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墨書 Inktalez
Sun Meng walked into the classroom, looking disheveled and dusty. Ziya, who was erasing the blackboard, turned around and saw her best friend arriving late. She frowned, "You knew I would be late today because of my cold, and you deliberately came late too. Look! We don't have time to clean up now."
"I... I'll hurry and do it," Sun Meng said hurriedly as she took her backpack off her shoulders and placed it on the desk. She mumbled a response and went behind the classroom door to grab a broom and start cleaning.
"Sun Meng is lying; I clearly saw her sneak out from the back window of the classroom just now. She must have been hiding there, waiting for you to arrive so she wouldn't have to do extra work!" another girl, who often competed with Sun Meng, chimed in sharply.
"That's not true! You're talking nonsense," Sun Meng retorted angrily, raising the broom high as she defended herself loudly.
"Hmph... I can't be bothered with you. I'm going for a stroll," the girl scoffed, covering her nose and mouth as she walked out of the classroom.
The other students who entered the classroom were dissatisfied with Sun Meng and Ziya for just cleaning up. After a moment of whispering among themselves, the class monitor, Chen Zhiqing, wiped some dust off the desk with her tissue.
"Fang Ziya and Sun Meng, do you think we should move cleaning to after school? Everyone needs to focus on their morning self-study now..."
Ziya nodded helplessly; it seemed there was no other way to resolve this. If Sun Meng hadn't promised to handle the cleaning early today, she wouldn't have lingered at home for those extra few minutes.
It was early April, with moderate weather; the temperature difference between day and night was minimal, although days seemed to be getting longer. Staying after school to clean wasn't unusual—just get it done!
During recess, Sun Meng wanted to tell Ziya about what she encountered that morning. "Ziya, let's go check out the New Playground at school," she said as she neatly stacked her textbooks under the desk.
"That's where the boys hang out; I’m not going to join in," Ziya replied dismissively, still fiddling with her books without any intention of going out.
Seeing that all the classmates had left the classroom, Sun Meng leaned over her desk and whispered to Ziya, "I saw something today."
"Sun Meng, don’t do that! If you made a mistake, just admit it; don’t make excuses..." Ziya said impatiently, shifting away slightly as if trying to ignore the topic.
"I really saw it! And it came early this morning. Plus, how could I get into the classroom without the key being with you? If you don’t believe me, I swear!" Sun Meng was anxious and didn't know how to explain herself; she was used to chatting all day long. If Ziya ignored her completely, she'd feel miserable.
"Wait! What did you see?" Ziya asked, tapping her head in realization. She put down her books and looked at Sun Meng seriously.
"It’s that thing rumored about in our school..." Sun Meng whispered conspiratorially into Ziya's ear.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Wow! I want to find a topic for the next essay competition, and I didn't expect to find one right here at our school. Did you see what it looks like?" Ziya asked Demon God, her curiosity piqued upon hearing someone mention seeing that thing.
"Uh, if you've never seen it, of course you wouldn't be scared... I only saw its back, looking very lonely, just sitting there..." Sun Meng didn't want to dwell on the matter any longer; the scene she witnessed that morning still haunted her. Then she remembered her phone. "Did you receive my call earlier?"
"A call? You called me?" Ziya replied, somewhat confused.
"Yeah!"
"Uh... let me check." Ziya took out her phone and started scrolling through her call log.
"Nothing. If you had called me, there would definitely be a missed call notification. Look..." Ziya handed her phone to Sun Meng.
"Uh... if there's nothing, then there's nothing! I'm sweating from being scared..."
"If you're scared, then let's not talk about it. Let's go for a walk." Ziya knew that Sun Meng often saw these things and was also quite frightened. She glanced at the time; there were still five minutes until class started, so she packed up her books and prepared to accompany Sun Meng outside to relieve some of the tension.
As they exited the classroom, the massive branches of Huangguoshu came into view. The branches stretched up to the ceiling of the classroom, with leaves almost completely covering the roof.
The ground was perpetually damp; aside from the newly opened New Playground which felt a bit sunnier, both the cafeteria and the teachers' offices were shrouded in shadow.
"I heard Mama Fang say they are going to Erwang Temple to burn incense, right?" Sun Meng asked as she linked arms with Ziya.
"Yeah! It seems to be some Bodhisattva's birthday."
"That's so far away; I don't think it's necessary to go that far."
"Well, we can't really interfere with adult matters. I just really don't want my mom to go," Ziya replied as she plucked a leaf from one of Huangguoshu's branches.
"Ziya, what should I do if I keep seeing those things?"
"Pfft, maybe you're just seeing things! We're both the same age; how could it be that only you see them while I don't?" Ziya teased Sun Meng deliberately. This was also a way to alleviate fear; if one person claimed to see something and another confirmed it, then the first person would only feel more validated in their fear. Ziya had picked this up from some psychology books she'd read and didn't expect it would come in handy with Sun Meng.
"Maybe! I hope it's just my imagination." Sun Meng smiled wryly as she pulled Ziya toward the playground. Next to New Playground was a large Pomelo Grove where girls loved to whisper secrets under the branches.
On the playground, two groups were playing basketball, and a few enthusiastic fans were cheering them on, creating a lively atmosphere.
“Looks like we have to stay after school again today, and we can’t leave until we finish cleaning,” Sun Meng said, feeling frustrated.
“Just get it done! My mom is coming to the Temple early tomorrow, and I’m really worried about her,” Ziya replied, bending down to sneak a glance at a pair of classmates laughing and playing in the depths of Pomelo Grove. She quickly straightened up and acted nonchalantly.
“Who are those two?” Sun Meng asked, noticing the laughter from Pomelo Grove but unable to see clearly. She lowered her voice to inquire.
“Hmph! Idiots, just kids playing boyfriend and girlfriend. It’s blinding to watch; let’s move away,” Ziya said, pulling Sun Meng in another direction.
“I had a strange dream last night; I knew something bad would happen today.”
“A dream? Just an illusion of the mind. Don’t overthink it; let’s head to the classroom! The bell will ring soon,” Ziya said as she ducked under a low-hanging branch of a grapefruit tree and made her way toward Huangguoshu.
“Ziya, what’s strange about this school is its architecture. The teaching buildings match well with other areas, but that old attic seems out of place!”
“Well, if you knew the history of our school, you wouldn’t say that,” Ziya replied with a crescent-shaped smile.
“Uh, what history?”
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