One of the gate guards seemed visibly taken aback, his eyes widening in genuine shock the moment he saw the specific name engraved on the identification badge. He had heard the persistent, dark rumours circulating since yesterday evening that a talented student named Bai Xifeng had perished in the terrifying and tragic incident at Xien Cave.

Consequently, when he saw that very same name presented right in front of him, he was completely stunned into silence. He looked down at the badge and then back at Bai Xifeng’s face several times, his head bobbing back and forth as he tried to confirm with his own eyes that she was a real, breathing person and not some lingering, vengeful ghost. It seemed that the news of her untimely death had been nothing more than a baseless, albeit convincing, rumour after all.

Bai Xifeng naturally noticed his strange, jittery reaction and the way his hands trembled slightly as he held her ID. She narrowed her eyes slightly, wondering why the guard was behaving in such an odd and nervous manner, as if he expected her to vanish into thin air.

"Sir, is there something wrong with my badge? Is it perhaps expired, or did it get damaged in the field?" Bai Xifeng asked, her tone filled with genuine curiosity.

"No... No... There is absolutely nothing wrong with your badge. My deepest apologies. You may enter." The guard stammered, shaking his head quickly to clear his frantic thoughts before handing the badge back to her with a stiff bow.

The guards stepped aside in a visible hurry to let her pass through the main gates. Bai Xifeng gave a small, polite nod, though her confusion remained, and walked calmly onto the school grounds.

After seeing that Bai Xifeng was far enough away and safely out of earshot, one of the other guards finally spoke up in a hushed, urgent voice.

"Why did you seem so shocked to see that student? You looked like you’d seen a spirit from the underworld." Guard A asked, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.

"I heard a very specific and grim rumour yesterday." The first guard whispered, glancing over his shoulder.

"A rumour? About what?"

"About that girl’s death."

"Huh? That girl’s death? You mean the one who just walked past us?"

"Yes... You heard about the massive disaster at the Xien Stone Cave yesterday, right? The one that left that huge crater?"

"Yes... But what does that have to do with a single student?"

"I heard that some of the students who came back in terror and told everyone that the girl had met a violent end in that incident. I honestly thought it was the gospel truth until I saw her standing here today. That was why I was so shocked to see her alive and well."

"Oh... then it was probably just a malicious rumour or a massive misunderstanding. That girl looked perfectly normal and remarkably healthy just now." The second guard concluded, though he watched her retreating figure with a newfound sense of intrigue.

"Hmmm... That’s right. Some people just love to spread lies." The first guard said as he nodded his head, though he still felt a lingering chill.

Bai Xifeng walked at her usual pace, but she suddenly noticed a series of strange, piercing stares directed at her back. Whenever she turned around to catch the onlookers, the students who were staring at her would immediately look away, pretending to be deeply interested in the nearby trees or their own feet. Something was clearly not right. Still, she decided to ignore the social awkwardness for now. She had business to attend to and needed to go to the Quest Building first to report her successful completion of the mission.

The moment Bai Xifeng stepped into the bustling Quest Building, a girl near the entrance let out a sharp shout of horror the second her eyes met Bai Xifeng’s. The scream was so sudden and piercing that even the battle-hardened Bai Xifeng was startled.

"What? What on earth happened?" Bai Xifeng asked, looking around for a hidden beast or an assassin.

"You... You are still alive?" The girl asked, her voice trembling as she pointed a shaky finger.

"Huh? What are you talking about? If I am not alive, am I supposed to be dead?" Bai Xifeng was so thoroughly confused that she blurted out a rather blunt question without thinking.

The girl was left speechless, her mouth hanging open. Everyone who witnessed this spectacle was also plunged into a stunned silence. Well, many people were understandably surprised to see the person who had been rumoured to be a corpse standing right in front of them in broad daylight.

"I am sorry." The girl immediately apologised, her face flushing crimson when she realised she was making a scene.

"It’s fine... Can you just tell me what is going on? When I was walking to this building earlier, I received nothing but strange stares and whispers from the other students." Bai Xifeng asked, wanting to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Then, the tense silence was broken by a sudden burst of clear, melodic laughter. When the crowd turned to look at the source, they found Xie Lanying laughing openly, her eyes dancing with amusement. Behind her, several members of the Xie Family and a very relieved-looking Ning Shoukai were also present.

Xie Lanying approached Bai Xifeng and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. "Hey, girl..."

"They thought you were a ghost because of the massive incident that occurred at the Xien Stone Cave. Wait, do you even know about the incident?" Xie Lanying asked, her brow arching in curiosity.

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko*