I Am the Gloomy Male Lead's Dead First Love - Chapter 4

He had imagined Wen Yaozhi’s dream would be a terrifying night filled with rampant malevolent spirits. He certainly did not expect it to be a school campus.

One of the boys stopped abruptly as he brushed past Lu Xincheng. The boy’s ink-dark eyebrows knit together slightly as he stared at the young man who was considerably older than himself, taking in features that were almost identical to his own.

“Who are you?”

Lu Xincheng froze for a moment. The boy could actually see him. The junior high student before him was exceptionally handsome, with bold features and skin that glowed with a healthy pink flush from exercise. Amidst the crowd, he was like the brightest star, making it impossible to look away.

Lu Xincheng curled his lips into a warm, gentle smile. “Student, I am looking for someone. Wen Yaozhi. Do you know which class he is in?”

The boy studied the grey-haired youth, clearly stunned. After a long pause, he pointed ahead. “Class Ten. It is at the very end of the hallway.”

“Thank you,” Lu Xincheng said with a slight nod.

The boy asked hesitantly, “And you are?”

“A new teacher.” Lu Xincheng tilted his head and smiled, radiating an approachable aura.

The boy’s classmates, who had run ahead, noticed he had not followed and stopped. “What is wrong, Chengzi?”

Young Lu Xincheng still had doubts in his heart, but he quickly caught up with his companions. “Nothing.” He caught the ball tossed by a friend, and the group ran into their classroom laughing and shouting.

Lu Xincheng followed his figure with his eyes and glanced at the plaque above the classroom door: Grade 9, Class 6.

During junior high, Wen Yaozhi and Lu Xincheng were not in the same class. It was not until high school that they were assigned to the same class and became seatmates.

Lu Xincheng and Du Ye walked down the corridor. Just then, the school bell rang. The hallway cleared instantly. The two walked to the end of the empty corridor.

At the door of Class Ten, Lu Xincheng looked through the window and indeed saw Wen Yaozhi in the very last row, in the seat closest to the wall. The “protagonist’s seat.”

Lu Xincheng clicked his tongue. Whenever he filmed school dramas, the director would always arrange that specific seat for the cold school hunk or the arrogant school bully.

Wen Yaozhi still had the appearance of a junior high student, but a coldness that kept people at a distance already resided between his brows. Usually, boys go through an awkward phase during junior high with peach fuzz sideburns and patchy mustaches, but Wen Yaozhi did not. He was likely the type who had been handsome since childhood; sitting in his seat, he looked as if he existed in a different layer from everyone else.

However, his bangs were indeed too long, already covering his eyebrows. Lu Xincheng doubted he could even see what the teacher was writing on the blackboard. Of course, he was not looking at the blackboard anyway.

Du Ye followed Lu Xincheng’s gaze. “Is that the person we are looking for?”

Perhaps his voice was too loud, or perhaps their stares were too blatant. Wen Yaozhi seemed to sense something, and his sharp gaze pierced through the classroom toward the window.

In the moment their eyes met, Lu Xincheng’s heart skipped a beat, though he calmly looked away. Fortunately, Wen Yaozhi only glanced in their direction before turning away. Those slightly upturned phoenix eyes looked toward the sky outside, and the corners of his eyes twitched imperceptibly, as if he had detected something unusual.

“Should we go in and find him directly?” Du Ye showed some signs of restlessness.

Lu Xincheng shook his head. “No rush. Let us wait until class is over.”

Wen Yaozhi was a very alert person. Once he realized he was dreaming, he might wake up immediately. Lu Xincheng was also curious about what was in Wen Yaozhi’s dream. It could not just be a normal class; that would be too boring.

The physics teacher on the podium finished explaining a point. His sharp eyes behind his lenses scanned the room and landed on the figure in the far corner. “Wen Yaozhi, you answer.”

Wen Yaozhi snapped back to attention and stood up. There was no trace of panic on his face, and he lacked the embarrassment of a student caught daydreaming. “I did not understand.”

His eyes were frank, as if he truly had not understood the lesson. His attitude was neither sluggish nor frivolous, but when those words reached Lin Dusheng, the meaning changed. In the teacher’s eyes, the student in the corner was being arrogant and provocative, his expression seemingly saying, “I just was not listening. What can you do about it?”

His authority challenged, Lin Dusheng naturally would not let him off. He said sternly, “Repeat my question.”

Wen Yaozhi repeated the question perfectly.

Lin Dusheng could not find a fault, which made him even angrier. “Then I will explain it again for you personally, and the whole class will listen with you.” He did not tell Wen Yaozhi to sit down.

Wen Yaozhi did not sit down either.

Another ten minutes passed. Lin Dusheng glanced at the boy standing in the back. His head was lowered slightly, and the eyes behind his bangs were closed.

His anger flared. He snatched a piece of chalk from the desk and threw it. Amidst the gasps of the students, Lin Dusheng’s heart also tightened.

The next second, a louder exclamation erupted in the classroom. Wen Yaozhi moved his clenched fist away from his forehead. He opened his palm and looked at the half-broken piece of chalk, appearing as though he had not fully reacted yet.

“Oh my god, how did he catch that?”

“Catching a projectile with his bare hands is so cool. You said you saw him hunting at night, and I did not believe you then, but I do now.”

“Was he asleep just now? He can sleep while standing? How tired must he be?”

The classroom was in an uproar. Although the students were whispering, the combined voices of dozens of people were significant. Lin Dusheng felt as if his head were about to explode. He slammed the podium in anger. “Wen Yaozhi! What do you think this classroom is? Get out and stand in the hall!”

Under the varied gazes of his classmates, Wen Yaozhi walked from the back row to the front, placed the chalk back into the box on the podium, and exited through the front door. Lin Dusheng watched his back, gritting his teeth in fury.

Unexpectedly, not long after class started, Wen Yaozhi had been kicked out. Du Ye watched the boy walk unhurriedly out of the classroom, feeling slightly nervous. He clenched his fists and braced himself, intending to step forward to talk. However, Wen Yaozhi did not stop in the corridor. He only caught the two of them in his peripheral vision and walked straight up the stairs.

Du Ye remembered Lu Xincheng’s warning not to act abruptly. His slight hesitation caused him to miss the chance to stop Wen Yaozhi.

“What do we do now?” Du Ye looked at Lu Xincheng blankly.

“Follow him,” Lu Xincheng shrugged.

He was worried Wen Yaozhi would recognize his identity, so when Wen Yaozhi walked past, he had appeared to be nonchalantly leaning against the corridor looking at the sky, while in reality, he was ready to run at any moment. Now he was certain Wen Yaozhi had not noticed anything wrong.

After entering the dream, he and Du Ye were no different from ordinary people; they could be seen and touched, which they had just verified. Since even the master of the dream could not tell, things would be much easier later.

Following the stairs, the two followed Wen Yaozhi to the rooftop. The platform on the roof was large and open. The view was vast. The boy stood on the raised edge, his loose school trousers flapping in the high-altitude wind. His gaze coldly swept across the lush campus with no warmth at all. He looked down, staring directly at the ground seven floors below.

Lu Xincheng saw this from a distance and felt a sudden pang of alarm. From his angle, he could see Wen Yaozhi’s expression from the side. Grade 9 was the year his uncle had disappeared. Wen Yaozhi had lost his last elder relative, his only support, and all his ties to this world. There was no fear in the boy’s eyes, nor was there any sign of life.

Lu Xincheng thought, It really is a nightmare. If he jumped, the dream would probably end. This was their last chance.

The sky grew even gloomier than before, and a heavy dark cloud floated over from afar at great speed. A faint whimper came from below. The boy knit his eyebrows slightly. A black cat was hanging from the guardrail of an outdoor air conditioning unit. Most of its body was already suspended in mid-air, with only one claw stuck between the bars. The kitten let out a weak cry.

Wen Yaozhi stared at the kitten expressionlessly, while the little black cat looked at the human piteously. Wen Yaozhi gripped the edge of the rooftop. His knuckles turned white, the veins on the back of his hand bulged, and his lean forearms pressed tightly against the tiles. His feet landed steadily on top of the outdoor unit.

The rescued kitten was wrapped in his warm school uniform. Wen Yaozhi tied the jacket to his back, intending to return the way he came. At that moment, a hand reached out from above, long fingers extending toward him.

Wen Yaozhi froze slightly.

“Student, let me pull you up.”

On the rooftop, the rescued black cat licked its injured paw, rubbed its head against the school uniform, and quickly ran away. Wen Yaozhi picked up his uniform, dusted it off, and slung it over his shoulder. His eyes met the white-haired youth’s for only a moment.

The junior high student nodded and said in a muffled voice, “Thanks.”

Just as he was about to leave the rooftop, the tall man with the buzz cut standing beside the white-haired youth blocked his path. “Wen… student,”

Wen Yaozhi looked up in confusion. He did not know the people before him. Based on their age, they were not students. Usually, there were only staff members in the school, and outsiders were rare. He seemed to have seen these two at the classroom door earlier, and now they had followed him to the rooftop.

Vigilance began to rise in Wen Yaozhi’s heart.

Rumble.

A roll of thunder interrupted his thoughts. Torrential rain poured down instantly.

The moment the rain fell, Lu Xincheng sensed something was wrong. Even in a dream, this rain came too abruptly. If it was not because Wen Yaozhi was so depressed over his friend’s death that his inner world began to rain, then it was the work of that malevolent spirit.

Naturally, the former possibility was zero.

Lu Xincheng’s thoughts were soon confirmed. The rain was so extreme it even brought a tsunami-like flood. The screams and cries of students were drowned out by the beast-like waves. Within just one minute, half of the school buildings were submerged. The entire campus was turned into a living hell in a very short time.

The three of them looked down from the rooftop. Du Ye stood frozen. The sudden rain and flood caused his mental state to deteriorate rapidly. The ring on Lu Xincheng’s index finger began to heat up quickly. He could see the aura around Du Ye swelling vigorously. His limbs were trembling, and his pupils had shrunk to the size of pinpoints due to fear.

Lu Xincheng patted his shoulder twice to comfort him, and the aura around Du Ye was drawn into the ring on his hand like silk threads.

Wen Yaozhi walked to the edge of the rooftop to observe the murky, turbulent water below. His gaze was dark. At that moment, a massive wave crashed against the building, nearly sweeping away Wen Yaozhi as he stood on the edge. He instinctively took a step back, and a hand steadily supported his back.

A slight coolness from the palm was transmitted to his skin through his thin school shirt. Wen Yaozhi’s body stiffened.

“Do not be afraid. Teacher is here.”

Wen Yaozhi turned his head to look at the young man behind him. The man protected him from behind, his voice warm and confident. “Teacher knows how to swim. Hide behind me.”

Wen Yaozhi remained silent.

“I am a new intern teacher. My surname is Lu. Student, what is your name and which class are you in?”

Wen Yaozhi replied, “Grade 9, Class 10. Wen Yaozhi.”

“In this emergency, you must stay with me. You must not act alone.”

Wen Yaozhi looked over. Aside from the two of them, the other person on the rooftop was shivering slightly, his eyes dazed and filled with terror. That should have been the normal reaction of a human being.

The grey-haired youth had a calm face, showing no signs of cowardice. That handsome face felt strangely familiar for some reason, but Wen Yaozhi was certain he had never seen this person in school before.

Wen Yaozhi looked down. The hand that had just reached out to him at the rooftop edge was now pressed tightly against the man’s leg, his fingernails turning white from the pressure.

It turned out he was not actually unafraid.

Just as Wen Yaozhi was about to decline the intern teacher’s protection, a series of noises approached from a distance. Then, the rooftop door was slammed open.

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