Upon hearing this, Lin Qiye froze on the spot.
Indeed, when he was sensing along the floors, he had discovered that most of those infected by the monster were girls. After Li Yifei said that, he realized that something was wrong.
"Could that mythical creature have appeared from the girls' dormitory?" Lin Qiye muttered to himself.
He turned on his headset and lowered his voice, saying:
"Sister Hongying, where are you?"
"Just came out of the office building, what's up?"
Lin Qiye voiced his guess, and Hongying immediately nodded, "Okay, while you're all at the flag-raising ceremony, let's go to the girls' dormitory now."
"Um."
As the march played, Lin Qiye's class walked out down the corridor and slowly moved towards the flagpole.
The flag-raising ceremony was held in an open space in front of the teaching building. The space was not large, and students from all three grades of high school were crammed together with hardly any space between them.
"Students in the back, keep up! Hurry!"
"Don't push me."
"Hey, hurry up and walk!"
"How fast can I move? The people in front of me are all stuck in line, what can I do?"
"Huh? Where's the person in front of me?"
"Who's in front of you?"
"Where did Lin Qiye go?"
"I don't know, he was just here a moment ago."
"Huh? Li Yifei is gone too!"
While the students were wondering what was going on, Lin Qiye and Li Yifei had already slipped out of the line and were quickly moving against the chaotic flow of people through the various classrooms.
Lin Qiye's mental perception range is only twenty meters. To fully cover these two thousand students, he must move constantly.
"Ah frag... It's too crowded here!" Lin Xi Chen wiped away a smear of blood as she walked—having just finished off a pack of mystical snakes—and pushed her way through the crowd to the front, where she spotted Li Yifei and Lin Qiye standing together. She quickly caught up to them. "Stinky brother!"
"Have you done checking?"
"I haven't, I got some of them caught up on me midway so I have to eliminate them."
"Lin Qiye, Lin Qiye! Have you finished your investigation? The music has ended, it's time to raise the flag!" Li Yifei said to Lin Qiye in front of him with difficulty, pushing aside the students around him.
"No, there's still half left."
"What should we do then? Everyone line up properly. We'll be spotted after the music stops!"
At this moment, the march that had been playing on a loop grew softer and softer, and the two students weaving through the crowd became more and more conspicuous, with many people pointing and whispering about them.
Lin Qiye frowned slightly. Li Yifei was right. If they continued to move around after everyone had lined up, it would definitely attract attention. If they forcibly continued searching, they might be stopped by the teacher.
However, if they give up now, the only way to fully understand the students, teachers, and leaders of all three grades in the school would be to wait until after school to block the gate.
It would take too long and there would be too many variables; they couldn't afford to wait.
Lin Qiye's mind raced. Suddenly, he caught sight of the flag bearers in the distance, and his eyes lit up.
He changed direction, quickly pushed through the crowd, and walked to the front of the flag bearers.
"Hello, classmate." Lin Qiye walked up to the student in the lead and greeted him politely.
The flag bearer paused, then said, "Hello..."
"You've been laid off."
"..." The classmate looked at him in confusion, "What are you talking about?"
"The school leaders just gave an urgent notice that outstanding student representatives are needed to raise the flag and give a speech afterward, so we need to temporarily change the flag bearer," Lin Qiye said seriously, reaching out and grabbing the flagpole from the student's hand.
"But, this..."
"I am Li Yifei, an outstanding student representative from the second year of high school. Please give me your flag. If you have any questions, you can go to the leaders after the flag-raising ceremony."
Lin Qiye expressionlessly snatched the flagpole from his hand and stood in his original spot, his face solemn.
Li Yifei:...
The student scratched his head blankly, and after hesitating for a while, he decided to return to his own class's group.
"Lin Qiye, what are you trying to do?" Li Yifei couldn't help but ask. "You'll be punished for doing this... no, I'll be punished too!"
"It was I who stole your name and stole the flag bearer's flag; it has nothing to do with you," Lin Qiye said calmly. "Besides, I'm no longer a student and don't need to follow school rules..."
"We are the Night's Watchman."
As solemn music began, students, teachers, leaders... everyone in the entire venue fell silent, their eyes fixed on the flag in the flag bearer's hand, waiting for it to be raised.
As the music played, Lin Qiye, holding a flag, marched forward in perfect step.
"Hey? Look at that flag bearer, doesn't he look familiar?"
"Yes, he's quite handsome, a bit like Lin Qiye."
"...Are you sure it's a little? I have a feeling it's him?"
"It seems that's really true!"
"Who's that girl? She looks so pretty!" Many male students pointed at Lin Xi Chen, who was walking behind him; she had a lollipop in her mouth, smiled slightly, and waved at them. She appeared more confident in front of a crowd than before—a good sign.
"..."
Most people didn't recognize Lin Qiye, but his own classmates quickly recognized him and started whispering among themselves.
The leaders on the platform didn't notice at all that the flag bearer had changed. They smiled and watched the handsome young man. After all, they didn't need to get involved in such trivial matters. With so many students in the school, how would they know who was supposed to raise the flag today?
But when the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony saw Lin Qiye, his expression suddenly changed.
For some reason, he had a bad feeling...
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Lin Qiye walked proudly along the flag-raising route, and just as he was about to step onto the flag-raising platform...
He suddenly made a right-angle turn!
They marched resolutely toward the other right-angled side of the student formation!
The leader, who was smiling and preparing to receive the flag, was completely dumbfounded.
Their smiles froze on their faces as they stared blankly at Lin Qiye, who seemed to ignore them, before they finally reacted after several seconds.
They all turned to look at the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony, their eyes full of questions!
The teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony broke out in a cold sweat on the spot.
At the same time, the students also noticed this, and watched in astonishment as Lin Qiye walked past them, their whispers suddenly becoming much louder.
"What the heck? Why isn't he going on stage?"
"I don't know, is this the first time they've raised the flag? It looks unfamiliar."
"Interesting, this wave has completely collapsed!"
"Look at the expressions on the leaders' faces on the stage... Hahaha, it's hilarious!"
"What is Lin Qiye up to?"
"..."
Just then, the voice of the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony rang out loudly:
"Quiet! Quiet down! You, the student with the flag, you're going the wrong way!"
Lin Qiye seemed not to hear, still showing no intention of turning around, and even quickened his pace!
His gaze was like a knife, slicing across the faces of all the students before him.
Their eyes held surprise, doubt, sneer, and schadenfreude...
But Lin Qiye's eyes remained as deep and unfathomable as a still pool.
In Lin Qiye's eyes, they were a flock of sheep about to be sent to the wolf's mouth, unaware of their imminent danger. Among the more than two thousand teachers and students present, only Lin Qiye, Lin Xi Chen and Li Yifei... were awake.
Perhaps this is what it means to be the only one sober while everyone else is drunk.
"Come back! Come back right now! Which class are you in?!" the teacher in charge on the stage roared!
Finally, having finished investigating all the students, Lin Qiye pretended to be surprised, hurriedly turned around and walked back, following the flagpole to the flagpole, where he quickly tied the flag to the flagpole.
The teacher in charge stared intently at Lin Qiye, trembling with anger. He seemed to want to question him, but this was not the right time.
Lin Qiye simply ignored his presence; at this moment, he had no mind to care about the teacher's feelings.
As the music changed and the national anthem was sung in unison, the flag slowly rose...
But beneath the flagpole, a bead of cold sweat slid down Lin Qiye's cheek.
"Woah.... This isn't good at all..."
He stared blankly at the leaders around him, then looked down at the sea of students below, his heart feeling as if it had fallen into an abyss!
"Captain...
You'd better be mentally prepared..."
He muttered to himself.