Chapter 19 Bubbles (3) "Xie Tan, are you wearing perfume? Okay..."
The application form is still under review, and Xie Tan has made several more trips to the school to gather the necessary materials.
Diqiu University has lax security, and many students who are not used to living in the dormitories rent houses outside, or go directly home if they live close by.
Chang Mingai sent him the textbooks for this semester and discussed group assignments with him.
.at: [I'm at school, in-person meeting?]
Alice Takes Over Wonderland: [Okay, see you in room 611, floor A]
Some students would find empty classrooms without classes to study on their own. When Xie Tan arrived at the classroom, only Chang Mingai was looking at materials.
She sat at one of the three long tables, which were for three people each, near the door.
Xie Tan glanced at her wrist; she wasn't wearing a bracelet.
Chang Mingai: "...That's roughly the direction. We'll analyze it in more detail later. Are you going home to write it?"
Xie Tan glanced at the time: "Let's finalize the table of contents here for now."
It's easier to discuss things when both of them are present.
"Okay, after everyone finishes writing their content, I'll give my presentation. Can you make the PowerPoint presentation?"
"Can."
"Then it's settled... Ah, I'll go to Building B first. My roommate forgot his dorm key. I'll go and return it to him. I'll be right back."
Xie Tan nodded, stood up and made way for Chang Mingai. After she left, he took some of the materials and sat down at the long table in the middle to draft a table of contents.
Ten minutes later, Chang Mingai returned. Seeing that he was writing something, she didn't say anything, but naturally sat down to his right and sat at the same table with him.
Xie Tan paused slightly with her pen; her documents were on the table to the left.
Chang Mingai picked up the other documents on his desk and started writing a table of contents.
That's fine too. These materials were selected by them together. She would occasionally discuss the selection of modules and the table of contents with him, and slowly she got closer and closer to him.
In the end, the two were only a fist's distance apart. She seemed to have finished writing, stopped writing, and turned her head to look at his draft.
Xie Tan slowed down his writing and turned his head to the side.
She wasn't looking at the table of contents he had written; she was looking at him.
A faint smile played on her lips, her beautiful round eyes reflecting his image, brimming with joy, as if she were entranced.
If she got any closer, her elbows would touch his sleeves.
She was getting restless.
Meeting Xie Tan's gaze, she wasn't embarrassed at all; instead, her smile became even brighter. Unable to resist, she asked, "Xie Tan, are you wearing perfume? It smells so good."
"..."
Xie Tan stopped writing.
I see.
This is fake.
When he is not in heat, as long as he is not stimulated, not aroused by alpha pheromones, and does not have strong emotional fluctuations, his pheromones are not very strong, and you can only smell some when you get close.
Even so, he usually wore pheromone-blocking patches, but the transmigration was sudden, and he didn't bring any new ones. The patch on the back of his neck also rubbed off.
As for inhibitors, bring only those; save them as much as possible and use them during estrus.
In the very beginning, when he first came to the comic world, he was not used to going out without any restraints.
However, since the people here can't smell it, he gradually got used to being "exposed." What could he do if he wasn't used to it?
However, the ghosts here can smell it.
"That's enough for today." Xie Tan packed up the documents. Since it wasn't the person in question, he wouldn't waste any more time.
Chang Mingai was caught off guard and stood up a little aggrieved: "Let's stay a little longer. It's rare that we both have time to discuss things."
"Mealtime."
Are you hungry?
Xie Tan did not answer, but Chang Mingai took it as a tacit agreement. After struggling with her feelings, she said resentfully, "Then go and eat quickly."
Xie Tan nodded and left, then sent a message to the real Chang Mingai, saying that they would discuss the rest online and check the table of contents next time.
Chang Mingai rushed back to the classroom but didn't see anyone, then remembered to check the message.
That's so sudden, did something come up unexpectedly?
Xie Tan really does come and go silently, so mysterious. Is it just his temperament?
Let's go to the library first and look at other reference books. She's only halfway through organizing the table of contents for Chapter Two.
She put away her materials, paused in her work, and flipped back to the previous draft.
Huh? Chapter Two is already finished?
You misremembered; the progress is actually quite good.
Chang Mingai carried her materials to the library, wondering which books to borrow, but she got stuck at the door—the facial recognition system just wouldn't recognize her.
"Doesn't this show that you've already been in? Did you lend your card to someone else? I've already said that the library has strict entry and exit rules, one person per entry, get out, get out."
"I didn't lend it to anyone else, it's right here with me..." Chang Mingai rummaged through his schoolbag, but then remembered that he had put the card on the table while packing his things this morning.
She left in a daze, growing angrier the more she thought about it.
It's simply a bug in the library's machines.
Anyway, there's no rush, I won't write today. When get out of class is over, she waits downstairs in the teaching building and grabs her roommate to go eat together.
But her roommate wasn't too willing, and seemed to be sulking. Only after she asked did she say, "You didn't talk to me at noon..."
Chang Mingai was taken aback: "Noon? Today at noon? Where are we?"
"You bought a lot of snacks and were strolling around East Pedestrian Street. I called you the whole way, and everyone around us heard me, but you didn't even turn around..."
"I went straight back to my dorm after leaving the art museum at noon. I didn't go shopping. Sister Han is in the dorm too. You can ask her if you don't believe me!"
"real?"
"Really, we ate takeout together in the dorm."
My roommate said embarrassedly, "I must have seen wrong. That person was dressed exactly like you today, and walked the same way. I even saw her profile. It was you... Oh dear, it must be because we look alike. I misunderstood. I'm sorry, let's go eat!"
The misunderstanding was cleared up, but Chang Mingai was absent-minded. She felt that something was wrong.
But she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.
After finishing her meal, Chang Mingai had plans with her roommates, so she went back to the dormitory alone. Feeling troubled, she didn't pay attention to the road and bumped into someone, falling to the ground.
Are you alright? I'm sorry, I bumped into you.
The voice sounds familiar, but I can't remember who it is.
Chang Mingai grasped the other person's outstretched hand, used it to stand up, and raised her head: "It was my fault for not watching where I was going...!"
She suddenly fell silent.
She saw a face that looked exactly like her own.
He was looking at her with a smile.
That evening, after Xie Tan finished washing up, the screen of his phone on the sink lit up.
Alice Takes Over Wonderland: [Did you see me when you left?]
Two seconds later, the message was retracted.
Alice Takes Over Wonderland: [Wrong message sent, goodnight]
Xie Tan raised an eyebrow; it seemed his partner had encountered another version of himself.
He stared at the message for a while, politely replied with "Goodnight," but his mind wandered. Was the second message really sent by him?
The next day, they met again in the study room. Xie Tan felt that Chang Mingai probably wanted to ask him something.
This time they changed to a different teaching building, or more precisely, to a building in the old campus, on the other side of the slope where you carry the long ladder up the mountain.
Due to the terrain, there was no shortcut. One had to climb to the top of the stairs and then go down to the teaching building. It was high and far, time-consuming and laborious. The building was also old, so this area was phased out and became an old building area.
Diqiu University is very large, and classes are held in the newly built teaching buildings. This building is reserved as a study room for students who need it.
The school has a library and empty classrooms. It's only crowded during midterms and finals; it's empty during weekdays.
Chang Mingai chose this place, probably because he didn't have anyone there.
The fewer people there are, the less likely the other woman will blend in; she just needs to stay close to him.
But she forgot one thing: the more haunted a place is, the more likely it is to be haunted.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed.
Xie Tan climbed a very long slope—a very long one.
He sat on the steps and rested for a while, expressionless.
Group assignment, another partner, bubbles—this ladder is the worst thing ever.
The cat is full of energy; perhaps the system doesn't have the concept of being tired, only of eating.
Number 7, a few steps ahead, wagged her tail to cheer him on: "Consider it exercise! Today's step count has already surpassed 8,000, meow—"
Xie Tan:
Xie Tan went to the old teaching building first. When he went upstairs, there seemed to be some noises on other floors, but he ignored it.
He put down his things and went to the restroom to wash his hands, which were covered in dust from the steps.
The bathroom window was open, and a cold wind blew towards Xie Tan, causing him to frown.
As it turns out, bathrooms are also high-risk locations for accidents in the world of horror stories.
The cubicle behind him creaked open, and a boy emerged, his clothes dirty, wrinkled, and stained with blood.
His overly long hair obscured his eyes. He stopped beside Xie Tan, blocking the wind but bringing with him a damp, bloody smell.
He also turned on the tap and washed his hands.
Was it that boy from the swimming pool who got bullied again? Yeah, this place is secluded enough.
They stood side by side in front of the dirty, somewhat blurry mirror, and neither of them spoke.
Xie Tan glanced at the hand sanitizer on the boys' side, thought to himself, "Never mind," and was just about to leave when the hand sanitizer was handed to him.
Xie Tan: ?
Last time I saw him, didn't I avoid him like the plague? I didn't want him meddling in my business at all.
Xie Tan was about to say thank you when she saw the boy move aside to make room for the hand dryer and close the window that had been blowing cold air. She nodded to him and left first.
"……Thanks."
Xie Tan noticed that his hands were not clean at all, and there was blood on them.
He washed his hands, could it be just so he could stand next to him and shield him from the wind?
Xie Tan returned to the classroom, where the loudspeaker was broadcasting a reprimand, saying that a student had taken clay from the art department's materials warehouse and scribbled all over the swimming pool last week.
Although the building is no longer in use, the broadcasting equipment is integrated, so you can still hear it from here.
The loud, passionate, and lengthy speech annoyed Xie Tan, so he stared at the radio for a while.
It's a pity that No. 7 couldn't be touched, otherwise Xie Tan would really consider lifting No. 7 up and letting the brave and fearless Leopard God tear the broadcast cable apart.
After hearing his thoughts, Number 7 nodded his cat head solemnly: "The broadcast escaped unscathed, meow."
Everything is going smoothly.
Suddenly, the classroom door was kicked open, and Chang Mingai ran in in a panic, glancing back as if someone was chasing her.
When she saw Xie Tan, she immediately ran over, grabbed his wrist, and tried to run away with him.
Xie Tan steadied her with his hand and looked towards the classroom door.
Although it was daytime, there was no sunlight. The corridor under the clouds was neither bright nor completely dark, like being sandwiched in a gray space of black and white, the most chaotic and the most unpredictable.
The male classmate I had just met was standing at the door, as if he had burst out of this chaos, with several more streaks of blood on his body.
The axe in his hand dragged on the ground, and blood trickled into the classroom.
A note from the author:
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