The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle

"Thank you... thank you... but I don't eat..."

His eyes held an indiscernible sharpness and an instinctive wariness.

Yet, Su Qi slipped it into his coat pocket, "Take it, we're all friends here."

The little boy was somewhat confused, "Do we know each other?"

"It seems you really don't remember anything... We used to go to school together," Su Qi smiled. "Don't you remember these shoes under your feet? We bought them together, Adidas!"

"And I know about some of the minor health issues you have..."

Su Qi spoke as if he knew everything, which left the little boy bewildered.

Luo Shenfu watched this scene, knowing full well that Su Qi was making things up, since from the beginning, both of them had received the same information and clues.

Moreover... all NPCs seemed to have lost their original memories, becoming as innocent as children.

Only when the Black and White Bear appeared, and in that classroom, did the powers and traces of the Abyss manifest on them.

However, Luo Shenfu was wrong.

Everything Su Qi had just said was not made up.

The little boy was somewhat shocked, "How did you know... I have eye problems?"

"Of course, I helped you register at the hospital, got the medicine for you," Su Qi counted on his fingers, "You have now... amblyopia, color blindness, glaucoma, and occasionally see various bizarre things."

The little boy shuddered; everything had been accurately mentioned.

This was indeed his condition. In this school... he constantly felt terror, saw strange things, yet a voice compelled him to keep this secret deeply guarded.

He had tried to seek help from the teachers, but whenever he approached them, intending to speak, his eyes would hurt terribly, and the originally kind teachers would turn into terrifying monsters!

It was utterly horrifying!

Beside the teachers, the students also transformed into demon-like figures, grotesquely elongated!

When he timidly refrained from speaking and left, upon looking back, the teachers and other students would have returned to normal, playing and running around, smiling happily like ordinary children.

He didn't know how long he had been here, but everything he experienced made him tread on thin ice.

And now,

This boy was actively approaching him, revealing so many of his secrets.

"See, I told you we're friends," Su Qi already laughed, patting his shoulder, "By the way, what's your name?"

Luo Shenfu: "?"

The little boy bowed slightly, "Ma Liang."

"Alright, Ma Liang." Su Qi gently said, "My name is Su Buxian."

He glanced briefly at the playground, where the three teachers' gazes were slowly sweeping across, and time was also fading, with less than ten minutes left until the break ended.

Everyone seemed to be frantically searching, making contact with the various elementary students.

The Sky Dome was also gradually darkening.

It seemed that once the time was up, something was about to happen.

Su Qi looked at this scene and softly said:

"So, Ma Liang, do you want to leave here?"

Ma Liang paused, then slowly nodded; when Su Qi mentioned that he could see strange things, he had already subconsciously considered Su Qi as a sort of companion, especially since his eyes didn't hurt when talking with him, void of the chilling, terrifying feeling.

"So do you know how to leave?"

Ma Liang shook his head, and after hesitating for a while, he whispered, "My friend might know."

"Your friend?" Su Qi was surprised.

"He has never appeared in front of me, but whenever I'm asleep, he would write notes under my diary."

Su Qi paused, "I see."

Ma Liang still wanted to speak.

But Su Qi also noticed that other followers had already approached.

"Alright, take the lollipop and go play for a while." Su Qi patted the dazed Ma Liang, stood up, and walked away.

"I'll meet with your friend later."

Under Ma Liang's perplexed gaze, Su Qi joined up with the followers.

"Venerable one, with these fragmented clues and information, it's virtually impossible to find the owner of that drawing among these hundreds of children."

The followers' expressions carried a trace of chill.

"And although this place is filled with the Strength of the Abyss, they have no related memories and are restricted by the school rules."

"If not found, when the time comes..."

Followers spoke in a tense voice, "It seems we'll enter a new dangerous phase, right now our only option is to get through this phase first and then see what comes next."

Su Qi snapped his fingers, "I'll listen to you all."

"Moreover, it looks like the whole campus is covered this time." He looked up at the darkening Sky Dome and the thin mist that gradually rose as time passed.

"Playing hide and seek?"

He recalled what that female teacher had said before and couldn't help feeling a bit excited.

At this moment.

Luo Shenfu spoke with a tone of doubt and contemplation, "Daozi, there's something I don't understand."

"What you just mentioned... his friend..."

"Ah, you're still thinking about that? That plotline has passed already." Su Qi was eager to proceed, "It's time to play the game now."

Luo Shenfu, "..."

Your body might have shrunk to a child's size, but you're not actually a child, is there a need to be so lively and even slightly expectant!

He realized he really didn't understand Su Buxian, this youngster who suddenly blended into the Immortal Path and became Daozi.

"Okay, let me explain a bit."

Su Qi smiled gently, "Simply put, they usually turn into ordinary children, but at certain times or places, they recover their memories, usually at times of separation or safety."

"That's why he has been hiding for so long."

"Likewise, they must also complete the school procedures and rules, and if anyone breaks these rules, they will face Extreme Punishment."

What Extreme Punishment erases is not their lives but their traces. As their memories diminish more and more, they'll gradually be erased from existence.

They must find and kill Ma Liang to leave this place.

And Ma Liang,

Su Qi... felt that his true consciousness did not wish to leave this place actively; rather than saying the multitude of Monsters of the Abyss School were hunting him,

it would be more accurate to say, he... was suppressing those hundreds of Demons, and three Demigods.

Ten minutes quickly passed.

The Sky Dome turned as dark as ink; despite the absence of dark clouds, the visibility was as dim as if it were the apocalypse, and a thin layer of strange, dark purple mist rose.

If one HAD to liken the atmosphere to something, it bore a bit of a Mingke Academy vibe.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The school bell was ringing, and the large clock on the school building's wall emitted the sound of turning gears.

An announcer's voice sounded, with the intonation of a circus performer.

"Dear cute little kids, now it's time for some fun and games."

"We will be playing hide and seek based on the classes, although I'd prefer to call it cat and mouse."

"Now... please pay attention."

"Congratulations to the first graders of class nine, you have been chosen as the mice to hide, while the other classes will spread their claws as cats."

His voice carried a hint of laughter.

"As mice, you must try your best not to be caught by the cats."

"Because if you are caught, you will be punished."

"And now..."

The announcer's voice came through: "Countdown five minutes, cats cover your eyes, mice it's time for you to hide..."

The clock ticked crisply, the countdown had begun.

The chosen first graders of class nine were, of course, none other than Su Qi and his classmates.

Su Qi complained,

"Does this Black and White Bear have to multitask as an announcer too?"

He naturally recognized the voice.

And he also looked around, noticing all the elementary students uniformly covering their eyes with their hands.

But at the same time,

Su Qi also noticed... the dark, ominous mist enveloping them, seeping towards them, transforming into something sinister, and it seemed that the breath of the Abyss was recovering, their terrifying faces were about to materialize.