Nobody said that teachers at elite academies have to be heartthrobs.

Qiao Qi suddenly stopped in her tracks.

She doubted she had heard correctly.

But the voice clearly came from Lin Xun in front of him, and the tone...

She stiffly raised her head and looked at the slender, quiet figure a few steps away.

The boy kept his head down, the pale light from the corridor ceiling lamp shining on his head and shoulders, making him look like a pitiful little bullied person, as if those light but chilling words were not spoken by him.

"...Lin...Lin Xun?"

Qiaoqi's voice trembled uncontrollably, no longer a simple expression of concern, but rather an incredulous surprise and a sudden sense of unease.

She subconsciously took a half step back, her fingers unconsciously gripping the hem of her clothes.

The Lin Xun she knew was a top student who was always silent, occasionally revealing a shy smile, and needed someone to protect her. She was a classmate that Teacher Yu would pay special attention to, who seemed kind but was somewhat aloof.

But that last sentence...

Lin Xun seemed to hear her soft call, and looked up. His face still showed no intense expression; in fact, it could be described as calm.

But when he looked up at Qiaoqi, something extremely unfamiliar seemed to flash across the depths of his clear eyes, so quickly that Qiaoqi almost thought it was an illusion caused by the lighting.

After being stopped by her, Lin Xun belatedly remembered something, and with a slightly embarrassed smile, he forced a shy and awkward one.

"I was just joking." He lowered his voice, his eyelashes drooping to avoid Qiaoqi's surprised and uncertain gaze, looking like a young man who was too concerned and felt awkward.

"I'm just a little jealous because I always see so many people around the teacher, like Senior Jiang Yu and Senior Xiao Chi."

He raised his eyes, his gaze clear, even a little embarrassed for having confessed his feelings, a stark contrast to his chilling whispers just moments before.

"Sister Qiaoqi?" He looked at Qiaoqi, who was still frozen in place, his tone returning to its usual calm, even carrying a perfectly appropriate hint of doubt, as if puzzled as to why she was still standing there with such a strange expression. "Is there anything else?"

His demeanor was so natural that it seemed as if the chilling remark, "It would be great if everyone died," was just a somewhat sinister joke.

Qiaoqi opened her mouth, but her throat felt like it was blocked by a wad of cotton soaked in ice water, making her feel cold and suffocated.

She looked at Lin Xun's pale yet handsome face, which was now filled with innocence and confusion, while Lin Xun's lighthearted joke kept echoing in her mind.

For no apparent reason, a chill that made her extremely uneasy crept up her back silently and slowly tightened.

She felt that the temperature in the bright corridor, paved with smooth tiles and filled with the smell of disinfectant, had dropped sharply, and even the air had become thick and cold.

"N-nothing's wrong..." She heard her own dry, somewhat unsteady voice, "I...I'm going to see Teacher Yu."

Lin Xun nodded, his gaze naturally falling on the exquisite food box she was carrying, which was clearly prepared for the patient. He casually reminded her, "Teacher Yu has already eaten."

His tone was casual, as if he were stating a very simple fact.

Then, without saying anything more, he nodded slightly and turned to walk into the depths of the corridor, his steps still light and quiet, quickly blending into the shadows ahead like a ghost.

Qiaoqi stood there, and the food box she was carrying suddenly felt heavy.

She gazed in the direction Lin Xun had disappeared, then looked back at the closed door of Yu Fuli's ward. She bit her lower lip hard to suppress the inexplicable unease in her heart, and took a step with her stiff legs toward the ward.

But the image of Lin Xun in her mind—that slender figure who always kept his head down quietly—was now shrouded in an indescribable mist.

The shy, somewhat clumsy, and jealous explanation just now sounded reasonable, and even made people feel a little soft-hearted. It seemed perfectly normal for a withdrawn top student to feel a little jealous when threatened not to get close to the teacher he respected.

but……

Would a normal person curse someone to die out of jealousy?