Honeybee

Over the past few days, rumors of haunting in the Small Forest had spread like wildfire. Several more victims had appeared one after another, and whether due to the blazing sun or some other reason, large swathes of the trees' leaves had begun to yellow and wither.

This only made everyone more anxious.

At first, no one really believed in ghosts and monsters. Some people with a taste for the bizarre had even gone to investigate out of curiosity, treating it as entertainment.

But the situation only grew more serious.

"Big news! Big news!" Zhuge Yun burst into the dorm room like a gust of wind, the door behind him slamming shut with a loud BANG.

Xiao Xiao and the others all jumped.

"Fuck, you scared the hell out of me! Zhuge Yun, what the hell are you doing?" Zhang Bo cursed as soon as he opened his mouth. He had been playing a game, completely focused, and the sudden scare had nearly given him a heart attack.

"Ah, my game!" Zhao Luzheng immediately wailed.

Xiao Xiao looked at his dead character and pressed a hand to his throbbing temple. He had been so close to succeeding!

"Hehe." Facing three waves of murderous intent, Zhuge Yun went stiff all over and wore a foolish grin.

"No, listen to me. Something huge happened in the Small Forest!"

The moment Zhuge Yun brought it up, he immediately perked up and began rattling off the gossip.

Although there had been rumors of hauntings in the Small Forest these past few days, the students who encountered the ghost had merely been frightened. Though they ended up in the hospital, none had suffered anything serious. As a result, curious ghost hunters and those who didn't take it seriously had kept the Small Forest bustling with visitors.

But this morning, things changed.

"Look, it's going viral on the campus forum now." Zhuge Yun held up his phone in front of them.

The huge headline was startlingly eye-catching.

"Female Corpse" Found in Small Forest!

Below it were several high-resolution photos.

"Fuck!"

At the sight of the enlarged close-up of the face in the photo—bruised purple and blue, with bulging eyes—the three grown men all sucked in a sharp breath.

Even the bloodshot veins winding through the whites of her eyes were visible in perfect detail. Her dilated pupils were hollow and dazed, twisted with terror and fear. The image was indescribably eerie and sinister, horrifying to the extreme.

"Damn, aren't these photos way too high-res?" Zhao Luzheng turned his eyes away, unable to bear looking at them directly.

"Is she still alive?" Zhang Bo's gaze shifted uneasily. She looked far too miserable.

"I heard she still has a breath left. The guy who found her first thought the girl had died with her eyes open. His scream was something else!" Zhuge Yun smacked his lips, then rolled his eyes in disdain, clearly frustrated. "Fourth Brother is one thing, but Eldest Brother, you're such a big guy for nothing. You're this timid? Look at Third Brother—now that's a real hero!"

At that, everyone turned to look and realized that Xiao Xiao, who had been silent the entire time, was carefully examining each photo with the attitude of an academic researcher. A surge of admiration rose within them.

They had thought Third Brother had been frightened speechless.

After all, they had seen plenty of bloody, terrifying scenes in movies and TV dramas, but this was different. How could something on a screen compare to something that had actually happened right beside them?

The person who had nearly died was their classmate!

"Not bad, Third Brother. Never would've guessed."

"You're usually so quiet, but you're actually this fierce."

"Either you explode in silence, or you turn perverted in silence."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Xiao Xiao rolled his eyes. He was only paying attention because this might have been the work of a monster, and he wanted to see if the photos offered any clues. Otherwise, who enjoyed looking at horror-movie-like photos?

But as expected, he found nothing from the photos alone. It seemed he would still have to find time to visit the Small Forest himself.

Normally, this had nothing to do with him, and the police officers would handle it. He had always known his limits and would not blindly involve himself in trouble. But he had suddenly gained the Yin Yang Eye, and this matter was so strange that he simply could not put his mind at ease.

Forget it. He would do what he could. Perhaps he might be able to help a little.

The moon hung high overhead. The already quiet Small Forest had become even more deserted after the recent incidents, and its tangled, interwoven branches gave off an eerie, sinister air.

"Pant... pant..." Wu Ya was slightly out of breath. When she looked up and saw that she had reached the Small Forest, her heart skipped a beat.

She had been chasing the Little Guy. After searching for so many days, and with so many incidents occurring in the Small Forest, she had nearly given up on looking for the Little Guy there. But unexpectedly, she spotted it again on the road. She had not even had time to think, much less tell her companions, before instinctively chasing after it.

Yet after pursuing it to the end, she had once again arrived at this Small Forest.

Whether it was merely psychological or truly so, the Small Forest seemed especially gloomy and terrifying tonight. Something appeared to be watching her from the dark depths.

Wu Ya shuddered all over and could not help taking a step back.

She looked around, but the silver figure had vanished again.

For a moment, her sense of regret even overwhelmed her fear.

"Xiao Ya!"

"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly run so fast?"

"Isn't this the Small Forest? How did we end up here?"

"No way, you still haven't given up?"

The companions who caught up with her chimed in one after another, as if breaking some kind of spell, and Wu Ya instantly felt somewhat reassured.

"Hey, don't you think it's really cold here?"

"Let's leave quickly. This place gives me the creeps."

"Yeah, let's go, let's go."

Just as they were about to leave, Wu Ya took one last look back at the Small Forest and suddenly froze.

"What's that?"

"What's wrong?"

"What? What is it?"

"Eyes... red eyes," Wu Ya murmured. Little Guy had red eyes too. As if bewitched, she took one step after another, gradually quickening her pace until she finally broke into a run. Before her companions could react, her back had already vanished behind the crisscrossing branches.

"Xiao Ya!"

By then, Wu Ya could no longer hear her companions calling her. The moment she stepped into the Small Forest, it was as though she had entered an independent little world, cut off from everything outside.

Quiet. Utterly quiet. Even deathly still.

Yet Wu Ya felt nothing of it. She only followed those red eyes.

It was right ahead.

Ah, she'd caught up!

The towering trees had gnarled, twisted branches. Their once-lush green leaves had almost entirely fallen away, and the few remaining leaves were dry and yellow, as if they would crumble at a touch.

That made the creature standing on a branch especially conspicuous.

Was this... a bee?

It looked very similar, but staring at one dozens of times larger than an ordinary bee, Wu Ya could not help but wonder: Just how much growth hormone had it taken to grow this huge?

Wu Ya stood rooted to the spot.

It wasn't Little Guy.

The hazy red eyes abruptly appeared right before her. At such close range, she could clearly see the coldness and malice overflowing from them.

A rotten stench rushed into her nose.

"Ah—ah—" Wu Ya screamed. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the ground as overwhelming terror instantly seized her mind.