Chapter 10: Drink

Morning reading class. The students’ voices practically threatened to shatter the ceiling.

White Li hummed a tune, watching her classmates around her swaying their heads as they read, and couldn’t help but smile.

Although the real daily life of high school was dull and boring—waking up at six every day, putting on clothes with eyes still closed, sitting at the breakfast table chewing on a steamed bun before even wiping off the toothpaste foam, teachers lecturing with flying spittle while half the class slumped over, some secretly playing with phones or passing notes.

The person you had a crush on always sat in the spot closest to you, the words you wanted to say always stayed bottled up until graduation without ever being spoken.

Fights with friends started for no reason and ended just as mysteriously, but some cracks always remained.

A single criticism from a teacher could make you miserable for three days, a single nag from your parents could annoy you for a whole year…

But that was all just talk. In reality, if you could really travel back to high school, who wouldn’t want to desperately relive that life?

However, ever since going to the bathroom together last time, Lin Du seemed to have suddenly reverted to the “cold and aloof” classmate people talked about.

Even though they still walked to and from school together, White Li could sense a distance that wasn’t there before.

Their conversations were sporadic, unlike the previous few days when he would always ask strange questions, but she could still borrow money from him without issue.

Could it be he was scared off by the size the wristband disguised?

White Li covered her mouth and let out a quiet giggle.

It’s still far from what I had in my previous life.

But…

She raised her left hand, looking at the metal wristband on her wrist.

It looked very ordinary, like something you could buy online for a few bucks.

But who would have thought it had such a magical ability.

If I sold this on the black market, it should be worth quite a bit of money…

No, no, this is the organization’s property. It’s Madam’s trust in me.

And if I really tried to sell it, I’d probably be caught by Martha and whipped with a whip the next second.

As she was thinking this, a rustling sound came from beside her.

Her deskmate, Xiao Yu, was bent over, groping around on the floor, her round face etched with anxiety.

Her eraser had rolled under the desks, and she was searching for it with difficulty between the table legs.

White Li looked down. The eraser had rolled right next to her foot.

She bent down to pick it up just as Xiao Yu also reached out. Their fingertips brushed lightly.

Warm, with a hint of damp sweat.

Xiao Yu froze for a second, then snatched her hand back, her face instantly flushing red.

“S-sorry,” Xiao Yu whispered, not even daring to look up.

White Li handed her the eraser, but felt a bit confused inside.

That’s weird.

Just now, in such a youth idol drama-like scene, I actually felt nothing?

No racing heartbeat, no discomfort at all.

My previous self, if touched by a cute girl, would have had some reaction, right?

Is it because my tastes are too picky, and she’s not attractive enough?

White Li secretly sized up Xiao Yu. Although she usually sat upright with all her buttons done up as a good student, it was hard to hide her full, ample chest, which strained against her shirt. Paired with her slightly childish doll face and her petite height of around one point five meters, similar to her own…

It’s impossible not to be moved by this.

But now…

White Li looked down at her own hand—slender, pale, with indistinct knuckles, completely a woman’s hand.

“Th-thank you.”

Xiao Yu took the eraser, her voice as soft as a mosquito’s hum. She stole a glance at White Li, then quickly averted her gaze.

White Li thought silently for a few seconds but still couldn’t find an answer.

Maybe I’ve just matured. No more of those worldly desires.

She accepted this explanation with peace of mind and went back to resting her head on the desk, spacing out.

—

Late at night, the detention center.

The lights in the corridor were a sickly white, shining on the cement floor, reflecting a cold light.

The guard on duty yawned, looked at the clock on the wall—the hour hand already pointed to two in the morning.

“Time for a cup of coffee…”

He stood up, preparing to make a cup.

Just as he reached the corner of the corridor, a cold breeze blew from behind him. He instinctively turned around.

Nothing.

“Strange.”

He rubbed his eyes and kept walking.

Behind him, the shadow on the wall writhed slightly.

Then, a black shadow flowed out from the wall, landing soundlessly on the floor and morphing into a large humanoid shape.

Before the other could react, the shadow raised a hand and gently waved.

The guard’s vision went black, and he slumped softly to the ground.

“Damn it, let me out! That kid is a monster! You need to go catch him now!”

Inside the detention cell, Huang Mao was pounding on the iron door with all his might, his fists making loud banging sounds against the metal plate.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked completely insane.

Hong Mao and Lü Mao were lounging lazily on the narrow beds, watching the hysterical Huang Mao. They exchanged a glance.

“Looking at him like this, he probably really is mentally ill,” Hong Mao said, looking at the ceiling, legs crossed high. “Let’s work alone after we get out. Don’t bring this guy along.”

Lü Mao nodded and rolled over.

“You don’t believe me?!”

Huang Mao whipped his head around, his eyes wide as saucers.

“We believe you, we believe you,” Hong Mao waved a hand lazily. “If you say he is, then he is. A monster, glows, ice-proof. We all saw it, okay?”

His tone was dismissive, obvious even to an idiot.

Huang Mao’s anger flared up instantly. He rushed over, grabbed Hong Mao by the collar, and yanked him off the bed.

“You motherf—!”

“Hey, hey, let go, let go!” Hong Mao choked, eyes rolling back, hands flailing.

Lü Mao lifted his head from the pillow, about to try and break up the fight.

Boom!

The entire iron door fell flat on the ground with a deafening crash.

All three froze. Huang Mao slowly let go, setting Hong Mao down.

“Cough, cough… you did that?” Hong Mao gasped for air. “I think you’re the monster.”

“Not me! Definitely not me!”

“It was me.”

All three stiffened at once.

At the doorway, a woman now stood.

A nun-style black robe trailed on the floor. Her dark purple skin gave off an eerie glow under the lights.

The curved twin horns on her head pointed straight up at the ceiling like scimitars.

Her eyes were green, like two bottomless wells.

When her gaze swept over them, all three felt a chill run down their spines simultaneously, as if a basin of ice water had been poured over them from head to toe.

A monster.

A real monster!

Huang Mao’s legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the floor.

He opened his mouth to scream for help, but only a faint wheeze came from his throat.

His pants instantly became wet, a warm sensation trickling down his thighs, but he was completely beyond caring.

Hong Mao and Lü Mao huddled together in the corner, shivering.

“Just now, I sensed a surge of anger.”

Martha looked at them expressionlessly, as if selecting goods from a shelf.

She stepped inside, stopping in front of Huang Mao, looking down at him from above.

Then she reached out, grabbed his hair, and lifted him off the floor.

“Spare me… spare my life!” Huang Mao hung in mid-air, his hands desperately trying to pry loose the hand gripping his hair.

“P-please… let me go…” he squeezed out the words, tears and snot smearing his face.

Martha ignored him. With her other hand, she pulled a glass bottle from her robe.

The bottle contained a purple liquid that emitted a faint, ghostly light in the darkness.

“Drink it.”