At once, everyone turned their gazes towards Guo Jimei.

Even Yuan Qinghua had a strange expression.

Seeing everyone looking at her, Guo Jimei immediately defended herself nervously, "When I saw that paper this morning, I was just surprised... I thought it might be someone's prank, because a lot of people knew we were playing that game..."

"So, this morning, I didn't pay much attention to it and just left it in the dorm... But Yuan Qinghua," Guo Jimei continued, looking warily at Yuan Qinghua, "why would you carry something like that with you?"

Wind blew in from the window.

Yuan Qinghua sat against the light. A few strands of her hair, caught by the breeze, partially obscured her face. She tucked her long hair behind her ear. "Zhang Pingfan disappeared, didn't he? We've been trying to find him for the past few days. This morning, I saw a paper just like it by my pillow, so I was a little worried."

Right, Yuan Qinghua was the class monitor of Year Two, Class Nine. It seemed she had been involved in Zhang Pingfan's disappearance since yesterday.

Unfortunately, there had been no results so far.

"Since it's in the dorm," Chu Changge suddenly said, "why don't we go back and get it now?"

Hearing this, Yue Nu looked at Chu Changge strangely.

She didn't know that Li Wentao had received an extra vote, so Chu Changge's comment seemed odd to her. "It's just a piece of paper, isn't it? Eight of us voted last night. I voted for Zhang Pingfan, and the other seven of you voted for Li Wentao…"

She trailed off, then stopped abruptly.

Even 007, who was still in the dark, paused for a moment before murmuring, "Wait, the ones who voted for Li Wentao were Gu Mian, Chu... Meiren Chu, Keke, myself, Pan Yue, and Yibai, right? He should have only received six votes, shouldn't he?"

Yue Nu had clearly realized it too. "Right! Eight people voted last night. The six of you here voted for Li Wentao, and I voted for Zhang Pingfan. That's only seven votes! So, the eighth vote must have been cast by someone other than us seven. For them to vote specifically for Li Wentao means they must have witnessed what happened last night from the shadows. The eighth vote was from the ghost!"

But as soon as she finished speaking, Gu Mian shook his head. "Not necessarily."

Yue Nu looked at Gu Mian, puzzled.

Gu Mian frowned slightly. "During the vote last night, Li Wentao, in his anger, cast his own vote for Pan Yue. So that eighth vote was Li Wentao voting for Pan Yue."

007's expression was grave. "We know eight people voted, and three abstained. Among those eight, one voted for Zhang Pingfan, one for Pan Yue, and six for Li Wentao. That's exactly eight votes… But last night, it was clearly stated that Li Wentao received seven votes. How could there be an extra vote?"

Gu Mian rubbed his chin. "We're also puzzled. But let's put aside how that extra vote came about for a moment. It's a fact that Li Wentao received seven votes. So, the ghost is very likely the person, besides the six of us, who also voted for Li Wentao."

Hearing this, Yue Nu quickly walked to the table. "No wonder you were all concerned about the paper Guo Jimei used for her vote."

She looked at Guo Jimei as she spoke. "It's noon now, and the dorms are open. We'll go back with you to get that paper."

Her tone brooked no refusal.

Guo Jimei hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm not going with *her*."

She was referring to Yuan Qinghua.

Yuan Qinghua still seemed a bit bewildered, apparently not understanding why Guo Jimei had suddenly adopted such an attitude towards her.

"Alright," 007 stepped forward. "I'll go back with you."

Li Yibai watched Guo Jimei warily, then turned to 007. "Should I go with you too?"

Boys weren't allowed in the girls' dormitory, so if Li Yibai went, he could only wait downstairs.

Even though it was daytime, being alone was still somewhat dangerous; after all, the ghost could separate them at any moment.

Just then, Yue Nu, who was nearby, suddenly spoke up. "Splitting up is indeed not to our advantage. How about this: we all go. Lin Qi and I will go with Guo Jimei to her dorm to get the item. The rest of you can wait downstairs. Once we have it, we'll come back here to decide what to do next."

It wasn't that they had any particular attachment to this classroom, insisting they had to return here to make decisions. Rather, besides this place, the group had no other base of operations. Students and teachers were everywhere, and it would be too conspicuous for them to gather and discuss things openly.

No one objected.

The group immediately started walking out.

It was already past twelve-thirty. The academic building was empty of students; the corridors and staircases were completely silent.

They quickly reached the dormitory building.

But just as they arrived downstairs at the dormitory, Yue Nu suddenly frowned. "Oh, right. Pan Yue has been missing this whole time, hasn't she? I just remembered something… Last night, when I was leaving the classroom, I thought I saw Pan Yue writing in a diary. Could she have been writing in it these past few days?"

007 asked, puzzled, "Are you saying she might have written her identity in her diary?"

"The chances are slim, but even if there's a slight possibility, we have to take it." Yue Nu looked at 007.

007 nodded slightly. "Okay, then after we get the item, we'll go back to the classroom and look for Pan Yue's diary."

But as soon as 007 finished speaking, Yue Nu immediately said, "It's not that much trouble. It'll be quick. I'll go get it now."

"Now?" 007 frowned.

"True, going alone isn't ideal, but the ghost doesn't kill during the day, and it's still a long way from 8:00 p.m… You guys go on up. I'll be back by the time you come down." As Yue Nu spoke, she turned and, before anyone else could say anything, ran off towards the academic building.

Gu Mian watched Yue Nu's retreating figure. He had a feeling she wasn't really going to get a diary.

007 also had a puzzled expression, but she didn't waste any time. She then turned to Guo Jimei, who was beside her. "Well then, shall we go up?"

Guo Jimei nodded. "Mm."

Indeed, Yue Nu wasn't going to get any diary.

She sprinted all the way back to the classroom they had just been in, went around the long table formed by eight desks, and headed straight for the window.

There was nothing remarkable to see outside the window. What caught the eye was the radiator on the wall beneath the window.

Panting heavily, she bent down and then pulled something out of her pocket.

It was a cell phone!

That was the advantage of being a day student; she could bring whatever she wanted to school.

She didn't hesitate. She immediately turned on the video recording function, pointed the phone's camera outward, and slowly slid it into the radiator.

It was September, and the heating hadn't been turned on yet, so there was no worry of the phone overheating and exploding.

"If I put it here, I can see almost the entire classroom, and it'll be hidden. Once it's inside, it'll hardly be discovered…" Yue Nu muttered to herself as she slowly pushed the phone further in. "If things go smoothly, my plan can be realized tonight."

She had deliberately gathered everyone she could and then returned alone, precisely because she was afraid the ghost would find out what she was doing.

She was alone in the empty classroom. The sound of the phone scraping against the radiator was exceptionally clear, echoing continuously in the vast room.

But just then, she suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

It felt as if something was right behind her, staring.