During class, Xiao Xiao was a little distracted. Thinking back, he found it almost unbelievable that he'd spent the entire afternoon chatting with Ling Yao yesterday. If he hadn't been so hungry and it hadn't gotten so late, he might actually have been reluctant to come back.
Last night, perhaps because a yao had been there beside him, the sunset over Fragrant Hills—a sight he'd seen countless times before—had been breathtakingly beautiful.
The sky was blanketed in red clouds, and Fragrant Hills was layered with red maples. The colors above and below matched, and the boundary between heaven and earth blurred. The world's majestic beauty felt even more mysterious and illusory with a real yao at his side.
That hazy feeling had left him even more enchanted, and in his dreamy daze, he'd nearly forgotten the way home.
University life was always relaxed and pleasant. The daylight outside the window was lovely. Xiao Xiao sat by the window, and even on the fifth floor, he could smell the faint, fresh scent of grass and trees carried on the breeze—clean, with a slight bitterness and a lingering sweetness.
Huh? Xiao Xiao immediately straightened his somewhat slouched, listless posture. His eyes widened as he stared at the figure running along the stone path below. He watched it run onto a wooden bridge and disappear among the trees.
Ear Mouse?!
Xiao Xiao slowly relaxed his tense body. He hadn't seen it in quite some time, and he'd thought the little yao had already left the school.
He hadn't expected to see it again.
What a surprise.
But other than that, it didn't seem like anything special.
These days, seeing a yao no longer made him react with the same astonishment as he had at first.
Maybe before long, he'd be able to see a yao suddenly appear without showing any surprise, keeping his composure as if nothing had happened.
"Ah!" A sudden scream rang out like a blade, slicing through everyone's eardrums and stabbing straight into their brains. Everyone jolted.
After a moment of stunned silence, the quiet classroom immediately erupted into commotion.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"Holy shit, you scared me to death!"
"What's going on?"
"Zhenzhen, your face!" The shrill, piercing female voice continued, full of sheer horror, as if something unbearable had happened.
"What's wrong with my face?" The girl addressed as Zhenzhen didn't understand why her friend was so frightened, but her friend's extreme reaction scared her too. She froze, bewildered and at a loss, with one thought circling in her mind: Did my mask fall off?
Still dazed, she instinctively reached up to touch her face.
The mask was still on.
Zhenzhen breathed a sigh of relief. Her face really wasn't looking good right now. She couldn't let anyone see it.
But since her mask was still on, Zhenzhen looked at her friend in confusion. What was she screaming about?
As she wondered, "It's so itchy. Why is it suddenly so itchy?"
The sudden itch on her face made the fear that had been lurking in her heart at the sight of her friend's horrified expression burst forth. It quickly spiraled out of control, growing and spreading until her hands were trembling violently.
She tore off her mask.
"What is this?!" Zhenzhen finally touched her face directly, but it didn't feel smooth and soft as it should have. Instead, her fingers brushed against patches of bumps.
At that moment, she began to understand, dimly, why her friend had screamed. She couldn't believe it. No, this couldn't be real.
Her voice was weak and panicked, trembling uncontrollably.
She refused to give up. Though her hands shook badly, she still forced them to rub frantically over her face. But there were bumps everywhere, all over!
"Why are there so many? What's happening?" Zhenzhen groped desperately at her face, and the feel of it beneath her hands filled her with despair.
Her face was getting itchier and itchier. "It's so itchy, so itchy..." Her tearful voice was unmistakably hysterical and frantic.
She couldn't control the force of her hands. No, how could her face have turned into this?
"Zhenzhen, stop scratching... Ugh!"
Lin Zhenzhen was a delicate young woman, with the gentle, mild-mannered air characteristic of someone from Jiangnan.
A few days ago, several tiny bumps had suddenly appeared on Lin Zhenzhen's fair face. They weren't very noticeable, and she hadn't paid them much attention. After all, girls sometimes got blemishes from eating too much spicy food, not getting enough sleep, or any number of other reasons. She'd had similar experiences a few times before. It was nothing serious, and the bumps usually went away after a few days.
This time, however, was different.
The bumps hadn't faded. Instead, more and more had appeared, and they'd grown larger. Unlike ordinary red bumps, they were purple, and their deep color made Lin Zhenzhen's face look frightening.
Lin Zhenzhen had started to panic, afraid something was wrong with her face, and had immediately gone to the hospital to see a doctor. After a whole round of examinations, the doctor concluded that she'd probably been bitten by some kind of insect. He prescribed a pile of ointments and told her to apply them three times a day.
With medicine to use, Lin Zhenzhen had felt reassured.
And whether it was wishful thinking or the medicine working quickly, her face really did seem to be improving. Only a few small bumps remained.
So, after taking a few days off, she'd come to class wearing a mask.
Who could have guessed...
"Mirror, I need a mirror!" Lin Zhenzhen's voice was taut as a string about to snap, dry and hoarse. She felt unmoored, as though the ground had vanished beneath her. One negative emotion after another rushed in, devouring her.
She struggled to keep them at bay, forcing herself to hold on.
A mirror. She needed a mirror!
At that point, class could no longer continue. Everyone in the room crowded around. The girls screamed, while the boys looked away, unable to bear the sight.
Even the teacher stepped down from the lectern.
Lin Zhenzhen took the mirror someone handed her.
The next moment, it slipped from her hands and hit the floor with a clatter, shattering into pieces.
Lin Zhenzhen covered her face with both hands and bowed her head, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
Even though she'd only seen herself for an instant, it had been enough.
Horrifying!
Her face was covered in purple bumps, and because she'd been scratching at them, yellow pus was oozing out.
It couldn't have been more disgusting!
A choked sob escaped her, and Lin Zhenzhen finally broke down, wailing.
Her face! Her face!
What could she do? What was she supposed to do?!
She was terrified and utterly helpless!
"All right, everyone, move along. Don't crowd around. You two, take her to the campus clinic right away." The teacher was more composed than the others. Even though he'd been badly startled too, he quickly recovered and promptly picked two students to take Lin Zhenzhen to the clinic.
Lin Zhenzhen kept both hands pressed tightly over her face as they led her out.
The other students were still visibly shaken, and some looked disgusted.
For a while, the classroom fell silent.
A few minutes later, quiet murmurs gradually began to rise.
"Oh my god, what happened?"
"That's terrifying!"
"Will her face get better?"
"That's even worse than being disfigured!"
Before you continue