Facing an Urban Legend

Lin Xiaoyi was in a terrible mood right now.

It was not just because he had taken her seat, but because throughout the entire process, he had not even spared her a proper glance. Just yesterday, he had been pestering her relentlessly...

Girls mostly had rather strange mindsets. When someone shamelessly clung to them, they found it annoying, but when that person completely ignored them, they felt even more upset instead.

...Probably.

However, Lin Xiaoyi quickly adjusted her mindset and tossed aside her earlier displeasure. After all, if he knew better and stopped pestering her from now on, that would count as a good thing for her.

"But that guy really has no gentlemanly manners... Hm? Whose call is this... Xiao Wen?"

Taking out her phone and glancing at the screen, Lin Xiaoyi looked in puzzlement toward Xia Wen, who was seated one table away from her.

Although his back blocked much of her view, she could still vaguely see that her foodie bestie was busy eating and had not picked up her phone at all.

"She left her phone in the dormitory? Is it her roommate calling... That foodie who betrayed the revolution..."

Pursing her lips, Lin Xiaoyi did not think much of it and tapped the answer button. In an instant, a rather aggrieved voice came through from the other end.

"Xiao Yi, didn't you say you'd wait for me so we could eat together? Where are you? You didn't heartlessly leave me behind, did you?"

"...Xiao Wen!?"

Hearing the familiar voice from the phone, Lin Xiaoyi's eyes widened abruptly.

"Of course it's me. Who else would it be?"

Xia Wen's voice on the other end was full of grievance.

"We agreed to go to the canteen for lunch together. I only went to the restroom for a moment, but when I came back, you had already slipped away. To compensate me, you have to treat me to a big meal and soothe my wounded heart."

"...I-I'm on the second floor of the canteen right now. Come over first. Once you get here, I'll treat you to a big meal."

Standing up and looking at Xia Wen, who was eating with her head down and clearly not on the phone, Lin Xiaoyi took a deep breath. She barely managed to calm herself as she replied to Xia Wen over the phone.

"Ehh—but the canteen is super crowded at this time, and all the delicious food has probably already sold out. I don't want to go. Can you bring some back for me?"

Hearing the response from the phone, Lin Xiaoyi could imagine her lying facedown on the table with her lips pouted. That was her habitual pose whenever she wanted to be lazy.

—That was why Lin Xiaoyi had always wondered how someone so lazy could eat so much while still staying so slim.

"No. You can't eat junk food for lunch. If you come over now, I'll treat you to Hot Pot this weekend."

Slowly sitting back down, Lin Xiaoyi did her utmost to keep her voice calm.

Was the Xia Wen on the phone real, or was the Xia Wen who had come to the canteen with her real? As long as the two Xia Wens appeared in the same place, everything would become clear.

But if two Xia Wens really appeared before her...

Despite it being summer, Lin Xiaoyi inexplicably felt a bone-chilling cold.

I hope it's just a prank...

After receiving the other's reluctant agreement, Lin Xiaoyi put down her phone and only then realized that her hands had been trembling slightly all along. Looking at the fragrant, appetizing food before her, she no longer had the slightest appetite.

Pretending to be calm, Lin Xiaoyi put her phone back into her pocket and secretly raised her head to look ahead. But that single glance made her entire body turn ice-cold.

—At some unknown moment, Xia Wen had raised her eyes and looked in her direction. Their gazes met in midair.

Lin Xiaoyi had wanted to calmly raise a hand and greet her, but the corners of the other's mouth slowly twisted upward. The curve widened and widened, revealing jagged, ghastly white teeth... Those were not teeth a human should possess. They belonged more on a beast.

Just as the fear in Lin Xiaoyi's heart was about to reach its breaking point, a suddenly raised hand blocked the other's line of sight. Without that gaze fixed on her, Lin Xiaoyi immediately went limp and regained control of her body.

Looking at the figure in front of her, who had blocked all of the other's gaze for her, a lingering fear rose in her heart.

From when she had left the Teaching Building until she arrived at the canteen... What kind of bizarre Monster had she been with? If Bai Zhi had not suddenly blocked that Monster's gaze just now...

Wait... him...

As though she had suddenly realized something, Lin Xiaoyi stared blankly at the figure before her, the one who now gave her an endless sense of security.

Although she did not know much about Bai Zhi, the pursuer who had always relentlessly pestered her, she had heard some rumors about him from others.

In relationships, he was an out-and-out scumbag. Before pursuing her, he had dated seven Girlfriends in a row. He was addicted to games, late to class and quick to leave, and aside from that face of his, he was practically good for nothing.

—That was her entire impression of him.

Later, his shameless pursuit of her had only confirmed that impression, so she had always thought very poorly of him.

But if Bai Zhi had not blocked her view just now, her fate would certainly not have been pleasant. And upon careful thought, there were many suspicious details in his earlier actions. Today, the person who had always pestered her had not only failed to give her a proper glance, but had swiftly taken her seat after she left it... Compared with his past behavior, his conduct today was highly abnormal.

Just imagine it: if he had not appeared, and she had continued sitting across from that "Xia Wen" while eating, then when the real Xia Wen called... what would have happened to her?

Once all possibilities had been ruled out, the final remaining possibility, no matter how unreasonable, was the truth.

So Bai Zhi had actually known all along that "Xia Wen" was a bizarre Monster? Everything he had done before had merely been an act? He had been protecting her earlier, and his true identity was actually someone who specialized in dealing with Monsters like this...

Lin Xiaoyi's heart pounded wildly, and her own bold speculation left her stunned for a moment.