Parasitic Demon-Beasts on Campus

Lingling was struck dumb.

The defining trait of parasitic Demon-Beasts was precisely that — they could lie dormant, and they could spread. Like a virus transmitting infection from host to host. In truth, certain parasitic Demon-Beasts did possess that exact ability. The trouble was, creatures of that contagious variety hadn't been seen in a very long time.

"Wait — I need to ask someone." Realizing the situation might be serious, Lingling quickly pulled out her phone and placed a call.

Mo Fan sat beside her, anxious, while Lingling relayed everything about the Molting Demon and Molting Demoness to whoever was on the other end.

"She wants to know — does the Molting Demoness have a blood-drinking habit?" Lingling asked, turning to Mo Fan.

"She does. When I tracked the demoness to the apartment she'd attacked, she had one of the girls strung up from the ceiling — and was lying underneath, waiting for the blood to drip into her mouth." Mo Fan said.

Lingling relayed it immediately.

Seconds later, Mo Fan noticed her expression change. A flicker of something — panic, bewilderment — surfaced in her eyes.

The call ended. Lingling stared at the glowing red dots on her tablet with an unreadable look.

"The dots are multiplying," Mo Fan said, keeping his voice carefully steady.

"How is this possible — how is this *happening*? These dots are all around us. Does that mean those things are already spread throughout..." Lingling trailed off, unable to finish the thought.

Even with all her experience as a Hunter Master, she had rarely encountered anything like this. A parasitic Demon-Beast with the ability to spread — that was nothing short of a plague.

"So the Molting Demoness didn't kill that short-haired girl outright — was that deliberate? Was she *trying* to pass the parasite on?" Mo Fan said, ice shooting down his spine.

He remembered it clearly: the demoness had been drinking slowly, taking her time. She'd had every opportunity to kill the girl outright and hadn't taken it.

"She must have first injected her own parasitic blood into the girl's body, then strung her up to drain out the girl's original blood..." Lingling said.

"If that girl has been infected and will molt into a creature at midnight — then this school..." Mo Fan stared at the scattering of red dots across the digital map, and felt as though he'd been plunged into ice water, his bones beginning to tremble.

The school had been infected.

The short-haired girl wasn't dead — and she very likely had no idea what had been done to her, just like the husband had no clue, with no awareness that come nightfall she would shed her own skin and go out to feed.

*God. The school is full of exactly the kind of prey these creatures need.*

The device wasn't malfunctioning.

It had been accurately tracking every carrier of that blood all along. It was just that, after passing through the short-haired girl, the number of carriers had exploded into this dense, swarming constellation of dots.

Mo Fan and Lingling stared at each other.

In each other's eyes, they saw the same thing — disbelief, mirrored back.

"Fan Mo." Lingling glanced at the quiet campus, then up at the pitch-black sky. "Night has fallen."

"I... I know." He couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.

"I need to alert the Hunters' Alliance right away... That's strange — why are all the red dots converging on one location?" Lingling said.

"It's a holiday weekend, but there's a rehearsal concert tonight at the gymnasium — some idol. Zhang Pinggu mentioned it. A lot of people went." Mo Fan recalled.

"They probably haven't started molting yet. But we can't wait — by the time the Hunters' Alliance gets here, the entire gymnasium will be a feeding ground for those things. And it won't take long before the place is crawling with them, and the situation becomes completely uncontrollable." Lingling said.

"And the Alliance won't be able to tell who's infected and who isn't," Mo Fan added.

The school was on holiday — most teachers had left campus. Though the majority of students had gone home as well, a good seven or eight thousand had stayed for the idol's rehearsal.

The gymnasium was enormous — its corridors, stairwells, and side rooms an indoor labyrinth. The performance hall at its heart was the most open space, but with that many students packed inside, people wandering off alone would be easy pickings.

"The rehearsal has been going for a while, and the dots just keep climbing. The rate they're spreading is exactly like a viral infection — it's so *fast*!" Lingling watched the tablet, the red dot count rising before her eyes in real time.

"Is there any way to stop them from molting? I can't exactly attack people who are still normal, even if they're carrying the infection," Mo Fan said urgently.

"My sister told me — the parasitic blood most likely nests at the thumb. For those who are infected but haven't molted yet, making a small cut on the thumb will release it and they'll be fine. But for those who have already molted, the demon form has to be killed — then the host recovers, just like the husband did." Lingling explained.

"Got it. You contact the Hunters' Alliance and whatever teachers are still on campus — get more people moving. I'll head to the gymnasium first. Guide me remotely; tell me which ones are carrying the blood." Mo Fan said, urgency sharpening his voice.

"Mm. Be careful — they're dangerous. Don't get yourself killed." For once, Lingling's voice carried something close to genuine concern.

"You've seen what I can do. No time to waste — every second we delay, another one of those things spreads." Mo Fan said.

Drawing on the shadows around him, he slipped into the darkness and sprinted toward the gymnasium.

"Damn it all — it's just a celebrity rehearsal. Why the hell did so many people have to show up? What an absolute headache," Mo Fan muttered under his breath as he ran.

The gymnasium was a fair distance away, and it took him over three minutes to get there.

When he arrived, he found the exterior deserted — everyone had already gone inside.

"Fan Mo, I reached one of your school's administrators. He told me I was playing a prank." Lingling's voice came through the earpiece, edged with irritation.

"No surprise there — who's going to believe a little kid? Did you get through to the Hunters' Alliance?"

"Yes. A hunter ranked above me is already heading over to contact the school." Lingling said.

"Good."

"Fan Mo! Fan Mo — there's one right at the entrance!" Lingling's voice went sharp.

Mo Fan had already reached the corridor entrance. Ahead was a wide display area, dominated by a large poster of the female idol — sweet-faced and pretty. Because it was only a rehearsal, the lights here hadn't all been switched on. The passage ahead was pitch dark.

"Tell me the distance and direction," Mo Fan said, dropping his voice.

"Straight ahead. Ten meters."

"There's nothing here — I don't see anything."

"The black dot and red dot have overlapped. You still can't see it?" Lingling's voice was taut with tension.

"No... *holy—* it's on the ceiling!"

Outside the school, Lingling's heart lurched as she clutched her tablet.

She had no way of knowing what was happening to Mo Fan now. All she could hear was the eruption of a fight.