Chapter 144: Returning to School, The Corpse of the Unusual

Two weeks later.

The cold of the Southwest is different from the cold of the North. Despite the temperature not seeming terribly low, it carries a damp, piercing chill.

In the Northeast, for instance, even with continuous heavy snow, one can still withstand the biting wind by putting on thick cotton-padded clothes, face masks, earmuffs, and leather hats.

In Xinzhou, however, even in the dead of winter, snow is a rare sight. Instead, a bone-chilling wind pierces straight through the marrow, and the air is perpetually saturated with a damp moisture. If a fine, drizzly rain happens to fall on top of that, it is truly... enough to make one hesitate to stop while walking down the street. Once a person stands still, they shiver violently from the cold, shaking just like someone dancing the disco.

At the entrance of the Normal University, today was Li Lan’s day of returning to school. His bone-fracture injuries had not healed completely yet, but fortunately, being in university, classes that were not compulsory could be skipped or postponed due to health reasons.

Li Ruoke drove him here herself. There was no need for a wheelchair anymore; he was using crutches. Over the past few days at home, he had practiced hopping on one leg quite a bit, so as long as he avoided crowded areas, he would be just fine.

"I told you to take another month off, but you stubbornly refused to listen," Li Ruoke said. "Look at how many people there are at school. With your crutches and plaster cast, what if someone bumps into you and you take a disastrous tumble? After finally healing a bit, you'll end up right back in the hospital."

Li Lan wrapped a thick layer of plush cotton over the plaster cast on his injured leg, puffed out two breaths of white mist in the cold air, and replied, "No way, no way. How long has the semester been underway already? If I take any more leave, this semester will be completely wasted. I've been sitting at home getting almost moldy these past few days. Don't worry, this is a university, not junior high school. People here don't rush around blindly like kids. I'll be careful, and with my classmates helping out, I'll finish my classes every day and head straight home. There won't be any major problems."

"It's precisely because it's a university that I'm worried. There are so many people... It takes ages just to walk from Teaching Building Number One to Teaching Building Number Five, and even getting lunch at the cafeteria is an issue. The weather has turned so cold already, and I won't feel at ease even if you only have half-day classes. Qi Yan has been so busy lately; otherwise, he could have come to pick you up."

Li Lan adjusted his crutches and asked, "Oh? That's right, what has Qi Yan been up to these past few days? He's nowhere to be seen at the shop day after day. What on earth is he running around doing outside all day?"

During this period, Qi Yan indeed rarely went to the studio. Most of the time, he went to the house Yan Boxin had arranged. As for what he was doing... Li Ruoke knew, but it was not convenient to tell her younger brother.

"Oh, this... what else could he be busy with? Chasing business leads, of course."

"Huh? Aren't most of our businesses online? Why does he still need to go out to chase leads?"

"Tsk, what do you know? Can't I want to expand our business scope?"

"Sure... but for things like the Thai amulets and proxy-shopping products you sell, who is he supposed to go out and pitch them to?"

"Hey, is that any of your business? Just take care of your own matters."

While the siblings were talking after getting out of the car, several students walked out of the main gate. As soon as they spotted Li Lan, they hurried over from both sides, helping to support him and carrying his books. These were some of his closer friends from his department, all of whom knew about his car accident a while ago and had been missing him dearly since he hadn't come to school for so long.

Learning today that he was stubbornly insisting on coming back to class with crutches, they had all come out to welcome him with deep concern.

"Your leg isn't healed yet, why are you in such a hurry to come back to school?"

"Exactly! You should have stayed home to recover for a while longer. The rest of us are racking our brains trying to find excuses to skip class, but nobody tries this hard to be a model student."

These young men were all very enthusiastic. Li Lan had been recuperating at home for so long, rarely stepping outside. Aside from Qi Yan and his sister, the only companions at home were cats and dogs. Despite the turning weather, being able to return to school to lively chatter with classmates made him very happy. Just as he had said, a twenty-something young man cooped up at home with nothing to do couldn't sit still; if he didn't come out now, he feared he might truly grow mold.

Li Ruoke exhorted his close friends, "You boys must keep a good eye on him for me. If there's nothing going on, just keep him seated in the classroom. His leg hasn't fully healed yet, so don't let him wander around aimlessly."

These individuals were all Li Lan's good friends, naturally acquainted with his older sister as well. Furthermore, although Li Ruoke was usually very strict with him, the age gap was not large, and everyone was well-acquainted.

A plump young man with a flat-top haircut said heartily, "Don't you worry at all, Coco Sis! I guarantee I'll support him wherever he goes, and I'll go buy his meals at the cafeteria for him. I绝对 will not let him suffer even the slightest injury again."

Li Ruoke smiled. "Good, then thank you, little Xu. Come over to the house for dinner on weekends when you have no classes, and call me immediately if anything comes up."

After chattering for quite a while, Li Ruoke watched them walk into the college gates before finally leaving with a worried expression.

Although Li Lan did not have many friends, he was a very well-liked person—good-tempered, quiet, and his sister was considerate and tactful in social dealings, which made these guys extremely loyal to him.

The plump fellow named Xu Yang often went to Coco's studio to hang out and freeload meals. A northerner, he was exceptionally bold and straightforward. "How's it going, Li Shanfeng? Can you even walk with that limp of yours, or should I give you a piggyback ride?"

Li Lan hurriedly shook his head. "Forget it! It hasn't reached that point..."

Another bespectacled boy carrying his school bag asked with concern, "Li Lan, what ended up happening to that drunk driver who hit you? How much did he compensate you?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Yang chimed in indignantly, "Right! Drunk driving is a crime to begin with. Your taxi was parked right on the roadside, and he still slammed into it? That's entirely his fault. Make him pay through the nose!"

Li Lan smiled bitterly. "He's already dead... died on the spot."

"Oh... Serves him right! A scumbag who harms others and himself."

At this moment, another delicate-looking young man with a squeaky, affected voice frowned and said, "Alright, alright, the man is already dead, what's the point of cursing him now? It's good enough that Li Lan is gradually recovering; let's drop it."

He had missed a significant amount of coursework during this period, and since the curriculum for this academic year was demanding, now that he had decided to return to school early, he had some serious catching up to do.

Li Lan never lived in the campus dormitories, so coming in just for daytime classes was manageable. With these friends helping to look after him for a while, there shouldn't be too major issues.

It was still early, and the World History lecture hall held only a sparse number of scattered students, with people continually walking in and out in groups of twos and threes.

The delicate-looking boy who had spoken earlier was named An Luyao. The other two friends had headed off to different classrooms, leaving only him and Li Lan sharing the same schedule.

An Luyao was a chatterbox whose personality resembled a girl's, particularly fond of gossiping endlessly. "Lanze, let me tell you, you missed a ton of activities in our department while you were gone. Do you know who paired up with whom? It was utterly jaw-dropping..."

"Sigh... Ever since this semester started, I've felt like my luck in every aspect has been terrible. My fortune is just so cursed! Several of us skipped the Dynastic History lecture last time, and guess what? They only checked me! I must be experiencing a retrograde Mercury. Hey, why don't you have your sister calculate my fortune?"

"Oh, oh..." Li Lan muttered vaguely in agreement, while silently slandering in his heart: *Have her calculate your fortune? If my sister's divination was actually effective, would I have gotten hit by a car in the first place?*

At that moment, the previously peaceful classroom was disrupted. It was unclear who initiated it upon entering, but the students who were already seated at their desks waiting for class suddenly stirred into a commotion, followed by wave after wave of people standing up and rushing outside.

Li Lan and An Luyao were still talking and had no idea what was happening. They watched as surrounding classmates successively received some piece of news and poured out of the classroom one after another.

"What's going on?" Li Lan asked, stunned.

An Luyao shook his head blankly. "I don't know." Looking equally bewildered, he stood up, walked two or three steps to the classroom door, and intercepted a passing classmate to ask, "What's the situation? What's going on?"

That classmate only replied, "No idea. Looks like something happened outside."

Neither of them had heard the specifics, but drawn in by the abrupt news, they felt a sudden urge to go out and investigate.

An Luyao was quite curious as well. Initially wanting to go out alone to take a look, he first returned to his seat to steady Li Lan. The two of them waited until the rest of the students had squeezed out the door before trailing slowly at the very rear of the crowd.

Before even stepping out of the teaching building's main entrance, they could hear a great deal of commotion outside, punctuated by several gasps and screams.

A large multitude of students and faculty members were swarming around the base of another building adjacent to this teaching building, though none of them dared to approach the innermost center.

Lying right there was a male corpse with an extraordinarily bizarre expression of death.

Several timid individuals who happened to be the initial eyewitnesses of the sudden event were present: one had fainted from fright, and three others had legs so weak they could not stand.

It was an ordinary student, lying sprawled out on his back. A pool of dark red blood had already seeped out onto the concrete pavement beneath his body.

His mouth was slightly agape, his eyes wide open, but his pupils were dilated, and his facial expression was blank... To be precise, however, one could hardly make out his facial features clearly at that moment.

Liquids were oozing from the corners of his eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ear canals, snaking across his face like dense clusters of curved earthworms. Yet, calling it "bleeding from the seven orifices" would not be entirely accurate... because the mysterious fluids flowing from his face were an intense, dark shade of blue.

Still leaning on his crutches, Li Lan could not squeeze his way to the front and had to stretch his neck to peer from the back of the crowd.

Relying on his slender build, An Luyao squeezed his way past the outer layers of people all the way to the front. But upon laying eyes on the male student lying on the ground, he stood frozen in a daze for a long while before letting out a terrified shriek and collapsing backward onto the ground.

While others might not recognize who this person bleeding "blue blood" from his facial orifices was, An Luyao recognized him instantly just from the clothes he wore... Wasn't this precisely the bespectacled classmate who had gone with him to the school gate just half an hour ago to welcome Li Lan?

His name was Yue Peng.