...Where are you taking me?

Zhu Qingyue followed behind Xu Xiangyang, looking at the boy's back, and couldn't help but think about it.

It wasn't because she was afraid of what he would do to her, but because Xu Xiangyang hadn't spoken a word all the way, just walking ahead by himself, so she always felt that the atmosphere was a bit strange.

Xu Xiangyang didn't tell her the destination, and Zhu Qingyue didn't intend to ask, just silently following along.

Since he wants to take me somewhere, then I'll go with him. The girl thought, if she couldn't trust the boy who was the first person she hoped to be friends with, then who else could she trust?

They crossed the road and walked near the cram school, but instead of entering the stairwell, they continued walking deeper along the road.

Right, what did he say just now? "Before class, let's go somewhere."

He said to go somewhere...

She couldn't help but laugh, and in the end, she couldn't hold it in and asked softly:

"Sunny Xu, have you ever gone shopping with other girls before?"

"...Huh?"

Xu Xiangyang, who was walking with his head down, suddenly heard this strange question and couldn't help but turn his head to look at her in confusion.

"No, I haven't?"

Does going out at night to buy snacks with Starry count? No, it probably doesn't. Xu Xiangyang thought, it just doesn't seem like the shopping he imagined.

"No wonder, I can see that you really have no experience." Zhu Qingyue covered her mouth and chuckled lightly, "How can you just walk ahead without saying a word, ignoring the girl?"

Xu Xiangyang thought about it and felt that it made sense. Even if he didn't need it now, he might need it in the future. Moreover, it was largely a matter of courtesy in interpersonal communication, so he humbly asked for advice.

"So, what should I do?"

"I don't know." Zhu Qingyue answered very honestly, "Because I don't have any experience in this area either, so I can't tell you."

"Oh."

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"Don't worry too much, I think Xu is fine the way he is now. If he acts too enthusiastic, it will be strange."

As they spoke, the two of them were getting farther and farther away from the bustling street.

When they passed through the residential area, they occasionally encountered pedestrians, but whenever Xu Xiangyang saw someone approaching ahead, he would avoid them and deliberately walk to a quieter place.

Zhu Qingyue quickly understood that Xu Xiangyang was deliberately avoiding others. He was intentionally taking her to secluded and uninhabited places.

She looked at the rows of houses, at first seeing old houses with range hoods and air conditioning units hanging outside; then they turned into detached houses with glass fragments of various sizes inserted on them, with lush branches and leaves extending from the door walls.

Through the rusty iron fence and gate, there were usually clothes hanging on iron racks in the courtyard, but often no one could be seen; occasionally, a few ugly little cats would walk by on the wall, or a dirty stray dog would lie under the shade of a tree.

Some people would take out the bamboo baskets from their homes, place the woven round plates in a sunny spot, and dry chili peppers or dried meat and fish on them.

Sometimes, conversations and arguments could be heard from the beds inside the door... but as their footsteps approached, they would disappear without a trace, leaving only the figures of children running between the yard and the road with plastic toys.

Silence all the way.

Finally, they arrived at a place where no one could be heard, an open space surrounded by several residential buildings.

Zhu Qingyue looked up, and the clothes hanging from every household and the potted plant branches extending from the anti-theft windows were gently swaying in the wind.

There was a shallow sand pit on the open space, a swing with half of its rope rotten and fallen off, and a few deflated tires.

This place seemed to be a playground where nearby children used to play in the past, but now it had been abandoned mercilessly.

"Is this the place you wanted to bring me?"

Zhu Qingyue looked around and half-jokingly asked.

"Is it a place you used to play when you were a child, and you came here to reminisce about your childhood?"

Xu Xiangyang, standing in front of her, didn't answer, but looked at the direction behind her with a serious expression, as if waiting for someone to arrive.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

"Teacher Yang...?"

Xu Xiangyang finally spoke, but what came out of his mouth was a question.

They came to the open space through a narrow path that could only accommodate one person pushing a bicycle, so when she turned her head, she quickly saw the familiar figure at the entrance of the alley.

Indeed, it was her homeroom teacher, Teacher Yang, who should have been preparing courseware in the cram school at this time.

The man crossed his arms and stood at the intersection, with the shadows cast by the houses on both sides covering his face, but from the tone of Teacher Yang's voice, one could hear a hint of dissatisfaction.

"What are you two doing in a place like this?"

Zhu Qingyue subconsciously wanted to answer, but was stopped by Xu Xiangyang's outstretched hand.

He took a step forward and answered loudly:

"We finished eating and felt like we hadn't digested yet, so we came out for a walk. Teacher Yang, why are you here? Did you follow us all the way?"

"So, you two are secretly dating?"

Teacher Yang frowned.

They were high school students, a boy and a girl, who had just finished lunch and instead of hurrying back to the classroom, they came to this secluded and uninhabited place. Anyone would have such thoughts.

After all, if they just wanted to communicate on a normal classmate level, they could have stayed in the classroom.

"It's not important."

Sunny Xu still had a smile on his face, even though he was asked about the sensitive topic of puppy love. However, he quietly made a gesture to the girl behind him, indicating that he didn't need Seigetsu Zhu's help in explaining.

"I just wanted to ask, what's the reason for Teacher Yang coming with us?"

His words sounded impolite, at least not the attitude of a student towards a teacher.

Teacher Yang answered impatiently.

"I noticed that you two have been secretly together, and I saw you preparing to go somewhere else at noon. Of course, I had to stop you. We are here to study, not to play. You should be aware of that..."

"If you just wanted to stop us, you could have just called us."

Sunny Xu said.

"There was no need to come with us, right?"

"I..."

Teacher Yang frowned, seeming to want to retort, but his expression quickly became blank.

"Yeah, I just wanted to stop you," Teacher Yang muttered to himself, "Why did I unconsciously follow along..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence.

That thin face with an intellectual air suddenly turned unusually pale, as if he had been sick for a long time. His facial features twisted in pain, and large drops of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Not only that, he made strange movements that seemed uncontrollable: swinging his hands widely from side to side, hanging his head on his shoulder, and bending his legs to the other side as if they had no joints. From the degree of strangeness in his posture, it looked like he was performing some kind of difficult dance, but there was no smooth beauty in the man's movements, only a stiff mechanical rustiness. Each movement seemed like a forced twist after dislocating a joint.

At this moment, Teacher Yang no longer looked like a living person with flesh and blood, but like a puppet being manipulated by someone from behind...

Seigetsu Zhu, who originally wanted to ask about the teacher's condition out of concern, immediately closed her mouth.

If someone couldn't associate the identity of the other person at this point, their brain would be too dull.

Faced with the cruel fact that the "monster that had been feared for several days turned out to be the teacher who taught them every day," the girl's body couldn't help but tremble.

"It's strange."

Sunny Xu said. Like Seigetsu Zhu, he was almost certain of the other person's identity now.

"Huh?"

Is this just a little strange?!

Seeing a familiar person suddenly showing such a monstrous and strange expression, Seigetsu Zhu felt like she was suffocating from fear.

How could Xu still remain so calm? Could it be that he had developed such courage from watching horror movies all the time?

"It seems like Teacher Yang doesn't know that he's been possessed. Is this even possible?"

He was talking about this. But...

"Is it the right time to talk about this now?"

Seigetsu Zhu's voice trembled slightly, as she tried to suppress the urge to turn and run away. She tugged at the sleeve of the male student.

"Shouldn't we... escape?"

Before she could finish her sentence, she couldn't help but look at Sunny Xu's face.

But what she found a little strange was that although this person's face was tense, clearly showing signs of nervousness, his eyes revealed a sense of calmness.

Ah...

Seigetsu Zhu quickly snapped out of it.

She had quickly connected the abnormality on Teacher Yang's body with the monster that had invaded the school that night, based on the conclusion Xu had mentioned, "The culprit is among the faculty members of Class 15." But she was just a listener. As the one who truly possessed that ability, Xu would be even more sensitive to the approach of that monster.

"...Did you already know that Teacher Yang was the culprit?"

"I don't know."

Sunny Xu shook his head honestly.

"There are so many faculty members in the school, and it just happened to be his turn to teach us today. It's too coincidental. But no matter what, I was prepared in advance."

Sunny Xu wasn't an adult with a job, so he didn't have a phone - or rather, not many students had phones these days. But as a substitute, he had the ability of telepathy, which was quite convenient for communication between the two of them.

Last time, in order to ask for help from Starry Lin, he had to run back to the classroom and take an item from her drawer as a medium. After knowing that it was effective, he would never make the same mistake again.

So, since the last incident, every morning before leaving, Starry Lin would give him an item to carry with him.

Because the range of telepathy couldn't be determined for now, Sunny Xu speculated that if he kept something on him every day, even if it was an item Starry Lin had carried with her before, the effect would gradually disappear.

As a result, Starry Lin had to prepare something for him every morning, like charging...

This time, Sunny Xu took out an eraser from his pocket.

In addition, there was a second preparation.

Although Starry Lin barely made it last time, the result was that if she couldn't leave home in time, she might not make it; plus, it was nighttime that day, and the darkness covered Starry Lin's actions. If she were to run in the sky above the city in broad daylight, it would be too conspicuous.

Therefore...

"So, you contacted Lin to do this."

"Yeah, I asked her to come near the cram school." Sunny Xu shrugged, "I felt a bit troublesome to ask her, but Starry said she was planning to take a walk after dinner to aid digestion, so she agreed readily... Now it seems fortunate that I asked her."Meanwhile, Teacher Yang had already collapsed onto all fours, his posture more akin to a beast than a human.

Unlike last time, he wasn't wearing a mask, revealing his pale and ferocious face in its entirety.

Seeing the familiar face twisted into such a grotesque form, Sunny Xu felt a pang of sadness.

He held his forehead, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice:

"Seigetsu, you should run."

"...Aren't you coming?"

"I'm staying here," he answered calmly. "When you leave, it's best to stick to the main road. Be careful."

"Because it's hard to deal with?"

"Not necessarily." Sunny Xu was quite confident in Little An's abilities. "Just don't forget about what's happening at school. Teacher Yang has accomplices."

"...I understand."

Seigetsu Zhu hesitated no more and turned to leave.

At the back of the open space, there was a nearly collapsed wall with a "demolish" sign painted in red. It wasn't very high.

She wondered, can I climb over it?

She also thought, Xu led me here through a long detour. If I don't go back the same way, will I get lost?

Seigetsu Zhu ran past the sandpit and the open space, arriving at the low wall. Without jumping, she grasped the top of the wall.

Just as she was about to leave, she turned back for a last look. In a daze, she saw a massive shadow emerging from the corner of a building, like a giant fish.

Seigetsu Zhu rubbed her eyes, and the fish shadow was gone. All she saw was a tall girl with long black hair nimbly leaping down from the top of the wall.