Chapter 73 Karma

Wei Hongzhuo stood beside the flower bed, watching his classmates celebrating with laughter around Yan An.

At the sports meeting just now, Yan An won the men's 100m and men's 800m races. After he left the field, he was surrounded by his classmates who came to greet him. Yan An's face was flushed from running. Facing all the compliments from his classmates, he just smiled and took a bottle of mineral water.

He has always been like this, Wei Hongzhuo thought to himself. Yan An's every move always had a kind of unconscious charm that made people fall in love with him. In the sun, his originally fair skin was tanned red, and his handsome nose was covered with sweat. His eyes flashed with confidence, but his words and behavior were always gentle and humble. The girls crowded around him and competed to pass him towels and mineral water, and the boys also spoke to him with an admiring attitude.

These people seem to have completely forgotten that our outstanding squad leader was a dirty thief suspect a few months ago. Wei Hongzhuo thought, you didn't look like this back then.

He clearly remembered how they had made up stories and ridiculed Yan An behind his back. Judging from Yan An's appearance, no one would have thought that his family was so poor. When the shrew ran to school and cried and made a scene, they naturally believed her and used sarcastic words to belittle the former high-ranking monitor.

Wei Hongzhuo didn't believe Yan An would steal from the beginning, or Yan An had always been pure and shining in his heart. Wei Hongzhuo had held this impression for a long time. Yan An had probably forgotten it long ago, but he still remembered it.

When he was in middle school, he saw Yan An jump into the river to save an old man who had fallen into the water. After he brought the old man to shore and confirmed that he was fine, Yan An turned and ran away. Later, the old man's family took an advertisement to thank the unknown teenager, and the TV station also reported the incident to find the little hero, but the little hero who saved the man never showed up.

Wei Hongzhuo did not reveal who it was. Yan An did not want to be in the limelight, so why would he do something boring? As for Yan An, he had always been watching from the sidelines. In his eyes, Yan An was a strange mixture of arrogance and self-discipline. He seemed to be born with an arrogant moral outlook, which always made Wei Hongzhuo furious.

When Yan An was identified as a thief by that shrew a few months ago, his first reaction was that this was really fucking ridiculous, but he never expected that many classmates in the class actually believed it. For a moment, Wei Hongzhuo almost wanted to curse, but when he saw Yan An's face that was different from usual, he chose to remain silent and watch coldly.

Compared to these students who believe everything they hear, it is more annoying to maintain your composure with a calm smile.

Now, Yan An has become the class hero again.

As if nothing had happened, Wei Hongzhuo shrugged and turned away.

Wei Hongzhuo was born into a prominent local family. His family started with his great-grandfather, who became a well-known industrial tycoon in the province with his quick mind and unique vision. Now, the third generation is in charge and is still thriving in the business world.

The Wei family has a former residence, which is a German-designed western-style house with a wide private garden in front and back. The grass is lush and the flowers and trees are flourishing. The garden embraces a small lake with a well-designed Chinese-style bridge on the lake. Cherry blossoms, magnolias, osmanthus, red maples and other plants are planted by the lake, and various rockery are arranged in a staggered manner. The whole garden has a sense of "a new village after a dark period". This former residence can be said to be a strange combination of Chinese and Western styles, but it is still beautiful and elegant.

Wei Hongzhuo has never lived in this villa. His family donated this garden and house to the country a long time ago, and now it has become a small tourist attraction in the city.

During the class spring outing, the class had come to this former Wei family villa. When the classmates learned that this was the former ancestral home of Wei Hongzhuo's family, they all showed their envy. Wei Hongzhuo did not care about the classmates' gazes. He strolled in the garden along the rockery and flowers and trees, thinking of his great-grandmother. In the past, his great-grandfather breathed his last in this beautiful garden villa accompanied by his great-grandmother.

His great grandfather died young, but his great grandmother lived to be over 100 years old. Wei Hongzhuo loved his great grandmother very much. In the last few years of his great grandmother's life, when he was young, he would often sneak into her room and ask her to tell him stories.

The great-grandmother was a very gentle old lady. She would always touch Wei Hongzhuo's head with her bony hands and then tell him one anecdote after another about the Republic of China. Wei Hongzhuo always remembered the last story the old lady told him.

"That day, Fan Bai and I saw stars falling from the sky." The old lady said so. The Fan Bai she was referring to was Wei Hongzhuo's great grandfather. This was the first time Wei Hongzhuo heard about his deceased great grandfather Wei Fan Bai from the old lady.

Little Wei Hongzhuo straightened up, opened his eyes wide and urged the old man to continue.

“It was a white star,” the old man whispered. “It was falling straight toward us, like a white flame. Then it fell down and landed in a forest.”

"I know, that's a meteorite!!" little Wei Hongzhuo shouted excitedly.

"Pale flames ignited in the woods, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day. Fan Bai was brave, and he said he wanted to go over and take a look. I didn't dare to go over, so I had to tell him to be careful." Grandma's eyes were fixed on the quilt, and her voice was very low, "Fan Bai went over. Then the flames over there went out, but after a while, I saw a white monster."

"White monster?"

"I don't know what it is. In fact, it is not white. It keeps changing. Sometimes I think it looks like a monster made of bones, and sometimes it looks like a vast gray fog floating over the woods..."

"And then! And then!"

The young grandmother, who had been timid and afraid to move forward, suddenly mustered up her courage and rushed over, shouting "Fan Bai". But when she rushed to the depths of the woods, she only saw Wei Fan Bai kneeling beside a pit, staring blankly at the sky.

White smoke rose slowly from the pit, and there were only ashes and residual flames inside.

"Fanbai! Fanbai!" She shook Wei Fanbai, "What's wrong with you?"

"..." Wei Fanbai came back to his senses. He looked at her with a look of joy on his face, "God! I saw a god!"

"immortal?"

"Yes, the gods from heaven." Wei Fanbai nodded and hugged her tightly. "I made a wish to the gods, I will get rich, I will become very wealthy. I will marry you in a dignified manner. We don't have to elope anymore! Wait for me! Wait for me! I will definitely become very rich and marry you."

After listening to his great-grandmother's story, little Wei Hongzhuo laughed and said, "Is this the origin of my great-grandfather's fortune? He was blessed by the gods."

The great grandmother did not answer. Her bony hands tightly grasped the blanket, looking like white bones in the eyes of little Wei Hongzhuo. Her voice was as low as a mosquito's hum: " Making a wish... It's all your fault..."

"Grandma?"

She suddenly screamed miserably, "They took him away! It was them!! They are not gods at all!!"

"Grandma?"

"They killed Fanbai!! They ate Fanbai!! Ahhhhh my Fanbai!! Give Fanbai back to me..." Great grandmother screamed in grief, "Fanbai!! My Fanbai!!!" Her bony fingers left bloody marks on her face, and she was as crazy as a ghost.

Until the medical staff and family members dragged little Wei Hongzhuo away from his grandmother's ward, his grandmother kept screaming. His father whipped little Wei Hongzhuo several times that day to punish him for stimulating his grandmother, who was already confused, and making her even sicker.

That night, my great-grandmother passed away.

I heard that she kept calling her great-grandfather's name before she died.

Wei Hongzhuo has always disdained the idea of making wishes.

There is a celebrity's former residence on the campus of No. 4 Middle School. There is an ancient tree that is nearly a thousand years old. Someone placed a basin of water in front of the tree, and students kept throwing coins there, praying for various small wishes related to exams, love, parents, and classmates. So every day, a lot of coins are collected in the basin. After a stroll, the principal discovered this way of making money by the school workers, so he ordered people to forbid placing basins of water in front of the ancient tree and forbid students to throw coins there.

Water basins and throwing coins were prohibited, but that didn't stop students from making wishes. In their minds, this nearly thousand-year-old tree itself carries a fairy aura, so before any major exams, students would tie their own wish knots on the branches.

The day before the sports meet, Wei Hongzhuo saw Luo Qingxi running to tie a wish knot. Because there was a meteor shower that day, it was said that wishes were particularly effective. Out of subtle curiosity, after Luo Qingxi left, he secretly came under the tree, stood on tiptoe, pulled down the branches, and wanted to see what the school beauty made a wish for.

(I want to be a popular singing star.)

…

Wei Hongzhuo smiled, because the handwriting was obviously the wish made by Bai Xiaoyu, a classmate in the class.

He pulled down a nearby branch, and Luo Qingxi's handwriting jumped into his eyes. Wei Hongzhuo thought to himself, as expected. He let go of the branch.

Now he was standing on the flower bed, drinking a drink in boredom. His father was talking to him recently about the exemption from the entrance examination, which made him very upset. According to his father, if the exemption from the entrance examination to the top university was not settled this time, he would be arranged to study abroad directly .

He squeezed the can of soda in dissatisfaction. He hated his father's attitude the most. Of course he would take part in the college entrance examination and give it his all. His father arranged the best tutor for him, and his grades were always good. What was the point of taking a shortcut and getting admitted without taking the exam? What was the point of the time he had spent in the past three years? What's more, in these three years, he had only beaten Yan An once.

He must take the college entrance examination and compete with Yan An in an upright manner.

He is determined to pass the college entrance examination.

Wei Hongzhuo threw a soda can into the trash can. Bang! The soda can bounced off and landed at the feet of a boy.

Yan An stood beside the trash can and said, "You threw it in the wrong direction."

Wei Hongzhuo was startled not expecting someone to be there. He jumped up and down and fell off the flower bed with a loud bang, and he saw stars.

Yan An asked in bewilderment, "What's wrong with you?"

"Ah..." Wei Hongzhuo screamed. He tried to stand up, but his ankle hurt so much. "I think my foot is twisted."

Without saying anything extra, Yan An stretched out his hand and said, "Can you stand up? I'll take you to the infirmary."

"I don't need anyone's support!" Wei Hongzhuo snorted. He tried to stand up, but as soon as his left foot touched the ground, the piercing pain made his brain immediately surrender, and he decided to continue sitting on the ground.

Yan An was too lazy to say more to him. He just let him half-lean on him and helped him to the infirmary.

When they arrived at the infirmary and opened the door, they found it empty.

Yan An helped Wei Hongzhuo sit on a chair, looked around to make sure no one was there, and then said, "Today is the sports day, and the school doctors are all on the playground."

Wei Hongzhuo hummed and said nothing. Anyway, he couldn't run to the playground again.

"I'll go find the school doctor..." Yan An had just said halfway when a girl appeared at the door of the infirmary. She was Luo Qingxi, holding a bottle of spray in her hand. She handed the spray to Yan An, "It just happened that the school doctor and I got it, I'll give it to you."

"Thank you."

Luo Qingxi turned and left.

Wei Hongzhuo watched the school beauty disappear at the door. He showed a malicious smile and asked Yan An: "Class monitor, what do you think of this beautiful girl in our class? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

Yan An suddenly sprayed the spray on his sprained area.

"Fuck! You beast! Can you be gentler?"

"I think you are the delicate flower." Yan An said, "Also, what do you mean by our class? Luo Qingxi is not from our class at all."

"..." Wei Hongzhuo blinked, and some strange noises sounded in his head, as if someone was rubbing a metal plate with sandpaper, "...Luo Qingxi is not in our class?"

"Yeah, she's not in our class." Yan An looked at his expression and laughed, "Did you fall and become stupid?"

"But why do I feel like..." Wei Hongzhuo scratched his head, "We and Luo Qingxi seem to have been in the same class since junior high school?"

"You must have fallen and become stupid." Yan An stared at his swollen part. "Classmate Luo Xiaohua has never been in the same class with us, whether in junior high school or high school."

Wei Hongzhuo nodded. Yes, he had fallen and his memory was a little confused. Luo Qingxi had indeed never been in the same class with him.

Perhaps it was because the preparations for the exams in recent days put too much pressure on his brain that made him have the delusion of being in the same class with the school belle.

He raised his head and looked around boredly. It seemed that he would have to wait for a while before the school doctor came.

Then his blood froze.

A monster.

A white monster stood in the small room of the infirmary.

No, it wasn't white at all. He just didn't know what words to use to describe it. It was like a bloody gray mist, a sticky liquid dripping onto the ground. The moment it touched the ground, the ground melted like gray syrup, and green smoke rose up due to corrosion.

It was gray mist, and the next second it turned into a monster made of white bones and then twisted into pale flesh and blood filled with pus. It changed and twisted.

It was staring at them.

Wei Hongzhuo could be absolutely sure of this.

It was looking at them with its eyes, eyes that burned with black fire. It opened its mouth, if that weird black hole could be called a mouth, and he saw fangs and a foul-smelling tongue.

This is simply not something that should exist in the world.

"■■■■■■■■"

ah.

I can't breathe.

ah.

Something should be done.

Should run away.

But his body was so overwhelmed by this unreasoning fear that he couldn't move at all.

Help.

Someone come save me.

Yan An pulled him up, carried him on his back, kicked open the door of the infirmary, and rushed out.

He lay on Yan An's shoulder and heard the boy's labored breathing.

Yan An was running with him on his back, but soon his speed slowed down. He was panting even more.

Wei Hongzhuo remembered that Yan An had just finished running 800 meters. He was not strong enough.

But even so, Yan An did not abandon him and run away, but chose to carry him on his back and escape.

Wei Hongzhuo gritted his teeth and looked behind him. The terrible monster had chased out and was following them.

"■■■■■■■■"

There was some kind of screaming coming from it, but it wasn't a sound at all, just some kind of pain that stung their brains.

"What on earth is that?" Wei Hongzhuo said, unable to suppress the trembling in his voice.

"I don't know." Yan An ran panting, then he turned into a bush and put Wei Hongzhuo behind him after several balls were dunked. "You hide here first, I'll lead it away."

"But..." Without giving Wei Hongzhuo a chance to refute, Yan An turned and left.

Yan An rushed to the road, and the monster chased after him like a hurricane. Wei Hongzhuo covered his mouth and saw the monster knocked Yan An down.

It bit Yan An.

Tear.

Tear apart.

Crunch.

Blood splattered.

Crushing flesh and devouring bones.

ah.

Aaaah.

Yan An is dead. Yan An is dead. Yan An is eaten. Yan An is eaten. Eaten. Eaten. Eaten. Eaten. Eaten. Eaten. Eaten. Eaten. Eaten. Eaten. Eaten.

Mingming had just become friends with Yan An.