Upon hearing Luo Chao's question, Tang Tianyi responded unhurriedly and calmly, "Because he's already... dead."

"What?!" Luo Chao almost exclaimed, "Already dead?!"

"That's right." Tang Tianyi nodded.

"Dead? How did he die? Don't joke around, Miss Tang." Luo Chao hurriedly asked.

"Do I look like someone who would joke?" Tang Tianyi glared at Luo Chao in irritation, "That day after he and I entered that haunted classroom, we sat face to face at a table."

"Until around one in the morning, which is reportedly the time when the yin energy is the heaviest, we both held a pen together and started chanting the spell to summon the Pen Immortal on a blank sheet of paper."

At this point, Luo Chao couldn't help but silently chant the spell alongside Tang Tianyi, "Pen Immortal, Pen Immortal, I am your present life; if you want to connect with me, please draw a circle on the paper."

"We chanted the spell like this together, but after nearly forty repetitions, the pen in our hands didn't react at all."

"So, I began to doubt that there was actually no Pen Immortal in this world, much less any murderer Pen Immortal case. The so-called murderer Pen Immortal incident might just be some unscrupulous media sensationalizing the suicides of girls overwhelmed by academic pressure into something like the Pen Immortal murder case."

"You know, back when the internet wasn't as widespread as today, many urban legends and ghost stories were just things bored people came up with, after seeing some foreign films, processed with self-made creative embellishments, as stuff to scare others."

"But just when I was about to give up, Jiang Xuming encouraged me to continue the experiment, saying at least we should chant the spell the full forty-nine times; otherwise, it would be a wasted trip."

Tang Tianyi mentioned Jiang Xuming again, prompting Luo Chao to interrupt, "Jiang Xuming? The intern you mentioned earlier?"

"That's right... Little Jiang really had some ideas. If it weren't for him that day, this experiment wouldn't have succeeded. If it weren't for his encouragement, I might still be an obstinate scientist who doesn't believe in ghosts. Even my current research direction might be completely different, such is the wondrous butterfly effect!"

Tang Tianyi's eyes dimmed, seemingly both reflective and helpless.

"Classmate Jiang was indeed a good comrade, Miss Tang, please accept my condolences," Luo Chao comforted her.

"But if I could do it over, I'd rather let this experiment fail than see him die right in front of me!" Tang Tianyi said.

"In this case, those of us who are still alive can only live out a future for those who have passed. Immersing ourselves in sorrow would only keep us forever stuck in the past."

"I think if Jiang knew in the underworld, he wouldn't want the Tang Tianyi he admired to be held back by his death; learning is infinite. I fear that Jiang was already prepared to sacrifice himself for science." Luo Chao patted Tang Tianyi's shoulder, speaking with heartfelt empathy.

"You're right," Tang Tianyi listened to Luo Chao, her expression returning to its cold demeanor, then continued, "After hearing Jiang Xuming's words, I forced myself to perk up and together we chanted the spell the full forty-nine times."

"The moment we completed the forty-nine repetitions, a fierce wind suddenly rose outside, making the windows clamor loudly, and the curtains inside the classroom fluttered wildly as though crazed ghostly shadows intent on taking our lives! At that moment, even I, a scientist devoted to materialism, felt a tinge of fear."

"Even you felt scared?!" Luo Chao was finally slightly surprised to hear that.

Others might not know who Tang Tianyi was, but Luo Chao understood all too well.

Tang Tianyi, a scientist with an IQ of 188 yet genetically devoid of emotion, someone who wouldn't even know how to be happy, actually felt a bit scared!

Luo Chao surmised that the situation at that time was likely dozens, if not hundreds, of times more terrifying than what Tang Tianyi described.

"I was really frightened back then, luckily Jiang Xuming, being a man, was much braver than us women, he comforted me saying not to be afraid, then ran to close the windows by himself."

"But at that moment, I witnessed a horror scene that I would never forget for the rest of my life!"

The more Tang Tianyi spoke the more her voice trembled, Luo Chao could tell from her words that at this moment, the cold-hearted woman scientist Tang Tianyi was genuinely scared!

Luo Chao had studied psychology and physiology, he knew it was exceedingly difficult for someone to intentionally make their voice tremble, unless they were a singer with long-term training, like the female singer who sang "Examination".

However, for an ordinary person with no vocal training to produce a trembling voice isn't impossible; it happens when one feels extreme fear, with the brain stimulating the rapid secretion of adrenaline, they can achieve it.

From this, one could see how large Tang Tianyi's psychological shadow was at this very moment!

Though Luo Chao felt deeply empathetic towards Tang Tianyi's emotional display, his curiosity compelled him to ask the question, "Miss Tang, what did you actually see? Don't leave me in suspense!"

"I saw... just as Jiang Xuming was about to close the window, one window suddenly seemed to slam shut as if someone forcefully closed it, hitting Jiang Xuming's body, and at that moment, half of his body was leaning out..." Tang Tianyi said this and lightly touched her forehead with her hand, genuinely unable to continue.

Even if she couldn't continue, Luo Chao could already imagine what a terrifyingly gruesome scene it must have been.

He feared Jiang Xuming was crushed alive by that window into two parts!

"And then, after Jiang Xuming died, the Pen Immortal would probably come to kill you next, right?" Luo Chao gently probed.

"Yeah." Tang Tianyi nodded, "After Jiang Xuming died, the electric fan in the classroom, for some unknown reason, started to spin at an over-speed rate."

"Over-speed spin? What do you mean?" Luo Chao was confused. He understood what over-speed driving meant, but over-speed spinning was indeed a new term for him.

"An electric fan has five speeds, right?" Tang Tianyi asked rhetorically.

"Right." Luo Chao nodded.

"Then just imagine an electric fan spinning at a speed equal to twenty-eight gears." Tang Tianyi coldly explained.

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