Her Shadow

"Put the camera down, or I'll stab you too!" The man brandished his dagger and stood up, threatening An Shiyu.

As for Tang Keke behind him, he wasn’t worried—after slamming into the wall like that, she wouldn’t recover for at least another ten minutes, let alone try to escape.

"How mean. I’m just a passerby, you know," An Shiyu said with a deadpan expression.

"By the way, why don’t you take off your mask? I’d love to capture your handsome face."

"Hmm… how about I title the photo series The Stalker’s Guide to Life Behind Bars?"

An Shiyu’s lazy tone clearly provoked the man. With a furious roar, he lunged at her, dagger in hand!

But he quickly realized the girl was as slippery as an eel—she sidestepped the strike effortlessly.

An Shiyu stayed close, raising her camera for a quick click before pinching her nose in disgust.

"Tsk, do you have body odor or something?"

"You bitch, you’re dead!" The man completely lost it, slashing wildly with the dagger.

"I’ll kill you, kill you, kill you!"

Yet An Shiyu remained eerily calm, dodging and stepping back with bored precision. Then, in a fluid motion, she raised her arm—clang!—the sharp sound of metal clashing echoed.

The man froze. Why was her hand as hard as steel?

Squinting, he finally noticed the short, triangular black blade in her grip, its hilt adorned with a small ring.

"A dagger?"

"You could call it that, but ‘kunai’ sounds cooler." An Shiyu twirled the kunai around her finger like a toy.

"Listen up, dumbass—I’m gonna stab your eyes out." The moment she raised the kunai, the man instinctively shut his eyes.

But the next second, agony exploded between his legs.

"AHHHHHHH!!!" He crumpled to the ground, clutching his crotch and howling like a dying animal.

An Shiyu stood over him, one leg still raised in a graceful arc.

"You really thought I’d go for your eyes? What a hopeless idiot." She tucked the kunai back into her skirt, then stepped on the man’s writhing body for good measure, eliciting fresh screams.

Pulling out her phone, she dialed while checking on Tang Keke.

"Can you stand?" An Shiyu asked.

"Waaahhh… An Shiyu, I’ll never complain about you calling me ‘big-chested’ again! You can say whatever you want!" Tang Keke sobbed, snot and tears streaming as she reached for a hug.

An Shiyu dodged with a look of disgust, letting Tang Keke faceplant.

"Ow!"

"If you can cry, you’re fine." An Shiyu shrugged. The ones who stay silent are the ones to worry about.

Same logic as the ER—the louder you scream, the less doctors panic. But if you’re slumped over, clutching your chest without a word? That’s a different story.

"I… I feel dizzy."

"Perfectly normal. According to the principle of 'negative times negative equals positive,' you just need to bump into the wall one more time to fix it." An Shiyu pointed at the nearby wall, speaking with such earnestness that it almost sounded scientifically valid—if one only paid attention to her expression.

"Eh?" Tang Keke had a sneaking suspicion that An Shiyu was messing with her.

"I feel like you're lying to me."

"..." The girl averted her gaze.

"You totally are!"

Seeing Tang Keke so lively, An Shiyu casually waved her hand. "Alright, you should probably wipe the blood off your face first."

"Wha—?! Why is there so much blood?!"

……

By the time Ye Shuang arrived at the hospital, half an hour had already passed.

Tang Keke had been bandaged up, her head wrapped in pristine white gauze. Fortunately, aside from her head, she hadn’t sustained any other injuries.

"Keke’s head looks just like mine did last time," Bai Yuyou remarked from her seat beside the hospital bed.

She was referring to the incident where she’d been cornered by a group of older girls in the restroom, hitting her head against the sink hard enough to draw blood.

"Hehe, what a coincidence," Tang Keke giggled, in high spirits despite the scare. After all, a minor bump on the head was a stroke of luck compared to what could have happened.

"You’re still laughing? Do you realize how dangerous this was?" Ye Shuang sighed as he peeled an apple.

"If anything, this is my fault… I had no idea there was more than one stalker."

"No, no, it’s not your fault at all! I was the one who said the stalker had been caught. I should’ve been more careful." Tang Keke shook her head. "Where’s An Shiyu?"

"She went to give a statement. Knowing her, she probably won’t bother coming to the hospital afterward." Ye Shuang shrugged. Given her aversion to hassle, it was unlikely she’d show up.

Still, something nagged at him. An Shiyu had left the school infirmary only fifteen minutes before the incident—how had she managed to appear at North Mountain so quickly?

While Silver Mountain and North Mountain weren’t far apart, it still took at least twenty minutes by car.

Had she really been weaving through traffic in that tiny electric car of hers?

Ye Shuang made a mental note to ask her about it later.

She couldn’t actually have something like shadow clones, right?

……

Meanwhile, in an office at the academy.

"You’ve been exposed. There’s no explaining this away now."

"Not my fault. I just happened to be there—who knew I’d run into something like this?" The speaker paused, then chuckled. "Not that I’d mind if you told me to walk away and let things play out."

Another voice, nearly identical, sighed. "That’s not what I meant."

"Even someone like 'Uncle' wouldn’t assume there are two identical people in the world. Normal folks don’t jump to that conclusion unless they’re omniscient. There’s nothing to worry about." The short-haired girl shrugged, utterly indifferent.

"I never should’ve let you out in the first place," the other short-haired girl muttered.

"Wow, harsh. Careful, or I might flunk your finals for you."

"Tch. Like I care? I’m not long for this world anyway."

"My heart’s right here. Why don’t you just take it?" An Shiyu said. "Isn’t that what I exist for? I’m just your shadow…"

"Enough, let's not talk about this anymore."

In the dimly lit room, two identical-looking girls stood facing each other.