The Short-Lived Cannon Fodder Is Haunted By A Gloomy Monster [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 8

“What are you talking about…”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

Qi Qi kept her face stiff, pretending she didn’t understand a word. Even when Bai Zhi suddenly closed the normal social distance and leaned in so close that their faces were almost touching, Qi Qi remained confident that her expression was perfect and didn’t betray a single hint of emotion.

She didn’t even stop walking. With a cold sneer, she simply reached out and pushed the girl’s thin shoulder away, as if Bai Zhi’s words hadn’t affected her at all. “Don’t get so close to me. It’s sweltering.”

“I’m sorry~”

Bai Zhi wasn’t annoyed at being pushed away. She continued to follow beside her with a beaming smile, chatting occasionally along the way. Since Qi Qi treated her voice like the wind passing her ears, to onlookers, it looked like a poor little girl trying desperately to strike up a conversation with a companion who wouldn’t respond, eventually ending up talking to herself.

She truly looked like a lonely outsider trying to make friends, especially with that pitiful appearance that made people want to give her a hug and comfort her.

But as the person being hounded, Qi Qi only felt that she was the pitiful one.

Qi Qi had originally been indifferent to everything in the world. After starting high school, she finally met a scholarship student and developed an interest in bullying her, thinking this would rid her of her previous boring life. However, after bullying the girl, she didn’t feel the expected joy, instead, it felt more like the relief of completing a tedious chore.

“How long are you going to follow me?”

As they moved from the remote corners of the campus toward more crowded areas, the pair attracted more gazes and whispers. Qi Qi finally looked back at the girl who was following like a haunting ghost, maintaining a strict two steps distance. “I’m going back to class.”

“Then I’m going too,” Bai Zhi replied with a flattering smile. Her clear amber eyes blinked rapidly, her thick lashes trembling slightly as if she were afraid.

It was a complete 180 degree turn from her calm, fearless demeanor earlier when she had stabbed a knife through Qin Yue’s palm.

Qi Qi quickly understood the reason for this sudden act.

“Teacher! Bai Zhi is right here!”

Several girls pushed a male teacher forward, aggressively surrounding Bai Zhi. Qi Qi was also encircled by association because Bai Zhi was hiding behind her.

The girls who had fled in panic earlier had gone straight to the homeroom teacher. But when they brought him back to the scene, they found nothing. Bai Zhi and Qin Yue were gone, and the bloodstains that should have been on the ground had vanished without a trace.

It was as if nothing had ever happened.

The homeroom teacher had been busy. When he first heard that “Bai Zhi stabbed Qin Yue’s hand with a knife,” he thought it sounded ridiculous, it would have been more believable the other way around.

However, he couldn’t resist their repeated pleas, and the rare look of genuine terror on the students’ faces added a layer of credibility. Furthermore, Qin Yue’s mother was a school director, hearing that the young miss was in danger, he couldn’t just ignore it. He dropped his work and rushed over.

In the end, he found nothing.

The teacher’s anxiety, fueled by his imagination during the walk over, turned into a belly full of rage when he saw the peaceful summer campus. Even though a smile remained on his face, it was tinged with involuntary impatience.

“Where are Bai Zhi and Qin Yue? Where is the blood you mentioned? You’re amusing yourselves at the teacher’s expense again, aren’t you?”

For a moment, he had actually believed them… As expected, it was just another prank. Using him as entertainment this time was truly crossing the line.

These girls were not well-behaved students to begin with, they often did outrageous things that made life difficult for him. But because of their wealthy families and their friendship with the Qin family’s eldest daughter, he usually had to turn a blind eye and let their faults slide.

The girls couldn’t believe that the place which had been in total chaos moments ago had returned to normal so quickly.

They couldn’t reach Qin Yue or Bai Zhi by phone. They had dragged the teacher around searching for a while but found no blood. They could only assume that after they fled, that scheming woman Bai Zhi had immediately cleaned the scene to destroy the evidence.

Ironically, this was a remote spot they had specifically chosen to bully Bai Zhi without leaving evidence; the nearby security cameras had long been broken.

One of the girls managed to regain her composure and called other friends to look for the two. Soon, she luckily received word that Bai Zhi was heading toward the teaching building with someone else, so they dragged the teacher, who wanted to return to his office, to block the entrance.

“Don’t even think about lying! The teacher is right here. Do you still dare to threaten us with a knife?”

Bai Zhi hid most of her body behind Qi Qi, peeking out with only half of her face. Her smile was flattering and strained, and a hint of fear was hidden in her pure, beautiful features. “I-I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Please don’t pour water on me anymore.”

Seeing that she no longer had her previous arrogance, the girls breathed a sigh of relief. Their underlying fear dissipated. Remembering how they had been scared into a retreat by this lowly illegitimate daughter, their anger surged. Their mouths moved faster and faster as if to make up for their earlier loss of face, completely failing to notice the teacher’s darkening expression.

Putting aside the fact that Bai Zhi’s reputation at school was the polar opposite of theirs, the sight of Bai Zhi looking pale and terrified while forcing a smile was enough. The information revealed in the girls’ increasingly heated words, combined with the glimpse of Bai Zhi’s water-soaked shirt beneath a school jacket that clearly didn’t belong to her…

It was exactly as he thought. These students had gone looking for trouble and, not satisfied with that, had made up a wild lie to involve a teacher.

Qi Qi didn’t want to be involved in this mess. Most importantly, the hands gripping her waist from behind were getting bolder, even trying to slip under the hem of her shirt.

When she felt a temperature slightly cooler than her own touching her lower back without any barrier, she turned and met a pair of watery eyes. The girl tilted her head up slightly, her dilated pupils staring intently at her like melting amber honey, with a thick, moist smile hidden in the depths of her gaze.

Qi Qi couldn’t help but shiver under the scorching summer sun. She couldn’t tell if it was because of those mischievous, cool hands or because of those peach-blossom eyes that seemed so different from a normal person’s.

Qi Qi reached back and grabbed those hands, squeezing the wrists tightly. The culprit behind her finally settled down.

However, the culprit showed no remorse whatsoever. She even whispered a small complaint of “It hurts” to Qi Qi before trying to break free. Even after failing, she kept trying, her fingertips tracing back and forth across Qi Qi’s forearm, seemingly enjoying herself.

Qi Qi couldn’t help but wonder if she should have checked an almanac or a horoscope before leaving the house today, otherwise, why would she have more trouble today than the rest of the week combined?

“Student Qi Qi, this jacket belongs to you, doesn’t it?” The teacher and the girls turned toward her with enthusiastic, wrinkled smiles that looked hideous to Qi Qi. Her frown deepened, but this only served to reinforce the teacher’s misunderstanding.

Normally, the teacher would have handled the situation exactly as the wealthy girls dictated to avoid offending their parents. But now, the eldest daughter of the Qi family was standing in front of Bai Zhi, clearly intending to protect her. Their interactions were close, and the Qi family alone carried more weight than all the other girls’ families combined.

Considering the Qi family, this matter couldn’t be handled as simply as before…

At this thought, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of resentment toward Bai Zhi. He had thought she was an obedient, sensible, and considerate girl, but here she was, constantly trying to climb the social ladder. Couldn’t she just stay in her place?

Qi Qi glanced at the uniform jacket she had proactively draped over Bai Zhi and nodded expressionlessly. “Is there a problem?”

The girls were swept by her gaze one by one, and their cursing voices gradually died down. Overcome by anger just moments ago, their attention had been entirely on Bai Zhi, and they had completely ignored the person standing in front of her.

As their logic returned, they realized the person was Qi Qi, someone who notoriously disliked being close to anyone. A faint sense of unease rose in their hearts.

“Then you saw what happened, right? Can you tell the teacher what exactly occurred?”

Qi Qi had never imagined she would play a role in this story. The girls, who were arrogant just moments ago, were now looking at her with eyes full of pleading and expectation. The troublemaker behind her showed no self-awareness, her breathing was steady without a hint of emotional fluctuation, and she even had the leisure to keep doodling on Qi Qi’s arm.

Qi Qi curled her lips into a smile. Taking advantage of the girl’s lack of preparedness, she yanked the person hiding behind her to the front, using the move to shake off Bai Zhi’s clinginess. “Sorry, I don’t know anything.”

With that, she gave a nonchalant wave and walked away, her pace slightly faster than usual, betraying her eagerness to leave.

Although the girls hadn’t expected things to turn out this way, they breathed a sigh of relief. If Qi Qi had sided with Bai Zhi, they would have certainly been the losers.

At that thought, their eyes unconsciously followed her retreating figure.

Bai Zhi intentionally or unintentionally blocked their view of Qi Qi’s back and flashed a brilliant smile. “Teacher, Qi Qi is very busy. Let Student Qin Yue tell you the rest.”

The teacher hadn’t expected Qi Qi to just leave everyone hanging. His face was frozen in shock, but hearing Bai Zhi’s words, he followed her gaze. He saw Qin Yue, whose hand was wrapped in gauze and whose face was pale, walking toward them. He was instantly horrified.

“Qin Yue? What happened to your hand? Was what they said true?”

He noticed Bai Zhi taking two steps toward him and instinctively stepped back to create distance. His gaze, filled with suspicion and dread, landed on the seemingly pitiful and weak girl.

“No, Teacher. I accidentally injured my hand myself. They just misunderstood and went to find you. I’m really sorry, Student… Bai Zhi, for causing you trouble.”

Qin Yue’s act of taking everything upon herself caught everyone off guard. Only Bai Zhi gave her a pure smile. “It’s okay. It’s understandable to act out of concern, but you should be careful in the future. I don’t want to be falsely accused every time.”

Looking at the girl’s pure smile, Qin Yue felt a chill run through her heart. She suppressed the urge to flee and forced a friendly smile, though the terror in her eyes couldn’t be dispelled even by the sunlight. “Yes, I am truly sorry.”

She led her confused and still-indignant friends away quickly, as if being chased by a fierce beast.

“Well, Teacher, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.” Without waiting for the teacher’s reaction, Bai Zhi turned and walked away, stepping exactly into Qi Qi’s footprints one by one, humming a song happily.

Qi Qi returned to her lounge, exhausted in both mind and body, only to find someone already inside.

“Qi Qi…”

Hearing the sound at the door, Shen Lu hurried over. The smile she had practiced in front of the mirror for a long time without success bloomed naturally at this moment.

Qi Qi was forced to catch the girl who lunged into her arms the moment the door opened. Out of habit, she ruffled the girl’s hair twice.

Shen Lu sniffed the familiar scent on Qi Qi with satisfaction. Taking advantage of the fact that Qi Qi couldn’t see her face, she mustered the courage to ask the question she had been brewing for a long time: “Have you been busy lately?”

“Yeah, recently I…”

Qi Qi thought to herself that this was bad. However, before she could find a suitable excuse, the girl in her arms suddenly looked up. Her strange heterochromatic eyes stared at Qi Qi, refusing to miss even the slightest change in expression.

“Qi Qi, where is your jacket?”

Qi Qi felt the pressure intensifying and blinked involuntarily. Before she could answer, the next question arrived.

Her arm was lifted. The finger marks on her forearm had faded to a light red, but this only added a sense of ambiguity. Next to them was a heart-shaped scratch.

“Ah…”

It was that troublemaker from before.

The little monster’s face grew increasingly dark as she stared at the marks.

Her pupils showed signs of dilating.

“Who was it?”