After a lunch that she thought would be very heavy, and in fact really was heavy, but inexplicably ended up with her overeating, Lin Yijian embarked on the journey to seek medical advice.

However, the way was not smooth.

After eating so much at lunch, the physical discomfort was imaginable. Now with every step she took, Lin Yijian could feel the presence of her distended stomach. It was as if, if she moved too vigorously, her overburdened stomach would push the food back up through her esophagus.

She had originally planned to take a taxi, but decided at the last minute to take the bus instead.

Better to walk a bit to help digestion; otherwise, she feared she might vomit from nervousness at the hospital.

The physical discomfort was a minor issue. The real problem was mental. The voice in her head had not stopped, and what it said was becoming increasingly suspicious.

[I think we can have a chat. Are you too nervous? It’s nothing, don’t be afraid, I’m not a bad person…]

[Just a chat, okay? Don’t ignore me!]

[What are you going to do now?]

[You didn’t tell your mother the truth just now, did you? You’re not going to see classmates, where are you going?]

Lin Yijian: “…”

Not listening, not listening, like a turtle reciting scriptures.

She felt that this split-off personality’s desire to communicate was really too strong!

Could it be that deep down she had many things to say?!

Li Hui felt a little depressed.

Although last time, because he was in the sky, he thought he had arrived at the Heavenly Palace, after observing this time, he felt that the situation did not seem to be entirely so. But regardless of what place it actually was, he was very curious about this marvelous place.

It was just a pity that the only one who could communicate with him was a young girl.

Her courage was a little small, yet she happened to have a very strong sense of vigilance… He was not a child-snatcher; could it be that he could abduct someone just by saying a few words?

Li Hui chattered on endlessly, trying to start a topic, while Lin Yijian was making an effort to empty her mind.

The former never managed to make progress, and the latter also felt the situation was terrible. The more Lin Yijian tried to empty her mind, the more tense her spirit became, and along with it, the voice in her head became even clearer.

In such a trance, Lin Yijian nearly failed to notice the approaching bus.

It was only when the bus doors opened in front of her that she was startled awake and wanted to confirm the bus number.

The buses in her hometown did not have scrolling display screens on the side; the number was only displayed at the front and rear of the bus. Lin Yijian had originally planned to go to the front to confirm, but luckily, a boy next to her reminded her, “It’s route 7.”

The one Lin Yijian needed to take was route 7.

She hastily said a thank-you and quickly got on the bus. The boy who had reminded her was taking the same bus and followed behind her onto it.

In a small, little-known county town, the buses were not as busy as in City A. There were still many empty seats on the bus, but feeling the fullness in her stomach, Lin Yijian walked a little further in, found a hand strap, and stopped there; she did not particularly want to sit down at the moment.

Lin Yijian turned sideways after standing still, moving aside slightly, but the boy who had been behind her, who should have gone past her toward the front, instead paused. Lin Yijian could not help but feel that she seemed to see some “wants to say something” intention on his face.

Lin Yijian: “…”

To tell the truth, in that instant, she thought a lot.

That person had been waiting for the bus with her just now, right? How did he know she was taking Route 7? What stops did route 7 pass by? Other than the library, it was the city hospital. Could it be that while waiting for the bus, she had shown some unusual behavior that made people think she was a patient urgently in need of care? …

Fortunately, before Lin Yijian’s expression completely stiffened, someone from behind called out, “Zhang Chengyu!”

The speaker seemed to be the boy’s friend, and the boy finally walked away.

Lin Yijian quietly let out a sigh of relief, turned her back to face the aisle, and silently pulled her scarf up to cover half of her face.

She should not look strange anywhere, right?

The voice in her head popped up again—

[Why so nervous? Do you have feelings of admiration for him? … You tell me what that board with words you saw before the meal was, and I will teach you how to talk to him.]

After being pestered for the whole way, Lin Yijian’s mood had long since shifted from the initial fear and unease to gradually becoming irritable. Hearing such an absurd remark from the other party now made the veins on her temple throb.

Shut up, you!

Why I am nervous—you seriously do not know?!

The voice shamelessly asked, [Why?]

Lin Yijian: “…” Tired, let the world be destroyed.

How much longer until we reach the hospital!!

*

In a place unnoticed by Lin Yijian, there was also a conversation about her at the back of the bus.

The one who had earlier called out was a boy of the same age wearing an orange down jacket. After his friend came over, he immediately winked and said, “Well? Did you get her contact information?”

Zhang Chengyu was stunned. “What?”

“I was watching from up there. While waiting for the bus, you kept staring at her.” The orange down jacket boy laughed, then spoke as if sighing, “Didn’t expect this, the top student in school is in puppy love. If Old Ding found out, he’d be heartbroken… She looks familiar. She’s from our school, right? Which class?”

Zhang Chengyu: “It’s not what you think.”

“Come on! Could I possibly snitch? Am I such an untrustworthy brother?!”

“It really isn’t,” Zhang Chengyu explained. “It’s from last year’s school honor roll…”

He had not yet finished speaking when the other let out a quiet “Oh damn,” showing a look of sudden realization. “Last year’s top scorer! The pretty one.”

His voice was slightly too loud and was immediately nudged in the arm as a reminder.

He snapped back, lowered his voice, but still stuck to his earlier view. “Then you all the more have to get it! Isn’t University A your dream school? She’s your direct senior…”

As he spoke, he looked toward Lin Yijian’s direction.

When he saw the situation over there, his voice stopped involuntarily, and he muttered, “…Isn’t the situation over there not quite right?”

Zhang Chengyu followed his friend’s gaze, lifted his head to look, paused slightly, and could not help but furrow his brows.

There were not many people on the bus. The few standing due to stops being near were scattered inside the bus, keeping a slightly distant social space, but behind Lin Yijian, there stood a middle-aged man very close.

From their angle, they could not see exactly how close the man stood, but the scene gave an uncomfortable feeling.

Zhang Chengyu stared for a while, frowned, and stood up. “I’ll go take a look.”

His friend also stood up with him. “I’ll go with you.”

The reality of the situation was even worse than what they had seen. Lin Yijian was completely dumbfounded at the moment.

Having grown accustomed to the crowded public transport in City A, at first, when she was touched, Lin Yijian did not sense anything amiss. She instinctively shifted slightly inward to make space. This seemingly accommodating action seemed to give some wrong signal, and the other party’s actions became even more unscrupulous.

Through the thick winter clothing, there was in fact little sensation of being touched, but the instant Lin Yijian realized what was happening, she felt a buzzing in her head and her stomach churned violently.

Reason told her that she should cry out loudly now, sternly stopping such disgusting behavior, but it was as if her throat was stuck—no sound could come out.

Her whole body was stiff. Let alone getting away, she could not even manage a simple movement of her fingers.

In the chaotic buzzing of her mind, there suddenly sounded a particularly clear “tsk,” and in that tone that was either impatient or displeased, Lin Yijian was barely pulled back to a bit of consciousness.

She moved aside with difficulty, trying to avoid it, but then heard the other party speak, [I will do it.]

Lin Yijian was now completely in a state of not knowing what to do. Half-dazed, she handed over the control of her body.

The next second, a shrill scream resounded through the bus.

After turning a twisted S-shaped bend, the bus suddenly decelerated, and the people inside leaned forward with the inertia. Accompanied by the sound of something falling, there came the driver’s sharp scolding with a bit of a dialect accent from the front, “T#@%* what the hell are you screaming for?!”

No one responded.

The middle-aged man who had fallen to the ground was holding his dislocated wrist. The reproach he was about to voice froze instantly upon meeting those cold, icy eyes. A bone-chilling cold climbed up from the depths of his spine. He did not even care about his dislocated wrist anymore, crawling and scrambling toward the bus door, slapping it hard, “Get off!! I want to get off!!”

Driver: “What are you doing, what are you doing?! We have not even reached the stop yet!”

Seeing that the man was about to reach for the emergency hammer by the door, the driver had no choice but to pull over at the roadside.

The moment the door opened just a crack, that man forcibly wedged his bloated body through, half-falling out of the bus door, and stumbled away in panic.

The driver, watching the whole process through the rear door monitor: ???

“…Is he sick in the head!”

But just as he said that, he paused. Speaking of which, this route did indeed pass by the city hospital… Was it some mental patient who ran out?

—If you are sick, get treated! Do not come out and harm people!!

At the same time, in the back of the bus.

The two boys who had just stood up and had been swayed by the braking: “…”

The boy in the orange down jacket swallowed and said in a low voice, “I think you might want to reconsider.”

This senior sister seemed to have a not-so-good temper.

*

Lin Yijian, of course, did not know about this short conversation afterward.

When her brain finally resumed functioning and she fully sorted out what had just happened, she fell into another kind of daze. Yet immediately after, she felt the faint, indistinct gazes cast toward her from all around the bus.

Lin Yijian: “…”

She silently pulled her scarf a little higher, covering most of her face.

—The feeling of becoming the focus of attention was absolutely terrible! QAQ~

After enduring on pins and needles for a few minutes, the bus finally reached the next stop, and Lin Yijian got off as if fleeing.

This was certainly not her original destination, but at this moment, she had no mind to care about her initial purpose. Lin Yijian asked herself, even if she split into several personalities, there was no way she could so precisely, effortlessly, and with such agility dislocate an adult man’s wrist.

Although she was not too willing to admit it, she might really have to consider the possibility that “a supernatural event had happened to her.”

Having her eighteen-year-old materialist worldview shattered was indeed a complicated feeling.

Lin Yijian found a nearby park bench that looked clean, confirmed again that her scarf could cover her facial features, then took out her earphones and plugged them into her phone. After triple-checking that she looked just like a normal passerby talking on the phone and would not be recognized by acquaintances, she cleared her throat and, with a serious tone, softly said, “Let’s talk.”

No one answered.

The voice in her mind seemed to have suddenly vanished. All around, there was only the rustling of the cold winter wind brushing against the bare branches, the quietness carrying a faint eeriness.

Lin Yijian, whose worldview had just shattered and had not yet been rebuilt, in this bleak, chilly, and inexplicably gloomy weather, could not help but feel a bit cold.

Just as her nerves gradually tightened and her heartbeat quickened, she finally heard a light, breathy sound.

—[Hmph.]

Lin Yijian: ???