Chapter 62: Heading to the Second Urban Legend

Another morning of exam simulation.
Today wasn't too bad.
I was only caught three times.
As soon as the lunch break arrived, Duan Ming rushed off to the Student Union with his underlings.
Ji Xian: "Honey, I..."
"Stop, stop, stop! Can you please use a normal form of address? You're making my hair stand on end." Duan Ming actually shivered all over as he said this.
"W-Well, Boss Duan Ming, why do we have to go right in the middle of the day? Isn't the time going to be too tight? I've already arranged things with my precious; as long as it's before twelve, it doesn't matter what time I go back to the dorm."
Duan Ming: "That's for the best, but today is a bit special. I have some personal business to take care of tonight."
"W-What?"
"I haven't seen my dear friend in a while, going to catch up... Wait, no, why am I explaining this to you? Don't ask, asking means seizing the time to earn credits."
"Oh."
Amidst their chatter, the group had already arrived at the Student Union building. Inside, Jiang Xiaoxiao was carefully using a small spoon to scoop up a tiny piece of cake and savor it, her enraptured expression looking as though she had attained supreme satisfaction.
"Xiaoxiao," Duan Ming greeted.
"Duan Ming! Why are you guys here?"
Jiang Xiaoxiao asked in surprise as she stood up to welcome them.
"Oh, same old routine, here to pick up some tasks in the Realm of Urban Legends."
"Now? At noon?"
Having had the night to calm down, Jiang Xiaoxiao had already accepted the fact that this team possessed formidable strength.
The Heart-Gouging Ghost's level of trouble ranked mid-to-high among the Seven Great Urban Legends, yet they had managed to subdue it directly. Aside from the one in the No. 6 Teaching Building, the rest naturally wouldn't pose any problem at all.
However, the timing was indeed rather awkward.
She silently pulled out a notebook and began flipping through it, muttering to herself all the while.
"The art building with the 4-times piano room is under construction these days and we can't go over... The entity at the Fengxian Little Lake only appears at night... The mirror in the girls' dormitory is still in an uncertain state..."
"That leaves only the Self-Harming Madman and the Vanishing Third Wardrobe meeting the requirements."
"However, since you're going with the purpose of dealing with urban legends, the Third Wardrobe's whereabouts are erratic, and going there might very well yield nothing, which leaves only..."
"The Self-Harming Madman."
"Let me check... I remember there should be a task for this urban legend place too..."
"Ah, found it."
"This time the task is to go to the No. 4 storage room under the stadium grandstands to retrieve some teaching equipment. This task has been delayed for quite a while, and the credits are relatively high—10 points. I'll bump it up to 15 for you."
"Do you want me to introduce this guy to you?"
Duan Ming: "That would be best."
After all, no matter how detailed Liang Zhichao's gathering was, it couldn't match the information mastered by the Student Union, who actually issued the tasks.
Jiang Xiaoxiao nodded and began to recount.
"This guy is located right in the No. 4 storage room. He's a bound spirit and cannot step out of the room a single step."
"The Self-Harming Madman, as the name implies, is constantly self-harming at every moment, yet the injuries from the self-harm are quickly healed by ghost qi, endlessly. Nobody knows the reason why."
"This urban legend ghost spirit is the weakest in terms of strength among the Seven Great Urban Legends, barely even a low-level wandering soul. But it's worth mentioning that once, a student wanted to rely on his Fierce Ghost-tier strength to forcibly suppress him, only for that guy to instantly slash a huge gash across his body, his strength reaching the Fierce Ghost tier in an instant to counter-kill the student."
"Fortunately, the Self-Harming Madman's urge to attack isn't particularly strong. Most of the time he just kneels unconsciously in a corner and harms himself, occasionally losing control. So far, there have been 143 task attempts. Aside from that overconfident, idiotic student, only 8 students have encountered a loss of control and lost their lives."
"That's it, that's all of it."
Duan Ming pondered for a moment: "That's already enough. Thanks, Xiaoxiao."
Jiang Xiaoxiao brushed back her pretty hair: "Hey, why mention that? We two who and who?"
He Nian said enviously from the side: "Wow, she even speaks English."
At this time, Jiang Xiaoxiao continued: "Then I won't accompany you guys over this time. You were able to handle such a tricky situation last night when I couldn't even help much; this certainly won't give you any trouble."
Hearing this, Duan Ming immediately put on a serious expression: "Nonsense, you made a huge contribution last night."
And indeed, she had made a huge contribution.
Without her relationship with Yongmei, He Wei wouldn't have been so fierce and decisive at the time.
"Hehehe~" Jiang Xiaoxiao covered her mouth and giggled, "Little brother's mouth is still as sweet as ever."
"Alright, it's getting late. You guys go and return early, you still have classes in the afternoon."
"Got it."
With that, the five-person team hurried off toward the stadium again.
Not every ghost spirit needed a lunch break. During this noon break time, there were still plenty of bizarre entities wandering around the campus paths.
Though they mostly shared some common traits.
Either they lacked a brain or they lacked lungs, and there was an even more exaggerated one whose lower half had been completely run over by a steamroller yet still persevered in dancing a frantic chicken dance.
Must have been a die-hard fan.
Once they reached the stadium, the crowd began to thin out, especially near one of the iron doors beneath the grandstands. A few passing ghost spirits would even take a slight detour around it.
That must have been the destination.
The five of them walked straight toward it.
Indeed, this was the place.
A large "4" was marked above the iron door.
He took out the key Jiang Xiaoxiao had given him and unlocked the padlock.
Screeech—
The iron door emitted a harsh grating sound of rusted metal.
The interior was pitch black, and it took a while for everyone to enter and let their vision adjust.
The storage room was cluttered with miscellaneous items. Even with the checklist Jiang Xiaoxiao had provided, gathering all the teaching equipment would probably still take some effort.
However, the group didn't act immediately. Instead, they looked around. Sure enough, in a corner of the room, a black figure knelt with its back facing them, holding a blade and continuously cutting into its own body, drenched in blood from head to toe, looking just like a bloody person.
What was even stranger was that the wounds from the blade completely healed in barely more than ten seconds, repeating in an endless cycle, somewhat hair-raising.
"Is this the Self-Harming Madman?" He Nian asked in a low voice.
"Should be." Duan Ming nodded and stepped forward first.
First came an inspection.
[Self-Harming Ghost]
[Name: Ma Mingda]
[Level: Wandering Soul tier]
[Ghost Qi: 23]
[Target Info: Back in the day, he participated in an extremely atrocious serial murder case with methods so cruel they made one's hair stand on end. After coming to the Ghost Realm, he has been trapped in this dark place for years by some inexplicable curse, constantly looking for ways to escape.]
[Hint: Perhaps dealing with this urban legend at a later stage will bring a surprise.]
Huh?
Duan Ming was slightly stunned.
This was the first time the hint function had offered a suggestion based on his subjective awareness.
Hesitating for a moment, he chose to believe it.
At least up until now, the hint function had never made a mistake.
"We'll deal with this urban legend another time. Let's do the Student Union's task first."
Qiu Yu became somewhat anxious: "Why? Isn't it right here in front of us?"
Pausing for a second, he added,
"Dad."
Ji Xian and Zeng Yanliang wore the same puzzled expressions.
On the contrary, He Nian looked indifferent: "I listen to my eldest son."
Right while they were talking, without anyone paying attention, the Self-Harming Ghost's vacant eyes gradually began to focus.
"Jiehehehe~"
"Jie your mom! Why do villains all laugh the exact same way?"
Without any hesitation, Duan Ming delivered a flying kick straight at the dark figure.
He had been told it couldn't be resolved yet, but nobody said it couldn't be beaten.
Seeing Duan Ming make a move, Eldest Son He resolutely followed suit.
The remaining three blinked their eyes as they watched the dark figure howl in agony under the two of them, momentarily at a loss for words.
Wait, didn't you guys just say you weren't going to cause trouble, huh?!
Duan Ming: orz
I've tied this guy up for you guys, and he says he's begging for votes on a daily basis!