AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016
Chapter 953 - 442 Return_2

Chapter 953: Chapter 442 Return_2

As the charcoal-like outer skin peeled away, a brand new milky-white body slowly emerged in the dim environment.

Traces of thread-like seams lingered where her body was pieced together, yet the whole figure appeared seamlessly unified.

She stumbled up from the ground, her newly reborn body still unsteady, her back slightly hunched, much like the nurses from Silent Hill.

However, a faint dusty light shimmered around her, her breath turned intense and bizarre...

If Lin Yi were here, he would surely notice how Zhang Lingzhen now closely resembled himself when he had risen again after Boss had nearly beaten him to death.

"Ash Apostle"

Zhang Lingzhen... to some extent, had touched the threshold of the "Ash Apostle."

["Ashes"...]

The eyes of Ashen Apostle·Fireman gradually widened as it looked at the current Zhang Lingzhen, revealing a greedy and yearning smile.

Strangely though, on the other side, the newly reborn Zhang Lingzhen hadn’t even stood up straight, yet she had already sensed the presence of Ashen Apostle·Fireman, then tilted her neck to look at it.

"Hehehe..."

Zhang Lingzhen revealed an evil grin.

"My turn..."

...

May 10th, X023, 10:16, Teaching Building B, 4F.

At the handle at the end of the stairwell, the space seemed to ripple slightly. The next moment, Lin Yi emerged with Li Huiyuan as if traversing through a mirror.

Upon returning to the normal layer of the Teaching Building, Lin Yi immediately crushed the stone pillar resembling a wolf fang club in his hand and absorbed all the ashes within.

It wasn’t until this moment that Li Huiyuan voiced her pent-up confusion: "Lin... Lin Yi, were those zealots gathering ashes? And did you just absorb the ’ashes’ they collected?"

Back in the campus, there was no need for aliases, so she called Lin Yi by his name.

She looked at Lin Yi’s now empty hand, a hint of fear lingered in her eyes, but more so was her worry and concern for Lin Yi.

Lin Yi nodded, knowing that Li Huiyuan would report the situation to Boss, he didn’t hide from her, admitting directly.

Additionally, he explained the eerie method of ash collection by the bizarre art teacher.

Upon hearing this, Li Huiyuan didn’t pay much attention to the method of ash collection, her mind was filled with worries for Lin Yi, and her eyes held even more concern and terror.

She grasped Lin Yi’s hand, her tone somewhat anxious: "Didn’t Boss say they’d rid you of all the ashes? So why do you still have them?"

Lin Yi pursed his lips and said, "Last night, something happened by the Art Building, and... I got covered in ash again."

"But don’t worry about me, I’m fine..."

"Nonsense!" Li Huiyuan looked at Lin Yi angrily, "How can you be fine? I don’t care, you must go to the Gymnasium with me this afternoon and let Boss rid you of the ashes again!"

"This time it’s different." Lin Yi shook his head, "This ash can’t be removed, but look, aren’t I fine? I’ve... sort of perfectly fused with the ash, I can carry it now."

Li Huiyuan’s face dramatically changed, her voice trembled: "You... you’ve become that so-called ’Ash Apostle’?!"

In the Teacher’s Office, although she found it hard to see Homeroom teacher-040 so close to Lin Yi, she still pricked up her ears like a cat to listen to their entire conversation, gaining some understanding of the Ash Apostle.

Furthermore, after hearing the bizarre art teacher’s "introduction" in Class 15 of B Group, she knew that becoming an "Ash Apostle" meant becoming a gu worm, and in a whole gu pot, only one gu worm could break out in the end.

"It’s fine, really." Lin Yi slightly shook his head, comforting, "Just like you all wielding blue Transcendent power, I’ve now managed to gain some ability to use ’ash’, although I can’t control it as smoothly as an arm, but I won’t be burned by its power anymore."

"But that zealot said you all fight among yourselves..." Li Huiyuan was still worried.

Lin Yi continued, "They want collective ’Glorious Evolution’, they must have found some means, and besides... the gu worm fights for survival in the gu pot, but if I jump out, it’s all good."

"You mean leaving the campus?" Li Huiyuan asked, although she wanted Lin Yi to stay, leaving seemed the best option for Lin Yi now.

Lin Yi nodded, but inwardly he sighed.

Leaving was necessary, but the real "Ash Apostle"—the conceptual level sculpture—was still wandering the campus. What would happen in the coming days, he wasn’t quite sure.

All he could do was to watch and wait, study the changes quietly.

Besides, he had to go to the Cafeteria to see the Convenience Store Owner soon, he wanted to get answers to many questions from the Convenience Store Owner.

Though speaking of which, would the Convenience Store Owner ignore him?

Would they throw him out once they got Old Mo’s heart?

Li Huiyuan looked at Lin Yi, unaware of his thoughts, sighed, and said, "Leaving then, just leave..."

Lin Yi also sighed.

"Why are you sighing?" Li Huiyuan asked.

Lin Yi said mischievously, "I suddenly feel a bit regretful, give me a few more minutes, I think I could have secretly devoured all the ash over there... Besides, leaving it would only harm others, I kind of feel like I’m sacrificing myself for others."

Li Huiyuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at Lin Yi’s words, she was worried about the impact of the "ash" on Lin Yi, yet he casually said he could have eaten more...

She angrily stood with hands on her hips, "You got benefits yet acted humble? Don’t you know how worried I... and Boss were about you? Do you believe I’ll beat you up?"

As she spoke, she raised her fist, but the slightly downturned corners of her mouth betrayed her heart was not at ease.

Lin Yi shrank his neck; he thought he’d diverted Li Huiyuan’s attention a bit, but her subtle expressions soon showed him otherwise.

Li Huiyuan’s concern for him wasn’t something to distract with a few words.

"I will be careful," he could only say.

Li Huiyuan gave him a deep look, her tone low, "You’d better not be lying to me."

The atmosphere was somewhat grave, Lin Yi sheepishly glanced at his watch.

"Ah right, it’s already 10:18, we can head to the Cafeteria now!" Lin Yi smacked his head, quickly changing the topic.

Li Huiyuan said, "Then let’s go, but should we call Liang Liangzi along?"

"Definitely." Lin Yi nodded; time constrained, he had no extra moment to look at the Library.

Of course, trying to observe the Library from Teaching Building C during the day was somewhat challenging.

Naturally, Lin Yi didn’t plan to take that route, he only intended to see if he could view the Library during the layer fluctuation.

He’d always been curious about the bell tower-like building he’d seen earlier in the campus—whether it was the Library. If so, why was the Library he reached a structure like an ivory carving ball, yet the exterior seemed like a relatively normal building?

But he didn’t have a strong obsession about the Library. At the moment, calling Wei Liang along to the Cafeteria for food was a more pressing task. Also, he had to promptly inform Class Teacher-040 about the bizarre art teacher and other zealots.

The good news was, these two tasks were in sync schedule-wise.

Once out of the stairwell, Lin Yi quickly conferred with Li Huiyuan, "Huihuizi, I’ll tell the teacher about the zealots, could you help get Liangzi for lunch?"

"Sure." Li Huiyuan agreed without hesitation.