Chapter 213: Chapter 212: Worm of Erosion (Part 2)_1
In the classroom, Fu Qian covertly sized himself up.
The reason for his earlier judgment was founded.
Putting aside the strange sensations from before, he could still feel a certain stiffness in his limbs, as if there was a layer in between.
And if his guess was right, the nature of the task he had just received had undoubtedly changed.
Had it gone from concealing his own abnormality to concealing an abnormal self?
He had thought he was battling sickness, supposed to complete the task while being parasitized, but now it seemed worse than he had imagined.
[Current task updated, maintain a normal state, survive in school until sunrise the next day]
At this point, the task prompt sounded again, presenting a new goal.
Maintain normal? Did it mean to keep his current state?
And to survive until the next day—this task hint almost certainly suggested something was going to happen at the school!
Fu Qian subconsciously glanced outside the window.
Unfortunately, it was pitch black outside, and the reflection on the windows made it impossible to see anything from this angle.
Fu Qian withdrew his gaze, tried to relax as much as he could, and continued to covertly survey his surroundings.
The blackboard, the lectern, desks with their original wood grains.
From any angle, this room was just a normal university study hall—old, sure, but seemingly with no issues.
In front of him, there was even a notebook for lecture notes, everything looked exceedingly normal.
Add to that it should be summer, the weather was abnormally stuffy, and the fan whirring overhead provided little relief.
In the next moment, Fu Qian noticed that there seemed to be something else underneath his notebook.
He pulled it out and saw that it was a thick, hardcover book.
The black cover was worn, the pages yellowed and brittle, and the title was indistinct and unreadable.
It must be quite old; there was even an old-fashioned library card wedged in it as a bookmark.
Fu Qian immediately flipped to the bookmarked page and saw a striking black-and-white illustration.
The drawing was supposed to be a centipede, its body composed of many segments, with slender legs, all coiling into an S-shape.
The outlines were starkly simple, but at a glance, they conveyed an inexplicably vital energy.
This couldn’t possibly be me, could it?
It was the first thought that surfaced in Fu Qian’s mind.
There had to be a reason the bookmark was placed there, and if his earlier guess was correct, if he truly was the parasite occupying this body… then this possibility was not small.
“Filthy Worm… Source of uncleanness…”
Fu Qian carefully deciphered the already-blurred text next to it, recognizing only bits and pieces.
Thinking back to the description in the task introduction, there seemed to be a similar phrase.
If that was the case, then it was quite horrific.
Could this be… Fu Qian flipped to the end and discovered the book had several hundred pages.
How many varieties could there be?
Could it be that reading this book would spawn the corresponding parasite inside him?
Fu Qian suddenly had a bold speculation.
To verify his idea, he randomly flipped through several pages and deliberately waited a few minutes on each one.
There was no unusual sensation.
Was it perhaps because he was already an infected?
Fu Qian speculated silently.
“Excuse me, could you not read that kind of stuff here?”
Someone nearby spoke up, sounding somewhat displeased.
Fu Qian turned his head and discovered that the girl sitting beside him had furrowed her brow, her eyes fixed intently on the book in his hands.
The currently opened page depicted a creature resembling a snail, with a spiral-shaped shell, and at the top a mouth like that of a lamprey, without any visible form of eyes.
All in all, quite unsightly!
Out of public decency, Fu Qian closed the book.
Based on the counselor’s address just now, she seemed to be named Liu Yi.
Like the others, she appeared young with a clean-cut look, the greenness of youth not yet entirely faded from her brow, still not quite adept at concealing her emotions.
Noticing Fu Qian closing the book, Liu Yi’s expression softened considerably, but she still seemed somewhat dissatisfied.
Sharp eyes indeed, if only some things were better left unseen.
Fu Qian paid her no heed, first testing the agility of his body before propelling himself from the desk with a push of his hands and leaping out.
Under the watchful eyes of a classroom, Fu Qian directly pulled open the door and stepped out into the corridor.
According to the mission details, it was certain that this night would not be peaceful.
It had been unclear from inside the classroom, but now, pressing close to the corridor’s glass, Fu Qian discovered that outside was exceptionally dark.
Not only were there no traces of moonlight or starlight, but there was also the faint presence of a heavy fog rolling in.
This building was of an old-style educational design, with windows high and small, their light dim and yellowish.
And with not a soul in the corridor at this moment, the clear echo of footsteps only added an eerie quality to the hall, as if the darkness outside was already seeping in.
Staying here was not a good idea.
Fu Qian silently arrived at that conclusion and turned back to the classroom.
Yet, having left for only a few minutes, the classroom seemed to have quietened even further.
Every person was busy with their own affairs, completely indifferent to Fu Qian’s coming and going, none lifting their heads even a bit.
“Where did the counselor go?”
Fu Qian asked, his brow slightly furrowed as he suddenly addressed a student near the door.
He had intended to go back to his seat and pack up his belongings, but the scene before him was oddly disconcerting.
The one questioned was a short, plump male student who looked up at Fu Qian with a flat, unmodulated voice in response.
“Which way did he go?”
The student, who had already lowered his head, lifted it back up with a wooden expression upon hearing Fu Qian’s follow-up question.
Not only was the questioned student’s response toneless and emotionless, but also there was no reaction from the others regarding their conversation. Everyone continued with their own business as if nothing was amiss, which was entirely illogical!
The whole time, Liu Yi, sitting not far away, looked up twice, seemingly puzzled by their exchange.
In this classroom, she was the one who seemed relatively normal.
But it was clear she hadn’t yet realized anything was amiss as she turned her head back down and continued to study.
I need to leave this place at once!
That was the quick decision Fu Qian made upon observing the situation.
It’s true there were many people here, but if there was something wrong with the people themselves, then the busier the place, the more dangerous it became.
Not to mention the possibility of being discovered.
Fu Qian grabbed his bag, quickly packed his things, and put the black-leathered book inside as well.
“Are you heading back?”
Liu Yi, who had been keeping an eye on his movements, couldn’t help asking.
“Yeah, didn’t the counselor just say I could go back and rest?”
Fu Qian slung the bag over his shoulder, glanced at her, and after a moment’s thought, he added another sentence.
“I just checked, and the weather outside is not looking good. Actually, you should head back early too.”