Flag Bearer

Lin Qiye froze where he stood when he heard that.

Indeed, when he had sensed along the floors earlier, he had also noticed that most of those infected by the monsters were girls. With Li Yifei pointing it out, he realized something was off.

"Could that mythical creature have appeared from the girls' dormitory?" Lin Qiye muttered to himself.

He switched on his earpiece and lowered his voice.

"Hong Ying, where are you?"

"We just came out of the office building. What is it?"

Lin Qiye told her his guess. Hong Ying immediately nodded on the other end. "All right. While you two are heading to the flag-raising ceremony, we'll go to the girls' dormitory now."

"Mm."

As the marching music began to play, Lin Qiye's class emerged from the corridor as well and slowly moved toward the flag-raising platform.

The flag-raising ceremony was held in an open space in front of the teaching building. It was not very large, and students from all three grades of the high school were packed together with barely any space between them.

"Students in the back, keep up! Hurry!"

"Don't shove me."

"Hey, walk faster!"

"How fast do you expect me to walk? The people in front of me are all blocked up. What am I supposed to do?"

"Hm? Where did the person in front of me go?"

"Who was in front of you?"

"Lin Qiye. Where did he go?"

"I don't know. He was just here."

"Huh? Li Yifei is missing too!"

While several students were still confused, Lin Qiye and Li Yifei had already slipped out of the line and were rapidly weaving against the chaotic flow of people through the various classes.

Lin Qiye's psychic perception only had a range of twenty meters. To fully cover more than two thousand students, he had to keep moving nonstop.

"Lin Qiye, Lin Qiye! Are you done checking? The music's ending, and they're about to raise the flag!" Li Yifei said as he struggled to push aside the students around him and called out to Lin Qiye ahead.

"No. There's still half left."

"Then what do we do? Once everyone lines up and the music stops, we'll be noticed!"

At that moment, the marching music that had been playing on repeat was growing quieter and quieter. The two students weaving through the crowd were becoming more and more conspicuous, and many people had begun pointing at them.

Lin Qiye frowned slightly. Li Yifei was right. If they were still moving around after everyone had taken their places, they would definitely attract attention. If they insisted on continuing the search, they might even be stopped by a teacher.

But if they gave up now, the only way to fully inspect all the students, teachers, and school officials across the three grades would be to wait until school ended and block the gates.

That would take too long, and there were too many variables. They could not afford to wait.

Lin Qiye's mind raced. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the Flag Bearer team in the distance, and his eyes lit up.

He changed direction, quickly pushed through the crowd, and walked up to the Flag Bearer team.

"Hello, classmate." Lin Qiye politely addressed the student at the front.

The Flag Bearer blinked. "Hello..."

"You've been relieved of duty."

"..." The student looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"The school officials just issued an emergency notice. An outstanding student representative will raise the flag and give a speech afterward, so the Flag Bearer needs to be replaced temporarily." Lin Qiye spoke with a straight face as he reached out and grabbed the flagpole in the student's hands.

"But, this..."

"I'm Li Yifei, an outstanding second-year student representative. Please give me the flag. If you have any questions, you can speak to the officials after the ceremony."

Expressionless, Lin Qiye snatched the flagpole from the student's hands and took his place, his face solemn.

Li Yifei: ...

The student scratched his head blankly. After hesitating for a long while, he ultimately returned to his own class's line.

"Lin Qiye, what are you trying to do?" Li Yifei could not help asking. "You'll get disciplined for this... No, wait, I'll get disciplined too!"

"I stole your name to trick the Flag Bearer out of his flag. It has nothing to do with you," Lin Qiye said calmly. "Besides, I'm no longer a student. I don't need to follow the school's rules...

"I am a Night Watchman."

Solemn music began to play. Students, teachers, officials... everyone in the entire area fell silent. Their eyes settled on the flag in the Flag Bearer's hands, waiting for it to rise.

Keeping time with the music, Lin Qiye held the flag and marched forward with standard goose steps.

"Huh? Doesn't that Flag Bearer look familiar?"

"Yeah, he's pretty handsome. He kind of looks like Lin Qiye."

"...Are you sure it's only kind of? I think it's him."

"It really does seem to be him!"

"..."

Most people did not know Lin Qiye, but his classmates quickly recognized him and began whispering among themselves.

The officials on the platform did not notice in the slightest that the Flag Bearer had been replaced. They watched the handsome youth with smiles on their faces. After all, such a trivial matter did not require their intervention. With so many students in the school, how could they know who was supposed to raise the flag that day?

But when the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony saw Lin Qiye, his expression suddenly changed.

For some reason, an ominous feeling rose in his heart...

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Lin Qiye strode proudly along the entire route to the flag-raising platform. Just as he was about to step onto it...

He suddenly made a sharp right-angle turn!

He marched without hesitation toward the other right-angle side of the student formation!

The officials who had been smiling as they prepared to receive the flag were utterly dumbfounded.

Their smiles froze on their faces as they stared blankly at Lin Qiye, who acted as though they did not exist. It took them several seconds to come to their senses.

They all turned to look at the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony, their eyes full of accusation!

Cold sweat instantly broke out on the teacher in charge of the ceremony.

At the same time, the students noticed it as well. They watched Lin Qiye pass in front of them in astonishment, and the murmurs among them grew much louder.

"What the hell? Why isn't he going up there?"

"No idea. Is this his first time raising the flag? I don't recognize him."

"This is interesting. He totally messed it up!"

"Look at the officials' expressions on the platform... Pfft, hahaha! I'm dying!"

"What is Lin Qiye doing?"

"..."

Just then, the voice of the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony rang out sharply.

"Quiet! Quiet, everyone! Student holding the flag, you went the wrong way!"

Lin Qiye acted as if he had not heard him. Not only did he show no intention of turning around, he even quickened his pace!

His gaze was as sharp as a blade as it swept across every student's face before him.

There was surprise in their eyes, confusion, mockery, gloating...

But Lin Qiye's eyes remained like a deep pool, unfathomably profound.

In Lin Qiye's eyes, they were a flock of sheep about to be sent into a wolf's jaws, in mortal danger without knowing it. Among the more than two thousand teachers and students present, only Lin Qiye and Li Yifei... were awake.

While everyone else was drunk, he alone remained sober. Perhaps that was what it meant.

"Come back! Get back here! Which class are you from?!" the teacher in charge roared from the platform.

At last, having finished inspecting all the students, Lin Qiye pretended to be startled and hurriedly turned back. He walked around the flag-raising platform to the flagpole and quickly tied the flag onto it.

The teacher in charge glared at Lin Qiye, trembling with rage. He seemed to want to question him, but this was not the right occasion.

Lin Qiye simply ignored him. At that moment, he had no mind to spare for the teacher's feelings.

As the music changed and the national anthem was sung, the flag slowly rose...

Yet beneath the flagpole, a bead of cold sweat slid down Lin Qiye's cheek.

He stared blankly at the officials around him, then lowered his head to look at the sea of students below. His heart seemed to plunge into an abyss!

"Captain...

"You'd better prepare yourself mentally..."

He muttered to himself.