he wanted?

That was until he looked into the priest’s pitch-black and gentle eyes, gazing at himself intently and inclusively, like ice melting in spring water. He softly whispered, “Don’t be scared. I am here, no one will hurt you.”

Over his shoulders and slightly trembling back came a gentle and pitying comfort.

Suddenly, his whole body wavered and weakened, and he let out a broken cry, “Everyone in the classroom is dead, they were all killed! That thing is chasing me with an axe, you have to run away! It’s behind me, it’s already here!”

Lin embraced Ye Zun, who couldn’t contain his trembling, and let him lean into his arms, calmly and steadily raising his eyes to look behind Ye Zun.

Behind him, at the corner between the green plants and the wall, a dense shadow of the dark and horrifying ghost exposed half of itself.

“It’s here! It’s already here!”

Lin’s arms gently and strongly embraced Ye Zun, stopping him from turning his head back, making it so he could only look at himself, and softly soothed, “You are too nervous. I’ve looked, there is nothing.”

Ye Zun gripped him tightly, feeling like he was in the sea where the ship had capsized, too cold to move, and Lin was the only driftwood.

“You need to run away! I’m begging you, please run away!”

Lin looked at him warmly with all his attention, then raised his eyes slightly. The clear eyes that were like black crystals in spring water looked at the stairs behind Ye Zun, facing the shadow by the green plants. The handsomely-shaped eyebrows frowned slightly, bringing out a momentary darkness, and he lowly whispered, “A murderer? I’ll call the security office, they will catch whoever it is.”

Being stared at by those eyes that seemed to contain death, the ghost, a shadowy ball, flickered for an instant before melting away entirely, disappearing into the air.

“That thing, that thing is a ghost!” Ye Zun grasped the clothes on both sides of Lin’s waist, completely unaware that he was almost completely attached to the man’s body, like an inseparable hug between lovers.

Those clear and unsteady eyes, with a swaying light like the sunbeam through dew, closely and single-mindedly staring at Lin, just focusing on Lin alone, eyes like a sweet fruit slushy, a tart sweetness that was about to melt.

Lin lowered his eyes and gazed at him quietly, his slender neck showing a very prominent Adam’s apple that rolled silently for a moment, resisting the desire to have a taste.

“Don’t be scared.” He stroked Ye Zun’s shoulders, hands slowly descending, and caressed his thin butterfly bones*. “Have you forgotten? I am a priest, to expel evil spirits is my job. Breathe slowly and relax. You are too nervous.”

[T/N: shoulder blades]

With a low and sombre voice like hypnosis, Ye Zun followed this voice and slowly adjusted his breathing, and his whole body gradually returned to a calm state.

Sometime during this mess, that dangerous shadow disappeared. Just as Lin said, it never showed up after a long time. That thing really didn’t seem to have actually followed him.

Ye Zun slackened from head to toe, an emptiness filling his body, and he allowed Lin to lead him into the office.

“I don’t have a coffee cup for guests, is it alright to use mine? I washed it today and it hasn’t been used for the time being.”

Cold fingers obediently held the coffee cup that was stuffed in his grasp. Only when his fingertips felt the slight heat did he realise how cold he was.

He didn’t even acknowledge whatever Lin was talking about, only sipping the hot drink mechanically, trying to warm himself up.

He heard Lin on the side unhurriedly and calmly calling the school security, as well as following through with Ye Zun’s panicked begging to call the police. The man did these one by one.

“Don’t worry. I’m here, nothing will happen.” After everything was done, the man leaned slightly against the desk and lowered his eyes, comfortingly looking at Ye Zun who was sitting on the couch.

A high-born and ascetic appearance, always sensible and calm.

Ye Zun looked at him, softly nodded, then bowed his head cautiously.

His body was unexplainably overcome by fatigue, and after he slowly recovered his sanity, he only felt shame for his uncontrollable state just then.

——It really is, far too disappointing.

What Ye Zun didn’t expect was that after half an hour, there would be things that would make him even more ashamed.

“Student, the academic pressure for high school second years is understandable, but don’t arbitrarily create panic and make false police reports. What kind of imagination do you have to come up with such a creative ghost story? Every student in class was killed, the murderer was the class leader, and the class leader’s body was also dismembered, stuffed into a duffle bag and left in the stairwell?”

Ye Zun: “……”

He looked at the rigorous and responsible police officer in front of him, unable to say a word.

The principal awkwardly smiled from the side and attempted to smooth things over. “Nogawa Kaoru has just recently transferred from another school. Maybe it’s because the student is not accustomed to the tense academic system and mistook a nightmare for reality. Thank you for your hard work, but this child is not one who pulls random pranks, it should be just a misunderstanding.”

“It wasn’t a dream, I clearly saw…”

The police officer resignedly looked at Ye Zun. “We’ve already been to the scene and had a look. Everyone is properly attending class. If you don’t believe us, do you want us to personally accompany you to go have a look yourself.”

Ye Zun stepped back subconsciously, a chill rising up his back.

Lin stood beside him. His eyes were always on Ye Zun’s body, and only now did he turn them to look at the others. “He really does seem to be scared. Maybe it’s because he just transferred over and has received some rough treatment.”

Ye Zun blankly looked at Lin in surprise: “……”

Lin faced the principal and said, “Class 1 of the second years has a reputation for not being very friendly. Even if I haven’t been here for a long time, I have heard about a few bullying incidents.”

The principal’s face was a little unwell.

The police seemed suddenly to understand something, and glanced at the frightened Ye Zun with sympathy.

Lin briefly looked at Ye Zun, then said to the others, “Let’s go outside to talk ba.”

Then, the final result was that Ye Zun’s false report to the police would not be processed and recorded in the system, and he was to stop spreading this kind of nonsense information about the tragic death of everyone in the classroom and the class leader being the murderer.

Additionally, due to Ye Zun’s fearful rejection of the second year’s Class 1, the school planned to transfer him to Class 9, the class farthest from that classroom.

Lin gently said, “It’s okay. Most horror stories actually have reasons for why things happen, like the violent treatment that can not be spoken of in reality turning into nightmares and hallucinations.”

Ye Zun frowned and looked at him blankly, slightly feeling like he now understood something, but also nothing at all. “Is Nogawa Kaoru being violently harrassed by people in that class?”

Lin’s eyes were full of hidden meaning as they focused on him. “Sometimes it is not necessarily direct physical violence. As long as one person commits the actual violence, others only need to stand there. Isolation is a more effective form of collective violence.”

So, because Nogawa Kaoru was isolated and bullied, I had these hallucinations?

But, it really did feel so real.

Ye Zun looked at the priest. He absolutely trusted Lin, of course, but… “The people in that classroom, are they really alive? I’m not resenting and cursing them, you already know, I’m actually…”

He is not really Nogawa Kaoru after all.

Lin looked at him like he understood, and said with a tranquil tone, “I know. In fact, I also went to have a look, and everything is indeed very normal.”

Ye Zun looked into his eyes, mouth opening slightly, finding nothing to say.

The priest’s eyes were warm and attentive. “However, just as you believe me, I also believe your judgement.”

Ye Zun’s uneasy eyes instantly filled with light.

The corners of Lin’s lips rose slightly, and his fingers lightly fell on Ye Zun’s lips, the tips briefly pressing on the slightly opened lips that were soft as petals. He whispered in a low voice, “Shh! After all, it is a game in the Demon God’s Amusement Park. Believe in your own judgement, but there is no need to say it out loud. Just know that I’m here, and I will believe you. That is all.”

Ye Zun startled, staring at him faithfully. “I…understand.”

When he spoke, his lips seemed to touch the other man’s fingertips. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly became nervous.

The shame from his previous gaffe seemed to have settled in after a delay.

Lin stared at his eyelashes that were slightly cast downwards. The wetted ink-black eyelashes curled in a somewhat shaky and attractive arc, as uneasy and lost as the person they belonged to.

The aroma and bitterness of coffee, fermented with the syrupy sweetness brewed from fear.

The knot on someone’s throat rolled ever so slightly, with restraint and forbearance.