Chapter 37
“Please note that a high-probability honorary title has been issued to you.”
The system’s mechanical childlike voice rang out again, this time placing special emphasis on the words “high probability.”
Yu Zhi: “…”
System: “Are you satisfied?”
Yu Zhi: “……”
Satisfied with what?
Satisfied my ass, you oversized lips!
Get lost!!!
Yu Zhi’s eye twitched as he took a deep breath, forcing himself to swallow the string of profanities that had risen to his lips.
Even without the “Warrior of Lip Love” title, the pollutants were already drawn to him. This title wasn’t so much a reward as it was a warning from the system.
He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, growling out a single word: “Scram!”
The system fell silent, but the live stream comments didn’t let up.
[User “Strongest King” laughs at you mercilessly.]
[User “Pure Love Warrior” applauds your honorary title with gusto.]
[User “Rebirth of Cosmic Romance” congratulates you on being adored by pollutants.]
[User “Bronze Player” celebrates your acquisition of a high-probability honorary title.]
Yu Zhi: “…”
Get lost! All of you! Go pack yourselves up with the system and get lost together!
The system said no more, and Yu Zhi also fell silent. The hallway grew quiet.
Zuo Feiyang waited for a while, but when Yu Zhi didn’t speak, he couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked, “What did the system give you?”
Expressionless, Yu Zhi replied, “Zero benefits.”
Rubbing his face, he reminded himself to focus on dealing with the pollutant source.
Tilting his head slightly, he stared intently at the blurry classroom signs ahead. “Xiao Zuo, which class does Chen Wan have this afternoon?”
Zuo Feiyang glanced at the schedule and answered in a low voice, “She doesn’t have any classes this morning. This afternoon, she’s in Class 1-5 from 1:00 to 2:30, followed by two periods in Class 1-6.”
Yu Zhi recalled the classroom arrangements at Taijiang High School. “The first-year teaching building is at the front of the campus.”
The first-year building was at the top of the U-shaped layout, and they were currently at the farthest end.
“Let’s go to Class 2-2 first. It’s just ahead.”
Pausing for a moment, Yu Zhi considered the students gathered downstairs near the office and asked Zuo Feiyang, “Given the current situation, what changes might occur with the pollutants in the contaminated area?”
Zuo Feiyang shook his head. “Pollution is unpredictable. It depends on the source. The contaminated area centers around the source, and the pollutants’ behavior aligns with its will.”
“They might come after us—or they might not.”
Yu Zhi nodded thoughtfully. In other words, everything in the contaminated zone was subject to the will of the pollutant source.
According to the diary, Chen Tingting had discovered that Chen Wan and the other teachers were eating people. Chen Wan was both a teacher and a parent.
The teachers and parents in the contaminated zone were all lip-faced monsters, while the Faceless Students occupied the next rung down the food chain—destined only to be eaten.
However, once consumed, Faceless Students turned into lip-faced monsters.
The hallway was dim and eerily quiet. Every classroom they passed had its door wide open, each yawning like a gaping mouth in the darkness.
Class 2-7, Class 2-6, Class 2-5…
Finally, Class 2-2.
The door to Class 2-2 was also open, and the room beyond was shrouded in darkness.
Switching on his phone’s flashlight, Yu Zhi cast its faint glow into the classroom.
There were no Lip Men inside, nor any Faceless Students. The peeling white walls had partially shed their paint, and scrawled in crimson letters was a line of text deeply embedded on the wall:
[High school is tasteless without toil and suffering. Without struggle and ambition, life is a waste.]
The words seemed to be made of metal, rusted in a dark red-brown hue, making the empty classroom look even more sinister.
Steeling himself, Yu Zhi stepped into the room, greeted immediately by the thick aroma of cooked student meat.
The scent was so intense it felt as though it had soaked into every desk and chair, permeating the air.
Resisting the urge to breathe through his nose, Yu Zhi quickly instructed Zuo Feiyang and Lu Liming, “You two find Chen Tingting’s seat. I’ll check her diary.”
He headed swiftly to a wall outlet, plugged in Chen Wan’s phone to charge, and then pulled out Chen Tingting’s diary.
The moment his fingers touched the soft leather cover, Yu Zhi involuntarily shivered.
It was freezing—colder than when he’d first held it.
More accurately, it was an eerie chill, the kind that cut to the bone. The icy threads seemed to seep into his very marrow. Just pulling the diary from his bag left his fingers stiff and numb within seconds.
Frowning, Yu Zhi quickly flipped through the pages.
*
[February 22nd, Thursday]
School has started. This morning, I didn’t bring my vocabulary book for the exercises… The teachers all laughed when they saw me, their laughter exactly like my mom’s.
It chilled me to the bone.
If they eat people, there’s no reason they wouldn’t eat me too.
[February 23rd, Saturday]
Wang Lili from our class has gone missing…
When I got home in the evening, my mom was on the balcony talking to Teacher Chen on the phone. She said Wang Lili was smart, pretty, and luckily an orphan, so no family would make a fuss.
I was trembling all over. Did Mom eat her?!
*
Yu Zhi flexed his fingers, stiff and numb from the cold, and turned to the next page.
Blank.
The following page was also blank.
The next one after that? Still blank.
He quickly flipped through the rest of the diary, only to find that the majority of the remaining pages were empty.
Did something happen to Chen Tingting? Was she eaten too?
Had Chen Wan and the other teachers really been eating people all along?
And who was the “sister” mentioned in the first diary entry?
Why did this sister know that Chen Wan intended to harm Chen Tingting?
His mind swirled with countless questions, none of them answered.
Yu Zhi’s brow furrowed deeper as his stiffened fingers twitched unconsciously.
The next second, a single sheet of paper slipped loose from the diary and fell into his hand.
Yu Zhi gripped the page. What kind of low-quality notebook was this?
Suddenly, another sheet dropped from the diary.
His eyelid twitches. Experimenting, he tugged lightly at a few other pages. With barely any effort, several more pages came loose.
Yu Zhi immediately closed the diary and carefully examined its edges.
There was an inconspicuous gap—a section where someone had deliberately torn out the pages after February 23rd.
And they’d been meticulous about it, tearing out whole sheets cleanly. Whoever did it didn’t want anyone to know Chen Tingting had continued writing in the diary.
But they had deliberately left the diary behind, ensuring it would reveal that Chen Wan and the other teachers were eating people…
Yu Zhi scowled and picked up Chen Wan’s phone.
He tapped the screen, and a line of text popped up: [Enter password.]
Unable to access its contents, his gaze landed on the phone’s wallpaper.
It was a photo of a mother and daughter who bore a striking resemblance to each other—clearly Chen Tingting and Chen Wan.
Chen Wan’s appearance felt familiar. She was a middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties, with prominent cheekbones, thin lips, and downturned corners of her mouth, giving her an unpleasantly stern look.
Yu Zhi stared at her for a moment before remembering.
Chen Wan had taught him for a few days.
Back in his third year of high school, his Chinese teacher had taken leave, and Chen Wan had substituted for two months.
As he mulled over this, Zuo Feiyang’s voice suddenly broke through his thoughts.
“Found it! Chen Tingting’s desk.”
Yu Zhi stuffed the diary and phone into his bag and turned to look.
“The desk is empty, but there’s this one book in the drawer,” Zuo Feiyang said, holding up a thick Complete Works of Lu Xun in his left hand. He brushed its cover with his right and rubbed his fingers together. “There’s so much dust.”
“Chen Tingting hasn’t been to school in a while.”
Yu Zhi recounted the diary’s contents. “Chen Tingting’s diary starts on February 20th, mentioning that Chen Wan and the teachers are eating people. A student named Wang Lili disappeared, and Chen Tingting suspected her mother ate her. She also feared she might be next. But the pages after that were torn out.”
Zuo Feiyang hesitated. “So the pollutant source is Chen Wan?”
Yu Zhi nodded. “Based on the clues so far, yes, but something feels off.”
“Following the rules of the contaminated zone, if Wang Lili was eaten, who did she turn into? Chen Wan, or one of the other teachers mentioned in the diary?”
Zuo Feiyang frowned. “So Wang Lili might also be a pollutant source?”
Lu Liming interrupted, “D-did you guys hear something strange?”
Yu Zhi paused, holding his breath to listen carefully.
Amid the pounding of his heart, he picked up a faint sound.
“Tasty….”
The voice was so quiet it could have been his imagination, barely more than a whisper.
It was accompanied by a faint cracking noise.
“Plop—”
A soft sound drew Yu Zhi’s attention to the floor near his feet.
Instinctively, he lowered his gaze and shone his flashlight.
A piece of white material had fallen near his shoe.
Peering closer, Yu Zhi realized it was a damp fragment of wall plaster.
“Tasty… tasty….”
The cracking noise returned, louder this time and continuous.
He looked up and saw that cracks had spread across the ceiling, jagged and web-like, rapidly branching out. Chunks of plaster loosened and fell, revealing the true surface of the walls.
What lay beneath wasn’t gray cement but a strange flesh-pink substance. It was rough and damp, covered in a slick layer of mucus. The surface quivered slightly, pulsing like something alive.
Yu Zhi’s pupils contracted. He turned and shouted, “Get out, now!”
Zuo Feiyang and Lu Liming were closer to the door and bolted through it in a single leap.
Yu Zhi, further from the exit, had barely taken two steps when a gust of hot, meat-scented air rushed past him from the right.
He couldn’t see what it was but instinctively dodged to the left.
“Crunch, crunch—”
“Crunch, crunch—”
Suddenly, two rows of gleaming white teeth emerged from the doorway frame, snapping together with a sharp, grating sound that sent chills down his spine.
Yu Zhi gasped sharply.
The shattered door frame collapsed to the floor, revealing blood-red gums.
The classroom’s walls were now entirely exposed, showing nothing but pulsating pink flesh. From within, rows upon rows of sharp teeth jutted out, glistening with sticky saliva that dripped steadily onto the ground.
A cold sweat broke out on Yu Zhi’s back, and his scalp tingled.
Damn it—was this cursed classroom turning into a giant mouth full of teeth?!
It was both terrifying and revolting! What the hell?!
The oppressive heat from all directions only made the situation more suffocating.
Gritting his teeth, Yu Zhi grabbed a book from a nearby desk and hurled it at the teeth.
Sensing food, the two rows of teeth instinctively parted, revealing the hallway outside.
Wasting no time, Yu Zhi activated his ability with a swift command: [Kick the Hallway!]
The moment his foot hit the hallway floor, a piercing sound of teeth clashing erupted behind him.
“Snap!”
Yu Zhi immediately looked down, scanning the hallway for any signs of it transforming into more flesh or gums.
Fortunately, the hallway remained normal.
Lu Liming and Zuo Feiyang rushed to his side. “Brother Yu! Are you okay?”
Yu Zhi’s face was ashen. Turning his head, he saw that the classroom doors in the hallway had transformed into vertical lips, complete with glossy creases and a sickening sheen.
His stomach churned, and he managed to squeeze out two words: “Not okay.”
With that, he turned and dry-heaved.
Seeing Yu Zhi vomit, Lu Liming couldn’t hold it in either and began retching violently. “Ugh—ugh—”
Zuo Feiyang: “…”
Feeling the secondary mental contamination, Zuo Feiyang had to fight the urge to vomit himself.
Although Yu Zhi hadn’t eaten much, his stomach was empty, so the nausea passed quickly. After taking a sip of water, he rasped, “Let’s find Chen Wan in the first-year building.”
They didn’t dare waste any time and broke into a run.
The trio sprinted down the dim hallway. Along the way, every classroom had become a gaping mouth, each door a set of lips opening and closing rhythmically. Hot, meaty breath wafted toward them, nauseating and oppressive.
As they ran, Yu Zhi asked, “Xiao Zuo, were there any pollution incidents in City S between late February and early March?”
Zuo Feiyang replied, “None!”
Yu Zhi frowned. Regardless of who the source of this contaminated zone was, the diary’s mention of people being eaten clearly occurred in late February.
Was the diary fake? Or was the cannibalism it described unrelated to pollution events? Or had it happened but gone unnoticed by the Action Bureau?
Just as he was about to ask more, he noticed that the office ahead had also turned into a gaping mouth.
Yu Zhi’s heart sank. If the office had transformed into a mouth, then those Faceless Students who had entered earlier…
The next second, as if to confirm his suspicion, a series of faint popping sounds echoed from downstairs—soft bursts that sounded like lips parting.
It seemed the mouths downstairs were spitting something out.
And what they were spitting was easy to imagine: Lip-faced monsters.
Almost immediately, the sound of rapid, heavy footsteps reached their ears. Countless pollutants were coming up, their sheer numbers causing the entire building to vibrate slightly.
The trio’s faces turned pale as they picked up their pace, running with all their might.
The sound of their labored breathing echoed through the dark hallway, accompanied by the deafening cacophony of footsteps behind them, surging like a relentless tide.
Yu Zhi’s throat burned, and his lungs felt like they were on fire as he ran. Gritting his teeth, he glanced over his shoulder.
The dim light and pervasive shadows made it impossible to see their pursuers clearly.
Even though they had deliberately taken a roundabout route, the pollutants were still hot on their trail.
These things didn’t seem to have much intelligence, so how could they know where the trio was headed?
The answer struck Yu Zhi the next moment.
The pollutants weren’t “seeing” them.
They were “smelling” them.
No matter where they ran, the pollutants would keep following, guided by the scent.
Xiao Zuo wasn’t in good condition and needed to conserve his ability. Xiao Ming’s handgun lacked sufficient firepower. If they didn’t deal with these pollutants, they’d be caught before they could find Chen Wan.
But if they stopped to handle the pollutants, they’d be walking into certain death before they could reach her.
Yu Zhi slipped his unlimited-ammo handgun into Lu Liming’s pocket, then came to a halt. “You two go ahead. I’ll lure these things away.”
Zuo Feiyang snapped his head around to look at him.
Standing firm, Yu Zhi met his gaze steadily. “Xiao Zuo, remember this.”
Zuo Feiyang closed his eyes briefly, his expression somber. “I’ll remember! The world is what’s wrong, not me!”
Lu Liming: “…”
Yu Zhi: “…”
“No, that’s not it. What I meant was…”
He took a deep breath and said seriously, “Every step I take costs money.”
Zuo Feiyang: “…”
