Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Dire Straits
The male teacher responsible for quickly subduing the students was tied up dealing with Xu Bamboo, which meant several other students were not immediately brought under control.
Neither the two police officers nor Zhou Yao possessed the ability to knock people out without harming them. Although their cultivation realms were higher than the students’, they had to hold back, so it was still taking time.
In the span of a few breaths, the situation had descended into chaos.
The once-orderly formation instantly dissolved into utter chaos.
Yang Shen frowned, thinking for a moment.
’Things have already gotten this far... I might as well squat down and tie my shoelaces.’
As he tied his shoelaces, Yang Shen’s mind raced. ’I’m one of only five people still lucid. I have to prepare for the worst. It’s almost certain I’ll have to fight.’
’First things first, I need to get ready.’
"Yang Shen! Fight me to the death!"
Huang Gang came charging with a howl. Yang Shen, still crouching, leaned back to dodge the fist, then slammed a palm into Huang Gang’s abdomen.
Huang Gang went flying, his feet lifting off the ground as his body curled up like a shrimp in midair.
Yang Shen said, "I don’t have time for your nonsense. Just stay down!"
’Of the five people still conscious, I’m probably the weakest.’
’But of all the ones who went berserk, Huang Gang is widely considered the weakest!’
’A Mid-stage Skin Refining practitioner like him should just stay on the ground and not add to the chaos.’
Huang Gang writhed on the ground in agony. Yang Shen didn’t dwell on it. He had no way of knocking people out without causing injury, but he would fight anyone who came at him. If one punch wasn’t enough, he’d just hit them again.
’They’ll pass out eventually.’
Yang Shen immediately rushed in Xu Bamboo’s direction, only to find the courtyard wall had collapsed and both of them were gone...
It looked like they had fought their way down the mountain.
’Wait, Zhuzi, you can actually beat a P.E. teacher?!’
He was about to give chase through the collapsed wall, but after just one step, he quickly retreated. His expression turned grim as he slowly backed away, inching toward the teacher.
Because... someone was entering through the breach in the wall.
A long-haired woman in her early twenties entered. She wore an unmarked tracksuit, a baseball cap, and a mask that obscured her face.
"Well now, there’s one who’s still lucid... Did something go wrong?"
Yang Shen backed away cautiously, but another voice sounded from behind him.
"How should I know? This isn’t my sector. I was just called over as backup."
A man emerged from the shadows of the courtyard. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and looked like an office worker just off the clock... but he, too, wore a hat and mask.
The two police officers were the first to become alarmed. After subduing the students they were dealing with, they immediately reached back, drew their pistols, and aimed at the two intruders.
Zhou Yao noticed the situation as well. No longer holding back, she chopped the back of her student’s neck, knocking them out. Then she pulled a Four-Section Staff from her lower back, rapidly assembled it into a Long Staff, and held it horizontally before her, sinking into a low stance.
As the person with the highest realm present... a dangerous aura emanated from Zhou Yao. "Who are you people!"
But in the next instant, Yang Shen screamed, his eyes wide with horror, "Watch out!"
A figure suddenly materialized from the shadows, its iron claws punching straight through Zhou Yao’s back, lifting her high off the ground as if she were skewered.
"AGH!!"
A shower of blood and visceral fragments rained down as Zhou Yao let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Only then did the man behind her speak, his voice grim. "The one who’s here to kill you..."
It was Wu, the very teacher who had mastered the Acupoint Martial Skill and had just disappeared.
Yang Shen’s eyes burned with fury!
’This just proves it again: the Life Chart isn’t foolproof! It’s nowhere near that easy to figure out.’
But he didn’t have time to dwell on it.
————
「Several hundred meters away, at the foot of the mountain.」
A burly figure arrived at the bus crash site and began inspecting the mangled vehicle.
Inside the driver’s cabin, the bus driver was still alive, hanging upside down in his seat. His arm was bent at an unnatural angle, and blood dripped steadily from his mouth.
When the driver saw the burly figure, terror overcame his pain. He began to struggle, trying to free himself from the mangled cabin.
This was the man who had suddenly rushed out and flipped the bus!
The burly figure stepped forward, shattered the window with a single punch, and wrapped a massive hand around the driver’s neck.
"Don’t move, old classmate. If you’re thinking of silencing him, there’s no point."
Liu Yuankui’s hand froze. He turned to find Luo Sheng, who had appeared behind him at some unknown point.
"A lot of people are about to die up on that mountain. You’re a cop, yet you have the spare time to follow me? As I recall, most of the officers assigned to protect the Training Camp were supposed to have been pulled for that psychiatric case a couple of days ago."
Luo Sheng had a cigarette dangling from his lips, its cherry glowing and fading in the dark. "My arrangements were sound, but some asshole in charge wouldn’t listen. It’s not on me if they insisted on pulling my people. You’re not a cop, so you wouldn’t understand. Sometimes, procedural justice is... more important than actual justice. It just makes the reports a bigger pain in the ass to write."
"Technically, I’m still on vacation. I just came out to the mountains for a night run."
Liu Yuankui clenched his fists. "You’ve got the gall to talk about justice?"
Luo Sheng said, "I’m not interested in justice. Frankly, I’m more interested in you. Back in the day, two months before the college entrance exams... right around this time of year, in fact. You dropped out."
"A lot of people figured you quit because the bullying got too bad. Nobody expected you to end up getting into college, reaching the Innate Realm, and becoming a renowned P.E. teacher... So, tell me. Where’d you go for those last two months?"
Liu Yuankui said, "I’m not interested in taking a trip down memory lane, either. Since our paths have crossed, tonight can only end with one of us dead..."
’The original plan was to kill everyone. That would have turned this into a dead-end case, and the police would have eventually focused their investigation on the Vajra Sect.’
’But now that I’ve been recognized...’
Liu Yuankui pulled a pair of metal gauntlets from the small of his back and slipped them on.
They were covered in vicious steel spikes, each the length of a Dagger, giving them a wildly intimidating appearance.
Luo Sheng shook his head with a sigh. He pulled a pistol from the small of his back and expertly chambered a round. Deciding the cigarette dangling from his lips was getting in the way, he plucked it out.
With a flick of his fingers, he sent it flying toward Liu Yuankui’s face.
"I guess we’ll have to talk after we fight... But what gave you the brilliant idea that a P.E. teacher could take down a detective whose realm is higher than his own?"
The words had barely left his mouth when the cigarette butt erupted into a massive fireball in midair, streaking toward Liu Yuankui’s face.
The blaze lit up the entire valley!
————
Back in the courtyard, Zhou Yao had been ambushed. The steel claws had pierced her organs and were now twisting, turning her insides into a ruinous mess.
Even for an Innate Martial Artist, it was a devastatingly fatal wound.
The two officers immediately raised their guns and took aim, but the attacker was ready. He flung Zhou Yao toward them like a sack of potatoes and retreated into a crouch.
Zhou Yao was blocking their line of fire, but the two officers fired anyway!
With a sharp flick of their wrists, the bullets flew in an arc, curving around Zhou Yao’s body to strike the assailant!
It was clearly one of the Special Martial Techniques used with firearms—a required skill for police officers.
In the lower and middle realms, firearms still had their uses. Most importantly, compared to other ranged methods like throwing darts, they were more precise and easier to master.
The traitor, the P.E. teacher Wu, dropped low and dodged frantically. He was still grazed on the shoulder, but unfortunately, the wound wasn’t serious. He quickly ducked behind cover.
His silent sneak attack from before showed that his style wasn’t one of grand, sweeping movements.
Yang Shen had also ducked behind a pillar.
’Just when you think things can’t get any worse...’
’This is just the fucking beginning!’
’I thought all my classmates going berserk was the worst of it, but now there are these masters!’
’Three enemies, realms unknown. The two cops are around the mid-to-late stage of Marrow Refining. And there are still a few berserk students who haven’t been subdued, panting with bloodshot eyes.’
’But what about Xu Bamboo?!’
’She was fighting that traitorous teacher when they both vanished! Where is she now?!’
"Yang Shen... Yang Shen..."
Yang Shen looked down to see Zhou Yao, who had been thrown aside. Her face was ashen, her breathing was faint as a whisper, and her eyes were fixed on him...
"Run... get out of here..."
Even on the brink of death, the responsible teacher was still thinking of her students’ safety.
Yang Shen took a deep breath.
Xu Bamboo was missing, and the anxiety burned in his heart like a fire.
’But run? I’m only in the early stage of Bone Training. Can I outrun people who are at least at the Marrow Refining stage?’
’I don’t even dare turn my back on them. They’ve clearly surrounded the entire courtyard. If there was a way out, I would have already left through the breach to find Xu Bamboo!’
’Wasn’t I just forced back by the new arrivals?’
’No one’s targeting me for now, probably because they think their encirclement is complete and are focusing on the police first. If I make a break for it, I’ll immediately become a target. They’d likely peel one person off to chase me.’
’So the answer is obvious.’
’I have to fight for my life.’
Having come to this conclusion, Yang Shen slowly straightened up, no longer cowering.
A Martial Artist exists to fight. He had trained for so many years without ever facing a true life-or-death battle.
But that didn’t mean he lacked the courage for it.
’Martial Arts, Martial Arts... if you don’t fight, what’s the fucking point of all this training?!’
’Even in Cultivation, you need a heart that dares to struggle against heaven and earth!’
He couldn’t explain it, but ever since he was a kid, he’d been like this: the bigger the crisis, the calmer he became.
As a kid, if he forgot to help his aunt thaw the pork for dinner, he’d be a nervous wreck.
But if he broke the family vase, his face would be a mask of indifference.
Maybe some people were just built that way—jokers in their daily lives, but as cool as stone when faced with a real crisis...
And...
...they had the resolve to kill.
Comments