Beyond the dense fog lay a deadly marsh.
In a normal school, a place meant for students to relax and unwind would never contain a swamp. Unfortunately, this was not a normal world.
The moment Luo Yu stepped into the white fog, she raised her vigilance to its peak. From the damp, chilling mist, she easily caught the stench of rotting fallen leaves mixed within.
The ground beneath her feet was slick and soft.
Luo Yu carefully avoided the marshy patches. While keeping her attention on the muddy path, she continued observing the changes in the fog.
The mist drifted like smoke, shrouding the grove around her.
It shifted and blurred in every direction, obscuring all scenery and making it hard to tell which way was forward.
Anyone who wandered in would easily lose themselves among the repetitive surroundings and become trapped in the fog.
But Luo Yu keenly noticed something different.
In the densest part of the mist, she saw a flicker of light.
The light was tiny, no more than a speck or a dot. If one weren’t paying close attention, it would be easy to miss.
Luo Yu guessed it might be the beam of a flashlight coming from afar.
During evening self-study, she had secretly flipped through the school rules and student handbook Sun Heng gave her.
The handbook stated that the grove was patrolled by security personnel twenty-four hours a day. If someone encountered danger in the grove, such as aggressive wildlife or getting lost, they could seek help from the security staff.
Based on that, the light beyond the fog was very likely coming from a patrolling guard.
Luo Yu felt a surge of excitement.
First, she had finally encountered another human in this eerie forest. Second, once she found the security guard, she could rely on his help to leave the grove and return to the dormitory before curfew.
She hurried toward the light.
Because the marsh was difficult to traverse, Luo Yu could not move very fast.
Even though her speed now could be considered brisk compared to before, judging by the distance, she hadn’t closed the gap between herself and the light by much.
As she kept walking, something began to feel wrong.
After traveling for so long, even if she hadn’t reached the light yet, the distance should have been shrinking, and the light should have grown brighter and clearer.
But instead, the glow beyond the fog was becoming increasingly blurred and dim.
A bad thought surfaced.
Could it be that the light wasn’t getting closer at all, but was actually moving farther away from her?
That would mean the security guard holding the flashlight was actively moving away, and faster than she could catch up.
That would not do. That guard was her chance to get out of here.
Determined not to let him slip away, Luo Yu broke into a run.
At this moment, she could no longer worry about being in a marsh.
She had to seize her only chance at survival. She ran faster and faster.
Her effort slightly shortened the distance between her and the light, but before long, it once again grew distant and dim.
Had the guard sped up too?
Luo Yu fumed. Why was a security guard running so fast anyway? Rushing to get off work? Dock his pay. Dock it hard.
Finally, as the light was about to disappear, Luo Yu couldn’t help but shout, “Hey, wait. Someone’s lost here.”
At the same time, her foot suddenly sank.
She didn’t even need to look to know she had stepped into the marsh.
Worse still, because she had been running too fast and was too anxious to notice, by the time she reacted, both feet were already trapped in the mire.
Luo Yu’s face went pale.
If she had been able to maintain a relatively stable mindset before, the string of accidents and blows had now shaken her badly.
She wouldn’t really die here, would she?
The strange fog, the marsh, the stench of decay, and the pervasive cold.
Luo Yu began trembling uncontrollably.
She suddenly felt so cold. And she didn’t want to die.
Distraught, Luo Yu looked down at the marsh beneath her feet. Though utterly exhausted, she hadn’t completely given up hope.
She silently calculated how deeply she had sunk and what method she could use to escape the marsh.
To be honest, she wasn’t very confident.
But standing still meant certain death. She had to try.
Luo Yu moved her right foot. To her delight, it didn’t seem to be sunk too deeply. With some force, it even showed signs of lifting.
However, at the same time, her left foot seemed to sink a bit further.
What now?
Luo Yu froze.
While she was worrying, a large swath of light suddenly swept across her vision.
Drawn by it, Luo Yu lifted her head. The moment she saw what was in front of her, realization struck.
It was the security guard.
He had heard her call and turned back with his flashlight.
Now, the guard stood on a patch of dry ground not far away. The beam of the flashlight shone directly at her, too blinding to see his face clearly. She could only make out his silhouette.
“Hello,” Luo Yu waved at him, calling out happily.
Her relief, however, lasted only a moment before another thought crept in.
She still remembered how the female teacher in the classroom had suddenly transformed into a monster.
In this school, someone who looked human wasn’t necessarily human. By the same logic, was the security guard in front of her really a guard?
Would a normal guard stand there silently, staring at a student stuck in a marsh without taking action?
Luo Yu fell silent, her guard raised.
This time, the guard moved. He lowered the flashlight, revealing his face from the harsh glare.
He smiled at Luo Yu. “This student, do you need any help?”
“You… you’re not…”
Luo Yu couldn’t believe her eyes.
Standing on the other side of the marsh, wearing a black uniform and holding a flashlight, was the same young man she had seen at the bun window during dinner.
So he also worked as a security guard?
Luo Yu immediately relaxed.
She couldn’t help it. She simply couldn’t muster any sense of caution toward someone with a face like that.
Even in the darkness, he seemed to glow, like a tall god descending into the forest, giving off an endless sense of safety.
“Sorry, I got lost,” Luo Yu said sheepishly, scratching the back of her hand. “May I ask how to get to the dormitory?”
What should come next would naturally be the familiar and pleasing scene of a handsome guard escorting a lost female student back to her dorm.
Luo Yu couldn’t deny that she felt a bit of anticipation.
But the man didn’t respond at all.
He looked her over with an amused gaze. Then his eyes sharpened, and a flash of red light flickered through them.
In an instant, Luo Yu lost control of her body.
In shock, she realized that under his gaze, her feet were moving forward bit by bit, and her body was sinking deeper and deeper into the marsh.