"I heard a freshman actually dared to go explore the Fourteenth Step at midnight after hearing the legend."
"Huh? Doesn’t the library close at 9 PM? How did that freshman stay until midnight?"
"Easy—he hid inside and waited until everyone left before sneaking out."
"So he really saw the Fourteenth Step? What happened next?"
"He disappeared. They say he still hasn’t been found."
The students all seemed to be discussing the same thing, as if by telepathy. Perhaps the news of the missing freshman had spread so widely that they all instinctively brought up the legend of the Fourteenth Step.
Hearing their chatter, Gao Xiaozhu suddenly remembered. "Oh, I know! That legend about the Fourteenth Step. They say if you take a lit candle and climb the stairs on the fourth floor at exactly 2 AM, you might step onto the fourteenth step."
She lowered her voice. "Once you set foot on that step, you’ll enter another world—one shrouded in mist. And if you can find the 'god' in that world, your wish will be granted. But I’ve heard that everyone who tried to find that god and make a wish… ended up disappearing. No one can say for sure whether it’s a god or a ghost in there."
Gao Xiaozhu shivered, rubbing her arms as if scaring herself with her own words.
Xia Miao whispered, "When the rumors were at their peak, I heard our school’s research achievements rank first in academia every year because each new principal goes into that misty world to 'worship' the god."
This was a legend Xia Miao had heard many times during her years at the school.
With so many students in any school, accidents happen—and so do all kinds of urban legends.
Whether these rumors were true or not was up for debate.
Gao Xiaozhu, easily frightened, asked, "Why bring up something so creepy all of a sudden?"
"I just wanted to confirm if the legend was real. Since you’ve heard it too, my memory must be fine."
Gao Xiaozhu laughed. "You’re way too young for dementia. Why worry about your memory?"
Xia Miao didn’t know how to answer. Noticing Teacher Wu glancing their way from the podium, she fell silent.
At first, students had been gossiping about all sorts of things during breaks, but after this class, Xia Miao noticed nearly everyone around her was discussing the legend of the misty world.
In her memory, the legend had been widespread, but never this overwhelmingly popular.
The current buzz far exceeded anything she recalled.
Xia Miao received a message from Shen Chi—their teacher had run overtime, so he’d be late picking her up. Not that she was a helpless toddler who needed him to guide her every time.
Then it struck her: if Shen Chi always came to fetch her after class, why couldn’t she return the favor?
After saying goodbye to Gao Xiaozhu, Xia Miao left the building and headed toward Shen Chi’s classroom. Passing a basketball court, she heard a chorus of excited shrieks.
"Si Mugu, you’re so handsome!"
"Si Mugu looked at me!"
"Don’t flatter yourself—he was looking at me!"
"Ah! Si Mugu, I love you!"
The girls outside the court acted like starstruck fans, screaming wildly as the strikingly handsome boy sank a three-pointer. Yet his expression remained cold and indifferent.
Only when he walked to the sidelines for a break did a petite girl shove a water bottle at him.
"Here," Tian Meimei said, sounding thoroughly annoyed.
Si Mugu smirked. "Is this how you treat your employer, Tian Meimei?"
Gritting her teeth, Tian Meimei forced a sweeter tone. "Senior Si, you must be tired. I brought this water just for you. I hope you don’t mind."
Si Mugu found her insincere, two-faced act amusing. She clearly despised him, yet her family’s debts forced her to grovel—a delightful contradiction.
Tian Meimei burned with humiliation. If not for those debts—which Si Mugu had paid off just to toy with her—she wouldn’t be stuck serving him like a slave.
People called him the icy school heartthrob, but in truth, he was downright sadistic, taking perverse joy in tormenting her.
Seeing Tian Meimei’s cheeks flush red with anger, yet too timid to fight back, Si Mugu’s lips curled into a smile.
"Oh my god!"
"Si Mugu smiled!"
Xia Miao murmured, "This is the first time I’ve ever seen him smile."
The moment the clichéd line left her lips, she froze. Why did this feel so eerily familiar?
The basketball court radiated the vibes of a cheesy campus romance novel, while the crowd outside spouted scripted reactions like background NPCs.
A sudden realization hit her: Am I just a side character in some school drama?!
Tian Meimei’s eyes lit up. "Shen Chi!"
Si Mugu frowned as she dashed toward another boy.
Tian Meimei and Shen Chi had been neighbors since childhood, attending the same schools all the way to university. If there was one thing ordinary Tian Meimei could pride herself on in the face of Si Mugu’s wealth and looks, it was her accomplished "big brother" next door.
"Shen Chi, you haven’t been back in so long! Let’s go home together next break!"
Beaming like sunshine, Tian Meimei noticed the strawberry yogurt in Shen Chi’s hand—her favorite flavor.
Shen Chi’s gaze remained indifferent. "You’re in my way."
Tian Meimei blinked. "Huh?"
Oblivious to Si Mugu’s interest in her, she was equally blind to Shen Chi’s annoyance.
Shen Chi stepped past her, heading straight for a girl in a green dress with her hair tied in a ponytail. He handed her the yogurt, then gently touched the loosened green ribbon holding her hair.
His usually sharp features softened in the sunset as he murmured, "It’s coming undone."
She took a sip of yogurt and replied matter-of-factly, "Then fix it for me."
With a faint curve of his lips, he replied softly, "Alright."
Tian Meimei's eyes clouded with confusion, for in her memory, she had never seen the jade-cold youth display such tenderness before.
