Li Xiu stared at Fang Qian’an. The tall boy was currently in front of him. Under the weak light of the cell phone, the boy’s shadow seemed gigantic—or rather, bloated.

Li Xiu hadn’t paid much attention before, but now it seemed that the reason Fang Qian’an’s shadow was so big was because there seemed to be a “person” leaning on Fang Qian’an’s arm.

His heartbeat instantly quickened. Li Xiu was thinking desperately about how to deal with this situation when Fang Qian’an turned around. 

“Hey, why aren’t you saying—”

He seemed to also feel like something was wrong due to Li Xiu’s silence.

As he muttered, Fang Qian’an pointed the phone in his hand toward his side.

Then, he saw the “person.”

The figure was almost human-like. But the head resting on Fang Qian’an’s shoulder only had half of a complete face, blue-white and inlaid with a strange smile. And the other half of its face was red muscle not covered by skin, pulsating slightly. The bulging eyes rotated with a gurgle, bloodshot and scarlet.

It was latched onto Fang Qian’an’s arm.

When Fang Qian’an lowered his head, he could see the internal organs falling out of its body.

The tall, 1.9 meter-tall boy opened his mouth slightly. He thought he would let out a hysterical scream, but when he actually opened his mouth, he could only squeeze a breathy sound from his throat. 

His mind went blank.

Bam—

When rational thinking utterly failed, only the most primal physiological instincts remained in Fang Qian’an’s body.

In other words, muscle memory.

Fang Qian’an gasped, and subsequently raised his hand to attack the “person” directly. Years of training in boxing allowed him to punch fast and hard. The shadow clinging to Fang Qian’an issued a brittle sound under such a fierce attack. Then it was hit by a standard Muay Thai high kick and launched right into a dark corner of the hallway.

A strange brittle sound seemed to come from the shadows.

It wasn’t until this moment that Fang Qian’an let out a fierce and breathless scream: “Fuck me, fuck me, what the hell is that thing—”

He was obviously a 1.9 meter-tall boy, but his face was already gray with fear.

“I—I don’t know either.”

It must be said that Li Xiu was also shocked by what had just happened: whether it was the half-faced ghost that suddenly appeared on his classmate, or the fact that the ghost was punched away by said classmate…..they were both beyond the scope of what a brain could comprehend.

“I realized it was next to you when you said I was squeezing you,” Li Xiu murmured, with no idea what he was actually saying.

Fang Qian’an said nothing.

For the next few seconds, the hallway was silent. Fang Qian’an looked at the pale-faced, incoherent Li Xiu, and Li Xiu could only look back at him in alarm.

All of a sudden, Li Xiu felt somewhat strange.

Fang Qian’an looked a little…..wrong now.

The boy remained in the same position as before, staring at Li Xiu. However, the way the color drained from his face was even worse than when he had first seen the ghost. As Fang Qian’an stared, his eyes opened wider and wider…..

His eyes were full of horror.

W-wait a minute.

Li Xiu realized that Fang Qian’an’s expression of horror was not aimed at him.

Fang Qian’an was looking behind him.

Li Xiu’s body immediately stiffened.

…..How did he not realize it earlier? Li Xiu thought.

When he saw that shadow beside Fang Qian’an, his shoulders were obviously very heavy.

Li Xiu’s breathing became labored.

Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look, don’t look—

There seemed to be a voice screaming in his head, but Li Xiu couldn’t help but glance toward his shoulder from the corner of his eye.

A hand was resting there. 

A gray-white hand with a bluish glow.

Like that of a mummy, the skin of that hand had no luster at all, and was tight over the bones.

There were no nails, just dark nail beds behind the fingertips and a small section of white bone protruding from under the skin.

[A-Xiu.]

He didn’t know if he was hallucinating due to excessive fear, or if the “thing” was actually calling to him. 

Li Xiu heard an extremely hoarse, strange murmur: [My A-Xiu.]

Just like a python, that hand proceeded to move toward Li Xiu’s chest, and the biting coldness continued to spread along the places where it touched his skin. He knew he should be moving to run away, but Li Xiu was unable to do anything but tremble, as if his body had been completely separated from his soul.

A chill that could almost freeze his bone marrow soon took over his entire back. Although he didn’t dare to look, Li Xiu knew that he had been completely embraced by that “thing.”

He was about to be devoured.

Li Xiu was more aware of this than ever.

“Wu…..”

In that dark corridor, that frail young man could only cry for help with a weak whimper.

Cold droplets of water fell slowly down his cheeks. They could be tears that filled Li Xiu’s eyes due to overwhelming fear, or they could also be cold sweat.

Dry fingers traced slowly up his neck, carefully rubbing the wetness on the soft cheeks of this living person.

In a state of overwhelming fear, Li Xiu watched helplessly as Fang Qian’an staggered back.

Unlike him, who had been completely possessed by a ghost, Fang Qian’an still had a chance to escape.

Li Xiu would not be surprised if the boy ran away.

But what he didn’t expect was that just when he thought that Fang Qian’an would turn and leave, the other party suddenly let out a harsh scream and then……

Rushed toward him and embraced him.

“Fang Qian’an?!”

Li Xiu almost fainted when Fang Qian’an threw himself onto his shoulders like a sack.

After a violent jolt, Li Xiu realized belatedly that he was being carried by Fang Qian’an as he ran wildly through these strange and spooky corridors.

“Hu…..hu…..”

Fang Qian’an was running very fast. Li Xiu could hear his heavy breathing, and also feel his out-of-control heartbeat. The darkness seemed to extend continuously around Li Xiu. This corridor was so long that it utterly defied the laws of reality.

Li Xiu’s back still retained the terrible coldness left by “that thing” before, but the places where he touched Fang Qian’an were hot. 

“Cough…..Fang…..Fang Qian’an…..stop…..put me down…..quickly…..”

Li Xiu raised his hand and patted Fang Qian’an’s back, calling out weakly.

However, the boy beneath him was so terrified that he had fallen apart, and even after hearing his voice, he continued to run as fast as he could.

“How can I stop, what will I do if that fucking thing catches up? What the hell is that—”

Would it be fair to say that he was a star member of the school basketball club? After running all this way, Fang Qian’an could still shout such a long sentence in one breath. 

It was just that he shouted somewhat incoherently.

By the time Fang Qian’an ultimately exhausted himself and had to stop, it was already more than ten minutes later. Li Xiu didn’t wait for him to let go, and directly struggled to jump down. Then he half-knelt on the ground and began to retch.

—Fang Qian’an’s shoulder had pressed on his stomach, causing him to jolt headfirst all the way.

Li Xiu felt that he hadn’t vomited directly on Fang Qian’an for the sole reason that this person had taken him with him to escape.

When he finally caught his breath, Li Xiu whispered feebly to Fang Qian’an: “Can…..can you use a better position the next time you run away…..?”

“Hey, aren’t your demands too high? You were almost dragged away by a ghost just now, why bother worrying about that?” Fang Qian’an’s expression was still terrible. He muttered breathlessly as he searched around with the phone in his hand.

Li Xiu could see that Fang Qian’an was still in a state of shock.

After a moment of silence, a soft “Thank you” sounded in the darkness.

Fang Qian’an was taken aback to hear Li Xiu’s thanks and instantly felt uncomfortable, avoiding Li Xiu’s eyes.

“There’s nothing to thank me for. You’re a cripple and can’t run…..”

The boy responded forcefully, unaware that when Li Xiu heard him say the word “cripple” again, the slight softness in his expression disappeared at once.

Li Xiu’s expression tensed: “It’s really hard to say that you’re a nice person…..”

Hu—

Almost at the same time Li Xiu finished speaking, an extremely cold wind suddenly blew through the enclosed corridor.

Li Xiu’s wrist hurt as Fang Qian’an screamed and suddenly grabbed him. It seemed this was round two of them running for their lives. There was a click in the darkness, and then all of the lights above them lit up.

A figure suddenly appeared in front of them.

Fang Qian’an braked suddenly and almost fell to the ground with Li Xiu.

On the other side, the figure also let out an “aiyo” and took several steps back.

“Oh my god, you scared me to death!!”

An old school janitor was holding a toolbox in one hand, pressing the main switch to the corridor lights with the other as he looked at Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an in front of him with astonishment.

After recovering from his initial fright, the janitor raised his eyebrows and shouted at them angrily: “How old are you? Why did you come here?! Don’t you know this floor is closed? Still coming to a place like this without electricity, you must have a death wish, oh—”

*

The floor where Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an were trapped was not that weird negative thirteenth floor, but the complex’s negative third floor.

Due to year-round water leakage, the wires on this floor were always short-circuiting, and it was in a state of maintenance at all times. Taking this into account, the negative third floor had not seen normal use since the building was built.

The school’s teaching aids were replaced each year, and when a scrap company couldn’t be found to deal with them, the teaching aids, desks, and chairs were stored in the vacant offices on this floor.

The elevators in the building had long been programmed not to stop on this floor.

…..It was precisely because of this that Li Xiu explained for a long time, but couldn’t make it clear to the janitor how he and Fang Qian’an had appeared there.

Indeed, it was difficult to explain clearly. After all, he himself didn’t understand what had happened in the corridor just now: Once the lights turned on, he immediately discovered that the negative third floor corridor was not very long. But he and Fang Qian’an had been running steadily for a long while not long ago. Even now, Li Xiu’s chest still hurt, and his defective right foot was so swollen that he could hardly lift it.

To make matters worse, as the janitor interrogated them, he also found that the debris originally piled in the corridor had been overturned.

“Did you two come here to cause damage on purpose?! Why are today’s youths so stupid? It’s infuriating…..”

The school janitor rushed with an imposing manner to the boxes that had poured onto the ground, continuously nagging as he looked at the things scattered everywhere: “Which class are you in? I must tell your teacher. You will definitely pay for any damages to the school!”

Li Xiu only noticed the debris behind them after being told by the janitor, and as the janitor was cursing and packing his things, his expression became extremely stiff.

He could clearly see that the things the janitor was picking up one by one were the exact mannequins often used in biology classes.

Qiming Secondary School had a lot of money, and these mannequins were the most exquisite ones. They were half as tall as a person. The normal half of the body was plastic, while the other half was skinless muscle tissue. And below the abdomen were obvious internal organs.

Of course, these parts had now become incomplete pieces of plastic rolling around on the floor, the damage visible to the naked eye.

Especially one mannequin, the chest of which had a large, gleaming hole. Through the uneven gaps in the plastic, its empty interior could be seen. 

Li Xiu couldn’t help but look at Fang Qian’an.

*

The fact that Young Master Fang had appeared on the negative third floor, which was off-limits, and “accidentally” destroyed a biology class human body model was essentially no big deal at all.

Li Xiu and Fang Qian’an quickly returned to the exit on the first floor of the complex—of course, this time they chose to take the fire escape instead of the elevator.

As soon as they reached the flower beds at the exit, Fang Qian’an suddenly swayed and collapsed onto an outdoor bench.

“Fang Qian’an, what’s wrong with you?”

Fang Qian’an gritted his teeth, trying his utmost to hide how weak his legs were. Feigning calmness, he said to Li Xiu: “I….I’m fine, I just need to sit down.”

“Oh,” Li Xiu said dully.

Then he turned around and prepared to leave.

“Hey, where are you going—”

As a result, Li Xiu hadn’t yet taken a step when Fang Qian’an swooped in to stop him.

“In any case, we’re comrades who’ve gone through thick and thin together. Are you going to leave me alone now?”

Fang Qian’an looked at Li Xiu with great embarrassment. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t hide the fact that he was too scared to stay alone.

“I’m going to class,” Li Xiu muttered dully.

He had discovered after exiting the complex that although he and Fang Qian’an had physically been trudging helplessly in that dark corridor for a long time, from the moment they entered the elevator, only ten minutes had passed in the outside world.

He could still make it in time for his last morning class.

When he finished speaking, Li Xiu saw Fang Qian’an’s eyes open wide in disbelief: “Y-you’re going to class? After what happened just now, you still want to go to class?”

Fang Qian’an’s tone was sharp, and he looked like he was breaking down.

Li Xiu lowered his eyes to regard Fang Qian’an’s hand on his wrist: “It’s because of…..encountering that thing just now that I need to go to class.”

The midday sun was shining brightly, but under this light, Li Xiu’s pale face was still without a trace of blood, and even his lips were covered in a thin layer of gray. 

“The fourth period class is politics,” Li Xiu explained in a murmur. 

He said to Fang Qian’an: “…..I feel like I need this class to calm down.”

---

The author has something to say:

Li Xiu: I think the basic viewpoints of Marxism can effectively eliminate all strange forces of chaos.

Dog Qian’an: ……Huh?

Gege: …….

In short, the most important thing in school is studying.

---

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Chapter 12 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 14