Hell High School (18): Walked out

“Wh…what?”

Perhaps it was because Tan Xiao was so lively, or perhaps it was because the name he called out was the same as his own, the person being questioned stood there dazed, looking like a harmless rabbit.

But in reality, just as the mask suggested, he was not a rabbit at all, but rather a bear that looked somewhat like a rabbit, appearing cute on the outside but extremely brutal on the inside.

However, at this moment, under the questioning of Tan Xiao, he inexplicably felt a bit guilty, as if he had really done something wrong to Tan Xiao.

No, he wasn’t anyone’s partner, and there was no other dog outside. There was no need to feel guilty in front of this person who had mistaken him for someone else.

Thinking of this, Wen Yi felt a bit more justified, pulled his hand back forcefully, but it didn’t budge. He could only explain, “You’ve mistaken me for someone else, I don’t even know you!”

“Today isn’t April Fool’s Day, what kind of joke are you playing on me? Aren’t you Wen Yi from Class 8, Senior Year at Yuying High School?”

Wen Yi instinctively nodded, then desperately shook his head.

Seeing his actions, Tan Xiao was so angry that he almost laughed. He pointed at the teddy bear mask on the ground: “See this? This teddy bear mask and the rabbit mask, we bought them together, the couple’s edition from the supermarket. You used to wear this on your face, and now you’ve turned your back on me?”

Wen Yi remained silent, as if sensing something was off.

Tan Xiao was heartbroken by his boyfriend’s strange attitude today. He would no longer allow him to evade and fool him, and he was determined to make the unfaithful man, Wen Yi, give him an explanation.

He grabbed Wen Yi’s arm with one hand and took out his evidence with the other!

Tan Xiao pulled out his phone and opened an album filled with thousands of photos. One of the albums was specifically categorized, and when he opened it, a bunch of photos of the two of them popped up.

“Look, this is a photo of us eating together in the cafeteria.”

“This is a photo of the milk tea and ice cream we bought together.” In this photo, there were no faces, but there were two hands holding each other and two cups, with their shadows intertwined ambiguously on the ground.

“This is a photo of the two of us watching a movie in a private room together.” This photo showed the two of them leaning on the sofa, with a pink-themed room in the background and Impressionist art on the walls.

“And this one, it’s a photo of the two of us with the stuffed toys we won together, this one…”

Although the two had been together for less than a month, they had already taken quite a few photos. After all, they met each other late, and time in senior year was precious, so no matter where they went, they liked to take a photo to remember the moment.

After all, he had a poor memory, so taking more photos was a good way to remind himself when he looked back in the future.

But unexpectedly, before he could forget, Wen Yi started to deny it.

As he talked, Tan Xiao became more and more furious. He stared into Wen Yi’s eyes and accused, “If you haven’t changed your mind, why did you suddenly act like you don’t know me? We’ve done everything together. I told you back then not to rush things, but you insisted on forcing it. Now you’ve taken my body, used me up, and now you want to dump me? Let me tell you, Wen Yi, things aren’t that easy in this world!”

Although Wen Yi didn’t remember anything, looking at the photos in the album, he had already believed Tan Xiao’s words. The other person really seemed to be his boyfriend.

Hearing the other person say that he had tricked him into taking his body, he instinctively looked up and examined Tan Xiao. With handsome features, outstanding temperament, broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs, he was the kind of beautiful youth who wouldn’t be out of place even among celebrities.

Just thinking about having deceived someone into losing their virginity, his face suddenly turned bright red, and he instantly felt three times weaker, stammering weakly, “So you say… how did we… meet and start dating?”

Tan Xiao snorted coldly, “How did we get to know each other? I transferred to Class 8 of the senior year, and on the first day, I was your deskmate. A certain someone wouldn’t let go of my hand, telling me not to leave. Then, that night, he poured water on his blanket, crawled into my bed, and finally forced himself on me, ruining my innocence and disturbing my peace of mind. Now, he wants to abandon me without a word, leaving me in the lurch!”

People always tend to magnify their emotions at night and then overthink things. Even someone who is usually very positive and healthy can’t help but think about the dark side of things at this time.

Tan Xiao was extremely angry: “Do you know that we’re about to take the college entrance exam? We agreed to go public after it, but now you want to break up with me. Are you trying to make me fail the exam? Wen Yi, how could you be so heartless?!”

As he spoke, his eyes couldn’t help but redden, feeling so pitiful.

This was his first love at first sight, but he never expected to encounter a scumbag who deceived both body and heart! Even the strongest man would shed tears in such a situation, let alone someone his age, just out of the ivory tower of school, who didn’t know the wickedness of the world.

However, Tan Xiao still held back. After all, he didn’t want to break down in front of the scumbag. But his forced composure only made him seem even more pitiful in the eyes of others.

Wen Yi felt an inexplicable pang in his heart and instinctively reached out to wipe away the tears that were about to fall from Tan Xiao’s eyes. “Don’t cry…”

Tan Xiao snorted coldly, sniffed, and said, “Who cried? I didn’t cry.”

He instinctively wiped the corner of his eye with the back of his hand, and indeed, there were no tears, just a bit of redness in his eyes when he opened the camera.

That bastard Wen Yi, really full of lies, even in matters like this, he had to deceive him and make him lose face.

Wen Yi said weakly, “Actually, I’m not the Wen Yi you know.”

He indeed couldn’t stand seeing Tan Xiao upset, but the person who had a romantic entanglement with the other party wasn’t himself. When the other party revealed those things and provided evidence from his phone, Wen Yi gleaned some “truth of the matter” from the details: the person in love with Tan Xiao was also Wen Yi, but not the Wen Yi of this timeline, rather the Wen Yi from a parallel world.

In the past, Wen Yi wouldn’t have thought about parallel worlds, but ever since he stumbled into a ghostly place with not a single living soul, he started believing in these supernatural things.

After listening to Wen Yi’s theory about parallel worlds, Tan Xiao thought his boyfriend was still trying to fool him: “If it’s a parallel world, then what about the bear mask? This is a couple’s mask that Wen Yi and I bought together at the supermarket.”

Wen Yi honestly shook his head: “I don’t know either, it just appeared suddenly. Sometimes things from outside fall in.”

The sound of ghostly wails echoed through the school, and Wen Yi’s ears immediately perked up. He quickly pulled Tan Xiao into a corner.

He looked at the red figure that had been rampaging through the campus, afraid that Tan Xiao would speak, and hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand.

By the time the woman in red disappeared, Wen Yi lowered his voice: “I came in when I was 16, and I couldn’t find a way out. I’ve been here alone for the past two years.”

He paused: “This school is very dangerous; there are vengeful spirits everywhere. If you have a way to leave, you should do it as soon as possible. Don’t let them find out!”

He had to say, Tan Xiao actually had a bit of a love-struck mentality. Hearing this, he realized that Wen Yi made him leave, perhaps just to protect himself.

Although he didn’t know what had happened that made the other person pretend not to know him, the breath in his embrace was familiar, and the concern in Wen Yi’s eyes was genuine.

A breath of relief escaped him; as long as Wen Yi hadn’t cheated or changed his heart, it was fine.

Tan Xiao withdrew his hand and vigorously ruffled Wen Yi’s hair: “Don’t say such nonsense. If we ever encountered danger, would I be the kind of person to leave you behind? What do you take me for, a scumbag?”

His tone was firm, not allowing for any rebuttal: “Alright, you’ll go out with me later. If you’re really scared to stay at school, we’ll spend the night outside.”

Wen Yi was very envious of the version of himself in the parallel world who could have such a good boyfriend. But when Tan Xiao held his hand, he couldn’t convince himself to pull away.

The warmth from his hand was the only living presence he could feel in the past two years.

Tan Xiao held Wen Yi’s hand and walked a few steps. The cold night wind howled, and as he looked at the shadowy, clawing trees, a possibility suddenly popped into his mind: “Could it be that the night is too cold, and Wen Yi’s brain froze, causing him to hallucinate the wind and the rustling leaves as the cries of real ghosts?”

What should he do if his boyfriend might be mentally ill? When the time came, he would find a way to take him to the hospital. A boyfriend he chose himself should be someone he sticks with unwaveringly; he couldn’t just abandon him without a second thought.

If they were married, and he had a serious illness, he could apply for a divorce. But honestly, deep down, he still couldn’t bear to part with him.

Perhaps from the moment he first saw him, he was already doomed.

Tan Xiao suddenly stopped in his tracks and then let go of Wen Yi’s hand.

Just when Wen Yi thought Tan Xiao had realized he wasn’t his boyfriend and was about to give up, a coat with a faint fragrance and warmth suddenly fell onto him.

Tan Xiao had just let go of his grip to take off his own coat. He had a robust build and was wearing thermal underwear underneath, feeling hot and sweaty as he walked. Meanwhile, Wen Yi was wearing a tattered school uniform, still in the summer style, with dirty short sleeves and shorts.

Tan Xiao, with a cold face, wrapped his coat around Wen Yi and fastened a row of ivory-colored horn buttons, saying, “I told you it would be especially cold at night and to wear more clothes. Now look, you’ve frozen your brain.”

He tucked one of Wen Yi’s hands into his coat pocket, while the other hand, holding Wen Yi’s palm, was also tucked into the pocket next to his own. Their fingers were interlocked, and Tan Xiao’s other hand was not idle.

He was still holding the small bag filled with food and an umbrella, and at the same time, he turned on a powerful flashlight to illuminate the path ahead.

“Don’t worry, with the light, any monsters or ghosts are afraid of it. I’ll take you out.”

The tone of Tan Xiao was incredibly firm, and for some reason, it made Wen Yi feel at ease.

He murmured, “Are there really no ghosts?”

This world was Wen Yi’s fantasy world. The fierce ghosts that once tore him apart had long been devoured by him and had become NPC ghost stories in the game.

However, the illusions of this world would manifest the fierce ghosts that terrified Wen Yi based on his memories.

Hunger was real, and the fierce ghosts could also become real due to the illusions.

But the outsider Tan Xiao shattered everything, and the other person’s determination made Wen Yi extremely shaken.

He was simply too enamored with the warmth of the outsider, and the affection and determination in Tan Xiao’s eyes also made Wen Yi’s heart waver.

Tan Xiao lowered his head and kissed Wen Yi’s face: “If there’s a ghost, your man will chase it away! Ghosts are most afraid of people with strong yang energy. I’m an eighteen-year-old male high school athlete, and my ghost-repelling buff is maxed out!”

When he said this, he was actually a bit nervous. It seemed that exorcism required the urine of a pure young boy, and since he had already lost his purity, its effectiveness might be affected.

Moreover, he hadn’t played basketball since high school, so he wasn’t considered an athlete. However, he flexed the solid muscles on his arms and felt a bit more confident.

In strange stories, ghosts could even be tricked and sold. As long as one had enough courage and didn’t do anything wrong, they wouldn’t be afraid of ghosts.

Tan Xiao grabbed Wen Yi’s hand and even touched his own firm abs: “Don’t worry, your man is very capable, no need to be afraid. Besides, I’m lucky, we definitely won’t run into any ghosts!”

Actually, ghosts still uncontrollably appeared in Wen Yi’s mind, but being interrupted by Tan Xiao, all that was left in his head were the handsome young man’s firm abs.

The pale-faced boy’s head turned into a steam engine, his face blushing and steaming, no longer thinking about any ghostly matters.

The ghostly illusions formed by his inner fears instantly transformed into a wisp of black smoke, dissipating behind Tan Xiao.

The shy demon, whose brain had crashed, was thus smoothly led to the school gate by Tan Xiao.

In Tan Xiao’s perception, it was currently a holiday period, so the school gate was naturally wide open. He looked at the familiar bustling street outside, took Wen Yi’s hand, and led him out of the school gate.

The necklace around Tan Xiao’s neck emitted a familiar ghostly energy fluctuation, and the space twisted in an instant. When they stepped onto the street again, he turned to Wen Yi and said, “Look, we made it out!”

Wen Yi stared blankly at the street in front of him, then turned to look at the school gate sign behind him. The street was bustling with cars and people, and the shop signs were brightly lit.

Tan Xiao held Wen Yi’s hand and walked to a hotel near the school, using his student ID to book a room.

“Alright, go take a hot shower.”

The other people on the street could see him, the warm water hitting his body felt especially real, he really walked out! He was brought out by this person who claimed to be his boyfriend.

In that moment of realization, some obsession that had lasted for decades shattered.

In the narrow bathroom, the pale and frail boy transformed into a mass of black mist.

In that moment, all the strength and memories fell into place. The black mist transformed into the familiar appearance of Tan Xiao, then shifted to that of a genius elite doctor in a blood-stained white coat, wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

In the end, the black mist settled into the familiar appearance of Tan Xiao that Wen Yi had come to know recently.

Wen Yi, wearing a bathrobe, walked out and then suddenly threw himself onto his boyfriend leaning against the bed.

His voice was as sweet and sticky as thick honey: “Tan Xiao!”

Upon hearing that tone, Tan Xiao chuckled, “Didn’t you say you didn’t know me? What about the Wen Yi from the parallel world?”

Sure enough, Wen Yi just wanted to abandon him after getting dressed, pretending not to know him.

“I… I… I didn’t mean to… It’s because the school had special needs, I had to play an NPC, but you found me and brought me out!”

Wen Yi rubbed his bare calf against Tan Xiao’s thigh, and with agile hands, skillfully pulled off Tan Xiao’s belt: under his bathrobe, he was wearing nothing!

As the saying goes, couples fight but make up in bed.

What should Tan Xiao do when Wen Yi was so spoiled? Even if he was extremely angry, he would vent it all out during their special intense activities.

Wen Yi quietly and obediently lay in his lover’s arms, and the heart-to-heart plan he had prepared ultimately failed because he gave up.

He remembered everything and also recalled the wonderful times he had as Dr. Wen, naturally understanding the reason for the failure of today’s plan.

Ghosts originally had no hearts, but he had developed a ghostly heart within him, a heart born from the time he shared with Tan Xiao as Dr. Wen.

This heart made him, even when he remembered nothing, feel an irresistible attraction to Tan Xiao the moment he saw him.

He wouldn’t make Tan Xiao remember him in a tragic way, even though he knew that after dawn, his beloved would still leave his side.

But it didn’t matter. Just like how the other person pulled him out of that desperate place tonight, Wen Yi believed that when they met again, they would still continue to love each other.

After all, Tan Xiao and he had kissed so many times and had been intimate countless times, and he had long been branded with his mark from the inside out. No one, no monster, could touch him.

He gently kissed his lover, then reached out towards the direction of the school, and a suitcase appeared in his hand.

The suitcase was filled with a bunch of dolls and props… Wen Yi tied a rope to the suitcase, and the other end of the red rope was tied to Tan Xiao’s arm.

In this warm atmosphere, dawn broke… The person who had been quietly lying by Wen Yi’s side dissipated like a wisp of breeze, and the large suitcase he had prepared in advance also vanished.

The air still lingered with the faint scent ofTan Xiao, but the demon had no lingering attachment to this place: his lover was very likely taken to another instance by the system (system: don’t make things up, it wasn’t me), and he had to leave early to find his amnesiac young lover.

The hell high school, built on the power of Wen Yi, was engulfed in raging flames, and the entire space began to collapse.

In the fog of last night, the players who were endlessly fleeing from the ghosts were teleported back to the system space the moment dawn broke.

They did not successfully collect the seven legendary storylines, but they still managed to clear the instance on the morning of the seventh day.

The system once again emitted a weak wail: [Detected a bug in the Hell High School instance, insufficient core power supply, Hell High School instance closed, all players participating in this instance will clear it and receive corresponding compensation.]

Players who cleared the second and even the third run of the instance gradually returned to the forum.

After this run, a few more players achieved an A rank, but there was still no S rank.

No, the system once again issued three dazzling golden announcements.

[Player Tan Xiao has perfectly cleared the ‘Hell High School’ dungeon and received an S rank! And earned the special title: Instance Destroyer]

Hell High School, Tan Xiao, those who had just come out of that Instance collectively had their pupils shake.

Especially Xia Yizhen, who was extremely agitated. She said that Tan Xiao was not an NPC with the same name, but a real player.

She had almost died in that Hell High School dungeon, and Tan Xiao had saved her twice. The first time was when she was almost killed by a water ghost, and the second time was when she was exhausted during a chase.

As a result, at that moment when the system announced the level was cleared, she was successfully teleported out of the instance.

The big shot was truly handsome and kind-hearted! He saved her twice without asking for any reward, and a bottle of worthless milk back then was enough to repay his life-saving grace!

Xia Yizhen had always believed in repaying kindness, but at this moment, she couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed.

She immediately sent some of the things she had received to the boss via email: “Boss Tan Xiao, I’m Xia Yizhen. Thank you so much for saving my life! Although these things aren’t worth much, please accept them!”

However, Tan Xiao did not respond, and the items in the email were automatically returned after a day due to no one accepting them.

After several consecutive games, the number of players increased, the situation in reality worsened, but the appearance of the god game, on the other hand, supplemented the resources in reality.

The officials formed a new organization in the forum, attempting to maintain order and stability through collective power, while also dealing with the emergence of the powerful and various other factions.

Multiple factions had extended invitations, and the officials had also found relevant information about Tan Xiao during this period.

Tan was a rare surname, and there were not many people named Tan Xiao. According to players who have seen Tan Xiao, the person was very young and exceptionally handsome.

The number of people matching this information was very small. They easily matched the real-life person, a soon-to-be college student named Tan Xiao, who lived in the capital, came from a wealthy family, and had just graduated from high school to go on a trip.

However, in real life, Tan Xiao could not be found. According to the data they had, the soon-to-be college student Tan Xiao was very likely to have perished in that meteor shower.

When the forum was buzzing with excitement over Tan Xiao’s consecutive S-rank clearances, Tan Xiao was also sent back to a room.

It was still the familiar grandmother’s house and the familiar television.

The television was originally playing an animated series, but suddenly a news segment interrupted.

[Recently, a strange incident occurred where several sophomore students set themselves on fire and committed suicide. Police investigations revealed that these students were all graduates of the 19th class of Yuying High School. Yuying High School has been involved in numerous bullying incidents, and the school’s higher-ups are being investigated.]

When Tan Xiao was studying, he never encountered bullying in school, but seeing such social news still made him feel empathetic. He clenched his fists in anger, saying it was time for a thorough reform!

After this news report, the female host on the TV still hadn’t transformed back into the cheerful brother of the children’s channel. Instead, she continued speaking in that monotonous tone, saying: [Archaeologists have discovered ancient fossils and detected special life forms within them. This might help us unravel the mysteries of life.]

Fortunately, after this news segment, the children’s channel switched back.

Today’s children’s channel was airing the animated series “Flora and Friends,” which was especially loved by kids all the way up to middle school.

The Flora family consisted of four little kittens: The gentle teacher father; the hot-tempered police chief mother; the smart and capable older sister; and Flora, the mischievous troublemaker.

Although Flora was mischievous, her dad, mom, and sister all loved her very much. Of course, when Flora made mistakes, she got punished by her mom and sister, who had fire coming out of their heads.

But the beginning of this episode seemed a bit different from usual; the opening theme wasn’t the cute and lively type, but rather a bit eerie and creepy.

[Flora’s Family, Urban Legend Special: The Mirror Person]

The mischievous Flora woke up one day to find that her dad, mom, and sister had all become very strange. Her mom and sister had become unusually gentle, and her timid dad had turned into a strict patriarch…

The familiar companions from the whole world had all changed; it turned out they were unknowingly replaced by the people in the mirror.

Little Tan Xiao felt a chill run down his spine as he watched, then he turned off the TV, truly afraid that the person in the mirror would crawl out and replace him.

“Tan Xiao, come out for dinner!”

It seemed like his grandmother’s voice was calling him. He opened a door in the pure white space and ran straight out.

As the child ran, he grew proportionally, transforming into a handsome adult man. The youthful face gained a few angles in the white light.

This time, Tan Xiao was no longer a prospective college student. He had become a struggling worker living alone, a corporate slave at the age of twenty-five after three years of work.