Farewell, the Disappearance of "Class Monitor Fang"

After examining it closely for a while, Bai Zhou crouched down and tentatively touched the school uniform with his fingertips. He sensed the spirituality coiled around the uniform, and the instant his own spirituality converged with it, the "knowledge" regarding the uniform flowed into his mind. Sure enough, it was just as Bai Zhou had thought—in fact, even more of a pleasant surprise... This uniform possessed some of the Exam King's traits! As long as one wore it, it granted massive immunity against mental enchantments from others and enhanced the wearer's own ability to bewitch and enchant. Fire could not burn it, nor dust soil it, and it naturally exerted a certain intimidating aura. If Bai Zhou possessed the corresponding soul-capturing methods, he could even enslave vengeful spirits and endow them with various traits, possibly recreating spectacles like the "Marshal of Wrong Answers" or the "General of Stress." However, whoever wore this uniform would also have to concentrate constantly to resist intrusions from all kinds of negative emotions, such as stress, guilt, procrastination, laziness, and so forth... —Without question, an Extraordinary piece of equipment, and an absolute top-grade one at that! Yet calling it Extraordinary equipment wasn't entirely fitting... because its form was somewhat illusory, half-ethereal and half-tangible, its surface veiled in a dim, hazy glow. Rather than a physical object, it seemed more like the manifestation of some bygone emotion or wish—or perhaps an "anomaly" in its own right. Bai Zhou had a few theories about this. By now, Bai Zhou could essentially confirm that the Exam King's appearance was inextricably tied to the school in the Reflected Ruin Realm, or had simply originated from there. Everyone in the Reflected Ruin Realm said that killing an "anomaly" yielded no spoils whatsoever; anomalies were inherently part of the Reflected Ruin Realm, and even in death, they would simply be reborn. —Then what if an anomaly escaped the Reflected Ruin Realm and entered the mortal world? Though he had no idea how it had accomplished such a feat, if such an anomaly died in the mortal world, it might leave behind a dead, dormant "true body" that could no longer be reclaimed by the Reflected Ruin Realm. This uniform might have been "part" of the anomaly that was that school in the Reflected Ruin Realm all along. At this moment, the only thing Bai Zhou couldn't be sure of, and was thoroughly curious about, was... If he put on this uniform and entered the Reflected Ruin Realm, walking into that Reflected Yuanmeng Middle School... Would they treat Bai Zhou as one of their own, regarding him as part of the Reflected Ruin Realm itself... or would they simply confiscate and reclaim the uniform? If it was the former... Bai Zhou felt his lips go dry. Still, even if similar uniforms were everywhere in that school within the Reflected Ruin Realm, Bai Zhou firmly believed their uniforms couldn't hold a candle to the Exam King's. Just as a tiger cub's pelt could not compare to that of a full-grown tiger, a mature tiger was an entirely different beast. The Exam King hadn't spent all those years lying dormant in Yuanmeng Middle School for nothing! Having witnessed firsthand the sight of the Exam King being torn apart and devoured by the six spirits, Bai Zhou had no interest in enslaving souls, nor did he possess any secret techniques for it. However, the boost to bewitching abilities made Bai Zhou think of the hypnosis ritual he frequently used... A record of this also existed in stories from Wancheng. The tale spoke of a mind-control master skilled in bewitchment who wore a red cassock impervious to fire and water that enhanced mind-control arts. By chanting scriptures to hypnotize them, he took three Adventurers as his disciples and enforcers, journeying west all the way to retrieve the true scriptures of their doctrine. According to the Grand Elder of the Black Robe, the man in the red cassock was an ancestor of the Black Robe organization. The Grand Elder had even claimed that becoming a Red-Robed Elder was the supreme glory of their organization, encouraging everyone to work hard. Impervious to water and fire, boosting bewitchment abilities... Bai Zhou's imagination ran wild, and he reasonably suspected that the predecessor who journeyed west had simply been wearing a red "school uniform"—and who knew, maybe he had been an "Exam King" too! With a rustle, Bai Zhou stowed the uniform away. Fang Xiaoyan, who had been unable to contain herself beside him, finally spoke up: "I've heard that no hypnosis ritual can control a person forever." "Teacher, you can erase this past experience from Jia Tingting's mind, but you can't make her confident and strong forever." The girl's face carried a touch of curiosity and bewilderment: "Besides, won't she still have to face all the pressures in life on her own in the end?" "...Is doing this really right?" This question was meaningful—at least far better than asking why Bai Zhou hadn't given any bizarre commands. "...Whenever she breaks free from the hypnotic influence and turns back into that anxious, repressed girl," Bai Zhou said, choosing his words carefully as he folded the uniform, "the time she spent being herself, being confident and strong, striving with all her might without dreading the future—that will all become an important memory in her life." "I didn't teach her to run away. In fact, I never deny the importance of studying, but a healthy mindset makes any effort twice as effective." "People who lack confidence become obsessed and constantly fear gain and loss; no matter what they do, it never ends well." "Why be so hard on herself? She has clearly already worked so hard." "Life ahead is long after all. Take it slowly. As long as you keep moving forward with steady, solid steps, it doesn't matter if you're a bit slow for a while." As he spoke, Bai Zhou thought of himself and sighed with empathy: "Just like a wanted fugitive hunted by pursuers. Though life might seem hopeless..." "as long as you shake off a batch of pursuers today, kill a batch of pursuers every day, and keep at it, there will come a day when you've killed until no one dares provoke you, and you finally see the dawn. Don't you think?" Fang Xiaoyan, who had been nodding along, suddenly froze. "?" She had been nodding at Bai Zhou's words, genuinely thinking this psychology teacher was an experienced life mentor. There was no feeling of being preached to, yet everything he said made complete sense. Without realizing it, she had come to agree with his perspective, taking it straight to heart. Yet in the blink of an eye, this teacher came out with something outrageously crooked, leaving Fang Xiaoyan thoroughly stunned. *Teacher, what line of work are you actually in...* She really felt like asking him that. "To be honest, the teaching profession truly holds a strange magic." With no one else around, Bai Zhou spoke with a hint of wistfulness: "Even without the qualifications or dedication of an actual teacher, the moment someone addresses you as one and you face these anxious young students, you can't help offering a few extra words." Just like seeing his past self—lost, with no one to guide the way. "You're right, of course. Everyone has a future they must face alone." "Still, I hope this experience can provide a bit of momentum for her future." "Even if someone's life is a pool of stagnant water, so long as a ripple stirs because of me... then my trip to Tinghai Middle School as a psychological counselor won't have been in vain." Thinking this, Bai Zhou felt a faint swell of satisfaction and pride in his chest. At the end of the day, all things considered, he was merely an eighteen-year-old youth himself. Barely older than students like Jia Tingting... "Of course! You definitely didn't come in vain!" Fang Xiaoyan replied without the slightest hesitation, her expression turning earnest: "Teacher, you saved Jia Tingting's life, and you saved many more lives too—Yuanmeng Middle School will change because of you!" "Though... it's a real shame that no audience will remember your contribution, Teacher..." Her voice dropped a little on that last sentence. Hearing this, Bai Zhou immediately shook his head and quipped: "Change Yuanmeng Middle School...? If the key school admission rate really gets broken, I feel like the dean of academic affairs would want to eat me alive." With that, he blinked, tucked the folded uniform securely into his robes, and turned to look at Fang Xiaoyan: "Besides, isn't there still an audience of one in you?" "Fang Xiaoyan—or should I say... Fang Xiaoxia?" Observing this girl who still harbored an air of mystery, Bai Zhou's gaze carried a touch of scrutiny. Even now, he still didn't quite know her true background. Because of that, he had never dropped his guard around her: "Did you know? We're not close, but I've met Fang Xiaoxia." "And... though you look very much alike, she's completely different from you." While their features were remarkably similar, in terms of demeanor, one was steady yet vibrant, while the other was as decadent and unruly as a stray dog—a world of difference. Even their posture was night and day. The Fang Xiaoxia Bai Zhou knew was always slouching with drooping shoulders, completely undisciplined, restless even in her sleep. Nothing like the girl before him, who stood properly with her legs together, cradling a notebook, wearing big round glasses on her cute face—the spitting image of the well-behaved girl teachers and parents adored most. Anyone who had attended school knew the weight someone like this carried. A single glance told you she was an exemplary student, the type who would unfailingly sweep the awards for Merit Student and Outstanding Class Officer every single year. "Huh? You know 'me'?" "Really?! What a coincidence!" Amid Fang Xiaoyan's exclamation, Bai Zhou's eyes narrowed slightly: "The Exam King is dead." "At this point, unless you truly have an older sister with the exact same name, don't you think it's time you gave me an explanation?" Hearing this, Fang Xiaoyan nodded hastily, her twin tails swaying with the motion. "Mm-hmm... it's a long story." She looked around at the ruined bathroom strewn with debris on both sides, then brought forward the hands she had been hiding behind her back to examine them. "But this time, I should have enough time to explain everything clearly to you, Teacher." "Your hands...?" Bai Zhou furrowed his brows, asking in alarm. Because Fang Xiaoyan's hands were gone. "Nothingness" seemed to be eroding Fang Xiaoyan, causing her to slowly fade away. "Fang Xiaoxia really isn't my sister." "Or rather, I am Fang Xiaoxia, but Fang Xiaoxia is not me." Fang Xiaoyan gave an indirect answer, her face radiant with heartfelt joy and relief. The light from the window fell upon her upturned face. She gave a soft laugh, her ethereal voice seeming on the verge of being carried away by the wind: "The truth is, I was never... supposed to exist." With that, she recounted her story as concisely as she could. It was indeed a long story. Originally, there was no Fang Xiaoyan in this world. There was only... the person young Fang Xiaoxia had ideally wanted to become. —A mature, steady little adult; an all-around class monitor of stellar character and scholarship, a pride to parents and teachers, who brought happiness to every classmate. As Fang Xiaoxia grew up, various hardships caused her to forget that ideal, leading her down a somewhat different path in life. That ideal, that wish, simply "died." Yet one day, the dead wish opened its eyes, astonishingly discovering that it had somehow come to life with a physical body, appearing right here in the mortal world's Yuanmeng Middle School. She was "Class Monitor Fang," Fang Xiaoyan. Every student who interacted with her felt she was their class monitor, only to forget her the moment they turned away. "Class Monitor Fang" was a ghost that did not exist in the school, yet "Class Monitor Fang" was with every student. Little by little, Class Monitor Fang grew, nourished by the goodwill in the hearts of all the students in the school. However, Class Monitor Fang was not the only "ghost" in this school. Like two sides of a coin, twins born of the same source, there was "Class Monitor Fang," who got along harmoniously with everyone and quietly helped students resolve their troubles, but there was also an "Exam King," who spread fear and anxiety. All this time, Class Monitor Fang and the Exam King had clashed in secret, trading victories and defeats. It was this petite, quiet girl who had spent years silently guarding Yuanmeng Middle School, tirelessly fighting against an unimaginable monster. Yet whenever Class Monitor Fang lost once, the Exam King would enslave a soul and undergo a transformation. As the students' stress grew heavier, the Exam King grew stronger, and Class Monitor Fang could gradually hold on no longer. —Fortunately, at that very moment, Bai Zhou arrived. However, there was one thing Fang Xiaoyan hadn't told Bai Zhou. As two symbiotic sides of the same coin, the death of the "Exam King"—who gathered all the school's negativity—would also cause "Class Monitor Fang"—who gathered all its positivity—to vanish. —Just as Bai Zhou could see, Fang Xiaoyan was about to "leave." This was something Bai Zhou had not been prepared for in the slightest. "But I was never meant to exist," Class Monitor Fang said: "Even if you hadn't come, in another two months, the Exam King would have completed its final metamorphosis, devoured me, and achieved the ultimate unification." "Now, this truly is a happy ending for everyone." "Our existence came about strangely. From what I've observed, it's connected to rituals hidden in various corners of the school. Perhaps that's what you came for, Teacher?" The nothingness eroded up to Fang Xiaoyan's arms. Fang Xiaoyan tilted her head, blinking as she looked at Bai Zhou. "You might not believe it, Teacher, but right now I really feel that disappearing... is so much lighter than existing." Looking around, she suddenly pulled her neck in slightly, extending an invitation to Bai Zhou with nervous timidity: "Teacher, would you like to take a walk around the campus? While I... still have a little time left." She wanted one last stroll through the place she had guarded ever since she was "born." Compared to Bai Zhou's lack of an audience, her accomplishments were the ones truly unknown to the world. "Let's go." ...Bai Zhou naturally wouldn't decline such an invitation. Dusk drew near, and the campus breeze carried the scent of earth. Students bustled past with hurried steps, none noticing anything unusual about Bai Zhou and Fang Xiaoyan. Through the spacious campus, Fang Xiaoyan moved with light steps like a gentle breeze, guiding Bai Zhou through the twilight. Her spirits seemed high; everywhere they went stirred a memory. Fang Xiaoyan stopped beneath an old locust tree: "Over here, a kid used to hide and cry because his parents were going through a divorce, and he was too embarrassed to tell his classmates or teachers..." As they walked, she pointed toward a row of rusted, peeling bulletin boards behind the teaching building: "Two years ago, a student council president cried behind there like Lin Daiyu because she messed up the school anniversary celebration. I didn't say anything; I just stood there keeping her company for a while, until she found the courage to head back to the venue and clean up the mess..." A moment later, she stopped by an old equipment room beside the athletic field: "In this secret base, there was a child who always felt like an outcast and would hide here every gym class. I 'happened' to pass by a few times and chatted with him about stars and manga. Later on, he slowly found the courage to step into the crowd..." She walked and talked, listing each memory as if counting family treasures. The names mentioned might have graduated and left long ago, and those specific troubles had dispersed in the wind, but her memories remained as clear as yesterday. Bai Zhou listened in silence, chiming in only once or twice, but he listened with utter focus. "Sensitive adolescents have all kinds of troubles. I really hope I helped them." "Teacher, do you think I was a qualified class monitor?" As she said this, there was light in Fang Xiaoyan's eyes, even though the "nothingness" had already consumed up to her cheeks. There was no boasting or conceit in her closing words, only pure gratification, a gentle nostalgia, and a very faint melancholy. So that was how she had been fighting the "Exam King" all this time. Her way of "fighting" was entirely outside Bai Zhou's expectations, yet it left him speechless. "...Of course." That was Bai Zhou's answer. The sinking sun stretched Fang Xiaoyan's shadow long. Without realizing it, the two had reached the grove of trees. —The ginkgo grove where Fang Xiaoyan had rushed up to Bai Zhou to plead for help. By now, Fang Xiaoyan's entire form had been eroded into fragments by the nothingness, leaving only a blurry silhouette. Her time was running out. *Shhh...* Footsteps crunched softly against the fallen leaves. She tilted her head slightly, twilight filtering through the gaps in the golden leaves and dappling her face. An unseasonal ginkgo leaf drifted down, softly brushing past her cheek with a trace of sun-warmed warmth. "By the way, Teacher." "What is it?" Fang Xiaoyan's voice was faint. Though she stood right beside him, it carried an airy quality that felt increasingly distant: "Since you know that Fang Xiaoxia, could you tell her something for me...?" "Tell that little Fang Xiaoxia who was always failing exams and crying her eyes out." "Tell her that the 'all-around class monitor' she fabricated while wiping away tears beneath the blankets seven years ago..." The ginkgo leaves rustled behind the girl, as if seeing her off. Fang Xiaoyan's smile grew all the more brilliant—and all the more illusory: "—truly fought and won every battle she was once too afraid to fight, and had long since forgotten!" Her voice held a hint of pride as well as encouragement: "So she has to be confident too!" "—As long as she wants to, she really can do anything!" With a rustle of leaves, Fang Xiaoyan took a few light steps and hopped in front of Bai Zhou. Class Monitor Fang turned to look at Bai Zhou, wearing a weary yet relieved smile: "Thank you for everything, Teacher!" She bowed deeply in gratitude to Bai Zhou: "The world is wide; if fate wills it... until we meet again!" "Yeah..." Bai Zhou's eyes lowered. After a moment of silence, he replied softly: "Goodbye." The instant the words left his mouth, Fang Xiaoyan's silhouette was finally swallowed completely by the nothingness. "Class Monitor Fang" dissolved into specks of golden light, scattering into the air like fireflies drifting upstream. Drifting alongside the rustling golden ginkgo leaves, together with the twilight glow. A shower of light fell in silence. Fang Xiaoyan, this weary guardian incarnated from a dead wish, could finally rest. A fallen leaf settled on Bai Zhou's head, like a record of the girl's final greeting before embarking on a long journey. Looking up, Bai Zhou was oblivious. His eyes were unusually distant, as though he were pondering something, his silent demeanor like a parting farewell. Faintly— Whatever had shrouded the sky above the school shattered alongside the disappearance of the Exam King and Fang Xiaoxia. Something had quietly changed. The students felt as though they had been freed of some burden, a wave of relief washing over them, yet also felt as though they had lost something, an inexplicable sadness welling in their hearts. "..." In the final period of class, a student sitting by the window looked at the birds swooping past the teaching building, their gaze a little dazed. Students scribbling furiously, each burdened with their own troubles, remained completely oblivious to everything that had quietly transpired in the school, unaware of the phantom who had fought for them until the very last moment and finally found peace. No one knew of her departure, and no one knew of her deeds. Yet the twilight of this day bore witness. And the wind knew. Bai Zhou stood in silence where he was, appearing quite odd to the students passing by. Suddenly, with a soft *thud*— a yellowed notebook fell right before Bai Zhou's eyes. "This is...?" Was this the notebook Fang Xiaoyan had been clutching to her chest? Lost in thought, Bai Zhou looked down at it. He was just about to bend down and pick it up. Yet in the next instant— *Buzz!!* The "Exam King's School Uniform" in Bai Zhou's robes let out a low hum. The notebook on the ground began to vibrate as well. It formed a strange resonance with the notebook at Bai Zhou's feet!