AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016
Chapter 656 - 299 Reflection in the Pond_2

Chapter 656: Chapter 299 Reflection in the Pond_2

Boss glanced at Wei Liang and said indifferently, "Take that guy for some endurance training. As long as you don’t work him to death, anything goes."

The girl looked over upon hearing this, but Wei Liang and Lin Yi were standing together, so she was a bit unsure: "Boss, which one?"

"The one on the left is mine, the one on the right is yours," Boss said.

"Okay!" The girl cheerfully looked at Wei Liang, "My name is Xia Lian, please take care of me!"

Wei Liang’s eyes lit up, like he harbored two little stars in them; anyone unacquainted would think he was the Sneering Angel in human form. However, although his character would normally prompt him to crack some cheeky jokes, he was exceedingly restrained at the moment and replied very politely, "My name is Wei Liang, please take care... Slurp!"

"Follow me then, we’re going to another side," Xia Lian said with a smile.

"Let’s go, I mean—ahem, let’s go." Wei Liang said "calmly," then elbowed Lin Yi, gave him a thumbs up secretly, and winked, whispering, "Good brother!"

"Good luck..." Lin Yi whispered back.

"Got it covered," Wei Liang made a ’yeah’ gesture; his steps became much lighter, as if they were in rhythm with the ’flowers blooming profusely.’

Xia Lian glanced at Wei Liang’s retreating figure, then whispered in Boss’s ear, "Really, just rough him up as I like?"

"I can’t see through him," Boss said calmly. "So either he is completely useless or he has hidden depths that are profound and unfathomable."

"Considering he came with Lin Yi, I prefer to overestimate him."

"Ow! Then I’ll just have my fun!"

Boss: "..."

"Just keep it a little under control..."

"Ow yeah! Got it, just don’t kill him but have a blast!" Xia Lian revealed a small demon-like smile.

For some reason, watching Xia Lian whispering with Boss, Lin Yi suddenly had a bad feeling...

"Alright," Boss withdrew his gaze and looked at Lin Yi, "You have stretched enough during the recovery training, now let’s start swimming directly."

Lin Yi then asked, "Is there any training content?"

"No content, just pure swimming," Boss said. "Still in the shallow end, first get in and get used to the water temperature, then I will throw you out and you swim back on your own."

"That simple?"

"Doesn’t recovery training sound even simpler?" Boss gave him a look.

Lin Yi quickly shut his mouth.

"Like before, Huihuizi will be swimming beside you; if anything dangerous happens, she will... fish you out."

"’Fish’...?" Lin Yi felt there was a ’hidden depth’ to this word.

Was Boss certain that he would sink?

"Get in," Boss said.

Lin Yi quickly went to the shallow end.

There were quite a few people swimming in the pool now, the irregularly undulating ripples pushed to the poolside drains, and the slightly cool waves brushed over Lin Yi’s instep, bringing the sensation of walking along the seaside.

Suddenly, a sly whisper called out near his ear:

[Lin Yi...]

Lin Yi shuddered violently.

"Who?!"

He looked up sharply, surveying his surroundings.

Although the pool area couldn’t be considered noisy, the sounds made by others mingled together and weren’t particularly quiet.

But... nobody was calling his name!

He glanced at Boss.

Boss asked back, "Something wrong?"

’It wasn’t Boss calling me...’ Lin Yi muttered to himself.

At that moment, ’plop’—Li Huiyuan jumped into the water like a little bomb and splashed him.

"Lin Yi, come on down!" Li Huiyuan stood firmly on the pool floor tiles, gently stirring the water with her hands, and playfully splashed a bit of water onto Lin Yi, who was still on shore.

"Coming!" Lin Yi responded, moving to the edge of the pool to get in.

However, just as he looked down at the water surface, that low whispering voice hit his ear like a breeze again.

[Lin Yi...]

Lin Yi paused for a moment, then suddenly realized that among the distorted water ripples that should be reflecting a warped image, an additional clear figure appeared within the twisted vision.

It was his reflection, but the face of that reflection had no features at all, only a mass of facial muscles undulating continuously, looking like Rorschach with a hood.

His complexion turned pale in an instant. He subconsciously reached out his hand to touch his face, but paused when his fingers traced the contours of his own features.

Because the reflection of himself in the water... wasn’t moving.

The shadow did not move, but the ripples crazily distorted, turning the lights in the water into numerous phantoms. His reflection shattered, leaving only a blurred human silhouette.

The fragmented glimmers of light resembled shards of glass pieced together, and in a moment of bewilderment, they seemed to form another eerie pattern...

That pattern, like countless torn fabric strips blown apart by the wind, magically arranged and combined at certain moments to create another shape...

It seemed to be...

"Wings...?!"

The distorted reflection of himself in the water, like an angel gathering myriad feathers, was converging the light ripples and manifesting wings behind!

[Lin Yi...]

On the faceless outline, there seemed to emerge an exaggerated arc of a smile, devoid of emotion, yet chilling to the bone.

[Lin Yi...come...ah...]

[Lin Yi! Lin Yi...]

[Come on...come on...]

The voice grew louder and louder, as if mixed with the waves, constantly crashing against the dark reef.

Lin Yi quickly realized that the voice did not seem to come from his reflection but from somewhere else.

"Is it... over there?!"

His gaze wavered, and he discovered that the reflected scene had no incandescent lights at all. Where there should have been incandescent lights, had all become... those ruined sculptures suspended by chains!

Those eerie sculptures from the abandoned classrooms on and above the fifth floor of the Teaching Building!!

They smiled creepily, emitting a call that seemed to be near and far, making one’s spirit go into a haze, lit up by their shine.

[Lin Yi...you can’t walk away...]

[Where do you think you’re going to play...]

[Come on...come on...]

[Lin Yi...]

The broken sculptures kept swaying, the chains making a "clang clang" noise with friction, like the sound of a monster chewing metallic blades.

The "Faceless" figure slowly crouched down, gently stretching out a hand towards Lin Yi...

Suddenly, the water rippled, and a palm splashed with water sprang forth, grabbing his wrist firmly.

As his wrist was grasped, he jerked alert and instinctively grabbed the other person’s wrist back, before violently yanking them out of the water!

"Eh...?!"

A startled cry suddenly resonated next to Lin Yi’s ear, and what emerged before his eyes was the face of Li Huiyuan!

Before he could comprehend, like a comet hammer yanked back, Li Huiyuan slammed fiercely into his arms, burying him with a full-body collision against the anti-slip floor at the edge of the pool. His head bounced on the ground twice, and he found himself dizzied by a full-blown stars-in-the-eyes combo.

"What, what’s going on?" Lin Yi muttered to himself, feeling as if the "faceless version of himself" from the water had the aura of breaking through the dimensional barrier and leaping out, so he took the opportunity to turn the tables and pulled it out.

With the Boss by his side, he had nothing to fear.

But... how did he end up pulling out Li Huiyuan?

No, that’s not right!

"This isn’t Li Huiyuan!" Realizing that this was the "faceless version of himself" in disguise, Lin Yi was ready to strike with a killer move, but at that moment, the Boss’s voice rang in his ear:

"What are you doing?"

"Why did you pull Huihuizi up?"

"Did you see something in the water?"

The triple questions scattered the "ferocity" Lin Yi had just conjured.

"Hui, Huihuizi...?"

He looked incredulously at Li Huiyuan in his arms, clearly conscious yet unable to differentiate the illusion from reality, struck with a sense of disorientation.

He subconsciously touched Li Huiyuan’s hair and then pinched her face.

The feel of it... was unquestionably that of a real person...

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing, you don’t stroke a cat like this, do you?!" Li Huiyuan wriggled free from Lin Yi’s grasp, bouncing away like a flustered magnet.

After steadying herself, she looked slightly flushed, with wisps of warmth seemingly rising from her small forehead.