I'm Also Not Such an Unreasonable Person

Although Qu Xuanqing Xianqing really wanted Yu Xing to get some sleep, she still woke Yu Xing up before leaving the house.

"I'll go check out the dormitory building. You can go back." She met Yu Xing's slightly cautious gaze as he woke up, her fingers trembling slightly as she tried to maintain her usual tone.

Yu Xing squinted, fully waking from his light sleep. He propped his chin up with one hand, looked at Qu Xuanqing, and smiled, "Okay."

"Go ahead, I'll leave by myself in a bit. Also..." He looked up, his eyes slanted upwards. Everyone who looked at him from this angle would probably have a different feeling: fear, amazement, or relief.

Don't worry, I won't give you a chance to be sad.

Qu Xuanqing paused, then turned around, her expression serious. "You said it. Then I'm leaving."

"Peng."

The dormitory door made a slight sound, and the girl disappeared. Yu Xing's smile gradually widened. He used his other hand to support his forehead, and his increasingly long bangs spread out on the back of his hand, soft and cold.

"Witch... is this your purpose?"

"Let my curse, and the power of my darkness, nourish this Ghost Tree?"

"Heh... Hahahahahahaha..."

Feeling inexplicably drowsy, a madness gradually emerged in Yu Xing's eyes.

The power of the curse brought physical weakness, but his thoughts never dissipated. However, influenced by the Ghost Tree, that power was constantly devouring his spirit.

This is an attempt to completely use him as nourishment and merge him with the Ghost Tree.

His laughter was almost uncontrollable; though not as exhilarating as the final moment in the tomb, its eeriness and morbidity were enough to "contaminate" one—it was the element of madness.

"Wait for me..." Yu Xing finished laughing, tilted her head slightly, and murmured to the void in front of her, "When I catch you, I'll punish you properly."

Shadows flowed silently in the darkness, a tall, slender figure shrouded in the night, its scarlet eyes like jewels, exuding extreme danger.

"This is such a strange feeling, it's so stuffy..."

Zhao Yijiu heard herself thinking this, and her tone became somewhat frivolous.

"Do you see those branches growing at the boundary? They're densely packed, like a huge net."

In that instant, it seemed as if many transparent branches had appeared in Zhao Yijiu's vision. They grew wildly, climbing the wall and taking over all the space.

The branches rubbed against each other, making a loud noise, and he stood alone in the gaps between the branches, looking so small.

"I'm in the net, Yu Xing is in the net too, isn't he? Hahaha... Guess what this tree did to Yu Xing to make Yu Xing so emotionally unstable? If he weren't alright, even I wouldn't be able to see these branches."

"Shut up!" Zhao Yijiu suddenly turned gloomy and shouted in his mind. All those voices disappeared in an instant, along with the tree branches in front of him and the rumbling in his ears, all of which shattered like bubbles.

He let out uncontrollable gasps, a few drops of cold sweat trickling down his temples. In the corner, a few rats' breathing became erratic for a moment, almost waking up.

It was the consciousness of a vengeful ghost... Zhao Yijiu frowned and unconsciously looked towards the direction of the girls' dormitory, only to see solid walls.

He remained silent, standing there for a moment.

To utilize the power of shadows, one would need to employ the abilities of some vengeful spirits, making it easy to be influenced by them. However, tonight the vengeful spirits were very quiet and did not come out to disturb him.

But just now, he suddenly felt that everything around him had changed, and a sense of unease spread through his soul, as if terrifying things were approaching from all directions.

Just then, the vengeful ghost appeared and caused trouble.

Were those things he saw... real?

What does this have to do with Yu Xing? The Ghost Tree?

However, the feeling he had just experienced was gone. Zhao Yijiu's face was cold. Although he really wanted to rush to the girls' dormitory to take a look, he remembered what his mission was and believed that Yu Xing could handle it... Even if Yu Xing went crazy, Qu Xuanqing was still there.

After all, when a vengeful ghost appears, it spends half the time messing with his mind, so you can't believe everything it says.

He returned to the shadows in the silence, continuing what he had just left unfinished along the shadows. His figure was illusory and obscure, only his blood-red eyes proved that he was a physical being.

William was a third-year student living in room 407 on the fourth floor of the men's dormitory. It was late at night, and he turned on the small light in his cubicle, flipping through a book with a tired but habitual air.

For him, he only had three hours of sleep; every other minute and second was spent reading and writing exam papers. His grades were only average, and every major exam felt like he was barely teetering on the edge of death, always just a dozen points above the line. But good luck never always favored him, and eventually, perhaps the next time, he would be eliminated.

He knew very well what terrible things he would encounter if he didn't work harder.

His two roommates were still awake, reciting formulas in hushed tones. William scratched his head, having been disturbed by his roommates' recitations more than once. Tonight, he didn't know what was wrong with him; he had difficulty concentrating and felt vaguely irritable, as if the surrounding atmosphere was incompatible with him.

"The third mountain range in the north... north of the Ultraman West Strait... Blackwater Ranch..."

A geography book lay open on the table. William stared intently at the lines of text, feeling that no matter whether he memorized it or read it aloud, the words couldn't enter his brain.

Anxiety... discomfort... and drowsiness... negative emotions swirled around him. William opened his water glass, took a sip, and tried to calm himself down.

Thump, thump, thump!

Suddenly, three knocks came from the door outside, and the three people reciting their lessons inside the dormitory stopped abruptly. A cold sweat broke out on their backs. William turned his head slowly and haltingly, his eyes meeting those of his roommate in the cubicle behind him. They both saw uncertainty and fear in each other's eyes.

Is someone... knocking on the door?

William listened intently for a moment before he could make out what his roommate was saying, and then nodded in horror.

"I don't know, maybe it was some other sound we misheard," another roommate, a little bolder, said with some doubt.

"Knock knock knock!"

But then the knocking came again, startling all three of them. William swallowed hard, his face filled with fear.

Good heavens, why would someone be knocking on the door at this hour?

There are all sorts of ghostly things outside, and they're even afraid to go out to use the restroom. But the dorm has always been safe; there's never been a case of anyone disappearing while sleeping soundly. So why today...?

Yes, if ordinary students are too scared to even go to the bathroom, then who could be knocking on the door?

"Thump thump thump thump thump thump..."

Since none of the three responded, the knocking on the door became increasingly urgent, as if it would continue until someone answered. The bolder roommate stood up shakily, without letting them urge him, and walked shakily to the door, then turned back and gestured for them to follow.

A person standing by the door was rather frightened.

William tiptoed over and stood behind his daring roommate. Being so close, the knocking sounded jarring. His roommate, mustering his courage, asked, "Who is it?"

"Finally, there's a response! I thought she was asleep with the light on." A very polite voice came from outside the door.

Then came a gentle voice with a touch of nobility. "Don't be afraid, students inside. We just heard that you have some very good students in your dorm and wanted to come and ask you for some academic advice."

So, they were sure the people in their dorm weren't asleep because they saw light shining through the crack in the door? That makes sense; they forgot to turn off the lights in the common areas, and those lights could be seen by people in the hallway.

Upon hearing such a smooth and harmless voice, William and his roommates breathed a sigh of relief. However, the bolder roommate immediately became serious, his eyes filled with even greater fear.

"Let's ask any questions tomorrow, we're just about to go to sleep anyway," the bolder roommate said, frantically winking at William.

Who would risk leaving their dorm room late at night just to solve a math problem, and even ask other students for help? Don't they know that other students are also afraid to open the door?

And... I heard we have some really good students in our dorm. Who told you that?

William scratched his head. It seemed like everyone in their dorm was a mediocre student... no, they were more like average students.

He was startled.

So, people outside have no idea what the real situation is like in their dorm room. Why lie? If they're lying, they certainly aren't there to ask for help with academic problems. What, then, is their real purpose in knocking on their door?

This is terrifying! Are they going to be attacked by ghosts in their dorm? Don't open the door! Absolutely do not open the door!

"Hmm, I see." The voice outside paused, as if realizing something from their silence. "The people in this dorm aren't very good at studying."

Another voice said, "What bad luck! It looks like the door won't open..."

William and his roommate listened tremblingly as the others outside discussed luck as if no one else was there. They exchanged a glance, about to turn off the light, pretend to be deaf, and snuggle under the covers to sleep, when the voice outside suddenly became firm. "Well, that's how it is then. Listen up, everyone in the dorm, we're not ghosts, we're not bound by dorm rules."

"Open the door now, we just want to talk. If you don't, we're going to break it down!"

"Don't listen! This must be the ghost's sweet talk. I've heard from classmates who have experienced ghost attacks that ghosts can mimic the tone of a living person to deceive us in order to achieve their goals!" The roommate took a step back and almost stepped on William's foot.

"Bang!"

The response was a bang, the dormitory door trembled, and to the astonishment of the two men, a thin crack appeared.

This is incredible...

William was terrified; his heart pounded wildly. He fled in panic, leaving his daring roommate behind and standing guard at the door alone.

"Damn it, coward! Do you have any sense of loyalty?" My roommate's complaint had barely left his lips when the door was slammed shut again, the dull thud carrying far down the hallway.

The cracks in the door are real; if the door were to be smashed open, it's uncertain whether they'd be able to stay here, let alone tonight, or even from now on.

It's also possible that it won't be so complicated; they might just be gone tonight.

The bolder roommate quickly shouted, "I'll open the door! Don't bump into it! Don't bump into it!"

His trembling hands loosely pulled down the bolt, opening the door a crack. It was pitch black outside, but there was indeed a figure standing there. It seemed like two or three mice scurried across the ground, squeaking.

Zhao Mou kept a close eye on the movements of the rats that had already woken up. Finding that everything was alright for the time being, he forcefully pushed open the door, a smile on his face, "See, I told you not to be afraid. We really just want to go in and learn something."

He definitely broke down the door; relying on Wen Qinghuai, whose constitution is like a black hole, is not very realistic.

"Are you... are you guys really alive...?" William heard his roommate's voice and peeked out from his cubicle.

"We're transfer students from Class 4, and we're not very familiar with the dormitory rules. We came out hoping to ask the top student some questions, but there was no one there. It was so quiet, they were probably all asleep. So we walked along the corridor for ages and only found your dormitory with light coming through the crack in the door." Wen Qinghuai leaned out from beside Zhao Mou, her gentler voice more likely to soothe the student who was on the verge of a breakdown.

"Since you're alive, then come in." The bold roommate didn't have any other choice. He knew that if he said no, the two would still force their way in. He let go of them and put them into the dorm room, then hurriedly closed the door, looking at the crack in the door with a pained expression.

William sized up the intruders. Judging from their gait and body shape, they seemed to be normal, living people. He slowly emerged from the cubicle and, together with his timid roommate, asked, "Then why did you break down our door... Waaah..."

"Heh, because of your nagging. I was sent to this school for 'rehabilitation' because I got into a fight." Zhao Mou's expression gradually darkened as he began to intimidate the poor students. "I tried to get you to open the door nicely, but you wouldn't listen. So, I had no choice but to threaten you."

William: "..." How terrifying, how unreasonable!

But as long as they're alive, we're all brothers, which is much better than being attacked by ghosts.

"So what questions do you want to ask? I... I'll let you in beforehand, our dorm's academic foundation isn't very strong either. If we can't teach you, you can go to another dorm!" William warned them in advance, lest this seemingly gentle but violent guy with glasses punch them all later.

"Of course, I'm not an unreasonable person." Zhao Mou pushed up his glasses, remaining perfectly calm. Although he hadn't brought a single book with him, he said without batting an eye, "It wasn't originally this urgent, but there are a lot of rats outside. I've been afraid of rats since I was a child, so I'm sorry."

"Rats?" My roommate looked at me with empathy. "I'm afraid of rats too. Rats run around our dorm every night, but thankfully I haven't heard of any harming anyone."

Zhao Mou outwardly showed great disgust towards the rats, but in reality, he was already deep in thought.

He and Wen Qinghuai knew that knocking on the door would alert the mice, so after Zhao Yijiu and Yu Xing left, they tried knocking on their own dormitory door first. Sure enough, several mice came over at the sound, but seeing that they hadn't left the dormitory, the mice circled the door twice without doing anything.

Afterwards, Zhao Mou walked out of the dormitory in front of the rat. The rat stopped and seemed to be staring at him. He thought that people who opened the door to go to the toilet would not be able to avoid disturbing the hidden rat, but they did not attract the attention of the dormitory manager. So he had an idea.

Perhaps as long as we don't look for things the dormitory manager might be hiding in the building, the rats won't act aggressively.

So even when he and Wen Qinghuai were in the corridor, they pretended to discuss the purpose of finding someone. The rats, who were originally restless, quieted down a lot after hearing their conversation and just followed them.