When leaving the café, Police Officer Lin patted her shoulder meaningfully.
"Head back to school. See you tomorrow."
"Take care, you two."
After parting ways with them, Tong Yang turned and returned to campus.
Due to the unusual circumstances surrounding Ye Wen's disappearance, all officers involved knew the case wasn't as simple as it seemed.
Tong Yang gave a condensed version of events, omitting details—she mentioned how Tong Le had once vanished without a trace for two days. But to avoid dragging Tong Le into unnecessary complications, she could only tell them that after returning, Tong Le had no memory of what happened during those two days.
Police Officer Lin and Police Officer Wan exchanged glances and fell into a long silence before solemnly informing her to come to Hailin International School the next morning at ten. Tong Yang agreed without hesitation—after all, this had been her goal all along.
Back in her dorm, she called Ye Huai and updated him.
"What do the police plan to do tomorrow?" Tong Yang asked.
Ye Huai replied, "Personnel from Department 749 will be on-site for investigations. There might also be others like you—people familiar with similar incidents."
Tong Yang nodded, unsurprised. She knew parallel worlds weren’t something only she was aware of. Perhaps this was a good opportunity.
After hanging up, she headed to the gym as usual.
The next day, July 20th, at 8:30 in the morning, Tong Yang dressed neatly and left campus.
On her way to the subway station, she encountered a girl walking with a guide dog.
What caught Tong Yang’s attention was when a passerby’s pet dog trotted past, eagerly inviting the guide dog to play. The girl softly said, "Sorry, he’s working right now."
The guide dog shot the pet dog a disdainful look before strutting forward with an air of superiority.
Inside the subway station, the girl happened to board the same train.
Despite it being the weekend, the subway was packed. The guide dog couldn’t find an empty seat, so it led the girl to stand by a handrail.
Though there were priority seats for disabled passengers, none of the seated commuters noticed the girl.
Tong Yang was jostled close to her. When the train lurched forward, the girl lost her balance and stumbled into her. Tong Yang steadied her and helped her straighten up.
"Thank you," the girl murmured.
"No problem."
Tong Yang glanced down and saw the guide dog lying by the handrail, staring intently at a passenger rolling a suitcase. Following its gaze, she realized its tail had been accidentally pinned under a wheel. But since guide dogs are trained never to act in ways that might disturb their handlers, it could only watch silently.
Strangely, the dog didn’t look pitiful—just thoroughly unimpressed, as if thinking, This idiot can’t even see where he’s going.
"You’re crushing his tail," Tong Yang tapped the passenger’s shoulder. He looked down, immediately moved his luggage, and apologized repeatedly.
The guide dog curled its tail in, then—as if knowing Tong Yang had helped—licked her shoe in gratitude.
The girl smiled warmly. "Thank you."
"No problem."
"What breed is he?"
With time to spare, Tong Yang gently nudged the dog’s paw.
"He’s a Labrador. His name is Lion."
"Lion?"
Nearby passengers glanced down curiously at the name.
"He’s smart—he picked it himself."
After several stops, the girl was guided to a priority seat. Tong Yang stood nearby and asked, "Can I take a photo of Lion? My little brother loves dogs."
"Of course."
As Tong Yang crouched to snap a picture, Lion stuck out his tongue at her.
They chatted briefly during the ride and discovered they were getting off at the same station.
Twenty minutes before ten, they exited the subway and said their goodbyes.
Tong Yang walked toward Hailin International School. Just as she arrived, a bus pulled up to the stop ahead.
The doors slid open, and the girl with the guide dog stepped out from the rear.
Tong Yang stared in surprise—she hadn’t expected to see her again.
Lion seemed to recognize her too, silently flicking his tongue out before leading his owner toward the school.
Is she also going to Hailin?
Tong Yang quickened her pace to catch up. Before she could call out, the girl stopped and turned slightly toward her, smiling.
"You’re the girl from the subway, aren’t you?"
Tong Yang blinked at her unseeing eyes. "How did you know?"
"You smell like lemon-scented laundry dried in sunlight. It’s very pleasant."
"Really?" Tong Yang lifted her sleeve to sniff but detected nothing.
"Are you heading to Hailin International School?" Tong Yang asked.
The girl’s expression sobered. "Yes. You too?"
"Yeah."
"Then let’s go together."
"I’m Xu Junyue. And you?"
"Tong Yang."
They approached the school’s locked gates, exchanging light conversation but carefully avoiding the topic of why they were there.
Tong Yang called Police Officer Lin, who soon emerged from the school and looked startled to see them together.
"You two know each other?"
"We met by chance on the way," Tong Yang explained.
Police Officer Lin nodded without further questions.
"Alright, come inside."
As they followed him into the campus, Tong Yang took in the cutting-edge facilities—digital screens and robots were everywhere.
Instead of leading them to where Ye Wen had vanished, Police Officer Lin took them straight to the principal’s office.
Passing through the glass walkway connecting the cafeteria to the classrooms, Tong Yang glanced up. There were five such walkways, each spaced about six or seven meters apart. Ye Wen had disappeared on the third-floor corridor.
At the office door, Police Officer Lin knocked.
"Dr. Wu, they’re here."
"Come in."
The three entered to find eight people already inside—Ye Tianlin and Aunt Bai, Ye Huai, several officers, and two individuals in white lab coats.
"Have a seat."
Tong Yang and Xu Junyue found chairs while Police Officer Lin closed the door behind them.
"Aunt Bai, Mr. Ye," Tong Yang greeted the couple with a nod.
Aunt Bai looked exhausted, her eyes red-rimmed and shadowed—clearly, she hadn’t slept well these past days. She managed a weak nod in return.
The moment Ye Tianlin saw Tong Yang, he slammed his palm on the table.
"Was it you and Ye Huai who kidnapped my son?!"
"I knew something was off—why were you so insistent on keeping Wen at home? This was your plan all along!"
"Mark my words, if anything happens to him, I’ll make sure you pay!"
Ye Huai frowned. "Dad, stop embarrassing yourself. The police already ruled out foul play."
"Say that again?!" Ye Tianlin's face turned livid with rage as he pointed at Ye Huai, rising to his feet as if to strike him, only to be restrained by a police officer.
"Mr. Ye, please calm down first. We’ve already confirmed that your son stayed home because he didn’t want to go to school."
"Nonsense! It must be them! It must be—"
Tong Yang cut in impatiently, "Officer Lin, with such an irrational parent here, can we even have a proper discussion? Maybe we should ask him to step out and cool off first?"
Her provocative remark drew sharp glances from the others. Police Officer Lin shot her a warning look, signaling her not to stir trouble.
Dr. Wu swept his gaze over the group and said sternly, "Alright, Mr. Ye. If you continue causing disruptions, we’ll have no choice but to escort you out."
Dr. Wu seemed to hold authority among them. Though Ye Tianlin’s expression remained stormy, he stopped his outburst, shooting Tong Yang a venomous glare before reluctantly sitting back down.
Tong Yang thought Ye Tianlin must have something wrong with his head—how else could someone like him become chairman of White Horse Group?
"Officer Lin, let’s get to the point," Dr. Wu prompted.
Police Officer Lin nodded and stood to address the room. "Regarding Ye Wen’s mysterious disappearance, the police have reached a preliminary conclusion."
"The location where Ye Wen vanished has no other exits—it’s as if he disappeared into thin air. This isn’t just unnatural; it’s impossible for it to be man-made. That’s why we’ve invited two individuals who’ve experienced similar incidents."
Police Officer Lin gestured to Tong Yang, who repeated what she’d said the day before—though she omitted any mention of encountering her parallel-world counterpart.
Dr. Wu fell into deep thought after hearing her account.
Xu Junyue then spoke up, "A year ago, I was walking home along my usual route when, without warning, I smelled an overwhelming scent of blood. It vanished after a few minutes. Since then, I’ve occasionally experienced the same thing—sometimes even at home. I’d search everywhere for my lion, but it would reappear moments later, as if it had never left my side."
Tong Yang glanced at her. It sounded like Xu Junyue had repeatedly slipped into the parallel world without realizing it, though she’d never encountered anyone from that world or suffered harm.
Dr. Wu asked, "Tong Yang, does your brother remember where he was during those two days?"
Tong Yang shook her head. "He said he was just sleeping at home, but I couldn’t find him anywhere."
Dr. Wu nodded thoughtfully before turning to Xu Junyue. "Miss Xu, have you noticed anything else unusual?"
Xu Junyue hesitated, then said, "Every time it happens, I smell blood."
At this, Dr. Wu fell silent. The others exchanged puzzled glances, waiting for his response.
After half a minute, Dr. Wu sighed and stood. "My apologies—I haven’t properly introduced myself yet."
"I’m Wu Xueping, a member of the supernatural research organization, Bureau 749. We suspect that your youngest son, Ye Wen, has entered a parallel world due to some unknown trigger."
Aunt Bai froze. "A parallel world?"
Ye Tianlin clenched his jaw, barely containing his fury. "What kind of nonsense is this? Can’t solve the case, so you blame it on supernatural mumbo-jumbo? I thought you were some kind of expert, but you’re just a fraud! ‘Supernatural research’? Who the hell falls for that? Just arrest Ye Huai and that girl for questioning—maybe then we’ll find Wen faster!"
"Mr. Ye, we need your cooperation. If you continue like this, you’ll be excluded from further proceedings."
Ye Huai stood and bowed to the group. "My apologies for the disturbance. Dr. Wu, please ignore my father and continue."
Ye Tianlin’s face twisted with rage. He kicked his chair aside, glared at Ye Huai, then stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
After a moment’s hesitation, Aunt Bai hurried after him.
"Good, the troublemaker’s gone. Dr. Wu, please proceed," Tong Yang said.
Dr. Wu narrowed his eyes, studying the unshaken expressions of Tong Yang and the others. "You don’t seem surprised at all?"
Ye Huai replied, "There are many things in this world science can’t explain."
"Fair point."
"Exactly."
The police officers exchanged glances. It had taken them days of mental wrestling and countless reviews of surveillance footage to reluctantly accept this as a supernatural case. They’d even worried about traumatizing these underage witnesses—yet here they were, accepting it without hesitation.
Tong Yang asked, "Dr. Wu, how did you discover the parallel world?"
For now, she kept her own experiences to herself. Their stance was still unclear, and she only needed to ensure her involvement.
Dr. Wu considered her question before answering, "Through mirages."
"Mirages?" Tong Yang frowned. "Aren’t those natural phenomena?"
"Tong Yang, I hear you excel in physics. Then you’d know that mirages are less ‘natural’ phenomena and more ‘unnatural’ ones. Though science has tried to explain them, there are still gaps. They’re natural—yet also supernatural. If we consider them glimpses of a parallel world or another dimension, doesn’t that make sense?"
"So you haven’t actually found the parallel world? It’s just a bold hypothesis?"
Dr. Wu nodded. "We do have other evidence, but it’s classified."
Tong Yang pressed, "Then why gather us here today?"
"We want to explore the parallel world."
Tong Yang lowered her gaze. This aligned with her own goal—rather than passively entering the parallel world, uncovering the conditions to do so would shift the balance of control.
"However, we may need your help. There are risks involved, so you’re free to decline."
"I’ll assist," Tong Yang said immediately.
Xu Junyue hesitated before murmuring, "Me too..."
Ye Huai asked, "What do we need to do?"
Dr. Wu exchanged a glance with another man in a lab coat. "Tonight, between 11 PM and 1 AM, we’ll conduct the experiment at the site of Ye Wen’s disappearance."
"Understood."
"Officer Lin, ensure no one remains at the school tonight—including all police personnel."
Ye Huai’s brow furrowed. "Why?"
"Because if we find the entrance to the parallel world, there will definitely be restrictions. Whether it's Tong Yang's younger brother or Miss Xu, they both encountered the parallel world when they were alone."
Tong Yang narrowed her eyes slightly. It seemed there were no restrictions when she and the others from Room 1209 entered the parallel world, but perhaps that was because they hadn't actively sought to enter it at the time.
Later, Dr. Wu said he needed to make some preparations and told them to arrange their remaining time freely, returning to the school by evening.
Meanwhile, Ye Huai took them to inspect the glass corridor where Ye Wen had disappeared.
The glass corridor was exactly as Tong Yang had seen in the surveillance footage, with only two entrances at either end.
Tong Yang stood in the corridor, looking down, when Xu Junyue approached her, leading her guide lion.
"Tong Yang."
Tong Yang turned to her and said, "You really don’t have to get involved in this."
Xu Junyue pressed her lips together and replied, "Thank you, but I want to know if parallel worlds truly exist."
"It’s dangerous."
Xu Junyue smiled faintly. "Don’t judge me by appearances. I’m not as fragile as you think."
Ye Huai stood by the glass corridor, bathed in sunlight, lost in thought. After a long pause, he said, "I’ll take you to review the surveillance footage from before and after Ye Wen’s disappearance."
Tong Yang hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
Ye Huai led them to the security room and, after explaining their purpose to the guard, rewound the footage to noon on the 15th.
Xu Junyue couldn’t see the screen and stood quietly to the side.
The footage matched exactly what had been shared in the gossip group. After watching it once, Tong Yang switched to the cameras covering the same time period.
Ye Wen had disappeared on the third floor, so Tong Yang checked the footage from the fourth and second floors, focusing on the glass corridor. Due to the camera angles, only about a meter of the corridor was visible, and the transparency of the glass allowed faint glimpses of reflections and blurred movements.
A fleeting shadow in the fourth-floor footage near the cafeteria made Tong Yang pause. She frowned and dragged the timeline back one second. Because of the angle, the fourth-floor camera captured an extra half-meter of the corridor compared to the third-floor footage, though the transparency of the glass and the quality of the surveillance made the shadow barely discernible.
"What is it?" Ye Huai asked.
Tong Yang paused the footage at the moment the shadow disappeared on the fourth floor and compared it to the third-floor footage, where Ye Wen stepped into the blind spot. The time difference was less than 0.01 seconds.
"Ye Wen disappeared 0.01 seconds after entering the blind spot."
Ye Huai leaned in to examine both screens. "You’re right. Without careful observation, this shadow would go unnoticed."
Tong Yang nodded. "But this only proves that Ye Wen’s disappearance wasn’t caused by human intervention."
Further review of the footage seemed pointless, so the three of them left the security room.
Night fell. After catching some sleep earlier, they returned to Hailin International School at 10:30 p.m.
Following Dr. Wu’s instructions, the police had cut the school’s power and evacuated the premises, leaving only Dr. Wu, his assistant, and the three of them inside. Officers remained stationed outside, with only a walkie-talkie to confirm their safety.
The walkie-talkie, of course, was in Dr. Wu’s hands.
Dr. Wu led them to the third-floor cafeteria where Ye Wen had disappeared and handed Tong Yang and Ye Huai black blindfolds, instructing them to put them on. Xu Junyue had left her guide lion with the police before entering.
The night wind whipped against their faces. With their vision obscured, their other senses sharpened. Suppressing the unease brought by the darkness, Tong Yang stood alone at the entrance of the third-floor glass corridor. Dr. Wu took Ye Huai and Xu Junyue to the first and second floors, respectively, while he and his assistant positioned themselves at the entrances of the fourth and fifth-floor corridors.
Five glass corridors, five people standing at their entrances.
Tong Yang had asked why this was necessary. Dr. Wu’s explanation mirrored the "Elevator Game" theory—a method of breaking spatial order by repeatedly moving through enclosed spaces to enter a parallel world.
They wore earpieces provided by Dr. Wu. Though they couldn’t communicate directly, they could hear his instructions.
At midnight, static crackled in their ears before Dr. Wu’s voice came through.
"Take eight normal steps forward."
The surroundings were eerily silent. The cold wind brushed past her temples as Tong Yang clenched her fists and followed the instructions, stepping into the glass corridor.
She counted her steps silently, her mind racing through the day’s events.
From the moment Dr. Wu mentioned the "mirage" theory, something had felt off.
At the eighth step, the wind around her grew stronger.
She stood still, waiting to sense any changes in her surroundings.
After about a minute, Dr. Wu spoke again.
"Do not turn around. Take four steps back."
Tong Yang obeyed, struck by how similar this felt to her experience in the parallel world on June 8th—moving forward and backward to achieve something. The only difference was that back then, they could keep their eyes open and use their phones to communicate.
After standing still for another minute, the earpiece crackled again.
"Take twelve steps forward."
Tong Yang complied, though she didn’t believe in the "mirage" theory. She even doubted whether the supernatural research organization, Bureau 749, truly existed.
What kind of professional institution would casually involve civilians in such experiments? Worse, apart from her, Ye Huai had a heart condition, and Xu Junyue was blind. Letting them attempt to enter a parallel world without preparation or knowledge of its dangers was beyond unreasonable.
Yet, Tong Yang chose to follow Dr. Wu’s instructions.
Because this might be her only way back into the parallel world.
Dr. Wu claimed he had never truly seen the parallel world, but Tong Yang had.
His contradictions didn’t matter—their goals aligned. She wanted to return.
"Do not turn around. Take four steps back."
She didn’t know Dr. Wu’s true motives, but as long as she could reach the parallel world, that was enough.
As for Ye Huai and Xu Junyue, she had warned them beforehand. To avoid alerting Dr. Wu, they had still chosen to participate, though Tong Yang couldn’t guarantee their safety.
Ye Huai had agreed without hesitation—the victim was his brother. He seemed confident his heart wouldn’t fail him during the experiment.
But why Xu Junyue was willing to risk her life for this, Tong Yang couldn’t say. Perhaps she had her own reasons.
"Take twenty steps forward."
This time, the number of steps to advance was significant. Tong Yang calculated in her mind: subtracting the steps taken backward, she should have walked thirty-two steps by now. Her stride was roughly 0.6 meters, so multiplying by thirty-two meant she had covered about nineteen meters. The glass corridor was twenty-one meters long, meaning she was just two meters away from leaving the corridor and entering the school building.
"Do not turn around. Take ten steps back."
Hearing this, Tong Yang frowned slightly. Whether it was her imagination or not, as the steps forward and backward increased, she distinctly felt the surrounding temperature drop.
After completing the ten backward steps, Tong Yang stood still in place. The surroundings fell into complete silence, so quiet that even the sound of the wind seemed absent.
At that moment, Tong Yang felt a distinct touch on her right arm—as if someone had brushed past her, their clothes grazing against hers.
"Where are you going?"
Tong Yang stiffened. A strange woman’s voice spoke from her right side.
At this moment, the school should have only had the five of them left. Among them, only she and Xu Junyue were girls—and she hadn’t heard any footsteps. Who was this woman standing beside her? When had she appeared?
Were the others facing the same situation as her?
"If someone else appears beside you, do not engage with her."
"Because she is most likely not human."
Dr. Wu’s voice came through the headphones again.
With the blindfold on, the experience was different from when she had been on the Third High School’s playground. This kind of unseen, unfathomable unknown was far more effective at stirring fear.
Even though Tong Yang had encountered many bizarre incidents before, the darkness imposed by the blindfill still filled her with unease.
"Classmate, where are you going? I’ll go with you."
The woman seemed to move closer, her icy presence clinging to Tong Yang’s right shoulder.
"Please choose to either take two steps back or twenty steps forward."
Tong Yang pondered for a moment. She was currently twenty-two steps away from the starting point. If she took twenty more steps forward, she could leave the glass corridor and reach the opposite school building. Besides, in this situation, no one would choose to stay in the corridor.
So, Tong Yang decisively chose to take twenty steps forward.
At the same time, she sensed someone following her step for step.
"Take off your blindfold," the girl’s voice whispered in her ear.
"Do not remove the blindfold!"
Dr. Wu’s urgent voice crackled through the headphones.
Tong Yang paused for a few seconds—then raised her hand and took off the blindfold.
She slowly opened her eyes. The long-missed light spilled into her vision, and the silvery moonlight spread across the glass corridor. Just half a step away from the exit, a man in a white lab coat hung suspended in midair, a leather belt wrapped around his neck, blocking the passage between the glass corridor and the school building.
Tong Yang immediately turned her head—and saw a woman with a grotesque smile standing outside the railing.
"Congratulations, you chose correctly," the woman said, her tone almost leisurely. "If you hadn’t taken it off, I would have killed you."
Then, she spread her arms, staring unblinkingly at Tong Yang as she leaned backward—and plummeted straight down from the third floor.
A loud "thud" echoed as her body slammed into the ground.
Tong Yang looked around. Aside from the hanging corpse in front of her, the environment seemed unchanged. She couldn’t tell whether this was the real world or a parallel one.
She walked to the railing and looked down. The woman’s body lay motionless on the ground, blood spreading beneath her. However, there was no sign of Ye Huai or Xu Junyue on the glass corridors of the second or first floors.
Tong Yang looked up again—but the two glass corridors above were equally still, devoid of any movement.
"Anyone there?" Tong Yang called out. The vast school was dark and empty, with no response.
"Ye Huai?"
"Xu Junyue?"
Tong Yang frowned. Even the headphones had gone silent.
She had no choice but to approach the hanging corpse. Grabbing the hem of his pants, she turned him around to reveal his face.
Under the moonlight, Tong Yang recognized him—he was Dr. Wu’s assistant.
"So, he wasn’t really a doctor from the 749 Bureau."
Tong Yang stepped around him, passing through the deserted hallway to reach the second floor of the school building.
No one was here. Neither Xu Junyue nor Ye Huai were present.
Had their final choices been different?
Tong Yang had chosen to move forward—had they chosen to retreat? Or had she removed the blindfold while they obeyed Dr. Wu’s instructions?
But that was certainly possible.
Tong Yang had taken off the blindfold because she was certain the woman was from a parallel world—meaning she had most likely already entered one.
"But why?" Tong Yang muttered, her brow furrowing.
After descending the stairs, she checked the woman’s condition—she was already dead.
Who exactly was Dr. Wu? Had he deliberately led her into the parallel world with ulterior motives? Or was all of this just a coincidence?
But since she was already here, it meant Ye Wen was in this world too. All she had to do was find him and bring him back.
The only question was whether there were others in the school and where Ye Wen might be.
Tong Yang searched the school building floor by floor, classroom by classroom. Most were empty, and unlike Third High School, everything here remained identical to the real world.
After combing through the first and second floors, Tong Yang returned to the third floor. Standing on the classroom balcony, she caught a glimpse of a figure darting past on the opposite side of the glass corridor.
"Who’s there?" Tong Yang startled, immediately giving chase.
By the time she crossed the glass corridor to the cafeteria’s third floor, the figure had already disappeared around a stairwell corner. Tong Yang sprinted after them—but only found two empty, shadowed hallways. There was no one else.
"Anyone here?"
She called out, puzzled. She had thought it might be Ye Huai or Xu Junyue.
Tong Yang didn’t linger. She turned to head back to the school building—but then noticed that the classroom nearest to the third-floor glass corridor was now lit.
And the assistant’s corpse hanging at the corridor’s end was gone.
Her expression darkened as she walked toward the illuminated classroom.
At the same time, Tong Yang realized something unusual. This time was different from all her previous encounters with parallel worlds.
She couldn’t be sure of Dr. Wu’s true identity, but his objective seemed obvious—he wanted her to enter the parallel world. Despite the glaring inconsistencies, Tong Yang had played along.
But unlike before, this time she had entered the parallel world through a method similar to the "elevator game"—actively, rather than passively.
Did that mean the implications of "active" and "passive" entry were different?
If Dr. Wu is from a parallel world, their ability to invade the real world is restricted because of Tong Yang's existence as a "temporal anchor." Moreover, when they pull Tong Yang or others into the parallel world, they are also bound by certain "rules."
Could it be that if they lure Tong Yang into willingly entering the parallel world, those restrictions would no longer apply?
Lost in thought, Tong Yang walked through the glass corridor and arrived in front of a brightly lit classroom.
Both the front and back doors of the classroom were open. Peering inside, Tong Yang saw two children—a boy and a girl—sitting in the second-to-last row, their backs turned to the blackboard.
But upon closer inspection, that wasn’t quite right.
Rather than sitting with their backs to the blackboard, their bodies were actually facing forward, but their heads were twisted 180 degrees backward. Logically, such a degree of neck contortion was impossible for a living person.
Yet, people from the parallel world seemed just like those from the real world—they bled, they could be injured… and, of course, they could die.
So there was no doubt: these two children, with their grotesquely twisted necks, were already dead.
"It can’t be Ye Wen, can it?" Tong Yang muttered to herself.
To confirm, she decided to step inside for a closer look.
Entering through the front door, Tong Yang weaved between the neatly arranged desks until she reached the second-to-last row.
Looking down, she shuddered violently, a curse escaping her lips: "Fuck!"
Though horror stories often described creatures with "back-of-the-head faces," seeing it in person was far more visceral than reading about it on paper.
But this wasn’t a ghost story—this was a parallel world, existing in another dimension.
Which meant this was man-made.
Leaning in, Tong Yang spotted the thick black sutures embedded in the flesh, meticulously stitching the scalps together. Their ears had likely been sliced clean off.
The sight of the crude stitching made her stomach churn, reminding her of the hollowed-out skins she’d seen at Nameless Slope. Were all the people in this world deranged?
She walked to the window, yanked the curtains down, and draped them over the children’s bodies. Scanning the room, she wondered who could be behind this.
But more pressing was finding Ye Wen. If she delayed any longer, what if those psychopaths turned him into something just as grotesque?
Even if it wasn’t about the money, Tong Yang couldn’t bear the thought of someone she knew ending up like this.
Just as she turned to leave through the back door, a faint rustling sound came from behind.
"Wuu… It hurts so much…"
Tong Yang froze, then slowly turned around.
The curtains she’d placed over the children had fallen to the floor. The two children—still with their heads twisted backward—were staggering toward her, arms outstretched as they blindly groped the air.
"Save us…"
"Wuu… It hurts…"
Their voices sounded muffled, as if speaking through thick masks.
"Mom… Mom…"
"It’s so dark… Wuu…"
Taking a deep breath, Tong Yang asked, "Can you hear me?"
But they didn’t respond, only continuing their pained murmurs.
"Dad… We’re sorry…"
"…Why… Why did you do this to us…?"
Realizing they couldn’t hear her, Tong Yang clenched her jaw. She bent down, picked up the curtain rope, and walked toward one of the children.
Without hesitation, she looped the rope around its neck and tightened it.
After ensuring both were dead, she covered their bodies with the curtains again.
Leaving the classroom, her expression was grim.
Before seeing these children, she had almost convinced herself that not everyone in the parallel world was beyond redemption—after all, the parallel version of herself and Ye Huai, Ye Wen’s gentle father, had seemed reasonable.
But now she understood. As the other "Tong Yang" had said, every survivor in this world was drenched in blood—or, like these helpless children, had been tortured beyond recognition.
If they were determined to invade the real world, then she would exterminate every last one of them—including the parallel version of herself.
No longer lingering in the school building, Tong Yang hurried back through the glass corridor to the cafeteria. She climbed over the counter, rummaged through the cabinets, and grabbed a few easily concealable fruit knives before turning to leave.
But the moment she turned around, the cafeteria lights blazed to life with a deafening boom.
The sudden brightness forced her to shield her eyes. When her vision adjusted, she saw a man standing outside the counter, staring straight at her.
His face bore obvious stitch marks, but his eyes weren’t vacant—they burned with accusation.
"Why did you kill my children?" he asked, voice laced with confusion.
Tong Yang’s body moved before her mind could react. She vaulted onto the stove, slipped through the serving hatch, and kicked the man square in the chest.
He crashed into a table, but before he could recover, she grabbed his hair and slashed his throat with one swift motion.
The pale skin split like a mouth, gushing crimson.
Tong Yang stepped back just in time to avoid the spray.
The third-floor cafeteria was even larger than the four dining halls at Third High. Despite the lights, the only other presence was the lifeless man at her feet.
Kicking the corpse in frustration, she cursed herself for acting rashly—she should’ve kept him alive to interrogate him about Ye Wen’s whereabouts.
"Damn it."
Pocketing the knives, she strode out of the cafeteria.
Back in the glass corridor, she leaned against the railing, surveying the area below. Searching blindly wasn’t efficient, but making too much noise would only draw more of those monsters. She was alone, after all.
"…Hehe."
A giggle echoed behind her.
Tong Yang turned to see a girl crouched in the corner, facing the wall. Blood dripped steadily from beneath her.
Gripping a knife, Tong Yang approached cautiously, looking down at the girl.
In her hands was a man’s severed arm, her mouth smeared with blood as she feasted ravenously.
