Chapter 23: The Magical Shop (Eleven) (Bug Fix)
The student disappearances quickly caused a huge sensation. The school issued an announcement over the broadcast ordering everyone to stay in their classrooms. Even if someone needed to use the restroom, they had to be accompanied by another person. The statement was unusually serious and solemn, because it wasn't just Class F that had students missing—one or two students had vanished from other classes as well.
Moreover, all the missing students shared something in common. They were all boarding students, and their roommates all confirmed they hadn't returned to their dorms all night.
The school immediately contacted the police, then hastily organized a search team to look for clues throughout the school. Then, with a grave expression, the principal stood at the broadcast microphone and loudly recited school regulations prohibiting late-night outings and such, barely managing to maintain the suppressed calm within the campus.
Classes continued as usual, but the students seated at their desks had long since mentally wandered elsewhere. Some looked worried and anxious, while others appeared unusually excited, pulling classmates aside to gossip.
"Did you guys hear about Cao Qiangzhong, that top student from Class A? I heard that when he went to the bathroom last night, he saw a beautiful person in the mirror, and then he suddenly went crazy and ran outside. His roommate tried to pull him back but couldn't." After class, the class know-it-all stood up and spoke deliberately in a creepy tone.
He rolled his eyes while tiptoeing, then walked a few steps with his arms raised like a zombie. "It was like this. His roommate was frightened by his appearance. After trying unsuccessfully to wake him, the roommate just went back to bed. Apparently, he didn't sleep all night."
Various kinds of unofficial news spread through the students' unique channels of communication. In just one morning, several different versions of paranormal events had emerged: you could see angels on the rooftop of the dormitory building at dusk, the mirrors in the auditorium would reflect your parallel universe self at specific times, and when walking down stairs at midnight, extra steps might appear...
Zhang Zhaoqi and the others, as usual, reserved a private room for lunch. Sitting in an elegant antique-styled room, Zhao Qizhu ordered a bunch of specialty dishes without any mental pressure. The waiter smiled and retreated with the menu. Zhang Zhaoqi stared at the wooden table with an unreadable expression.
"Were those students also pulled into the other side of the wall?" Ji Xiaoyu's face had already returned to its previous sweetness. When she returned to school, she gritted her teeth and bought a system-sold特效药 (special effect medicine), which quickly made those wounds disappear. "But when we came back, we didn't encounter anyone."
The time they left last night was definitely not late. They had started moving as soon as the night grew quiet, and by the time they returned, it was just dawn. If other people really had gone missing, they should have crossed paths with them.
"That wall is just an entrance, though. There might be other entrances too, big sister." Zhao Qizhu took a bite of a bun, speaking with her mouth full. "If every paranormal world has its own entrance, this one should just be the angel's entrance. But..."
"This one does lead to that magical shop, and the various paranormal events happening within the academy are indeed related to that shop. Otherwise, how could little brother have completed his mission." As if having tasted a flavor she liked, the girl suddenly squinted her eyes in contentment, her eyebrows curving into crescent moons. "I wonder how little brother completed his mission, and how things are going now. After all..."
"He's such a delicate person. Someone as fragile as him is really prone to falling into danger..."
Zhang Zhaoqi, sitting up straight, coldly shot her a glance. The usually flat look in his eyes flickered with a cold sharpness. The girl, however, seemed completely unaffected by this attack, continuing to eat the food in her bowl with ease, smiling sweetly as if nothing had happened. "He really does need someone to protect him..."
By the end, her shiny black eyes had become bright and sparkling, as if harboring some kind of mischievous delight.
Ji Xiaoyu's hand holding the chopsticks suddenly trembled. She turned to look at Zhang Zhaoqi, who sat there in silence, then quietly set down her chopsticks. Clutching her growling stomach, Ji Xiaoyu suddenly felt like a tragedy.
She was so hungry... but for some reason, she just couldn't bring herself to pick up her chopsticks again.
"Since we've already found the shopkeeper, why hasn't the mission been fully completed? Surviving is just a prerequisite, isn't it?" Ji Xiaoyu gazed enviously at Zhao Qizhu, who was eating happily, and pitifully picked up her chopsticks, then quietly set them down again.
"If it hasn't marked as completed, that means it's not just a prerequisite." Zhang Zhaoqi's tone was flat. "There must be a condition we need to meet, like surviving under specific circumstances."
"So what should we do?" Ji Xiaoyu asked, somewhat deflated. She now had absolutely no hope of completing any side missions. Not only were the missions vague and confusing, but her teammates were mysteriously dangerous too. She should just finish the main quest and get out of here.
"First, enter that shop and find Qi An." Zhang Zhaoqi's tone carried a hint of complexity. His already upright posture straightened even further, as if suppressing some emotion. "Let's first investigate the situation with those paranormal events."
Zhao Qizhu's expression remained unchanged. Ji Xiaoyu immediately made a face. She gloomily gazed at the scenery outside the window, then paused on a boy who was moving in a daze.
The boy's movements were unsteady, his expression vacant, as if he were contemplating something important. But at that moment, he had collided with a classmate who was chatting with others, and was now being publicly berated under everyone's watch.
The boy was verbally torn apart. The scathing words were clear enough to reach their second-floor room. Yet the boy simply kept his head bowed, silently enduring it all, his chin slightly lowered, like a turtle retreating into its shell.
Ji Xiaoyu could instantly tell that the collision was mainly the fault of that arrogant student. The boy's timid, self-deprecating expression made her frown involuntarily. Ji Xiaoyu couldn't quite understand why he didn't know how to fight back.
The boy was slapped across the face by that person. The surrounding people watched coldly. The half of his face exposed by the turn of his head was captured by Ji Xiaoyu's gaze. She murmured to herself, "That's Qi An's classmate."
"Hey you, get out of the way. You're blocking Pei Ying's path." Another voice rang in her ears, a boy whose tone mixed arrogance and flattery. Ji Xiaoyu glanced at the prominent red slap mark on Fang Delian's face and frowned slightly, then listlessly turned away, putting her attention back on the plate piled high with dishes on the table.
She stole a glance at Zhang Zhaoqi and Zhao Qizhu, then finally mustered up the courage to pick up her chopsticks. With a feeling of happiness and gratitude, she vigorously dug into the food.
The warm breeze carrying the scent of grass drifted over. Qi An lay on the soft grass with his eyes closed, resting. The environment here held a strange warmth, seemingly containing some kind of magical power that dispersed much of the coldness in Qi An's bones.
The delicate boy lay on the emerald-green grass, his long lashes trembling gently in the breeze. The doll beside him stared blankly at this serene scene, then shuffled forward on tiny steps until it reached Qi An's face. It stretched out its small hand and touched those thick lashes.
So itchy, so strange...
Like some kind of strange sensation was being transmitted to its heart.
It tilted its head, then waved its palm again, lightly brushing against Qi An's lashes. Then it just stared发呆 at the boy's exquisite features.
His eyes are so pretty, his nose is so pretty, his mouth is so pretty too... everything is so pretty.
The doll froze in place as if under a binding spell, then suddenly sensing some kind of movement, it hastily pulled its hand back, scurrying back to its original position. It then looked乖巧 (obediently) at Qi An, who had opened his eyes.
What do I do, I think I woke him up.
"Do you want to hear a story?" the doll asked quietly when Qi An looked at it, weak and pitiful, not at all frightening like before.
I should tell a bedtime story, coax him to sleep.
The doll silently clenched its fists.
Qi An lowered his gaze to look at the doll, which seemed inexplicably somewhat guilty. After contemplating for a moment, he smiled lightly. "Sure."
"Once upon a time, there was a girl. She wasn't pretty, she was clumsy with words, and she seemed destined to be invisible from the moment she was born."
She wanted to earn attention for herself, so she studied desperately. After immersing herself in the endless sea of problems, the girl finally achieved her heart's desire and ranked first in the class. When the teacher stood at the podium praising her, the girl felt as if she'd eaten honey.
She thought, finally, I can get my classmates' attention.
But hard work didn't bring回报 (reward). Although the girl achieved first place, the other students only called her a bookworm.
Because the previous first place holder was the class beauty. She was beautiful, had good social connections. When she heard that the girl had taken first place, the class beauty cried sadly.
Everyone was busy comforting the class beauty who had failed for the first time. The girl who should have received attention was ignored once again. The ugly girl looked at the class beauty who was the center of everyone's attention and felt heartbroken too.
She hated it. She hated that she didn't have a beautiful appearance. She was self-loathing, ashamed that she couldn't be as bright and confident as the class beauty.
She silently watched all of this, wanting to curl up into herself once more. She realized she seemed destined to never gain others' attention. So, the sad girl returned to her small, dim home, took out the doll she had owned since childhood, and tearfully poured out all her grievances.
She sealed herself away once more, like a wounded little beast.
But, unexpectedly, the girl gained others' attention after all.
It was just that kind of attention that made her want to go mad...