The surrounding students began to tell Xia Bai what Wen Qiu had inquired from them.
All of Wen Qiu’s efforts over the past few days had funneled directly to Xia Bai, culminating in a focal point: Chu Xuelin.
According to the group of students, who seemed to want nothing more than to surround Xia Bai, Chu Xuelin was the counselor for the previous batch of clinical medicine students. She had vanished amidst rumors of a scandalous love affair. Most people assumed she left the school out of embarrassment.
“This must be the crucial link we were missing,” said Lin Xiang, biting into a bun and frowning. “But, a romantic scandal? How does that connect?”
Hua Haoming speculated, “A romantic affair… Could there be a child involved? That brings us to the dean’s perverted inclinations. The morgue also contained an undeveloped fetus.”
Lin Xiang exclaimed, “That makes sense! Everything could be linked.”
They discussed it for a while, but Xia Bai remained silent, staring at his untouched white rice.
Lin Xiang inquired, “Xia Bai, what are you thinking about?”
Xia Bai responded, “Do you remember our first visit to the library? You mentioned an inappropriate forum post?”
Lin Xiang immediately recalled, “Yes, that one about the ‘most beautiful counselor’s secret’! It could very well be about Chu Xuelin!”
Xia Bai said, “It’s most likely referring to the romantic affair the students told us about.”
Hua Haoming suggested, “Let’s check it out after dinner.”
They had their breakfast late, and finished returning their cutlery before the cafeteria staff began ushering people out. Upon leaving the dining hall, the sky had already turned pitch black.
The clock was ticking. Xia Bai and Hua Haoming might mutate after 1 AM. With this in mind, they quickly headed to the library, focusing their search on the post about Chu Xuelin.
Sure enough, the post titled “The Most Beautiful Counselor’s Secret” was indeed about Chu Xuelin. As they suspected, the post detailed a scandalous romance. The main photo wasn’t clear. It showed a woman, presumably Chu Xuelin, seated in an office chair with an open mouth, while a man leaned down to kiss her deeply.
If this was all there was to it, it wouldn’t be considered a scandal. However, the figure of another man was clearly visible behind Chu Xuelin in the photo.
While Lin Xiang scrutinized the image, Xia Bai booted up another computer and began searching up Chu Xuelin.
As the most beautiful counselor in the college, she was popular, and there were numerous photos of her taken by students online.
Most of these showed a cheerful and gentle woman. She didn’t seem lonely even when she was alone. She had a smile on in almost all of the pictures.
Some pictures depicted her reading in the library, her lips moving as if whispering the words. Others showed her watering plants on the office balcony. The plants she nurtured were growing well, evidence of the care she took. Apart from the plants, there was also a fish tank placed and several pots of flowers.
One particularly captivating image showed her cradling flowers as she walked through the campus. When she lowered her head to smell the flowers, her nose and mouth were immersed in the white and purple blooms, showing off her beautiful side profile.
Suddenly, Xia Bai froze, scrolling back up to reexamine a specific photo.
The flowers Chu Xuelin held in her hands were sweet pea blossoms.
He was immediately reminded of the pea field they had seen on their first day at the school, and the wary female worker.
In the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’, it was noted that sweet peas are tender and delicate. The sweet pea flowers embodied this description and complemented Chu Xuelin, painting a harmonious and natural image.
After gazing at the photograph for a while, Xia Bai continued scrolling and found the picture where Chu Xuelin looked the happiest.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Chu Xuelin has a Ph.D. in medicine,” Hua Haoming exclaimed, having found her profile on the employment list of Heping Medical College.
He researched her alma mater. “Top-tier university, and she got her Ph.D. at 28. Did she directly enroll for her Ph.D. after her Bachelor’s? With such an outstanding academic record, why didn’t she become a doctor in a major hospital? Even if she came to this college, why is she just a counselor?”
“Did she offend someone and get suppressed?” Lin Xiang pondered aloud, “I’ve heard the medical field can be corrupt and dark.”
Following the employment list, Hua Haoming accessed the webpage for the staff of Heping Medical College. He quickly searched for the name “Wang Badan.” The page jumped to a name highlighted in red.
Hua Haoming’s pupils dilated. “Hey, look!”
Both Xia Bai and Lin Xiang rushed over, equally stunned by the name on the screen.
“Wang Badan is… our counselor?!” Lin Xiang exclaimed in disbelief, goosebumps rising on his skin. The man he’d assumed dead had been right by their side.
“He didn’t die?”
Hua Haoming responded, “The internet only said he had tormented himself severely; it didn’t say he was dead. But I never expected him to be our batch’s counselor.”
Xia Bai added, “He was originally a professor, and now he’s reduced to a counselor. Was this the outcome of that incident?”
“Wait, looking at the timeline, after he became a counselor, he started assigning students to prepare the teaching materials. Do you think this was his idea? Is he making the students bear the curse of the ghost, sharing the resentment?” Lin Xiang speculated.
It made sense.
“So our next focus should be figuring out exactly what transpired between Wang Badan and Chu Xuelin,” Hua Haoming summarized.
Lin Xiang and Xia Bai both agreed on this decision.
Xia Bai added, “If there’s a connection between Chu Xuelin and Wang Badan, Wen Qiu and her group might have also uncovered details about Wang Badan.”
“Given their attitude, they might have already found something,” Hua Haoming said, checking the time, “It’s past eleven. We should head back and continue our investigation tomorrow.”
The thought of facing the night’s impending ordeal made Lin Xiang’s face contort in distress. He brought his hands together in prayer once more, “Sister Chu Xuelin, please protect us. Ensure Xia Bai and Hua Haoming remain safe tonight.”
“…”
Hua Haoming raised an eyebrow, “Wait, why are you praying to Chu Xuelin?”
Lin Xiang explained, “Based on the horror films I’ve seen, Chu Xuelin seems to be the central monster controlling this narrative. She’s the one seeking revenge, so it’s only logical for us to seek her blessings.”
“…”
There was no arguing with that logic.
Lin Xiang advised, “Both of you should offer a prayer too. When you do it yourself, it’s more sincere.”
Initially, Xia Bai resisted the idea, but a thought seemed to cross his mind, and he closed his eyes, murmuring, “Sister Xuelin, please bless me. I’m on your side.”
Hua Haoming snapped, “Let’s go already!”
By the time they returned, there were just over ten minutes left until the dormitory’s lights-out. Wen Qiu was in dorm room 312.
Upon seeing them, she asked Xia Bai and Hua Haoming, who might undergo a transformation tonight, “Have you recalled your fixations yet?”
Xia Bai responded, “I don’t have any fixations.”
Hua Haoming added, “I’ve said it before; there’s nothing else to discuss.”
Following suit, Lin Xiang chimed in, “Don’t worry, sister. I don’t have any either.”
Wen Qiu laughed, “I came up with three possible fixations for myself, yet the three of you men combined can’t even come up with one. Is this foolish confidence a unique trait of men? Or is this due to a man’s profound need to save face?”
“…”
After her sarcastic remarks, Wen Qiu left, seemingly not intending to stay the night. She didn’t remind Xia Bai to look out for his younger brother, probably because she had already asked Meng Tianyou to do so.
Hua Haoming again bound up Song Mingliang. After Lin Xiang shared some words with Xia Bai, the two returned to their own dorms.
Xia Bai quickly freshened up and climbed into bed just before the dormitory lights went out. He noticed Meng Tianyou lying rigidly on bed number four, utterly still as if he wasn’t even breathing.
“…”
The current situation in the dormitory was as such: one had already mutated and killed someone, one had mutated the previous night and it was uncertain what horrors he would manifest into tonight, and the last one was on the brink of mutation.
Meng Tianyou was the only “normal” one left.
Xia Bai almost felt sympathy for the other.
To minimize any issues, Xia Bai decided not to sleep, thinking that staying awake might prevent him from turning into something horrific.
Apart from the first night, Xia Bai hadn’t slept well these past few days. He only managed to stay awake for over an hour before exhaustion clouded his mind, making everything blurry.
His heartbeat was unnaturally fast, so much so that his weary mind could still detect its powerful thudding. The rush of blood was strangely exhilarating.
Swallowing hard, Xia Bai retrieved his family register from under his pillow, hugging it close, fighting the overwhelming drowsiness.
He heard movements from the bed across him and rustling from bed four further down.
Xia Bai hugged his family register for a while, trying to shake off his fatigue. When he finally became a tad more alert and turned to look, Wen Dong was no longer on his bed.
He was seated below, seemingly drenched in blood.
Xia Bai blinked hard to focus, realizing it wasn’t blood but a long, crimson gown.
Before sleeping, Xia Bai had intentionally left the curtains slightly open. With the help of the faint moonlight, he could barely make out Wen Dong, dressed in a floor-length red gown, eerily applying makeup in front of a mirror.
As he drew his fingertip over his lips, it left a trail of blood, staining them a vivid red.
Meng Tianyou stood horrified behind Wen Dong, torn between getting closer and keeping his distance. He looked like a man who just discovered his girlfriend was a ghost bride.
Xia Bai sat up in his bed.
Meng Tianyou took a step back, his fear intensifying.
Xia Bai: “…”
Lin Xiang: [Xia Bai, are you okay? Brother Hua jumped out of the window!]
Without hesitation, Xia Bai stashed his family register into his pocket and got off the bed. Meng Tianyou kept retreating, accidentally knocking over a chair behind him, nearly falling in the process.
Xia Bai: “…”
He didn’t have time to explain to Meng Tianyou and quickly ran out.
The dormitory’s main entrance on the first floor was monitored by a dorm supervisor. Jumping out of the third-floor window like Hua Haoming wasn’t an option for Xia Bai. He dashed to the end of the hallway on the first floor and leaped out of that window.
Coincidentally, Meng Tianyou jumped down from the second floor at that moment.
Lin Xiang: “Xia Bai, are you alright?”
Xia Bai: “I’m fine. Where did he go?”
Lin Xiang: “It’s too dark; I couldn’t see clearly!”
Xia Bai: “Let’s split up and search.”
Hua Haoming had once told them that if he ever transformed, they should hide and not bother about him. But without a second thought, both of them began running around the pitch-black campus in search of him.
The medical college which they had previously found small seemed infinitely vast in the darkness. Xia Bai wondered where Hua Haoming might be at that moment and what he might be doing.
Xia Bai headed towards the school’s artificial lake, straining his eyes in the darkness for any sign of Hua Haoming.
The deep waters of the lake were still, and the faint green algae made it look even darker at night. There were no bubbles on the surface, and all Xia Bai could make out were the shadows of trees swaying around the lake.
He immediately changed direction, sprinting towards the anatomy lab building.
Lin Xiang was a step ahead: [By the northwest corner of the lab building!]
When Xia Bai reached the location, he didn’t see Lin Xiang – likely hiding behind a tree – but he easily spotted Hua Haoming in his red T-shirt.
Hua Haoming was crouching at the base of a wall. Having been in the morgue, Xia Bai recognized this spot as the location of the fourth autopsy room.
From the darkness emanated a jarring, uncomfortable sound of something being chewed and grinded, accompanied by a screechy crunching noise.
Using the faint moonlight, Xia Bai identified the source of the sound.
Hua Haoming was crouching in the corner, facing the morgue’s wall, eating stones he had dug out. The crunching sound was not only from the friction of the stones against his teeth but also from something green on the stones – possibly moss or algae.
It was hard to distinguish, as stained with blood as it was.
Thank you for the translation! I wonder what Hua Haoming’s fixation is..
So Wen Dong likes crossdressing or possibly wearing feminine things, and Hua Haoming likes.. rocks??
Eating rocks….
maybe he’s eating the algae left on the rocks…? idk he’s the weirdest until now
Thanks for the chapter!! ❤️❤️❤️
Hua Haoming is unbothered and unstressed…hes munching on rocks living his best life
Maybe Wen Dong is trans but repressed due to their parents’ discrimination?
❤
Sometimes you do just see a nice rock that you want to put in your mouth, can’t blame him.
I wonder what keeping mc sane at the moment