Lost Amid Repeated Cries of "Teacher"

Although it was early autumn, there was no sign of the temperature dropping. Just one walk beneath the Sunlight was enough to leave him drenched in sweat.

After returning to his rented place and taking a shower, Bai Zhi brought the reagents he had swiped from the laboratory over to the Desk. He intended to use them to make some small improvements to the little gadgets he had made earlier, but just as he sat down, someone knocked on the door.

"Hmm? They're here to collect the rent already?"

Frowning slightly, Bai Zhi carefully set down the dangerous substance in his hand, then tiptoed to the door and looked outside through the peephole.

That one look made his entire body jolt.

Outside his door stood a tall, thin middle-aged man in a White Shirt and Black-rimmed Glasses. His hair was meticulously combed, his expression calm and steady, and his demeanor refined and approachable.

Bai Zhi recognized him. He was Bai Zhi's Homeroom Teacher and Chemistry Teacher.

But that was not the important part. The important part was... Teacher Chen had been his teacher in his Previous Life. He was the one Bai Zhi had sent to the ICU for half a month during the Chemistry Room Tragedy he caused before crossing over, yet he had generously refused to hold Bai Zhi's mistake against him and jokingly said that Bai Zhi would either end up in the newspapers or on television someday.

So... Teacher Chen had crossed over too?

For a moment, Bai Zhi could not quite react.

Everything Teacher Chen displayed outside the door perfectly matched Bai Zhi's impression of that good teacher. The same calm steadiness, the same refined approachability, the same life-preserving Glasses... uh...

Rubbing his chin and thinking for a moment, Bai Zhi seemed to realize what he might be dealing with. He quietly retreated to the Desk, grabbed the towel he had casually draped over the back of a chair earlier, placed it over his head, and pretended he had just gotten out of the shower as he walked toward the door while drying his hair.

"Who is it? At this hour... uh, Teacher Chen?"

After opening the door, the impatience on Bai Zhi's face first turned into surprise, which swiftly turned into delight.

"Teacher Chen, has my living allowance arrived this month? Thank you for coming all this way."

"Of course. What else did you think I came for?"

There was nothing abnormal about Teacher Chen's expression. Instead, he smiled and scolded Bai Zhi lightly.

"What, your teacher came all this way especially for you, and you have no intention of inviting me in for a cup of tea ☕️?"

"How could that be? Teacher Chen, please come in. I'll pour you some tea right away. Once I get my living allowance, I'll go downstairs and buy a few dishes. The two of us, teacher and student, can have a proper drink."

Chuckling, Bai Zhi stepped aside from the doorway.

"You troublesome brat. The thought is enough. I didn't come all this way to freeload food and drink."

After pointing at Bai Zhi's head and scolding him with a smile, Teacher Chen walked past him and entered the house as naturally as if it were his own.

After closing the door behind them, Bai Zhi followed him in and diligently poured him a cup of tea. Then he stood before him, seemingly embarrassed as he scratched his head.

"Um... Teacher Chen, where's my living allowance?"

"Don't worry, you won't be shorted."

Teacher Chen set down his teacup, took an envelope from his pocket, and handed it over, while specifically reminding him.

"Remember, don't spend money recklessly. If you have any difficulties, come to me and I'll help you solve them. Understand?"

After taking the envelope and secretly gauging its weight and thickness, Bai Zhi obediently nodded.

So far, Bai Zhi could not see anything abnormal about the "Teacher Chen" before him. If he had not known that someone from the previous world could absolutely not appear in this one, he might really have mistaken the other party for the Teacher Chen who had treated him so well.

He just did not know whether that money could actually be used...

"Alright, student Bai Zhi. Now let's talk business."

Teacher Chen pushed up the Black-rimmed Glasses on his nose and smiled.

"You know that your teacher, I..."

"Oh, right, Teacher Chen, your timing is perfect. I happen to have some questions I don't really understand."

Before Teacher Chen could finish, Bai Zhi slapped his forehead, hurriedly picked up the Homework Notebook on the Desk, and placed it before him with an eager, studious expression.

"Could I ask Teacher Chen to give me some guidance on these questions I don't understand?"

"Uh..."

Looking at the exercise book in front of him, for some reason, it suddenly felt that things were already beginning to drift beyond its expectations.

"Teacher Chen, the solution to this problem..."

"Oh, oh, I understand. Right, Teacher Chen, could you explain the principle behind this experiment for me?"

"Ah, sorry, the room hasn't been cleaned in a long time, so it's a bit messy... I've never had the time to organize it..."

Two hours later, Teacher Chen, who had enthusiastically delivered the living allowance, solved every exercise problem for his student, and even cleaned and tidied the room, left carrying two large bags of trash. Amid Bai Zhi's sincere thanks, it lost itself and stood at the stairwell entrance with a bewildered expression as the evening wind blew over it.

Lowering its head to look at the two trash bags in its hands, it sank into deep silence.

Wasn't I here to hunt? So why did things end up like this...

As a rare kind of Vengeful Spirit, the Borrowed Face Grudge was the only one capable of peering into human hearts at this stage. But as the saying went, gains came with losses. Its strength fluctuated greatly and depended entirely on how much fear its prey held toward it. If its target felt no fear whatsoever, its combat ability was not even as good as that of a child a few years old.

It was certain that its disguise, created by stealing the image from its prey's heart, was Perfect and impossible to see through. The other party was merely a common person, so why had this operation failed so completely?

It had even tried to frighten him midway through. It only needed to kindle the first trace of fear in the other party's heart, and everything would naturally fall into place just as it had with its previous prey. Yet not only had it failed to evoke any fear in him, it had instead been made uneasy by the other party's enthusiastic gaze...

It felt that something was wrong. Very wrong.