In the deep and silent night, Gao Caiqin opened his eyes suddenly.
She had that feeling again, as if she had entered a subtle, silent dream.
There was a person standing under the bed. She couldn't see clearly, but she knew for no reason that it was Lin Xuerou. She was still wearing that old-fashioned red dress, like a ghost floating in the night.
She opened the door mechanically, and some afterimages of the moon and lights showed through the cracks in the door, bringing in a glimmer of light.
She saw Lin Xuerou's face clearly. It was the delicate appearance that she was familiar with, but his whole temperament had changed a lot, as if he was a complete stranger.
She had already walked out of the dormitory. Gao Caiqin jumped out of bed and followed her again.
This time, Lin Xuerou did not go to the rooftop, but went straight downstairs. The two of them walked in the empty campus one after another.
"Where are you going?" Gao Caiqin, who was following behind, couldn't help but ask.
But Lin Xuerou seemed not to hear her voice and kept walking forward.
Gao Caiqin's heart began to beat. Even though this was a very familiar campus environment, it could not eliminate the fear in her heart. I always feel that there is a power that can engulf people hidden in the silent and deep darkness.
The two of them arrived at the playground unknowingly. Gao Caiqin couldn't help but think: Lin Xuerou disappeared after coming here last week. Now that she's here again, what does she want to do?
Lin Xuerou accurately found the iron fence hiding the mechanism. Moving sideways and lifting gently, there was a harsh sound of metal friction in the quiet night sky, and then the rows of iron railings resonated in unison, emitting a long and simple tone like a yellow bell.
Gao Caiqin's heart was shaken and he stood there for a moment, his mind seemed to be drifting to a vast ocean. Everything he could see was mist and waves, and he was in a swaying boat, drifting with the current.
There is a twisted strip-like object in the water, with alternating black and white circular patterns. It swims freely, its curves are elegant and enchanting, and it is simply more beautiful than any posing dancer in the world. It gently wrapped around the girl's ankle and slowly climbed up her delicate calf. The delicate scales gently rubbed her skin, with a cold touch that could make her whole body shiver.
It wrapped around the girl's neck, feeling the flow of blood under her skin, spitting out words, and listening to her rhythmic heartbeat.
The sea snake opened its mouth, revealing two sharp needle-like teeth: "The mermaid in the sea made a deal with me and sold me his song. Are you the buyer?"
What? The girl was confused, but she heard a reply: "Yes."
The sound didn't come from her throat, it was more like a sound coming from her belly. She wanted to touch her belly to see what was there, but the sea snake wrapped around her body, making her unable to move.
"Okay! Okay!" The sea snake's mouth opened a little more, and its teeth showed a few more inches.
"What do you want me to give in exchange?" the voice asked.
"I want you..." The sea snake opened its mouth as wide as possible. "singing!"
After saying that, two needle-like fangs penetrated the girl's delicate neck.
"Ah -" the girl screamed. This time, the sound came from her throat. She shouted with all her strength, as if she could shout out all the fear in her heart.
After an unknown amount of time, an older voice kept calling in her ear, finally bringing her back to reality.
"Which class are you a student in? Why are you here?" In front of him was a majestic old man with some gray hair. He was of medium build, with thin cheeks and small wrinkled eyes that made Gao Caiqin tremble in his heart. She had met this old man several times in the days when Lin Xuerou disappeared. He was Huang Yang, the dean of their school who had returned from retirement.
Gao Caiqin suddenly woke up. I don’t know when the sky has turned white. It seems that it must have been past 6 o’clock in the morning. She had stayed here for such a long time, but he didn't notice it, as if she had disappeared out of thin air for a few hours in his life. Just as she was about to move, she felt that her legs were already extremely sore and numb. If it weren't for the fact that she seemed to be holding something in her hand to support her, she would have been unable to stand still.
She came back to her senses and took a closer look. What she was holding in her hand was the removable iron fence. She was now standing in the green forest outside the school, about ten meters away from the playground fence, and Huang Yang was leaning out of the big gap, about to step out of the fence and walk towards her.
He glanced at Gao Caiqin's helpless and confused face and the thing in her hand, and asked coldly: "What are you doing?"
Gao Caiqin was suffocated by his momentum and immediately let go of the things in his hands, unable to stammer out a complete sentence: "Old...teacher, I...I..."
"Which class are you in?" Huang Yang asked again.
"Second grade...Class 6..."
"The class taught by Teacher Qin Nanzhu?"
"Well... yes... yes..." Gao Caiqin's head was about to drop into the soil.
Huang Yang glanced at her a few more times and shook his head helplessly: "Come in first...bring in the railing! Nowadays, students are getting more and more capable, and they are starting to set up traps to deal with the school and teachers. If not I happened to be discovered by you today, and I still can’t find out your secret!”
Gao Caiqin slowly picked up the things on the ground and followed the old man into the school.
wrong! Where is Lin Xuerou? I was so confused by Huang Yang's lesson just now that I forgot about this incident. She timidly whispered behind Huang Yang: "Old...teacher, there are still people outside who haven't come in..."
Huang Yang didn't even turn his head, and snorted rudely: "I know you little bastards can't do anything good if you get together all day long. You'll skip class and become a bad student. You follow me first Go to the Academic Affairs Office and write down the names of those who played truant today!"
Gao Caiqin knew that Huang Yang had misunderstood him, so he had to muster the courage to explain: "No, teacher. I came out with others. There is a classmate in our dormitory who has not been in a good state of mind these past two days. He sleepwalks at night. I I was afraid something might happen to her, so I followed her out..."
Huang Yang couldn't help but be surprised after hearing her explanation. He had been a teacher for so many years, and no student had ever thought of such a strange reason to explain his truant behavior.
"Today's students are really becoming more and more creative. Ten years ago, students would always say that they forgot their homework at home, someone at home was sick or something, or else they would just die and not be afraid of boiling water, criticizing them for what they should do after the education. I think you shouldn’t say that your classmate was sleepwalking, but you should say that you were sleepwalking. Otherwise, where is your sleepwalking classmate now?”
Seeing that he didn't believe it, Gao Caiqin became anxious. Her face turned red: "What I said is true! She is the girl who disappeared last week. She and I are in the same dormitory!"
Huang Yang couldn't help but be stunned after hearing her words: "Are you talking about the girl named Lin Xuerou?"
"right!"
But Huang Yang, who heard her return, not only did not believe her, but looked her up and down with even weirder eyes, and then there was a hint of ridicule on his face: "So, you have been here from the beginning to the end. Acting, right? Just now I thought you were not the kind of child with bad conduct who only lied because he was afraid of being blamed by the teacher, but you shouldn't treat the teacher as a fool."
"Teacher, what did you say?" The doubts and confusion on Gao Caiqin's face almost overflowed.
"We have been paying attention to this child Lin Xuerou. She encountered something unfortunate and lost her father. Recently, Teacher Qin has been taking care of her and living with her. What did you say about seeing her sleepwalking? So, may I ask this Classmate, where did you see her sleepwalking?"
Huang Yang's words were like a blow to the head, making her dizzy. She had been fighting in this cold night for several hours, and she was a little groggy. Now she was even more unsteady and almost fell down. She rubbed her head and suddenly remembered something: "No, no. Last Friday, Teacher Qin asked me for the key to our dormitory, saying that he wanted to take care of her in the dormitory. If they live together, ask me for the key to the dormitory. What to do?".
Huang Yang didn't answer her question, but a figure she was very familiar with came from a distance.
"Teacher Qin is here. If you have any questions, just ask her directly."
