"No, that's not right... I didn't have a Student ID when I first enrolled, either, did I? Didn't they follow me all the same?"
"So the Student ID isn't the root cause. Then what is...?"
Lin Yi kept his gaze anchored within the streetlamp's range as he walked, thinking to himself and, in the process, ignoring the calls of the humanoid sculptures behind him.
Finally, he brought Li Huiyuan into the area covered by the streetlamp's light.
He reached out and grabbed the Streetlamp Pole. Only then did his body, which had been drawn taut as a bow, slowly relax a little.
Leaning against the Streetlamp Pole, he looked toward the humanoid sculptures chasing after him, but all he could see was white fog billowing in overlapping layers like steam. Just as on May 6, there wasn't a single figure in sight.
He could only vaguely make out some humanoid outlines lurking furtively in the fog, prowling and wandering, poised to move yet going no farther.
It was a very awkward state, the complete opposite of Fang Tangjing's "I'm in, now I'm out again-hey, come hit me!" attitude. It was more like, "I want to come in, but I don't dare-hey, could you come give me a hand? Boo-hoo."
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"They're repelled by the light, but also drawn to it, just like... moths to a flame?!"
The instant that thought struck him, an image appeared in Lin Yi's mind as if through a psychic vision, or like a cultivator attaining enlightenment: countless moths beating their wings as they circled a paper lantern.
The paper lantern grew larger and larger, then suddenly shattered, breaking the flame inside it into countless sparks as well.
Those sparks whirled through the air before finally going out, turning into scattered ashes