Before setting out, Chen Muye and the others had specifically reminded Lin Qiye to make use of his abilities.
Since humans infected by this Mythical Creature could not be identified by appearance alone, they had to find another way to distinguish them. As the only one among them with a forbidden realm that could sense Mental Power, Lin Qiye was naturally extremely important.
Just as Lin Qiye had expected, his Seraphim's Eye could identify the infected.
At that moment, within his mental perception range, Liu Xiaoyan looked like a flesh-and-blood monster clad in human skin, skillfully controlling that shell as she naturally whispered with her deskmate.
And besides Liu Xiaoyan, there was another infected person in the classroom.
She was also a girl. Lin Qiye did not remember her very well; she was the sort of inconspicuous girl who faded into the background in class. Her name was Han Ruoruo.
At that moment, she was secretly writing something, then turned and handed a small note to the boy behind her.
Lin Qiye knew the boy behind her too, and they were fairly familiar...
Liu Yuan.
Lin Qiye would naturally never forget Liu Yuan, the one who had shoved him when they faced the Ghost-faced Man.
"About how many are there?" Chen Muye's voice sounded through the earpiece again.
"There are two in my classroom. When I came over just now, I specifically scanned every classroom on this floor. On this floor alone... there are probably six."
"Can they... still be saved?"
"No." Lin Qiye spoke with certainty. "Their internal organs are already gone. What's hidden inside them is nothing but clumps of bizarre flesh. Even if we kill those things, they definitely won't survive.
"They died the moment they were eaten."
There were already six victims on just one floor. If they considered the entire school... how many people would die?
When so many deaths occurred in a school at once, that school was basically finished.
And the social impact caused by this incident would be even more terrifying!
Chen Muye remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking. "Understood... keep observing. Don't alert them."
"Received."
Lin Qiye took out paper and a pen, concentrating on the teacher's lecture like an ordinary student.
After the teacher had spoken for over ten minutes, Li Yifei came panting to the doorway and knocked.
"Report!"
"Li Yifei? You're late." The teacher showed no kindness to an old hand like Li Yifei.
"Teacher, I took sick leave. I have a leave slip!" Li Yifei waved the slip tucked inside his book.
The teacher glared at him. "...Get back to your seat. If you do poorly on this test again, I'm calling your parents."
Li Yifei hurriedly sat down beside Lin Qiye. As he lowered his head to take out his books, he softly asked Lin Qiye,
"How is it?"
"I know some things, but not everything." Lin Qiye glanced out the window. "I need an opportunity, one where I can sense all the teachers and students in the school."
Li Yifei froze. "You mean..."
"After this class, it'll be the flag-raising ceremony. By then... I'll be able to get a preliminary grasp of the situation."
Lin Qiye narrowed his eyes slightly.
Office building.
"403, 403... 403! Found it."
Hong Ying and Si Xiaonan reached the entrance to the Dean of Students' office and stopped at the same time. They exchanged a glance and quickly took their positions.
Si Xiaonan stood at the door with the Black Box on her back, while Hong Ying hid sideways in the blind spot behind the door, ready to rush in at any moment.
Si Xiaonan cleared her throat and reached out to knock.
Knock, knock, knock!
After the three knocks, the two held their breath and waited for several seconds, but the room remained completely silent.
Hong Ying's delicate brows furrowed as she gave Si Xiaonan a look.
Si Xiaonan knocked a few more times, but there was still no response.
Hong Ying signaled for Xiao Nan to step back a few paces, then walked to the door herself. She took a thin wire from her pocket and gently turned it inside the lock.
Click—!
With a soft sound, the door slowly opened.
Beyond it was an empty office.
Hong Ying cautiously entered the room and searched around. Only after confirming that there was truly no one there did she relax.
"Sister Hong Ying, whoever was here probably left not long ago. The cup is still warm." Si Xiaonan reached out and touched the cup on the desk.
"They probably went to a meeting. If they had gone to the restroom, they wouldn't have locked the door." Hong Ying nodded slightly. "In any case, search this place first and see if there are any clues."
Si Xiaonan nodded. "I'll keep watch for you."
She closed the office door, hid sideways by the window, and took an exquisite little mirror from her pocket, carefully observing the surroundings through its reflection.
Hong Ying quickly began searching. The desk, drawers, filing cabinets, flowerpots... she searched everywhere she could, but aside from a pile of useless documents, she found nothing of value.
Suddenly, she stopped and sniffed carefully.
"Xiao Nan, do you smell something?" Hong Ying frowned slightly.
"Huh? I don't think so." Si Xiaonan sniffed carefully and answered blankly.
Hong Ying's frown deepened. She crouched down and followed the faint, barely detectable stench. In the end, her gaze fell on a tile beneath the chair.
The tile looked clean, but it seemed to bear signs of having been pried loose.
She took out a small knife and forcefully pressed it against the tile's edge, prying up one corner. A sour, rotten stench rushed straight at her!
Suppressing the smell, Hong Ying gently used the tip of her knife to pick out what was beneath the tile. It was an entire sheet of yellowish-brown, soft membrane...
When she spread out the membrane, Hong Ying's pupils suddenly contracted!
"Skin... this is human skin!" Hong Ying abruptly looked up at Si Xiaonan. "These infected people shed their skin?!"
Si Xiaonan frowned. "Snakes?"
"Possibly. Report this information to Wu Xiangnan. Maybe we can find information about this Mythical Creature." Hong Ying quickly stuffed the skin back beneath the tile and covered it again.
Just after Hong Ying had concealed every trace of their visit, a sudden melody rang out from outside the window, startling her!
Hearing the familiar tune, Hong Ying walked to the window and looked down at the growing number of students filing out of the building. She muttered to herself,
"The flag-raising ceremony? Is the music for flag-raising ceremonies all standardized across Great Xia..."
At that moment, Lin Qiye and Li Yifei were in the corridor, slowly moving downstairs with the noisy crowd of students.
Li Yifei cautiously looked around, then leaned close to Lin Qiye's ear.
"Qiye, you joined them. Does that mean you have some kind of special ability too?"
"Yeah."
"Damn, I'm so jealous... what's your ability?"
"I can use mental perception to sense nearby things, something like that." Lin Qiye answered vaguely.
"Then can you tell monsters apart from humans?"
"Yes."
"Then... tell me honestly, how many are there in our class?"
"Two. Liu Xiaoyan and Han Ruoruo."
Hearing those two names, Li Yifei seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, thank goodness Wu Shujie isn't one. I've had a crush on her for so many years. If she turned into a monster, I probably wouldn't date for the rest of my life."
Lin Qiye: ...
"What about now? How many are around me?" Li Yifei asked worriedly.
"The fifth person in front of you, that girl, is one too."
"Her?" Li Yifei thought for a moment. "She's from the next class, I think her name is... Tian Li. She turned into a monster too... that's not really surprising."
Lin Qiye froze. "Why?"
Li Yifei raised his brows. "Didn't you notice? Oh, right, you only transferred here a few days ago, so you don't know this."
"Notice what?"
"Liu Xiaoyan, Han Ruoruo, and Tian Li... they're roommates!"
Before you continue