“Bang—”
The loud noise in the classroom interrupted Teacher Li’s animated lesson.
What shocked her was that the one causing this disturbance wasn’t any of the “troublemakers” on her list, but the always well-behaved, top student Xie Xishu, in whom she had placed so much hope.
“What are you doing?!”
Teacher Li’s eyes bulged slightly as she screamed, glaring fiercely at Xie Xishu.
[He’s gone bad too.]
It seemed like there was a thin, hysterical voice screaming in her head.
[They’re all beyond saving.]
[This whole school is full of bad students.]
[None of them can be saved.]
[%#&*…#…]
That strange voice’s frequency grew higher and higher, eventually turning into a sharp ringing like tinnitus.
Breathing heavily, Teacher Li’s expression as she looked at Xie Xishu gradually turned more and more terrifying.
But at this moment, Xie Xishu had no energy left to focus on the female teacher at the front of the room.
His face was deathly pale, his body trembling uncontrollably as though seriously ill, and he had to use both hands to brace himself against the desk he had just knocked crooked, just to keep from collapsing entirely.
“I-I don’t feel well.”
His bloodless lips moved for a long time before finally forcing out a dry, faint, almost moaning whisper.
“I… I need to go to the restroom…”
After forcing out that last sentence, Xie Xishu didn’t even wait for Teacher Li’s response. Using his last bit of strength, he bolted out of the Grade 12, Class 1 classroom.
In the distance, he vaguely heard the female teacher shout something in a high-pitched voice. She was calling his name, sounding extremely furious. There was some other commotion too, but all of that was already far behind him.
Nanming Third High’s Grade 12 boys’ restroom.
“Swoosh…”
“Swoosh…”
“Swoosh…”
The faucet was turned to the maximum, and the white stream of water struck the sink, splashing continuously.
Xie Xishu’s face was ashen. Completely ignoring the fact that his clothes were getting soaked, he kept his head lowered, frantically using his hands to scoop up water and rinse the back of his neck over and over.
His skin was becoming ice-cold and numb from the water, yet that sticky, clammy sensation clung stubbornly to that small patch of skin, no matter how much he washed it.
Before long, Xie Xishu’s whole body was drenched—not just his hair, but even his clothes were thoroughly soaked. The prolonged bent-over posture caused a lack of blood flow, and combined with the slippery floor, he staggered and fell heavily to the ground.
“Ugh…”
A groan, almost like a sob, escaped from his bloodless lips as the pain surged through him.
However, after the fall, Xie Xishu finally managed to calm down a little.
He gripped the edge of the sink tightly, shakily pushing himself back to his feet.
In the mirror above the sink, his reflection stared back at him. As Xie Xishu looked at the image, he felt a strange sense of unfamiliarity.
The boy in the mirror was so pale that it was unsettling, and his once beautiful, clear eyes had sunken deep into their sockets at some point. The dark pupils twitched nervously within the eye sockets, unable to focus on anything.
Wet strands of black hair clung to his deathly pale skin, and water dripped from his delicate jawline, falling drop by drop.
Xie Xishu thought he looked like a water ghost that had died a particularly tragic death.
…
After staring into the mirror for a long time, Xie Xishu took a few deep breaths.
Then, summoning his courage, he raised his phone and brought it to the back of his neck.
“Click.”
He lifted his hair and snapped a photo of his neck.
The photo was a bit blurry.
But even so, it was clear to see a faint red mark on the back of Xie Xishu’s neck.
It looked a bit like a bruise left by someone rubbing the area for a long time, or maybe a bite mark from a mosquito or some other unknown small insect.
But when Xie Xishu saw the red mark, his hand trembled, and he almost dropped his phone.
“It wasn’t my imagination.”
Like a madman, he stared at the photo, muttering to himself.
*
Qi Wu… had a problem.
*
Strictly speaking, Qi Wu had never done anything overtly inappropriate to Xie Xishu from beginning to end.
Even the fact that Qi Wu kept staring at Xie Xishu could be explained as Xie Xishu being overly sensitive. After all, Qi Wu’s seat was at the back of the classroom, and the only direction he could look was forward.
However, Xie Xishu was on the verge of being scared to death by Qi Wu.
Everything strange seemed to start when that guy began staring at him.
There was something intangible, invisible, but gradually closing in on him. Xie Xishu vaguely felt that everything was becoming strange and distorted.
He felt like his usual daily life was crumbling apart in places he couldn’t see.
But Xie Xishu didn’t know exactly what was going wrong, nor how to fix it.
His perception, his intuition, was so absurd that even he felt like he was on the brink of a mental breakdown from the pressure of the college entrance exams.
For example, what had just touched his neck was clearly only Qi Wu’s finger, but… Xie Xishu felt a moist sensation.
Wet, slick, scorching.
It didn’t feel like skin at all.
Because his nerves were so tense, with all his senses focused on the movements of the person behind him, Xie Xishu was absolutely certain of this.
What touched him had tiny, soft bumps on its surface, like the texture of a tongue, and covering those bumps was a thick, sticky mucus.
And that thing had clearly sucked on the back of his neck.
The mark in the photo was proof of its existence.
*
Xie Xishu’s mind was about to explode.
*
If he hadn’t experienced it himself but only read about it, Xie Xishu would be certain it was nothing more than someone’s absurd, laughable fantasy — no matter how he analyzed it, it was impossible for Qi Wu to lick his neck with his tongue in front of so many people in the classroom.
And a normal tongue wouldn’t feel like what had attached itself to the back of his neck.
Xie Xishu tried to rationalize it as some kind of prank toy, but no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t think of any silicone toy that felt so wet, slippery, and nauseating.
So, what was it?
Xie Xishu once again thought of those things in his nightmares, the ones that extended out from Qi Wu’s eye sockets, as flexible, soft, and moist as tongues.
The next moment, he neurotically hugged his arms, his stomach convulsing uncontrollably, nearly causing him to vomit right then and there.
*
“Hey, have you guys heard? That crazy old bat, Li, seems to have really lost her mind lately.”
“…Yeah, I heard she’s been butting heads with the principal? Something about cleaning up school discipline, and even saying we students are the scum of the school and need to be cleared out. It’s hilarious, who does she think she is? The head of the nation?”
“Yeah, yeah, I heard that too. But I also heard she’s really having some mental issues.”
“Oh, I know what you’re talking about. Apparently, she’s been wanting to resign, but the principal’s been holding her back. If she leaves, no other teachers would want to come here. I heard she used to be a top student at a prestigious university. She spent years becoming a teacher, haha, how pathetic. To end up teaching at Nanming Third High? She’d be better off working in a factory screwing bolts…”
“Man, don’t act like you won’t be screwing bolts yourself someday…”
…
Xie Xishu’s mind was so scattered that his reactions had slowed considerably.
By the time he noticed, a group of boys skipping class had already shoved open the bathroom door, gossiping and laughing about all sorts of school rumors.
However, they ended up locking eyes with Xie Xishu, who was soaking wet and hollow-eyed.
“Holy crap, are you playing ghost?!”
The boy who entered first was so startled by Xie Xishu that he jumped in place, nearly screaming.
After realizing what had happened, and feeling embarrassed, his face immediately darkened.
“Are you out of your mind? Standing here without making a sound… What the hell are you doing?!”
The boy was clearly a bit annoyed, raising his voice in frustration.
“Wait, if I’m not mistaken, isn’t this that scholar from Class One?”
One of his companions, having laughed enough at the earlier scare, poked his head out from behind and glanced at Xie Xishu. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“What scholar? He’s the top student.”
At that point, another companion also recognized Xie Xishu.
Seeing the famous school prodigy standing alone, pale and jittery, washing himself off in the boys’ bathroom, a look of puzzlement flashed through his eyes.
Reminded by this, the others soon recognized the well-known Xie Xishu too.
“Wow, is it gonna rain red? Or am I seeing things? How is it that you’re skipping class at this hour?”
“Tsk tsk tsk, I thought we had a lotus blooming unstained by the mud among us. You think those teachers won’t be heartbroken to see their top student has gone bad too…”
One of the boys smirked, mocking him without holding back.
As they spoke, the group of boys casually approached Xie Xishu, circling him. They sized up the silent Xie Xishu, and strangely… all their teasing and mocking gradually faded away.
“Hey, do you guys smell that…”
One of the boys stared at Xie Xishu in a daze, murmuring.
“It smells so good.”
*
Xie Xishu’s pupils shrank to tiny pinpoints.
But in the next moment, the door’s rusty hinges screeched sharply—someone else had pushed the door open and entered.
“Hey, someone, there’s someone! Go to another floor if you need to use the restroom. Today, we have reserved this place. Got something going on.”
The boy who had been mixing in with the crowd like a lowly thug in Nanming had his eyes fixed on Xie Xishu the whole time. Even after hearing the commotion behind him, he was unwilling to turn his head. He only raised his voice, shouting impatiently.
“What is it?”
A hoarse, rough male voice responded, the tone extremely gloomy.
“What is it, what is it, it’s none of your damn business—”
The person yelled out, but the moment he turned around, his voice caught in his throat.
“Qi… Qi-ge?”
“Hello, Qi-ge!”
“Aaaaahh, that thing I said just now was complete nonsense. Qi-ge, please don’t take it to heart!”
…
The strange, tense atmosphere in the men’s restroom from a few minutes ago instantly dissipated, replaced by the noisy and fawning greetings from the duck-voiced boys.
In the face of everyone’s flattery, Qi Wu’s expression showed no trace of satisfaction. His dark eyebrows and eyes lowered slightly, revealing a hint of impatience and irritation.
He stood at the restroom entrance, his gaze coldly sweeping over those boys.
In an instant, the formerly slick and talkative thugs felt as if they were being coldly stared at by some sort of monster. Their bodies’ ancient survival instincts kicked in, and all of them fell silent, not daring to make a sound or even breathe too heavily.
Then they heard Qi Wu’s calm voice say, “I need this place. You all… get lost and stay far away, don’t disturb me.”
Qi Wu’s words were extremely impolite, yet the thugs who heard them wore expressions as if they’d narrowly escaped death. Without needing further instructions, and having completely forgotten about their supposed ‘reservation,’ the group of people hunched over, skedaddling like scared birds and beasts, swiftly fleeing towards the door.
*
Xie Xishu: “…”
Xie Xishu bit his lip, lowered his head in silence, and quietly followed the group of small-time thugs toward the door, trying to slip away with them.
Of course, in the end, he didn’t manage to leave.
Just as Xie Xishu was about to step out of the restroom, Qi Wu suddenly raised his hand, gently pinching Xie Xishu’s neck with his thumb and middle finger.
Xie Xishu’s body froze on the spot—though, in reality, Qi Wu wasn’t using any force at all.
*
The boy was trembling.
Qi Wu carefully controlled his strength, feeling a subtle numbness at his fingertips. He could see the deep red cracks on the pads of his fingers, twitching as if trying to split open.
But in the end, Qi Wu didn’t let “them” emerge.
The aura coming from Xie Xishu was overflowing with fear—even though the scent was still sweet and enticing, Qi Wu’s extensive experience from “working” at home had made it clear that this was not the right time to push Xie Xishu any further.
Xie Xishu was too…
Too fragile.
Qi Wu couldn’t help but think as he looked at the nearly collapsing boy beneath his hand.
Moreover, probably due to burying himself in study all day and exercising little, Xie Xishu, despite being tall, had a very thin and frail figure.
Qi Wu unconsciously rubbed Xie Xishu’s neck with the pad of his finger, and from this small action, he felt as if he could almost press directly against Xie Xishu’s delicate bones through the thin, smooth layer of skin.
For some inexplicable reason, the small fangs hidden in Qi Wu’s gums started to stir again.
*
“Xie Xishu, you’re staying.”
Qi Wu’s gaze darkened instantly. In a hoarse voice, he leaned in close to Xie Xishu’s ear and murmured with a sigh.
*
“Click.”
The restroom door was shut by Qi Wu right in front of Xie Xishu.
As it locked, the grinding metallic sound of the bolt felt as though it was crushing Xie Xishu’s nerves.
It was just a thin door…
Yet when it closed, a coldness flooded through Xie Xishu’s entire body.
It was as if he had been completely isolated in another world.
And in this world, there was only him and Qi Wu.
Xie Xishu’s breathing became erratic. He wanted to scream, but extreme terror rendered him immobile, causing him to freeze like an animal in shock. He could only helplessly watch as Qi Wu closed the door, locked it, then turned around, step by step, walking towards him.
Everything around them fell eerily silent.
Xie Xishu could even faintly hear the distant voices of those boys outside, their murmurs and whispers as they walked away.
“…What’s going on? Why did Qi-ge suddenly leave that nerd in there?”
“Haven’t you heard? Qi-ge has apparently disliked that guy for a long time, but never made a move. I thought it was just a rumor.”
“Damn, how did that guy dare to provoke Qi-ge, with that puny frame of his…”
“And the scariest part is that Qi-ge’s handling this personally.”
“Shit.”
“Crazy.”
“I don’t even want to know what he did to make Qi-ge deal with him directly.”
“Wanna bet? Let’s see if this scholar of ours—cough, cough—this ‘top student’ comes out of there on his feet or carried out horizontally.”
…
*
But soon, even those final traces of voices faded completely.
A shadow fell over Xie Xishu’s face.
His gaze trembled slightly, and he raised his head.
Qi Wu was already standing right in front of him. The tall and fierce boy looked down at Xie Xishu with a gaze even more terrifying than any before.
In the next moment, Xie Xishu saw Qi Wu reach out towards him.
Something covered him, and his vision was instantly plunged into darkness.
“Xie Xishu, this—”
As his vision was taken away, Xie Xishu’s nerves, already stretched to the limit, finally snapped at this moment.
“Let go of me! Let go of me! Help—”
Xie Xishu screamed desperately.
Driven by sheer terror, he finally regained control of his body.
He no longer cared about anything else, stumbling and rushing towards the door, following his memory of its location.
Of course, he didn’t succeed. He didn’t even have time to take more than a step before a burning hot body pinned him down.
“Xie Xishu!”
Qi Wu’s voice was very faint.
“Hey, you…”
Hot, strong arms, like giant leeches in a swamp, tangled around Xie Xishu.
In his struggle, Qi Wu’s panting repeatedly brushed past Xie Xishu’s neck and back.
It all felt like some sort of nightmare.
A nightmare that had haunted Xie Xishu countless times in his sleep.
Xie Xishu’s mind completely shut down. He had no idea, nor could he imagine, what was happening to him. The only thing he was sure of was that he was utterly terrified.
He seemed to be trying to scream, but soon he felt Qi Wu’s hand, through the fabric, cover his face.
Through the cloth, those hands couldn’t seem to find Xie Xishu’s lips, and the movements were rough, so the fingers rudely reached through the fabric and directly into his mouth.
Xie Xishu instinctively bit down, but the sensation was strange—solid, taut, and elastic, not like biting into a finger but more like biting into rubber.
But rubber wouldn’t be flexible enough to jam his jaw and pin down his tongue, preventing him from making any sound.
Xie Xishu’s cries quickly turned into muffled whimpers.
Combined with his lack of breath, there were one or two seconds when he almost lost consciousness.
The intense feeling of near-death overwhelmed him, and in his mental collapse, Xie Xishu instinctively reached out, groping around for something near him.
At Third High, the rules were lax, and often, boys would gather in the restroom to smoke. Sometimes, they’d even bring alcohol to drink.
In his dazed state, what Xie Xishu touched was the heavy, cold neck of a glass bottle.
“Smash—”
There was no way to think.
And no energy left to think.
Xie Xishu acted purely on instinct, using all his strength to smash what was in his hand into the person in front of him.
He heard a crisp sound, and Qi Wu’s movements suddenly froze.
It took half a beat longer for Xie Xishu to realize that just now, he had smashed a bottle on Qi Wu.
Time seemed to stand still, and everything around became deathly quiet. Neither he nor Qi Wu moved, as though the world had frozen in that moment.
“Huh…huh…”
Xie Xishu panted heavily, sobbing as he slowly lifted his head.
The fabric that had been covering his head had somehow slipped off and now hung loosely on his shoulders.
Through his tear-blurred vision, Qi Wu’s face came into view.
A streak of sticky crimson blood slowly trickled down the side of Qi Wu’s forehead, staining that stern and cold face with a glaring red.
Xie Xishu was completely frozen where he stood.
Qi Wu wiped his face, and when he saw the red in his palm, he seemed to pause for a moment too.
A few seconds later, he suddenly curled his lips into a smirk, giving the boy in front of him a glance that was both mocking and amused.
“You’re the first person to dare smash a bottle on me.”
His voice was hoarse, like it had been scorched by fire.
“Is this how you top students usually treat someone who’s returning your things?”
Returning…things?
Xie Xishu slowly lowered his head and realized that the cloth that had been thrown over him earlier looked somewhat familiar.
It turned out not to be some kind of burial shroud or suffocating weapon, but merely a school uniform from Third High.
And in this school, the only person still wearing a uniform seemed to be Xie Xishu himself.
