By now, the sky had grown completely dark.
The darkness of the night made the cold, white lights of the lab building seem even more dazzling. Through a translucent window, the slender silhouette of a girl was faintly visible.
Wen Qian carefully scanned the door plaques on both sides of the hall, but she couldn't find lab 609, the one Gu Mian had mentioned.
Raising her wrist to check the time, Wen Qian decided to send Gu Mian a message. But just as she pulled out her phone, the lights in the hallway suddenly went out.
The lab, once as bright as day, was instantly plunged into darkness. Not a single light remained on in the entire long corridor.
Wen Qian shivered. She trusted the school's security, of course, but being alone in such a dark, empty space was inevitably a little frightening.
Standing stiffly in place, Wen Qian found herself in the only spot touched by moonlight. She stared down the long, dark path ahead and called out, trying to sound brave, "Professor Gu?"
There was no answer.
A faint echo reached her ears, followed by the slightly chilly late-summer wind.
The wind gently swayed the hem of her skirt. Wen Qian drew up one long, pale leg and nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her cherry-red lips were slightly parted as she tilted her head toward the pale yellow light from the window. Her presence transformed the eerie, terrifying scene into something almost cinematic.
Too bad Wen Qian wasn't aware of that. All she knew was that her luck today was the absolute worst. First, she'd been snubbed by a cat, then she'd lost her notebook, and now she was caught in a power outage… 'When it rains, it pours,' she lamented inwardly. 'My luck is so bad that even drinking water would probably choke me.'
Feeling wronged, she unlocked her phone and sent another message to Gu Mian.
Wen Qian: Professor, I think the power's out…
After waiting by the window for a moment with no reply, Wen Qian called Gu Mian's phone.
But the phone seemed to be on silent. She called three times in a row, but no one answered. Wen Qian felt like crying but had no tears. She had no idea when the power would come back on. Was she supposed to just wait here forever?
'What if the power is out all night? Then I'm totally screwed, right?'
'Maybe… I should just go to 609 and find Gu Mian there!'
With that thought, Wen Qian turned on her phone's flashlight. She'd been busy all day and hadn't charged it. Seeing the blinking 4% battery icon made her heart ache a little.
'I don't know how long this battery will last. When I get to 609, I absolutely have to borrow a charger from Professor Gu!'
Perhaps because of her nervousness, the path to 609 felt exceptionally long. She carefully navigated each flight of stairs, meticulously shining her light on every room's door plaque.
604…
605…
606…
As the numbers got closer, Wen Qian finally let out a long sigh of relief.
She had just passed a series of rooms without any numbers and was starting to think she was caught in some kind of supernatural loop. It turned out the numbered rooms were on the other side of the staircase.
Still, Wen Qian felt that something was wrong…
Logically, the windows where she was now were all connected, and the view was much wider. If relying solely on the moonlight and the lights from outside, this area should have been brighter than where she was before.
But…
She could see the scenery outside the windows to her right, yet her immediate surroundings felt dim and obscure.
As if guided by some unseen force, she turned off her flashlight. Even though Wen Qian had mentally prepared herself, her breath still caught when she saw it with her own eyes.
On the once-smooth wall of the lab, now without the beam of her flashlight, a massive shadow appeared. The shadow was more than twice Wen Qian's height and had a streamlined shape.
Wen Qian was scared stiff. The shadow on the wall was slowly leaning in her direction. Its mouth was slightly open, revealing a long, slender forked tongue… It was a snake!
A wave of dizziness washed over her. Wen Qian felt her own rapid, forceful heartbeat was like a pounding gong, making her ears ring incessantly. She suppressed the urge to turn and run, terrified that the thing behind her would get excited and swallow her whole…
'Maybe I should play dead?'
'I definitely can't outrun it. If I play dead, maybe… I'll have a chance?'
With this in mind, even Wen Qian's breathing became cautious.
Just then, a sticky, terrifying sound came from behind her. Wen Qian's legs went weak, and she was utterly terrified.
But she didn't dare scream, afraid her cowardice would excite it.
'Where did it even come from?'
'When did it start following me…'
'Could it have been behind me this whole time, silently crossing… this long hallway?'
'This is bad!'
Her heart lurched. Wen Qian noticed the snake shadow on the wall move distinctly. It craned its head toward her, its slender tongue touching her earlobe.
It wasn't a real touch, of course, but at this moment, even a mere shadow was enough to scare Wen Qian half to death.
She clamped her hands over her mouth as her legs moved forward uncontrollably. Just then, something wrapped tightly around her calf. A gentle tug was all it took for Wen Qian to lose her balance and fall into a broad, cold embrace.
A hand covered her eyes from behind.
CLICK—
Then came the crisp sound of a door opening.
With her eyes still covered, she was led into a pitch-black space.
Her body was spun around. Wen Qian found herself facing the door, and just as she was about to struggle, her hands were pinned above her head.
She was stunned. She vaguely remembered a cold, slippery snake's tail wrapping around her calf, but what had covered her eyes and pulled her into the room was a pair of cold, strong hands.
"Pro-Professor Gu?" Wen Qian asked tentatively.
The person didn't answer, only leaning down slightly to bring his lips close to her ear.
A cold, slick sensation touched the tip of her ear, and Wen Qian instantly recalled the image on the wall from before.
'A snake's forked tongue…'
'Could the one behind me be… a Beastman?!'
For a moment, the room was terrifyingly silent. If not for the shifting air pressure around her and the hand that restrained her, Wen Qian would have thought it was all a dream.
"You're… a Beastman?" Wen Qian tried to turn her head, but he pressed a hand to the nape of her neck, holding her still.
The cold pads of his fingers traced an inch-by-inch path over her exposed skin, sending a shiver through her.
Wen Qian was growing annoyed. "What… what do you want?"
No one answered her, only the suppression of absolute strength and the hand that continued its torment on her neck.
Wen Qian: "Ngh, that hurts—"
His eyes were locked tightly on the small human before him. The rough pads of his fingers stroked the bite mark on her neck again and again. Then he pressed down hard, rubbing it repeatedly, not stopping until she cried out in pain and tears were forced from her eyes.
There was a ruthless glint in his eyes, and the force he used was anything but gentle. He was clearly trying to completely erase the mark from Wen Qian's neck.
"I don't care who you are, as long as you don't do anything bad… I'll keep your secret." With reddened eyes, Wen Qian tried to break free, but the person behind her pressed her even more firmly. Fear mixed with anger as she said, "If you hurt me, the school will definitely launch a thorough investigation! It won't be so easy for you to get away then!"