Mo Ran had already run up to the man and mercilessly kicked
him.
The man didn’t fight back, but immediately picked up the
knife from the ground and swiftly avoided the attack.
Due to his actions, drops of blood fell on Ruan Qing’s face,
staining his fair complexion.
Mo Ran also noticed the bloodstains on the man’s hand. He
looked at the knife in the man’s hand and the knife marks on the ground,
realizing what had just happened.
He trembled slightly, preparing to strike the man again, but
immediately pulled back, turned around, and hurriedly approached Ruan Qing. He
helped him sit up, his voice trembling, “Brother Su, are you okay?”
Ruan Qing seemed to be startled and was having trouble
regaining his composure. His gaze was unfocused, and his pupils couldn’t find a
point of focus. Upon hearing Mo Ran’s words, he reflexively shook his head.
He appeared unusually docile, clearly deeply frightened.
There were still traces of blood on Ruan Qing’s face. His
previously arrogant and domineering demeanor had faded somewhat. The
bloodstains contrasted against his fair skin, giving him a somewhat enchanting
appearance. However, his eyes were veiled with a layer of mist, giving him a
sense of brokenness.
Mo Ran lowered his gaze, concealing the emotions in his eyes.
He reached out with trembling hands and touched Ruan Qing’s face, only relaxing
when he realized it wasn’t his blood. His voice was filled with remorse. “I’m
sorry, Brother Su. I almost lost you and almost caused you harm.”
“I deserve to die!”
As Mo Ran spoke, he fiercely slapped himself.
Unlike Ruan Qing’s previous strike, this slap caused blood to
appear at the corner of Mo Ran’s mouth, indicating the mercilessness of the
blow.
The sound of the slap finally brought the teenager back to
his senses. He looked around and noticed that the unfamiliar man had already
left.
The teenager breathed a sigh of relief, and his fear
dissipated slightly. The emotions he had been suppressing welled up within him.
He looked at Mo Ran, who was before him, and angrily questioned with red eyes
filled with rage, “Where were you just now!?”
Mo Ran turned his head away from the slap, still looking down
at the ground. He felt no surprise in his heart. The teenager had indeed gotten
lost, even with him around, and had suffered such humiliation. It was normal
for him to vent his anger on him, even if the person who had bullied him was
not him.
As long as he became unhappy, he would shift blame onto
others, regardless of their innocence. He always maintained a superior
attitude, trampling upon everyone.
After all, this was how the teenager usually was.
He simply didn’t regard others highly. Even if Mo Ran looked
at him, his image couldn’t be reflected in his eyes. It’s as if he wasn’t worth
being looked at. Perhaps he had never seen him as a person.
In his eyes, he might not even be comparable to a dog.
Mo Ran lowered his gaze with a self-reproachful expression,
looking at the teenager. His voice even had a hint of a sob. “Brother Su, I’m
sorry, it’s all my fault. Fortunately, you’re fine. Otherwise, I... Brother Su,
please hit me.”
After saying that, he picked up Ruan Qing’s hand and struck
his own face, fearing Ruan Qing would get angry. He appeared utterly humble and
despicable, devoid of any trace of resentment.
It’s as if he had no self-esteem or dignity. Even if someone
slapped him, he could still smile and offer his face for a second slap.
Ruan Qing: “...” Hiss, it’s truly frightening.
Based on Ruan Qing’s years of experience and intuition,
people like Mo Ran were the most terrifying.
Because the most patient person became the cruelest when they
go mad.
It’s like a dog that could bite but didn’t bark. If he didn’t
find someone to suppress this mad dog, he might end up in a sorry state.
“Don’t touch me! Don’t follow me either! I don’t want to see
you for now!” Ruan Qing angrily shook off Mo Ran’s hand, then picked up the
cellphone and lighter dropped by the man who tried to mug him. Standing up, he
walked out of the alley, wiping off the bloodstains from his face as he went.
Mo Ran half-knelt on the ground, looking down at his open
hand, inexplicably pulling up the corners of his mouth, chuckling softly. That
laughter had a chilling quality.
However, the teenager had already gone far away and couldn’t
hear it.
Mo Ran lightly wiped away the bloodstains from the corners of
his mouth with his thumb and then stuck out his tongue to lick it.
His gaze remained fixed on a certain spot, but he didn’t
truly focus on the scene. His mind was filled with the vulnerable and helpless
image of the teenager being pinned beneath the man just now.
Without the arrogance, nor the superiority that once existed,
being forcefully suppressed by others, unable even to push away the person on
top of him, he could only helplessly shed tears from the corners of his eyes,
pleading for mercy from the person above.
However, it didn’t earn him any sympathy; instead, it made
people unable to resist the urge to bully him even more.
They wanted to shatter his pride, make him fall from grace,
and even... drag him into darkness, staining his beautiful eyes with a
different color. All he could do was breathe softly and weakly, unable to utter
words of dislike.
Without a powerful backing, the teenager was nothing.
The teenager was like a gorgeous rose blooming in a thorny
jungle. Once he was separated from the protection of the surrounding thorns,
others could only easily pluck and manipulate him at will.
As long as there was no thorn protecting him...
***
Ruan Qing breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out of the
alley and saw pedestrians coming and going. It seemed he shouldn’t be alone
easily from now on.
After the incident that just happened, Ruan Qing now had a
legitimate reason to eat at school.
So he went straight back to school.
There were several cafeterias in the First High School, and
Ruan Qing directly chose the one closest to Class 1-1, wanting to try if he
could finish his meal and find an excuse to visit Class 1-1.
There must be something wrong with Class 1-1, and even if
there wasn’t, he would definitely find some clues.
He truly envied those players. Not only did they not need to
maintain any image, they could even be automatically placed in Class 1-1 as
soon as they entered the instance.
However, Ruan Qing thought about the points he could obtain
by being an NPC and suddenly stopped envying those players.
He still wanted to earn enough points early, exchange it for
a strong and powerful body. At least if someone dared to bully him again, he
could fight back.
Ruan Qing didn’t walk for long before he arrived at the
Second Cafeteria closest to Class 1-1. It was a little past noon, the time for
lunch, so there were quite a few students in the cafeteria.
As Ruan Qing walked in, many people glanced in his direction.
Ruan Qing paid no attention to the gazes of the crowd and
went straight to the less crowded third floor.
The third floor was actually intended for students from
wealthier backgrounds, so there were fewer people who went there to eat. There
were also private rooms available, and the environment was relatively tranquil.
Ruan Qing didn’t want to be seen by others, so the third
floor was more suitable for him.
After Ruan Qing ordered his food, he didn’t go to the private
room but instead chose to sit by the window in the spacious third-floor hall,
where there weren’t many people.
Going to the private room meant being alone, and relatively
speaking, it was safer to be in the main hall.
Most of the students who came to the third floor to eat would
choose the private rooms. Therefore, the hall was sparsely populated at this
time, with only a few students sitting in the corners, whispering and chatting
about something.
However, when the student sitting across from Ruan Qing saw
him, they instantly fell silent. Others found it strange and followed his gaze,
only to quiet down the next moment.
Originally, there weren’t many people on the third floor, but
their sudden silence made the entire cafeteria eerily quiet.
Ruan Qing paid no attention to them, eating his meal while
taking out his phone and searching for information about the First High School.
There was a lot of information about the First High School,
such as who had won national competitions and how many students had been
admitted to universities.
Most of it was positive news, and there were hardly any
negative reports.
The only few complaints were about the expensive tuition fees
and the poor quality of the cafeteria food.
After Ruan Qing looked through it for a while and found no
useful information, he pondered for a moment, put down his chopsticks, and
slowly typed, ‘Has anyone died at First High School?’
Ruan Qing paused for a moment after typing the sentence,
seeming somewhat hesitant, but ultimately he steeled his heart and pressed the
search button.
The search results showed no relevant information. It seemed
that no one had ever died at First High School.
First High School had been established for over 100 years,
and had a high academic pressure. Combined with parental pressure, there should
have been suicides among the students, even if not many. But Ruan Qing couldn’t
find any information about it.
This was not normal. Even if there were no classmates who
committed suicide, there should still be classmates who died accidentally.
However, there was no record at all, not even a whisper.
Were they erased by the game system?
Or... erased by the school?
It’s hard to determine because it’s possible that they were
erased by the game system to prevent players from easily finding the answers by
searching in their phones.
But whether they were erased by the school or by the game,
both possibilities could be crucial, otherwise they wouldn’t have been erased
so thoroughly.
However, Ruan Qing thought for a moment and ultimately
abandoned the idea of searching for these possible erased individuals.
The system remained silent, observing the person who
repeatedly hypnotized himself.
It had never seen a player so stubborn and afraid of ghosts.
He was so close to the correct answer, yet he chose to
hypnotize himself out of fear, deceiving himself and finding nothing. This was
already the third time.
The first time was when he felt Xie Baiyi’s heartbeat on the
right side, and the second time was when he hypnotized himself in the restroom.
So this was already the third time.
Hypnosis was not a good method. If used too frequently, it
could easily lead to losing oneself and could have an impact on memory and
judgment. However, the teenager seemed to have no qualms about hypnotizing
himself.
...It was a bit too headstrong.
However, the teenager was indeed the smartest player it had
ever seen. Despite not receiving any reminders from the game system, he managed
to guess certain crucial clues with his ghost-like intuition and intelligent
mind.
But being afraid of ghosts... that’s just unfortunate...
You see, in horror games, supernatural-themed scenarios
usually made up nearly half of the content, and unlike this particular
scenario, many supernatural scenarios inform players about the presence of
ghosts right from the start of the instance.
Ruan Qing put down his phone and noticed that there were
suddenly more classmates in the third-floor cafeteria, but it was just as quiet
as before, with no one speaking.
Ruan Qing paused briefly, picked up his chopsticks, and
started eating calmly.
Other students held their lunch, but their minds were not
focused on eating. Instead, they discreetly observed the demon-like boy by the
window.
The boy ate with a cold expression, his features picturesque.
His long eyelashes trembled slightly, and his quiet demeanor resembled that of
a noble son stepping out of a painting. He exuded a few degrees less arrogance
and a few degrees more grace, giving the illusion of a rare beauty and an
unparalleled young master.
Everyone knew it was indeed an illusion because the boy was
none other than the demon, Su Qing.
But that didn’t stop him from being truly good-looking, even
more so than the school flower. (T/N: The most attractive girl
in school.)
No, there was no comparison at all. The beauty of the school
flower belonged to the realm of humans, while Su Qing was exquisitely perfect,
as if God had poured all the beautiful things in the world into creating him.
Although Ruan Qing was accustomed to being looked at, it
didn’t mean he enjoyed being watched. So he hastened his pace, quickly finished
his lunch, and prepared to go to the cashier.
When Ruan Qing stood at the cashier’s window, he patted his
pocket but found it empty.
His bank card was in the hands of “Xia Baiyi.”
He thought that he seemed to have found a legitimate reason
to go to Class 1-1.
But he had to settle the bill first.
Ruan Qing took out his phone and was about to scan the
payment code when a hand holding a bank card reached over from the side and
handed it to the cashier. Then a warm and refined voice sounded in Ruan Qing’s
ear.
“Use mine.”
Ruan Qing furrowed his brow, glanced sideways, and ultimately
put down his phone.
Su Zhiwei smiled lightly as he looked at Ruan Qing. “Why did
you suddenly decide to eat in the cafeteria today? Weren’t you always
complaining about how bad the food is?”
“I came because I wanted to. It’s none of your business.”
The tone of Ruan Qing was not good, but Su Zhiwei had already
grown accustomed to his bad attitude, so he didn’t mind. He still smiled and
asked, “Would you like to come to my office for a while?”
“No, I want to go to Class 1-1.” Ruan Qing rejected without
hesitation and turned to leave, holding his phone.
Su Zhiwei walked alongside Ruan Qing and looked at him. “Aren’t
you in Class 26? Why are you going to Class 1?”
Ruan Qing didn’t hide it and openly stated his reason, “I’m
going to see my girlfriend.”
Su Zhiwei paused for a moment and asked, “Which girlfriend?
The one you were hugging on the basketball court?”
Obviously, Su Zhiwei was aware of the teenager’s eventful
love history.
Ruan Qing frowned and looked at Su Zhiwei dissatisfiedly, his
tone turning gloomy and sounding somewhat angry. “Did you go to watch me play
basketball?”
Su Zhiwei understood his nephew’s fragile self-esteem very
well, and it was apparent that he couldn’t accept the idea of being seen by him
if he missed a shot, so he shook his head and said, “No, someone took your
photo and posted it on a forum.”
Su Zhiwei spoke in a gentle and considerate manner, “If you
mind, I can ask them to delete it.”
“Whatever.” Ruan Qing appeared indifferent.
After saying that, he quickened his pace and left Su Zhiwei
behind, clearly showing that he had no intention of chatting with him.
Su Zhiwei tactfully did not follow him, but watched the
teenager walk away.
Ruan Qing glanced back and caught a glimpse of Su Zhiwei with
his peripheral vision, but Su Zhiwei’s expression didn’t reveal anything
unusual.
However, today there was a faint scent of perfume on him,
which wasn’t there when they met yesterday.
Had he met someone important? Or was he trying to conceal
something?
Like... the smell of blood.
Ruan Qing shook his head, denying this speculation. He had
noticed it when Su Zhiwei handed him the card earlier. There were no scars or
the smell of blood on his hand. If he was the man from the alley, he couldn’t
have stopped the bleeding so quickly.
After all, Ruan Qing was certain that the wound was deep,
almost to the bone.
Even if the man was wearing gloves made of human skin, it
wouldn’t be enough to prevent blood from flowing out. The faint scent of
perfume on Su Zhiwei’s body couldn’t possibly cover it up.
Moreover, he was considered as an uncle of the original
owner, so even if he was a beast, it should be impossible for him to have any
thoughts about him.
Ruan Qing calmly walked towards Class 1-1. Just as he was
about to reach the entrance and arrogantly walk in, a voice suddenly sounded
from behind.
“Brother Su? Why are you here?”
The owner of the voice seemed surprised to encounter Ruan
Qing here, and his tone was filled with astonishment.
Ruan Qing glanced at him. He wasn’t very familiar with the
oher, but vaguely remembered him as one of the guys who smoked yesterday on the
rooftop. He was from Class 1-1.
Ruan Qing casually replied, “I’m here to find Yiyi.”
The guy immediately understood and turned his head to look
towards their classroom. He shouted loudly inside, “Xia Baiyi, Brother Su is
looking for you!”
The guy’s words attracted the attention of everyone inside
the classroom, and they all looked towards the classroom door.
Ruan Qing, who wanted to enter the classroom, thought to
himself, “...” ‘I really appreciate your help’.
