Zhu Ye, neither I nor Chubby knew who he was because he was a year ahead of us and must have enrolled in Zhenyi High School last year.

Based on the clues we currently have, all we know is that this deceased young person is named Zhu Ye, and like us, he was a student at Zhenyi High School.

Chubby said, "We don't even know when Zhu Ye died. That barber is so evil that he can harm students!"

I furrowed my brow, contemplating for a moment, "Something doesn't add up."

"What's wrong? What doesn't add up?" Chubby looked at me with confusion.

I pointed at Zhu Ye's ** and said, "Look at this bed, it's clearly a peculiar magic formation. The barber is not harming him but saving him!"

"What do you mean?" Chubby didn't catch on immediately.

I took a deep breath, "To put it simply, the barber is using the borrowed yang energy not to prolong his own life but to revive Zhu Ye!"

Chubby smacked his head suddenly, "Ah, I get it! You mean the barber borrowed yang energy not for himself but for Zhu Ye's resurrection!"

I nodded. It seemed like we needed to rethink our approach.

Before, we thought Zhu Ye was killed by the barber, but the current situation suggests that the barber is actually trying to save Zhu Ye. Why would the barber want to save Zhu Ye? Is there a connection between them?

While saving someone is considered virtuous, sacrificing other people's life force to revive Zhu Ye is undoubtedly extremely selfish and unforgivable.

There are thirty-nine strands of hair and birthdates of students inside the cloth bags, and thirty-nine candles are lit around the **. However, the barber has a total of forty-nine candles, indicating that he needs the yang energy of seventy-seven forty-nine students to resurrect Zhu Ye. There are still ten candles unlit, which means he needs ten more students to complete his plan.

Thinking about this, a shiver ran down my spine.

Chubby was clearly getting scared. He asked if dead people could really be revived.

I said I didn't know. Perhaps there were dark arts that could revive the dead, but going against fate would undoubtedly incur divine retribution.

Chubby's legs started trembling, and he said, "Yang Cheng, let's leave quickly. This place is too evil. I don't want to stay even for a minute!"

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Before Chubby finished speaking, we heard footsteps in the hallway outside.

My heart skipped a beat. Oh no, the barber is back!

I grabbed Chubby and quickly ran to the window, flipping over and jumping into the backyard.

Turning around, I realized that Chubby hadn't followed.

I looked back and was shocked to see Chubby stuck in the window. His face was flushed red from anxiety, unable to go up or down.

At this moment, the door cracked open, and it seemed like the barber was about to walk in. Chubby was about to be caught.

I thought of going back to rescue Chubby, but it was too late. At this critical moment, there was suddenly knocking on the door from outside the barber shop.

The door closed again, and the sound of the barber's footsteps gradually moved away.

I broke out in a cold sweat, feeling lucky. I quickly went back and pulled Chubby off the window.

Chubby was frightened, his legs weak. I had to support him and help him onto the wall before climbing up myself. Then we quietly ran back to school.

Crouching along the wall, we passed by the front of the barber shop and saw a security guard from the school's gatehouse borrowing a hairdryer from the barber. He said he accidentally stepped into a ditch during his night patrol, getting his shoes and pants wet. So he wanted to borrow the hairdryer from the barber shop to dry them.

Tonight was really fortunate. Thankfully, this security guard suddenly appeared and unknowingly saved Chubby's life.

Chubby said this security guard was his savior and vowed to treat him to a couple of cigarettes later.

Sneaking back into the dormitory, recalling the eerie scene in the barber shop, Chubby still trembled under the covers, unable to fall asleep all night.

Our exploration of the barber shop yielded valuable information. The biggest clue was knowing a student named "Zhu Ye." So I planned to start investigating from Zhu Ye and hoped to unravel the mystery behind all this.

The next day, I had Chubby give me the cigarettes hidden under his mattress. Carrying them, I went to the neighboring dormitory and found a guy nicknamed "Mr. Know-It-All." I asked him to smoke two cigarettes and inquired if he knew a student named "Zhu Ye."

Mr. Know-It-All was our classmate, given the nickname because he was very nosy and knew everything happening in the school. He was always the first to know any gossip or news within the school premises.

The reason he could be considered Mr. Know-It-All was that his uncle was the head of the disciplinary office in the school. The second reason was his poor academic performance. It was rumored that this was already his second time repeating a grade.

Everyone was curious as to why Mr. Know-It-All didn't continue his studies outside but chose to repeat a grade. Mr. Know-It-All said the outside world was too complicated, and he preferred to stay in school, where he had food and shelter, and no one bothered him.

When I mentioned the name "Zhu Ye," Mr. Know-It-All choked on his smoke, coughing incessantly.

He stubbed out the cigarette, looking surprised, and asked why I knew Zhu Ye.

I smiled and said it was nothing, just heard someone mention Zhu Ye's name and casually asked about it.

Mr. Know-It-All said, "Zhu Ye was a top student with excellent character and grades. He entered our school with the highest score, exceeding Zhenyi High School's admission cutoff by several tens of points. His grades were good enough to study in the county, but Zhenyi High School made the first move, promising to waive Zhu Ye's tuition and cover his living expenses. In other words, they provided Zhu Ye with free education at Zhenyi High School. Unfortunately, this kid had bad luck. Just half a semester into his studies, he met an unfortunate end!"