In the dim corridor, lights flickered on and off in sequence.
A faulty lightbulb buzzed erratically, on the verge of extinguishing.
The silent corridor was filled only with the faint sound of two pairs of shoes scraping against the floor.
Looking through the small glass panes in the doors, students in every brightly lit classroom bent their heads in study, their faces obscured by towering stacks of books.
This corridor seemed isolated from the outside world, the path ahead appearing to twist and rotate.
Michelle shivered, rubbing her eyes vigorously.
"Michelle, what's wrong?" Gao Lele asked softly, concerned.
"Nothing, I guess I didn't sleep well last night."
She'd been so excited about seeing Duan Chen tomorrow that she'd tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She couldn't bring herself to say that out loud.
Drip...
Drip...
The sound of dripping water came from the restroom.
For some reason, her bad premonition grew stronger, and a sense of unease began to creep in.
The two walked to the restroom together.
Michelle waited by the entrance while Gao Lele went in alone. After a long wait, about five minutes, Gao Lele still hadn't come out.
"Gao Lele?"
"Are you done yet?"
Michelle's voice echoed in the restroom. Strangely, there was no reply.
Michelle uttered a sound of surprise and called out again, peering inside, "Gao Lele? Are you doing number one or two? If it's number two, I'm leaving first."
Still, no answer.
Suddenly, the rusty stall door let out a piercing shriek.
Screeeech—!
It sounded like someone was pushing open a stall door, and faint sounds of movement could be heard.
Michelle was getting a little annoyed. Why wasn't Gao Lele answering her? She pouted, her tone losing its patience, "I'm leaving! You can go back by yourself later."
Tap, tap...
Footsteps approached from inside the restroom. Michelle focused, and saw Gao Lele swaying as she emerged. Her head was bowed, her body covered in water stains, and droplets rolled down her face.
"Gao Lele, how did you get so wet? How are you going to attend class like this?"
Michelle sighed, pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket, and reached to grab her arm.
Suddenly, a bizarre thought struck Michelle –
She hadn't heard the sound of running water for washing her face just now.
So where did all this water on her come from?
The moment she touched Gao Lele's arm, Michelle recoiled as if shocked, her hand snapping back. Her touch was icy cold and stiff, like a corpse.
Gao Lele swayed slightly and slowly raised her head. Beneath her wet hair, her eyes and mouth widened, devoid of any life... and she exuded a rotten seafood smell.
"Ahhh!!!" Michelle screamed in terror, her legs weakening, and she collapsed to the floor.
Gao Lele's arm suddenly transformed into octopus-like tentacles, reaching for her. They were as thick as an adult's thigh.
At that very moment, a dark figure rapidly approached from the corridor behind Michelle.
Bang!!
The tentacles were blocked?!
Michelle shakily opened her eyes, looking at the tall, handsome figure standing protectively in front of her. Impeccably dressed in a suit, with long legs, he blocked the terrifying assault with just one arm.
Duan Chen turned his head, flashed her a relaxed smile, as if the monster before them was no threat at all.
"Phew, made it in time. Can you stand up yet?"
Michelle's heart pounded, as if a mischievous little deer was leaping inside her chest.
After returning from the Baifu Ye Xuan KTV that day, she had vowed not to be so timid anymore. If she wanted to be someone who could stand beside Duan Chen, she couldn't be looked down upon by him any longer. Michelle gritted her teeth and got up.
"Good girl, run now, and tell your classmates to run with you." Duan Chen kicked away the constantly attacking tentacles and began to counterattack.
Gao Lele's heart had already been taken. Stains of blood slowly seeped through her school uniform.
She was now a puppet, and behind her, a sea monster resembling an octopus slowly materialized, its dozens of tentacles flailing wildly, as if unwilling to let anyone escape.
Michelle covered her mouth in horror, never imagining that a classmate who had walked with her to the restroom moments ago would die so tragically before her eyes.
What terrified her even more, however, was a figure slowly emerging from a restroom stall.
It was... Gao Lele, completely unharmed?!
"Tch, changed fast enough." Duan Chen swiftly fired at the "Gao Lele."
However, the "Gao Lele" was incredibly agile, dodging Duan Chen's bullet with ease, like a fish darting through water.
"Gao Lele? How is that possible..."
Michelle stared at the two Gao Leles in utter shock, forgetting to flee.
Hearing the commotion, classmates poured out of their classrooms. Students from several classes crowded the doorway, and the corridor instantly became lively.
They saw a man in a suit battling a tentacle monster, a mix of fear and curiosity on their faces.
Some students fled, some screamed, and a few brave, daring ones pulled out their phones to take pictures.
The boy with the black earring's pupils contracted when he saw Michelle slumped at the restroom entrance. He lunged forward.
"Qin Ze! Are you trying to die!" His two friends held him back tightly.
"Don't hold me!" Qin Ze broke free from his friends' grasp.
At this moment, Michelle's deskmate, looking at the man in the suit from afar, found him somewhat familiar.
"Oh my goodness! Isn't this the handsome guy Xue'er drew!" she exclaimed in realization, and the other students erupted in teasing.
Qin Ze stopped in his tracks, a flicker of disappointment in his eyes.
Just then, a middle-aged male teacher wearing glasses emerged from the adjacent classroom. He looked at the unfolding scene and a strange smile spread across his face.
"This 'Octopus' guy is too impatient. But then again, it's finally here in the human world for a feast. It's going to be fun to cause a ruckus."
"For the resurrection of the Saintess, offer more hearts."
"Void Realm, open—"
He snapped his fingers with a smile.
A distorted force field instantly extended from one end of the corridor to the other.
The fan blades overhead froze, the red string from the air vent stopped fluttering, and the clock's hands spun wildly with a click.
The entire corridor seemed to be sealed off into another dimension.
It was filled with oppressive energy, a sticky, damp atmosphere, and the chilling sound of fingernails scraping against glass.
A group of humanoid, ghost-faced monsters, entirely wrapped in white cloth, poked their heads out from various corners of the classrooms.
Five, ten, twenty...
They swarmed into the classrooms, pursuing and slaughtering every human they saw.
A grand, bloody carnival had begun.
Duan Chen's heart sank, his expression grim.
Such powerful spatial energy, hundreds of innocent students, numerous enemies, no known method of breaking it, and he was alone – it was a disadvantageous situation.
If he could quickly eliminate the creator of the spatial anomaly, perhaps the barrier could be broken.
Just then, three female classmates, in a panic, ran towards the male teacher, urgently calling out, "Teacher Liu, there are ghost-faced monsters over there!"
Michelle gasped, "Brother Duan Chen, it's him! It's Teacher Liu who disappeared for two days before! He has a scar on his chin!"
Sea Monster Priest!!
Duan Chen's pupils contracted. He yelled towards the teacher, "Don't go near that teacher!! Don't go near him!"