Chapter 103: The Disguise and the Unsettling Campus

Her smile faltered.

Su Mian lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously picking at the frayed edges of a hole in her jeans.

Yes, it was only a disguise.

This body, temporarily adorned with a youthful outline by demonic energy, was essentially nothing more than a fragile shell.

Inside that shell, the true Su Mian resided: a fully feminized fox demon whose ears twitched sensitively and whose tail betrayed every emotion.

The “persona” that had accompanied her for eighteen years—all the perceptions and habits of “Su Mian” the boy—had left behind only hollow traces, never to return.

The car smoothly entered the district where N University was located.

It stopped at the campus gates.

Xiao Moyuan did not drive inside. Instead, he turned to face her, his gaze resting upon her as he gave his final instruction:

“The necklace,” he commanded, “never take it off, not for a moment.”

Su Mian instinctively touched the pendant nestled between her collarbones. A warm, soothing sensation, imbued with a comforting spiritual energy, radiated through her skin.

She nodded. “I understand.”

“And one more thing,”

Xiao Moyuan paused, his voice dropping to a low register, devoid of discernible emotion.

“If anything happens, or if you miss me, send a message.”

“I-I understand!”

A flush instantly crept up Su Mian’s cheeks. She quickly responded, fumbling to push open the car door before rushing into the campus without a backward glance.

The morning breeze brushed past her ears, dispelling the excessive warmth from her face.

The campus before her remained unchanged; everything was just as it had been when she left a week prior.

Yet, Su Mian felt a distinct difference.

The air seemed to carry an extremely faint, ineffable “aura”—not a scent detected by the nose, but rather something perceived on a spiritual level.

She recalled Xiao Moyuan’s words in the car about the “demonic energy” lingering above the city. Could it be present in the campus as well?

The thought tightened her chest, and she instinctively quickened her pace.

Before she reached the door of room 304, she heard Lu Yang’s lamenting complaints from within:

“Old Qin, what on earth is going on? Mianzi has been out of contact for a whole week!”

“No sign of her alive, no body if she’s dead. She’s not answering calls or messages. Should we just report her missing to the police?”

Su Mian’s steps faltered, a wave of guilt washing over her.

She had only seen the unread messages yesterday and had completely forgotten to let them know she was safe.

Next came Qin Xuan’s calm, unperturbed voice, carrying his usual composure:

“I already asked the counselor. The school said Su Mian had an urgent family matter and took leave. All the paperwork was in order.”

“Family matter?!”

Lu Yang’s voice rose.

“No matter how busy she is with a family emergency, seven days! A whole seven days! She could at least spare a moment to check her phone and reply to a message, right?”

“I just feel like something’s wrong… And isn’t it odd? After Su Mian disappeared, Xiao Moyuan and Shen Zhixia also vanished without a trace!”

“None of them have been to school this week! Could it be…”

Lu Yang didn’t finish his sentence, but the melodramatic speculation of a “love triangle finally exploding into an all-out brawl” practically seeped through the door.

“No way!”

Lu Yang seemed to have made up his mind.

“I still think Mianzi is in trouble! I need to go to the pol—”

“Oh, my—”

The dorm room door was pushed open from the outside by Su Mian.

Lu Yang, who was pulling the door open and about to rush out, found himself face to face with Su Mian standing in the doorway.

Lu Yang remained in his door-pulling posture, his eyes wide and round. It took him a full three seconds to snap back to reality.

“Mianzi? Is that really you?!”

His face instantly erupted in surprise. He habitually spread his arms, ready for a brotherly embrace, but halfway through, he suddenly seemed to remember something. His movements stiffened abruptly in mid-air, finally transforming into an awkward wave before he clapped Su Mian heavily on the shoulder.

“You rascal!”

Lu Yang scrutinized her from head to toe, his tone a mix of shock, joy, and reproach.

“Where on earth did you run off to this past week?”

“Not replying to messages, not answering calls. Do you know your Brother Lu here almost went to the police station to file a report?”

“I even imagined some dramatic love-hate saga unfolding between you, School Hunk Xiao, and School Belle Shen.”

Su Mian was caught between laughter and tears by his exaggerated claims, her sense of guilt intensifying.

She quickly offered an excuse:

“I went back to my hometown. It’s in the mountains, and the signal there is terrible—basically non-existent… so I didn’t see any messages.”

“In the mountains?”

Lu Yang’s eyebrows shot up.

“Is your hometown Shennongjia or the Greater Khingan Range? Even Mount Everest has cell towers these days, come on!”

He waved a hand, clearly not intending to pry further.

“Forget it, forget it. It’s good that you’re back, that’s all that matters!”

“You wouldn’t believe it, but a lot of big things have happened on campus this past week while you were gone!”

As they spoke, the two walked into the dorm room.

By the desk near the window, Qin Xuan looked up and pushed his glasses higher on his nose.

His gaze lingered on Su Mian for a brief moment, a flicker of almost imperceptible surprise flashing in his eyes behind the lenses.

His lips moved slightly, and he murmured in a voice only he could hear:

‘She’s changed back again…’

“Brother Xuan,” Su Mian greeted him, her voice tinged with apology, “I saw your messages. Thank you for your concern.”

Qin Xuan nodded, his tone still placid. “It’s good that you’re alright.”

With that, he lowered his head again, opening the book beside him as if that subtle observation had never occurred.

Only, on the inside cover of his open notebook, a newly added line of small script was still wet with ink:

‘Observation target S has returned. Her body has undergone another change. The cause remains unknown.’

Su Mian had long grown accustomed to Qin Xuan’s unflappable personality, as if he lived in another dimension, so she didn’t dwell on it.

She turned to the still-excited Lu Yang:

“Boss Lu, you just said a lot happened on campus? What kind of things?”

Lu Yang immediately stopped. “Oh, speaking of which,” Lu Yang’s spirits lifted, and he plopped down into his chair, beginning his narration:

“First, after you disappeared, Xia, Xiao Moyuan, and Shen Zhixia also vanished simultaneously, as if by prior arrangement!”

“Not a single one of them came to class! Isn’t that a strange coincidence?!”

Su Mian’s heart sank, but she tried to maintain a calm expression.

She knew Xiao Moyuan was deliberately avoiding them. As for Shen Zhixia and Xia… there were likely other reasons.

“Second, and most importantly!”

Lu Yang lowered his voice, his expression becoming mysterious.

“Our university, recently, has been a bit… unsettling! It’s been having, uh, ‘those’ things!”

‘Those’ things? Su Mian’s heart tightened slightly.

“Supernatural occurrences!”

Lu Yang whispered.

“I’m not trying to scare you, but you know about the strange female voice in the teaching building late at night, right?”

Su Mian nodded.

Indeed, there had been similar rumors before the National Day holiday, which Lu Yang had mentioned then.

“After that incident, even stranger things started happening!”

Lu Yang recounted vividly:

“Just these past few nights, in the public restrooms of the teaching building, there’s always been a woman singing! And the sound of a toilet flushing, ‘whoosh,’ incredibly clear!”

“Is… is that so strange?”

Su Mian instinctively asked.

As soon as the words left her lips, she realized the answer herself.

Every dorm building now had its own private bathroom. Who would specifically run to the teaching building to use the restroom in the middle of the night?

And sing?

“That’s the problem!”

Lu Yang slapped his thigh.

“The school security guards received several complaints and were forced to investigate. Every time the security uncles approached the third-floor restroom, the singing would abruptly stop! But the sound of the toilet flushing would continue! When they went inside, it was empty! Not even a single puddle of water!”

“This incident scared several security uncles so much they resigned!”

As Su Mian listened, a chill quietly crept up her spine.

If it had been a week ago, she would probably have dismissed it as an exciting campus ghost story, just like Lu Yang.

But now, knowing the true existence of “demons,” she found it hard not to make that connection.

“And there’s even more incredible stuff!”

Lu Yang was clearly in an excited state.

“Several students who came back late said they saw a staircase leading to the ‘sixth floor’ in the teaching building late at night!”

Su Mian was stunned. “Our teaching building… doesn’t it only have five floors at most?”

“Exactly! That’s why it’s so bizarre!”

Lu Yang spread his hands.

“An extra floor appearing out of nowhere, that’s pretty eerie, right? I’m not making this up, Old Qin can vouch for it!”

“And Old Qin and his Supernatural Phenomena Research Society have been investigating this for the past few days!”

Su Mian looked at Qin Xuan in surprise.

She had always assumed a top student like Qin Xuan would join an academic club. She never expected it to be the “Supernatural Phenomena Research Society”?

Qin Xuan closed his book, looked up, and pushed his glasses, his tone calm and even.

“What Lu Yang said is essentially true. The society has indeed been collecting related eyewitness reports and conducting preliminary investigations recently.”

Lu Yang immediately grinned and leaned closer:

“Xuan, does your society have an activity tonight? Why don’t you take me and Mianzi along?”

“I just feel that our school’s teaching building right now is much more thrilling than that haunted house we went to during National Day!”

Qin Xuan’s gaze swept across Lu Yang’s excited face and Su Mian’s slightly hesitant one, then he nodded.

“Alright. The society does have a nocturnal exploration plan tonight. Two extra people to help record would be beneficial.”

He looked at Su Mian, his tone unchanged, but his eyes seemed to hold a hint more scrutiny:

“However, Su Mian, do you dare to go?”

That question, rather than making Su Mian more timid, ignited a spark of defiance within her.

‘Afraid?’

She herself was a “demon” now! She should be the one to be feared!

What kind of demon was afraid of supernatural occurrences?

“I… I of course dare!” She puffed out her chest, temporarily flattened by demonic energy, trying to make her voice sound confident.

“Good! Then it’s settled!”

Lu Yang clapped his hands excitedly:

“Tonight, we’ll go with Qin Xuan’s society to get to the bottom of it! Let’s see what’s really going on in that teaching building.”

He then grumbled regretfully:

“Too bad Xia doesn’t know where he’s run off to. Otherwise, if we called him and a few girls, it would be the perfect group outing and adventure…”

At the mention of Xia, Su Mian’s heart sank slightly.

The true face of that elegant, handsome “mixed-race roommate” now brought only a cold chill and lingering fear.

Lu Yang suddenly remembered something and turned to Su Mian, his eyes becoming somewhat strange and gossipy:

“Oh, right, Mianzi, you, Xiao Moyuan, and School Belle Shen… wasn’t your situation quite delicate? They haven’t been here this week either. Do you know what’s going on?”

“At first, I seriously imagined a melodramatic drama where your identity was exposed, the three of you confronted each other, and then… all perished… ah, no, I mean, simultaneously became disheartened and withdrew from the world…”

Su Mian’s heart skipped a beat. She tried to maintain her composure, even deliberately frowning to show a perfectly appropriate “displeasure”:

“How would I know about Xiao Moyuan? I’m not even that close to him!”

She said this with a touch of guilt, quickly changing the subject.

“But as for Zhixia… I could give her a call and ask.”

She truly wanted to know Shen Zhixia’s current situation.

After sending that final message about “not being able to turn back,” what had happened to her?

Under Lu Yang and Qin Xuan’s gazes, Su Mian, with a complex and uneasy heart, took out her phone and found Shen Zhixia’s number.

Her fingertip hovered over the screen for a moment, then finally pressed the dial button.

The rhythmic “beep-beep—” from the earpiece sounded exceptionally clear in the suddenly silent dorm room.