Chapter 207 - 137: Imagination Runs Wild

Chapter 207: Chapter 137: Imagination Runs Wild

Beneath the horizontal and parallel bars.

Gu Qing lowered his head, gazing at the soft patch of grass beneath his feet.

Then, with a mere thought, he extended his Spiritual Power to sense the rat hidden underground.

Through his powerful Spiritual Power, he saw the rat underground.

It was currently curled up motionlessly in a narrow tunnel, as if hibernating.

’If the enemy doesn’t move, neither do I.’

Gu Qing was very patient. He stood beneath the bars, silently scrolling through local videos on Douyin. He was both checking on the progress of Hai City’s Spiritual Energy Recovery and waiting for the rat underground to move again.

The rat had squeaked out by the lake that the big one wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow.

So there was no point in Gu Qing getting anxious. All he could do was scroll through videos and wait patiently.

For the time being,

all he had to do was tail this subterranean rat and see where it would lead him.

With enough patience, he was bound to uncover something eventually.

Xia Shuran was just as patient as he was.

She stayed quietly by his side the entire time.

Whenever she came across an interesting video on Douyin, she would smile and share it with him. Her main focus was simply keeping him company.

...

「At the same time.」

Every student and faculty member at Hai City University received a notice: all classes for the following day were canceled.

The notice repeatedly urged them:

Everyone was to stock up on a day’s worth of food and water in advance.

Barring any special circumstances, they were advised not to leave their dormitories the next day.

Students living nearby were advised to pack their belongings and return home immediately.

The moment the emergency notice was released, discussions erupted all across campus.

Corridors, classrooms, cafeterias...

Everywhere, students were relaying the notice to one another, spreading all sorts of grim speculations.

An indescribable sense of dread quietly descended upon the entire Hai City University campus.

...

Before long,

Gu Qing’s phone began to vibrate violently.

Messages were constantly popping up in their dorm group chat.

Chen Zijie and Qian Duole, who were holed up in the dorm playing games, and Gao Fei, who had just gone out to make up with his girlfriend, were all in the group chat discussing the school’s recent emergency notice.

Chen Zijie @’d Gu Qing in the chat, asking if he had any idea what was going on.

Gu Qing wasn’t sure what would happen the next day, so he didn’t go into detail with his roommates.

He just told them that if they could, it would be best not to stay in the dorms. He suggested they spend the day at an internet cafe instead.

His three roommates took his advice.

They immediately packed their things, left campus, and headed to the internet cafe across the street.

After persuading his roommates to leave,

Gu Qing opened his WeChat conversation with Yang Yuntong. He told the top student, who was studying for her postgraduate exams, that she should also leave campus and find somewhere else to stay for the day.

However,

Yang Yuntong chose not to leave.

She had complete faith in the university. She figured that if the school only *advised* students to stay in their dorms, then it must be perfectly safe to do so.

Seeing her insistence on staying in her dorm, Gu Qing didn’t press the issue.

’After all, all I have is scattered information gleaned from a rat’s squeaks.

I can’t be certain that something terrible is going to happen at the school tomorrow.’

That was also why

the university administration could only go so far as to cancel classes for a day and advise students to remain in their dorms.

Beyond that, they took no further action, leaving everything else in the hands of the Security Officers.

In any case, the university administration would never evacuate tens of thousands of students and faculty based on a single, unconfirmed, and baseless piece of information.

...

Time ticked by, second by second.

Before they knew it,

the sky had grown dark.

Gu Qing and Xia Shuran, however, were still standing beneath the horizontal and parallel bars, playing on their phones.

The rat beneath their feet still hadn’t moved.

Or more precisely, it hadn’t left the area beneath the bars.

At most, it was just running in circles in the same spot.

There was no telling what on earth the rat was up to.

During that time,

Gu Qing and Xia Shuran had taken turns leaving the athletic field to search for clues elsewhere on campus, with one of them always staying behind to watch the rat.

But after leaving the field to investigate several times and coming back empty-handed each time,

they eventually gave up and decided to just stay put beneath the bars, pinning all their hopes for a breakthrough on the rat.

’It’s not a huge time investment, anyway.

All we have to do is wait through tonight and tomorrow, and see if anything bad really happens.

Totally worth it.’

...

「7:30 PM.」

Lin Tianyang, having just wrapped up his own investigative work, arrived at the athletic field with a young Security Officer in tow. He brought dinner and a tent for Gu Qing and Xia Shuran.

Dinner was three KFC meals—one for Lin Tianyang himself.

He had just gotten off work and hadn’t eaten yet either.

"So, are you two really going to pitch a tent and spend the night on the athletic field?"

Lin Tianyang asked as they all sat down to eat their burgers.

Gu Qing took a sip of his Coke. "We finally found a lead. Of course we’re going to watch it all night."

Lin Tianyang nodded. "That makes sense. Thanks for toughing it out tonight."

Gu Qing smiled. "It’s just one night. It’s no trouble at all."

Just then,

the young Security Officer who had come with Lin Tianyang finished setting up the tent.

He had overheard their conversation and walked over, volunteering eagerly.

"Brother Yang, I can take over for them and keep watch on the field tonight. I’ll report immediately if there’s any sign of activity. That way, these two won’t have to wear themselves out. They can rest up and save their strength to fight any monsters that appear."

"You’ll be on watch?"

Lin Tianyang’s brow furrowed, and his voice took on the stern authority of a superior. "You’re just an ordinary person. If something really happens, are you going to guard this place with your life?"