At Qiming Middle School, a group of people gathered in front of a men's restroom.
The men, who usually prided themselves on being superior, stood awkwardly in front of the public restroom, looking at each other with disdain, yet none of them dared to leave. After all, if Young Master Fang was already feeling so uncomfortable, it would seem unkind and inconsiderate for a younger brother to leave at this moment.
"What happened, Boss?"
As the bell for class rang, the public places on campus became increasingly empty and quiet. Jiang Jun asked with his arms folded across his chest and a frown on his face.
"How about someone come in and take a look?"
He suggested.
"Go ahead if you want to," someone else muttered, seeing his thoughts. "Who wants to be seen looking at like that? What if Master Fang gets mad at you?"
Jiang Jun remained silent.
"But he's been in there too long, hasn't he?"
"Hmm, didn't you hear the sound of water being pumped just now? Why hasn't he come out yet..."
…
When a few people were discussing in a low voice, suddenly someone holding a cell phone let out a panicked cry.
"Wow grass——"
Everyone else was startled by this guy and couldn't help but roll their eyes at him: "Damn it, could you please stop being so jumpy? What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost."
The man who had shouted raised his head with an extremely grim expression and looked at his companions: "Song, Song Cheng..."
"Songcheng?"
"Song Cheng, he's dead." The boy's voice trembled as he stammered, "The one who was carried out of the haunted house today was Song Cheng."
As soon as the words fell, the outside of the toilet fell into silence.
Almost everyone was stunned, completely stunned. Even within the small group, Song Cheng wasn't exactly a close friend, but he was still part of the group. A living person who had been a close friend just a few days ago was now a dead person.
When the young boys heard the news, they all felt an indescribable sense of unreality.
"Is this true? Song Cheng is usually so lively, how come he is..."
Just as someone opened his mouth to speak, a loud noise suddenly came from the toilet.
The boys, who were already nervous, were startled. By the time they reacted, several of them had already rushed into the toilet.
"Mr. Fang?!"
"Boss, are you okay?"
"what happened?"
…
But when everyone rushed into the bathroom, they found that nothing had happened to Fang Qianan. The tall boy just lowered his head and stood motionless in front of the sink.
The restroom light, however, was already dim. The exploded bulb had left a crooked, snake-like black burn mark on the snow-white ceiling.
Naturally, the windows in the public restroom would not be opened wide. Once the light bulbs went out, the only source of light was the small ventilation windows in the corner. The light here was very dim now, and a dark shadow covered Fang Qianan, as if it was going to swallow him up.
Fang Qianan seemed to be completely oblivious to his companions who were "worried" about him, and naturally, he also ignored other people's inquiries.
He nodded slightly in the dim light, then walked straight outside through the crowd.
"Mr. Fang?"
"Um, Mr. Fang, what are you going to do..."
Fang Qianan suddenly spoke, his voice sounding dark and hoarse: "Song Cheng is dead."
He seemed to be immersed in his own world, mumbling softly.
"I want to find Ah Xiu... Song Cheng is dead... I want to find... Ah Xiu..."
"Wait, Master Fang, you know this too? Song Cheng—"
Jiang Jun was the closest to Fang Qianan, and he accidentally heard everything Fang Qianan whispered. When he was about to use this as an excuse to continue talking to Fang Qianan, Jiang Jun inadvertently met Fang Qianan's eyes.
He saw a pair of extremely empty eyes.
Jiang Jun's heart tightened and all the sounds were stuck in his throat. He was stunned and found that Fang Qianan had walked straight past him and left the toilet.
*
Someone is watching me.
In class A1, Li Xiu suddenly shuddered, and then he realized this.
The extremely intense gaze fell on him as if it had a physical body, and goose bumps appeared on Li Xiu's arms.
Li Xiu raised her head from the textbook and subconsciously looked in the direction where the gaze came from.
Just like traditional schools, each classroom at Qiming has two doors, front and back, and each door has a long glass window that allows outsiders to see inside the classroom, making it convenient for patrol teachers to stand outside the classroom to check on the class situation in each class.
Now, looking out the window, a tall, solid shadow was reflected. Due to the characteristics of the glass itself and the backlight, Li Xiu had a hard time seeing Fang Qianan's face clearly. But he knew that it was Fang Qianan looking at him.
Through the window, Fang Qian'an's face was as pale as a paper figurine. His irises were usually light-colored, but now his pupils were dilated, dark and round, like two small black pebbles embedded in his eye sockets. He had both hands pressed against the glass of the observation window. Perhaps because he was too tall, Fang Qian'an tilted his neck to get a clear view of the person in the classroom. In this very awkward way, he pressed his face against the window and peeked at Li Xiu.
Li Xiu felt very uncomfortable after being stared at by Fang Qianan in this way.
He even had some self-doubt. Was it because his concentration was too poor? Otherwise, why didn't anyone else notice Fang Qianan at the back door, but he was the one sitting here on pins and needles, feeling uneasy.
Thinking about how he had emphasized to that guy several times before coming to class today not to disturb him during class, Li Xiu's brows were almost twisted together.
After a few minutes of stalemate, Li Xiu, a model of a good student, finally made an exception and took out his cell phone to start texting in class.
[Fang Qianan, what are you doing? ]
A message was sent.
The next second, Li Xiu received a reply.
[Voice: 4 seconds]
Li Xiu: ...
The boy took a deep breath and glanced up at the teacher.
In the classroom, the teacher was still concentrating on teaching and did not notice that the good student Li Xiu was absent-minded.
Li Xiu looked at Fang Qianan who was still lying outside the observation window, and helplessly clicked the "Convert to Text" function on his mobile phone to view the voice.
Save Me
The brief text on the screen made Li Xiu's pupils shrink instantly.
Li Xiu turned her head in disbelief and looked at the other person, only then she realized that Fang Qianan's posture was so strange, it might not be the boy's intention.
Behind Fang Qianan, there seemed to be a dark shadow.
As if noticing Li Xiu's gaze, just as Li Xiu was looking at Fang Qianan, a pair of skinny, blue-gray hands, which definitely did not belong to a living person, slowly emerged from Fang Qianan's shoulders.
Fang Qianan's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Li Xiu.
And behind Fang Qianan, the shadow became more and more obvious.
"Bang--"
A loud noise disrupted the orderly teaching in the classroom.
"Student Li Xiu?"
The frightened teacher and classmates all turned their heads to look at the boy with a pale and panicked face in the back row of the classroom.
Li Xiu held the textbook with both hands and met the teacher's puzzled eyes.
"Yes, I'm sorry, teacher," Li Xiu's voice trembled slightly as he spoke. He could feel his hands and feet as if they were immersed in ice water, becoming extremely cold, while his heartbeat was incredibly fast. "I don't feel well. I want to go to the infirmary."
After saying that, Li Xiu rushed out of the classroom without even waiting for the teacher's response.
However, when he rushed out, the back door was empty - the boy who had been clinging to the door just a few seconds ago had disappeared.
Li Xiu stopped suddenly, and breathing became extremely difficult.
After discovering that Fang Qianan was missing, an extremely ominous premonition instantly overwhelmed him.
He quickly dialed Fang Qianan's cell phone.
"Drip…drip…drip…"
A long electronic sound came from the microphone, but Fang Qianan did not answer it.
Li Xiu's cell phone is old, and even the sound sounds a little weird and distorted.
"Drip…drip…hiss…drip…hiss…"
The boy, holding his phone in one hand and the railing in the other, walked aimlessly along the school corridor, unconsciously searching for Fang Qianan. However, during class time, the corridor was always empty except for him.
The sound of a teacher lecturing could be heard from the classroom not far away, but the more this happened, the more Li Xiu felt that the silence around her was frightening.
He swallowed dryly, his throat was dry and bitter, and his mind kept repeating the shadow he saw behind Fang Qianan in the last moment.
The "thing" seemed to have an eye exposed at that time.
It glanced at Li Xiu across Fang Qianan's shoulder.
That look is terrifying.
It was so terrifying that Li Xiu felt cold all over when he thought of the scene just now. He couldn't explain what the feeling was, but he knew that he was so scared that his legs started to feel weak.
"Fang Qianan... where the hell are you now?"
Li Xiu lowered his head as if to escape, and muttered nervously while holding the phone that was still dialing.
And just as he said this, a terrible guess suddenly appeared in his mind.
What he saw outside the door just now was the living Fang Qianan, or... already...
Just when Li Xiu was about to be frightened to death by his own guess, a faint cell phone ringtone came from the end of the corridor.
At the end of the corridor on each floor of Qiming's teaching building, there is a spacious rest platform, which is somewhat similar to the public space in a high-end apartment. Outdoor tables and chairs are also set up here, allowing students with a good life to have a space to chat and relax during class breaks.
"Good luck to you, I wish you good luck to you..."
The ringtone of the cell phone overlapped with the dial tone of Li Xiu's cell phone. It was obviously extremely festive music, but in such an environment it gave off a strange and eerie feeling.
Li Xiu's heart skipped a beat and he involuntarily quickened his pace, stumbling towards the direction where the sound came from.
Then, he immediately spotted the tall boy sitting motionless on the bench, his back hunched and head drooping. The phone was ringing constantly right next to Fang Qianan's hand. Li Xiu was certain Fang Qianan must have heard the sound, as the boy's strong, well-developed back muscles were twitching constantly.
But Fang Qianan didn't go to get his phone.
"square..."
Li Xiu stopped and stared at Fang Qianan's back. He hesitated for several seconds before he mustered up the courage to call out the other person's name.
"Fang Qianan?"
He walked up to Fang Qianan tremblingly and waved his hand in front of him.
Fang Qianan raised his head slowly.
It has to be said that Li Xiu was shocked by Fang Qianan's current appearance.
The boy's eyes were bloodshot and his face was filled with despair and fear.
"What happened—"
Li Xiu's question was replaced by an exclamation before it was fully uttered.
It was just like being attacked by a wild beast. Li Xiu was caught off guard and was hugged by Fang Qianan.
The boy's body was as cold as a corpse, but his arms were as strong as an anaconda hunting, tightly wrapped around Li Xiu.
"Fang Qianan, let go——"
"A Xiu…A Xiu…Wuwuwu…"
While Li Xiu was struggling, Fang Qianan ignored him and buried his face in the boy's neck.
"I'm so scared, I'm so scared, I'm so scared, wuwuwuwuwu——"
Then, Fang Qianan hugged Li Xiu, who was full of panic, and burst into tears.
*
It was not until more than ten minutes later that Li Xiucai reluctantly tore Fang Qianan, who was obviously frightened to the point of losing consciousness, off his body.
His neck and shoulders were now wet and sticky, and the wind blew on them, making them feel cold. Li Xiu's face was numb, and he had given up thinking about whether those were Fang Qianan's tears or snot.
In short, I am speechless.
"So, you don't dare to move because..."
"I don't dare. I've already been in such a state of panic. I'm afraid that if I answer the phone, some strange noise will come out."
The tall boy now looked extremely weak and pitiful. He sat in front of Li Xiu with his hands and feet hunched, his nose still red.
"I was so scared that I wanted to find you, but you told me not to disturb you..."
Fang Qianan's voice became smaller and weaker.
"I waited at your door for a while, but the classroom was also scary because I kept thinking about that dream, so I hid here and planned to come find you after class."
Li Xiu rubbed his eyebrows.
He was a little hesitant about whether to tell others about the "things" he had seen behind Fang Qianan.
"Did you feel something and send me a message for help?"
After hesitating for a moment, Li Xiu asked tentatively.
As a result, he received an extremely confused response from Fang Qianan.
"When did I send you a message asking for help?"
Li Xiu took out her cell phone and, in front of Fang Qianan, clicked on the voice message he sent to her in class.
However, the voice message displayed as "Help" under the text conversion function is just a short and meaningless "rustling" sound when clicked.
"I, I might have touched it accidentally."
Fang Qianan stared at his phone and was silent for a moment before speaking softly.
But Li Xiu's expression did not become relaxed.
Because, until this moment, once the voice is converted into text, the two words that appear on the screen are still those two words.
[Save me].
The author has something to say:
Fang Qianan: Save me, save me, save me—