Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

Chapter 667 World 22

"Yinyin!"

On Monday, Shen Ruyin had barely settled into her seat when Zhao Manrou rushed over to find her.

Zhao Manrou placed a local newspaper in front of Shen Ruyin, her voice low and filled with fear: "Yinyin, look, are the people in this newspaper the ones from that day...?"

Yinyin quickly glanced at the newspaper headlines.

[Breaking News! Landslide at Niutou Mountain, multiple people trapped!]

The date of the landslide under the title was the night the two of them left the mountain, and the accompanying picture was of the "Youjian Inn" buried by sand and rocks.

However, no news came out over the weekend, and it was only reported on Monday. Was this due to the search and rescue efforts?

When Shen Ruyin finished reading, the newspaper briefly mentioned the identities of the victims. They were people who wouldn't rank highly in the country, but were considered quite influential in their local area.

The timing matches, but the methods of slaughter are completely different.

Is it because in the original story, there were two innocent bystanders, but they weren't in this story?

Shen Ruyin stopped Zhao Manrou from continuing.

When class ended, Shen Ruyin pulled Zhao Manrou to the top floor.

“Xiaoman,” Shen Ruyin grabbed her hand, “Don’t be afraid. We just ran into them that day and exchanged a few words.”

"They were just unlucky to encounter a landslide; luckily, we ran fast enough."

Zhao Manrou shuddered involuntarily, a hint of lingering fear in her voice: "I know, I just can't help but think about what would have happened if you hadn't insisted on going straight down the mountain that day..."

"Yinyin, thank goodness, thank goodness you're here."

"If we hadn't realized these people had ill intentions that day, and had listened to them and stayed overnight on the mountain before leaving, would we ourselves be a name and a picture in the newspaper today?"

Shen Ruyin lowered her eyelids, also feigning a pale and frightened expression, and hugged Zhao Manrou tightly.

"Absolutely impossible. We received safety training from a young age, and it wasn't for nothing. Who would go with a stranger?"

"As for insisting on going down the mountain, it must be thanks to the blessings of our ancestors; our lives were not meant to end."

"Maybe the premonition I had that day was because my ancestors were so anxious down there that they were about to curse me to death."

Zhao Manrou blinked: "Yinyin, you still believe in this?"

“This…” Shen Ruyin touched her hair awkwardly. “Although we should believe in science, the stories my grandmother told me when I was a child made me feel that we should still have a sense of awe for some things.”

"Huh?" Zhao Manrou was scared but also curious. "What did your grandma tell you? Tell me quickly."

"Now?" Shen Ruyin glanced at the time. "Class starts in five minutes."

"Then let's talk about it during lunch break," Zhao Manrou said, shifting her attention. She didn't want to hold the newspaper in her hand anymore, so she folded it up and threw it into the trash can, finally letting out a long sigh of relief.

Zhao Manrou linked arms with Shen Ruyin as they walked downstairs, saying, "Yinyin, you don't know, I've been having nightmares every day for the past two days. Every time I close my eyes, I see us standing on that mountain path, unable to escape no matter what we do."

As Zhao Manrou spoke, she felt goosebumps rise all over her body again: "When I saw this newspaper this morning, I thought of that dream and I was terrified. I think I might have PTSD from Niutou Mountain now."

“I don’t think you’re quite there yet,” Shen Ruyin laughed. “Look at you, you can still talk to me freely, so you’re just generally scared.”

"By the way, I remember there's a City God Temple near your house, right? You can ask your aunt to give you a few hours off in advance so you can go and pray, light some incense, and it'll definitely help."

“My mom would definitely disagree. I don’t even dare to tell her that I went sketching that day,” Zhao Manrou said. After chatting with her friends who had the same experience, she was no longer so scared. “Besides, my mom is a staunch atheist. If I ask her to ask for leave for me because of this, she’ll probably scold me for a long time.”

“Let me think,” Zhao Manrou cleared her throat, mimicking her mother’s tone, “They’re already in their final year of high school, and it’s one thing if they don’t focus all their energy on studying, but they insist on painting and going out to sketch. Now look what’s happened, they come home every day having nightmares and scaring themselves, and they even pray to gods and Buddhas…”

Zhao Manrou's imitation was so perfect that Shen Ruyin couldn't help but laugh.

“If all else fails,” Shen Ruyin suggested a mischievous idea, “Isn’t it said that knowledge is power? Put all your textbooks together, with politics on top, hold three pens, and bow to them three times in reverence.”

"If your aunt comes in and sees this, just tell her..."

Zhao Manrou didn't need Shen Ruyin to teach her the second half of the sentence; she knew it herself: "I told my mother that I was praying to the god of knowledge for mercy, to grant me a protective golden body, and to ensure that my future is smooth sailing."

After saying that, the two looked at each other and laughed together.

At noon, after lunch, still thinking about what happened in the morning, Zhao Manrou deliberately didn't take a nap in the classroom and instead dragged Shen Ruyin to the rooftop.

"Yinyin, tell me about it quickly."

"Let me make this clear first, this is something you chose to listen to, so you can't be afraid."

"Of course not."

Hearing Zhao Manrou's unconvincing assurances, Shen Ruyin thought for a moment and then chose something less alarming to say.

“When my grandmother was young, traditional burial was still popular, so a lot of strange and unusual things happened.”

"She said that once after she fell asleep, she dreamed that an ancestor appeared to her in her dream. The ancestor just looked at her without saying a word, and her clothes were half wet. She was probably in a similar state to the two of us when we came back from the rainstorm that day."

"She had the same dream for two days in a row, and then she told my two great-uncles about it."

"They went to the ancestor's grave together and found that the heavy rain had washed away part of the grave, and some parts of the grave were flooded."

“After my grandmother’s elders renovated the tomb, she never had that dream again.”

"Really?" Zhao Manrou touched her arm. "Isn't this just a case of 'thinking about something during the day and dreaming about it at night'?"

Shen Ruyin spread her hands: "I said before that maybe my grandma passed by that area and saw something, but I didn't pay attention at the time. My grandma said no."

"She said her home and the cemetery are quite far apart. She hasn't been there since it started raining, and she's never heard anyone mention it."

"Hiss," Zhao Manrou couldn't help but feel flustered. "How bizarre. If you hadn't told me, I definitely wouldn't have believed it."

But after saying that, her eyes lit up and she asked, "Is there anything else?"

Shen Ruyin paused for a moment: "You're still listening?"

“Listen,” Zhao Manrou said, “Anyway, cremation is the norm now, so those things won’t happen again.”

"Besides, it's noon, which, according to old sayings, is the time of day when the yang energy is at its peak. And where are we? At school!"

“If this were back home, I definitely wouldn’t listen, but right now, I’m willing to listen if you dare to say it.”

Shen Ruyin rolled her eyes: "Don't even mention schools. Don't you know that in most schools, there are more students at the bottom than at the top?"

“I actually know that,” Zhao Manrou chuckled. “I heard my dad say that our school was built on a mass grave.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a cool breeze suddenly blew by.

Zhao Manrou touched the back of her neck: "Yinyin, why is there a sudden gust of wind?"

Shen Ruyin frowned, reached out and sensed the spot the woman indicated, then subtly pushed it outwards as she withdrew her hand.

No, you must be mistaken.

Zhao Manrou didn't feel cold: "It was probably just for a moment, it'll be over soon."

She yawned: "I'm getting a little sleepy after talking for so long."

"Then go back to the classroom and take a nap," Shen Ruyin said. "Otherwise, you won't have the energy for class this afternoon."

Zhao Manrou nodded and got up to walk down with her.

As she turned the corner downstairs, Shen Ruyin looked up slightly and saw a darker shadow in the shadows at the entrance to the rooftop, baring its teeth at her. But the shadow vanished in fright the moment it met her gaze.

Shen Ruyin lay on the table, and with a turn of her head, she could see Zhao Manrou sleeping.

She closed her eyes, concealing her deep thoughts.

Although Zhao Manrou's birth chart indicates a weak constitution, I've never seen her encounter something like this at school in the middle of the day before.

Or perhaps I hadn't regained my memories before, and was just a simple student who couldn't see these things, so naturally I had no way of discovering them?