Chapter 26: Visiting (Please Follow!)

At the same moment, Xiao Ze Shuangye suddenly felt an invisible rope snap tight around her throat, surging with an indescribable sensation of suffocation.

Tomie's fall from the cliff was the final panel of the right-side sketch, as if drawing her to turn the page and continue reading the next part of the story.

The atmosphere resembled the opening: Tomie lay motionless in a pool of blood, surrounded by classmates either terrified or uneasy.

In the end, it was Takagi Ryosuke who made the decision.

Ignoring the cold sweat on his face, he grabbed Yamamoto, who was reaching for the ambulance phone: "You pushed him down—do you plan to turn yourself in?"

Yamamoto and the surrounding students wore expressions of fear, sinking into silence.

At that moment, Reiko suddenly shouted: "This isn't Yamamoto's fault—it's just Tomie getting what she deserved!"

Then she pointed at Tomie, covered in blood, and spat out with deep revulsion: "Someone like her should die! So arrogant and so annoying!"

She immediately turned to the others, further listing Tomie's "crimes," desperately severing all ties to her.

The incited female students began clustering around Yamamoto, masking their pity with false concern.

Takagi Ryosuke sucked in his last puff of smoke, his eyes cold and cruel: "Boys, take off your shirts and grab the tools. Girls, go outside and keep watch."

The story came to an abrupt halt...

Xiao Ze Shuangye instinctively flipped further, but found only blank pages: "Niino Li, where's the rest of the content?"

"It's not finished yet—I've had to divert some energy to prepare for the tournament," Niino Li said, shrugging.

Tomie's original draft had many intricate details, and since the artwork in this series' early stages wasn't strong, he needed to refine it step by step, naturally slowing his pace.

Yet from Xiao Ze Shuangye's face, slick with cold sweat, and her trembling fingers flipping the pages—

she had genuinely immersed herself in the psychology of Tomie's classmates.

"You're being really unfair—showing me a half-finished first chapter? You trying to get yourself caught skipping the Art Club?" Xiao Ze Shuangye set down the sketch, staring seriously at Niino Li.

If it were before, she would never have reacted to Niino Li like this.

For over a year, Xiao Ze Shuangye had viewed Niino Li as a genius with personality flaws, compounded by his typical impoverished background—leading her to treat him like a welfare home caregiver—

keeping distance, yet never lacking care.

But after just over a month's summer break, Niino Li had given her an unexpected change.

He learned to communicate normally with others, tried asking for help—even for an unfinished manga opening.

The fluttering in her heart gradually calmed; Xiao Ze Shuangye understood how hard drawing manga was, and couldn't help praising:

"The character proportions are excellent, the atmosphere of horror and oppression is well done—submitting this at your level would definitely succeed."

Ruri would be shocked—maybe even extort a hefty sum—

He's my student!

"Xiao Ze Shuangye, do you know what's happened to Tomizawa Osamu?" After finishing the matter, Niino Li casually asked about the man's condition.

During the day, he noticed all thirty-nine desks and chairs in the class were occupied—perhaps he had shaken off the Ghost Spirit and returned to normal life.

But without a face, only a name, further investigation was impossible.

Moreover, Niino Li's demeanor wasn't the type to initiate conversation with classmates—asking outright might invite unnecessary trouble.

"Tomizawa Osamu?" Xiao Ze Shuangye thought carefully, her eyes turning slightly guilty: "Isn't he the Art Club member in your class? What happened?"

Some Art Club members who returned from Ikamiyama City developed strange symptoms; even though no one openly blamed her, as the team's advisor, she still felt deep guilt.

"There were no empty desks in class today," Niino Li didn't directly clarify.

Tianye Zhenyi recovered only because he took the painting, halting the Shrine Maiden's continued killings.

Yet Tomizawa Osamu, also one of the seven who participated in the ritual, was living a normal school life without any hindrance?

This made him curious.

"Really? When I called the families of the affected students yesterday, all said they needed two more days of rest—no one mentioned returning to school?" Xiao Ze Shuangye felt puzzled; a strange unease once again clung to her heart.

Recalling the earlier, once-cute students' mad, frenzied behavior, she felt a chill run down her spine.

"Maybe I should go visit him—perhaps he really escaped Ikamiyama City's influence."

Niino Li's voice sounded flat, revealing no concern—but Xiao Ze Shuangye didn't notice.

"Sure, I'll look up his address and bring some comfort gifts along," she pulled out a thousand yen from her jacket pocket and handed it to Niino Li.

"Living alone in Tokyo isn't easy—let me cover the cost. Consider it the Art Club's visit."

Xiao Ze Shuangye feigned ease, her fingers brushing the cover of the folder.

Several faint, rough scratches marred its surface.

"No problem."

At four-thirty, the school had already begun club activities—everyone brimming with passion, pouring out their youth, except Niino Li, the Ghostly Presence member.

"You should try experiencing it for a few days," Niino Li's gaze drifted toward the first floor of the club building.

From the semi-public club room came laughter and noise; under the watch of several students, two young girls attempted to draw their bows and aim at the target.

The arrows' trajectories drifted slowly and crookedly; only one barely pierced the target, yet still earned cheers and encouragement from the crowd.

"Youth is wonderful—able to enjoy others' praise without a care," he murmured, stepping out of the campus bathed in sunset.

Tomizawa Osamu's home wasn't far from Tokyo Sakura-Ran High School; Niino Li picked up snacks, drinks, and discounted sweets from a nearby shop.

No one could ignore the daily specials of a nearby sweet shop.

Looking at the single-family two-story Japanese house before him, Niino Li recalled the house where Doraemon and the protagonist lived, reflecting on life's unevenness.

Tianye Zhenyi's apartment also seemed expensive.

Art truly was a noble hobby requiring heavy financial support.

Of course, someone like Niino Li, who risked his life for it, didn't count.

"Ding—"

A shrill doorbell rang.

Niino Li stood half a meter from the gate, ensuring the occupant could see him through the peephole.

Not long after, hurried footsteps approached, and the door was opened.

Before her stood a girl with long, thick hair, her face pale, forcing a faint smile: "Hello, may I ask who you are?"

"I'm Niino Li, a classmate of Tomizawa Osamu and also a member of the Art Club. Today, I'm here representing the other members of the Art Club to visit Tomizawa."

Niino Li adopted the tone of a local and greeted her, holding up the gift bag he had just bought from the pastry shop.