Li Zhi followed behind the homeroom teacher and stepped into the dark, eerie administrative building once again.
Just as expected, the security guard in the gatehouse reappeared with the principal present. He had an electric baton strapped to his waist and a walkie-talkie in hand, his sharp eyes fixated on the entrance and exit. As the homeroom teacher walked in, she slightly nodded at him.
A grooming mirror hung on the wall outside the gatehouse. As the homeroom teacher led the way, Li Zhi saw through the mirror that her lips were curving into a strange, sinister smile.
There was an old elevator installed in the building, creaking and swaying as it ascended.
With a ding, they arrived at the fifth floor, much easier than the last time when she had to climb the stairs.
The fifth floor looked the same as the last time she saw it—damp and dark. The small windows at both ends of the hallway were tightly shut, leaving no ventilation. The stench here was especially strong. The sunlight couldn’t filter through those tiny windows, which were too small for even a child to crawl through, making this floor feel more like a basement than the fifth floor.
The homeroom teacher stopped at the principal’s office door and respectfully knocked.
Soon, there was a click, and the two aluminum doors slowly parted.
An automatic door, after all.
Luckily, they didn’t resort to forcing it open.
As the door opened, that strange, unpleasant smell became even stronger, and Li Zhi instinctively covered her mouth and nose. The homeroom teacher’s expression remained unchanged, as if she hadn’t noticed the smell, and she respectfully said from the doorway, “Principal, I’ve brought the student.”
A kindly voice came from inside, “Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Liu. Let the student in.”
The homeroom teacher turned to look at Li Zhi, her attitude noticeably softer now, using a tone of a caring teacher. “Li Zhi, even though your behavior today has deeply disappointed both your teachers and your parents, our school’s mission is to nurture you. As long as you remain a student of Yucai High School, the school will not give up on you. Go in, and talk to the principal. You can express any concerns you have.”
After she finished speaking, she stepped aside from the door, looking at Li Zhi with anticipation.
Li Zhi smiled at her. “Alright, I’ll have a good talk with the principal.”
As she lifted her foot to step inside, she paused, turned around, and asked the homeroom teacher, “Teacher Liu, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
The homeroom teacher replied gently, “What is it?”
Li Zhi looked at her. “How does it feel to personally send so many students who trust you to hell?”
The homeroom teacher’s face changed, her feigned kindness unable to hold up, a vicious crack appearing in its place. After asking, Li Zhi didn’t wait for a response and stepped into the principal’s office.
With a click, the automatic doors slowly closed behind her.
It was too dark.
That was Li Zhi’s first impression upon entering the office.
Once the automatic doors shut, the only ventilation was the window across from her, but it was now covered by thick curtains that hung from the ceiling to the floor. The two old-fashioned wall lamps on the wall bathed the room in a dim light. In front of the solid wood desk sat a short, plump middle-aged man in a black leather chair, smiling warmly at her.
“Li Zhi, right?” He stood up, his face kind and gentle. “I heard from your teacher that you’ve had some trouble at school recently. Can you tell me what’s been going on?”
Li Zhi shifted her gaze away from observing the room and looked at the principal, who was slowly walking towards her.
His appearance of being kind and benevolent was indeed deceiving.
Li Zhi gazed at him with a faint smile, remaining silent. A flicker of confusion crossed the principal’s plump, smiling face, but it quickly vanished.
He stopped, picked up the cup of water on his desk, and turned towards the wall cabinet. As the sound of running water filled the air, he continued speaking, “Your parents sent you to Yucai High School hoping you’d succeed, become a student of both high morals and academic excellence. Wandering around the school in the middle of the night, fighting with classmates in the classroom—these are not the actions of a good student.”
Li Zhi chuckled. “Then what do you think a good student should do?”
The principal turned back, holding his cup and smiling kindly at her. “Following the school rules and studying hard. That’s the basic requirement for every Yucai student.”
Li Zhi asked, “What if I can’t do that?”
The principal smiled gently. “If you can’t, I can help you.”
The strange odor in the room intensified, making Li Zhi’s head ache. For a brief moment, a sharp pain, like a needle prick, jabbed her temple, startling her. In that brief moment of dizziness, the principal, who had been standing several meters away, was suddenly right in front of her.
He was holding a silver ruler, cold light reflecting off of it. A small white worm was wriggling on the ruler. One end of the ruler was in the principal’s hand, while the other was near her ear. The worm had already crawled to the tip, ready to burrow into her ear.
Quick as lightning, Li Zhi’s eyes darkened. She grabbed the principal’s wrist with one hand and, with the other, pulled out a talisman she had prepared in advance, sticking it onto his body.
The principal’s attention had been fixated on the worm, watching with satisfaction as it crawled toward the ear of this “bad student.” He hadn’t even noticed Li Zhi snapping back to full consciousness. Now immobilized, his satisfied expression turned into one of utter shock as he stared at her, blurting out, “Impossible! How can you still be conscious?!”
Li Zhi pulled the ruler from his hand. “Mental attack?”
It made sense now—those controlled students were likely victims of mental manipulation. It seemed that this “boss” specialized in mental attacks. Unfortunately for him, her mental strength had always been formidable. Though momentarily confused, she quickly turned the tables, regaining her clarity.
The principal’s face grew pale with terror, his voice trembling as he asked, “What are you going to do?!”
Li Zhi, mimicking his earlier action with the ruler, smiled as she moved it closer to his ear. “I ask, you answer. If I’m not satisfied with your answers, this worm will crawl into your body. I don’t need to tell you what will happen next, do I?”
Large beads of cold sweat rolled down the principal’s forehead.
“What is this thing?”
The principal trembled. Li Zhi’s expression turned cold. “You have one minute.”
The principal immediately yelled, “San Shi Worm! It’s the larva of the San Shi Worm!”
“Where is the mother?”
The principal, shaking, stammered, “In the… in the wall cabinet.”
“How do you destroy it?”
The principal stared at her for a moment, then suddenly let out a strange laugh. “Destroy it? It can’t be destroyed.”
He lowered his voice, speaking with a twisted allure, “The San Shi Worm isn’t just a worm, it’s a god. It’s the San Shi God. How can humans destroy a god? Little girl, humans have limited power, but their desires are boundless. If you join us, whatever you want, the San Shi God will help you achieve it.”
Since taking over Yucai High School, the principal had boosted the graduation rate to ninety percent in just two years. His career prospects were glowing. As long as he continued to worship the San Shi God, anything he desired could be his.
Li Zhi sighed.
The principal’s eyes glowed, thinking she was beginning to waver.
“One minute is still too short,” Li Zhi muttered. It was only enough time to extract this much information.
With that, she lifted the ruler to the principal’s ear. Amid his panicked screams, the small worm began wriggling its way into his ear.
As the minute expired, the talisman’s effect wore off, and the principal found himself able to move again. He tilted his head, shrieking in agony as he desperately slapped at his ear, trying to dislodge the worm.
Li Zhi chuckled. “Weren’t you so devout? Why so scared now that it’s happening to you?”
The principal, clutching his head and howling in pain, suddenly glared at Li Zhi with a vicious expression and lunged at her. Li Zhi didn’t flinch. She calmly raised her leg and kicked him hard in the chest. With a pained cry, the principal collapsed to the floor, knocked unconscious by the blow.
Li Zhi searched the office but couldn’t find anything to tie him up with. She had no choice but to use her hand as a makeshift knife, chopping several times at the back of his neck to ensure he stayed unconscious.
As she stood up, another sharp pain pierced her temple. Li Zhi wobbled unsteadily, gripping the desk to regain her balance. She frowned as she looked at the wall cabinet that spanned the length of the room, its hidden compartments concealing something dangerous.
The San Shi worm was continuously trying to exert mental control over her.
The ongoing battle of wills between her mind and the creature’s influence left her pale, dizzy, and nauseated.
From outside the office, the sounds of anguished screams echoed down the hallway.
The mother of the San Shi worms had sensed danger and started manipulating those who harbored its eggs to protect it. Although Tan Manyu and the others weren’t under the worm’s direct control, they were still being affected by the mental assault radiating from the office.
However, Tan Manyu, having been selected and trained for this mission by the state, had a strong mental resilience. And the further away one was, the weaker the effect of the attack. Separated by a wall and an automatic door, she and the others were not as affected as Li Zhi.
After a brief struggle, Tan Manyu regained consciousness. As she opened her eyes, she saw Zhou Jianzhang with a savage expression, pulling an axe from the hallway’s fire hydrant and swinging it towards the dazed Xu Yiran, who had lost all sense of self.
“Xu Yiran!” Tan Manyu shouted.
Xu Yiran stirred, her face showing signs of a painful inner struggle.
Tan Manyu knocked down Bei Xuan, who was attacking her, and rushed towards Xu Yiran. The axe swung down, grazing her shoulder, slicing off both skin and flesh. Despite the excruciating pain that turned her face pale, Tan Manyu moved quickly. She pushed Xu Yiran aside and spun around, kicking Zhou Jianzhang’s wrist to disarm him, sending the axe flying out of his grip.
“Lian Qinglin!” she shouted.
“Got it!”
Lian Qinglin dashed toward the axe on the floor, reaching it before anyone else and snatching it up.
These people were no longer human. There was no need to hold back.
Gripping the axe tightly, Lian Qinglin glanced at Tan Manyu, who was once again being surrounded by attackers. With gritted teeth and a battle cry, he swung the axe down at the person holding Tan Manyu from behind.
The blade cleaved into the attacker’s waist, almost cutting them in half.
But the anticipated gush of blood and gore didn’t occur.
Instead, a swarm of worms poured out from the bisected body. The person, who had once been their teammate Dong Mingcheng, crumpled to the ground like a deflated shell, his body long hollowed out by the worms inside.
The sea of wriggling worms scurried across the floor, disappearing into the dark, damp corners of the hallway.
Inside the office, the closer Li Zhi got to the wall cabinet, the more intense the mental attack became, stabbing at her head like needles. The pain in her skull grew unbearable, and warm liquid began trickling from her ears and nose. Li Zhi wiped her face, her hand coming away smeared with blood.
In her pocket, the sunflower pendant glowed faintly in the dim light. The stabbing pain eased slightly, and Li Zhi’s expression hardened. She reached out and yanked the cabinet doors open.
Inside the wall-embedded cabinet, there was an offering table. On the table was a memorial tablet, and in the incense burner, three sticks of incense were nearly burned out.
Behind the offering table, a delicate-looking young girl sat with her eyes closed, a smile on her face.