If there was really a so-called prince of Qiming Secondary School, then that prince was undoubtedly Fan Qian’an.

Wang Rongfa led a group of people to run rampant at school every day and strut about, but next to Fang Qian’an, he was just a bootlicking lackey with no rank.

Such was Li Xiu’s rudeness to Fang Qian’an that he was prepared to take a violent beating from the young man. But unexpectedly, the anticipated pain did not come.

On the contrary, the bodies of the boys holding him abruptly tensed, as if they were more nervous than Li Xiu himself.

After a brief silence, Fang Qian’an raised an eyebrow and said to Li Xiu, “Tsk, you have such a bad temper.”

Just as before, there was still a faint smile on his lips. There was not the slightest smile in those amber eyes. Looking at such a Fang Qian’an, a subtle dread suddenly flashed through Li Xiu’s  heart.

Then he heard Fang Qian’an say slowly and deliberately: “I heard that you didn’t respond to Lao Wang’s bullying before, but then they joked about taking your pants off and you went crazy. With such fear of others seeing your body, are you actually a girl?” The princely young man turned his head, regarding his little followers with a smile. “Let’s check it out, shall we? Oh, right. Song Chen, I heard that the camera function on your new cell phone is particularly good. Don’t waste such a good new feature. Turn the camera on, ah.”

All of Fang Qianan’s words and actions caused Li Xiu’s pupils to suddenly shrink.

“You—ugh…..”

Before he could resist, Li Xiu was forcibly pulled up from the ground by several people, and someone else reached out and removed his school trousers. The cold air infiltrated Li Xiu’s skin, and he couldn’t help but tremble uncontrollably in abject disgust. The intense emotions caused his vision to distort, and his memory began to become blurred. Warm hands licked his thighs. Someone deliberately yanked his poorly-developed ankle and watched him fall to the ground when he lost his balance. Others snickered and leaned over behind him, putting on a deliberate show.

“Wow, take a look at these legs…..”

“What a pity, ah, he really is male.”

“Hehe, you don’t know this, but men can also do it…..”

In order to please Fang Qianan, the boys picked on Li Xiu harder than usual.

But unwittingly, this kind of teasing gradually grew a little out of control…..there seemed to be a sort of unique atmosphere in this room, which amplified the twisted malice hidden in their hearts that they may not have been able to detect throughout their entire lives.

Li Xiu instinctively sensed the danger. He struggled desperately, and in his reddened field of vision, the shapes of the boys around him seemed to unconsciously change into white-faced monsters.

The last person to approach him was Fang Qian’an. The boys weren’t aware that he had come closer. In the chaos, he half-crawled on the ground like a pig or a dog, with one hand on the ground and the other hand raised, stroking Li Xiu’s face.

“Wa, you’re crying?”

Li Xiu looked at him and found that Fang Qianan had an actual sincere smile on his face, but the corners of his mouth were stretched too wide, reaching almost below his earlobes. Between those scarlet lips were rows of fine, snow-white teeth. In Li Qiu’s blurry, tear-soaked vision, those teeth seemed to gradually turn into sharp, slender fangs.

“You look really good crying, hiss.”

Fang Qian’an’s voice seemed to have changed. His voice was murky and panting, more like some kind of wild beast imitating human speech in a different language.

Li Xiu felt Fang Qian’an’s fingers, as ice-cold as those of a dead person, press against his lips as if they were about to penetrate into his mouth in the next second.

I’m going to be devoured.

The moment this strange thought flashed through his mind, something in Li Xiu seemed to snap.

Li Xiu abruptly opened his mouth and bit Fang Qianan’s fingers.

He bit hard, and the taste of blood instantly exploded in his mouth.

The bitten Fang Qian’an began to bleed at once.

“Fuck—”

Fang Qian’an let out a scream and jumped up.

He pulled out his hand, and most of his palm was stained red. The teeth marks on his fingers were deep enough to reveal bone, still dripping with blood.

“Damn, Fang-ge, are you okay?”

“This little bastard really dared to bite?”

“This guy has a death wish!”

Accompanied by loud curses one after another, kicks and punches rained down on Li Xiu’s body in a violent deluge. Severe pain struck, and Li Xiu almost passed out.

But strangely, despite the pain, Li Xiu breathed an inexplicable sigh of relief. 

Everything was normal.

In other words, the illusion that had occupied his mind was gone at last.

The boys who were beating him became the same as they should be in his memories, and there was no longer that sticky, twisted atmosphere in the room.

The only issue was that when they saw that Fang Qian’an was injured, the other boys in the room panicked, and the beating that fell on Li Xiu was almost out of proportion. Very soon, Li Xiu could no longer maintain his spirit. Even the strength to shield his head and hunch his body was gradually fading, and his entire consciousness blurred incrementally.

Would he be beaten to death here?

Just as Li Xiu thought this, a rustling sound suddenly came from the corner.

Something was moving.

The sudden movement momentarily silenced the chaotic scene. Everyone reflexively looked up in the direction of the sound, and under the boys’ gazes, the thick old wallpaper curled and peeled off the wall.

More than a decade ago, the wallpapers used by wealthy people were actually “wall coverings.”

Top wealthy families like the Xiao family were even more particular when choosing their decoration materials. All embroidered wall coverings used genuine materials with a thick texture, and when it peeled off, it fell off in one piece with a movement that was rather loud.

In fact, this was no big deal. As was said before, no one had taken care of this villa in the Xiao Family Gardens in many years. After water seeped into the walls, the glue behind the wall coverings became damp and aged, losing its stickiness. In addition, the weight of the wall covering was so heavy that it was normal for the whole piece to fall off like this.

But at this moment, the boys present looked at the fallen wall covering and automatically took a couple of steps back, revealing expressions of revulsion.

“What the fuck is this…..”

Before it came off, it looked like an old, faded wall covering, but after, another disgusting side was revealed.

Long-term dampness had caused dark green mold to grow on the back of the wall covering. Just looking at it made a person feel uncomfortable. And what was even more concerning was that when the covering fell off, the wall was exposed to everyone.

Densely-packed talisman papers covered the entire wall of the room. They had also been severely affected by the moisture and were covered in mildew. The runes drawn on the talisman paper were naturally blurred by water marks.

One after another, water marks had dripped down the wall, and after soaking the red paint of the talisman papers, the water marks looked like bloodstains.

Indeed, it suddenly seemed as if blood was oozing out of the entire wall.

“Fuckfuckfuck, is this place really a haunted house?”

Once they returned to their senses, there was a commotion amongst the boys.

“I heard that after what happened back then, a shaman was invited to come and practice here…..”

“The school seems to have dealt with this place too. They must have been left behind at that time, right?”

“Why do ritual talismans have to be put up like this, ah? It’s so scary.”

“You’re still afraid of this? I don’t get it, ah.”

Not everyone was afraid of the strange talismans suddenly revealed before them.

However, the most taboo thing for seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys was to show timidity in front of their peers, so even if someone was actually afraid, they could only grit their teeth at this time and don a nonchalant expression. 

Knock knock knock.

At this moment, a timely knock on the window rescued the group of boys.

“Which class are you in? Didn’t your teacher tell you that students aren’t allowed in the Xiao Family Gardens?”

A school janitor held a long-handled flashlight in his hand as he stood outside the dusty window, looking into the room. The boys in the room looked at each other when the faint voice sounded, then leaped up collectively.

“Why is the school still patrolling here?”

“Quick, quick, go out through the balcony.”

“I blocked the front door way before, so he can’t get in.”

“It’s fine, this guy can’t catch us.”

In fact, everyone knew that with Fang Qian’an there, even if they really were caught by the school janitor for a disciplinary offense, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But now, everyone tacitly ignored this. Using the excuse of the school janitor’s appearance, they quickly left the old villa.

Even daring high school boys with nerves as thick as wires, who sought death in all kinds of ways, vaguely felt that unique pressure.

Something was truly wrong with that wall.

“You got lucky, little cripple.”

“We’ll have a good chat with you tomorrow.”

Naturally, before they departed, they did not forget to speak harshly to Li Xiu, who was lying in the shadows with a bloodied head.

Li Xiu lay motionless on the ground, listening as the disordered footsteps of the boys gradually disappeared.

During this time, he could sense that the school janitor standing at the window had remained in place, looking at him through the glass. Perhaps even the school janitor was aware of Fang Qianan’s special status, and had no need to chase him.

It seemed Li Xiu was the unlucky one in the end…..

He still remembered that when he transferred schools, the teachers emphasized many times that students were absolutely not allowed to enter the Xiao Family Gardens without permission. Once discovered, the student would be given a demerit.

Li Xiu gave a bitter laugh, and gasped a second later due to the wound at the corner of his mouth.

It hurt.

Hopefully this wouldn’t affect the exam money.

He tried to get up, but after the group of people who had beaten him left, the pain that was originally bearable became even more severe. At this point, Li Xiu was already exhausted.

He simply lay on the ground where he was, breathing heavily as he numbly watched the shadow outside the window fall on the nearby wall.

The talismans on the wall were still dripping red water. The mottled runes seemed to sway in Li Xiu’s peripheral vision, appearing very abnormal and strange.

But Li Xiu only had to look closely to realize that it was an illusion.

Those things were weird, but Li Xiu didn’t find them frightening.

He bit the tip of his tongue, sucked in a cold breath, and shakily fastened up the trousers that had been pulled off by the others before. It was clearly a very simple movement, but he had difficulty completing it due to the continuous trembling of his fingers.

And with only that slight movement, Li Xiu couldn’t help but feel the urge to vomit, and his body began to feel chilled.

He hadn’t guessed wrong. He had likely been concussed by Wang Rongfa and Fang Qian’an’s group, Li Xiu thought.

“It’s time for you to go.”

A faint and unclear whisper suddenly sounded.

Li Xiu was startled. When he turned around, he happened to see the school janitor — he was standing in the corner of the room with his head lowered, muttering to Li Xiu.

When had he come in?

Li Xiu was a little puzzled, but he remembered other students saying that the school would occasionally send people to check on the condition of the Xiao family villa, and was relieved: maybe the school had given their staff a key. And he was in a daze when the other person opened the door and came in, so he hadn’t noticed.

“I apologize.”

Gritting his teeth, Li Xiu used all of his strength to slowly rise from the ground.

“I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s time for you to go.”

The school worker abruptly cut though Li Xiu’s weak explanation, repeating himself in a voice that lacked any fluctuation.

The sky was dark, but the man still wore the standard peaked cap of the janitor’s uniform on his head. He was also standing in the shadows in the corner of the room, where his face became increasingly blurry.

Looking at the school worker, Li Xiu’s eyes flickered. He had initially thought that the other party would note down his information, but now it seemed that he didn’t want to get him in trouble.

He could only breathe a sigh of relief: “En, I’ll leave right away.”

Holding on to the last of his strength, Li Xiu staggered to his feet and limped out of the abandoned villa.

The school janitor seemed to be very satisfied with Li Xiu’s tact. As soon as Li Xiu walked to the villa’s foyer, he heard the room door creak and then slam shut behind him.

Huh?

Li Xiu turned around subconsciously.

The janitor was still inside. Maybe he was checking the fallen wall covering…..from Li Xiu’s perspective, he could only see the blurry rear view of the tall janitor.

At this moment, he was standing upright in front of the rune-covered wall, motionless.

*

“Ugh…..”

At the same moment, inside a moving luxury car, Fang Qian’an suddenly let out a muffled groan.

“Young Master Fang, are you really okay? How about you get that checked out carefully?”

Another boy in the large compartment noticed Fang Qian’an stir, and frowned with some worry at the sight of the young master’s still bleeding fingers.

After leaving the old Xiao family villa, the strange and oppressive atmosphere of terror had faded away, and everyone belatedly came to their senses — things had gotten a bit serious.

Fang Qian’an was the most precious young master of the Fang family, but now he had been bitten by a poor wretch, and there was even blood.

God knew how troublesome this would be if the adults found out about it.

Fortunately, while everyone was extremely anxious, Fang Qian’an himself had a very understated reaction.

He simply told a younger brother to go to the drugstore and buy some gauze, and after wrapping his fingers, he didn’t bring it up again.

When he heard this younger brother worry about his fingers again, Fang Qian’an waved his hand casually: “…..It’s just a finger injury, don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. And don’t be awkward, it annoys me.”

Seeing Fang Qian’an like this, the younger brother who was lucky enough to follow Fang Qian’an into the vehicle didn’t dare to say more about it, and could only respond: “That’s right, Young Master Fang is magnanimous…..but that cripple really deserved a beating.”

When he heard Li Xiu mentioned again, Fang Qian’an narrowed his eyes.

Fang Qian’an raised his hand and glanced at the gauze on his fingers, murmuring: “Hm…..that guy.” He snorted. “He’s like a puppy.”

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Chapter 2 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 4