Shenbin Lake is a saltwater lake located between Vanilla City’s Artisan District and Dadong District. It connects to the Shenbin River in the southern sea of the Skyflame Nation, flowing north through all of Dadong District.

On a map, seawater from the southern sea flows northward from the “triangular area” where Lu Yun said the mysterious flash appeared. Once it reaches the Artisan District, it splits in two. The left branch extends toward Vanilla City’s Central District, forming the famous Shenbin River—the same river I jumped into before. The right branch flows into the heart of Dadong District, where it gathers into a saltwater lake.

Because the lake lies close to residential areas, and because Vanilla City heavily promoted tourism during its early development, it gradually became one of the city’s most famous attractions.

Aside from Dadong Silver Beach, on the coastal side of Dadong District, Shenbin Lake was Vanilla City’s best-known destination. Many tourists visiting Vanilla would come here to stroll around, buy local specialties, go fishing, or eat seafood barbecue.

In some ways, it resembled Lake Baikal from the world I’d lived in during my previous life.

Shenbin Lake was also the area where “water monsters” appeared most frequently.

According to local rumors, seventy or eighty years ago, when Vanilla City was still just a small village, the indigenous residents near Shenbin Lake had already witnessed “water monsters” more than once.

Then, more than a decade ago, as mobile-phone photography became widespread, photos of the lake’s “water monsters” began appearing everywhere like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

According to Bi Xinxue’s memories, when she first came to this city for middle school, the TV program *Into Science* had already reported on the rumors surrounding Shenbin Lake’s water monsters several times.

Back then, Bi Xinxue had been a naive little girl. The narrator’s eerie tone, combined with the terrifying music, had scared her badly.

For several months, she couldn’t stay by herself. She could only fall asleep if she was with her grandmother.

Although Shenbin Lake was inland, its deepest point reached a shocking depth of 120 meters.

The water near the beach stayed shallow for about ten meters. Beyond that point, the farther one went toward the center, the deeper the lake became.

It was shaped almost like a funnel.

The edges were still manageable, but the center was a true bottomless abyss. Whether there really was a “water monster” down there was impossible to say.

The government of Vanilla City seemed to have turned that “water monster” into a selling point. Instead of using professional equipment to investigate, they simply let the rumors spread freely and used them to attract tourists.

“Sixth People’s Hospital. We’ve arrived. Please take all your belongings and exit through the rear door…”

Amid the calm announcement from the bus, I stepped off with elegant strides.

I was wearing Tokisaki Kurumi’s school uniform and carrying a backpack. Quite a few people on the bus watched me as I left.

I didn’t know when it had happened, but I’d already grown used to being stared at.

Bi Xinxue had the kind of beauty and figure that belonged to an absolute anime heroine. Even without deliberately dressing up, she could tie her hair into twin tails, put on a pair of pants, and still attract all kinds of glances and secretly snapped photos.

So I might as well be more open about it.

I’d wear whatever I wanted and dress however I liked. People would stare anyway. There wasn’t much difference between an eighty-percent chance of turning heads and a hundred-percent chance.

The entire cosplay outfit—including the tights and shoes—was what Wang Lei had called “high-end merchandise.”

So I didn’t feel uncomfortable wearing it outside at all.

On the contrary, I felt that this outfit was much more comfortable and better-fitting than the clothes Mom had bought for me.

Because her family was poor, Bi Xinxue had always been reluctant to replace her clothes.

She wore her middle-school clothes in high school, and her high-school clothes in college. Even those few pairs of underwear had been worn for several years. Most of them no longer fit properly.

On top of that, nearly all those clothes had been bought from street stalls or small retail shops in minor counties.

Their quality was honestly terrible.

After several years, they had either faded or started pilling. There was no way they could compare with this finely made cosplay outfit.

“Three kuai! Three kuai per jin!”

“Lillia’s the answer this patch. I’d like to see which team still dares to play anything else.”

“Oh! Hold my dakimakura!”

I passed through the alley beside Sixth People’s Hospital and entered Liao Family Village.

Following the small road from my memories, I found Grandma’s rented apartment. Then I took out my key and opened the main door on the first floor.

Most people had probably gone to work by this hour.

There were far fewer electric scooters in the parking lot downstairs, and Grandma’s tricycle was gone from outside her door.

She must have gone out to sell things.

When I pushed open the apartment door, the faint scent of cleaning solution immediately drifted over me.

“I’m home!”

After closing the door, I looked around the apartment.

“Grandma? Dad? Nobody’s home?”

The large rental apartment was completely quiet. A few scattered spots of water were faintly visible on the floor.

Had they cleaned the place that morning and then gone out?

I searched around the entrance for a long time but couldn’t find my slippers. So I ran toward the balcony in my little leather shoes.

Tap, tap, tap.

Oh…

Even the slippers had been washed.

My old man was surprisingly househusband-like.

Thinking that, I called Dad’s phone again.

“Brrr—”

This time, it rang for about ten seconds before he picked up.

“Hello? Xiaoxue?”

There seemed to be a lot of people around Dad. Noisy sounds came from everywhere.

“What’s up? Aren’t you in class?”

“We don’t have classes this afternoon…”

I covered the microphone with my hand.

“Dad, where are you? Why didn’t you answer either of my calls?”

“Oh, your grandma and I are selling things near Shenbin Lake. Your grandma told me before that you were going to come help sell things in your new outfit. I wanted to give it a try too and see if I could help her sell a few more portions.”

I couldn’t help finding it funny.

“So, how many have you sold, Dad?”

“Quite a lot. There are people everywhere here, and business is pretty good. Your grandma and I have been so busy that we didn’t even notice the phone ringing.”

Dad sounded to be in a very good mood.

“What is it? Why are you looking for me?”

“Well… there’s something I want to talk to you about in person.”

I gathered my thoughts.

“How about this? I’ll come over in a little while. Where exactly are you and Grandma at Shenbin Lake?”

“We’re in the free-access area by the entrance. Check your phone map. After you get off at Shenbin Lake Bus Stop, you’ll see an ice-cream stand. There’s a road beside it. Walk straight down that road, and you’ll find us.”

“Okay. I’ll head over now.”

“Hey, be careful on the way. Give Dad a call when you arrive.”

“Got it.”

After hanging up, I returned to the living room.

I glanced at the small mat and the quilt and pillow placed on top of it.

This was probably where Dad slept every night…

I turned toward my own room.

There was clearly still an empty bed in there.

I entered the little bedroom I’d only slept in a few times. After roughly checking the things inside the bedside cabinet and desk, I took out a few autumn undershirts and long johns, then put them into my bag.

The weather hadn’t turned completely cold yet, but it was better to prepare in advance.

The skies over Vanilla City were so unpredictable. Nobody could say when a small typhoon might arrive and suddenly drag the temperature down.

After taking the clothes, I saw that it was still early. I pushed open the small balcony connected to my room and stepped outside.

Living alone really did feel more relaxed and free…

The noisy scene in the dormitory every night surfaced in my mind.

Like most student dorms, Chen Xiaorui, Zhang Qi, and Zhou Mengya were three women who could turn anything into a full-blown stage play.

They could talk about anything. Once they started, they simply wouldn’t stop.

Sometimes Jiang Yuqing and Song Huijie joined in too.

Those girls wouldn’t settle down before midnight.

The most outrageous part was that talking about school or daily life would’ve been fine. I could at least force myself to join in with a few comments.

But those people always ended up discussing various “male topics.”

Things like, “How does that part of a guy get bigger?”

“Can a guy’s chest feel anything?”

“Do guys have a ball-changing season?”

And then Zhou Mengya, that woman whose XP system was completely broken, would somehow drag the discussion into topics like:

“Some female mantises eat the males after giving birth. I think I’m starting to like mantis girls. I found a few mantis doujins recently, and I can’t stop reading them.”

Or:

“Let’s discuss this. Suppose aliens don’t become adults until they’re ninety. Then a thirteen-year-old human from Earth forcibly has sex with a seventy-year-old alien on the moon. How many years should the alien be sentenced to? Which country’s laws apply?”

Discussions like that left me incredibly awkward.

I had no good way to deal with it.

If I couldn’t sleep, I could only get up and continue writing novels or watch educational videos to broaden my knowledge.

Because of Chen Xiaorui and the others, I’d watched who knew how many science videos over the past half-month.

There were videos on menstrual care for girls, the natural world, the animal kingdom, and even legal lectures recounting the glorious exploits of Zhang San, the infamous lawless rogue.

They covered practically everything.

“Want to go blow up some fish with Xiaoxue?”

Since nobody was in the apartment, and this was the perfect place to practice my fake voice, I cleared my throat.

Then I spoke to the reflection in the mirror.

“Getting caught means being locked up all day, but the fish are delicious, so it’s worth it!”

“Da-da-da! La-la-la!”

Once my income became stable and I could afford rent, I’d move out and live alone.

Renting a place outside would give me more freedom. It would also make practicing fake voices and livestreaming more convenient.

That was the worst part about student dormitories.

No matter when it was, you had to accommodate your roommates. Whatever their personalities were like, you had to adapt to them and get used to them.

The girls in our dorm actually had decent personalities.

Although we occasionally had minor conflicts, everyone eventually made up. Living together like this wasn’t exactly bad.

But if I wanted to develop my side business, moving out and living alone was essential.

After spending my freshman and sophomore years getting closer to Xiaorui and the others, and after my part-time business had grown, I could slowly move out.

There was no need to rush it right now.

No housing fees, no water bill, and barely any electricity fees each month. Although it was shared housing, a university dormitory was, in some ways, far more cost-effective than most rental apartments.

Besides, as someone with the soul of a macho man, I wasn’t losing out by living with girls.

After practicing my fake voice for a little over twenty minutes, I pushed open the apartment door.

Following the directions on my phone’s map, I left Liao Family Village and boarded the bus to Shenbin Lake.

After getting off, I called Dad. Then, following his instructions, I found Grandma near the beach, selling mung bean porridge and liangfen to the surrounding tourists.

“Dad.”

While Grandma was busy, I walked over and lowered my voice beside Dad’s ear.

“I want to talk to you about what happened at Linghai County Hospital back then.”