October 15, the weather is clear.
In the bright sunshine of the early morning, Jiang Hou walked leisurely under the shade of a tree, looking just like an ordinary high school student.
The death of that Zhang fellow had been a wake-up call for him; against modern firearms and heavy weapons, he was still quite weak.
Currently, it's unclear if the 'nation' is aware of the ruins, or how much they know, or what their attitude is towards those who have gained Extraordinary Power.
In the face of all this uncertainty, Jiang Hou must tread carefully to avoid bringing disaster upon himself and Qin Siyu and the others.
Beyond that, he was also somewhat interested in Zhang's weapon.
Unfortunately, that item was certainly taken away by the Law Enforcer and might already be on an experiment table in some research institute.
Thinking about this, Jiang Hou recalled the videos he searched for last night; most of them start with an image, and the rest rely on fabricated short essays.
Occasionally, there were one or two videos that seemed somewhat realistic, but their exaggeration gave the illusion of being fake.
Moreover, below those videos, many comments praised the creator's editing skills, commended the realism, and expressed anticipation for new material.
When Jiang Hou realized this and wanted to rewatch those videos, he found that the links to those videos were no longer available.
Including the history of watched videos.
It seemed as if an invisible hand was covering up something; recalling the comments under those videos also gave a deliberate sense of confusion.
"The waters run deep in this world."
Jiang Hou's gaze was solemn; this seemingly peaceful modern society was evidently not as simple as it appeared.
Yidu City Third Middle School isn't very far from Jiang Hou's home, about a twenty-minute walk.
When Jiang Hou arrived at school, the road ahead and behind him was filled with students heading to school, some walking like him, others riding shared bikes, laughing and chatting filled with energy.
"Youth is truly wonderful." Jiang Hou sighed; compared to the simple and relaxed atmosphere of campus life, the complex and stressful society felt like a completely different world.
Not to mention another oppressive and gloomy world.
Jiang Hou entered the school and quickly arrived at the third-floor Class Two of Senior Three.
Most students had arrived in the classroom already, half of them boarding students, some were sorting papers, others whispering together.
And some were playing on their phones.
Entering the classroom, Jiang Hou went to the last row; his seat was by the window.
The back row by the window is the king's realm; of course, Jiang Hou wasn't so cliché, he sat here due to the school's regular seating changes.
To ensure each student's efficiency in listening to lectures, Third Middle regularly changes seats every semester.
"Here you are, Jiang Hou." His seatmate greeted him, lifting his head.
"Morning." Jiang Hou nodded slightly, bypassed him to sit down, and casually pulled out a pink lunch bag, placing it in the drawer.
Since entering Senior Three, most of Jiang Hou's books were left at school, and he only took items like pens and ink daily, so he didn't carry much in his backpack.
Watching Jiang Hou place the lunch bag in the drawer, his seatmate showed a look of envy.
"Jiang Hou, I also wish I had a cute and capable sister who makes me delicious food daily."
Jiang Hou glanced at him lazily and said, "Firstly, Siyu is not my sister, and second, if you want delicious food, it's simple—order takeout."
His seatmate shrugged: "Yeah, she's not a sister; she's a childhood friend who grew up together."
Jiang Hou shook his head, unwilling to entertain the guy; he knew if he continued, the boy would shift the topic to boasting about the love letter he just received.
His seatmate is called Zong Zheng Nan Mo, a name that sounds beautiful.
And he was even more attractive than girls, possibly described as pretty, with handsome features and shoulder-length hair, the tips of which were golden.
With his height of 175 cm and refined demeanor, he had many girls surrounding him since first entering high school.
Over the two years in high school, Jiang Hou frequently saw this guy taking out love letters from his drawer, sometimes finding new envelopes on his desk after returning from the bathroom.
This made the other boys in the class both envious and jealous, which led to him being ostracized.
If not for Jiang Hou, he would nearly have no friends in the class, yet he was somewhat gossipy and liked to boast, which troubled the taciturn Jiang Hou.
Constantly nagged in various poses.
Despite receiving many love letters, he always rejected them, citing an elder's divination that high school was not a good time for romance, thus still remained girlfriendless.
He just constantly nags Jiang Hou, yet Zong Zheng Nan Mo seems very envious of Jiang Hou having a cute and pretty childhood friend.
Trying to nag me again, not happening.
Seeing Jiang Hou not taking the bait, Zong Zheng Nan Mo on the side could only change the subject: "Jiang Hou, why are you wearing a glove on your left hand? Is it that cold today?"
Jiang Hou replied casually, "Nothing much, my hand got scratched yesterday, so I'm wearing a glove to cover it."
In the morning, Jiang Hou wore a thin glove on his left hand, black in color, with five fingers exposed.
The legacy mark was too conspicuous to leave undisguised, though wearing gloves was a bit odd in early autumn, it was better than leaving it uncovered.
Why wear gloves for a scratched hand? Zong Zheng Nan Mo found it strange, but at that moment, as he saw the teacher entering the classroom, he could only hold his tongue.
"Quiet down everyone, class begins…"
On the podium, the teacher looked serious, explaining physics knowledge, but soon Jiang Hou's thoughts drifted out of the window.
Outside, the leaves swayed, sparrows perched among them chirping, and some students on the playground taking PE class ran with vitality.
While the other world was dark and oppressive, filled with various dangerous creatures, everything contrary to this reality...
As Jiang Hou spaced out, a class session quickly passed.
During the break, contemplating whether to take a stroll in the hallway, his desk mate Zong Zheng Nan Mo approached mysteriously and spoke in a low voice.
"Jiang Hou, have you heard about the death last night?"
"Many died, how many?" Jiang Hou's gaze shifted, turning to face him.
Zong Zheng Nan Mo spoke softly, "My cousin told me there were over ten, in a small factory in the suburbs, last night all those on the night shift perished."
"Their bodies were horribly mutilated, as if ripped or gnawed by something, the scene was bloody, scaring even the Law Enforcers on site."
"Besides, the factory was damaged, in complete disarray."
Ripped, gnawed—these words made Jiang Hou squint slightly, his tone heavy as he asked, "...Did they capture the murderer?"
Zong Zheng Nan Mo shook his head: "No capture, the Law Enforcers are unsure if the murderer is human, as the deceased's wounds don't seem inflicted by humans."
Jiang Hou thought of the monsters in the ruins.
Zong Zheng Nan Mo appeared tense, speaking in hushed tones, "Jiang Hou, do you think it might be ghosts? Otherwise, how could over ten people fail to escape or call the police, just ended up dead."
Hearing this, fear flickered in Zong Zheng Nan Mo's eyes.
"…You come from a family that runs a Taoist temple, and you're afraid of ghosts?" Jiang Hou found it absurd.
"Easy for you to say." Zong Zheng Nan Mo scratched his hair, "Though I've learned Taoism since childhood, it's all actually trickery."
"Moreover…" he involuntarily shivered.
"Moreover what?"
"Nothing, nothing at all, how could there be ghosts, it's all deceit." Snapping his head furiously.
This guy, did he encounter ghosts last night? Jiang Hou squinted, keenly noting the odd behavior in Zong Zheng Nan Mo's reaction.
The existence of ghosts was hard to tell, even for Jiang Hou.
Say there aren't any, well, he himself had died twice.
Say there are, yet he had no memories or sensations of being a ghost!!