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Xia Yu then realized that Ji Mo's grip was incredibly strong, and he failed to break free several times. The flame flickered on the tip of his other free finger, but in the end he chose to extinguish it, letting himself be pulled away from the students' encirclement.

Only after running far away and disappearing from sight of the group of students did Ji Mo release his grip, looking at his arm with clear bruises on his fingers, deliberately avoiding the displeased look they gave him.

"What's wrong with these students?" Xia Yu grinned, a hint of doubt creeping into his voice. "They're acting like... genuine emotions are flowing?"

Schools and hospitals are typically hotspots where nothing happens or where groups are controlled. For various reasons, the enemies entrenched there usually don't wreak havoc in the area, but rather distort the perceptions of ordinary people, making them please themselves in a twisted way and maintain a semblance of normalcy, while also not easily leaving the area.

People deeply affected by cognitive distortion often become oblivious to unusual occurrences around them. Even if an acquaintance is struck on the head, they can laugh and joke around and walk away as if nothing happened.

This is precisely why the two dared to openly attack the teacher. The worst outcome would be that the strange entity has extremely strong control over the students, manipulating them to chase after the teacher, and then carrying out the decapitation strike; while the best outcome would be that the students would be completely indifferent to the incident.

If it's the former, they have their own ways to trace the mastermind behind the scenes by following the chain of control.

But the students behaved so normally that Ji Mo couldn't sense any signs of being manipulated.

Ever since I received that phone call tonight, everything seems to have gone off track.

However, would you test it directly with fire...?

What if the supernatural being is mixed in with the students, and the teachers are just one of those being controlled?

Noticing Ji Mo's questioning gaze, Xia Yu snorted coldly: "My flames are ineffective against ordinary people."

"It seems we can only try to integrate into their society and figure out the situation here first," Ji Mo said.

Neither Ji Mo nor Xia Yu wanted the students who had just left the alternate dimension to immediately call the police and identify them as terrorists who had killed all the teachers, just because they had just exposed the mastermind behind it.

Although they won't be arrested as murderers, this will definitely be an indelible dark chapter in their history.

The thought of the teacher possibly assigning even more tedious and risky tasks made Xia Yu feel that the future was utterly boring and something he had to avoid: "Tsk, although I don't want to admit it, you're right. Perfect, let's see who can uncover the purpose of this space first."

At the very least, the eerie facade must be torn away, making the students realize that the teacher who has been with them all along is not human, but a cannibalistic being.

With those words, Xia Yu turned and disappeared into the darkness. This time, Ji Mo did not stop him, letting his figure vanish from sight.

Ji Mo's eyes flickered slightly, and he couldn't help but miss the days when Jiu Chonglou was by his side. Clearly, both he and Xia Yu were purely offensive types; if the enemy took a large number of hostages, they would be constantly at a disadvantage. And Xia Yu, with his childish hostility and unwillingness to cooperate, was simply adding trouble upon trouble.

He pulled out the student handbook he had found earlier and checked its contents again. When his eyes fell on the clause "students must wear school uniforms," ​​he seemed to ponder: "If students have clothing for identification, what about the teachers?"

Upon closer recollection, I realized that those strange teachers had indeed been wearing similar styles of clothing. The men wore fitted suits, and the women wore white skirt suits with blouses. They didn't look like teachers; instead, they resembled impeccably dressed white-collar professionals always ready to meet clients.

Taking advantage of the chaos still raging in the plaza below the teaching building, Ji Mo sneaked back into the office under the cover of night.

……

It's 6:30 in the morning.

The announcement came on, and the dormitory building immediately sprang into action.

Xia Yu stole a reasonably well-fitting school uniform from a student, disguised himself as one of them, and walked out of a dormitory. He looked up at the faintly bright sky, his eyes darting around restlessly, not worried at all that his outsider status would be discovered.

Last night he confirmed that although the buildings here are a one-to-one replica of reality, the students are not projections of the real thing, but living, breathing people.

To be precise, it includes all students in the upcoming senior year of high school, some students in the top classes who have just graduated, and a small number of graduates who have experienced high school life.

Who would have thought that Hengrui High School's so-called differentiated teaching would actually completely separate the top classes from the regular classes?

Less than one-tenth of the original student population was placed in a dormitory building that could originally accommodate over a thousand people, compounded by recent room rearrangements and the influx of graduating students. Even when they noticed an unfamiliar classmate next door, no one seemed surprised.

Last night it was dark, and they ran fast, so Xia Yu was confident that he wouldn't be recognized immediately.

The only question is, why are the students in such a hurry to go downstairs? Isn't study time after 7:30?

Xia Yu casually stopped a passing student and asked, "Why are you going down so early?"

"Running exercises."

"Running laps? At this time?"

"This is already pretty good. If I were a sophomore, we'd have to assemble and start running at six o'clock." The student looked relieved. "At least I can sleep an extra hour every day!"

Xia Yu, who hadn't slept all night: "..."

Hearing that, he did feel a bit sleepy. Although becoming a superhuman had given him physical abilities far exceeding those of an adult, his age meant that lack of sleep would still make him drowsy.

The running exercise wasn't strenuous, and it was a piece of cake for Xia Yu. After two laps, looking at the panting students, he couldn't help but ask, "That's it? Nothing else? Nothing more exciting?"

The students were full of questions: "800 meters isn't enough?"

Xia Yu recalled the known rules, his brow furrowing: "The rules specifically mention the track, isn't that a death sentence? Once you get on it, your body will get heavier and heavier, and if you don't finish the race before time runs out, you'll be crushed into mincemeat by invisible gravity?"

The students remained completely bewildered.

During the first class in the morning, Xia Yu randomly chose a classroom and sat in the last row, using a pile of books to cover himself up and try to get by. However, he was surprised to find that the teacher of this class was the same weirdo who had been beaten up the night before. It had changed into the same clothes and showed no signs of its disheveled state from the previous day.

Xia Yu sneered, his previous thoughts of deception vanished instantly, and he reached out to push down the newly piled-up wall of books.

After exchanging a knowing glance with the eerie figure on the podium, Xia Yu confidently lay down on the table and pretended to be asleep, waiting for the other party to make the first move.

Not long after, the teacher indeed came downstairs. As shadows fell, Xia Yu felt that unique, chilling aura. Just as he was about to erupt in anger, he heard a concerned question:

"This student doesn't seem to be feeling well. Is there anyone willing to accompany him to the infirmary?"

Xia Yu looked up abruptly, his face filled with disbelief.

"It seems your condition isn't that serious. But if you're really uncomfortable, you can lie down while listening to the lecture."

This became the most difficult class Xia Yu had ever experienced. No matter how he subtly provoked the strange teacher, the other party did not make a move. Instead, the other students began to glare at him angrily.

When the bell rang, only one thought remained in his mind:

Does the eerie creature also have masochistic tendencies? Why isn't it making a move?