Chapter 15: Stop 21: Tenuousness

Chapter 15: Station 21: A Forced Encounter

The characteristic amethyst hue of dawn crept in through the window, draping itself over the stone floor.

As expected, the mechanical knocking sounded.

With residual irritation, Ming Yiyang grabbed a couple of clothes for Yan Qiling and opened the door in a huff.

The withered creature, resembling a twisted vine, swayed unsteadily. Beneath its suit pants, it revealed matching yellow socks.

Its head creaked in an eerie manner, abruptly swelling as the plastic bag enclosing it began to rupture, spilling green liquid.

Slam.

He shut the door.

Su Bo, who had been sleeping the earliest, was startled awake by the noise, springing up from his bed.

"Is it the dorm supervisor... Eh, what's this on the ground—Ahh! Ahh! Ahh! Alright, alright!"

Seeing the wriggling "filth" still crawling about, Su Bo's scalp tingled with horror, and he let out a shrill scream. He turned his head to clutch at Si Shuhao beside him, burying his face in her embrace!

The startled girl, roused by the sudden action, sat up in a panic with her frazzled hair standing on end.

"What's going on... Holy shit, holy shit! What is this, what is this?!!"

The commotion woke up the lightly sleeping Hu family cousins.

Hu Zhicheng, usually composed, couldn't help but draw back and cry out when he saw the squirming objects on the floor.

The twitching, scattered chunks of flesh, some already merging into limbs, others not yet... The entire scene resembled a freshly committed murder, both eerie and horrifying, causing a nauseating sensation in the stomach.

The disgust was comparable to the feeling of seeing cockroaches crawling all over the ground.

The charred human head impaled on the floor by a long blade only amplified the visual shock.

Su Bo covered his mouth, trying not to vomit, while Si Shuhao immediately recognized the culprit behind this mess and lashed out at them with fury.

"Ming Yiyang, can't you move them elsewhere? Is anyone supposed to live here anymore?"

Ming Yiyang, irritated by the creaking of the wooden door under pressure, replied, "I'm not a janitor. If it bothers you, get up. I'll have to visit the infirmary later."

Si Shuhao's eyes widened. "Are you injured?"

"No, it's Yan Qiling."

Everyone except Hu Gaoming was now staring in astonishment.

Su Shuhao, having momentarily forgotten about the disgusting body parts on the floor, leaned over the railing, peering outside with excitement. "Brother Yan! You're alive! That's great... So great... I thought... I was so worried..."

Summoning her courage, she used the hanger hanging by the bedhead to sweep away the squirming fragments from her shoes. As she did this, the pieces of the puzzle from last night began to fall into place in her mind.

"I was wondering! Ming Yiyang, you went out yesterday to look for someone? I didn't expect you to still have some conscience!"

She slipped on her slippers and was about to get out of bed.

"How are you doing, Yan Qiling? Are your injuries severe? Do you need any specific medicine?"

Ming Yiyang glanced back and saw Yan Qiling meticulously smoothing out the excess wrinkles on his pants. He couldn't help but sneer.

"He won't die."

Since early in the morning, Yan Qiling had insisted on having him help find clothes despite his injuries, determined to dress properly.

Considering the burn wounds, Ming Yiyang was naturally against it.

Mainly, he was worried that the oozing tissue would stick to the fabric, making it painful to remove when applying medication later.

But Yan Qiling refused to listen. Seeing that Ming Yiyang wasn't willing to help, he attempted to crawl down to find his clothes himself. After being stopped, he began to authoritatively instruct Ming Yiyang on selecting outfits, with numerous demands. This made Ming Yiyang scoff in frustration.

It seemed that even the apocalypse couldn't deter this person's resolve to die with dignity.

Having grown accustomed to Ming Yiyang's occasional nonsensical remarks, Si Shuhao disregarded his response as mere noise.

Using a hanger to skirt around the debris, she skipped over to Yan Qiling.

Seeing his ashen face but well-covered attire, she couldn't help but worry, "Where are you hurt? Why did you dress up so neatly? Won't it interfere with your wounds?"

The man managed to smile and shake his head, "Not at all. I can walk normally."

Fresh from his grooming, Hu Gaoming felt a sense of suspicion.

He had listened to the entire incident last night, and Yan Qiling's injuries should have been severe; otherwise, Ming Yiyang wouldn't have carried him to his bed for care.

Observing Ming Yiyang's icy expression and Yan Qiling's gentle warmth, he suddenly grasped the crux of the matter. Swiftly, he stopped Yan Qiling from attempting to rise:

"Stop, stop, stop! Brother Yan, please sit down first. It's better not to move around with burns. Ming and I will go to the infirmary to get some medicine for you."

"What? Burns?!"

Si Shuhao exclaimed in surprise, then she scanned Yan Qiling's body with a worried gaze.

"Burns shouldn't be treated casually; clothes can stick to the wounds and cause further damage!"

"Well, even a medical novice knows more than you do."

Ming Yiyang pulled out a chair and sat down, folding his arms.

"Why are you getting up? Do you plan on coming with us?"

"Yes."

That one simple word sparked irritation.

"I told you to stay put. Look at yourself, can you even walk? If that school doctor starts administering care haphazardly, I won't be able to protect you."

The young man's expression was indifferent, his gaze veiled by his silver hair, shimmering with a chilly glow.

"Don't hold us back."

Yan Qiling's impatience between his brows was fleeting, like a waterfowl passing by, an illusion in motion.

"I can manage."

Ming Yiyang scoffed.

"Those on the verge of multiple organ failure always say that before they die."

As tensions rose between the two, Si Shuhao, despite secretly cursing Ming Yiyang in her heart, this time took his side. She tried to rephrase her suggestion to Yan Qiling:

"I believe it would be more efficient if we split up. If both you and Ming Yiyang leave, we might encounter something we can't handle. If you stay here, it would add an extra layer of security for us."

Her cheeks flushed as she spoke, self-conscious about whether she was being too forward. Just then, she heard the man sigh in a gravelly voice:

"In that case, I suggest we stick together."

"How could there be so much time for this?"

The displeased young man angrily pulled out his knife.

At this moment, he felt like a foolish busybody for having taken care of this person all night.

He even found everyone in the room irritating.

Just as Yan Qiling was about to speak, Hu Gaoming blurted out, "I knew it was your knife! Bro Ming, where did you get it? It's so cool!"

Ming Yiyang didn't answer him. Instead, he kicked the head towards the door like it was a ball.

When the head hit the door, it let out a mournful scream.

Everyone: "...."

Wasn't this a bit too brutal?

The sound of vines entwining and tightening continued, the doorknob refusing to budge.

Ming Yiyang slid his knife through the gap beneath the door and slashed fiercely, causing something to tumble down.

The doorknob had just loosened when they were face to face with the caretaker whose head seemed to have exploded.

With his bangs blown back by the stench, Ming Yiyang kicked the severed head out of the room.

Within less than two minutes, the caretaker's bloated head was reduced to pieces, green juices splattering everywhere.

Suppressing the urge to applaud, Si Shuhao held back his inner cheer—

Ming Yiyang might be a bit of a brute, but his martial arts skills were truly a spectacle, one that made him want to throw money at him every time he witnessed them.

Kicking aside the caretaker's now useless body, the young man wiped the juices off his face and turned around, his gaze murderous:

"Not just talking, catch up."

Too stunned to protest, Hu Gaoming remained silent while Yan Qiling managed to stand up, leaning on the bedpost.

His back was straight, and his expression calm, giving no indication of any abnormality:

"I said, we move together."

"Idiot."

Ming Yiyang cursed and left, followed hastily by Hu Gaoming, like a chicken.

Hu Zhicheng seemed to want to say something but held back. A flash of silver light appeared before his eyes, and the silver Spirit Binding Rope shot out from Yan Qiling's sleeve, leaving the dormitory.

However, after a long while, Ming Yiyang didn't return, nor did the rope.

The room fell silent for a moment, and the man finally sat down, sighing softly,

"They're long gone."

In the dormitory, only a pile of severed limbs were wriggling towards the door, along with the four weakened individuals - an elderly man, a woman, and two disabled men.

Seeing Yan Qiling alive, Sù Bó felt a sudden urge to cry again.

Si Shuhao gently stroked the young girl's back, soothing her:

"Don't cry, don't cry. He's still alive, isn't he? You should be happy."

After comforting her, she still found Yan Qiling's behavior a bit capricious and couldn't help but suggest:

"Yan Qiling, why don't you take off your clothes first? It would be terrible if you really get infected."

The man smiled slightly, but didn't show any intention to act, indicating that he had no plans to change his mind.

Hu Zhicheng, seeing that the rope hadn't retrieved his nephew, was also sighing.

Observing that the man seemed to be in good spirits, he reluctantly put aside the idea of searching alone and asked:

"After you left yesterday... we were all terribly worried. How did you manage to escape?"

Yan Qiling slowly spread out his long, fair fingers:

"Do you still remember that pencil?"

"Remember, it was something you obtained after playing the ghostly game with Ming Yiyang."

"On the first day, I noticed its reaction to a specific spot in the teaching building. Yesterday, while searching for an ID number, I pinpointed the third floor girls' restroom."

Si Shuhao's curiosity was piqued as Yan Qiling spoke calmly:

"In the bathroom, there was a message written in red paint that read 'Ugly Woman 1330.' So, I went to Classroom 1330 and found a circular hole on desk number 029."

"I placed the pencil in the hole, and a woman appeared on the opposite side of the desk."

He slowed down, as if reminiscing about the scene:

"She was wearing a white knitted sweater with an apron over it, patterned with pink flowers. Her face was slightly round, and her features were covered with red cloth pinned by thumbtacks, so I couldn't see her expression."

The mention of "thumbtacks" sent shivers down everyone else's spines, evoking an inexplicable sense of phantom pain.

"She wanted to play a game of ghostly pen. If I won, I could take one item from her; if I lost, she would take one item from me."

Si Shuhao suddenly had an idea:

"And what about that monster chasing you? Did it play the ghost writing game with you two?"

Yan Qiling smiled faintly.

"It was terrified of that woman, but it couldn't join the wager. Instead, it tried to disrupt me so that she could win."

The girl looked at him with concern and asked, "Did you lose?"

"No, I won," he replied.

A certain emotion flashed through his heterochromatic eyes, quickly replaced by an innocent smile like a gentle spring breeze, "I mentioned before that giving the answer doesn't guarantee safety."

"So when I got what I came for, the monster launched its attack. And my perception of time slowed down... Hence, when I returned to the dorm, I realized that the lights-out time had already passed."

Suppressing her fluctuating emotions, the girl asked,

"So what did you take from her? Her heart? Her life?"

"The Master of Wuji exists between the realms of Yin and Yang. Unless there's a special method, death merely leads to rebirth."

He retrieved a waterlogged rectangular object from his sleeve.

"That's why I took away what she deemed most important."

Si Shuhao watched as he pulled an item of significantly different size from his sleeve, unable to resist a comment.

"How can your sleeves hold anything and everything?"

Yan Qiling chuckled but didn't respond, instead passing the object into her hand.

The group immediately gathered around to examine it.