Strange things happen, and I drive the evil god mad by chasing debts.

After resting for a while, the two continued deeper into the alley.

The chilling atmosphere in the surrounding air grew heavier and heavier, and the fragments of the illusion that had just dissipated receded behind them like a tide.

Suddenly, my vision distorted, and the dilapidated residential building disappeared, replaced by an old school building.

The exterior walls are yellowed, the iron railings are rusty, and the playground is covered with withered yellow leaves.

The dull sound of the school bell drifted from afar—ding—ding—

[System notification: Entering the third level of spacetime illusion—the misplaced classroom.]

Current dungeon progress: 2/7.

[New plaintext rule:]

After the class bell rings, students must go to the nearest classroom and take their seats.

When the teacher asks a question, you may remain silent, but you must never lie;

Students are not allowed to leave the classroom before the school bell rings.

[WARNING: This floor is being roamed by the "Student Ghost" stalker. Violators will be relentlessly hunted down.]

Fang Yue suddenly looked around, his voice lowered: "A student tracking system? There's even a pursuit mechanism? The first two levels were just mental illusions, but this level is actually attacking?"

Shen Qingchan's gaze swept over the open doors of the teaching building, her brows furrowed.

"The rules force us to go into the classroom; we have no choice."

If this is violated, the supernatural will be unleashed.

Remember this: never lie.

The urgent school bell rang once again throughout the campus.

As the dull bell rang, the sound of hurried, monotonous footsteps could be faintly heard in the corridor of the teaching building.

Tap...tap...tap...

Fang Yue's hair stood on end: "You're here?"

"Go to the nearest classroom."

The two rushed into the classroom on the first floor by the window, where rows of old desks and chairs were arranged, and the blackboard was covered with illegible writing.

The classroom was empty; there wasn't a single person in sight.

They randomly chose seats in the back row and sat down, not daring to make a sound.

Not long after, the projector above the podium slowly lit up, and a figure gradually appeared.

He was a male teacher wearing black-rimmed glasses, with a pale face, droopy eyelids, and a blank gaze sweeping across the audience.

"Two new students," the teacher said in a flat, emotionless voice, "I have a question for you: Do you want to stay here forever?"

Fang Yue's heart tightened. He quietly turned his head to look at Shen Qingchan and whispered, "How should I answer? Tell the truth?"

Shen Qingchan nodded slightly.

"We don't want to stay," Shen Qingchan said calmly. "We're just passing through and trying to find a way out of the Time Ruins."

The teacher on the podium froze for a few seconds, his ashen face remaining unchanged, before slowly nodding: "Answer truthfully, in accordance with the rules."

The danger has temporarily subsided.

After a long, agonizing few tens of minutes, the sky outside the window gradually darkened.

With a long time to go before the school bell rang, Fang Yue stared idly out the window, when suddenly his pupils contracted.

Outside the school building corridor, several figures in school uniforms strolled slowly.

Their bodies were hunched over, their necks tilted to one side, their hands hanging limply at their sides, their eyes fixed on the windows of every classroom—the very same student-tracking monsters the system had described.

"They're patrolling outside." Fang Yue swallowed hard. "If we just behave ourselves until the school bell rings, won't everything be fine?"

"That's true in theory, but the dungeon won't give us such an easy situation."

Shen Qingchan stared warily at the doorway. "Be careful, things might not go as planned."

As soon as he finished speaking, the back door of the classroom creaked open slowly and automatically without any wind.

A student walked slowly into the classroom, his empty eyes staring straight at the two people in the back row.

It didn't open its mouth, but slowly moved closer to the seat.

[System prompt: The student who was being tracked randomly entered the classroom is not a rule-triggered event.]

Remain seated, do not actively touch it, and wait for it to leave on its own.

The two held their breath and remained motionless, pretending to be ordinary students.

The eerie presence drew closer, a stench of decay and dampness assaulting the senses, and a bloodless face almost touched Fang Yue's shoulder.

Fang Yue froze, desperately suppressing the urge to dodge.

Just when everyone thought it was going to disappear, the gears of the old-fashioned clock on the classroom wall suddenly jammed.

The clock hands suddenly reversed direction.

[Sudden Anomaly: Spacetime Rift Disturbance Causes Temporary Failure of Local Rules!]

[WARNING! Rules have been loosened, and the tracking student has gained attack privileges!]

The student suddenly raised his arm, his long, dark fingernails stabbing straight at Fang Yue's neck!

"Be careful!"

Shen Qingchan reacted quickly, reaching out to grab Fang Yue, and the two of them, along with their chairs, rolled to the side.

Sharp fingernails grazed Fang Yue's throat, leaving several deep scratches on the wooden desk.

"run!"

Shen Qingchan gave a low shout.

With the local rules broken, staying in the classroom would only lead to them being surrounded. The two immediately rushed towards the front door of the classroom.

In the corridor, the remaining wandering students turned their heads at the sound, their empty gazes locking onto the target, and they chased after it in groups.

The sound of dragging footsteps echoed continuously in the narrow corridor.

"So many!" Fang Yue glanced back, his scalp tingling. "Which way do we run?"

"The stairwell of the teaching building! Use the side paths in the corridor to create distance, and wait for the rules to be restored!" Shen Qingchan ran while observing her surroundings.

The two turned into a horizontal corridor, constantly turning to evade pursuit.

The eerie speed behind me increased, and chilling whispers kept creeping into my ears.

"Stay...don't go..."

"Stay in the classroom and attend class... Don't run away..."

A student sneakily took a shortcut and blocked the corner of the corridor ahead, opening his mouth and letting out a cloud of dark mist.

Shen Qingchan quickly took out the exorcism talisman brought by the Demon Suppression Division from her pocket and threw it forward.

The talisman ignited with a pale golden flame the moment it touched the black mist, forcing the strange creature to retreat and temporarily blocking its path.

"The talisman won't last long! Hurry!"

The two rushed up to the second floor, hid in a storage room with most of the windows locked, and quickly shut the heavy wooden door.

Outside the door, a series of rapid, loud banging sounds erupted.

The entire door panel trembled violently, and wood chips kept falling off.

Fang Yue leaned against the wall, panting heavily, his forehead covered in cold sweat: "That was too close. I thought that as long as I followed the rules, I could live a peaceful life. Who would have thought that the spacetime disturbance would directly invalidate the rules' protection?"

Shen Qingchan listened intently to the continuous banging sounds outside the door.

Shen Qingchan calmly analyzed: "The remnants of time and space are broken fragments of time and space, and their rules are inherently unstable. The further we go, the more frequent these sudden out-of-control situations will become."

She looked up at the light and shadows filtering through the cracks in the wall: "We're safe for now, but we can't stay here forever."

Once the clock starts ticking normally again and the rules are restored, we'll look for an opportunity to leave the teaching building and head to the next illusory area.

Outside the door, the eerie banging sounds never stopped, and chilling whispers continued to echo in the cramped storage room.