This entry is suspicious.

……

A deathly pale face emerged from the darkness, rushing forward rapidly until it was almost nose-to-nose pressed against the face. Maggots crawled out of the abyss-black eye sockets, wriggling and slithering down the cheeks, surging toward the throat that wanted to scream but could not utter a sound.

Cold, shivering...

Zhou Ran's body trembled violently, and he woke up from the nightmare.

He sat up abruptly, panting heavily, and it took him more than ten seconds to shake off the deep-seated terror.

Regardless of his past or present life, that night was the first time he had ever seen a dead person, and the first time he had ever encountered such a terrifying being as the supernatural. It would be impossible for him not to have been traumatized.

After all, he's just a high school student.

According to a report released by the Tianhuan Federation's Bureau of Supernatural Response, 85 percent of survivors of supernatural events suffer from prolonged nightmares and develop severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

Twelve percent of people will develop suicidal tendencies, and the vast majority of them will eventually carry out the act.

The remaining 3% are mentally resilient and least affected by bizarre events, rarely even having nightmares.

However, such people are extremely rare, and almost none of them are ordinary people. They are either company executives, immortal geniuses, or outstanding figures in various fields, with terrifyingly strong mental fortitude.

As an ordinary male high school student, Zhou Ran clearly belongs to the 85% who are in that group.

"A day has passed, I wonder if the response team has dealt with the [Stoppers] yet."

Zhou Ran's thoughts drifted uncontrollably to the alley covered in talismans and the tall male corpse standing there, and he suddenly felt a chill run through his body, as if he had fallen into an ice cave...

Oh, it turns out the air conditioner temperature was too low.

He reached for the remote control on the bedside table, turned up the temperature with a beep, then picked up his phone from beside his pillow. The screen lit up, showing the current time as 8:32 AM.

Instantly, an even colder chill ran down my spine.

He overslept and was late!

Being late at Sendoh High School is a very serious matter. The school is extremely strict about attendance. Being late will be recorded and you will be punished. Three latenesses will result in expulsion from the school and you will not be able to enter any public Sendoh High School again. This is a devastating blow to students from ordinary families.

However, Zhou Ran now possesses the Book of Fate and the powerful attribute "Exquisite Heart," so even if he is expelled from school, he is capable of studying for the college entrance examination on his own. Therefore, he was only startled out of habit and then did not take it seriously.

The few unread messages on his phone startled him slightly.

[Dumpling Master: Why didn't you come to class?]

[Dumpling Master: I know, you overslept.]

[Dumpling Master: I asked your teacher for a day off for you. Get some rest, see you at our usual spot tonight.]

This was a message from Song Ci. Zhou Ran was a little surprised. The other party was really kind-hearted and actually took the initiative to ask for leave for him. You know, the two of them had only interacted for the first time last night and had never even spoken before. They were from completely different worlds.

Under normal circumstances, the children of elites like Song Ci would never even glance at a bottom-of-the-barrel student like him.

Sure enough, after demonstrating his exceptional talent and potential, everything changed. He will likely have more elite children and top students interacting with him in the future.

If everything goes smoothly, the loan should be paid off soon.

Since she had already taken leave, Zhou Ran went back to sleep and didn't get up until almost 11 o'clock. After taking a shower, she went downstairs to the self-service cafeteria.

As a membership-based spiritual practice institution, this place attracts only the wealthy and powerful, so the self-service cafeteria is naturally of a high standard.

It's not the kind of bland, purely vegetarian meal, nor can it compare to cheap buffets. All the dishes are delicious and visually appealing, and there are also medicinal soups made with a unique secret recipe to nourish the body and strengthen the body's defenses.

After Zhou Ran swallowed a mouthful of the medicinal soup, a faint medicinal aroma filled his mouth, followed by a gentle warmth that slowly spread from his stomach to his limbs, and his tired body regained some vitality.

The life of the rich is so great.

This bowl of herbal soup alone would cost at least a thousand yuan outside, but here it's just a free perk for members. The other perks are even more enviable, such as having a top tutor for one-on-one instruction every month.

It's hard to imagine how much money a member would need to top up; I'd guess it's in the hundreds of thousands, or even more.

Zhou Ran couldn't help but feel a little emotional. There was a huge chasm between ordinary people and the rich, and this gap would only be deeper for cultivators. Educational resources, cultivation techniques, secret manuals, elixirs and magical artifacts... too many things were only open to specific groups of people. The difference was already determined when they were in the womb.

Without special talent or skills, it is extremely difficult for ordinary people to rise to prominence.

Fortunately, he had a cheat code.

……

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhou Ran went straight home.

Brother Dao has given us another seven days. The house is safe for now, so there's no need to worry about debt collectors staking out the place.

The previous owner took out a loan of 500,000 yuan to buy a large amount of supplements, but actually only consumed two-thirds of them, leaving the remaining one-third at home.

Zhou Ran rummaged around for a while, took the item out, and placed it on the coffee table in the living room.

Five boxes of Guben Peiyuan Pills, two cans of Xueqi Pills, and three vials of Bunao Zhuanzhu Liquid.

Zhou Ran roughly estimated in his mind: "The 'Basic Aperture Opening Method' at its peak consumes a terrifying amount of qi and blood. These things should only be enough for me to open one more aperture in a short period of time."

The nine orifices of the human body are: the eye orifice, the ear orifice, the mouth orifice, the nose orifice, the heart orifice, the heavenly orifice, the upper elixir orifice, the middle elixir orifice, and the lower elixir orifice.

There is no fixed order for opening the senses, but a default path has long been established: the four senses—eyes, ears, mouth, and nose—are the easiest to open, and most people choose to start with these four senses.

Next are the Heart Aperture and the Three Elixir Apertures, with the Heavenly Aperture being the most difficult.

The fifth acupoint chosen by the previous incarnation was the Heart Acupoint. After nearly three months of hard work to break through the barrier, Zhou Ran was able to break through the Heart Acupoint overnight with the blessing of the [Exquisite Heart].

This solved a big problem for him. After all, the "Exquisite Heart" attribute would cause the heart to gradually change, and he didn't know what kind of effect it would have on the heart orifice. It was better to open it as soon as possible. If he waited until the sixth orifice to open it, something unexpected might really happen.

Zhou Ran placed his hand on his chest, his heart pounding. He had been very restrained in using the [Exquisite Heart], immediately removing the entry as soon as he finished using it, which should delay the mutation for a long time.

"Let's start training."

This precious day off must be used to cultivate diligently, striving to break through the Heavenly Aperture barrier within a week.

……

Yellow and black police tape blocked the entrance to the alley, all nearby shops ceased business, and only members of the emergency response team were seen on the entire street.

In that alley covered with talismans, more than thirty corpses dressed in orange prison uniforms lay scattered about. There were men, women, and children, and each one was highly decomposed, as if they had been dead for a long time, emitting a foul stench.

Outside the alley entrance, several members of the emergency response team stood beside the cordon, looking extremely anxious.

"We've already conducted experiments on twelve death row inmates. Despite controlling various variables, we still can't figure out this bizarre pattern of killing. Could it be an unsolvable, indiscriminate killing spree that's impossible to prevent or stop?"

"At least we gained something. We learned about the strange range of its activity and that it can only kill one person at a time. That high school student was really lucky. Three people covered for him, and he managed to escape. If he had been a step later, he would have died."

"I think we should stop here. The bizarre nature of the indiscriminate killing has little value. Let's start the elimination process to avoid wasting any more experimental materials."

"Let's wait and see; perhaps we'll make a new discovery."

Still unwilling to give up, investigators sent out the thirteenth death row inmate.

Then something unexpected happened.

Prisoner number thirteen walked into the alley. One second, two seconds, three seconds... more than ten seconds passed, but the tall, pale male corpse did not appear.

Everyone's expression immediately changed.

Strange...it disappeared?

Or did... it escape?

Everyone tensed, circulating their inner energy to its peak, preparing to face the strange attack. Cultivators were capable of resisting and killing the strange, otherwise this world would have been doomed long ago.

The only Foundation Establishment cultivator released his divine sense, which spread rapidly in all directions like an invisible giant net until it reached its limit.

"No strange traces were found," Wei Si said in a deep voice.

"Where did that eerie thing go?"

"I don't know, but he's definitely not here anymore." Wei Si said, then suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said, "Give me all the information about that surviving high school student!"

The others were stunned for a moment, then a chilling possibility occurred to them, and they quickly retrieved Zhou Ran's personal information through the data terminal.

The strange abilities are incredibly diverse, and some of them possess the characteristic of being relentless and will kill everyone who has ever come into contact with them, much like a vengeful curse.

The tricky part about this characteristic is its contagiousness—as the bizarre hunt for survivors unfolds, new targets are constantly drawn in, the impact spreading like ripples, and the names on the kill list grow ever larger.

Once the snowball starts rolling, it becomes a complete disaster.

"That high school student attends Xiandao No. 1 High School in Qinghe City!"

"Damn, my daughter goes to school there too!"

"Call their school immediately and tell them to be on guard against a bizarre attack." Wei Si's expression was extremely serious.

If a bizarre creature with an unsolvable pattern of killing enters the school, it will undoubtedly lead to a horrific massacre.

Wei Si and his men rushed to Xiandao No. 1 Middle School in Qinghe City, but soon learned from the school's phone call that Zhou Ran had taken leave today and had not gone to school.

So, Wei Si called Zhou Ran directly.