At Qiming Secondary School, a group of people gathered in front of a certain men’s restroom.

The boys, who usually considered themselves to be superior people, stood in front of the public restroom with awkward expressions. They exchanged glances filled with dislike, but none of them dared to leave voluntarily. After all, Young Master Fang was in such discomfort. It would seem too indifferent and unconcerned if the younger brothers left at this time.

Seeing as the school bell had rung and the public areas on campus were becoming increasingly empty and quiet, Jiang Jun crossed his arms and said with a frown: “Boss, what’s going on?”

“How about one of us come in to take a look?” he suggested.

“If you want to go, then go.” Another person noticed his small plot and muttered, “Who would want others to see them all messed up? What if Young Master Fang gets angry?”

Jiang Jun remained silent.

“But hasn’t he been in there too long?”

“En, wasn’t there the sound of flushing just now? Why hasn’t he come out yet…..”

As the group discussed this in low voices, someone holding a cell phone suddenly gave a panicked cry.

“Fuck—”

Everyone was given a shock by this guy and couldn’t help but roll their eyes. “Damn it, can you stop being so flustered? What happened, ah? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

The one who had cried out raised his head with an extremely unsightly expression, looking at his companions: “S-Song Cheng…..”

“Song Cheng?”

“Song Cheng, he, he’s dead,” the boy stammered in a tremulous voice. “The one who was carried out of the haunted house today w-was Song Cheng.”

As soon as these words fell, there was silence outside the restroom.

Everyone stood there foolishly, completely unable to recover.

Even in a small group, these people and Song Cheng could not be called close friends, but regardless, he was still a person who hung out with them. The living person who had been calling them brothers just a few days ago was a corpse today.

When the young men heard this news, they felt an indescribable sense of unreality.

“Is it true? That guy Song Cheng was just alive and kicking, so why is he…..”

Just as someone spoke, a loud noise abruptly sounded in the restroom.

The already nervous boys were given a fright. When they were able to react, several had already run into the restroom first.

“Young Master Fang?!”

“Boss, are you okay?”

“What happened?”

But when everyone rushed in, they found that nothing had happened to Fang Qian’an. The tall boy simply stood motionless in front of the sink, his head hanging down.

The light was dim inside the restroom. An exploded light had left a crooked, snake-like black burn mark on the snow white ceiling. 

Naturally, there were no large windows in the public restroom. Once the light exploded, the only source of light was the few small ventilation windows in the corners. It was currently very dark, and the dark shadows covered Fang Qian’an’s body as if to engulf him.

Fang Qian’an didn’t seem to notice at all that he was “worrying” his companions, and naturally ignored the others’ inquiries.

He shook his head slightly in the dim light, then passed through the crowd and went straight outside.

“Young Master Fang?”

“Um, Young Master Fang, what are you doing…..”

Fang Qian’an suddenly spoke, his voice dim and dull: “Song Cheng. He’s dead.”

He seemed to be immersed in his own world as he muttered faintly: “I need to find A-Xiu…..Song Cheng is dead……I need to find…..A-Xiu…..”

“Wait, Young Master Fang, you know too? That Song Cheng is…..”

Jiang Jun was closest to Fang Qian’an, and happend to hear his muttered words. Just when he was going to use this excuse to talk more with Fang Qian’an, Jiang Jun inadvertently met the other’s eyes.

They were incomparably hollow.

Jiang Jun’s heart constricted, and all of his words stuck in his throat.

He was in shock for a moment, then realized that Fang Qian’an had already passed him and left the restroom.

*

Someone was watching him.

In Class A1, Li Xiu suddenly shivered and came to this realization.

The extremely intense gaze fell upon him as if it had a physical form, and goosebumps appeared on Li Xiu’s arms.

Li Xiu raised his head from his textbook and subconsciously looked in the direction of that gaze.

Just like a traditional school, every classroom in Qiming had two doors, front and back. There were also long strips of glass windows on the doors, allowing the outside world to see inside the classroom. This was convenient for the patrol teacher to stand outside and check on the status of each class.

But now, looking outside the window, there was a tall, strong shadow. Due to the characteristics of the glass itself and the backlighting, it was difficult for Li Xiu to see Fang Qian’an’s face clearly from this angle. But he knew that it was Fang Qian’an watching him.

Through the window, Fang Qian’an’s face was as white as a paper cutout. His eyes were clearly light-colored, but now his black pupils were dilated as round as a cat’s, as if two black pebbles were embedded in the eye sockets. Both of his hands were pressed to the glass of the observation window. Perhaps because he was so tall, in order to have a clear view of the person inside the classroom, Fang Qian’an had his head tilted in an awkward manner to press his face to the window and peek at Li Xiu.

With Fang Qian’an staring at him in such a way, Li Xiu didn’t feel too good.

He even experienced some self-doubt. Could it be that his concentration was too poor? Otherwise, why didn’t anyone else notice Fang Qian’an at the back door? Yet he was sitting here on pins and needles, restless all over.

He recalled that before coming to class today, he emphasized to this guy several times that he was not to disturb him during class time. Li Xiu’s brow was practically knitted together.

After a few minutes of being at an impasse, Li Xiu, the very model of a well-behaved student, made an exception and took out his phone to send a text.

[Fang Qian’an, what in the world are you doing?]

The message was sent.

In the next second, he received a reply.

[Voice message: 4 seconds]

Li Xiu: …..

The youth sucked in a breath and glanced at the teacher.

In the classroom, the teacher was still focused on lecturing and didn’t notice good student Li Xiu going AWOL.

Li Xiu looked at Fang Qian’an, who was still leaning against the observation window, and reluctantly pressed the “convert to text” function to check the voice message.

[Help me]

The brief words on the screen immediately caused Li Xiu’s pupils to constrict.

Li Xiu turned his head to look at the other party in disbelief, then realized that the boy’s strange posture may not have been Fang Qian’an’s intention.

Behind Fang Qian’an loomed a dark shadow.

As if noticing Li Xiu’s gaze, as soon as he looked at Fang Qian’an, a pair of emaciated gray hands that definitely didn’t belong to a living person stuck out from behind Fang Qian’an’s shoulders little by little.

Fang Qian’an’s eyes were blood-red as he looked straight at Li Xiu. And behind him, the shadow became more and more distinct.

Bang—

A loud noise cut through the orderly lecture.

“Classmate Li Xiu?”

The startled teacher and classmates all turned to look at the pale-faced, panic-stricken boy in the back row of the classroom.

Holding the textbook with both hands, Li Xiu met the teacher’s puzzled gaze.

“S-sorry, Teacher.” Li Xiu’s voice shook a bit as he spoke. He felt as if his hands and feet were immersed in ice water, extremely cold. His heartbeat was incredibly rapid. “I don’t feel well. I need to go to the infirmary.”

Having said this, Li Xiu didn’t even wait for the teacher’s response before rushing out of the classroom.

However, once he rushed out, there was nobody at the back door — the boy who was clinging to the door just moments ago had vanished.

Li Xiu abruptly went still. Breathing was suddenly very difficult.

At the discovery that Fang Qian’an was missing, he was at once overwhelmed by an extremely ominous premonition.

He quickly dialed Fang Qian’an’s cell phone.

Beep……beep…..beep…..

A long, drawn-out electronic sound came from the microphone, but Fang Qian’an didn’t answer.

Li Xiu’s phone was old, and even the tone had some strange inflections.

Beep……beep…..ssss…..beep…..ss…..

The boy held his phone in one hand and the railing with the other, walking forward at a loss down the hallway as he automatically looked for Fang Qian’an.

However, it was during class time, so the hallway was empty except for him.

The sound of teachers lecturing in the nearby classrooms could be heard from time to time, but the more this was so, the more Li Xiu felt that his surroundings were scarily quiet.

He swallowed dryly. His throat felt dry and bitter, and he kept thinking about the shadow he’d seen behind Fang Qian’an at the last moment. 

That “thing” seemed to have had one eye exposed.

It peered at Li Xiu over Fang Qian’an’s shoulder. 

That gaze was terrifying.

So terrifying that when Li Xiu recalled the scene now, he had chills all over. He couldn’t say how he felt, but he knew that he was so scared that his legs were beginning to feel weak.

Li Xiu lowered his head as if to hide. He put down the still-dialing cell phone and murmured unconsciously: “Fang Qian’an…..where the hell are you?”

And the moment he spoke these words, a terrible suspicion suddenly appeared in his mind.

Was what he’d seen outside the door just now a living Fang Qian’an, or was he…..actually……

Just as Li Xiu was frightened to the point of his legs giving out because of his conjecture, a faint ringtone sounded from the end of the corridor.

There were spacious stair landings at the end of each hallway in the teaching building, somewhat similar to a public space in a high-end apartment. Outdoor tables and chairs were also set up here, allowing students with comfortable lives to have activity spaces to chat and relax between classes.

“Good luck, wishing you good luck…..”

The ringtone overlapped with the dial tone of Li Xiu’s phone. It was clearly extremely upbeat music, but in such an environment, it gave off a strange and eerie feeling.

Li Xiu’s heart palpitated. He couldn’t help but pick up his pace, staggering in the direction the sound was coming from. 

Then, at a glance, he spied the tall boy sitting motionless on a bench, back hunched and head drooping down. A constantly ringing cell phone lay in Fang Qian’an’s hand.

Li Xiu was certain that Fang Qian’an must hear the sound, because the boy’s strong, developed back muscles were continuously jumping.

But Fang Qian’an didn’t answer the phone.

“Fang…..”

Li Xiu stopped, staring at Fang Qian’an’s back. He hesitated for several seconds before summoning the courage to call out the other’s name.

“Fang Qian’an?”

He walked up to Fang Qian’an shakily and waved a hand in front of him.

Little by little, Fang Qian’an raised his head.

It must be said that Li Xiu was shocked by the current state of Fang Qian’an.

The boy’s eyes were bloodshot, his face full of fear and despair.

“What happened–ahhhhhh!”

Li Xiu hadn’t fully asked a question before it turned into an exclamation.

It was like being attacked like a wild beast. Li Xiu was caught off guard as Fang Qian’an directly threw his arms around him.

The boy’s body was as frigid as a corpse, but his arms were as strong as a predatory anaconda, tightly constricting Li Xiu’s body.

“Fang Qian’an, let go —”

“A-Xiu…..A-Xiu……wuwuwu…..”

Fang Qian’an ignored Li Xiu’s struggle and buried his face right in the young man’s neck.

“I’m so scared, so scared, so scared, wuwuwuwuwu……”

Then, as Fang Qian’an hugged the alarmed Li Xiu, he burst into tears.

*

It was not until more than ten minutes later that Li Xiu, with difficulty, tore the obviously frightened and nearly unconscious Fang Qian’an from his body.

His neck and shoulder were now wet and sticky, and felt chilled when the wind blew. With a numb expression, Li Xiu gave up thinking about whether it was Fang Qian’an’s tears or snot.

In short, he was speechless.

“So, you refuse to move because…..”

“I don’t dare. I’ve already run into a ghost like this, and I’m afraid that if I answer the phone, some kind of strange noise will come out.”

The tall boy looked terribly pitiful and weak right now. He sat in front of Li Xiu with his hands and feet tucked in, his nose still red.

“I was so afraid, so I wanted to find you, but you told me not to disturb you…..”

Fang Qian’an’s voice became increasingly small and weak.

“I waited at your door for a while, but the classroom is also really scary, because I always think of that dream. So I hid here to wait and planned to find you after class.”

Li Xiu rubbed his forehead.

He was a bit hesitant to bring up the “thing” he’d seen behind Fang Qian’an before.

After a moment’s hesitation, Li Xiu asked tentatively: “Did you feel something, so you sent me a message to call for help?”

As a result, he received an extremely puzzled response from Fang Qian’an.

“When did I send you a message calling for help?”

Li Xiu took out his phone and, in front of Fang Qian’an, clicked on the voice message sent to him in class.

However, after clicking on it, the voice message displayed as “Help me” after conversion to text was just a short, meaningless rustling sound.

Fang Qian’an stared at his cell phone. After a moment of silence, he said softly: “I might have pressed something accidentally.”

But Li Xiu’s expression didn’t relax.

Because even now, those two words were still present on the screen.

[Help me]

---

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Chapter 26 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 28