As Jiang watched Guan Zifei leave, her peripheral vision caught a pair of eyes staring back at her from the crowd.
Her gaze darted swiftly and pinpointed a figure hidden among the students—
A male wearing a school uniform, but clearly more mature-looking than a teenager.
One hand casually in his pocket, he stood lazily. When their eyes met, instead of discomfort, he gave a slow, intriguing smile.
A certain chord in Jiang’s mind vibrated. Her legs moved before her mind could react.
The man took two steps back, then vanished into the crowd.
News of Zhou Qing’s death spread like wildfire.
Back in class, Jiang’s ears filled with whispers about Zhou Qing.
“It… seems like suicide…”
“The building…”
“What’s going on… do we still have exams?”
A calm, gentle male voice mixed among the gossip: “It’s not your fault, Zhang Wen… Are you okay?”
Jiang looked up to see the supposedly handsome boy, Xu Xingyao, leaning on Zhang Wen’s desk, tilting his head and speaking softly.
Zhang Wen’s face was pale as paper, head bowed tight, silent.
The scene was bizarrely eerie. Wu Chenyu struggled, gazing at the two boys with pain and confusion written on her face. Finally, her eyes shifted past the crowd and fixed on Jiang.
Xu Xingyao comforted Zhang Wen a while before leaving.
After he left, a girl behind Zhang Wen viciously kicked her desk. “How shameless! Pretending to be innocent!”
“Your best friend’s dead, and you’re here cozying up with Xu Xingyao!”
The girl leaned over, whispering loud enough for the whole class to hear, “Zhou Qing seemed to like Xu Xingyao. Don’t tell me you didn’t know! Tsk, Zhou Qing’s suicide—can you escape that connection?”
“Escape…” Jiang heard Zhang Wen speak for the first time.
“No escape, no hiding… no one can escape!”
Zhang Wen suddenly broke down, screaming wildly, eyes darting around desperately, her pleading gaze fixed on Wu Chenyu’s face. “Wu—”
The atmosphere seemed to chill instantly.
Not an illusion! Except for Wu Chenyu, every other student lost expression, staring blankly at Zhang Wen like puppets on strings.
Lin Lingling tightened her jaw. She took slow, quiet steps. Since no one noticed her, she quietly approached Wu Chenyu, taking her place in locking eyes with Zhang Wen.
Despite the chilling stares, Zhang Wen’s lips quivered violently.
At the same time, Wu Chenyu’s body trembled uncontrollably, eyes panicked, scanning the eerie classmates, seemingly afraid of something approaching.
The atmosphere in Class 8 dropped to freezing point, tension unbearable.
A slow, dragging voice broke the silence: “The teacher’s coming soon.”
“…” Doesn’t work? Aren’t students supposed to fear teachers?
“Class is about to start, everyone,” Jiang added.
Zhang Wen stiffly turned her neck to look at Jiang’s expressionless, inhuman face.
She stared at this strange newcomer, her chaotic mind seemingly regaining some clarity—or perhaps falling into numbness.
Finally, she looked back at Wu Chenyu behind Lin Lingling and barely whispered through clenched teeth,
“Don’t… trust.”
Having said this, she seemed drained of all strength, closing her eyes heavily and collapsing back into her seat.
Sun Hong and his classmates, dull and introverted as ever, regained composure. Some seemed to awaken from a daze and asked, “Next exam… what is it?”
“Math.”
“Really? I haven’t studied math at all…”
“Even if you studied, you wouldn’t get it. Why bother?”
Energy returned to Class 8, but the feeling was like a killer briefly lifting his mask, revealing a murderous face before quickly hiding it again.
That lingering unease hovered like a shadow that wouldn’t disperse.
Jiang pondered Zhang Wen’s last words—
Don’t trust.
“Don’t trust…” Guan Zifei fingered his golden hair and pulled out the rules Sister Yuan had given him for impersonating Zhang Wen.
“I know you’re panicked now. Remember, don’t let anyone discover you’re not Zhang Wen…” He whispered softly, tone rising with doubt, “Is this the corresponding rule…?”
At lunch in the cafeteria, Jiang finished her plate, wiped her mouth, and asked, “Is this even considered a rule?”
The torn note found in Zhang Wen’s dorm resembled the rules Jiang had seen before but was expressed differently.
“It is,” Guan Zifei said. “Rules don’t have fixed forms. They’re not just for us professionals. Any text that helps ordinary people avoid danger carries order and power.”
Lin Lingling said, “Wu Chenyu and the other students still aware of themselves always spoke evasively. Probably connected to today’s situation.”
They may have witnessed this kind of eerie occurrence… which caused the casualties.
“Cough, cough,” Guan Zifei tapped the table. “Anyway, our first priority is to get these kids out… Keep a close eye on Zhang Wen, and if possible, avoid anyone trying to talk to her. Safety first.”
“Hopefully… we can survive this damn exam,” Sister Yuan exhaled.
Wednesday was nearly over, the first day of exams finished. Lying in bed, Jiang thought she should tell her teammates about the suspicious man she had seen during the day.
The time on the lobby’s electronic clock.
[Wednesday]
[22:54]
Better wait until tomorrow.
A night passed. Jiang got up, washed, and walked toward Zhang Wen’s dorm to check on her.
Before reaching 301, she spotted Lin Lingling and Sister Yuan, as well as the towering Wu Maolong.
Jiang inexplicably walked over, a foreboding feeling rising in her chest.
“Jiang Chen—” Sister Yuan looked at her with surprising solemnity.
Wu Maolong turned and calmly said, “I have been given Zhang Wen’s name.”
Early this morning, Wu Maolong discovered he had somehow been moved into the girls’ dorm. Beside the pillow lay the torn paper found in Zhang Wen’s dorm—but intact.
Jiang bowed her head, pondering for a moment before clutching her head and hurrying toward the lobby. At the sight of the clock, her pupils shrank like black fog.
[Monday]
[5:41]
Lin Lingling followed Jiang, both looking up.
Sister Yuan couldn’t help but sigh.
Lin Lingling murmured, “Cycle…”
Yesterday was Wednesday, the first day of exams. Today was Monday… and Wu Maolong had become Zhang Wen?
So what about the previous Zhang Wen?
Arriving at the classroom, the far left side of the blackboard was indeed marked “Monday’s lessons.”
The familiar math teacher stepped in with the bell and smiled faintly at Jiang.
“…” Looks like the math teacher remembered her.
“Jiang Chen, come answer this question.”
Jiang expressionlessly stood and gave the correct answer.
“?” The math teacher’s smile froze; he hadn’t expected Jiang to know the answers.
“Jiang Chen, what’s the answer to question ten?”
“Seven.”
Three questions in a row, Jiang answered all correctly. The math teacher left, visibly displeased, stomping away.
After class, Lin Lingling was amazed: “Jiang Chen, you… she’s good at math again?”
Jiang: “Today’s lessons are a repeat of a previous cycle.”
The math teacher’s lessons matched the last cycle exactly.
Jiang didn’t want to deliberately answer wrong and be sent out to one-on-one tutoring with the Discipline Director. He probably didn’t welcome her much either.
Lin Lingling was stunned—had she really mastered it after one round?
“Jiang Chen, if you feel unwell, tell me immediately,” Lin Lingling said with unusual seriousness.
Jiang was caught off guard by her teammate’s sincere concern. “…Okay.”
Under Lin Lingling’s doubtful gaze, Jiang walked toward Wu Chenyu’s desk.
Wu Chenyu was staring vacantly at Zhang Wen’s seat. Wu Maolong was sitting in Zhang Wen’s chair.
Jiang’s tall, thin figure cast a shadow over her. Wu Chenyu blinked, stood, and dragged her heavy legs toward the door.
Jiang followed closely.
They arrived beneath the stairs where they had last talked.
“Gao Yu is dead.” Wu Chenyu faced away from Jiang.
“Ah… that’s right. It’s just like you saw… repeating, repeating, no end…” Her shoulders trembled slightly.
Jiang: “Why didn’t you tell me at first?”
Wu Chenyu suddenly turned, pupils trembling, voice rising uncontrollably: “Tell you?! What good will it do? Tell you to find Gao Yu?”
“You saw it, right? The moment something’s off, those puppets change faces! They turn into monsters! They’ll kill Gao Yu, kill me! Kill anyone different from them!”
Gao Yu—no doubt—was the previous Zhang Wen.
Wu Chenyu blinked as a tear slipped down. Her eyes shimmered with hopelessness. “I’m next.”
“Why not me?”
“If it were me, I’d know what it’s like to be Zhang Wen, what she sees…”
Jiang caught the key info: “…You think you’ll be next?”
“The chosen one’s identity only arises from those not yet turned into puppets.”
Two clues: Mingde High’s mother insect prefers selecting people with clear consciousness and high mental strength to become “Zhang Wen.”
Also, what Wu Chenyu had just revealed: “If it were me, I’d know what Zhang Wen sees.”
Being Zhang Wen meant seeing things ordinary people could not.
Jiang stared deeply at Wu Chenyu. Her words were chaotic, emotions barely suppressed. If unchecked, she risked mental collapse.
Jiang fell silent briefly. Then she stepped forward and pulled Wu Chenyu into a hug.
Like pressing against a wall.
Wu Chenyu’s eyes widened in surprise. She never expected this cold, indifferent girl to show human affection.
The young girl, her face much thinner, pressed against Jiang’s stiff chest, losing the will to struggle.
Hugs—the chain of human emotion transmission—bring warmth and support. Someone had once told Jiang this.
Who was it?
…She couldn’t remember.
Jiang held Wu Chenyu close, her throat tightening slightly.
The young girl nestled against Jiang’s chest, silently crying for a while, emotions gradually settling.
She shyly pulled away, hastily wiping her tears.
“…What do you want to know?” she asked awkwardly.
“Is Gao Yu still alive?” Jiang asked.
“I don’t know. The person chosen to be Zhang Wen eventually disappears. Then… the next person becomes Zhang Wen.”
Jiang pressed on: “What does being Zhang Wen let you see?”
Wu Chenyu blinked, eyes darting around before pulling Jiang into a quiet corner. “I don’t know the specifics… The Zhang Wen before me wrote the note, saying she could sometimes see Zhang Wen’s memories… but they were chaotic…”
“Later she told me, the more she actively viewed Zhang Wen’s memories, the more she felt like she was becoming another person, like she was turning into Zhang Wen… I didn’t dare ask more.”
Those chosen as Zhang Wen could see Zhang Wen’s memories, but reading them risked losing oneself.
Jiang regretted not learning this earlier.
She really needed to improve her communication skills.
“Was the note in my book written by you?” Jiang asked. “You want me to stay away from Zhang Wen… I mean Gao Yu.”
Wu Chenyu nodded.
“Why don’t you want me to contact Gao Yu? You think I’d expose his identity?”
Wu Chenyu was silent for a moment, her eyes reflecting complex emotions: “You’re not the first to say you can save us.”
“Before you, a man told my friend he could save us all. That was the second… or third cycle…”
“He pushed us who hadn’t turned into puppets out of Class 8. My friend stayed because she was worried about Zhang Wen. Besides her, there were two others.”
Wu Chenyu’s mind seemed flooded with terrifying memories. Goosebumps rose, lips trembling.
“Then… after a long time, nothing happened. My friends and I felt something was wrong, so we pushed open the door… they were all dead… my friend, Zhang Wen, and that man were gone. Other classmates seemed unable to see the bodies, chatting and laughing as usual…”
The man—Jiang’s mind immediately pictured the strange man’s odd smile.
“Did he say what organization he was from? National Special Management Bureau? Green Shield Pest Control? Or what?” Jiang pressed.
Wu Chenyu snapped out of it. “Organizations… do you have that many? Ah, he said! He said he was from the Prophet Cult.”
“Prophet Cult…” Lin Lingling repeated the name, lips twitching. “The Prophet Cult appeared in this insect nest…”
Jiang’s training hadn’t covered the Prophet Cult; she humbly asked.
Lin Lingling: “You must have heard of people worshipping insects, right? Those cultists of dark gods. The Prophet Cult is one such group.”
“And among all cults, theirs is the largest and most troublesome.”
“So far, we haven’t found their main base.”
Lin Lingling’s tone revealed disdain for the cult.
“…Let’s put the Prophet Cult aside for now.” Lin Lingling said. “Guan Zifei just sent word—Zhou Qing ‘came back to life.’”
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