“Heh, a beast is a beast.”
Facing an aggressive Sophia, the desiccated man retreated unhurriedly. At the same time, two tall, strong living corpses burst from the thicket, attacking Sophia from both sides.
Sophia frowned slightly, rolled to dodge a pounce and bite, then stood up and swung her stick with all her might!
“Bang!”
The dull thud was immense, and Sophia only felt her hand go numb, as if she had hit a thick tree.
“Roar!!”
The living corpse withstood the impact, let out a roar, and, coordinating with the other living corpse, tried to maul Sophia to death.
Sophia quickly squatted, her long legs exploding with power completely unsuited to her delicate appearance, making her entire body spring up like a coil. With a single leap and flip, she nimbly jumped out of the the living corpses' attack range.
“Hehehe....”
The desiccated man let out a low, eerie laugh, his black tongue tracing over his cracked lips, his eyes filled with greed and covetousness.
“Beasts are stupid, but their bodies are top-notch material.”
Sophia was just thinking about how to subtly hit him with her stick when she heard this, and immediately bristled:
“You're the stupid one!!”
The next second, she vanished from her spot.
She became an afterimage, swiftly passing the two living corpses, her wooden stick aimed directly at the desiccated man's head.
The desiccated man's deep-set pupils constricted, and he quickly retreated, but his shriveled body was still too slow, and one arm was hit squarely by the wooden stick.
“Bang—!”
As the wooden stick shattered, that entire arm was brutally severed.
Foul-smelling, murky corpse blood splattered everywhere.
Sophia frowned, struck, and immediately darted away, just avoiding the foul blood.
In this brief moment, unbeknownst to either of them, a tiny fragment quietly became animated, transforming into a small insect that stealthily burrowed into the desiccated man's body.
At the same moment, a certain gray quill trembled and wrote:
“The Witness, bear witness to this.”
“Roar—!”
The tall living corpse finally rushed back to rescue, pouncing on the unarmed Sophia.
Sophia wasn't truly overcome with rage; knowing her mission was complete, she quickly moved away, putting distance between herself and the desiccated man.
But at this point, the desiccated man no longer wanted to let Sophia go. He stared at her with gloomy eyes, and the black blood flowing from his arm suddenly churned, forming sharp needles aimed at Sophia.
“Heh, now feel the power of your werewolf nemesis!”
The next second, blood needles rained down.
Sophia was slightly stunned, then suddenly bared her teeth and glared.
The blood needles immediately stopped mid-air, then shot back in the opposite direction!
'What?!'
'She's not a werewolf?'
The desiccated man's astonished expression was pierced by one blood hole after another, and more black blood flowed out, staining his body black like disgusting paint.
However, the desiccated man did not fall at this time; instead, he laughed maniacally:
“Hahaha.... What a perfect body! What a perfect body!”
Sophia frowned, breathing slightly heavily.
She didn't actually have complete control over her vampire abilities.
The recent action had been a bit overexerting, causing a faint throbbing pain in her forehead.
But she wasn't worried about her safety now, because she had already smelled Li Andy's scent.
And the desiccated man, on his side, also seemed to have realized that there were others.
He had the living corpses lift him, staring greedily at Sophia, his words filled with twisted fanaticism:
“My dear, you must wait for me!”
“When I have prepared everything, I will surely turn you into the most perfect masterpiece!!”
Sophia furrowed her brows, about to curse.
However, the living corpses beneath the desiccated man began to run, carrying him swiftly into the depths of the jungle.
Until he disappeared, his eyes remained fixed on her.
His murky pupils were full of desire.
“How disgusting....”
Sophia grumbled, displeased but unafraid.
She turned slightly, looking at Li Andy who was slowly approaching.
“Mm, well done.”
Li Andy approached with a smile, just about to reward the girl with a pat on the head.
But she suddenly hugged him, and then a sharp pain came from his shoulder.
Followed by gentle sucking and licking.
Li Andy was a little speechless:
“Can't you eat when we get back?”
“Mmph mmph (You walk your way)”
“But how can I walk like this?”
Sophia still didn't let go, just grunted, then lightly jumped up and clung to him like a sloth.
“……”
Li Andy sighed helplessly, embracing her as he slowly walked towards the edge of the jungle.
........
Academy, Library.
Youxi, Molly, and Irene had returned all the books Professor Youge had borrowed.
Besides searching for possibly hidden physical objects, they also recorded potential information clues.
For example, the classification coordinates where books were stored, the alphabetical order of shelf titles, or other potentially related book collections, and so on...
This workload took up most of the day.
By the time the three gathered to consolidate everything for the last time, it was sunset.
The Library was already closed, but thanks to the special privilege granted by Ms. Mapel, they could still remain.
In the 休息區, the three of them consolidated all the information.
“Do you have any leads?” Youxi asked Irene.
Irene looked at the dense clues above, a headache causing her to furrow her brows.
After pondering for half a minute, she still shook her head.
Earlier, everyone had proposed many guesses, such as dates, passwords, locations, etc., but after running around, they still found nothing.
Just as Youxi was about to end today's exploration, Molly suddenly spoke.
“Wait a moment, Sister.”
She picked up a pen, connected a string of characters and numbers, then pushed it in front of the two of them.
Youxi frowned slightly and asked:
“What is this?”
Irene also frowned, equally unable to understand.
“This is a conversion formula, Sister,” Molly replied with a smile.
Irene looked down carefully, and it indeed seemed to be a formula.
It seemed to involve calculations for combustion efficiency and the ratio of certain substances.
However, it only seemed to be a formula.
This formula was clearly incorrect.
It was missing two constants and simply couldn't be solved.
Irene shook her head, thinking it wasn't a clue.
Youxi, being a history student, naturally didn't understand it, but she still recorded it.
Irene rubbed her temples, her head throbbing:
“I'll go to the cafeteria first and have them prepare our dinner.”
With that, she left the Library ahead of them.
Under the setting sun, the towering bookshelves looked very aged.
On the third floor of the vast Library, only Youxi and Molly remained, silently facing each other.
Finally, Youxi broke the silence.
“Who are you?” she asked coldly.
Molly paused, then responded with a smile:
“What are you saying, Sister? Of course, I'm Molly.”
Youxi's brows gradually furrowed, her eyes carrying a hint of disgust... and killing intent.
Molly was slightly taken aback, then explained with a smile:
“Experiences constantly change a person. This might seem sudden to outsiders. But in reality, we have always been the same person.”
“One night can't change that much,” Youxi said coldly.
Molly smiled:
“For you, Sister, it might be one night. But for us, it might be ten years, or even a hundred years.
“If one chooses to forget and compartmentalize other selves in order to maintain that past purity...
Molly's smile slowly faded, her eyes hollow and cold,
“That would be a betrayal of oneself!”