Why is my anime art style so weird?

Outside the window, a blood-red full moon hangs high in the night sky.

Chapter Thirteen: The Ceremony

Aww!!

Just then, a strange roar suddenly came from the end of the corridor.

Then a terrifying monster slowly emerged from the shadows.

It had a long, slender body like a deer, but with dozens of gray-green duck wings on it. Two heads protruded from its neck, one a ferocious dog's head and the other a fierce pig's head, both roaring fiercely at Xu Ming.

Tap! Tap!

The monster stomped its hard hooves on the floor while lowering its head slightly.

Just by looking at its movements, Xu Ming immediately understood what the monster wanted to do.

He quickly pushed the door all the way up, then turned and ran towards room 205 next door.

Hey!

The monster roared and charged at him!

The wooden floor was trampled to pieces by the heavy iron hooves, and the monster charged over with overwhelming force, like a heavy tank.

Bah!

With a deafening crash, the fully open wooden door was smashed to pieces. The monster barely slowed down and continued charging towards Xu Ming.

Fortunately, the door did serve as a slight barrier.

Taking advantage of that brief one or two-second gap, Xu Ming quickly opened the door to room 205, slipped inside, and then slammed the door shut, locking it behind him.

The monster seemed unable to stop and charged straight through the door of room 205.

To Xu Ming's surprise, the sound disappeared immediately after the monster charged forward!

Xu Ming pressed his ear against the door and listened carefully for a while, and then the corridor outside returned to silence.

This is really weird!

Xu Ming shook his head and turned around to scan everything in room 205.

Although he had carefully checked it during the day, the entire Polaris Dormitory became abnormal after dark.

Soon, Xu Ming's eyes narrowed, and his gaze fixed on the two rows of bookshelves.

He remembered clearly that during the day, in order to search for clues, he carefully searched through the bookshelves, and many books were swept onto the floor.

But now, all the books have been neatly placed back in the bookshelf, and the stationery on the table has also been neatly arranged.

A chill ran through me.

It was as if an invisible 'person' had appeared in the room...

Xu Ming forced himself to calm down, put down his backpack, and sat cross-legged in the center of the room while cautiously observing his surroundings. He then took out the candles, lighter, and rice needed for the ceremony from his backpack.

Then Xu Ming quietly placed the fruit knife on the floor within easy reach, as a form of consolation.

Xu Ming quickly picked up a lighter and carefully lit the candles one by one. Then he dripped the wax onto the floor and arranged the candles into a somewhat irregular circle.

The room was gradually filled with dim, yellowish candlelight.

The candlelight flickered, and Xu Ming's shadow on the wall swayed constantly, like a menacing monster that might pounce down at any moment.

The crimson moonlight streaming through the window made the room seem even more eerie.

Xu Ming took a deep breath, grabbed a handful of rice from the bag with his left hand, picked up a grain with his right hand, and then slowly closed his eyes.

Relying on his memory, Xu Ming threw the first grain of rice into the circle of candlelight in front of him.

pat!

It seemed that after closing his eyes, his other senses were slightly enhanced, and Xu Ming heard the rice fall to the floor with perfect clarity, making a crisp and pleasant thud.

The ceremony has officially begun...

Xu Ming wasn't sure if it was just a psychological illusion, but right after the first grain of rice landed, a sudden, inexplicable chill made him shiver.

But Xu Ming's hands didn't stop. He quickly took out a second one from his left hand and threw it out.

pat!

A soft click, then the third, the fourth... the twelfth, the thirteenth...

Xu Ming felt that with each grain of rice he threw down, the air grew colder.

What started as a slight chill that might have been mistaken for an illusion has now given him goosebumps.

There was a clear abnormality in room 205, but Xu Ming's hands did not stop moving.

pat!

The fourteenth grain of rice fell to the ground.

Squeak!

Suddenly, a piercing noise came from the window, as if something was scratching the glass with sharp fingernails.

Xu Ming shuddered, his right hand instinctively reaching for the fruit knife on the floor, while his eyelids trembled as if he wanted to open his eyes.

At the last moment, Xu Ming remembered the system's advice and forcibly suppressed the urge to open his eyes.

The ear-piercing scratching sound continued. Xu Ming hesitated for a moment, then chose to continue.

The fifteenth grain of rice was thrown into the candle ring, followed by the sixteenth...

As Xu Ming continued to throw out rice, the surrounding air grew increasingly cold, and the thing outside the window seemed to get anxious as well, the scratching and scrambling sounds becoming more and more piercing.

pat!

The twenty-fourth one fell to the floor.

blah blah blah!

Suddenly, another strange noise came from inside the room.

A bead of sweat slid down Xu Ming's nose.

In the darkness, the sound was exceptionally clear, and it was coming from the closet in the room!

It was as if something was trying to climb out of the closet, pounding on the closet door.

As if provoked, the scratching sounds outside the window became more and more frequent.

Xu Ming subconsciously sped up.

Soon it was the thirty-fourth one.

Xu Ming immediately became more vigilant.

Even the most oblivious person should realize by now that the strange noise is related to the number 'four'.

pat!

Click!

Sure enough, the moment the thirty-fourth grain of rice hit the ground, the sound of turning the doorknob could be heard outside the room.

At this moment, Xu Ming was extremely glad that he had made the cautious decision to lock the door beforehand.

pat!pat!

Xu Ming's hands kept moving, and grains of rice were thrown one by one into the candle ring.

As the number drew ever closer to '44', the scratching sounds outside the window, the banging sounds inside the wardrobe, and the unlocking sounds outside the door grew increasingly urgent.

A stench of decay and fermentation even lingered in the air.

When Xu Ming threw down the forty-third grain of rice, those unknown things seemed to be impatient.

A series of loud crashes echoed from the windows, wardrobe, and doors, accompanied by the sounds of glass and wood cracking.

The stench in the air was so strong it was nauseating.

The temperature in the room could only be described as icy cold.

Beads of cold sweat dripped from Xu Ming's forehead. To prevent himself from opening his eyes, he had to squeeze them shut tightly. Whether it was due to the low temperature or excessive tension, Xu Ming's body trembled slightly.

He suppressed his fear, picked up the last grain of rice from his left palm, and threw it out quickly!

pat!

The moment the forty-fourth grain of rice hit the ground, the strange noises coming from outside the window, the wardrobe, and the door abruptly disappeared.

The room was quiet, as if everything before had been an illusion.

Xu Ming could no longer hold back and suddenly opened his eyes.

Just then, a clear, gentle male voice suddenly rang out from across from Xu Ming.

"Oh my, are you the new transfer student?"

Chapter Fourteen: Japanese Dolls

When Xu Ming saw everything clearly in front of him, his expression instantly became extremely solemn.

Several palm-sized, white porcelain Japanese dolls suddenly came into his view.

A black-haired boy with glasses, a voluptuous girl with long burgundy hair, an energetic girl with an orange bun, a rebellious blond boy...

These Japanese dolls, each with a unique shape and lifelike appearance, gathered around the circle of candlelight, their faces smiling.

However, the dim candlelight shining on the white porcelain surface made even the doll's smile look incredibly eerie.

It sends chills down your spine.

What's even more terrifying is that these dolls are so lifelike that Xu Ming recognized them instantly.

Zenji Marui, Ryoko Sakaki, Yuki Yoshino, Shoji Sato...

They were the Polaris Dormitory students that Xu Ming suspected might have collectively disappeared.

Students who suddenly disappear, eerie and lifelike dolls...

There's an eerie atmosphere about this place.

What caught Xu Ming's attention even more was the young man who suddenly appeared opposite him.