1: Chapter 1 The Only Him

Autumn sunlight poured through the bus windows, gilding the entire carriage in a warm, golden hue.

Wang Sheng leaned against the window in the very last row, listening to an old song through his headphones, his gaze passing over the dense sea of girls' heads in front of him and landing on the rows of ginkgo trees flying by outside the window.

The golden leaves swayed in the wind, looking as if someone had overturned a bucket of paint, splashing it between heaven and earth.

He sighed and turned the volume on his headphones up two notches.

It wasn't because the song wasn't good, but because the chattering of the sixty-two girls in front of him was simply too overwhelming; even his noise-canceling headphones couldn't handle it.

This wave of sound stretched from the first row all the way to the second-to-last, without a single break—because out of the sixty-three people in the class, he was the only male.

Senior year, Department of Chinese Literature, Classical Literature track, Wang Sheng, the only one of him.

Four years ago, he had filled out his college entrance exam preferences incorrectly, stumbling by mistake into this major where he was the only male.

The first week, he was as panicked as a bee that had wandered into a flower garden, not knowing where to land;

The first month, he barely managed to get used to the feeling of being watched by sixty-some pairs of eyes;

The first year, he got used to the days of being surrounded while eating or in class;

By the fourth year, he had started to wonder if he had committed some heinous sin in his past life, for which he was now being punished with this ascetic training in a sea of flowers.

But to be honest, the scenery of this ascetic training was truly not bad.

Wang Sheng's gaze unconsciously caught a figure among the dense sea of heads in the front rows.

In the second row, in the seat by the aisle, the class monitor, Shen Xun'er, was turned sideways, checking the autumn outing list.

Her jet-black long hair draped over her shoulders, shimmering with a satin-like luster in the sunlight, every strand looking as if it had been meticulously cared for.

She lowered her head slightly, revealing a segment of her fair, slender neck, the contour of her profile outlined by the warm light from the window into a soft arc.

From her earlobe to her jawline, the lines were as fluid as a portrait of a noble lady drawn by a classical painter.

She seemed to sense something and looked up, glancing at the rearview mirror inside the bus.

Her gaze met Wang Sheng's in the mirror.

Shen Xun'er's lips curled up unconsciously, revealing a faint smile.

In that smile was a tacit understanding that only the two of them understood, as if saying, "You're looking at me again," or perhaps, "I knew you would look."

Wang Sheng's ears burned slightly, and he quickly shifted his gaze back to the window.

For four years, every time he saw Shen Xun'er's smile, his heart would race.

This problem had yet to be resolved; he had even given up on treating it.

Fortunately, the lively chatter of the sixty-two girls in the bus covered the slight redness of his ears; otherwise, he truly wouldn't know how to handle it.

"Senior Wang Sheng! Did you bring a power bank?"

A cloyingly sweet voice came from the middle seats. Zhao Linger leaned half her body out from behind the seat back, her round, doll-like face paired with those large, watery eyes.

Even though she was asking about something serious like a power bank, her tone sounded like she was acting spoiled.

She was wearing a cropped hoodie today, and the movement of raising her hand to steady the seat back caused the hem to lift slightly, revealing a segment of fair, slender waist.

That waist was probably thin enough to be held in one hand, but the curves beneath the hoodie were round and full, forming an extreme contrast that made it impossible for people to look away.

"I brought it, it's in my bag." Wang Sheng fished the power bank from under his seat and handed it over.

Zhao Linger reached out to take it, her fingertips pausing slightly when they touched his palm, before she giggled and retracted her hand to hug the power bank, like a cat that had stolen a dried fish.

"Thanks, Senior!" As she turned, that round curve swayed beneath her hoodie, causing a few girls nearby to laugh and tease.

Wang Sheng withdrew his gaze, his mouth twitching.

Did this girl really not understand, or was she pretending not to?

In the third row by the window, Frost Mage Lin Shiyun was looking down at an original English novel.

Her silver-white long hair was nearly transparent in the sunlight, cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall woven from ice silk. Her profile was exquisite and cold, her ice-blue pupils scanning the pages with focus.

A girl next to her offered a bag of snacks, but she politely yet distantly pushed it away. Frost Mage Lin Shiyun was like an ice sculpture; beautiful, yes, but radiating a chill that said, "Strangers keep away."

But Wang Sheng noticed a detail—when Frost Mage Lin Shiyun read, she had a habit of crossing her legs, her long, slender legs placed elegantly at an angle within the narrow seat.

The lines extending from beneath her skirt were straight and fluid, her waist-to-hip ratio worthy of the Golden Ratio; that figure, paired with her cold temperament, formed an extreme contrast that made one want to approach her yet dare not profane her.

In the middle rows, Su Mengyao was distributing homemade osmanthus cakes to the girls around her.

Her emerald-green long hair was braided into a loose side plait that hung over her chest, her emerald eyes curving into crescents, her laughter sounding as clear as a mountain stream.

Her figure was plump and soft, and she wore a loose knitted maxi dress, but the fabric not only failed to hide anything, it instead outlined those curvaceous contours even more alluringly.

Especially when she bent over to hand out pastries, her neckline opened slightly, revealing a sliver of her porcelain-like skin which had a faint greenish tint, her whole body exuding a fresh fragrance of mixed osmanthus and grass.

"Mengyao, this osmanthus cake is so delicious!" "Give me another piece!"

Su Mengyao smiled and agreed. When she turned to get the thermal box, her skirt swayed gently, revealing a segment of fair, tender ankle, slender and round, as if carved from white jade.

Murong Xue sat by the aisle, her brown ponytail tied neatly, an outdoor windbreaker outlining her fit and powerful figure.

Her physique was not the slender, delicate type, but rather had a dashing quality filled with a sense of strength.

Her chest and hips were full and firm, her waist and abdomen tight, her shoulder and back lines fluid and strong, and her long legs seemed to have nowhere to rest in the narrow seat, forced to stretch out at an angle.

At the moment, she was looking down, wiping her trekking pole with a focused expression, looking as dashing as if she were about to conquer a mountain at any moment.

Hua Jieyu sat quietly in the corner by the window, holding a copy of "Illustrated Handbook of Common Chinese Plants."

Occasionally, she would look up at the autumn scenery flying by outside the window, two faint dimples appearing and disappearing at the corners of her mouth.

She was not tall, but her proportions were excellent. Her posture as she sat quietly was like a noble lady in a fine brushwork painting—gentle and soft, making anyone who looked at her feel inexplicably calm inside.

Liu Ruyan sat in the most inconspicuous seat in the third-to-last row by the window, gazing quietly out the window, as if completely isolated from the liveliness inside the bus.

But if you observed closely—though few people ever observed her closely—you would find that her misty, smoky eyes were actually constantly scanning the bus, observing everyone's expressions and movements, missing nothing.

Xiao Yuqing was completely different. She wore a sports tank top and shorts, the fluid muscle lines on her arms drawing whispers from the girls around her, but she didn't care at all, openly stretching her wrists.

Beneath her shorts, a pair of honey-colored, long legs were exposed, the muscle lines tight and well-proportioned, every stretch filled with a sense of strength and beauty.

Wang Sheng looked at this scene before him and smiled bitterly in his heart.

Sixty-two girls, sixty-two kinds of beauty. Lively, quiet, cold and glamorous, gentle, dashing, mysterious...

It was as if someone had planted the most beautiful flowers in the world into the same garden, and then thrown him inside alone.

The problem was, the bee in the garden only had feelings for one flower.

Just as he was thinking this, Shen Xun'er stood up and walked over from the front. She checked the headcount along the way and, upon reaching the last row, bent over and leaned close to Wang Sheng.

The distance between them suddenly shortened to less than half a meter, the faint scent of jasmine on her body drifting into his nose, so close that Wang Sheng could see the curve of her eyelashes and his own reflection mirrored in her almond-shaped eyes.

"When we reach the Ancient Forest, help me keep an eye on Linger and Shiyun." Her voice was kept very low, carrying the tone of a class monitor giving instructions,

But in her tone, there was clearly hidden a softness that she only showed to him, "The two of them, one is too hyper and one is too cold; I'm afraid something might happen."

Wang Sheng nodded: "Don't worry, I'm here."

Shen Xun'er straightened up, took two steps, and then suddenly stopped and turned back to look at him.

"You always say, 'I'm here.'"

Her tone was very light, as if she were confirming something very important, or perhaps just sighing inadvertently.

The sunlight happened to fall on her face, and something flashed across her almond-shaped eyes, too quickly for Wang Sheng to see clearly.

Then she turned and walked away, her jet-black long hair fluttering gently as she moved, carrying away that wisp of jasmine fragrance.

Wang Sheng leaned back against the seat, his heart racing a few beats faster.

He always felt that Shen Xun'er's words just now didn't seem to be about the autumn outing.

Half an hour later, the bus stopped at the entrance of the Ancient Forest scenic area in the suburbs.

The moment the bus door opened, the cool breeze of late autumn rushed in. The sixty-two girls filed out,

The autumn wind blew up long hair and skirts of various colors—red, black, silver, green, brown... like a sea of flowers reflected in the mountain forest.

Ancient trees towered, blocking the sun, and fallen leaves covered the ground in a thick layer of gold; the air was cold and damp, carrying a strong scent of intertwined rotting leaves and pine resin. The entire scenic area was deserted, as if the school had booked the whole place for the day.

Wang Sheng was the last to get off the bus. Standing by the roadside, watching the scene before him, he smiled bitterly and thought: This scene would probably be very beautiful in a campus idol drama, but in reality, it was just—too noisy.

"Everyone, quiet down!"

Shen Xun'er clapped her hands. The sound wasn't loud, but it made everyone instantly quiet down.

Wang Sheng had seen this scene for four years and still found it magical; the sixty-two chattering girls could be silenced as if a mute button had been pressed, just by Shen Xun'er clapping her hands twice.

She quickly divided them into groups, assigned routes, and confirmed meeting times, acting as capable and decisive as if she were commanding a small military campaign.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the ancient trees, forming dappled light and shadows on her body. She stood in the center of the crowd, arranging everything in an orderly manner,

The generous and kind composure in every gesture she made caused a familiar sense of peace to well up in Wang Sheng's heart.

When the group results were out, Frost Mage Lin Shiyun was assigned to Wang Sheng's group.

She walked over with her arms crossed, her silver-white long hair fluttering in the autumn wind, her ice-blue eyes sweeping over Wang Sheng: "You'd better not hold us back."

Wang Sheng smiled: "Then I'll do my best."

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun snorted coldly and walked straight to the front of the line. Her posture while walking was very beautiful, her figure as upright as a pine, her waist slender yet her steps powerful, each step carrying a cold, distant elegance that kept people at arm's length.

But the curves beneath her trench coat were truly too exquisite; especially in the moment she turned, that astonishing arc between her waist and hips flashed by in the autumn wind.

Su Mengyao leaned over from the side and whispered to Wang Sheng: "Shiyun is just stubborn; don't take it to heart."

Her voice was soft, carrying a sweet, soothing tone, her emerald eyes looking at him sincerely, like a pool of spring water that couldn't lie.

"I know." Wang Sheng smiled.

The group walked along the stone path between the ancient trees, heading into the depths of the Ancient Forest.

After walking for about twenty minutes, the surrounding scenery began to change. The ancient trees became denser, the sunlight was filtered by layers of branches and leaves into dappled fragments, the fallen leaves on the ground turned from golden to dark brown, and the chill in the air grew heavier.

Su Mengyao suddenly squatted down and reached out to touch the ground. A flash of unease crossed her emerald eyes: "How strange... the soil temperature is wrong; it's at least five degrees lower than normal."

Shen Xun'er subconsciously looked up at the sky. Her brows furrowed slightly—the direction of the clouds was wrong.

They weren't being blown by the wind, but seemed to be attracted by something, slowly converging toward the center of the Ancient Forest. That convergence carried an unnatural, centripetal-like pull that could definitely not be explained by weather changes.

"Everyone, stop for a moment—" Shen Xun'er had just begun to speak.

Wang Sheng felt it too. A wave of inexplicable dizziness washed over him, as if something was calling to him from very, very far away.

That call was not a sound, but a tremor seeping out from his bones, like the bell of an ancient era piercing through time and space, reaching deep into his soul.

He clenched his fists subconsciously—something in his palm was heating up, like a flame that had been sealed for ten million years was awakening.

"Wang Sheng? You don't look well." Shen Xun'er walked to his side, reaching out to touch his arm.

Just at the moment her fingertips were about to touch him—

The ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled.

Everyone was stunned. Fallen leaves rustled down in the tremor, the ancient trees overhead emitted an uneasy creaking sound, and in the distance, flocks of birds shrieked as they swept across the sky.

This was not an earthquake.

The vibration came from deep underground, muffled, slow, and powerful, like some colossal entity that had slept for ten million years was slowly opening its eyes.