Eldritch Horror Theatre

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The old academic building had no elevator; the only way down was the spiral staircase.

Fu Qian's somewhat stiff movements made his footsteps echo unusually loudly in the darkness.

While passing through the Corridor earlier, he had paid special attention to the activity in the other classrooms. They were all abnormally quiet, with almost no one moving around.

When he reached the first floor, Fu Qian even noticed that the guard room was completely empty.

Something was definitely wrong!

Staring at the almost tangible darkness outside, Fu Qian confirmed his judgment. He pushed the door open and stepped out.

The fog was thicker than he had imagined!

A heavy, damp mist immediately washed over his head, making it somewhat hard to breathe. Visibility was undoubtedly abysmal.

The school kept cows?

Fu Qian found it hard to process for a moment. The darkness pressing in from all sides seemed to conceal countless monsters.

It really was a cow!

He listened carefully. Although he couldn't pinpoint the direction, it was unmistakably a cow bellowing.

Despite the eeriness, Fu Qian had no intention of turning back.

Outside being unsafe didn't mean inside was safe. Those people had clearly started acting abnormally.

Right now, the best option was to find an empty room and weather the night alone.

Which raised the question: what indoor location would have the fewest people at this hour?

The Campus Hospital!

Yes, the very place he had avoided going to just a moment ago.

Fu Qian had already thought this through before coming downstairs.

Dorms were out of the question, and even the library likely still had plenty of students studying right now. But past working hours, the Campus Hospital would have an on-call emergency doctor at most.

If anything went wrong, it would be relatively easy to deal with.

Earlier, at the entrance of the academic building, Fu Qian had specifically checked the campus map and knew the Campus Hospital wasn't far away.

Having made up his mind, he didn't waste any time. He quickly got his bearings and headed straight for the Campus Hospital.

The counselor?

To his surprise, he hadn't gone far when he spotted a bespectacled figure.

The counselor who had left earlier was now standing not far away, holding a bicycle.

It seemed the mist had fogged up his glasses and obscured his vision. The man was repeatedly wiping them with his T-shirt.

However, his actions were quite bizarre. Though he was wiping his glasses, his eyes were staring fixedly in another direction. His hand movements were stiff and wooden, rubbing repeatedly without pause.

Fu Qian followed his gaze and saw a strange silhouette.

In the darkness, a faintly visible figure stood turned sideways in his direction, cradling a massive yellow ox head in its hands.

The next moment, the ox head opened its mouth wide and let out a deep, drawn-out bellow that sent the surrounding fog churning.

As if triggering a chain reaction, the counselor abruptly dropped his glasses in the next moment, leaving his bicycle to crash to the side.

Immediately after, he gripped his own neck with both hands and let out a similar drawn-out bellow, simultaneously pulling upward as if trying to pull his head off.

[SAN Value -1]

At the same time, Fu Qian felt his mind jolt. His control over his body fell into chaos, and he nearly lost his balance.

He really couldn't afford to just look at things blindly!

Crack!

Fu Qian swung a punch squarely at his own jaw, forcing himself to look away, and then sprinted straight toward the Campus Hospital without turning back.

The distance wasn't far. Fu Qian soon neared his destination and even saw the lights of the duty room, though the door was shut tight.

"Who is it?"

Fu Qian pressed the doorbell, and a slightly impatient voice called out from inside, seemingly annoyed at being disturbed from its rest.

"A student. I'm not feeling well," Fu Qian replied evenly.

"Come in."

A few seconds later, the voice from inside called out again.

At the same time, Fu Qian heard the lock click open from the inside.

"Okay!"

Agreeing verbally, Fu Qian rested his hand on the doorknob, yet he didn't push the door open.

He realized a problem.

Compared to everyone else, the voice from Inside the Door sounded perfectly normal. It sounded exactly like a young doctor working the night shift.

But the problem lay right there: why should he be normal?

So far, out of everyone he had seen, only two people hadn't entered that bizarre state.

One was himself, and the other was Liu Yi.

His own case made sense due to his unique nature.

And as for Liu Yi, Fu Qian could roughly guess why—she had just looked at the book in his bag.

Theoretically speaking, there was a very high chance that an insect was already inside her body.

Yet, what about the person in this room?

Fu Qian remembered the library card used as a bookmark. There was more than one name on it.

If everyone who read that book was affected, then in theory, he and Liu Yi shouldn't be the only two in the school infected by the insect.

Moreover, it wasn't clear what the attitude of these infected individuals would be.

"What are you doing? Stop dawdling!"

At this moment, an impatient urging came from inside the room again.

"Never mind, I suddenly feel a lot better," Fu Qian answered directly.

Hearing this, the voice inside went silent for a long time.

"Since you're already here, I should take a look at you just to be safe."

...

"Alright, I'm coming in."

Fu Qian agreed verbally, yet he was already silently walking away.

About five seconds later, a massive crash erupted in the darkness; it sounded as if the door had been violently wrenched open.

There really was a problem!

And no matter how he looked at it, this guy didn't seem to have good intentions.

Having confirmed his guess, Fu Qian retraced his steps while pondering where to go next.

Just as he neared the academic building, a flurry of hurried footsteps approached from ahead, accompanied by faintly suppressed panting.

Hmm?

Guessing at a possibility, Fu Qian quietly stopped and observed.

Soon, he saw Liu Yi stepping swiftly out of the building, glancing around as she walked.

However, at that moment, another cow bellow echoed outside. It terrified her so much she froze on the spot, not daring to take another step forward.

Looking left and right, she suddenly spotted Fu Qian not far away. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she subconsciously ran over.

"You..."

"What's wrong?"

Fu Qian looked at her pale face. He could clearly hear the tremor in her voice.

"Didn't you go back to rest?" Liu Yi asked, trying to calm her breathing upon hearing Fu Qian's voice.

"I went the wrong way. By the way, shouldn't you be studying?"

"I..."

Liu Yi subconsciously glanced back at the academic building, seemingly struggling to find the right words.

"They... they all suddenly stopped sitting..."

"What do you mean?" Fu Qian asked.

"I mean they just suddenly all stood up."

Liu Yi's words flowed a bit smoother now, though the expression on her face grew even more horrified.

"Everything was perfectly fine at first, but then they suddenly stood up, one by one. They didn't speak; they just stood there in the classroom..."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!