That wasn't...

Class passed quickly. This time, Hu Zihao did not wait until school was over. As soon as the first lesson ended, he turned toward Shi Yu, but he remembered that Shi Yu was afraid of his current state, so he kept his distance and called to him from afar.

Hu Zihao truly felt helpless now. He had gone from an uninvolved person trying to find his missing friend to the center of a bizarre incident after speaking with Shi Yu. When he returned to the dorm at noon, he told the others some of his guesses about Liu Zunfu's disappearance. Rather than repeat what Shi Yu had told him, he put it another way:

"Do you think Liu Zunfu might already be... Could there be something unclean in our school?"

But the response he got was, "You're worrying too much. How could that happen? Things like that don't exist."

Of course. Who would believe something so strange?

Hu Zihao felt utterly alone. Under these circumstances, even their homeroom teacher had suddenly taken leave. What homeroom teacher would learn that a student had disappeared in the morning and take leave that very noon?!

Everything about this incident was strange. Now the "baffling" Shi Yu had instead become the only person he could confide in.

The students around them paid little attention to Hu Zihao and Shi Yu. They were all discussing their homeroom teacher's sudden leave.

One look at Hu Zihao's troubled expression told Shi Yu how worried he was, but honestly, there was nothing he could do either. All he could do was give him a warning and try his best to make Hu Zihao take it seriously.

Judging by Hu Zihao's behavior now, his "ability" had worked. Hu Zihao believed what he had said. That also meant he had already done everything he could. All he could do next was let things take their course.

But Hu Zihao was clearly in a bad state, and he could not simply ignore him. Just as Shi Yu was about to stand up and talk to Hu Zihao, a hand suddenly pressed down on his shoulder.

Shi Yu turned his head and saw whose hand it was.

Han He again.

Han He had done more strange things today than all the times Shi Yu had seen him speak of his own accord over the past month put together. Shi Yu looked at Han He in confusion.

Han He stood up, looked at Shi Yu, and said:

"I'll talk to him."

"...What?"

Before Shi Yu could finish puzzling over this, Han He had already left his seat and walked toward Hu Zihao. When he reached him, Han He pointed toward the door, signaling for him to talk outside.

Hu Zihao was even more shocked by Han He's behavior than Shi Yu was, because as far as he remembered, he had never exchanged a single word with this cold-faced guy.

But Han He's presence was as overbearing as ever. Hu Zihao glanced at Shi Yu, who shook his head slightly to indicate that he did not know what was going on either.

There was nothing for it. Hu Zihao was still a little afraid of Han He. Although they were about the same height, Han He had an intimidating presence. In the end, Hu Zihao chose to go outside with him. In any case, he had nothing else to do and no other options now.

Han He and Hu Zihao walked to an open stretch of corridor near the teachers' office. Seeing the students scattered around in twos and threes, Hu Zihao relaxed a little and spoke first.

"Han... He, what's up? Did you need something?"

Han He remained expressionless. His eyes were like those of some wild animal, an eagle or a wolf or something. Whatever it was, his stare frightened Hu Zihao a little.

What's with these two deskmates...? Han He is even stranger than Shi Yu.

Just as Hu Zihao was about to laugh it off and make his escape, Han He finally spoke.

"Shi Yu was right. You've picked up the scent of an 'Evil Sin.'"

Another strange statement, but this was exactly what Hu Zihao wanted to hear now. He hurried to ask his questions.

"What Evil Sin? What's that? Does Liu Zunfu's disappearance have something to do with it? Do you know what happened to him?"

Hu Zihao was not stupid. He could clearly tell that Han He knew something. And unlike Shi Yu's guesses and vague remarks, Han He definitely knew something for certain.

Han He did not remain silent. He answered Hu Zihao's questions directly.

"Liu Zunfu is already dead. I made a round at noon, and every trace of his presence had disappeared. You can think of an Evil Sin as a ghost. It's already set its sights on you."

Han He's words were brief, but clear.

Liu Zunfu had already died at the hands of that ghost called an "Evil Sin," and he was next.

"Wh... Wait, how do you know all this? If everything you're saying is true, is there anything you can do?"

Hu Zihao was truly on the verge of breaking down. How he wished Han He would smile, and then Shi Yu would drag Liu Zunfu out, make a face at him, and say,

"Haha, this was actually a prank we've been planning for ages! Pretty exciting, huh!"

But that was impossible. Even their homeroom teacher, who knew about the situation, had taken leave and disappeared. Hu Zihao did not know what to do. He could not ignore these strange occurrences. He could only grasp at every possible lifeline around him.

Han He looked at the panicking Hu Zihao, thought for a moment, and took a small pendant out of his pocket.

It was a handmade Talisman woven from feathers and twigs.

"I've seen similar things before, so I know something about them. But what you've encountered this time may be more dangerous."

Han He handed the Talisman to Hu Zihao.

"Keep this with you for now. It might protect you. I'll keep a closer eye on things around you over the next few days."

Looking at the little Talisman before him, Hu Zihao thanked him, accepted it with both hands, and carefully put it in his pocket.

"Can this... protect me?"

Hu Zihao's voice trembled slightly. He looked at Han He, hoping for some reassurance.

"Maybe. In any case, Shi Yu was right too. You'd better not be alone anywhere."

With that, Han He looked around, glanced at Hu Zihao, and left without another word.

There was nothing Hu Zihao could do about that. Class was about to start, so he hurried back into the classroom too. The lively atmosphere inside dispelled a little of his fear.

The afternoon passed like that. Neither Shi Yu nor Han He spoke to him again.

But Shi Yu and Han He did not stop communicating.

During the last lesson, Shi Yu finally could not hold back any longer. Han He was like a wooden statue, either staring blankly or spacing out, never saying an unnecessary word. Shi Yu was desperately curious about what Han He had said to Hu Zihao, and his question, "What did you sense?" weighed on his mind too.

Listening to the scratch of his deskmate's pen beside him, Han He knew he was getting restless.

Sure enough, a note soon came over. Han He took the freshly offered note so smoothly and swiftly that it seemed as though they had arranged it beforehand.

Huh? This guy?

Shi Yu froze, not expecting him to react so quickly, but he patiently waited for Han He's reply.

The note soon came back.

"What do you think about what's happened to Liu Zunfu and Hu Zihao?"

The handwriting was elegant and free-flowing, though the speed at which it had been written made it a little too free-flowing.

Beneath it was handwriting so orderly it seemed rather stiff:

"Just as you said, something terrifying has set its sights on both of them. We call it an 'Evil Sin.' First Liu Zunfu, then Hu Zihao. Liu Zunfu's scent has disappeared from the school. He's already dead. Hu Zihao will very likely die today."

Shi Yu stared at Han He's writing, lost in thought.

Clearly, Han He knows more about that inexplicable terror than I do. Scent...? What does that mean? He has an ability different from mine...

But thinking about himself, a "charlatan" who made judgments based on feelings, "scent" seemed a little more reliable.

Hu Zihao... will be in danger today too.

Shi Yu wrote on the note:

"Is there anything you can do?"

Han He's reply came quickly.

"I gave him a Talisman. I'll keep an eye on him today. You don't need to keep so much distance from Hu Zihao either. This probably isn't a contagious curse. Otherwise, after Liu Zunfu, it should have been his deskmate, not his roommate."

Shi Yu had even more questions about Han He now. Just what could this taciturn deskmate of his do? Shi Yu had thought he was already a freak himself, but he had never expected the Han He sitting beside him to be hiding even more.

Shi Yu shook his head. His stance was clear: he would do what he ought to, and leave the rest to fate. He did not know what Han He was capable of, but this was as far as his own abilities went.

Just as Shi Yu crumpled up the note to throw it away, a new note was passed onto his desk.

"Haven't you received a legacy?"

There it was again, another question out of nowhere.

Frowning at the strange question, Shi Yu thought for a moment, then wrote back.

"I don't understand what you mean. What's a legacy?"

The note returned to Han He's hands, and this time he was the confused one.

Han He tilted his head, then turned to look at Shi Yu, seemingly trying to tell whether he was lying.

But Shi Yu was confused too. Dude, you pass me some question out of nowhere, and now you're the one who's confused?

After looking at him for a short while, Han He turned back, still puzzled. Shi Yu stopped looking at him too.

The two of them sat there in confusion until class ended.

During evening study, there was still no news of Liu Zunfu.

Autumn had arrived, and the days in the northeast were growing ever shorter. The sun lost its intensity early and slowly sank into the sea of mountains.

The sky was dark and deep, with only a few lights on the sports field. Evening study was nearly over, and the dormitory lights were not on yet. Everyone hoped class would end soon so they could hurry back to their rooms and rest.

Except Hu Zihao.

He looked at the darkness outside and the dormitory building, growing more and more frightened.

Liu Zunfu had disappeared in the dormitory building.

If the teaching building were not about to empty out, Hu Zihao would not even have wanted to return to the dorm.

With ten minutes left before class ended, the classroom door suddenly opened.

It was Director Yang.

Yang Desheng swept his gaze around the classroom, and the restless students all fell silent.

Yang Desheng frowned at the study points written on the blackboard before him but said nothing.

He turned to the students, who were silent as cicadas in winter. Satisfied that they knew how to behave, Yang Desheng walked slowly up to the lectern and began speaking unhurriedly:

"Your homeroom teacher had an urgent matter back home today, so he couldn't come to teach. He may not return to school for some time."

Several people immediately began whispering, but under Yang Desheng's gaze, no one dared speak for long. Only then did he continue:

"In addition, a very serious incident of misconduct has occurred in our class! Last night, Liu Zunfu avoided the surveillance cameras and secretly left school! We have now contacted the police and his parents. Let this be a reminder to all of you: keep your behavior in check, and don't let anything like this happen again!"

After speaking, Yang Desheng surveyed the classroom once more, then left.

Now the classroom chatter could no longer be contained. Voices rose all around.

The other roommates from Room 225 also looked toward Hu Zihao.

"See? We told you you were making a fuss over nothing."

But Hu Zihao remembered how, at the end of the noon break, Yang Desheng had visited their room and called his roommates out one by one. When his turn came, Yang Desheng merely stared at him for a while, then waved him away and said:

"Class is about to start. Never mind you."

After that, his roommates, who had still harbored some doubts about Liu Zunfu's disappearance, stopped asking about him. They dismissed everything Hu Zihao said as nonsense born of excessive worry.

At that moment, Hu Zihao instinctively sought out the people he could trust most now-Shi Yu and Han He.

He froze as soon as he turned around.

Shi Yu looked as though he had seen a ghost. His expression was awful, just as it had been when Hu Zihao approached him that morning.

Han He, by contrast, was different. Even from some distance away, Hu Zihao could sense how taut his body was. A rare emotion showed in his usually indifferent eyes-the look of someone facing a formidable enemy.

Shi Yu could not stop trembling. He had felt that terror far too directly.

Only after a while did he slowly manage to say:

"Yang Desheng...? That wasn't Yang Desheng..."

He shifted his eyes.

"There's something, something terrifying, inside that skin!"

And outside the window, night had fallen.