The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 156: Chasing Thrills

Chapter 156: Chasing Thrills

Gao Yang stayed in his seat and took his time sorting his belongings. He didn’t even bother to look up.

“How did you do in the exams, Gao Yang?” Niu Xuan asked as if it was a normal thing to do. It didn’t sound like he was here to taunt him.

“Fine,” Gao Yang said flippantly.

Niu Xuan smiled. “Why don’t you let off some steam after the exams?”

“Let off steam?”

Gao Yang looked up at Niu Xuan. Niu Xuan’s gaze flickered when their eyes met, but he soon put on a confident smile.

“Yeah, let’s go to the Eleventh High School for a fun night. The more the merrier.” Niu Xuan turned to his two sidekicks. “They’re going too.”

Gao Yang knew the infamous Eleventh High School. It had been abandoned for many years and was said to be haunted, thus attracting many who sought thrills. Some even included ‘visiting the Eleventh High School at night’ in their list of things to do before graduating from high school.

Gao Yang used Lie Detection on Niu Xuan.

He didn’t lie.

It seemed that Niu Xuan’s invitation to hang out was genuine.

“Why me?” Gao Yang asked directly. “We aren’t that close, are we?”

“Dang!” Niu Xuan laughed heartily. “I’ve made mistakes, but you have to fight someone to know them, no? I’m genuinely looking to be friends with you. If you don’t mind, that is.”

Gao Yang didn’t immediately respond.

Thinking back, Niu Xuan had done a one-eighty with Gao Yang ever since Gao Yang gave him a taste of his medicine at Wan Sisi’s funeral. Someone like Niu Xuan bullied the weak but feared the strong. Once he recognized that Gao Yang was someone he shouldn’t trifle with, he would change tactics and start getting on his good side rather than marginalizing him.

Gao Yang didn’t point it out even though he had seen through the boy, but it did surprise him that Niu Xuan would invite him to hang out.

Gao Yang’s first instinct was to reject the offer, but then he remembered that he should stay sociable. He shouldn’t stick with humans only. It never hurt to spend more time with wanderers.

He was still thinking about it when Niu Xuan asked, “Did you have a fight with Qing Ling recently?”

Gao Yang confirmed with resignation that his classmates had noticed him growing distant with Qing Ling.

He played along. “Yeah.”

“That’s how women are. Just leave her hanging for a few days, and she’ll come around,” Niu Xuan said like a proper playboy before breaking into a smile. “I invited some pretty college girls to join us on our adventure to the Eleventh High School. I promise it’ll be fun! Come with us!”

Gao Yang pretended to be interested. “Alright. I’m game.”

“Haha! That’s the spirit!” Niu Xuan was delighted.

Gao Yang called his mother first and told her that he was going to study with his classmates and might go home late.

His mother had gotten used to him staying out late. Still, she warned him to be safe and not to do anything unwise.

Gao Yang left school with Niu Xuan and his sidekicks. Niu Xuan bought everyone a meal at a seafood buffet. They wolfed down the food and drinks, and Niu Xuan inevitably started boasting about himself. Gao Yang enjoyed the free food while playing audience with the other two boys.

After dinner, they went to an internet cafe for a few matches. Then late at night, Niu Xuan gave them a ride to the Eleventh High School in the Beiyong District, driving his father’s car without getting permission.

There were four of them. Niu Xuan was driving, while Gao Yang rode shotgun. And in the back were Liu Qixing and Hu Shuang.

Liu Qixing had a long, thin face, and his build was long and thin as well. With his narrow shoulders and slightly hunched back, he looked like a cucumber that had been on the shelf for too long. Hence everyone in the class called him Cucumber.

Hu Shuang wasn’t particularly fat, but with his round, chubby face, he was given the nickname Fat Hu.

Cucumber checked his backpack while muttering, “Flashlight, bandaids, baton, exorcism talismans, garlic, pepper spray...”

“What’s all this?” Fat Hu snorted. “You’ve got no balls!”

“Yeah, I’ve got no balls! You’ve got all the balls in the world!” Cucumber huffed. “See if I’ll lend you anything when you ask later.”

“Come on, bro. I was joking.” Fat Hu lost his bravado immediately and grabbed the backpack. “Do the talismans work? Give me one. I’ll keep it in my pocket.”

“You’re both cowards!” Niu Xuan mocked. “And you think you can get some like this? Don’t pee your pants before the pretty girls!”

“Young Master Xuan,” Cucumber said with dramatic seriousness. “I heard that the school is actually haunted. Many claimed to have seen a vicious female ghost.”

“That’s superstition!” Niu Xuan wasn’t intimidated at all.

“Hey, have you heard about what happened at the Eleventh High School?” Fat Hu’s voice started trembling, and he lowered his voice without meaning to. “I looked it up online. It’s quite scary.”

“What did you find?” Gao Yang naturally got curious.

Fat Hu gulped. “It’s said that eighteen years ago, a third-year student found a stray dog in the mountain behind the Eleventh High School, and she kept it secretly in her dorm room.”

“Then the girl got bit by the stray dog. She kept it to herself and after a few days, her rabies acted up. She started biting random people in class.”

Fat Hu shifted and continued in a chilling voice, “That was no regular rabies. Those who were bitten lost their mind and went on to bite other people.”

“Anyhow, the rabies spread in the school, and many cops were sent to keep it under control. A lot of scientists also showed up in protective gears... The school was under tight lockdown for a full week. Many died during the time. The official explanation is an infectious disease. Later, the Eleventh High School closed down, and the buildings were abandoned.”

“That’s just a zombie story,” Niu Xuan said dismissively. “It’s obviously all made up.”

Fat Hu said, “That’s what is said on the internet. I don’t know how accurate it is.”

“I got a different version,” Cucumber chimed in. “I heard that eighteen years ago, a teacher picked up an abandoned child behind the school, and since she was infertile, she failed to resist the temptation and started raising the child at the faculty dorm.”

“It turned out the child was actually a spirit and ended up putting a curse on the teacher. She went mad and went around biting random people, thus spreading the curse until many at the school fell victim. Then the police locked the school down. They even hired a Taoist priest to hold exorcism rituals and finally resolved the crisis. According to the Taoist priest, the grudge the child spirit bore was too strong for it to be eliminated. The only solution was to seal it with the school as the anchor. That’s why the Eleventh High School was emptied...”

“Haha, another ghost story.” Niu Xuan had enough of it. “Isn’t that absurd, Gao Yang?”

Gao Yang had been listening with rapt attention, not because the two versions of the story were that engaging, of course, but because the details pointed to one possibility—a Rune Cave.

However, such an obvious Rune Cave should’ve been explored given it was in the Qilin Guild’s territory.

“Yeah, it’s insane.” Gao Yang put on a flippant smile. “I’m more interested in pretty girls.”

“Haha, same for me!” Niu Xuan was happy. He felt a little closer to Gao Yang, and it was only a matter of time that Gao Yang became his people.

During the drive, Cucumber and Fat Hu continued to argue which of their versions was more convincing. After some time, Niu Xuan suddenly hit the brake, making Cucumber, who didn’t have his seatbelt on, hurtle forward.

“Ow!” Cucumber rubbed at his head and looked out the window. “We’ve arrived?”

“This is the place. Let’s go.” Niu Xuan pulled the car key and slammed the door behind him.

Gao Yang frowned when he got out of the passenger seat and looked up.

It was the rumored haunted attraction, the abandoned Eleventh High School.