Long Spear Out of the Case

"Hong Ying...?" Si Xiaonan's face paled as they saw the scene.

Hong Ying frowned, passing through the human skins and walking to the edge of the balcony to look outside.

This dormitory building was the furthest structure from the rest of the school. Opposite the balcony was undeveloped land, with no other buildings. It was no wonder they dared to hang human skins so brazenly.

But what if someone else came to visit?

Thinking this, Hong Ying's eyes sharpened. She quickly walked out of the dorm and opened the door to the next room.

On that balcony, four human skins were also fluttering in the wind...

The next room, and the next, and the next!

Hong Ying searched several surrounding dorms consecutively. Most of their balconies were adorned with human skins – some one, some two, and some four.

This meant that a large number of students on this floor had already been transformed into monsters!

"Hong Ying, this is serious..." Si Xiaonan murmured, standing outside the door.

"It certainly is troublesome," Hong Ying sighed, then changed the subject. "But this also implies that there must be a limit to how this monster infects others."

"Why?"

"If it could infect infinitely, I suspect it would have quietly infected everyone on the floor in at most two nights. But that's not what happened.

We don't know how long it has been operating in secret, but we can confirm it's been at least two days. And in that time, it's only infected these four or five dorms, which indicates..."

"It indicates there's a limit to how many people it can infect?"

"Possibly, but there's also another possibility: its infection ability has a cooldown period. For example, a subordinate can only infect one person per day..."

Si Xiaonan's eyes gradually brightened. "That's true. If it really had infinite infection capabilities, the entire school would have been finished by now."

"So, we can actually deduce a lot of things," Hong Ying continued down the line of thought.

"Based on the intel Lin Qiye provided, among the infected, resident students make up a much larger proportion than day students. Day students don't live at school normally, and when they are at school, they are mostly in groups, making it difficult for the monster to infect them stealthily.

Moreover, among the infected, the proportion of girls is much higher than boys. Not only because girls are generally easier targets and tend to be alone, but also because..."

Hong Ying's eyes narrowed slightly, and she turned to look down the dim, narrow corridor.

"The main body of that Mythical Creature is here."

Si Xiaonan's jaw dropped in surprise. "Hong Ying, how did you suddenly get so smart?"

"Hm?" Hong Ying raised an eyebrow. "In your eyes, am I that stupid?"

"Yup, always been pretty dumb. The type who only uses her brain at critical moments."

"..."

Hong Ying helplessly looked up at the ceiling. After a long pause, she took the earpiece out of her ear.

"Alright, I admit, what I just said was told to me by Lin Qiye..."

Si Xiaonan: (?｀∧′)

"He's quite smart," Si Xiaonan pouted.

Hong Ying sighed. "Although I hate to admit it, he does seem to be a little smarter than me."

Lin Qiye's voice echoed faintly from the earpiece:

"Are you sure it's just 'a little'?"

"...Shut up."

"Oh, right. I need to remind you," Lin Qiye's voice turned serious. "Just now, I saw a large group of girls heading towards the dormitory building."

Hong Ying frowned. "Are they infected?"

"Too far away, I can't sense them. Be careful."

"Got it."

Hong Ying put her earpiece back in, gave Si Xiaonan a look, and the two quickly ran towards the stairwell.

Just then, several girls came up the stairs, chatting and laughing.

Hong Ying's eyes narrowed. She grabbed Si Xiaonan, stopping them, and looked at the girls with extreme vigilance.

The girls, seeing two unfamiliar girls standing in the stairwell, looked them over with some surprise before whispering amongst themselves.

"Who are they?"

"Don't know, maybe from another class?"

"Aren't there only these few classes on this floor? I've never seen them before!"

"Maybe they're looking for someone?"

"Yeah, I'll ask."

A long-haired girl stepped forward and asked politely, "Hello, are you looking for someone?"

A smile appeared on Hong Ying's face. "Yes, I'm looking for Wang Nan from Class 6, but I forgot which dorm she's in..."

"Wang Nan?" The long-haired girl tilted her head. "There's no one named Wang Nan in Class 6. Did you remember incorrectly?"

"Isn't this the dorm for third-year high school students?"

"No, this is for second-year students. The third-year dorms are on the first floor."

"Oh, I see!" Hong Ying scratched her head apologetically, then grabbed Si Xiaonan's hand and replied cheerfully, "Sorry for bothering you!"

"It's alright." The long-haired girl gave a polite smile.

Hong Ying and Si Xiaonan walked past the long-haired girl and headed straight for the stairwell. The girls gathered there also politely made way for them as they approached.

"That girl is so beautiful."

As they passed by, Hong Ying heard the girls around her whispering, their eyes full of envy.

"Yeah, her features are so delicate, and her skin is so good. I'm so jealous."

"The shorter girl behind her is also pretty, she looks so cute!"

"So cute... I just want to eat her up."

The moment Hong Ying and Si Xiaonan brushed past the group of girls, a greedy glint erupted in their eyes. Their heads split open like flower buds, revealing fresh red flesh and rows of terrifying teeth!

The dorm stairwell was already narrow, and with these girls occupying most of the space, the area left for Hong Ying and Si Xiaonan was incredibly small...

So small they couldn't even dodge!

But just then, the corner of Hong Ying's mouth curved into a faint smile, and a crimson light exploded outwards from her!

BOOM—!!

Rose-colored flames surged outwards in all directions from Hong Ying and Si Xiaonan, and the terrifying repulsive force directly blasted the monsters in the stairwell away!

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Flames billowed, and the intense heat caused the emergency lights on both sides of the corridor to explode. The entire corridor and stairwell were plunged into darkness.

Only the blooming flames burned on.

Then, a girl with a long case on her back slowly ascended the stairs.

The flames illuminated her face.

She reached back and gently tapped the long case on her back. A soft hum came from within the case, and a long spear shot out from its side!

It landed steadily in her hand.

Hong Ying lightly swung the long spear, creating a flourish before calmly walking through the rose-colored flames. She looked proudly at the terrified monsters ahead.

"Hmph, I knew it. You guys aren't good people." Hong Ying slung the long spear over her shoulder and tapped her earpiece.

"Let's see who dares to call me stupid again!"