Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“This is Li Yu. He graduated from Yuzhou University.”
Gao Peng and Jun Moyi were now sitting in a restaurant in front of a short-haired young man in a gray suit. The man looked terrible. Black bags hung beneath his eyes, as if he hadn’t been able to sleep well for quite some time.
“I’ve been sleeping in my office these days,” said Li Yu with a sigh. “Do you know what it’s like, being too afraid to go back to your own home? I still remember the day I first time I heard the ‘couple’ above my place fighting with each other. For god’s sake, I live on the top floor! Who could possibly be living on the rooftop?”
Everyone around the table looked at Li Yu sympathetically.
“Don’t worry, we’re all gathered here to help you solve your ‘ghost’ problem,” said a third-year student who had been talking to Li Yu. He was also the head of the student association’s communications department.
The Monster Training department’s student association fell outside the jurisdiction of Yuzhou University’s student council. Though anyone could train a monster, students from the Monster Training department put more time and energy into honing their own skills as Monster Trainers than students from other departments.
Ever since Xue Ming had assumed the title of honorary chairman of Yuzhou’s city council, the student association had become a bit too bureaucratic.
This was one of the reasons why Gao Peng hadn’t joined the student association.
“That would be great,” said Li Yu with a strained smile.
Then everyone followed Li Yu back to his place.
Most of the members of the student association still saw Gao Peng as an outsider. However, it was Jun Moyi who had brought him along. They were also aware of who Gao Peng was. None of them were stupid enough to say anything unexpected to him.
Since they were probably dealing with a monster, everyone had brought their familiars with them.
Gao Peng turned to Goldie, who was waddling beside him, and softly said, “Don’t go running off on your own now. At the first sight of trouble, you carry me out of there and run as fast as your legs can carry you, got it?”
Goldie frowned. “But I can’t carry you, I’m just a duck.”
Gao Peng stared at it, speechless.
You’re the only duck I know who can snap a tree in two with a single kick!
Jun Moyi had brought a black two-headed hunting dog with him. Its eyes, tongue, and claws were all red.
“Where’s your Black Anaconda?”
“It’s too big to bring around the city. Yuzhou’s streets are a lot narrower than Chang’an’s,” said Jun Moyi, shaking his head.
“I see,” replied Gao Peng.
They followed Li Yu up to his apartment building, which had 13 floors in total.
They didn’t see or hear anything as they walked along the empty corridors, feeling like they were on a trip through a forest.
They finally reached the top floor, and Li Yu opened the door to his place. “An An, I’m home,” he shouted.
Only silence greeted him.
Gao Peng, who was standing behind Li Yu, suddenly detected an unbearable stench in the air. It smelled like rotting fish.
“Smells like something died in here,” said Jun Moyi, who was standing beside Gao Peng.
“An An!” screamed Li Yu from the bedroom.
The others entered the bedroom to find out what had happened.
Apparently, Li Yu’s Earthen Golden Retriever had died in the bedroom. The summer heat had accelerated the corpse’s decomposition, allowing its smell to fill the entire apartment in just one day.
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have left it at home alone,” said Li Yu.
“From the look of things, the monster we’re dealing with is highly aggressive and quite strong by itself…” muttered the head of the communications department.
In the past, he had led members of the student association on less complicated missions. However, this was the first time he would have to deal with a familiar’s death. This wasn’t going to be a simple matter to handle.
“Should we let the police handle this?” someone asked.
“We’re already here. Might as well see this through. The monster’s level probably isn’t that high. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be lurking in the shadows like a coward.”
“You scared?”
“I’ve dealt with more dangerous monsters. This is nothing!”
Everyone began arguing with each other about whether or not they should continue their monster hunt.
Gao Peng sighed.
“Let’s go, Goldie,” said Gao Peng, patting the duck on its head.
At first, Gao Peng had only wanted to know what kind of monster the student association was dealing with. However, he had grown tired of their bickering. If all this wasn’t resolved that day, he would probably have to ask his grandfather to send someone over to do something about it.
Just then, Gao Peng stopped in his tracks.
According to Li Yu, the monster had been haunting him like a ghost. Wouldn’t it try to ambush him if he went down the stairs on his own?
Gao Peng began thinking about this in silence. Then he said, “Let’s just wait for everyone else.”
Then everyone went up to the rooftop. However, there was nothing to be found there.
The communications department head frowned. Li Yu had told him that the monster would appear on the rooftop every day. Maybe it was hiding in a corner.
“Maybe…” started Gao Peng. “Maybe the voices that Li Yu heard didn’t come from the rooftop…”
“Then where could they have come from?” someone asked.
“From the walls.”
“…”
Li Yu shivered at this, then laughed weakly. “You must be joking…”
“I was just suggesting a possibility,” said Gao Peng, smiling.
“I still think the monster is somewhere on the rooftop,” said one of the students.
“But we’ve looked for it everywhere here. There’s just no sign of it,” another student said.
“Are you sure you’ve looked everywhere?” asked Gao Peng. He couldn’t believe how inexperienced these people were.
“Yes, I’m sure we’ve looked everywhere on the rooftop.”
“What if the monster’s clinging to the side of the apartment building right now? What if it could turn invisible?” said Gao Peng.
“That’s just preposterous.”
However, the communications department head said, “I think Gao Peng might be on to something. I mean, it can’t hurt to take a look there.”
There was nowhere for the monster to hide on the wall of the building.
Then something happened.
Just as one of the students looked over the edge of the rooftop, a shrill cry pierced the night air. Startled, the student who had craned his head over the edge of the rooftop fell backwards and landed on his rear.
A white hand slammed onto the edge of the rooftop menacingly.
