Chapter 21

The school bell rang on time after class.

The students were all excited.

Friday activity classes are something every student looks forward to, especially when the subject is swimming.

It's also a combined class with students from multiple classes.

Rick and his friends were especially excited, though their object of admiration was Chris.

Since the collision this morning, Chris's image had been on their minds.

They also knew that Chris had a boyfriend, Billy, who was in their class. Billy often showed off his girlfriend, frequently talking about Chris's attractiveness and how alluring she was in bed.

But Billy hadn't been in class for the past couple of days.

But fantasy is fantasy; it's not a problem to indulge in a bit of it.

So for the upcoming swimming activity, the three friends were not overly excited.

As soon as they left the classroom, they all looked over at the adjacent class, hoping to catch a glimpse of Chris.

Coincidentally, just as they stepped out, Chris was walking towards them.

"Hey, it's you three, Rick, Zade, and Mo."

Chris greeted them warmly, making the three feel flattered.

"Yeah, hey, Chris…"

Chris was very approachable, so even Tom's greeting was ignored.

This puzzled Tom, who muttered to Susie, "What's up with Chris? Why is she suddenly talking to those three? Didn't she used to hate people like that?"

Susie frowned as well. The two of them hadn't interacted much all day.

It seemed like things had started to change since Susie defended Carrie yesterday.

Susie's gaze turned to Carrie.

Carrie seemed like a transparent person, walking close to the wall. When she noticed Susie's gaze, she quickly lowered her head and sped up her pace.

Chris soon started chatting with Rick and his friends.

But she was also adhering to Randy's instructions, constantly directing their attention towards him.

As she chatted with Rick, she suddenly asked him to buy her a bottle of water.

Afterwards, she found an excuse to get Zade to leave, claiming she wanted to talk to Mo alone about games.

When Rick returned, she cold-shouldered Mo and laughed and chatted with Rick.

Zade was the first to leave, feeling dejected because he didn't get to talk to the girl he admired much.

He felt that the flirty expressions from the girl were probably just his imagination.

"Anyway, I don't really like Chris's type."

But when he reached his locker and opened it, his expression changed.

Inside was a love letter and a photo of Chris.

His face flushed as he held up the photo. It showed Chris holding the camera with one hand and pulling up her shirt with the other, though the key part had been torn off.

Zade swallowed and quickly opened the letter.

"I'm Chris…"

After reading through it, Zade's head felt dizzy, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Was this a love letter for him?

Especially after seeing the last part of the letter:

"After school today, let's meet in the small grove. I've left a photo puzzle under the red brick on the stone bridge. I'm waiting for you!"

It was his first time being asked out. Spring had arrived!

"Hey, Zade."

Zade's friend Mo's voice came, and Zade quickly stuffed the letter into his locker, then put on a normal expression.

"What's up, Mo? Didn't you continue chatting with Chris about games?"

"Ugh, she doesn't know anything about games. She was just asking me for advice and recommendations, it felt like she was just trying to make small talk."

Mo spoke with a disdainful look, but couldn't hide the smile at the corner of his mouth.

Zade felt irritated. The girl was talking to you for my benefit, so don't get too full of yourself.

But he didn't say it out loud, since Chris's boyfriend Billy still had a lot of influence.

He could only respond, "Oh, right, right, I have something else to do, so I'll head off first."

Then he hurriedly left.

Meanwhile, Chris was still flirting with Rick.

She took a sip from the water Rick bought her and then gave it back, and proceeded to awkwardly chat, trying to open up a conversation, but Rick, being a bit dense, couldn't keep up.

After trying for a while, Chris gave up on the conversation.

Still, she managed to charm Rick, though.

After she turned her back to leave, Rick picked up the water bottle she drank from and sniffed it.

Unfortunately, there was no scent.

At this moment, he couldn't wait to brag to his two friends. He thought Chris must be secretly in love with him.

Arriving at his locker, he saw Mo sneaking around.

"Hey, Mo, where's Zade?"

Rick called out, startling Mo, who jumped and quickly closed his locker.

"What's going on, Mo?"

Mo didn't answer, hurriedly turning and running away, his back hunched.

"Strange?"

Rick found it odd, but since Mo was often out of sync, he didn't think much of it and opened his locker, finding the same love letter.

After reading it, he became agitated.

"She's asking to meet me later! She even left me a photo! No wonder Chris hurried off earlier; she must be preparing for the date!"

Rick forgot all about the swimming class and his two friends. He quickly stuffed the letter into his pocket, gathered his things, and ran out of the school, muttering excitedly.

"Chris, Chris!"

At the school gate, the guard looked at him with confusion.

"It's not time for school to be over yet."

Rick, looking exuberant, said, "I have a date with my girl. We're going to have an amazing evening tonight."

"Fine, I'll let you go then."

The guard allowed him through. "Why do I keep seeing students coming and going at odd times these days?"

Rick rushed into the woods, running faster than usual.

Holding the half-photo in his hand, he was eager to find out Chris's type.

But once in the woods, he couldn't find Chris's figure anywhere.

"I must have arrived too early. Yes, the letter said she left a clue under the red brick in front of the stone bridge."

Rick quickly arrived at the stone bridge and found the red brick, discovering another letter hidden underneath.

This letter contained the rest of the photo he wanted!

After piecing it together, Rick took a deep breath.

"Perfect!"

Though it was a bit dark and looked somewhat droopy, to Rick, it was the most beautiful thing.

He opened the letter, which only had one line:

"I'm waiting for you at the cliff by the sea. There's a rock there that's as smooth as a bed. You can listen to the sea…"

Upon reading this, Rick was already lost in excitement.

He didn't realize he was walking right into a trap.

And having already received a taste of Chris's photo, he was unwilling to give up on the greater temptation.

"She really has a sense of romance to think of such a place. I'll reluctantly accept her confession, and I shouldn't act too excited."

Rick continued to hurry to the beach, his steps quickening to a jog.

The place was deserted, with very few people around. The salty sea breeze made Rick a bit chilly.

"Cliffside rock."

According to the letter, Rick looked ahead and found the spot that matched, but there was no smooth rock, only a thin figure by the sea.

Rick didn't want anyone to disturb his date, and seeing that the person was alone and looked thin, he walked over aggressively.

"Hey, who are you? What are you doing here?"

Feeling encouraged by the thought of love, Rick was bold and spoke with a firm tone.

But as he got closer, he realized it was none other than Randy, the kid who was always bullied in class.

He relaxed, even becoming more arrogant in his tone.

"You don't belong on this beach, go back to where you came from."

Rick continued to approach, rolling up his sleeves.

Randy stood by the sea, arms crossed, looking coldly at him.

It seemed Rick was indeed a bit earlier than expected, and he was particularly foolish.

Randy extended his middle finger, giving him a gesture of international friendship.

This infuriated Rick. In his eyes, Randy was in a lower class than him. How dare such a person provoke him!

Rick, unable to resist a fight, walked into the sea, ready to confront Randy.

"Didn't I teach you a lesson before? Did you think I'm easy to deal with? I'll show you…"

But as Rick spoke, he noticed Randy was approaching him without any fear, even calmly.

This made Rick feel uncertain. Though he should be able to win in a fight, there was no need to get into a physical altercation.

"Forget it, I'll let you go this time. You better get out of here."

This concession did nothing to change the situation.

Having made threats, Rick was now lacking in confidence.

Randy didn't react to his words and continued to approach slowly, as if taking a leisurely walk.

A bear often seems harmless when hunting, but once it's within striking range, it's too late to escape.

Rick was indeed deceived by Randy's movements, standing still, thinking his threats had worked.

"Yes, leave quietly, and I won't bother you at school in the future."

Randy didn't react to his words and continued to approach.

When they were about to brush past each other, Randy suddenly threw a punch.

Rick was alert and quickly raised his hands to block the punch.

"You really dare to hit me? Ah!"

Randy didn't have time to listen to Rick's nonsense. He swiftly pulled out a spring knife and slashed Rick's hand before stabbing at his neck.

"Zing!"

Randy's knife pierced Rick's neck with ease.

Randy immediately bent down and pressed Rick's body flat on the water, Rick struggled as his balance was lost. Randy held his head underwater, dragging him around.

After a brief struggle, Rick soon stopped moving, leaving a pool of blood by the shore.

Randy then dragged his body towards the flower patch.

Underwater, things were much easier.

Following the same steps as before, Randy buried part of Rick's leg in the silt.

At this moment, multiple branches had started to grow from the silt, and lotus leaves had already appeared, curling up.

In the deep blue water, it looked particularly eerie.

After checking the surroundings, Randy was satisfied and left the water.

The originally blood-red sea surface gradually returned to its normal state after a few tidal washes.

Randy found a comfortable spot on the reef to rest, and now he was waiting for the next prey to arrive.

It didn't take long before another figure appeared by the sea, another early arrival, Zade.

At first, he didn't notice anything unusual and walked towards the cliff.

But when he turned to look at Randy, it was already too late.

Using the same method, Randy sent him underwater to meet his friends.

From the initial three victims, Karl and now Rick, and also Zade, all were young and strong, providing excellent nourishment.

Randy felt that his lotus seeds would officially bloom and bear fruit by next week.

However, Zade's late arrival made Randy wait for a long time, and it was almost dark, yet he still hadn't appeared.

"This guy isn't lost, is he? Or is the game more important to him than women?"

"Or did he encounter an accident along the way?"

Randy couldn't understand these people's thoughts, so he went to find his backpack on the shore, preparing to ask Chris about the situation.

But just as he found a place with signal, he received several messages from Chris, including a video.

"Carrie is such a freak, she's simply insane."

"This girl got her period and was screaming in the shower area, asking us to call the police, haha."

Then there was a video.

Randy opened it.

In the video, Carrie was huddled in a corner with a towel, surrounded by a group of girls throwing sanitary pads at her. The video also included Chris's laughter and mockery.

Randy's eyes narrowed. Was this the start of the plot?

So he quickly messaged Chris.

"What exactly was posted?"

Chris quickly replied, but it was all about Carrie's embarrassing moments.

Randy frowned and rephrased the question.

"Did anything unusual happen?"

Soon a message came.

"Unusual? There were several light bulbs that exploded in the shower room. Oh! When Carrie went crazy, she seemed to have triggered an earthquake; the lights and pipes were shaking."

Exploding lights and earthquakes!

Randy's face showed a smile. It seemed he wasn't mistaken; Carrie's magical power had finally awakened.

Chris sent another message.

"Should I post this video online? It'll definitely make Carrie feel humiliated!"

Randy thought, Carrie rarely held her head up in school, so when did she ever lift it?

"You can spread this around at school, but it's best not to upload the video online, unless you don't want to attend school anymore."

"Okay."

Randy put away his phone and didn't worry about when Zade would come anymore.

Either he hadn't taken the bait or something unexpected happened along the way.

Perhaps the clown in the forest appeared again?

Randy packed his belongings, rode his bike, and headed out. With two fresh supplies already available, there was no need to delve further for now. The important thing was to quickly check on Carrie's situation.