Что находится в пруду

Глава 3

I risked getting scratched by the cat to treat it.

This girl was Zhao Xuejun. She knew it was a bit absurd to ask the school doctor to treat the cat, but it was so late...

She had no other choice. After the treatment, the cat's tail was wrapped in a bandage, the black and white contrasting sharply.

She had already left the doctor's office, but as she passed the ward, she saw through the large glass window that someone was sleeping inside.

The two men were taken aback and turned back.

"Doctor, the patients in the ward look like my friends. May I see them?" she asked cautiously.

Of course, I can't refuse a cold heart.

He led Zhao Xuejun to the ward, turned on the light, and a flash of light revealed Jiang Shichao and Lin Ding lying on the beds.

Both of them were pale-faced and had their eyes closed.

These two people are quite familiar with Zhao Xuejun; they could even be considered good friends.

Could encountering a black cat really bring disaster? Zhao Xuejun wondered to herself. She approached the hospital bed and called out.

Their names. The two remained motionless.

"What happened to them?" she asked anxiously.

Leng Xin leaned against the bedside table and said lazily, "I don't know. I suddenly fainted this afternoon. It looks like..."

Low blood sugar, but nothing serious.

"So when will they wake up?"

"I don't know."

Zhao Xuejun was anxious, so her tone became less polite: "You're a doctor, how come you don't know anything?"

Leng Xin remained nonchalant: "I'm a doctor, not a god, hmph."

The cat woke up sometime earlier and meowed. Jiang Shichao and Lin Ding heard the meow and jumped up.

With a slight tremor, she slowly opened her eyes.

I think I just heard a cat meowing?

Lin Ding smelled the scent of Lysol, opened his eyes, and saw that everything around him was white. Was this a hospital? He was somewhat...

He pondered slowly.

Jiang Shichao also woke up. He sat up quickly, his eyes gleaming as he looked around. He first saw Lin Ding, and then...

They saw him then, and suddenly remembered everything that had happened, and were both stunned again.

"Meow!" Another meow rang out. Only then did they notice Zhao Xuejun. Zhao Xuejun sat on the edge of Jiang Shichao's bed:

"Shichao, why did you suddenly faint?"

"Fainted?" Lin Ding and Jiang Shichao exchanged glances and decided not to tell each other about what had happened that day.

"Get out." Jiang Shichao smiled innocently, "How could we have fainted? I don't know either."

Leng Xin knew it was his turn to speak. He coughed: "You all suddenly fainted this afternoon, but..."

"It could be low blood sugar. You need to pay attention to exercise in the future, especially you," he said, pointing specifically to Shichao, "you're that famous 7..."

"Star Prodigy? You're still developing, you need to pay more attention to exercise." Shi Chao nodded obediently. Lin Ding, however, was already staring at the cat.

The cat stared at him for a long time, becoming quite uncomfortable. Its eyes darted around for a moment, then it finally couldn't hold back and growled angrily at him.

Zhao Xuejun gently stroked its fur to soothe it, then scolded, "Lin Ding, are you out of your mind? Your..."

"Your gaze is fierce. The cat will be scared, won't it, kitty?" The cat let out a pitiful "meow" to show that it was right.

Jiang Shichao also felt that the cat was a bit strange, but unlike Lin Ding, he didn't show it as obviously. Instead...

He nudged Lin Ding. Lin Ding immediately understood his meaning, looked away, and said sullenly, "Xue Jun, where did you find this?"

What a dark cat! It looks like it's never seen sunlight before.

Zhao Xuejun recounted the general events, and before she could say anything more, Jiang Shichao suddenly yawned and boasted, "Good!"

I'm so sleepy!

Leng Xin felt it wasn't too late, especially since they had slept for a full six hours; there was no reason they should still feel sleepy. However...

He was just looking forward to finishing work early and going for a stroll, so he immediately responded enthusiastically: "Yes, kids grow faster if they go to bed early!"

"

In this way, Zhao Xuejun couldn't raise any objections, so she and the cat went back to the girls' dormitory, while Shichao and Lin Ding went back to...

In the boys' dormitory, Leng Xin headed straight for the entertainment center, and the group broke up there.

Although it was early autumn, the weather was still quite warm. At 9:30 pm, the campus was bustling with activity. Lights shone from all sides.

Bright, noisy, and filled with young people. Jiang Shichao and Lin Ding hadn't left the school clinic for a while.

They talked, each organizing their thoughts. Soon, they arrived at the sycamore-lined avenue again. The sycamore-lined avenue was still so bright at night.

The constant flow of people made it seem vibrant. The sycamore trees stretched straight into the sky, their broad leaves swaying in the gentle breeze.

Stroking. If it weren't for the daytime experiences, what a beautiful night this would be! Yet this familiar avenue... (The sentence is incomplete and lacks context).

Lin Ding's gaze no longer felt so familiar; instead, it felt incredibly distant, with a vaguely eerie feeling. Wutong Avenue

The calmer and more normal things seemed, the more unusual they felt the incident was. What to do next? Pretend nothing happened?

Could it be? For someone with such intense curiosity like them, that's absolutely impossible.

“Shichao,” Lin Ding finally broke the silence after stopping under a sycamore tree, “Have you heard of collective hallucinations?”

Is that so?

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [5]: Shichao nodded.

Collective hallucinations are when many people experience the same hallucination simultaneously; they are a type of temporary mental illness, usually...

Caused by specific environmental factors.

"So, is it possible that this is the case for us?" Lin Ding asked with some difficulty, voicing this conjecture. He really...

He didn't want to believe he had a mental problem, but what had happened was beyond his knowledge and experience.

He knew it was a hallucination; he couldn't find any other reasonable explanation.

“I’m sure I’m not hallucinating!” Jiang Shichao said, the seven-star diamond on his forehead gleaming.

"Why?" Lin Ding admired his intelligence, but it was said that hallucinations were more likely to occur to those with higher talent.

The easier it is to produce.

Jiang Shichao pointed to the sycamore tree beneath them: "Because of it!" He paused his finger on a spot on the trunk.

It was a scratch, the kind usually made with a knife. The mark was very fresh and still moist, clearly just made.

It was drawn not long ago. Below this mark are more than ten similar marks, but they are all old, the lowest one being...

The marks have grown protruding, and the higher you go, the newer the marks become.

Lin Ding asked, puzzled, "What is this? What does it prove?"

Jiang Shichao smiled slightly: "This is my secret, and I would never have told anyone, but today I have no choice."

"I'm not saying anything more!" His smile grew even more mysterious, his eyes reflecting the streetlights like sparkling diamonds. "You're not a..."

Should I just say I'm a genius? Guess what my secret is?

Lin Ding lowered his head and pondered for a while, a chill rising from the bottom of his heart. Looking at Shi Chao's smug smile, he couldn't help but take a step back.

After taking a few steps, she said in a trembling voice, "Shichao, I don't want to guess. If it's something bad, don't let me know. I'd rather believe it."

"I believe this is all an illusion!" He was already starting to figure out what was going on: the seven-star diamond, the genius boy, the mysterious events.

Strange traces, and a long-held secret—though he didn't know the details, he truly preferred not to know.

Because he genuinely considered Shichao a good friend. What could be more upsetting than discovering that your friend was actually the perpetrator of a terrorist incident?

Sad?

"You must know!" The brilliance of the seven-star diamond pierced Lin Ding's heart: how precious the diamond was, how dazzling!

The light of that purity is so precious, I don't want it to be tainted by evil! Jiang Shichao approached Lin Ding and lowered his voice: "I'll tell you..."

But if a third person finds out this secret, I will never let you off the hook!

"Shichao, don't say it, I don't want to hear it!!" Lin Ding shouted to stop him.

Jiang Shichao ignored him and said, "You know, I'm only twelve years old, and you all treat me like a child."

Do you remember what you were thinking when you were twelve? You probably don't. I'll tell you about these traces.

"What are these marks?!" He stroked the trunk of the sycamore tree. "These marks are the hope of a twelve-year-old. I'm already twelve, yet..."

You're only 1.55 meters tall, while other twelve-year-old boys are already about the same height as you. You know how big that is to me?

"A disgrace?"

Lin Ding gradually realized something was wrong: Why was things not as he had imagined?

Jiang Shichao continued, "I hope to grow taller every day, so I use this thing," he said, gesturing with his hand...

A cold glint flashed between his fingers, startling Lin Ding. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a nail clipper. "I use this..."

Every now and then, I carve my height on this sycamore tree. Look, I've grown a few centimeters taller.

"

Lin Ding was stunned for a moment, then pounced on him and pinched his cheek hard until he begged for mercy.

Rao Cai let go angrily: "You bastard, you're trying to scare me!"