Supernatural and Paranormal Research Society

As he spoke, he pinched and folded his fingers, and a paper sparrow took shape.

He casually placed the paper sparrow on the corner of the table, and the paper sparrow actually shook its wings on its own and tilted its head towards Chen Haoran in a very human-like manner.

The black eyes that the paper sparrow had hastily painted with a pen slowly turned red.

It only lasted a moment, and then returned to normal.

He rested his chin on his hand, his eyelids drooping lazily, looking mischievous and enjoying the spectacle.

But the next second, the paper sparrow's wings suddenly froze.

The glint in Jiang Haochen's eyes seemed to have been severed by a knife.

He leaned forward slightly, his back instantly straightening.

The frivolity in his eyes had vanished completely.

His gaze was fixed on the finger marks on Chen Hao's back neck.

Around the fingerprints, black energy slithered like a living snake, quietly spreading over the third cervical vertebra.

"They went too far."

He uttered three words in a low voice, his tone serious.

With a gentle flick of the fingertip, the paper sparrow instantly shattered into a pile of tiny paper scraps.

Jiang Haochen leaned back in his chair, disappearing back into the shadows, leaving only a soft, sigh-like murmur to himself:

"A red thread binds the throat, and malevolent energy enters the veins... This is no ghost marriage, it's borrowing a life to raise a corpse."

……

When the bell rang, Chen Haoran was surrounded by several of his good friends.

"Brother Hao was amazing today, daring to go head-to-head with that old hag!"

"Wow, that's awesome! But did you not sleep well last night? You're yawning so loudly it's shaking the ground."

Chen Haoran forced a smile and waved his hand, "Don't make a fuss, let me take a nap."

Throughout the morning's classes, he teetered between drowsiness and waking up in a fright.

Chen Haoran skipped lunch and headed straight to his dorm, yawning.

Li Lingyun called him:

"Ah Hao, aren't you going to eat?"

Chen Haoran waved his hand without turning his head:

"I'm so sleepy, I'd better hurry back and get some more sleep."

Without giving Li Lingyun a chance to ask any more questions, Chen Haoran strode away.

Zhang Xiaowen leaned closer, looking at Chen Haoran's departing figure with a puzzled expression, and asked in bewilderment:

"Is our rice king not eating today?"

Li Lingyun shrugged:

"Looks like they're not going to eat it."

Worry welled up in Zhang Xiaowen's eyes:

"Is he feeling unwell? Should we take him to the infirmary? He hasn't seemed very energetic all morning."

Li Lingyun hesitated:

"He probably just didn't sleep well. He didn't come back from his live stream last night and only got back to his dorm early this morning."

More and more students headed towards the cafeteria, and Li Lingyun stopped thinking about it and shrugged.

"Never mind, I'll just bring him a hamburger back later. It'll be fine if he has something to eat when he wakes up."

"it is good."

Zhang Xiaowen responded and took Tong Qianxue's arm, and they went to the cafeteria together.

They usually eat lunch together.

It wasn't as lively today without Chen Haoran.

Tong Qianxue felt a vague unease as she thought about the scene she had witnessed last night.

She didn't have much of an appetite, and after a couple of bites, she put down her chopsticks.

"Qianxue? Aren't you going to eat?"

Zhang Xiaowen was surprised.

"Yeah, maybe it's because the weather's getting warmer, I don't have much of an appetite."

Tong Qianxue casually made up an excuse.

The cafeteria was bustling with noise, and the clinking of plates echoed everywhere, but Tong Qianxue felt that the air around her was always filled with an inescapable chill.

"Qianxue, don't you think... Ahao is acting strange today?"

Zhang Xiaowen bit her straw, her brows furrowed slightly, and said in a low voice, "He's known as the 'King of Rice' in our class. Since he's not eating today, he's just leaving."

Tong Qianxue unconsciously stroked the glass with her fingertips.

The coolness of the ice water seeped through the glass, but it couldn't suppress the vague unease in my heart.

"Maybe he didn't sleep well."

She pushed up her thin-rimmed glasses, her tone calm, with her usual rational analysis:

"High-intensity live streaming combined with irregular sleep patterns can lead to autonomic nervous system dysfunction, resulting in hallucinations and decreased appetite. This makes logical sense."

"Too."

Li Lingyun, who was next to him, chimed in with a spoonful of soup: "He's been sleeping all morning, he'll probably miss PE class this afternoon."

Despite saying that, Tong Qianxue secretly clenched her hands.

The persistent chill last night could not be explained simply by "not sleeping well".

She has been sensitive to auras since childhood, and Chen Haoran now exudes an air of "emptiness".

Just as Li Lingyun said, Chen Haoran, for the first time ever, asked the PE teacher for leave that afternoon.

Not only in physical education class, but in all afternoon classes, Cheng Haoran was listless.

He seemed to be unable to wake up, slumped over the table, and fell asleep in no time.

……

The following evening.

Chen Haoran rubbed his rumbling stomach and put his arm around Li Lingyun's shoulder:

"Come on, come on, I'm starving! Let's go have a big meal! I'm so hungry I could eat a whole cow."

Li Lingyun was speechless.

"I brought you a hamburger yesterday but you didn't eat it. You haven't eaten for two days now, no wonder you're hungry."

Zhang Xiaowen breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

"We were so worried! We thought you'd changed your personality!"

Chen Haoran laughed heartily:

"How could that be? I was just too tired yesterday."

Tong Qianxue stood aside without saying a word, her gaze fixed on the handprint on Chen Haoran's neck.

A day passed, and the bluish-black handprints not only did not fade, but instead became even more intense.

She pursed her lips, and seeing that Chen Haoran seemed to be in good spirits today, she swallowed her words.

Hopefully, she's just overthinking it.

canteen.

Chen Haoran sat down with his tray in his hand.

He, who has always loved meat, stared at the shredded pork with sauce on his plate, but felt a wave of acid reflux.

He picked up his chopsticks and took a pinch.

My vision blurred for a moment.

The dark red meat shreds suddenly twisted and swelled, turning into a mass of writhing white worms.

The obese bodies pressed against each other, secreting a sticky fluid that slowly and silently spread across the stainless steel plate.

"vomit--"

Chen Haoran suddenly covered his mouth, his back teeth grinding together.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through his school uniform.

He stared intently at the plate, his nails digging into his palms, using all his strength to keep from spitting it out in front of everyone.

The noisy sounds of people in the cafeteria, the shouts of people serving food, and the clatter of tables and chairs were gradually fading away in his ears, turning into a deathly silence.

Only a very faint "rustling" sound could be heard close to the eardrums.

Like red silk, rubbing against the coffin lid.

Chen Haoran blinked hard.

The tangled, wriggling white worms were still in the plate.

The bloated bodies were squeezed together, secreting a sticky fluid that slowly dripped down the edge of the stainless steel plate.

"vomit--"

My stomach suddenly convulsed, and acid rushed straight into my throat.

He clenched his teeth and forced himself to swallow the vomit back down, his forehead instantly beaded with cold sweat.

When I opened my eyes again, the maggots were gone.

The shredded pork in soy sauce lay quietly in the red oil, its color bright and appealing.

But the stench of rotten earth mixed with fishy smell still lingered in my nasal cavity, and my tongue felt bitter and astringent.

"I'm not eating anymore."

His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping, and he pushed the chair away and stood up.

The metal chair legs scraped against the terrazzo floor, making a piercing, sharp sound.

"Ah Hao? You haven't even touched your food!"

Li Lingyun reached out to pull him.

Chen Haoran flung himself away as if electrocuted, his face deathly pale, his lips trembling slightly: "I have no appetite, you guys... eat."

He turned around almost as if fleeing, his back stiff as a frozen board, and slammed straight through the heavy plastic curtain of the cafeteria.

Zhang Xiaowen watched Chen Haoran's retreating figure with worry:

"Is he alright?"

Tong Qianxue lowered her eyes, her hands trembling slightly uncontrollably.

"This... it's hard to believe that nothing's wrong."

Li Lingyun pondered:

"Maybe they just haven't recovered yet?"

"Possibly."

Even so, the three of them looked at each other and saw the worry in each other's eyes.

Meanwhile, in the shadows on the second floor of the teaching building.

The boy watched Chen Haoran's retreating figure, his clear voice carrying a hint of cynicism.

"There is still time. We must cut off the pulse before then, otherwise, what we will carry out will be an empty shell."