4: A Collection of Cicada Songs? A Collection of Cursed Killings!!

Inside the library, under the pretext of needing some air, Lin Luo followed the source of that viscous malice in his Spiritual Perception state. The dark purple energy, imperceptible to ordinary people, flowed like a murky stream in his vision, guiding him through rows of tall bookshelves.

Finally, he came to a stop in a remote corner, at the bottom shelf of a section dedicated to classical literature from the Neon Province.

The malice was seeping out from precisely that spot.

Under his Spiritual Perception, the surrounding books mostly emitted dim white or faint glimmers of scholarly aura. That one book alone was enveloped in a thick, almost tangible dark purple energy, continuously exuding an aura that tempted one towards corruption.

Lin Luo crouched down, his gaze falling upon the book.

On its spine was written 'cicada song collection', a seemingly ordinary anthology of haiku. Its cover was old, edges slightly worn, no different from the other ancient texts around it. Without his Spiritual Perception, he would have definitely overlooked it.

He cautiously refrained from touching it directly with his hand. Instead, he channeled a trace of imperceptibly fine spiritual power to cover his fingertip before pulling it from the shelf.

The moment the book left the shelf and was exposed to the air, Lin Luo felt an icy chill attempt to worm its way into his body through his fingertip. Simultaneously, his ears seemed to fill with countless fragmented whispers brimming with envy, hatred, greed, and violence, madly tempting him to open the book, to release the darkness lurking within.

"Hmph."

A nearly inaudible cold snort escaped Lin Luo's nose. A slight surge of spiritual power within his body instantly dispersed that wisp of icy aura and the mental whispers. He gently opened a page, his eyes scanning a seemingly elegant haiku written there.

"The cicadas sing ceaselessly, when shall death ever come?"

The line itself seemed to lament the unending nature of life. But in Lin Luo's Spiritual Perception, what he saw was a distorted image: endless cicada song transformed into death throes, the ode to life twisted into anxiety over impending death and a Deformed desire for immortality. Merely reading this short line could easily breed extreme fear and resentment towards the passage of life within one's heart.

"Truly sinister," Lin Luo immediately closed the book. He didn't understand why such a thing had found its way into the library, but he absolutely could not let it remain here to harm others.

He didn't act immediately. Instead, he pulled out two other books on waka theory that were right next to it, casually flipping through a few pages as if comparing content, his brows slightly furrowed as if unsatisfied.

During this process, his body conveniently blocked most of the surveillance camera angles that might have pointed towards this corner of the shelf.

Then, he acted as if deciding to put the books back. Just as he held the two waka books, preparing to slide them back onto the shelf—the movement natural and fluid, without hesitation—the little finger of his left hand seemingly unintentionally rested on the spine of that 'cicada song collection'.

Upon contact, the pendant on his chest grew slightly warm.

The spiritual power within his body surged out with unprecedented, exquisite control, passing through his fingertip like an invisible pair of tweezers, precisely "clamping" onto the entire book.

To an outside observer, it merely looked like he was putting the pulled books back, adjusting his stance slightly.

However, in that split second, shielded by the narrow gap of the bookshelf and his own body, that 'cicada song collection' had already transformed into a dark purple streak of light utterly imperceptible to mortal eyes. It was forcibly compressed and pulled, emitting a silent shriek of intense resentment only Lin Luo's Spiritual Perception could detect. Finally, it condensed into an extremely fine dark thread and It darted into the pendant around his neck..

Lin Luo's hand withdrew from the shelf calmly, his fingertip now empty. He even He then straightened the several crooked books next to him. before turning and walking away from the corner with steady steps, his face betraying nothing unusual.

The entire sequence flowed seamlessly, happening in less than two seconds. Even on surveillance footage, it would only appear as an ordinary act of tidying books.

The surrounding malice instantly dissipated, and the very air felt much fresher.

Lin Luo gently touched the pendant on his chest as if nothing had happened. He returned to his seat with a normal expression, meeting Kato Megumi's gaze with a slight smile:

"It's fine now. Let's continue."

Kato Megumi's clear eyes lingered on his face for a moment, then glanced in the direction he had just come from. Ultimately, she asked nothing, merely giving a light nod.

"Mm."

After reviewing for over an hour, the two left the library. Kato Megumi's home was somewhat far from school, so she couldn't stay out too long.

After seeing Kato Megumi onto the subway heading in the opposite direction of her home, Lin Luo glanced at the sky. He then bought two packed dinners from a nearby restaurant and walked briskly towards his apartment. He was still concerned about the teacher who had been forced to "lodge" at his place.

Gently unlocking the door with his key, he found only a warm yellow floor lamp lit in the living room, casting a soft light.

The scene that met his eyes made Lin Luo pause mid-step.

There was Kirisu Mafuyu, completely devoid of image, sprawled lifelessly on the soft living room sofa as if all her bones had been removed. She had taken off her professional blazer, wearing only a white silk blouse with the collar slightly open, her long hair somewhat disheveled against the cushions. The usually sharp, icy eyes were now unfocused, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her entire being exuded a lazy atmosphere of having given up on life, strikingly resembling a beautiful, human-shaped salted fish that had lost all its dreams.

She clearly hadn't heard the faint sound of Lin Luo opening the door at all, still immersed in her own world, perhaps still conflicted over the day's "humiliation" and the current comfort.

Looking at this scene, Lin Luo felt a bit like laughing, but he deliberately He quickened his pace and cleared his throat.

"Ahem."

The figure on the sofa jumped up like a startled rabbit!

Kirisu Mafuyu scrambled to grab her blazer to cover herself, then realized that wasn't right. She hurriedly tried to smooth the wrinkles on her blouse, tidied her hair, attempting to instantly rebuild that icy, perfect teacher image. However, her flushed cheeks and flustered eyes completely betrayed her.

"L-Lin Luo?! You... you came back without making a sound!" she said, forcing composure, but her voice carried a trace of Shame and annoyance from being caught red-handed.

"Do I need to beat drums and gongs when returning to my own home?" Lin Luo placed the packed dinners on the dining table, his tone flat, but his gaze meaningfully swept over the spot where she had just been paralyzed. "It seems Sensei is quite... relaxed staying here."

That sentence was like an arrow, once again striking the bullseye with precision.

Kirisu Mafuyu's face instantly turned crimson, the flush spreading to her fair neck. She lowered her head, not daring to meet Lin Luo's eyes, and began to uncontrollably mutter under her breath again. Though soft, the words were faintly discernible in the quiet living room:

"It's over... image completely ruined... seen again... a total miscalculation... the dignity of an educator has already..."

"Sensei," Lin Luo interrupted her self-reproach, pushing one of the packed dinners onto the table in front of her. "Let's eat first. After eating, we'll go to your apartment together."

Looking at this homeroom teacher before him, so different from the one at school, he sighed helplessly.

"Before that, could you please... pull yourself together a little?"

Kirisu Mafuyu: "..."

(Internal: Can't pull myself together. Already socially dead.)

The two sat down at the dining table and began their meal. After a brief silence, perhaps wanting to ease the awkward atmosphere, or perhaps because curiosity was simply too hard to suppress, Kirisu Mafuyu hesitantly spoke up:

"Um... Lin Luo, what I saw in your room... there was a very beautiful stone," she said, carefully pushing around grains of rice with her chopsticks, feigning nonchalance. "The color is very special. Is it a souvenir bought somewhere?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately realized the problem—wasn't this admitting she had entered his room and looked around? Her chopsticks clattered onto the table. She hurriedly stood up, taking two steps back, even knocking over her chair.

"I-I'm so sorry! I just saw it unintentionally while waiting in the living room! I absolutely did not Unauthorized entry the bedroom!" she Explaining incoherently, her cheeks burning red. "For a teacher to be so rude..."

Watching her flustered state, Lin Luo found it somewhat amusing and didn't call her out. "Mafuyu-sensei, you're being a bit too tense."

He put down his chopsticks, got up, and walked into the bedroom. From the bookshelf, he retrieved a stone about the size of an egg, its entire body a lustrous milky white, with what seemed like misty vapor slowly swirling inside. He walked back and gently placed the stone on the table in front of Kirisu Mafuyu.

"Picked it up from a stream in the countryside. It's crystal clear and very pretty, so I kept it," he said casually, as if mentioning a trivial matter. "If you like it, I'll give it to you."

Kirisu Mafuyu stared blankly at the stone. Its A warm, lustrous sheen and Unique texture made her momentarily forget her embarrassment. She instinctively wanted to refuse: "How can this be? I can't accept something from a student..."

"Mafuyu-sensei," Lin Luo interrupted her, his voice carrying a hint of gentle amusement, but his gaze seemed exceptionally perceptive. "Setting aside the school relationship, the two of us, as neighbors, have had quite a few dealings."

He meaningfully glanced towards the direction next door—that was her apartment, the source of the "cockroach disaster."

"Please don't force yourself to maintain that 'teacherly demeanor' in front of me."

These words were like a gentle needle, popping the balloon she had been struggling to keep inflated. Kirisu Mafuyu opened her mouth, wanting to retort, but found any words pale and weak in front of this student who had witnessed her at her most disheveled appearance. She looked at the beautiful stone on the table, then at Lin Luo's smiling eyes. Finally, her tense shoulders slumped bit by bit.

A strange sense of relaxation from having given up all pretense, mixed with the shy of being seen through, washed over her.

She carefully reached out and picked up the stone. To her touch, it was unexpectedly warm and gentle.

"...Thank you," she said softly, almost inaudibly. This time, she didn't add the respectful address of "Lin Luo".

She silently sat back down on the righted chair, carefully placed the stone aside, and picked up her chopsticks again. Though her cheeks still bore a lingering blush, that Deliberately maintained, stiff sense of distance seemed to have Some melted quietly.

(Internal: Whatever... he's already seen the worst anyway...)

Seeing her finally stop "performing," Lin Luo also resumed his meal. For a while, the apartment held only the faint sounds of eating, but the atmosphere felt much more natural than before.