Chapter 55: Incident

Xueqiu woke to find the room empty.

Harsh renovation noises from outside pierced the glass and concrete walls.

The AC was still on. She curled up in a corner of the single bed, hogging most of the blanket.

Where was Xia Yin?

She jumped up, unplugging her fully charged phone.

Her long, fine white hair was a mess from the night. She tidied it while scanning the cramped room.

Xia Yin was gone, along with his phone, which had been charging in the TV outlet.

But her anxiety eased seconds later.

He’d probably just stepped out.

His charger remained on the nightstand, his suitcase untouched.

A crisp “beep” came from the door, followed by footsteps.

“Hey, hey, you there? Chang Mu, where are you? Say something… Damn it…” Xia Yin’s familiar voice.

He stood at the door, one hand holding a steaming breakfast bag, the other pressing his black phone to his ear.

The call clearly hadn’t connected.

Xueqiu silently took the breakfast. Xia Yin tossed his phone onto the bed, pointing at his chest.

She didn’t get it until she looked down, hastily fixing her disheveled clothes.

—

At the hotel front desk, Xueqiu’s phone pinged with a refund notification for the deposit.

Xia Yin was finishing the last two shao mai she couldn’t eat, ignoring her.

Since returning, he’d been glued to his phone, urging her to pack quickly to leave for the Academy.

“Did something happen at school?” Xueqiu asked, pulling her suitcase as they neared a crosswalk.

Xia Yin was still staring at his phone.

“No… well, maybe. Did Chang Mu message you yesterday?” he asked.

Xueqiu nodded. “He sent ‘You there?’”

“That’s it? No ‘Help me’ or ‘Don’t come back’?”

“No.” Confused, she pulled out her phone.

Her chat list still had dozens of unread messages from last night, red dots marking them.

She scrolled to Chang Mu’s, showing Xia Yin. “You there,” sent at 9:44 p.m.

“‘You there,’ huh? That coward’s too scared to even send a proper SOS?” Xia Yin groaned, rubbing his forehead.

“SOS?”

“Instead of me rambling, check my phone. See what that guy sent last night.”

He shoved his phone at her.

At max brightness, the chat was clear.

[Boss, boss, aren’t you at school? The dorm’s pitch black, and the gate’s locked.] 9:10 p.m.

[Boss, I was gonna hit up logistics for help, but there’s someone on this path… doesn’t seem like school staff.] 9:21 p.m.

Attached was a blurry, black-toned photo, too distorted to make out.

[Boss, that’s no person! It’s a monster!] 9:39 p.m.

[Boss, save mmmmmm] 9:45 p.m.

Chang Mu’s messages stopped there.

Xia Yin’s replies followed: hide in a trash can, are you dead? Most were “Call not answered.”

“He’s in danger?” Xueqiu concluded.

“Danger or scaring himself, we gotta get back. Too many weird things lately, like someone’s setting us up,” Xia Yin said, suddenly speeding up.

Xueqiu stumbled to keep pace, afraid of being left behind.

Last night, the “Foot” convenience store the receptionist mentioned was right here.

It was their entry point to the Academy.

But at 9:30 a.m., it was still closed.

Xia Yin approached the iron shutter, spotting a beige A4 paper taped to it.

It wasn’t there last night.

“Under renovation…” He read it thrice, then slapped his forehead.

“What’s wrong, Senior?” Xueqiu asked.

“The North Gate’s temporarily closed. I should’ve realized last night—a 24-hour store, shut? We’ll take another route.”

“Another route?”

“Quiet, I’m calling a cab.”

The closest alternative was the East Gate, located at Ting’an’s South Long-Distance Bus Station in the real world.

“Another route” meant another entrance.

By the time they reached the station, it was nearly noon.

The waiting hall was packed.

They didn’t need a bus.

Xia Yin led her to a side passage by the safety exit, a path rarely used.

It was hard to imagine how much hassle Academy students faced going between school and the real world.

Thankfully, Xueqiu had stayed on campus these months, like a sheep in a pen.

The passage ended at a door. Beyond it was a smaller version of the waiting hall, like a model.

Oddly, they hadn’t seen any school staff, unlike at the convenience store.

The door was open.

Inside, chaos.

Iron chairs were scattered like discarded toys, the once-clean floor smeared with dirt and blood.

The symbolic mirror wall had seven or eight clear cracks.

“Chang Yi?! Where is everyone? What happened to the school?!” Xia Yin burst in, his backpack unzipping to reveal a black blade.

No bodies or enemies.

Xueqiu tried the search techniques Xia Yin taught her, but they required a gun. All she had was her suitcase, left outside.

“Take this. We’re going in,” Xia Yin said, tossing her something.

It was a gun—not his usual one, but one with the Investigation Team’s colors.

Despite the cracked mirror, they could still pass through, like before.

When Xueqiu came to, she was back at the Academy.

But before she could think, Xia Yin’s shout pierced the air.

“Who?!”

His voice, sharp as an arrow, aimed behind her.