Winter Returns

Chapter 234 Ancient Temple, Green Lamp, Alone (Part 4)
Zhang Shutong stared at the green snake, recalling the cold, slippery touch on his face. He saw the green snake crawl up Lu Qinglian's arm, but it didn't stay there as he had expected. Lu Qinglian then bent down slightly, and the green snake crawled back to the ground along her arm.

After doing all this, she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and gently wiped her hands.

Zhang Shutong watched the snake disappear into the roadside bushes; it turned out that her obsessive-compulsive disorder also had an effect on snakes.

Zhang Shutong thought again, "Gu Qiumian, although I've always called you a Pokémon Trainer, the one in front of me is clearly the one."

"It's so obedient?" Zhang Shutong asked in surprise.

"Because my hands are too cold, if I had studied biology properly, I would have learned that snakes like warm places."

—But I graduated from junior high school biology a long time ago, Zhang Shutong wanted to say, but the next second she realized that she had been tricked again.

“But the biology textbook also says that snakes hibernate,” Zhang Shutong said speechlessly. “And besides, can you please stop scaring people?”

“Zhang Shutong, where did your resolve go?” Lu Qinglian asked lightly. “I’ve said it before: if you want to know the truth, you should be prepared to face it.”

"So what's going on?"

"Do you remember those snakes that were frozen stiff?"

“Of course.” Zhang Shutong nodded. It happened after that sudden heavy snowfall. “Were they the temple keeper’s spies?”

"almost."

Zhang Shutong immediately realized that this meant Lu Qinglian had received a warning from the snake today, but before he could speak, Lu Qinglian shook her head:
"I told you in the library not to overthink it, it's just bad weather. And these snakes were an accident after the fog rolled in."

"What do you mean?"

“They’ve all gone out of control at the same time,” Lu Qinglian said wearily. “This has happened before; these snakes can get out of control in bad weather, so we need to take some measures to bring them back to their senses.”

"A biological stress response instinct?"

"Maybe."

"But how exactly do you establish a connection with snakes?" Zhang Shutong still found it unbelievable. Telepathy? Or bioelectricity?
"Are you the temple keeper?" Lu Qinglian sighed softly. "If you are, I don't mind telling you this."

Zhang Shutong knew she hadn't wanted to talk about it much, and he remembered the snake that had suddenly crawled up to his back:
"What about that one from before? Can you at least tell us? Was it following us the whole time?"

“It’s nearby.” Lu Qinglian pointed to his hand, indicating that he should turn on the flashlight. Then a beam of light illuminated the grass. Zhang Shutong parted the weeds, revealing a small hole in the soil. The green snake was sticking out half of its body and crawled into the hole in the light.

He clicked his tongue inwardly. In his mind, the Green Snake Temple was just a small temple isolated on the mountain, separated from the whole island by rocks and trees, which was quite isolated from the world. But if that was the case, how many "spies" were there on the whole island?

He exclaimed in surprise:

"So you've explored the entire island today?"

"Fortunately, they all have fixed locations, and now there are buses running through them."

Even so, it sounds exhausting.

"You don't need to run anymore tomorrow?"

"what time is it?"

"It's almost nine o'clock." He glanced at his phone.

“You have too many questions, but I have to go back.” Lu Qinglian’s voice was weary. “You have three more chances to ask questions. Also, everything has been taken care of.”

"That's actually the first question?"

“Of course.” Lu Qinglian held up two fingers. “The second one.”

Zhang Shutong shut his mouth. They could still travel together for a while, so he might as well use this time to think about what to ask.

“I remember the clay figure was also found by these snakes, but how? Was there something special about the clay figure? You can’t just say that you would know just because someone walks by.”

"breath."

"Scent?" Zhang Shutong really couldn't remember how snakes smelled.

“It’s not the kind of scent you think it is. These aren’t ordinary snakes.” The two walked slowly in the night, Lu Qinglian’s soft voice drifting into his ears on the evening breeze. “These snakes can detect specific scents, human scents, scents of certain objects, but only a small fraction of them.”

"It sounds a lot like raising a dog..." Zhang Shutong thought to himself.

"What about ordinary people?"

"of course not."

"It doesn't sound like it can do everything?"

“Zhang Shutong,” Lu Qinglian said with a headache, “what are you thinking about now, after the treasure?”

Zhang Shutong also realized he was being delusional; snakes weren't biological surveillance devices. He thought about it:

"That……"

"Okay, that's it."

A dim streetlamp appeared before them, and they had finally reached a well-lit area, which also meant it was time to part ways.

Lu Qinglian kept walking. Zhang Shutong waved and passed by. She nodded slightly with her chin as a farewell.

Zhang Shutong was processing the information from tonight until Lu Qinglian's figure disappeared into the night before she came back to her senses.

Soon after, he chewed on a piece of bread that wasn't very soft, filled with cheap cream. It wasn't tasty, but at least it filled his stomach.

That night he had a dream. He dreamt that he was sitting in a library. It was already dark. Zhang Shutong shouted that no one was there, but there was no answer. The tables around him were neatly arranged. It turned out that everyone had finished rehearsing and left.

But he spotted the black plastic bags in the corner.

Zhang Shutong walked over and saw that the grass snake on the table hadn't been collected yet. He even found an empty student milk carton. He looked around and searched the entire library, but still couldn't find anyone.

The air conditioner was ringing, the clock was ticking, and his shoes were thumping on the floor. He was almost dizzy from walking when the library door was suddenly pushed open. The teacher in charge frowned:

"Still not going home?"

Zhang Shutong said "Oh" and hurriedly went out the door. As soon as he went out, he tightened his coat. It was really cold at night. But what was he going to do outside?

It was dark all around, and there wasn't even a street lamp in sight. Zhang Shutong belatedly turned around and saw the window with the light on. He could see the straw rope and milk carton on the table. He watched as the teacher walked up to the table and swept them all into the trash can.

Zhang Shutong wanted to remind them that it wasn't trash, and that the person sitting there might come back soon... but as soon as he rushed to the window and banged on the glass, the light went out.

The scene changed, and he appeared on a stage again. It took Zhang Shutong a while to realize that this was the school auditorium. His best friends said:
"Shutong, it's time to go on stage!"

Zhang Shutong quickly looked himself over. He was no longer wearing his usual clothes, but a gorgeous performance costume. He was wearing makeup in the mirror and looked radiant, truly like a prince.

He went on stage and successfully performed the entire play. The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause. The theater was packed that day, a moment that all the students in the school had been eagerly anticipating. As everyone bowed to take their bows, he looked up and noticed an empty seat in the third-to-last row.

That is……

When Zhang Shutong opened her eyes again, she was woken up by the alarm clock beside her ear.

December 28th has arrived.

He stared at the screen sleepily, his mind still far from clear. The dream was so chaotic that he couldn't recall what he dreamt about. It seemed to be a rehearsal or a performance... Zhang Shutong yawned, his forehead slightly tense.

It turned out that the window hadn't been closed properly before he went to bed yesterday, and the cold wind blew in through the cracks, making him shiver.

Zhang Shutong quickly slipped on his slippers and ran to wash up. He had eaten bread last night, so his breakfast would naturally be biscuits. He had the foresight to buy calcium milk biscuits, which would dissolve in hot water. One should treat oneself well. With that in mind, he also made himself a bowl of egg tea to replenish his nutrition.

I still ran to school, and when I arrived at the classroom door, I could already see that figure with a high ponytail.

Yesterday she was a temple keeper; today she is a student.

As a student, Lu Qinglian was naturally listening attentively to the lecture. Zhang Shutong greeted her.
"morning."

Last night's events seemed to have never happened. The day was peaceful and serene, without even a fog. The morning light danced in every corner of the classroom. A girl named Lu Qinglian sat quietly by the window, her eyes lowered, writing something.

“Oh, right,” Zhang Shutong said, walking around behind her into the seat, “I thought of a snake problem yesterday…”

"Homework." To everyone's surprise, Lu Qinglian interrupted without even looking up.

"Uh, what?"

Zhang Shutong knew that before the morning reading began, she, as the class representative and English class representative, had to take the homework to the office, but shouldn't everyone continue discussing more profound issues, such as photos or snakes? Speaking of which, your role changed too quickly.

Zhang Shutong glanced at the exercise book in her hand and came to an unbelievable conclusion—

She was actually catching up on yesterday's homework.

"Is it necessary?" Zhang Shutong asked, puzzled. "Isn't it too... inflexible?"

Lu Qinglian remained noncommittal.
Instead of chatting, you should take some time to do your homework.

"I get the feeling you just don't want to talk about snakes..."

She nodded her chin dismissively.

Zhang Shutong placed the workbook in front of her:

"But I'm sorry, I finished writing it before school ended yesterday."

"What about English?" Lu Qinglian glanced at it.

"I didn't write it." Zhang Shutong spends all her time on other subjects now, and English is really just a piece of cake for her.

Lu Qinglian tore off a sticky note.

Zhang Shutong's eyelids twitched:
“I said, can you please stop being so heartless? Besides, you didn’t write it yourself.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Qinglian moved her pen away and instead wrote several names he didn't recognize on a sticky note:
“Zhang Shutong, why do you think the focus is on the homework? I mean what happened last night, you'd better forget about it.”

"But I have a very good memory."

"Is that so?" Lu Qinglian glanced at him indifferently.

"You can understand it this way for now."

Lu Qinglian closed the workbook beside her and deftly added another name to the sticky note.

Zhang Shutong spent the entire morning reading session in the homeroom teacher's office.

As it turns out, you should never mess with Lu Qinglian.

But when she returned to the classroom, she disappeared again. She was indeed very busy. Maybe she was in the library, or maybe she was outside the campus. At noon, Lu Qinglian still hadn't returned until her phone suddenly received a message.

The contact person was Lu Qinglian, and the message was simply a period. Zhang Shutong belatedly realized that Lu Qinglian had taken some time to pick up her phone.

Now Zhang Shutong has almost gotten used to her elusive nature. Some people can't catch a glimpse of her, and others can't even see her back. When discussing this with her best friends, Ruoping said:
"That's normal. Girls are more sensible than you guys. If I told you I'd be busy during New Year's Day, would I be lying to you?"

Zhang Shutong didn't mean that; he just felt that Lu Qinglian was intentionally drawing a line in their identities.

“Besides,” Ruoping said casually, looking at her manicure, “knowing Qinglian as I do, if she has something to do, she’s the type who finishes it early to leave herself some leeway. Time is something you make little by little. Otherwise, why would she have worked overtime yesterday? If it were me, I would also finish my work early so I can have some time to rest on the weekend.”

The three boys said they had learned something, while Zhang Shutong thought that Ruoping understood her better.

In the afternoon, Lu Qinglian returned to the classroom.

Today is Friday, and the last period is self-study, so she disappeared again—

But Zhang Shutong could guess that she had gone to the library.

(End of this chapter)