C10 Chapter 10

“I’ve decided—I’m going to study in this classroom,” Chen Rui said, looking at Shi Dian with absolute confidence.

“Huh?” Shi Dian was completely confused, but there wasn’t much he could do. Since they were already here, he followed Chen Rui inside.

Only five or six people were studying in the room. Maybe it was because most folks didn’t feel like climbing the stairs. Shi Dian didn’t know what Chen Rui was up to, but it was pretty quiet, so he pulled out his books and got to work.

He had no idea how much time had passed when Shi Dian finally looked up to take a break—only to see Chen Rui staring dreamily at a girl sitting up front.

Shi Dian glanced at the girl, then back at Chen Rui, and it finally clicked. So that’s it—this guy wasn’t here to study at all!

While he was still processing it, the girl suddenly stood up, gathered her things, and headed for the door. She was clearly leaving, but Chen Rui kept watching her like he had no clue she was about to walk out.

With no choice, Shi Dian nudged his arm and whispered, “She’s leaving. Are you seriously just going to keep staring?”

“Ah!” Chen Rui finally snapped out of it and couldn’t help yelling.

Great—now everyone in the classroom jumped. Sitting right next to him, Shi Dian felt his face heat up. The girl, who had been about to leave, stopped and turned around, giving Chen Rui a puzzled look before continuing out the door.

Not long after, an embarrassed Shi Dian and Chen Rui left the classroom too.

“So you like that girl? Who is she?” Shi Dian asked the moment they stepped out.

“She’s in my sister’s class. I saw her when I went to pick my sister up, but she probably doesn’t remember me,” Chen Rui said, looking a little disappointed.

“You could have Chen Xin introduce you,” Shi Dian suggested.

“Uh… never mind. If she finds out, she’ll laugh her head off,” Chen Rui said with a sigh.

The two of them kept talking as they headed downstairs. The academic building was huge—just getting from the classroom where they’d been studying to the stairwell took several minutes, and they had to pass through a long hallway.

But then the hallway lights suddenly started flickering. Shi Dian glanced up nervously at the fixtures overhead, feeling like they could go out at any second.

“What’s going on?” Chen Rui called out, but no one answered.

“This is weird. Weren’t there people behind us a second ago? Where’d they all go?” Shi Dian looked back and was shocked to find that the group that had been following them toward the stairs had vanished without a trace.

The air felt off. Chen Rui took a deep breath and said to Shi Dian, “It’s fine. Let’s just keep moving.”

Shi Dian nodded, but he was still scared. He stayed close behind Chen Rui, eyes fixed on the floor. They’d only gone a little farther when Chen Rui suddenly stopped.

“Shi Dian, look!” Chen Rui’s voice trembled.

Shi Dian looked ahead. Not far away, a motionless shadow was cast on the wall—but there was no one nearby.

Shi Dian swallowed hard. “That… doesn’t look like our shadow.”

Sure enough, both of their shadows were right beneath their feet. So whose was that lone shadow?

Before either of them could think it through, a scream rang out from around the corner ahead. Shi Dian and Chen Rui exchanged a look and took off running. When they reached the stairwell at the corner, they were met with a horrifying sight.

Thin, elongated black shadows shot out from the surrounding walls, twisting together in midair. Looking closer, they realized someone was trapped inside.

“Ziyuan!” Chen Rui suddenly shouted and rushed forward a few steps. He recognized the person bound up in that strange stuff—it was the girl he’d been secretly in love with.

“Chen Rui, be careful,” Shi Dian said, grabbing him from behind. “This is probably some kind of monster too!”

“So what? I’m going to save her,” Chen Rui shot back without hesitation.

“But…” Shi Dian started to argue, when the situation changed again.

Ziyuan, who had been suspended in midair, was suddenly yanked toward a wall. On that wall, a massive shadow loomed like a black hole.

“No! She’s going to get swallowed!” Chen Rui tore free of Shi Dian and lunged forward with a roar.

He wasn’t wrong—the shadow really did look like it was trying to devour her. But before Chen Rui could reach Ziyuan, another strip of darkness snapped around his ankle.

“Damn it.” He kicked and clawed, trying to break free, but it was useless. “What the hell is this thing?”

“Don’t move. Let me handle it.” Shi Dian’s voice turned oddly unfamiliar. Chen Rui couldn’t help looking up—razor-sharp eyes were watching him from the darkness.

“Shi Dian… you…” Chen Rui seemed to want to ask something, but the words wouldn’t come.

Shi Dian walked straight past him and stopped in front of the shadow. He studied it for a beat, then suddenly pressed his palm against it. The shadow shuddered instantly, like it had been shocked, then contracted hard. The tentacles that had been binding Ziyuan and Chen Rui snapped back and coiled tightly around Shi Dian’s arm instead.

Shi Dian shot Chen Rui a look, telling him to get Ziyuan out of there—now. Worried as he was, Chen Rui could only nod at Shi Dian’s confident expression. He quickly helped Ziyuan up and hurried away.

After what felt like forever, Chen Rui finally made it to the first-floor lobby with Ziyuan. He was about to run back to help Shi Dian, but to his surprise, Shi Dian was already coming down.

“How’d it go? You’re not hurt, are you?” Chen Rui asked in a rush. But his feet didn’t move an inch—without even realizing it, he kept his distance from Shi Dian.

“No. That thing got away.” Shi Dian didn’t seem to notice. He walked over slowly and stopped beside Chen Rui.

“Your arm!” Only then did Chen Rui see it—Shi Dian’s sleeve was shredded, and the skin underneath was lined with angry red marks that made his stomach turn.

“It’s nothing. Just a little frostbite,” Shi Dian said with a smile, trying to look relaxed.

“Don’t play tough. That’s obviously serious. I’m taking you to the nurse’s office,” Chen Rui said, clearly annoyed.

Before long, Chen Rui called Chen Xin over, gave her a quick rundown of what had happened, and had her help get all of them to the school clinic.

But something didn’t add up. All three of them had been tangled up with that creature, yet Shi Dian was the only one injured. Ziyuan had only passed out from shock, and Chen Rui didn’t have a single mark on his foot.

“How did you even end up with frostbite like this?” the doctor asked, baffled, as he wrapped Shi Dian’s arm.

“Uh… well…” Shi Dian kept scratching at his scalp, not knowing how to answer.

“He probably did it by accident during an experiment,” Chen Rui cut in, seeing that Shi Dian didn’t want to tell the real story. “Seriously, Shi Dian—you’ve got to be more careful.”

After everything was taken care of, Chen Xin brought Ziyuan back to the dorm. Shi Dian followed Chen Rui toward the guys’ dorm.

“So what really happened?” Chen Rui asked, seizing the chance. “Was that thing dangerous?”

“Yeah, probably,” Shi Dian said. “I just remember I couldn’t think of a good way to deal with it, so I tried to use my own body to get you guys out. I think I ended up hurting it, though. It freaked out and its body temperature dropped instantly. I didn’t pull back in time, and that’s how I got frostbite.”

“Even if you’re a summoner, don’t go charging into something like that alone next time!” Chen Rui said slowly after a moment of silence.

Shi Dian froze for a beat, but quickly understood and nodded.