Chapter 7: Driven to Frenzy
In the empty school infirmary, Wu Yuwei sat alone by the bedside, gazing toward the doorway. Just minutes before, Ye Jiu had carried her in his arms, cradling her knees, and brought her here. On the way, she thought she had succeeded. She believed Ye Jiu had unsurprisingly given up on Liu Qi and chosen her instead.
But unexpectedly…
Ye Jiu had only delivered her to the infirmary, then turned away in haste, ready to leave.
"Where are you going?" At that moment, Wu Yuwei stopped him, puzzled.
"Back to the field, to find Qiqi."
Qiqi...
Hearing this answer, the victorious smile that had just curled on Wu Yuwei’s lips instantly froze.
"You… didn't you choose me? Why are you still going after her?"
"I think you misunderstood, Xiao Wei. I brought you here simply because you hurt your leg. I had no other intention."
"What do you mean? But I confessed to you. I said I liked you—didn't you hear?"
"Yes. Thank you for liking me, but I'm sorry—I can't accept it."
It was as if a bolt from the blue struck her down. Wu Yuwei sat dazed at the edge of the bed, motionless.
Ye Jiu… actually rejected her confession?
How… how could this be?
No! That was absolutely impossible!
She was the school beauty, the unattainable dream of countless boys, their unreachable white moonlight. In the past, she only needed to give the slightest hint of interest—
"Wow, you’re amazing! That dunk looked so cool!"
"Class president, you’re incredible, always ranking first. Could you teach me?"
"This game is so hard. I always get stuck on the first level. How are you so fast? Could you carry me, big brother?"
Just a few such casual words, paired with her stunning face, and men would instantly be smitten, falling into an uncontrollable frenzy of pursuit. Though she never truly entered the battlefield of love, she was already a legend in its realm.
Over the years, she had toyed with the hearts of countless men, always handling it with ease, forever invincible.
Who could have imagined that her first true stirring of the heart would end in defeat at Ye Jiu’s hands?
This was her first real crush, her first active confession! She had even given him her first kiss!
How could Ye Jiu possibly reject her?
Now, sitting alone on the infirmary bed, her eyes blankly fixed on the spot where Ye Jiu’s figure had disappeared, Wu Yuwei’s face shifted from red to pale, then from pale to ashen.
"Why… why didn’t he choose me… how could he not choose me…"
Anger, unwillingness, grievance, shock—emotions tangled and churned within her chest, finally flooding out as tears.
Thick, inky tears, mixed with mucus and saliva, streamed down her cheeks and dripped to the floor, pooling into a dark puddle. From that black water, an acrid, fishy stench filled the infirmary. Black mist seeped from the door and windows, swiftly spreading above the campus, soon shrouding the entire school in darkness.
...
...
Outside the school gates, a girl in a sports skirt and carrying a racket strode into the campus on long, athletic legs. Seventh High was a prestigious, strictly managed boarding school. As a student from the neighboring sports academy, she normally had no right to enter and could only wait outside.
But just now, a girl in the Seventh High uniform, thick glasses, and a high ponytail appeared, exchanged a few words with the gate guard, and helped her slip inside.
"Thank you so much!" the athlete called out warmly to the bespectacled girl, just about to ask her name when a pungent, overwhelming smell assaulted her senses.
The moment the black mist entered her nose, a crimson sheen flooded the athlete's pupils. She had no time to exchange pleasantries, turned away, and, driven by instinct, sprinted toward the sports field—her true destination.
...
...
On the field, after receiving a confession to his feelings, Wen Nan was tightly embraced by Qiqi, who was sobbing uncontrollably. What should have been a heartwarming scene under the beautiful night sky began to take a strange turn as black mist crept through the air.
The arms wrapped around Wen Nan’s neck grew tighter and tighter, like the tightening curse of the Great Sage, squeezing the breath from his lungs.
"Cough, cough—"
Wen Nan reached up, trying to loosen Qiqi’s grip, but she wouldn’t let go.
"Cough… Qiqi… cough… I can’t breathe… cough… are you trying to murder your husband… cough…"
But Qiqi paid no heed, tightening her embrace further.
What was happening?
Was she angry again?
Wen Nan gently stroked her hair, hoping to calm her, but as his palm touched the back of her head, he found a clump of hair, sticky with blood, coming away in his hand.
[She’s gone ghostly?]
[Is Qiqi revealing her true form again?]
[But wasn’t she immune to this before, especially with Lord Jiu? Even after kissing, there was no fear or suspicion. Why the slip now?]
[That’s the terror of a ghost in a berserk state.]
[Once in a frenzy, the trigger for a female ghost to reveal herself becomes a hundred times more sensitive. Normally insignificant negative emotions easily set it off.]
[So now they're like supercharged TNT, ready to explode at the slightest touch?]
[More or less.]
[We’re doomed.]
[It’s over.]
...
...
With a handful of hair, Wen Nan felt the suffocating pressure closing in. He couldn’t go on like this—he needed to find a way to break free.
With that, Wen Nan called out in his mind: [9527].
[I'm here,] the system responded.
Bang!
At that moment, something hard hurtled from the darkness, striking Qiqi squarely on the back of the head.
Qiqi grunted, loosening her grip around Wen Nan’s neck at last.
Gasping for breath, Wen Nan sucked in the air, but it was thick with that stinging mist.
Qiqi turned, clutching her wounded head, glaring angrily at the ground.
A badminton racket lay there, its metal frame bent from the force of the blow.
It was this racket that had struck her, with such force it seemed intent on smashing her skull open.
"Who are you?!" Qiqi shouted into the darkness.
A figure in a sports skirt, long legs striding confidently, emerged from the shadows. She ignored Qiqi’s question and walked straight to Wen Nan. Her crimson eyes locked onto him as she demanded in a rasping, saw-like voice, "Why haven’t you answered my messages?"