The pitch-black night grew a few degrees colder.
Piggybacking on Lu Yan’s back, Xia Miao let out a soft yawn. Resting her chin on his shoulder, she stared at his profile and playfully poked the bandages on his cheek.
He glared fiercely over at her.
“Careful or I’ll take a bite out of you!”
Not scared in the least, Xia Miao let out a small huff.
“If you dare bite me, I’ll just bite you right back.”
Lu Yan muttered under his breath,
“With that bite of yours, you think you can take me?”
His statement was, of course, based on experience; after all, during their previous kisses, her delicate teeth hadn’t even been able to break a single layer of skin on his tongue.
Without a shred of politeness, Xia Miao reached out to tug at his hair.
“Lu Yan, do you want to pick a fight with me again?!”
Lu Yan shrank his neck back, his arrogant momentum deflating quite a bit. Ultimately, he didn’t dare provoke her further and get chased down to be beaten up.
Secretly, he reasoned to himself that he wasn’t scared of her at all—it was just that a real man wouldn’t bicker with a woman. Besides, she was such a tiny thing; he wanted to save himself from people saying he bullied the weak.
When Lu Yan carried Xia Miao all the way to the entrance of her dormitory room, she hopped down from his back, her attitude somewhat hesitant and bashful. She had half a mind to invite him inside for a bit, but then second-thought struck: inviting a boy into her room late at night, wouldn’t that make her look a bit too loose?
As for Lu Yan, he was practically a blank slate when it came to romance, lacking all those twists and turns in his mind. Rummaging through his pocket, he pulled out a pine cone and placed it directly into her hand.
Lifting his chin without looking at her, he mumbled vaguely:
“Here, play with this.”
Xia Miao carefully inspected the pine cone in her hand. After a brief pause, she asked:
“Is this a gift for me?”
“This is the prettiest pine cone I managed to forage from a squirrel’s nest! It looks awesome!”
He really was utterly unpretentious, acting just like an elementary schooler on a mountain hike who collects interesting yet entirely impractical things and treats them like precious treasures.
Xia Miao thought of all those aesthetically challenged photos she’d received on her phone—whether it was the clouds in the sky or the mud on the ground, everything seemed to hold some fascinating spark in the boy’s eyes, and he was practically desperate to present all those fascinating things right before her eyes.
For some inexplicable reason, her heart suddenly softened a little.
Clutching the pine cone tightly, Xia Miao cleared her throat and said:
“Lower your head.”
Remembering the punches she had landed on him earlier, Lu Yan looked slightly guarded.
“What for?”
“Just bend down when I tell you to! Hurry up, or I’ll dock your points!”
She used this trick to threaten him every other day!
And yet, annoyingly enough, he fell for it every single time.
Reluctantly, Lu Yan bent down and lowered his head. The next second, the girl rose slightly onto her tiptoes and planted a light kiss right on the corner of his lips.
“That’s a good-night kiss, see you later!”
Turning swiftly, she slipped into her room and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
That left the tall, lanky boy standing blankly outside the door. After a long moment, he sluggishly raised a hand to cover his lips. Thick plumes of black smoke billowed from his bandages, and the heart beating inside his chest felt like it was literally on fire.
How strange. Clearly, she had kissed him so many times already, and he had experienced plenty of deep kisses. So why was it that just a simple, casual touch from her still made him feel this overwhelmingly excited?
Could this possibly be that “power of love” mentioned in the comic books collected by the headless girl?
Hiding inside her room, Xia Miao took a deep, steadying breath to suppress that thrilling jolt of adrenaline. She walked over to her desk and placed the pine cone right down on it.
Right beside the pine cone sat that bouquet of claw-like white flowers, exuding a chilling, eerie aesthetic.
How odd. Clearly, they were hideous little things, so why was it that simply because he gave them to her, she found them so wonderfully pretty?
This must undoubtedly be the power of love!
Covering her face with a soft gasp, Xia Miao lunged forward and flopped onto her bed, burying her head completely under the covers.
Outside in the terrifyingly dark night, the boy silently pressed himself against the glass windowpane, staring with glittering eyes straight at the person inside. His breathing grew faster and faster. While his heart hammered like thunder, the fingers of the hand braced against the glass turned stark white from the sheer force of his grip.
Those eyes, which usually looked listless—with their excessive whites and vertical pupils—were now entirely consumed by a terrifying obsession.
The old gardener was getting on in years and went to sleep early when he wasn’t working. Having finally drifted off to dreamland, he was startled awake by a persistent tapping and banging noise outside. As an elderly man with poor sleep quality, once he was woken up, falling back asleep was nearly impossible.
Moving sluggishly, the old gardener got out of bed and pulled back the curtain, only to be frightened out of his wits by the sight outside.
The conjoined brothers had been bound with ropes and hung upside down from a tree branch. Whenever a gust of wind blew, their bodies would swing back and forth, repeatedly thudding against the window of the old gardener’s room.
“What kind of game are you two playing?” the old gardener asked.
Fighting back tears of frustration, the conjoined twins wailed,
“That blockhead of a guy ambushed us! Help us down, please!”
The next day, watching Xia Miao walk into the classroom completely unscathed, Lin Gaoshan felt the shock and suspicion deep in his heart intensify even further.
He had always been eager to figure out whether Xia Miao possessed some sort of special ability, yet Xia Miao had repeatedly ignored his overtures. This girl, who looked like a pampered, good-for-nothing heiress, actually seemed remarkably difficult to handle.
Unwilling to give up, Lin Gaoshan decided to test the waters with her one more time. Sidling up close to her, he whispered:
“Have you ever heard the rumors about the suppressor?”
Xia Miao glanced sideways at him.
“A suppressor?”
“Word has it that somewhere in the corners of Red Moon Academy, a suppressor exists. Once it’s injected into the bodies of the monsters, their flesh will rot away and their bodies will completely disintegrate.”
Subconsciously, Xia Miao reached out to touch her phone, which was buzzing nonstop again. “Flesh will rot away…”
Looking at Lin Gaoshan suspiciously, she asked:
“How do you know so much inside information?”
“I naturally have my own channels for gathering intelligence,” Lin Gaoshan replied, a hidden note of excitement in his voice. “Miss Xia, I know far more than anyone else. If you choose to team up with me, clearing these games definitely won’t be difficult. Even killing those monsters would be an absolute breeze.”
Lin Gaoshan’s expression grew increasingly intriguing.
“The value of those monsters… is by no means low.”
Xia Miao didn’t take his bait.
“We’ll talk about it if the opportunity arises.”
She walked back to her seat and sat down. Lin Gaoshan wanted to chase after her to keep pitching his idea, but after glancing at Xia Miao’s deskmate, he could only grit his teeth and temporarily shelve the thought.
Xia Miao casually greeted her deskmate, then noticed the girl was busy folding paper cranes. Curious, she asked:
“What are you folding so many paper cranes for?”
Looking a bit embarrassed, Fang Ke’ai mumbled:
“It’s nothing, I’m just folding them for fun.”
Xia Miao caught a whiff of something suspicious.
“Are you making these for someone you like?!”
Fang Ke’ai’s face flushed bright red as she stammered defensively:
“N—No way! It’s just… because he’s a senior, and he helped me out before. When I heard the news that he got hurt, I just wanted to make a gift to send him and wish for his speedy recovery.”
Since she had gone out of her way to explain so much, it was a classic case of protesting too much.
Xia Miao possessed a severely flawed self-awareness of her own personality. Slinging an arm over Fang Ke’ai’s shoulder, she raised an eyebrow and dramatically declared:
“If you want to chase someone, you should come consult with me! I’m an absolute expert in romance!”
Fang Ke’ai’s expression was flooded with utter distrust.
Changing her expression in a flash, Xia Miao puffed out her chest and spoke with absolute solemnity:
“I’m not just blowing hot air! On my very first day at this school, someone fell in love with me at first sight and insisted on pursuing me!”
Fang Ke’ai’s gaze shifted slightly.
Out on the tree branches beyond the classroom window, a boy was crouching within the shadows of the foliage. Using both hands to grip the branch and shield his silhouette, he left only a pair of brilliantly glittering eyes exposed as he stared straight at the girl inside the classroom boasting so grandly.
He sat completely motionless, looking remarkably like a creep.
Taking a brief moment out of her schedule, Xia Miao pulled out her phone to reply to a brief message. It consisted of a single “Oh”—utterly cold and ruthless compared to the massive wall of text he had sent her.
Yet, hidden away in the shadows, the boy fished out his phone, checked the reply, covered his mouth with one hand, and let out a damp, creepy chuckle: hee-hee-hee.
He had only sent her over eighty messages today, not even reaching ninety-nine yet, and she had actually replied to him!
This must surely mean she was falling more and more in love with him!
Withdrawing her gaze, Fang Ke’ai grabbed Xia Miao’s hand and said earnestly:
“Great Master, please help me pursue the person I like.”