"Just a sec, I need to use the bathroom," Ming yue called out aa she rushed towards the toilet. Her friend, Xu wan, waited impatiently in the corridor that led to the main entrance of the school building. They had just finished for the day and needed to hurry to the parking lot to catch the school bus.

"You don't want to walk home, do you?" Xu wan urged, glancing at her watch.

Ming Yue, feeling the urgency, was even more anxious to get home than anyone else. She darted into the restroom and quickly opened the door to the third cubicle. Within moment s, she was done. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she headed to the sink to wash her hands, as good hygiene dictated. She avoided looking into the mirror above the sink and focus solely at the task at hand.

As she turned off the faucet and raised her head, her skipped a beat.

Through the mirror, she saw a figure standing unnervingly close behind her.

The creature's appearance was horrifying. It's skin was rough and ghastly white, while its eyes were nothing but dark, hollow voids.

The sinister grin on its face sent chills running down her spine. When the creature opened its mouth, the darkness inside was broken only by a blood- red glowing tongue, split down the middle like it had been torn in half.

Ming Yue was frozen in fear, paralyzed as though some unseen force was holding her in place. She tried to turn her head to look directly at the creature, but her body refused to obey. The creature's tongue slithered out as it laughed, its wicked cackle echoing in her ears.

Suddenly, the force gripping her released and she regained control of her body. She spun around instantly, but the creature was gone.

Ming Yue frantically scanned the restroom, peering into the cubicle and every corner, but everything seemed normal, as though nothing had happened. Trembling, she turned back to the mirror. This time, there was nothing staring back at her except her own terrified reflection.

The fear lingered in her chest as she bolted out of the restroom. Her thoughts raced with memory of the creature. She hurried to the corridor where she had left Xu wan, but something was off. The entire school had fallen silent.

"Has everyone gone home? No, it can't be this fast," she muttered, her voice shaky.

Zhongyu Academy was a large high school with a bustling population. It was rarely quiet, even hours after dismissal. The combined noise of day students and boarding students usually filled the campus long after school ended. This silence was unnatural.

A heavy eerie stillness blanketed the air, amplifying even the sound of her own breathing. Ming Yue felt an overwhelming sense of dread as walked further down the corridor. The seemed to stretch into infinity, suffocating her with intensity.

Then she froze.

Just a few meters ahead of her, she saw a sight that made her heart pound violently in her chest. Her legs gave out beneath her, and she collapsed into the floor.

Xu wan lay sprawled on the ground, lifeless. Blood streamed from her mouth and pooled beneath her head.

But it wasn't just the blood that horrified Ming Yue. Xu wan's face was ghastly pale, her eyes wide open yet completely devoid of eyeballs. The socket was filled with just the eerie whiteness of the sclera, and her tongue - split into halves like the creature's - had fallen out of her mouth and onto the floor.

Tears streamed down Ming Yue's face as she crawled backward, trembling and unable to look away from the grotesque scene. Her mind reeled with tears and disbelief.

She stumbled backward, desperate to escape the scene, when her back suddenly collided with a solid figure. A surge of fear gripped her, and her heart raced wildly, as though it might burst out of her chest at any moment.