bookandnovel Chapter 25 A Girl's Thoughts
Chapter 25 A Girl's Thoughts
After watching William leave, Su Changming returned to the infirmary.
"Professor Su, please put this on."
Old Chen handed over a thick white cotton mask, his expression serious: "Although the transmission route hasn't been determined yet, it's always better to be safe than sorry, and this disease is quite insidious."
Su Changming nodded, took the mask, and hung it behind his ear.
Through a thick layer of cotton gauze, the smell of disinfectant was somewhat fainter, but the oppressive and stifling feeling became even heavier.
He walked to several hospital beds, speaking as softly as possible, and asked a few students who were still relatively conscious.
The feedback received was alarming.
"Cold...so cold...it feels like standing in an ice cellar without any clothes on..." A boy huddled under the covers, wrapped in two quilts, but his teeth were still chattering. "I feel the cold seeping into my very bones."
Another girl clutched the corner of the blanket tightly to her head, only her bloodshot eyes peeking out as she stared in terror through the gap in the curtains.
"Don't open it! Don't let the light in! It's blinding, it hurts!"
Besides being afraid of the cold and light, they also had one very strange commonality: nightmares.
"I dreamt that I was locked in a black box, surrounded by the sound of water..."
"I dreamt that something was gnawing at my neck, and I couldn't move..."
"I dreamt of...blood, blood everywhere..."
Although everyone's dreams are different, some dream of being chased by wild animals, while others dream of being locked in a coffin.
But what they have in common is that immersive, suffocating sense of fear.
It was as if it wasn't an ordinary dream, but some kind of spiritual pollution.
Su Changming stood up, his brows furrowed.
Just as he was pondering this, the curtain of the consultation room was lifted.
A cool breeze then swept in.
A girl with a neat high ponytail walked in.
The light blue school uniform skirt swayed slightly with each step.
"Professor Su."
Yao Xiwei stopped in front of him and gave him a complicated look:
"Can we talk in private for a moment?"
In Su Changming's memory, this seemed to be the first time that the proud young lady of the Demon Suppression Division had taken the initiative to talk to him at school.
……
The two of them, one after the other, arrived at the end of the corridor once again.
This is a windy spot; cold winds mixed with rain are blowing in, and the ground is still a bit slippery.
The faint smell of tobacco that William had left behind still seemed to linger in the air.
"What's up, Yao?" Su Changming leaned against the wall, took off his mask, and took a breath.
Yao Xiwei didn't answer immediately. Instead, she turned to look at the gray rain outside the railing and remained silent for a moment before speaking:
"Professor Su, have you noticed... something's been missing from the school lately?"
"Things?" Su Changming was taken aback.
"They're alive." Yao Xiwei turned her head, her gaze intense. "Stray cats and stray dogs."
Su Changming was taken aback. He hadn't really noticed that. Although he had taken on the task of guarding the school from the Demon Suppression Division, he didn't mean to include cats and dogs in the list.
Yao Xiwei saw Su Changming's expression, which looked like he had known it all along.
He then paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts:
"Behind the school cafeteria, there used to be a dozen or so stray cats and dogs that would gather. I... I would go and feed them when I had time."
At this point, a barely perceptible hint of tenderness flashed across the girl's cold, hard face, but it was quickly replaced by solemnity:
"At first, one or two were missing, and I thought they had gone to find food elsewhere. But over the past week, their numbers have decreased sharply. When I went to feed them yesterday, even the last lame old yellow dog was gone."
Upon hearing this, Su Changming's expression also turned serious: "You suspect that someone is deliberately capturing these animals?"
"It's not doubt, it's certainty."
Yao Xiwei said firmly:
"Stray cats and dogs are very wary. Unless they are acquaintances or have special methods, it is impossible for them to disappear completely within a week without making a sound."
"But..." Su Changming frowned, "What does this have to do with the current situation?"
"Maybe yes, maybe no."
Yao Xiwei lowered her voice and took half a step closer to Su Changming:
"But I heard some rumors that some students who were working part-time said that when they were cleaning up the garbage in the biology lab building, they found bloody animal hair and even limbs in the trash cans."
The biology lab building...William?
Although he wasn't the only person in the entire laboratory building, he was the first person Su Changming thought of.
Using stray animals for live experiments? To research a virus? And then let it spread to students?
This script, no matter how you look at it, seems to be about a psychopathic scientist.
"This is indeed an important clue," Su Changming said thoughtfully.
Just then, Yao Xiwei suddenly wrinkled her small nose and sniffed the air a few times.
"What does this taste like?"
Her delicate brows furrowed, and a hint of disgust flashed in her eyes:
"It tastes a bit like tobacco, but also has a strange herbal smell, like burnt hemp rope."
Su Changming was taken aback, then realized what was happening:
"Oh, Professor William just smoked a cigarette here. It was his hand-rolled cigarette, and the taste was quite unique."
"William?" Yao Xiwei sneered. "That's not ordinary tobacco, that's the smell of marijuana."
She raised her head, looked directly at Su Changming, and said firmly:
"Professor Su, that William is definitely not as simple as he seems on the surface."
Although Su Changming harbored some doubts about William, he was still somewhat surprised to hear the word "marijuana".
Who would have thought that the seemingly refined guy would have such a hobby in private?
After saying this, a brief silence fell over the corridor.
Yao Xiwei did not leave immediately.
She looked up at Su Changming, who was deep in thought, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.
"Professor Su."
Yao Xiwei suddenly spoke, her tone no longer as serious as before, but carrying a hint of stubbornness and pride unique to young girls: "My father often mentions you at home."
Su Changming's heart skipped a beat, but he could only feign ignorance: "Oh? Uncle Yao, you flatter me."
He doesn't praise people easily.
Yao Xiwei raised her chin, like a proud little peacock:
He said you're a hidden master, a dragon lurking in the abyss. Although I haven't yet seen where your 'hidden' or 'dragon' qualities lie, but...
She paused, a stubborn smile curving her lips:
"You are indeed very outstanding, a little bit better than I imagined."
"But I won't lose to you either, whether it's in knowledge or anything else."
"I will try my best to catch up."
After saying that, without waiting for Su Changming's response, she swung her high ponytail and turned away gracefully.
Soon, that pale blue figure disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
Su Changming was left standing there, stunned.
Looking in the direction the girl had left, he couldn't help but smile with a hint of helplessness.
So, she knew everything all along...