Chapter 52 Part 1

“It blew itself up.” Lin Juan couldn’t help but retort.

“Heh heh, I know. I was just saying it,” Lu Mingxuan gave a thumbs up. “Little Uncle, you’re really amazing. How did you know the school was part of the anomaly itself?”

“Actually, this school wasn’t exactly the anomaly itself. That anomaly was still hidden somewhere else. The school was just one of its projections.”

Their conversation drew Director Liu over. “An A-Rank Anomaly is even harder to deal with than we imagined.”

Such a massive school was merely one projection.

The aftermath at the school was handled by people from the Anomalous Affairs Bureau. Lin Juan hadn’t slept for a full day and night. His eyes were tinged with faint dark circles. Lu Yanzhou felt heartbroken watching him.

He reached out and touched Lin Juan’s face. “Didn’t you rest well?”

“Don’t even mention it,” Lin Juan vented at length. “Life inside the school was no life for humans at all. There wasn’t a single moment of respite. Endless classes during the day, searching everywhere at night for ways to enter the daytime campus, and monsters popping up from time to time…”

Lin Juan had been itching to vent for a long time. He held nothing back in front of Lu Yanzhou. After he finished, Lu Yanzhou had a pretty good grasp of what had happened to Lin Juan in the domain.

Worried about the danger at the school, the Anomalous Affairs Bureau hadn’t notified the parents. Shi Haochen and Zhou Ping had escaped with their lives and grew especially dependent on Lin Juan, trailing after him like two little tails. Once the Bureau confirmed they were physically fine, they stuck to him without a moment’s pause.

They had already learned from the Bureau staff that Lin Juan wasn’t some transfer student—he had gone in specifically to rescue them.

After exiting the domain, their obscured cognition recovered. Shi Haochen remembered everything.

“When we first entered the school, we passed through a thick fog. Some classmates realized something was wrong and tried to head back, but no matter how they walked, they couldn’t escape that dense fog.”

“I passed out. When I woke up, my cognition had been quietly altered. I overlooked the option of calling my parents and began endless cycles of reincarnation.”

“The study schedule was brutally tight. Every half month, we had to go through an exam. To avoid elimination, we had to score better each time.”

Studying for their lives had become literal truth in that moment.

Lin Juan recalled the teachers saying that failing scores meant leaving the class. He asked, “What the teacher said about getting booted from the class if you didn’t pass—do you know what happened to those who failed?”

“They turned into monsters,” Shi Haochen only learned this after coming out. “Normal classes during the day, turning into monsters at night, enduring hunger and fighting their own kind. The nighttime campus reeked only of blood.”

“How do you know all this so clearly?” Zhou Ping wondered. He had been completely unaware. “Were all the monsters transformed students?”

“Not all of them. Student-turned monsters were the weakest among them, doomed only to be hunted. The real monsters came from the fog and fed on us.”

“After turning into a monster, it was the rare time when all cognition remained intact. In those moments, I clearly knew I was in an absurd world. This school wasn’t normal at all. But once daytime arrived and I reverted from monster to human, I lost that awareness.”

“You ask why I know so clearly? You know, my grades weren’t good at first. I was at the bottom of the class. I got booted countless times.”

Shi Haochen didn’t want to dwell on those memories—those recollections filled with blood and cruelty still made him shiver unconsciously even now.

He couldn’t remember how many times he had been torn apart. The lingering pain shadowed him. In moments of clear consciousness, he felt his flesh being gnawed bit by bit, his organs ripped out…

Shi Haochen’s pollution value began to rise. His expression grew increasingly manic. The shadow beneath him swelled, detached from the ground, and surged upward like a small wave, lunging into midair.

“What’s going on?!” The Ability Users saw this and went on high alert.

“All teams, attention! Someone’s about to lose control!”

“Quick, call Doctor Zhuang!”

Zhuang Yufeng had just checked Shi Haochen and Zhou Ping. Aside from minor pollution, there were no major issues.

No one expected Shi Haochen to suddenly lose control.

He dropped what he was doing and came sprinting over.

Shi Haochen felt himself back in that eternal night that never dawned.

No companions, only hunters. He was the sole prey.

Kill!

Kill them!

Survive!

Kill them to survive!!!

Shi Haochen’s eyes grew redder and redder. His shadow moved with his mental state and dove downward.

The Ability Users moved to resist.

In the midst of the chaos, Shi Haochen heard a clear voice.

It exploded like thunder in his ears, pulling his consciousness out of the turmoil.

“Shi Haochen, if you don’t want to remember, then don’t. It’s just memories.”

Yes.

It was just memories.

He had already escaped.

The crimson in his eyes faded. The shadow shrank dramatically in midair and retracted to the adolescent boy’s feet.

Shi Haochen closed his eyes and slowly collapsed.

The stunned Zhou Ping instinctively caught him.

The boy wasn’t light. Zhou Ping was already shaken, his hands and legs weak. He nearly tumbled to the ground with him.

An Ability User activated their supernatural ability to support them.

Zhou Ping held him up, at a loss. “What’s wrong with him? Aren’t we already out? W-what should I do?”

The arriving Zhuang Yufeng took the boy from Zhou Ping’s arms. “He probably just became an Ability User and can’t control his supernatural ability yet. He lost control a bit. No need to worry.”

“An Ability User…” Zhou Ping paused, envy flashing in his eyes.

He knew what those words meant. He had seen many miraculous abilities when the Ability Users cleared the scene earlier.

Shi Haochen had passed out. Zhuang Yufeng used his supernatural ability to purify him. “He’s fine. He just awakened his supernatural ability and isn’t used to it yet, that’s all.”

The Ability Users searched the ruins thoroughly but found no other students.

“How could we not find them?” Director Liu frowned. “Over thirty students— they couldn’t have just vanished without a trace.”

“We turned the entire school upside down. Nothing. Not even remains,” the reporting Ability User found it strange too. If those students had met unfortunate ends, there should have been some traces.

“Keep searching. Leave no stone unturned.” Director Liu gave instructions for the follow-up. The students’ disappearance was a major issue. He needed to head back to the Anomalous Affairs Bureau to plan the next steps.

On the way out, Director Liu rode in the same car as Lin Juan. He needed the full details.

What Lin Juan had said earlier was a simplified version. Now, with over thirty students missing, Director Liu needed every clue.

Lin Juan explained, with Zhou Ping filling in details from the side. Afterward, Lin Juan took the water Lu Yanzhou handed him, twisted it open, and took several big gulps.

“According to what you said, the last time you entered the nighttime campus, none of you turned into monsters—not even Shi Haochen. Why not this time?” Director Liu puzzled.

“Because this time, we didn’t have the prerequisite of getting ‘booted from the class.’ We entered by breaking school rules. There’s a difference.” Lin Juan now understood why, back in the exam hall, those few poor-performing classmates had shown such expressions on their faces.

Memory suppression didn’t mean their subconscious forgot. They had likely gone through the same thing as Shi Haochen—their bodies remembered for them.

Shi Haochen had become an Ability User, and the Anomalous Affairs Bureau was short on manpower. They would take good care of him. Zhou Ping was taken to a specialized hospital for treatment.

Lin Juan returned to Lu Garden with Lu Yanzhou and Lu Mingxuan.

In the car, Lu Yanzhou pulled him into his arms. “Want to sleep a bit?”

Lin Juan remembered Lu Yanzhou’s germaphobia and avoided touching him. “I’m filthy.”

His voice carried sleepiness, softer than usual. Lu Yanzhou’s heart ached terribly. “You’re not. We’ll wash up when we get back.”

With a long arm, he pulled Lin Juan into his embrace without refusal. He lowered his head, rubbed his face against the young man’s hair, and said gently, “Sleep.”

Lin Juan really was exhausted. Wrapped in that familiar scent, his eyelids grew heavier. “Then I’ll nap for a bit.”

Lu Mingxuan kept his mouth shut the whole time, but his eyes betrayed his shock.

He knew how germaphobic his little uncle was. Normally, he couldn’t even touch Little Uncle’s things. But now, Little Uncle was hugging Little Uncle-in-law—who was covered in dust—rubbing all that grime onto himself without a hint of discomfort.

Love truly was grand.

The car drove straight into Lu Garden. When they arrived, Lin Juan was still asleep. Lu Yanzhou didn’t wake him and carried him out of the car.

Lu Mingxuan followed a few steps behind. Lu Yanzhou turned back and said softly, “Juan Juan will probably sleep for a while. You head back first.”

“Oh, okay. I won’t disturb Little Uncle-in-law’s rest.”

Lu Yanzhou carried him into the house.

Lin Juan still remembered he was dirty and struggled awake. “Change clothes. Bath.”

He didn’t have germaphobia, but he couldn’t stand sleeping dirty on the bed.

No matter what, he refused to get on the bed. Lu Yanzhou had no choice but to set him on a nearby chair and half-squatted down. “I’ll go run the water for you.”

When he returned after preparing the hot water, Lin Juan was still sitting in the chair, eyes half-closed, spacing out.

“The water’s ready.”

Lin Juan looked over in a daze.

Lu Yanzhou’s heart trembled. His voice softened further. “Need help?”

Lin Juan nodded.

Lu Yanzhou helped him into the bathroom. Lin Juan started stripping right away.

By the time Lu Yanzhou grabbed the bath salts, Lin Juan was down to just a pair of shorts.

He quickly averted his gaze. The young man’s fair skin was seared into his mind. Lu Yanzhou took a deep breath and turned away. “I’ll step out. Can you manage?”

Splash.

Lu Yanzhou heard no reply, only the sound of water.

Worried about an accident, he turned back.

The young man was soaking in the hot water, his expression clearer now. “You can go.”

Lu Yanzhou gripped the clothes tighter and left with slightly hurried steps.

After a comfortable soak, Lin Juan slept straight through to the next day.

When Shi Haochen woke, he learned from his attending physician, Zhuang Yufeng, that he had awakened as an Ability User. Shi Haochen felt dazed.

He knew nothing about this.

He loved reading all sorts of hot-blooded manga and had once fantasized about possessing special abilities like the protagonists.

But now that it was real, he only felt lost.

Lost about the future, lost about the past.

Seventeen years of smooth sailing, and the world had played a massive joke on him. He was suddenly told that the world he lived in had never been peaceful. He thought escaping the abnormal school would restore his normal life, only to learn that abnormal schools would become the norm.

Awakening a supernatural ability meant he’d have to deal with these things for life.

After all, he was just a seventeen-year-old boy. The Anomalous Affairs Bureau wouldn’t force him. “You have plenty of time to decide whether to join.”

“What if I choose a normal life?” Shi Haochen kept his head down. No one could see his expression.

“We’ll respect your choice,” Zhuang Yufeng said, then pivoted. “But now that you’re an Ability User, the chances of encountering those things will be much higher than for ordinary people.”

Shi Haochen knew “those things” meant weird phenomena.

He had already learned quite a bit about weird phenomena from this refined doctor. While he understood how terrifying they were, he realized even more clearly just how powerful Lin Juan was.

When Lin Juan visited him at the hospital, Shi Haochen brought it up. “Doctor Zhuang invited me to join the Anomalous Affairs Bureau. I don’t know if I should.”

“Any concerns?” Lin Juan sat on the chair by the bed.

“No real concerns,” Shi Haochen smiled bitterly. “I’m just a bit scared, Mr. Lin. Am I too cowardly? I awakened a supernatural ability, yet I’m shrinking back.”

“Anyone would be afraid when facing weird phenomena.” Lin Juan stated the fact.

“What about you, Mr. Lin? Were you ever afraid?” Shi Haochen asked if he “had been afraid,” because he knew the current Lin Juan wasn’t scared of them.

How could he be? The weird phenomena were more afraid of him.