A giant whale emerged from the dark and murky current, swaying its tail as it swam through the empty night sky. The atmosphere was buzzing, and the earth was trembling.

The heavy weight pressed upon the onlookers, making it difficult for them to breathe.

Sunny Xu recalled the first time he witnessed Little An's appearance, and he even fainted directly. Every time he saw it afterwards, this "weight" that almost directly affected the human mind and willpower remained unchanged. He could only ignore this impact because he had become accustomed to it.

At the same time, the streetlights nearby and even the lights in the surrounding houses began to flicker or go out, and faint lights flickered in the alley.

...It was exactly the same as the signs when the old man in a Zhongshan suit took action, and the disturbance was even greater. It turned out that Starry Lin's power could also interfere with electromagnetic waves.

Does this mean that Little An is indeed the same kind of existence as ghosts?

Before Sunny Xu had time to think deeply, he heard movement from the next room, as well as murmuring voices.

It seemed that the commotion was too loud. If this continued, the residents of this alley would soon be awakened from their sleep.

To prevent any further trouble, he instinctively shouted, "Starry Lin!"

The black-haired girl turned her face, and in the instant their eyes met, she understood his meaning and nodded slightly towards the young man.

Little An no longer freely floated in the air, but opened its "mouth" and emitted a silent long cry. Then, with a terrifying force, it rushed towards the old man in a Zhongshan suit like an overwhelming tide.

"Hoo—"

A fierce sound echoed in the narrow alley.

It was as if the sound of water hitting rocks in a waterfall, or the sound of wind whistling through a valley. It was astonishing, yet fleeting.

Sunny Xu widened his eyes.

The next moment, the whale and the old man both disappeared.

The dim halo of the streetlights gently enveloped the walls and lush branches at the entrance of the alley. The tranquility returned to the alley once again.

The man next door, wearing a vest, opened the window and stuck his head out to take a few glances. Not finding anything, he shouted, "It's just a stray cat!" Then he rubbed his eyes and turned back, muttering to himself.

With a light click, the lights in the living room behind Sunny Xu turned on, as if a lantern had been lit at the entrance to guide the night visitors home. The television no longer made any sound, and when Sunny Xu turned his head, he saw the disc coming out of the player. It seemed that the movie had ended.

Starry Lin quietly approached the entrance along the wall. The two of them returned home together and closed the door, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"How is the situation?"

It seemed like everything was resolved, but Sunny Xu still instinctively lowered his voice.

"Don't worry, that thing is gone."

Starry Lin smiled slightly.

"Did Little An eat him?"

Sunny Xu was somewhat surprised.

"No, it seems like he suddenly disappeared." The girl shook her head. "Maybe he ran away."

He ran away? Was it because he was scared? Sunny Xu started to stroke his chin, lost in thought. In that case, did the old man have a will of his own? Or was he controlled by someone, just like Little An?

Suddenly, Sunny Xu remembered something else and quickly asked, "Are you... alright?"

"I'm a bit tired, but I'm better than before," Starry Lin wiped the sweat off her forehead. Her expression was still relaxed, and she didn't seem to be pretending. "Maybe it's because Little An didn't really feed."

Feeding...

Sunny Xu couldn't help but sigh.

"This is really strange. Little An feeds on things like ghosts, and the old man and the insect monster are also in the same category. But the wild dog pack that mutated after eating Wang Nana's body, they were visible and tangible, right? Yet they were still eaten by Little An."

"We've encountered too many strange things recently," Starry Lin seemed indifferent. "Just like how Little An can't be seen by ordinary people but can still interfere with reality, who knows what the principle behind it is."

"...That's true. Let's just consider it as a pet that's good at eating," Sunny Xu sighed. "Maybe it's learning from its owner."

"Wait, am I... good at eating?"

Starry Lin furrowed her brows and subconsciously touched the ends of her hair, sounding slightly uneasy.

"Uh... I was just joking."

Sunny Xu felt a bit embarrassed. It seemed that girls really cared about this kind of thing, he thought.

...

With the conclusion of the events, the night remained thick. For the two of them, too much had happened tonight, and drowsiness gradually overwhelmed them.

"Well, let's go back and rest?"

"Okay."

In the living room, the boy and girl simultaneously bid each other "goodnight" before returning to their respective rooms.

Although it was an unexpected accident, and it was only the first day, they felt like they had been living under the same roof as a family for a long time.

Neither of them tossed and turned because the other person was just a few steps away. When the boy and girl lay on their beds, their moods were even more peaceful and relaxed than usual.

For Starry Lin, since moving to this city, her former home had slowly ceased to feel like her own. No matter how many people were in that house, she only felt as if she were alone in a prison, and she could only fall asleep by burying her head in a pillow.

For Sunny Xu, his guardian was often away due to work, sometimes not returning home for several days and nights. He should have been used to living alone. But sometimes, just sometimes, he still felt lonely. After finishing his homework, he would lie on his bed alone and stare at the ceiling, or sit on the sofa and absentmindedly watch the repeating discs until he fell into a drowsy sleep.

Until today, in this small home, the familiar sound of breathing changed from one person to two.This change seemed insignificant, it couldn't affect a person's life, nor could it guarantee continuity. Perhaps it would revert back to its original state the next night... But no one could predict the outcome, because no one could see the future clearly.

Only the eternal moonlight, night after night, quietly enveloped the dreams of the young.

*

After getting up, Sunny Xu, as per his usual routine, dressed and washed methodically, packed his school bag, prepared breakfast, and incidentally took out his English book to memorize words. The room was filled with the familiar sound of reading aloud.

...At least on the surface, but he was a bit nervous inside.

After reciting a few times and finding his efficiency declining, Sunny Xu sighed and put the book down.

He realized that he couldn't concentrate on his studies, his attention was taken away by other things that mattered more.

Sunny Xu looked at the tightly closed door of his sister's room.

Usually, it was empty, but today...

He swallowed subconsciously. For some reason, he was able to act naturally when they were together last night, but now he felt so panicked that his face was stiff.

Finally, he made up his mind and walked towards the door.

Sunny Xu didn't even realize that he had come to the door with both hands and feet. He knocked on the door and said calmly:

"Are you awake? It's time to get up, there's less than half an hour before morning self-study."

Hmm, my voice should... probably be calm, right? He thought, did I reveal my nervousness?

"Bang bang... thud!"

To Sunny Xu's surprise, the person inside was even more nervous than he was. Before his words fell, there was a "clatter" sound from the room. It sounded very flustered.

"Are you... okay?"

"...I'm fine." Starry Lin's muffled voice came from inside, "I just... uh, accidentally fell."

"Are you sure you're okay? There's Red Flower Oil in the drawer of your desk, you can use it."

Sunny Xu's hand was already on the doorknob, and it took a lot of effort to suppress the impulse to open the door and check the situation.

"Okay, I got it. I'll be out soon."

"Okay. I've finished washing up, you can use the bathroom."

"...Thank you."

This time the voice was closer, the girl seemed to be speaking to him with her face against the door.

Sunny Xu shook his head, didn't linger, and turned to leave.

...

On the other side of the door, a long-haired girl in her underwear was leaning against the door, one hand covering her blushing face.

"Sigh... I'm so embarrassed."

Starry Lin muttered, then picked up her uniform from the floor and slowly put it on.

*

Sunny Xu and Starry Lin had breakfast together, walked out of the alley together, entered the school together, and stepped into the classroom together.

The sight of these two walking into the classroom shoulder to shoulder was something their classmates had seen more than once or twice, and they had gradually gotten used to it.

Starry Lin had been behaving herself lately, not causing any trouble; while Sunny Xu was still the active student in class, performing perfectly in homework and tests, always being praised by teachers, nothing had changed.

Everything seemed as natural as it should be. At first, people were curious about their relationship, but neither of them were the type to explain honestly. Asking such questions was like asking for trouble, and there was even the risk of being scolded by the female school bully, so soon no one cared.

...At least on the surface.

Theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread.com ].

But for the two of them, today was a little different from usual: before, they used to meet at the alley with their school bags, but today they came out of the same house.

If this was discovered by people in the school, it would definitely cause a sensation.

Regardless of their identities, a boy and a girl, two high school students in their adolescence, staying under the same roof without a guardian... Thinking about it, it's not something that can be openly talked about.

However, for some reason, neither Sunny Xu nor Starry Lin seemed to resist this matter itself. Even Sunny Xu, who was always seen as a perfect student by the teachers, didn't feel anything wrong.

Even if they felt nervous or shy like this morning, it was only because they cared about each other's opinions, not the act of "high school students living together", which seemed somewhat rebellious according to current social norms.

Perhaps it was because they had witnessed a broader world, a world that transcended human understanding, and the ethical concepts of daily society could no longer bind the thinking of the two young people, or perhaps...

"Bang!"

Just as Sunny Xu put his school bag on his seat, a sudden noise came from outside the classroom, like the echo of a chair hitting the wall.

"What happened?"

He instinctively looked up and out the window. He wasn't the only one curious, some people in the classroom had already gone to the corridor.

This corridor had five classes, from senior two class one to class five, all humanities, everyone was familiar with each other.

At this moment, the students who heard the noise came out one after another, quickly filling the corridor. The sound of chairs being overturned, hitting the floor or the wall, and people shouting and cursing, didn't stop for a while.

For a moment, the corridor was crowded with people, buzzing with discussion, and everywhere people were watching the excitement. Someone shouted in the crowd:

"There's a fight in class five!"

"Go get the teacher!"

"Who is it?"

"It's Shi Hui! He's hitting people everywhere!"