16: Chapter 16 The Two Sitting in the Back Row

On Monday morning, at the school gate; it was a fairly large school, with elementary through high school all in one place.

Emma carried her schoolbag, skipping and hopping toward the teaching building.

Qin Ming turned and walked toward the Academic Affairs Office; the enrollment process was quite tedious.

It wasn't until ten minutes after the first class had started that he stood at the classroom door with his transfer slip.

He pushed open the door.

Thirty pairs of eyes looked over in unison.

The female teacher on the podium adjusted her glasses, her smile a bit stiff.

"Ah, you must be Qin Ming? Perfect timing, we have another new student today as well."

The teacher pointed to the other side of the podium.

Standing there was a girl in a black dress.

Pale skin, two pitch-black braided pigtails.

Qin Ming raised an eyebrow.

This world really was a massive patchwork of horror movies.

"Since you're both here, let's have some introductions," the teacher said, trying to liven up the atmosphere. "Let everyone get to know you."

The girl took a step forward.

She didn't look at anyone; her gaze seemed to pierce through the walls, looking toward some sort of void at the end.

Her voice was flat, without the slightest inflection.

"I am Wednesday Addams."

"I like death, darkness, spiders, guillotines, and using my brother as a conductor for electricity experiments."

The whispering in the classroom vanished instantly.

A few girls in the front row shrank back in fear.

Wednesday continued, her speaking pace unchanged:

"I am a homicidal maniac, but I look just like everyone else."

"I don't like birthdays—every birthday serves as a reminder that I'm another year closer to the cold embrace of death."

"My goal in life: make the world darker, make pain more delicious."

She finished speaking.

She took a step back, her hands folded over her abdomen.

The teacher's lips were twitching, and the chalk in her hand snapped in two.

"Uh... quite a... unique introduction."

Wiping the cold sweat from her brow, the teacher quickly turned her gaze toward Qin Ming, hoping to find a bit of normal human warmth from this bright and handsome Asian boy.

"Qin, your turn."

Qin Ming adjusted his collar.

He walked onto the podium and stood where Wednesday had just been standing.

Sunlight streamed through the window, bathing him in light.

He lifted his head slightly, his expression solemn, as if this weren't a classroom but St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

"I am Qin Ming."

"I like vengeful spirits, demons, and boundless karmic hindrances; I like to transcend fallen souls."

"I am the Son of God, yet I hide within the mundane world."

"I do not crave illusory glory—every recitation of scripture is only to sever the roots of evil and let the holy light shine into the abyss."

He scanned the stunned faces below, finally resting his gaze on Wednesday's expressionless face.

"My goal in life: to transcend all evil and cleanse the mortal realm."

"I and evil cannot coexist under the same sky."

The classroom grew even quieter.

If Wednesday had frozen everyone earlier,

Then Qin Ming had scorched them dry.

The teacher completely gave up on managing her expression.

She pointed to the back row of the classroom, the corner by the window.

That was the "hometown" reserved for protagonists in all anime and movies.

"You two... go sit over there."

Qin Ming took his schoolbag and walked straight to that spot.

Just as he sat down,

The chair beside him made a slight sound.

Wednesday sat down, clutching a heavy book with a black-embossed cover.

The title was "Funeral Etiquette and Cadaver Dissection."

Her slender fingertips brushed the pages absentmindedly, her peripheral vision catching the faint aura on Qin Ming—one that made her feel a slight sting yet was exceptionally comfortable.

"Son of God, transcending evil, cleansing sin."

Wednesday spoke first.

Her tone was cold and flat, without a ripple.

"Your speech is more interesting than those hypocrites who talk about light all the time."

"At least you dare to admit that things in the darkness can't be cleaned just by burning them."

Qin Ming turned his head.

His gaze fell on her book about corpses, the corners of his lips curling slightly into a cool smile.

"The eldest daughter of The Addams Family."

"Preferring death and darkness, yet maintaining a clarity in your bones."

"You see the essence of darkness; it's not indulgence, but a direct gaze—far more transparent than those mediocre people who fear vengeful spirits and curse demons."

Wednesday closed the book.

She turned her head to look at the low-hanging dark clouds outside, her pale fingers tapping rhythmically on the windowsill.

"People fear the resentment of spirits and the evil of demons."

"But they never consider that their own sins are the source of all evil."

She turned her head, her pitch-black eyes looking directly at Qin Ming.

"Your transcendence isn't indulgence; it's an ending."

"On this point, I agree."

Qin Ming adjusted his sitting position to look her in the eye.

The auras of the two collided in the cramped corner, forming an invisible vacuum.

The students in the front row even felt the temperature behind them drop several degrees.

"You crave darkness, but not because you prefer desolation."

"It's because you're used to the hypocrisy of the world; you'd rather be in the company of death than follow the crowd."

Qin Ming's gaze was firm, carrying a sharpness that saw through the ways of the world.

"Daring to face the evil of human nature is the only way to claim you've seen through it—this clarity is rare."

Wind snuck in through the half-open window.

It blew against Qin Ming's collar and ruffled Wednesday's pitch-black hair.

The two looked at each other for a moment.

No more words were needed.

A silent understanding called "kindred spirits" quietly grew in this classroom filled with chalk dust and hormones.