Throughout the morning classes, Xu Xiangyang was a bit distracted, with an emotion he could not even clarify himself, a subtle excitement and anticipation, as if something out of the ordinary was about to happen.
Luckily, the teachers didn't call on him to answer questions, since Xu Xiangyang's image as a good student was already deeply entrenched; otherwise, he might have ended up embarrassing himself.
"The incident in the alley the other afternoon"... Surely it must be about that thing he saw while facing off with the stray dog, right?
Although they put the incident behind them while shopping together later, he couldn't help but reminisce after returning home. As a result, he spent the whole night thinking about it, hardly sleeping, and then this morning Lin Xingjie had taken the initiative to invite him…
What exactly was it? Could it really not be just his imagination?
After returning from the cafeteria, Xu Xiangyang began to ponder while sitting on his chair, until the students gradually returned to their seats, a few girls packed up the cookies and snacks on their desks to replace them with homework books, and the atmosphere in the classroom shifted from noisy to quiet…
"Hey!"
Suddenly, his desk was slapped.
Immersed in his own world, Xu Xiangyang was startled and turned his head to see Lin Xingjie standing at the side of his desk, staring at him.
She had rolled up the sleeves of her school uniform, revealing a section of her snow-white wrist, her face unadorned and her simple blue-and-white school uniform on her seemed like it was out of a man's dream of a pure campus girl... except for her long, straight, overgrown black hair, proving she was not an utterly conventional girl.
"Come out with me for a moment," she said.
He nodded eagerly, having anticipated this.
The long-haired girl, who always seemed fearless, now looked somewhat nervous, pursing her lips.
"Keep it down, don't draw attention."
"..."
He blinked.
Student Lin, ah... Xu Xiangyang's gaze circled the silent class, thinking to himself that it was too late to say that. The moment you walked in, everyone's eyes were on you.
Being too conspicuous has its drawbacks.
Lin Xingjie was evidently aware of this too, and urged him again with a slightly embarrassed tone:
"Let's go."
"I got it," he said.
However, after agreeing, Xu Xiangyang didn't immediately stand up to leave. Instead, he raised his hand and reported loudly to the class prefect sitting at the teacher's desk.
"Excuse me, Lin Xingjie and I are going out for a bit."
"Ah... okay, I got it," the prefect said, his face showing surprise as he instinctively nodded.
Making noise in the silent self-study classroom was bound to draw attention—especially when one of the subjects was Lin Xingjie.
Although she didn't have any friends in class and the students generally kept a "respectful distance" from her, Xu Xiangyang was well aware that quite a few were actually keeping an eye on her in secret.
If she were just an ordinary-looking girl without her own social circle, perhaps people might really begin to forget she existed. But Lin Xingjie's nonconformist personality, as well as her figure and looks which were exceptional for a high school student, made it hard to overlook her even if one tried.
Thus, when Xu Xiangyang spoke up, all the students subconsciously shifted their attention to this corner of the classroom.
"...!"
Lin Xingjie shot him a glare but said nothing, turning to walk out the door on her own.
Xu Xiangyang stood up and as he squeezed past the gap between two rows of desks, he noticed his sleeve was being tugged. Then he heard someone talk to him from the side.
"Hey, what are you two planning to do?"
Xu Xiangyang turned his head to find it was the same boy who had asked him about his relationship with Lin Xingjie last time.
"Nothing much, just discussing some things," Xu Xiangyang said with a smile. Of course, he wouldn't outright say it.
"Discussing..."
The other boy hesitated, deliberately lowering his voice as he said:
"You'd better go to a teacher, you know? Don't get yourself into trouble."
"Thanks for the advice. Now, I have to go," Xu Xiangyang replied.
Seeing that Xu Xiangyang was completely dismissive, the boy became a bit anxious, his voice unconsciously growing a little louder.
"Didn't you say before that her business has nothing to do with you? Now what—"
Upon hearing this, Lin Xingjie "thud thud thudded" her way back from the doorway, intentionally emphasizing her footsteps, creating a sense of oppression that made the boy instinctively move back.
She stood beside Xu Xiangyang, looking down coldly at the boy, her arms crossed over her chest, emanating a strong presence.
"Do you need him for something?" she asked.
"No..."
"Then shut up," Lin Xingjie said bluntly, cutting off the boy without a chance for him to save face.
Xu Xiangyang suddenly felt the urge to laugh. Although taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others was not a commendable attitude, after all, the person who had been embarrassed in public last time was himself—
Just as he wanted to see the person's expression, he suddenly felt a soft touch on his wrist, and Xu Xiangyang stumbled, involuntarily following the girl as she turned to leave.
Lin Xingjie grabbed his hand without looking back and dragged him out of the classroom.
...
In this way, the young man and the young woman vanished from the sight of their classmates, surrounded by looks of astonishment.
After exiting the back door, Xu Xiangyang could even hear a sudden burst of commotion from the classroom behind him, forcing the discipline monitor to knock on the table with the chalk eraser and shout, "Quiet! Quiet! Keep it down, or I'll call the teacher!"
*
In the intense sunlight, the two walked one after the other on the freshly mopped corridor that glistened under the midday sun.
Lin Xingjie let go of his hand. Walking behind her, Xu Xiangyang could see her cheeks lightly flushed, framed by her beautiful hair.
"Are you angry?"
Seeing that she hadn't spoken, he couldn't help but ask.
"...I'm not angry," Lin Xingjie muttered.
"This morning when you spoke about how we could still spend time together at school, I only felt happy. But attracting attention like earlier, isn't that a bit... undesirable?"
"What's undesirable about it?" Xu Xiangyang smiled, "Besides, when it involves you, these things are unavoidable. Better to be open about it than to let people gossip."
"Hmm... alright then, since it doesn't bother you, of course, I don't mind."
Lin Xingjie sneaked a glance at him and asked tentatively,
"The person from earlier, is he your friend?"
"Hmm?" Xu Xiangyang thought for a moment, "Not really, just an ordinary classmate."
"Then why did he..."
"He only gets especially enthusiastic about this matter."
Xu Xiangyang guessed that the guy was probably jealous of his relationship with Lin Xingjie. Even though the guy would surely disdain Lin Xingjie, a girl with a bad reputation known throughout the school, and delight in spreading rumors about her messing around with other guys and bad youths outside school... Xu Xiangyang still felt this way.
The thoughts of adolescent boys can sometimes be very sensitive, no less complex than those of girls.
"We're really not close, so don't worry about it."
"I think his attitude, how should I put it, it's kind of annoying."
"Then I find it annoying too."
"Pfft."
The girl, who had remained silent and seemed deep in thought, couldn't help but chuckle, revealing a cheerful expression.
As if having made a decision, she suddenly began to swing her arms and shake her head, rolling up her sleeves and doing warm-up exercises in the corridor, then said to Xu Xiangyang:
"Let's have a race, okay?"
"...Ah?"
This sudden suggestion caught Xu Xiangyang off guard.
"Hurry up, let's go to the warehouse near the south sports field. I said there's something I want to show you."
As Lin Xingjie turned around to speak to him, a breeze came from the end of the corridor, blowing her long black hair onto his face. Xu Xiangyang's nose tickled, and he couldn't help but sneeze.
On the next breath, the girl started running forward.
"Wait, wait a moment!"
Lin Xingjie's shadow, like a light breeze, disappeared at the end of the corridor, her cheerful shouting voice echoing from afar.
"Hurry up, we'll be out of time if you're late!"
Xu Xiangyang sighed helplessly and had no choice but to follow her.
...
He ran alongside her under the brilliant sun, running until his forehead was burning, his body overheated, sweat soaked his back, yet his steps felt as light as if he were flying;
They ran past corridors, down the stairs, through flower beds, crossing the quiet campus, past the track and the sports field, until they reached the warehouse, and only then did the slender figure in front of him stop.
Breathless, Xu Xiangyang had just stepped into the shade and was about to bend over to catch his breath when he saw a dazzling play of light in front of him, thinking he had been dazzled by the sunlight;
But in the next breath, a huge, pitch-black "fish" appeared!
It looked like a whale from a nature magazine, about the size of the sports warehouse in front of him, except it was black all over and shrouded in a hazy aura so that its details weren't clear;
Its colossal body, like an ethereal shadow, faced no obstacles from physical objects, floating through the walls of the warehouse and then leisurely passing over Xu Xiangyang's head, nearly scaring him into falling to the ground.
Even if he had a weapon in hand, it would hardly be of any use at such a moment; faced with such a surreal monster, it was good enough that an ordinary person didn't faint from fright.
Despite not being the first encounter, Xu Xiangyang still felt breathless, his entire body stiffened, as he watched it open its bottomless mouth before him, revealing an interior as dark and profound as a cosmic black hole, seemingly about to swallow him whole—