The young man was slender and thin, surrounded by three boys. Although he was clearly the tallest among them, he somehow appeared to be at a disadvantage, making him look rather pitiful.
“Seriously?” Wei Yao turned his head incredulously toward his buddies. “His brain must be broken, right? He actually thinks those three idiots, Jin Qi and the others, came to be friends with him?”
Wei Yao immediately stopped finding the little blind guy’s earlier retort endearing. He felt that perhaps his own eyes were blind too. This was obviously a complete idiot.
“What happened to the attitude he had when he talked back to me and Xu Wangchuan? How come he chickens out as soon as he meets Jin Qi?”
Among his buddies, Wen Dajiang had the closest relationship with Wei Yao. Hearing this, he rolled his eyes so hard they nearly reached the sky and reached out to touch Wei Yao’s forehead.
“Old Wei, you’re burning up, aren’t you?”
Someone snickered, “I think he’s horny.”
“Yeah, Brother Yao, no matter how good-looking that little blind guy is, he’s still a guy. A guy! What good is being good-looking?”
Wei Yao slapped Wen Dajiang’s hand away and sneered, “I think you guys are asking to die! I just think this little blind guy is fun, okay? We’re stuck in school all day like pigs being raised in captivity. Can’t I find a little entertainment?”
His buddies had nothing to say to that and could only play along to the end.
“Fine, Your Highness. But Jin Qi and the others have taken a liking to your entertainment too. You gonna do anything about it?”
Jin Qi’s group was from the senior-year international class. Their reputation at Nanming had always been rather poor.
Unlike Wei Yao, who also carried the title of “Nanming’s Little Tyrant,” he had actually gotten into the Elite Class through his own ability. Granted, he was at the bottom of the Elite Class, but even being the tail of a phoenix counted as being a phoenix.
Moreover, he never caused trouble inside the school. Although he was somewhat domineering, he would not actively bully his classmates like Jin Qi and the others did. Whenever there was a real problem, he settled it outside school.
To put it in Jianghu terms, Brother Yao was the definition of loyalty!
Of course, “Brother Yao from society” was not some exemplary student who would draw his sword whenever he saw injustice. He rubbed his chin and thought for a moment before saying, “Why bother? Once he suffers at Jin Qi’s hands, he’ll know who the good guy is.”
That was what he said, but he still craned his neck to look toward the table in the corner.
Jin Qi had already left with his people. Xu Muchan was sitting alone in the corner. Xu Wangchuan, who had brought him there, had disappeared to God knew where.
He sat there for a while. Probably not wanting to wait anymore, he picked up his tray with one hand and held his white cane with the other, slowly and steadily searching for his way to return the tray like a little turtle.
It was the peak of lunchtime, when the cafeteria was packed with people. The tables and chairs were also placed close together. He was obviously unfamiliar with the route. Although he used his white cane to feel his way around, he still walked very slowly and inevitably bumped into things here and there, stumbling along as he went.
Wei Yao muttered, “Is he stupid? If he can’t see, doesn’t he know to ask someone for help?”
As soon as he said this, he saw a girl carrying a tray approach him.
She was wearing Nanming’s black, white, and blue school uniform. She was petite and had her hair tied in a low ponytail. She looked somewhat familiar.
Wei Yao desperately jabbed Wen Dajiang beside him with his elbow.
“Who’s that? Why does she look familiar?”
Wen Dajiang was speechless.
“Young master, that’s He Jiaqi. She’s in our class. How could she not look familiar?”
He Jiaqi gently touched the new classmate who was stumbling along and softly said, “Xu Muchan, are you going to return your tray? I can take you there.”
Xu Muchan froze for a moment, then realized what was happening and thanked her before following behind He Jiaqi.
The place for returning trays was actually not far away. It only took a few steps to reach it.
“Give it to me. I’ll put it away for you.”
He Jiaqi casually took the tray from Xu Muchan’s hands and placed it on the collection cart with her own.
Xu Muchan rarely received such obvious kindness. He thanked her again.
“My name is He Jiaqi. We’re in the same class. I sit two desks ahead of you.”
He Jiaqi seemed to have something to say. After hesitating briefly, she still gathered her courage and quietly warned him, “The people who came to find you just now were Jin Qi and the others. They’re from the senior-year international department, and their reputation at school has always been pretty bad. They often pick on their classmates. I… I’ve been picked on by them too. You really shouldn’t trust them too much.”
After saying this, the courage He Jiaqi had mustered was completely spent. She lowered her head and hurried away.
Xu Muchan opened his mouth, but before he could speak, he realized that the person in front of him had apparently already left.
He stood there blankly for a moment. He committed his new classmate’s name to memory before slowly using his white cane to feel his way out of the cafeteria.
He had only taken two steps when Xu Wangchuan, who had disappeared for a long time, suddenly appeared from somewhere and grabbed Xu Muchan.
“Muchan, so you were here. Since you can’t see, it’s better not to wander around on your own.”
Xu Muchan did not explain anything to him. He simply followed Xu Wangchuan’s footsteps as they walked outside.
“Let’s go back to the classroom. I want to rest for a while.”
Xu Wangchuan studied his expression. He had originally wanted to test Xu Muchan’s attitude toward Jin Qi, but then he thought about how Jin Qi’s group had no sense of restraint when they picked on people. If something happened tomorrow, it was probably better for him not to know about it.
That way, if the matter was investigated afterward and they traced it back to him, he would not reveal anything suspicious.
With this thought in mind, Xu Wangchuan became especially gentle.
“Okay, let’s go back to the classroom. The driver just called me and said the things you wanted have been delivered.”
The driver had brought Xu Muchan the recording pen he had requested, along with an elderly-person’s cellphone that had all the electronic textbooks downloaded onto it.
The elderly-person’s phone had physical buttons, making it slightly easier to operate than a touchscreen phone with accessibility mode enabled. Xu Muchan liked it very much.
After feeling around for a while, he figured out the basic functions and buttons on both the recording pen and the phone.
When afternoon classes began, with the recording pen assisting him, Xu Muchan recorded the contents of the lessons. During evening self-study, he repeatedly listened to the recordings until he fully understood them. Whenever there was something he did not understand, he asked Xu Wangchuan beside him.
Learning became much easier than it had been at first.
He discovered that the curriculum at Yundong and Nanming was actually quite similar. However, Nanming clearly went into greater depth. Many topics had merely been touched upon by the teachers at Yundong, whereas the teachers at Nanming would expand on them in detail.
Xu Muchan’s foundation was very solid, so there was no need to worry too much about the basics. From here on, he only needed to find a way to catch up with the more advanced material.
Once Xu Muchan realized this, he felt much more relaxed. When he went home after evening self-study, the corners of his lips remained curved upward.
In his good mood, Xu Muchan was pleasant toward everyone, including the older brother who had refused his offering the night before.
That night, after everyone had returned to their rooms to rest, Xu Muchan secretly went to the kitchen and took an egg. After mixing it with uncooked rice, he stuck a thin incense stick into it and respectfully placed it in front of the shrine.
Xu Muchan sat cross-legged on the wooden floor. The cabinet holding the shrine was just about level with his chin. He placed both hands against the bottom of the cabinet, rested his chin on the backs of his hands, leaned forward, and brought his entire face very close to the shrine as he chattered about what had happened at school that day.
“The teachers at my new school explain things much more clearly. Even though I can’t see, I can understand everything after listening to the recordings a few more times.”
“The school environment is really good too. I heard other people talking about how the school even has a huge library with lots of books.”
“There are also lots of clubs at school, and plenty of activities. But I can’t see right now, so I probably won’t be able to join any clubs.”
“Oh, I also met several senior boys from Grade Twelve at the cafeteria today. They were really nice, and they said they wanted to be friends with me.”
Xu Muchan blinked his dark, glossy eyes. A faint smile appeared on his lips, seeming somewhat shy and expectant.
“I feel like my new school is much better than I imagined. Brother, how about I take you there with me tomorrow? I want you to see my school and my friends.”
The young man’s voice was clear and soft. His dark, moist eyes could not focus because of his blindness, but that did not stop them from becoming misty and hazy, luring the prey into taking the bait.
The shadows in the room writhed and gathered behind the young man, stretching and twisting from a flat surface into the three-dimensional shape of a human figure.
The excessively dense shadow rose to a height of more than two meters. Its arms spread open, forming an invisible cage that enclosed Xu Muchan. Its back arched, its long, slender neck drooped, and beside Xu Muchan’s ear, it hissed:
“A-Chan is mine.”
The young man trapped inside the cage was completely unaware. He tilted his ear and waited for a while, but received no response.
If he had still been unable to determine whether his brother had followed him before, then after discovering that the wound on his finger had inexplicably healed that morning, he had become certain that his brother had definitely come along.
Although his brother had always refused to show himself, that did not matter.
As long as he had come, that was enough.
Xu Muchan smiled and remained leaning there for a while. Only after the incense had burned out and the smell had dissipated from the room did he slowly sit up. He closed the cabinet door and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
He did not know that his brother was lying on his back, all four limbs tightly wrapped around him, following him inside.
That night, Xu Muchan went to sleep very early because he had to go to the hospital the next morning for an examination of his eyes.
But in the middle of the night, in his half-conscious state, he heard the doorknob making a “click, click” sound. Someone was also calling his name mournfully beside his ear, the voice shrill and thin enough to make his ears ache.
Xu Muchan’s brows knitted tightly, his eyelashes trembling restlessly. Just as he was about to wake up, a pair of hands timely covered his ears.
With the annoying voice gone, Xu Muchan’s expression became peaceful, and he sank into sleep once more.
After confirming that he was asleep, the tall shadow released its hands and left the room, filled with an intense murderous aura.
A thick shadow as viscous as oil flowed out from beneath the door and traveled along the corridor, patrolling the area. The thing that had knocked on the door earlier had disappeared without a trace the instant it came out.
But the shadow did not stop. After searching the entire first floor, it slid down the stairs toward the basement.
On the third underground floor at night, the chill was so heavy that it seemed almost tangible. White mist filled the space, and only the dark-red shrine and the statue enshrined within it could be vaguely seen.
The God of Joy statue, over a meter tall, was covered with a red cloth. Fresh fruits and offerings were placed on the altar in front of it, while carved incense candles as thick as two fingers burned on either side.
The shadow stopped before the shrine. Its constantly shifting form became somewhat solid, as though it had encountered some perplexing problem that it could not understand, causing it to freeze for a moment.
But moments later, it moved again.
The oil-thick black shadow boiled and churned. Like spilled ink or spreading mold, it climbed upward along the legs of the altar.
The wood gave off an ear-piercing creaking sound. In the blink of an eye, the altar and all the offerings upon it turned into piles of pitch-black residue.
Meanwhile, the shadow continued expanding, becoming denser and darker, carrying a tremendous aura of yin malice as it spread toward the God of Joy statue at the center…