Chapter 46: Yay, It’s Unstable SAN Value!

Wu Zhen appeared nearby at some unknown time. She looked at Yue Yiyue and smiled. “Are you here to find Gu Nanqiu?”

“Why didn’t you keep walking that way? What are you thinking about?”

Yue Yiyue glanced at Wu Zhen, unsure whether she was in cahoots with her cousin.

And when exactly had this Wu Zhen come over?

How much had she heard?

How much did she know about what Xie Ying had just said? How much had she been involved in?

“Nothing. I saw Gu Nanqiu.” Yue Yiyue sidestepped the heavy topic, changed the subject, and smoothly took Xie Ying from Gu Nanqiu’s hands. “Wu, if it’s convenient, could you please ask for a leave of absence for Gu Nanqiu and Xie Ying?”

“We’re taking her to the Infirmary. We might be late for class.”

“What happened to her?” Wu Zhen looked curiously at Xie Ying in Yue Yiyue’s arms. When she noticed the bloodstains splattered on the ground, worry appeared on Wu Zhen’s face as well.

But Yue Yiyue felt that this expression seemed a bit fake.

She tried to convince herself not to let her dislike for He Wu extend to his cousin as well.

But due to certain concerns, Yue Yiyue didn’t let her guard down.

“She’s having a nosebleed and seems a bit dizzy from the sight of blood.” Yue Yiyue told a blatant lie with a straight face. She glanced at Gu Nanqiu. “Nanqiu, is that right?”

Gu Nanqiu blinked, looking as if she understood. She nodded seriously and backed Yue Yiyue up. “Yes, Xie Ying just rushed over saying she was dizzy from blood, and then she collapsed.”

“I see.” Wu Zhen seemed to believe it. She glanced at the time.

“If it’s just a nosebleed, Yue Yiyue, you can handle it alone, right? No need to delay Nanqiu’s class. This is an important advanced math lesson.” Wu Zhen looked past Yue Yiyue at Gu Nanqiu and gave a kind smile. In an instant, a cloyingly sweet candy scent wafted out, enveloping everyone in its flavor.

It was as if they had stumbled into a candy house filled with sweets.

As Wu Zhen spoke, she walked forward. “Nanqiu, you came so early today. The teacher wants something for this afternoon’s class.”

With her movements, the sweetness in the air grew even thicker.

Yue Yiyue stood there in a daze, her mind falling into a stupor along with the cloying fragrance. Deep in her mind, it felt like something was battling it out.

In the end, only three words repeated in her mind: ‘Listen to her.’

‘Listen to her!!’

‘Listen to her!!!’

Just as Wu Zhen was about to reach Gu Nanqiu’s side,

Yue Yiyue caught a whiff of osmanthus fragrance.

It was faint, but enough to snap her awake.

No, Wu Zhen hadn’t even asked Gu Nanqiu! That was disrespectful to her!

She nimbly hoisted Xie Ying over her shoulder and wedged herself between the two. In that instant, there was no trace of her usual dazed expression on Yue Yiyue’s face. Her brows furrowed sharply as she warned Wu Zhen. “Wu, sorry, but you need to ask Nanqiu’s opinion first.”

Wu Zhen looked at Yue Yiyue in astonishment. This was impossible…….

But she kept her expression unchanged and put on a hypocritical smile. “Yue Yiyue, it’s just missing one class. Gu Nanqiu surely thinks class is more important, right? After all, you’re already planning to take this classmate to the Infirmary.”

“Isn’t that right, Nanqiu? You know how important this afternoon’s class is.” She took two steps forward and pointed toward the distant classroom.

As she brushed past Gu Nanqiu, she whispered something only the two of them could hear. “What kind of thing are you? If you tell your good friend here, what do you think she’ll do?”

“I can study the afternoon class on my own later. Right now, I need to go with Yiyue to take Xie Ying to the Infirmary. Please don’t delay us.” Gu Nanqiu covered her nose. She took a step back, hiding behind Yue Yiyue, and asked with a hint of confusion. “Why did you assume I’d go with you?”

The smile on Wu Zhen’s face faltered a bit. It wasn’t surprising that Gu Nanqiu could break free, since she had a close relationship with that lunatic Gu Ye.

But what was up with this Yue Yiyue?

Tch, this area was really getting lively.

“Sorry, but this afternoon’s class is really important—”

“Enough. Stop repeating that.” Yue Yiyue interrupted Wu Zhen. “If you were really worried about Xie Ying, you’d tell us to hurry, not block our way like this. It makes me wonder what your real intentions are.”

Yue Yiyue dropped those words, hoisted Xie Ying with one arm, held Gu Nanqiu’s hand with the other, and walked around Wu Zhen.

————

Entering the school Infirmary, Yue Yiyue felt that the scene was a bit like when they had been trapped in that Paper Effigy School before.

But Yue Yiyue clearly understood that this time, they wouldn’t enter that chaotic place.

After all, each monster had different habits, and They chose different ways to kill.

The School Doctor saw the two girls rushing in carrying someone and thought something serious had happened. They hurried over and took the little classmate.

After a preliminary check, they found she had only fainted, possibly from low blood pressure.

The School Doctor told the two students to find a place to rest and headed out.

Yue Yiyue pulled out a chair for Gu Nanqiu to sit in.

She walked to the window, leaned on it, and looked at the short bushes below. They had pretty light-colored flowers on them—whose name she didn’t know—but the green dotted with starry white specks was beautiful, just like Gu Nanqiu, Yue Yiyue thought subconsciously.

“Did you smell any scent just now?” Yue Yiyue rubbed her nose and then sniffed herself.

For a moment, she felt like she had smelled the scent from that Cake Shop before.

But it felt a tiny bit off. Her memory of what happened at the Cake Shop that day was a bit fuzzy, and so was the scent—fleeting.

Gu Nanqiu shook her head. “What scent?”

“I was just surprised you came over.”

“To be honest, when Xie Ying rushed over just now, she was gesturing wildly at me. I saw her mouth opening and closing, but no sound came out. I worried it was due to too much stress and exhaustion.”

“You didn’t hear any of what Xie Ying said just now?” Yue Yiyue frowned. She looked at Gu Nanqiu in surprise. “She said He Wu was planning to make a move on you. You heard nothing?”

Gu Nanqiu looked puzzled.

“Yiyue, you seemed to have the same issue just now.”

“I only heard your first half-sentence. After that, I heard nothing.”

……

It seemed something was interfering.

That was normal too. If the protagonist knew everything, it wouldn’t be good for the plot later.

Yue Yiyue could only give up on telling Gu Nanqiu about it and suggested, “Then for the next few days, we’ll stick together as much as possible. I’ll walk you to class, and after class, wait in the classroom for me to pick you up.”

“What happened?” Gu Nanqiu sensed something off in Yue Yiyue’s tone. She looked at her curiously. “Is it because of that recent case?”

Yue Yiyue nodded. Although Gu Ye hadn’t explicitly said who the Box Head Monster was,

He Wu might be connected to that monster somehow.

For example, the monster had parasitized He Wu.

Or perhaps He Wu was a variant of the monster.

Either way, Yue Yiyue had to stay vigilant, including toward that Wu Zhen.

Wu Zhen just felt off.

The way she looked at Gu Nanqiu wasn’t right either.

It wasn’t love—more like a yearning for power.

It was like an attraction to the strong—wanting to become her, to surpass her.

If it was healthy competition, they’d both improve.

But she feared Wu Zhen losing herself.

“Speaking of which, is your afternoon class really that important? Wu Zhen kept emphasizing it.” Yue Yiyue turned her head curiously to ask Gu Nanqiu.

“Eh, doesn’t matter. I’ve already studied it.” Gu Nanqiu admired Yue Yiyue before her, who looked like a beautiful landscape painting. Her eyes narrowed slightly, seemingly displeased that Yue Yiyue had mentioned someone else.

“That Wu Zhen has been messaging me these past couple days, asking about problems.”

The fish had taken the bait. Following this plot, Gu Ye could return to where she belonged……

“I told her some, but when she invited me to the library this weekend and I refused, she persisted in hanging around me.” Gu Nanqiu sounded a bit troubled. “Since she’s popular in class, many people think it’s normal.”

“That He Wu too, always following behind Wu Zhen. A few days ago, someone saw them asking Gu Ye something.”

Gu Nanqiu looked at Yue Yiyue with some worry. “I hope it’s not because they saw me get to know Gu Ye through you, so they want to pry some info from her.”

“Gu Ye isn’t like that.” Yue Yiyue subconsciously denied it, but Wu Zhen’s behavior felt wrong no matter what. They weren’t even in the same department.

Yue Yiyue thought for a moment. Perhaps some things needed to be brought along after all.

————

When Xie Ying woke up, her mind had completely shattered.

She opened her eyes to a sea of red, surrounded by many black, elongated box-like things.

They stood in the distance, scrutinizing Xie Ying.

Just seeing this scene plunged Xie Ying into new despair. Her eyes rolled back, and she kept muttering, “I want to go back. I have to go back.”

“I want to go back. I want to go back.”

“Wah wah wah, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Sorry, really sorry.”

“I don’t want to go.”

“Don’t kill me!!!”

“I said it, it’s not my fault!!!”

She muttered these words over and over.

The moment she saw Gu Nanqiu’s face, her expression twisted. She clutched her head and screamed wildly. “I was wrong, wah wah wah, sorry, I was wrong!!!”

She struggled to prop herself up and crawled on her knees toward Gu Nanqiu.

The scene was too bizarre, and the School Doctor was nowhere to be found.

Yue Yiyue had no choice but to have Gu Nanqiu stand behind the white privacy curtain. Then she tried to calm Xie Ying down.

As soon as Gu Nanqiu left, Xie Ying immediately shrank back into the covers. Every sound from outside distorted in her ears into “Go die—”

“Go die—”

“Traitor—”

“Go die—”

It hurt so much—her head throbbed so badly—that Xie Ying kept pounding it.

Yue Yiyue tried to restrain her hands and calm her down, but Xie Ying’s sharp nails scratched her.

She nearly got hit by Xie Ying’s fists too.

This state was too strange.

“Yiyue, this rope—tie her up!” Gu Nanqiu pulled out a length of rope from somewhere.

Yue Yiyue caught it and quickly looped it around Xie Ying’s hands. “Nanqiu, quickly ask Sister Ye Qiu. Xie Ying’s condition seems like she’s possessed. Should we scatter some sticky rice or something?”