Oddities Arise

"Ah!" Just as Zhang Chen and the other two lay on their lounge chairs, chatting and enjoying nature, a girl's scream echoed from the first floor.

"Let's go!" Zhang Chen immediately stood up, called Tan Fei and Er Wa, and headed towards the first floor. On the second floor, they ran into people from the first high school who were also heading towards the source of the scream.

Following the sound, everyone found the dance studio opposite the dining hall. Zhang Chen took the lead, pushing the door open first.

The room was large, with walls covered in professional dance mirrors, making the already spacious room appear even more expansive. The floor was laid with light wood-colored planks. Apart from the mirrors and barres, there was nothing else, giving it an extremely bare feel.

As everyone rushed into the room, they found a girl with waist-length hair sitting on the floor, her right hand extended, pointing at herself in the mirror.

This girl was from the first high school. While not particularly attractive, she had a smoking hot figure. Seeing her like this, the people from the first high school immediately rushed forward to help her up from the floor.

"Qiutian, what happened?" another short-haired girl asked.

"I, I just heard there was a dance studio here and wanted to take a look. It's the first time I've seen such a big dance studio, much bigger than the places I train at. So…" the long-haired girl began to cry as she spoke.

"Please continue," Jia Xin said, standing nearby.

Jia Xin's words seemed to help her, and she slowly stopped crying.

"So I wanted to dance here. I slowly repeated the dance moves I had learned before. The room was so big, and I was all alone, so I gradually got lost in the dance. Suddenly, I accidentally fell to the ground. I looked down and saw it was just a minor injury, nothing serious, but…" The girl's eyes filled with fear as she reached this point.

"But what?" Jia Xin asked, frowning.

"But when I looked up at the mirror in front of me, the me inside was still dancing, without any pause. And the me in the mirror… actually smiled at me."

As this chilling statement was made, the two women supporting her covered their mouths and looked at the mirror with great fear.

"You two help Qiutian upstairs to rest. She's probably tired from the car ride; a good rest should do her good," Jia Xin said.

The girls beside Qiutian nodded and helped her out. At this moment, Wang Yizhi and Dai Xu came down after their shower. Seeing the dazed long-haired girl being led out by her classmates, they quickly asked, "Zhang Chen, what's going on here?"

"Nothing much. That girl in the middle is a dance student. She came here to dance after showering and accidentally fell. It's nothing," Zhang Chen naturally wouldn't tell the two girls about the terrifying incident. Tan Fei, on the other hand, looked very excited, wanting to tell them to scare Dai Xu and create an opportunity for himself, but Zhang Chen stopped him.

Slowly, everyone returned to their respective rooms.

Only Zhang Chen and Jia Xin were left in the dance studio.

"Do you have a way to lure it out?"

Zhang Chen closed the door and asked. In fact, the moment Zhang Chen entered the room, he had sensed something unusual. There was a faint, fading aura in the mirror, and the girl called Qiutian also had a similar aura on her. However, after Jia Xin walked over and made a small pulling motion with his right hand, the aura on the girl disappeared.

"The timing isn't right now. If we come at night, it will be much easier. Anyway, I'll try,"

After speaking, Jia Xin took out a small compass from his waist. Zhang Chen saw that the wooden needle on the compass was spinning counter-clockwise without stopping.

Jia Xin looked for a long time and shook his head.

"The spirit-guiding needle doesn't seem to be able to sense it. Let's wait until tonight," Jia Xin said without hesitation and put away the small compass.

Zhang Chen also nodded and said, "Let's wait another half hour. The two of us from the first floor can meet in the lobby. It would be good to introduce ourselves to each other."

"No problem."

After speaking, they both returned to their rooms on the second floor.

Half an hour later, everyone gathered around the circular sofa in the lobby and sat down. The long-haired girl from before seemed much calmer and was chatting happily with her friends.

"How about this, since there are many of us, let's start by introducing ourselves from our class. Qiutian, you go first," Jia Xin said, pointing to a thin man sitting at the very edge.

"My name is Hong Yi, I'm 15 years old. I like reading, watching movies, and playing basketball."

"My name is Gong Yuanwu, I'm 16 years old. I like wrestling, working out, and playing games." The person speaking was the muscular guy who had caused trouble on the bus earlier.

"My name is Jia Xin, I'm 15 years old. I like shopping, that's it."

As soon as he said this, not only Zhang Chen and his group but even the people from the first high school couldn't help but laugh.

"My name is Xiao Lan, I'm 15 years old. I like reading, listening to music, and watching anime." This time, it was the short-haired girl who spoke.

"My name is Shen Qiutian, I'm 15 years old. I like dancing, music, and shopping." The long-haired girl emphasized the word "shopping" so much that you could tell there was more to it than met the eye.

"My name is Miao Shuangshuang, I'm 15 years old. I like boxing." This curly-haired girl was actually a violent maniac.

"My name is Dai Xu, I'm 15 years old. I like watching Korean dramas, playing cards, and not studying." The big-mouthed Dai Xu was always like this.

"My name is Wang Yizhi, I'm 15 years old. I like reading and hiking."

"My name is Tan Yaoguang, I'm 15 years old. I like reading, listening to music, and exercising." As soon as he said this, he drew scornful looks from everyone, including Zhang Chen. Tan Fei, however, still looked innocent, showing no shame.

"My name is Hu Dazhi, I'm 16 years old. I like adventure, solving mysteries, and playing games." Er Wa, on the other hand, looked like a gentleman.

"My name is Zhang Chen, I'm 15 years old. I like cycling, running, and scary things."

"Alright, now that we've introduced ourselves, let's first sort out the meal situation. Those who can cook, please stand up," Jia Xin said.

From the first high school, only Shen Qiutian, Miao Shuangshuang, and Jia Xin stood up. From Zhang Chen's side, Wang Yizhi, Dai Xu, and Zhang Chen himself stepped forward. Then, Tan Fei hesitated for a long time before also standing up.

"Okay, including myself, there are seven people who can cook. We'll be responsible for cooking from now on. However, the remaining four people aren't off the hook; you'll be responsible for washing vegetables, chopping them, and washing the dishes."

As soon as Jia Xin finished speaking, no one had any objections, and the cooking arrangements were settled.

Zhang Chen could see that not only Shen Qiutian but also her entire class treated Jia Xin as their leader, basically obeying his words without question. However, on Zhang Chen's side, everyone had a good friendship, with no one being superior to another. In comparison, Zhang Chen preferred the situation in his own class.

"Since it's decided, then we'll all meet in the kitchen at 5 PM sharp to prepare dinner."

Tan Fei and Er Wa came over and said to Zhang Chen, "Brother Chen, we just found swimming trunks and swimsuits prepared for us in the swimming pool on the first floor. Why don't you go get two girls from our class and we'll go swim in the lake behind the villa?"

Zhang Chen was still worried about not having swimming trunks. Hearing this, he immediately took Wang Yizhi to the swimming pool on the first floor to find swimsuits and trunks.

The water in the swimming pool seemed to have just been filled. It was very clear. Sunlight shone on the edge of the water, and with the reflection of the waves, the entire indoor swimming pool looked very beautiful.

"Why don't we just swim in here? Isn't it too dangerous outside?" Zhang Chen was still a little worried about the dangers of swimming in the lake.

"Brother Chen, since when did you become so timid? Look, the guys from First High have already gotten into the water. If the girls don't know how to swim, aren't there swimming rings here?" Tan Fei picked up a swimming ring from the corner and pointed outside the window.

"Alright, alright, let's go. Let's first check if the lake is deep enough. Huh? Where's Er Wa?" Zhang Chen suddenly realized Er Wa was gone.

"Second Brother, if I had known we were going to the lake, I would have gone back to change into my gear. I'm very professional about it."

So, Zhang Chen and the other three arrived at the lake first.

It was only when they got closer to the lakeside that they could truly see how big it was, and the water was also very clear. This was truly rare in the current era. Such a large lake even had a hint of white mist in the distance, as if there were a water monster in the water.

"Yizhi, aren't you a good swimmer? Why don't you take a swimming ring first?" Zhang Chen looked at Wang Yizhi, who had changed into her swimsuit, and his heart was pounding fast.

Wang Yizhi nodded, holding the swimming ring in her hand tightly.

Everyone else got into the water. Even Er Wa had changed into professional gear and leaped directly from the small wooden bridge on the shore.

Zhang Chen stood on the shore, doing warm-up exercises. He remembered how he had gone to save that man in black before and got cramps as soon as he entered the water, almost drowning. He had to be well-prepared this time.

Tan Fei, that guy, was small and fat, but in the water, he was like an agile ball, very flexible. He kept circling around Dai Xu, who was wearing a swimming ring. As for Er Wa, he dived alone to a very distant spot, seeming to go even deeper.

"Why aren't you going down to swim?" Zhang Chen walked over to Jia Xin, who was sitting on the wooden bridge, and said.

"It's not very safe for people in the water. What if something happens?"

"If you're not going down, I'll go first. You have to keep an eye on me, okay?" Zhang Chen joked and then jumped into the water.

The group was having a great time in the lake. Hong Yi from First High even found fishing rods not far from them, which solved the group's problem of getting meat.

Time passed quickly. It was 5 PM. Everyone, still not satisfied, had to get out of the water. Er Wa also swam back from a distant spot.

"Second Brother, hurry up! We're waiting for you!" Everyone slowly walked into the villa. Even Tan Fei ignored his good buddy and followed Dai Xu, trotting along.

Just as Er Wa was about to reach the shore, he suddenly sank. The movement didn't look like diving at all; it was as if he was being dragged down forcefully. Moreover, Er Wa wasn't the type of person to play such pranks.

Zhang Chen knew something had happened and immediately leaped into the lake, swimming towards Er Wa's direction. Fortunately, they weren't far apart. Zhang Chen swam for less than 5 seconds before seeing Er Wa struggling in the water.

It seemed his leg was entangled by something. Zhang Chen initially thought it was waterweeds. When he swam closer, he saw a large mass of black, fine threads tightly gripping Er Wa's left leg. If it wasn't hair, what else could it be?

Beneath the hair was a creature resembling a woman. Its head was still a woman's face, but its body was covered in many shiny fish scales.

This thing seemed to have noticed Zhang Chen as well. Another strand of hair shot towards Zhang Chen, attempting to entangle him too.

With a thought, he directly dispersed the hair shooting towards him. Meanwhile, Er Wa seemed to have swallowed a lot of water and was close to passing out. Zhang Chen couldn't use his nails in front of Er Wa.

"There's no other way, I have to try," Zhang Chen concentrated his thoughts, compressing the water into a blade-like shape and shooting it towards the hair entangling Er Wa's ankle.

"Chop!" It was successful. The hair was cut off, and Er Wa immediately felt relieved, forcefully swimming towards the surface. However, the thing underwater seemed unwilling to give up and swam towards Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen was also running out of breath, so he swam towards the shore in the opposite direction. But the woman with scales behind him was incredibly fast in the water. Just as she was about to catch up to Zhang Chen, a silver needle shot into the water from outside, directly piercing the fish-woman monster's forehead.

"Ah!" The creature didn't die, but it was severely injured. It immediately abandoned Zhang Chen and swam towards the dark depths of the water, which were no longer visible…

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