Chapter 44

Chapter 44

After spending a night in the Security Bureau’s staff dormitory, Qiao Yu was dragged to the hospital early the next morning by that bastard Shang Yan. What followed was an endless barrage of physical exams and scans.

Once the last vial of blood was drawn, Qiao Yu sat on a chair in the waiting area and took a vengeful, forceful bite out of a piece of bread.

Shang Yan, meanwhile, was standing in line at the self-service kiosk to print the test results.

Qiao Yu felt there was absolutely nothing wrong with his body. Aside from being a bit pale, having a heart that occasionally stopped and started, and the fact that his body sometimes fell into pieces, he was perfectly healthy.

Waiting was tedious, so Qiao Yu pulled out his newly purchased second-hand phone.

Seeing that there were still three people ahead of Shang Yan, he figured there wasn’t enough time for a round of Honor of Kings. His finger hovered over the game icon for a moment before he started aimlessly tapping around the screen.

He opened WeChat. It was a newly registered account with nothing on it. Pass!

He opened the contacts. It was a brand-new SIM card, so there was still nothing there. Pass again!

He opened the notes app. It was still… wait a minute, there was actually something here.

[They are all devils. Mom, I hate you!]

Qiao Yu frowned as he looked at this note, presumably left behind by the phone’s previous owner.

Whoever sold this phone didn’t even bother to factory reset it. What kind of nonsense was this?

Qiao Yu clicked delete, shoved the phone back into his pocket, and focused on eating his bread.

Mmm, it tasted good. His favorite-matcha flavor.

When Shang Yan returned with a stack of test results, he found Qiao Yu with his head slightly bowed, nibbling on his bread while staring at his toes.

To be honest, when Qiao Yu wasn’t talking, his well-behaved appearance was quite endearing…

Just as Shang Yan was getting lost in the sight, the person in front of him seemed to sense his gaze. Qiao Yu looked up, his brow furrowing slightly. “What are you standing there for? Did you buy a standing-room-only ticket?”

That mouth of his was as sharp as ever.

Shang Yan sighed and sat down next to Qiao Yu, beginning to carefully flip through the stack of lab reports.

Having graduated from medical school, reading these was no trouble at all. After a quick scan, he finally reached a conclusion: “Moderate anemia.”

“Can we go now?” Qiao Yu tossed the bread wrapper away and impatiently brushed the crumbs off his hands. “Let’s go.”

“Wait.”

Once again, Qiao Yu was grabbed by the back of his collar-the scruff of his fate. He twisted his body to break free and snapped angrily, “What now?”

Ignoring his irritation, Shang Yan pushed his luck and grabbed Qiao Yu’s wrist. “Let’s go buy some red dates first. I’ll soak them in water for you to drink when we get back.”

“If you want to buy dates, just buy dates. Stop constantly putting your hands on me.” Qiao Yu was dragged away, struggling while complaining dissatisfiedly, “Did you hear me? Let go of me right now!”

“You’re not that old, yet you’ve got quite the ego, acting like you’re everyone’s superior.”

No matter how hard Qiao Yu struggled, he couldn’t break free, eventually sinking into a state of ’emo’ resignation.

That night, he stayed in the dormitory behind the Special Security Bureau. Although it was laid out like a studio apartment, it was a new building with complete furnishings. Qiao Yu took a shower, drank a cup of red date water, and went to bed.

Drowsiness hit him hard; he fell asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow.

Then, it seemed he began to dream. He dreamed of a school.

He looked at the exceptionally young and familiar face in the mirror, raised an eyebrow slightly, and then straightened the collar of his school uniform.

That’s right-wasn’t this exactly how he looked when he was eighteen?

Look at that tender young face, tsk tsk tsk~

Speaking of which, he was already quite tall back then-one hundred and seventy-eight centimeters.
As for Shang Yan… he used to be about the same height as him. Who knows what that guy ate later on? Even a GMO wouldn’t sprout that fast.

Just as he was lamenting the injustice of fate, a cold hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. Qiao Yu looked up at the mirror in front of him with a delayed reaction, only to see a terrifying-looking woman standing behind him.

She was wearing a black suit and trousers, holding a ruler in her hand. Her face… was covered in lumpy, ulcerated scars from severe burns.

Qiao Yu struggled with a look of disgust, but he couldn’t break free. He could only turn his head to glare at her, wanting to see what she was up to.

“What’s your major and class?”

“Huh?”

“I asked what class you’re in. What are you ‘huh’-ing for? Why are you loitering here instead of going to class? Do you want to be put in solitary confinement?”

As she spoke, she leaned closer to him inch by inch. Qiao Yu could even smell a cloying, burnt odor that was very pungent.

“Speak!”

“I’m on sick leave. I just came to report today, so I don’t know which class I’m in yet.” Qiao Yu spun the lie with practiced ease, not showing the slightest bit of fear.

“I see…” The female ghost, who appeared to be a teacher, nodded. Her fingers gripping his shoulder slowly loosened as she said, “Then come with me for now. The leadership is in a meeting. I’ll check the Academic Affairs Office later to see which class you’ve been assigned to.”

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Teacher.”

The female ghost teacher gave a satisfied smile and stepped into the teaching building first.

Qiao Yu took another look at the person-sized mirror on the building’s door and obediently followed her to the class she managed.

It was very dark inside the teaching building. Towering trees stood outside the windows, casting mottled shadows on the corridor floor that clawed and flickered like beasts waiting to devour someone.

The teacher led him upstairs and stopped at the door of the first classroom by the stairs. “Sit in the back for now. Our class has a quiz today; just follow along and write what you can.”

Qiao Yu nodded and walked submissively into the classroom.

The room was filled with shadows-a full house of students. Every single one of them sat with their backs ramrod straight and their posture perfect. When Qiao Yu entered, not a single one showed any surprise or curiosity; they were like replicas stamped out from the same mold.

Qiao Yu walked in slowly. Along the way, he noticed that the desks and chairs in the classroom were all made of iron and were bolted to the floor with large screws, making them impossible to move.

He quietly took a seat in the back row. A boy wearing glasses came forward to pick up a stack of papers and began distributing them to the students one by one.

During this time, the students remained sitting perfectly upright in their seats. The female ghost teacher produced a pen from somewhere and handed it to Qiao Yu, a ghastly smile appearing on her rotting face. “It’s alright. If there’s anything you don’t know, you can leave it blank. As long as you don’t score below sixty, there won’t be any punishment.”

There was a punishment for failing?

Qiao Yu had a gut feeling that this punishment wouldn’t be anything good. He nodded, thinking to himself: how could this dream be so eerily realistic? He actually had to take an exam!

After finishing her instructions, the teacher turned and walked back to the podium, her black high heels clicking rhythmically-*da, da, da*.

The student handing out the papers placed a sheet on the desk with a wooden expression, then moved forward to repeat the action. Every movement looked as if it had been measured with a ruler, like a marionette on strings.

Qiao Yu shook his head and focused his attention on the white test paper in front of him. Suddenly, his pupils contracted sharply.

[Yucai University In-Class Quiz]

Question 1: Have you ever eaten human flesh?