It had been seven days since Shen Yao and Qiao Yunxue broke off their relationship.
These seven days had passed without incident.
Through his aunt’s introduction, Shen Yao started working a summer job at the Publisher, which helped ease a lot of her workload.
Cheng Orange still came over every day to play Street Fighter with him.
Occasionally, Shen Yao even managed to win a round or two.
They would also go shopping together, and Shen Qingxiao would tease them, saying they were becoming more and more like a little couple.
When Cheng Orange overheard this, she went mad for quite a while.
Everything was peaceful and smooth.
His Urban Legend Disorder hadn’t acted up again, nor had any strange incidents happened around him.
He no longer heard any rumors about urban legends.
The only difference was that the profile picture of that long-haired woman in his QQ list remained dim.
Since that day, she had never logged in again and had stopped bombarding him with hundreds of messages a day like a control freak.
He still couldn’t understand why Qiao Yunxue would deceive someone on her own side, a fellow “patient.”
Nor did he want to try understanding what went on in the mind of someone mentally ill.
In the end, he figured out how to change both his phone and QQ passwords, switching them back from Qiao Yunxue’s Birthday, trying to erase as many traces of the Red-haired Girl from his life as possible.
He’d even thought about just tossing out his phone, but his frugal habits made him reluctant to do so.
After distancing himself from Qiao Yunxue, everything became much more pleasant. Even the sunlight seemed brighter.
As for where Qiao Yunxue had gone or how she was doing, he no longer cared to consider it.
That day, he was tasked with delivering a cassette tape to Phoenix Publisher in the neighboring Xilin City.
The name Xilin City briefly stirred up some less-than-pleasant memories for him—whether it was the swimming pool or the Bus, neither were part of the daily life he desired.
He chose to take the noon bus to Xilin, with the sun shining bright overhead.
With the strong yang energy at midday, he figured that unclean things wouldn’t show up easily.
That was his logic, anyway.
The bumpy Bus stopped in front of a high school, just in time for lunch, when day students were heading home for a break.
Shen Yao watched as a large group of high school students his age, chattering and laughing, boarded the bus.
The previously quiet vehicle instantly became lively.
As expected, only the schools in Yaoguang City started so early.
No wonder Yaoguang City’s advancement rate was the lowest…
Among all those students, Shen Yao immediately noticed a girl with long hair and straight bangs.
Even among the group of vibrant, youthful girls, she was the most eye-catching.
Her skin was fair and flawless, not even a pore in sight.
Her nose was high and straight, perfectly sculpted like a statue—especially those eyes, which, even behind glasses, shone with a mysterious, starry beauty.
She looked like an introverted girl; after boarding, she didn’t even dare to look up, hurriedly scanning for an empty seat.
Suddenly, her gaze darted around and landed on Shen Yao.
For a moment, surprise flashed across her face, then she walked over to his seat and pointed to the backpack he’d placed on the chair.
“Excuse me, is this seat taken?”
Her voice was as soft as a mosquito’s hum, as if afraid of attracting attention.
Shen Yao found it a bit odd, but picked up his backpack anyway. “No, it’s not. Go ahead and sit.”
“Thank you…” Her voice was still barely audible. She sat down primly, clutching her school bag, never glancing Shen Yao’s way. It was then that Shen Yao noticed she was holding a drawing board—the kind of magnetic writing board children used.
Every school, every class, had a girl like this: cautious with everyone, speaking softly and gently. The only difference was that the girl beside Shen Yao happened to be a lot prettier than most.
Shen Yao was about to close his eyes and take a nap when he suddenly felt something hard gently poke his arm. He opened his eyes to see the delicate girl pressing the drawing board lightly against him.
“Is something wrong?” Shen Yao was puzzled. His social circle wasn’t big—he would definitely remember such a beautiful girl if he knew her.
The girl wrote a sentence on her drawing board: “You can see them, right?”
She had underlined the word “them” twice.
Shen Yao’s pupils contracted.
“What are you talking about?”
She kept writing on the board: “That day, on the bus, I saw it sitting next to you, staring at you…”
She erased, then wrote again: “After I got off, it sat back beside you.”
“You can see them, so they cling to you, right?”
Seeing that Shen Yao didn’t answer, she continued writing: “Luckily, you’re alright.”
But inside, Shen Yao was stirred up like a stormy sea. If he wasn’t mistaken, this girl was talking about the time he’d encountered The Possessed Woman with Big Head on the Bus. In other words, besides himself, someone else could see the strange things too? No… he shouldn’t be so surprised. Surely, there were plenty of people with spiritual sensitivity out there; he’d just been cut off from them by Qiao Yunxue. That’s why he hadn’t come across anyone else before.
Shen Yao lowered his voice, “You’re spiritually sensitive too?”
The delicate girl thought for a moment, then wrote on the board: “Not just me. There’s us.”
“Us?”
“People like you and me.” She erased, then wrote, “We’ve formed a Mutual Aid Group to resist their influence.”
“You’re the first person I’ve met who fights them alone.”
“That day, I thought something bad had happened to you.”
Shen Yao looked shocked. So, besides him and Qiao Yunxue, there was a Mutual Aid Group fighting against the strange things? No… he and Qiao Yunxue weren’t so much fighting as “unraveling” the mysteries—they actively sought them out. This group seemed more like they were hiding from the strange things.
The bus came to a stop. The girl quickly wrote on the board: “This is my stop. If you want to join, come to High School No. 4, Class 1 Grade 4, and look for me.” After writing, she gave Shen Yao an apologetic glance, hurried off the bus with the crowd, and left Shen Yao alone and bewildered.
What the heck… He’d just finally managed to distance himself from Qiao Yunxue and all that weirdness, and now a new group wanted to rope him in.
As far as he knew, people with spiritual sensitivity were basically half-mad with psychological issues, right?
Did he really want to join forces with people like that?
Shen Yao shook his head, deciding not to think about it.
He dropped off the cassette at the neighboring Publisher, grabbed a boxed lunch at a street stall, and quickly caught a ride back. As for what that girl said earlier, he had already decided to “forget” it.
When his workday ended, he and his aunt finished work at the same time and went home together. His aunt was still marveling at how efficiently Shen Yao worked—her boss even asked if her nephew could join the Publisher after graduating from university.
Shen Qingxiao smirked, “That old hag. Hmph, when my Shen Yao gets into university, who’d want to come work at her shabby Publisher? Did you hear her? ‘Your nephew is pretty capable. Maybe he can come work at our Publisher in the future.’ Bah! Who wants to work for you!”
Shen Yao could only smile wryly. Whether or not he could get into university was another question entirely.
If he failed the exams, he really might end up relying on his aunt for a living.
After all, he didn’t have a rich lady to support him anymore.
When they got home, they found a small delivery box at the door.
Shen Qingxiao picked it up. “Did you buy this?”
“No.” Shen Yao looked puzzled.
“It’s addressed to Shen Yao. If you’re not Shen Yao, then who is?” Shen Qingxiao rolled her eyes and tossed him the little package. “Maybe it’s from that female classmate of yours. She gave you a watch, a phone… who knows what it is this time.”
Shen Yao grew anxious. “Aunt, don’t say that. I have nothing to do with her anymore.” But when he looked at the sender, he saw it was from Qiao Yunxue, whom he hadn’t contacted in days.