Stepping into a Foreign Campus
The next day, Su Liyun woke up early. The peculiar rules at the opening ceremony, the stories shared by the senior students, and her still-unaccustomed life with the host family had kept her tossing and turning all night. Stepping out of her room to use the bathroom, she found the living room lights off—utter darkness. Clearly, the family hadn't risen yet. After using the bathroom, she quietly slipped back into her room. Sitting on her bed, she glanced at the clock—just past six, two hours before school. Su Liyun remained seated there, seemingly zoning out yet clearly lost in thoughts. Around seven, the host mother rose to prepare breakfast for the household, including Su Liyun.
After breakfast, the host mother said to Su Liyun, "Liyun, starting today, you might need to take the bus to school on your own. Your younger siblings have earlier school times, which conflicts a bit, and their father also has to leave for work very early, so..." She spoke gently, her expression tinged with slight embarrassment. Before Su Liyun could fully process it, she blurted out, "It's okay, Auntie! I can manage on my own. Don't worry." The host mother gave a faint smile and turned her attention back to the two children.
At 8:30, Su Liyun left for school. Staring out the bus window, her mind kept circling back to those strange, trivial occurrences. The bus swayed as it rolled along, and Su Liyun's thoughts drifted far away. After a while, she seemed to see that familiar shadow appear again right in front of the bus. Panic instantly gripped her, yet she felt unable to struggle, forced to watch helplessly as the vehicle moved toward the shadow. But no matter how close they got, the bus never collided with it. Just as confusion mingled with panic, the bus slammed on its brakes, jolting her awake. It had all been a dream. Perhaps rising too early that morning, or the poor sleep the night before, had lulled her into drowsiness on the bus, and she'd drifted off without realizing it. Su Liyun struggled to calm the lingering panic and force herself to forget the terrifying vision.
Arriving at school, Su Liyun entered the academic building and happened upon the senior who had told her the strange story yesterday. The senior spotted her and greeted her first: "Morning, freshman! We met yesterday. I remember you—you asked me about the school." Su Liyun smiled at the senior: "Haha, morning, senior! I didn't expect you to recognize me first. Shall we go to class together?" The senior gladly agreed, and the two walked side by side toward the classroom. Along the way, the senior introduced herself and expressed a desire to be friends: "Hey! I forgot to ask your name yesterday." Su Liyun seemed a bit distracted at that moment: "Huh? Me? Oh, I'm..." Jiang Ruotang interrupted: "No worries, I'll go first. I'm Jiang Ruotang. You can call me Ruotang or Sister Tang." After saying this, she smiled at Su Liyun: "Your turn, little freshman. What should I call you?" Only then did Su Liyun snap back to reality. Gathering her thoughts, she smiled shyly and said: "Senior, my name is Su Liyun. Su as in Su Zhi Shi, Li as in dawn, and Yun as in fragrant yun. My name is pretty unique and uncommon, right? I felt awkward about it at first, but I got used to it and don't think much of it anymore." Jiang Ruotang's eyes lit up. "What a poetic name! Your parents must be cultured people to give you such a literary-sounding name." "My parents..." Su Liyun started to speak, but Jiang Ruotang sensed there might be something difficult to express between Liyun and her parents. To lighten the mood, she cut her off: "Ah, never mind. It's not important. We're friends now, right? If you ever need anything, just let me know. As long as my schedule allows, I'll be there whenever you call." Su Liyun nodded gratefully. "Thanks, senior... Oh, wait, Ruotang~ Hehe, I'm new here and clueless about so many things, especially those... you know what I mean, haha. Anyway, I'll definitely be relying on you a lot." Chatting, they walked into the classroom and found adjacent seats to sit down.
Since foreign high schools assign individual schedules and daily classes are largely consistent, it's rare for two students to have identical timetables. Su Liyun and her senior Jiang Ruotang were no exception. Yet perhaps fate had a hand in it—out of seven daily periods, only two differed between them. So, just like the first day, their first period was history. Ms. Subin strolled in leisurely, and the classroom grew slightly quieter. Ms. Subin cleared her throat: "Ahem, good morning, everyone! Today we'll officially begin learning history. Are you ready?!" No sooner had he spoken than murmurs and whispers erupted from the students below. Some chattered quietly, others exchanged glances, while a few sat upright, waiting for the lecture to begin. Observing the scene before him, Teacher Su Bin shook his head slightly and sighed. Then he said, "Alright, everyone, quiet down for a moment. Let's begin class. Open your history books... Today we will be discussing..."
Thus, they finished the three morning classes. When lunchtime arrived, Jiang Ruotang anxiously pulled Su Liyun toward the cafeteria. "We have to hurry, or we won't get any food!" On the way to the cafeteria, dragged along by her senior, Su Liyun thought she spotted something strange. She wanted to stop, but her senior's grip was too strong for her to break free. "Oh well—I'll take a closer look after lunch," Su Liyun thought to herself. The two rushed into the cafeteria, grabbed their meals, and found an empty table. Su Liyun was still preoccupied with the strange sight she'd seen on the way, eating distractedly. Jiang Ruotang noticed her unease and asked, "Liyun, what's wrong? Is the food not to your liking?" Su Liyun shook her head. "Ruotang, I think I spotted something strange on the way here. I want to go back and take a look." Jiang Ruotang frowned, puzzled. "What could be strange? This whole school is strange. Those weird little things are normal. Don't overthink it. Let's eat first."
But Su Liyun couldn't focus on eating. She shoveled down a couple hurried bites before dragging Jiang Ruotang back. Jiang Ruotang hadn't even processed what was happening. "Hey! My food! I haven't finished yet! Slow down, you idiot!" Su Liyun couldn't care less about the meal. When they reached the spot where she'd seen the strange thing, there was nothing there. Su Liyun looked utterly confused. Had she imagined it? Jiang Ruotang scanned the area herself but found nothing. "Liyun, you must have imagined it. There's clearly nothing here. Maybe this weird school has been messing with your nerves lately?" Suddenly, Su Liyun froze in place. She saw a faint, blood-red inscription appearing on the wall: "Su Clan... You cannot escape." Su Liyun's face instantly drained of color, a chill shooting from her feet to her scalp. Jiang Ruotang shook her vigorously. "Hey! Liyun! Snap out of it! What's wrong?!" Su Liyun snapped back to reality. "Oh... I... I'm fine. Didn't you see what was on the wall just now?" Jiang Ruotang looked utterly confused. "What? I didn't see anything. I just saw you standing there frozen for ages. I thought you were possessed or something. You scared the life out of me."
Su Liyun's mind replayed the words she'd seen. She recalled her senior saying she couldn't see anything. From these clues, she deduced this might be a secret concerning the Su family—something only she could perceive. Thus, she decided to keep it confidential for now.