Chapter Ten: So That Chip Was Actually...

In the classroom, the lackluster homeroom teacher, Mr. Li, was giving a lesson. Yet everyone seemed absent-minded, their attention elsewhere. After class, Mr. Li kept several members of the Elite Club behind for a meeting.

The so-called Elite Club was a group of wealthy students led by Zha Zha and Sweetie. Its members included Handsome, Small Eyes, Zhang Ge, and a few others. They wielded considerable influence at school, commanding respect even from the teachers. Today’s discussion was all about Handsome.

A couple of days ago, Belle had approached Handsome to inquire about the mysterious death of the beautiful girl in the piano room. That girl had been Handsome’s girlfriend and once a member of the Elite Club.

Zha Zha grabbed Handsome by the collar. “I’m warning you—don’t you dare share any information about our club with outsiders. Otherwise, I’ll be furious, and you’ll regret it.”

Handsome replied, “I know what’s at stake. I promise I won’t say a word. Don’t worry!”

Yet Handsome seemed troubled, clearly haunted by the club’s hidden deeds. That afternoon, after a basketball game, he went to the school’s shower room. After bathing, he sat in the locker room, lost in thought.

Suddenly, a black cat darted behind him. Moments later, he noticed the wastepaper basket nearby had caught fire. It turned out he had carelessly tossed flammable items, igniting the trash. Handsome rushed to put out the flames, but they only grew larger. Then, his hair spray can suddenly exploded. Metal fragments instantly severed his main artery, and just like that, Handsome’s life was snuffed out.

When Belle and Mr. Li arrived at the scene, they discovered, just like before, a sticker of a black cat on Handsome’s phone. Both realized that the sticker was somehow closely connected to the recent string of deaths. They agreed to begin investigating the matter together.

Meanwhile, the spate of mysterious deaths had left the Elite Club, led by Zha Zha, on edge, as if sitting on pins and needles. They gathered to discuss their predicament. At this moment, Small Eyes and Zhang Ge turned on Zha Zha.

Small Eyes accused, “All of this is happening because of you—what you did a year ago! Everything now is just karma! Retribution! Ha ha ha, retribution!”

After tempers cooled, several of them went to the hospital to visit Lin Xiaowan, who had been in a vegetative state since that incident. There was no need to ask; their mistake was clearly linked to her.

Zha Zha, sullen, warned Small Eyes and Zhang Ge again, “Neither of you is innocent in what happened last year. So don’t you dare breathe a word to anyone. Trust me, before anything bad happens to me, you two will suffer even more.”

After leaving the hospital, Small Eyes was called by the academic office to help move desks. The dean asked him to stand onstage to adjust the lighting. Who could have expected that, at that precise moment, a stage light suddenly fell, nearly striking Small Eyes?

Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he had escaped disaster, the steel cable suspending the curtains snapped…

Belle happened to be present as well. This time, she was cautious. Without hesitation, she took Small Eyes’ phone, intent on seeing whether it bore the black cat sticker.

But the phone was password-protected, so Belle sought help from the teacher and her classmates. Zha Zha volunteered at once.

“We in the Elite Club have the technology and the equipment for this,” Zha Zha said.

Belle didn’t think much of it and followed Zha Zha and Sweetie to the laboratory. To prove their capabilities, Zha Zha gave a demonstration of their research. All it took was to put on headphones equipped with a special chip…