Chapter 12: Stop 21: Extremes

Chapter 12: Station 21: Extremes

Tears welled up in her eyes instantly.

Though she wasn't the one who had lost her ID number, her tears couldn't be held back as she asked through quivering lips,

"Why would you do this... Has Yan Qiling offended you?! He's been saving you from the beginning, and he was with you when you left the corridor last night. How dare you treat him like that... Do you have any conscience at all?!"

Si Shuhao stamped her feet in anger at the door,

"Ming Yiyang, I'll pay extra! Hit him! Beat him to death! I want this beast dead!"

While Ming Yiyang interrogated the culprit about the location of the thrown fragments, Yan Qiling, the victim himself, remained surprisingly calm.

He smiled, a smile that carried an indescribable chill.

There was no sadness or anger from being betrayed; instead, there was a profound tranquility, as if he had seen through the coldness of the world.

It was as if he was facing just another rainy day in his life.

He said,

"Go inside, all of you. I'll find a place to hide."

The thin voice trembled,

"There's nowhere to hide here. The entrance to Building One is locked. It must be prepared."

Yan Qiling didn't offer an explanation. He glanced at them indifferently, and a faint red glow emanated from the pencil hidden in his sleeve.

Like a traveler guided by an unseen force, he turned and walked toward the end of the corridor, disappearing around the corner at a leisurely pace.

Of course, Ming Yiyang had heard the conversation outside.

After dropping the limp figure to the ground like trash, he hurried to the door, only to find himself blocked by a transparent plastic barrier – he couldn't get out!

With a grim expression, he asked,

"Where is he?"

Gazing at the blood-streaked ferocity on his face, Si Shuhao's excited mood instantly transformed into fear, causing her words to stumble out:

"He... He left... He said he was going to hide..."

Hitting the transparent barrier with a punch, the silver-haired youth reined in the wild purple in his eyes.

When he opened them again, only cold composure remained in his black irises:

"It doesn't matter anymore. Come in, all of you."

Si Shuhao was astonished by his sudden emotional shift:

"Doesn't matter? Not... You're just letting it go like that? Yan Qiling isn't dead yet, and the class hasn't ended!"

Ming Yiyang was unusually indifferent, his peripheral vision sweeping across the deserted end of the corridor as if addressing someone unseen:

"Kind words cannot persuade a doomed soul, mercy does not save those who reject it themselves."

Si Shuhao found it hard to believe:

"It's not because his student ID is gone; it's not his fault!"

Surprisingly, Ming Yiyang's lips curled up into a smile.

His eyes were filled with icy coldness, making his forced smile seem mocking:

"The biggest mistake he made was wanting to be a good person."

"I told you before, self-preservation is the most important thing in a place like this. Put away your unnecessary sympathy and get in here quickly! Otherwise, once the time is up, all of you will die."

The remaining people entered pale-faced, with Hu Gaoming bringing up the rear.

As soon as his front foot crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut behind him.

Crazed, inhuman screams echoed down the corridor!

The shrieks grew increasingly frenzied, transforming into almost shrill cries of agony.

The chaotic terror melded into a jolting, electric-like water that flooded the listeners' senses, seeping into their collars and underwear, making them convulse involuntarily as they experienced a tangible, electrifying pain!

Terror materialized into a terrifying torrent that roared past them.

Amidst their agony, they clearly heard the deafening crashes of tables, chairs, and cabinets falling to the ground as they struggled in vain against the mesmerizing melody's control.

It was unimaginable what kind of creature lurked beyond the door, searching for fresh flesh and blood.

This eerie, proximity-shaking sensation, a vicious force capable of flaying skin and bones without touch, stirred the primal fear of death that lay dormant within each of them.

Yao Kunrui lay amidst the rubble of fallen furniture.

He had been trembling with fear, but upon realizing that he wasn't the one suffering, he couldn't help but feel grateful for his decision.

In this rule-bound world, someone had to die.

Si Shuhao claimed that random was better than targeted, but she had no idea that this world had always been against him!

If it were random, he would certainly be the one to die!

Given that, why couldn't it be Yan Qiling?

Ming Yiyang was right – in this terrifying world, kindness was the original sin.

Yan Qiling's death was his own foolish fault; Ming Yiyang couldn't be blamed for it.

Who asked him to help? If he had completely ignored him, then... he wouldn't have had the chance to take his ID number.

Don't blame him for acting first; that was the price of survival.

Besides, who else could he find but Yan Qiling's ID number?

If he had discovered just one more belonging to someone else, he would certainly... certainly have torn that one instead!

It was fate! He had no choice... Blame the man for being both foolish and unlucky.

As for these people...

His gloomy gaze took in their panic, fear, and sorrow, stirring a twisted pleasure within him that made him want to laugh out loud.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, blood trickled out, and he began to cough violently.

Affected by the noise outside, he couldn't even manage to sit up and spit out the blood.

He was nearly choking on his own vomit.

But this time, no one came to his aid. Those who heard the commotion chose to look on coldly.

He could see clearly the disdain, anger, contempt, and mockery in their gazes.

It all seemed increasingly ironic and amusing.

Hypocrisy.

All damn hypocrites.

Each of them wanted someone else to die, yet they pretended to be virtuous.

That Hu Zhicheng even asked if they should gather at the classroom door.

He could see through it; the man actually meant: "Shall we just follow the rules then?"

The reason for his compromise might be because he didn't think he could compete with Yan Qiling and Ming Yiyang. After all, if they truly followed the rules, this uncle-nephew pair had no chance of winning.

As for that Su Bo, even in death, he shed a few crocodile tears. What a fool.

He suspected that this woman deliberately revealed the characteristics of the student number to him, aiming to use him to eliminate someone randomly.

Otherwise, how could it be so coincidental that right after she described the features, he was able to find Yan Qiling's student number?

He refused to believe that this woman would be so careless with her guard down.

Perhaps she was gambling, betting that he would take action, thus intentionally exposing this information...

So she could pretend to be an innocent lotus flower untouched by the mud, shedding tears when the victim appeared, comfortably enjoying the thrill of using others to do her dirty work.

Hah.

Hypocrisy, damn disgusting!

Wiping the blood from his face, he endured the pain and sat up.

Regardless of what these people thought, he had to live. No matter how disgusting or difficult it was, he had to endure and survive!

After all, these idiots weren't good people to begin with.

No one could recall how long that terrifying commotion lasted.

When the light outside the window dimly returned, and the class ended, the door creaked open slowly.

A flood of red filled the corridor, accompanied by bits of brownish-black soft tissue fragments, all seeping in together.

Yao Kunrui's erroneous record was instantly erased, reduced to dust.

Simultaneously, a flurry of cards rained down from the lectern.

Beneath the topic labeled with the word 'Death,' a crimson bloodied inscription slowly emerged: Yan Qiling.

Ming Yiyang fixated on those three characters for a moment, his eyebrows subtly furrowing before he suddenly let out a cold laugh.

Picking up the card, he casually scanned the Chinese information and said,

"At last, we can eat."

Then, he strode away.

Si Shuhao was initially still upset, but with this person's cold demeanor, she didn't have the time to voice her complaints. She hurriedly found her cafeteria card and chased after Mi Bo with it.

The Hu cousins didn't dare to lag behind and hastily followed them.

Yao Kunrui, who had been left behind, covered his face and struggled to stand up.

With the cafeteria card clenched in his hand, he walked alone through the dark corridor, limping towards the dormitory building.

-

The cafeteria wasn't brightly lit at night, and the food mainly consisted of pickles and canned luncheon meat, cooked dry and unappetizing, making one wonder if any oil had been used in the cooking.

Aside from Ming Yiyang, who ate quickly and in large quantities, the others didn't have much of an appetite.

Si Shuhao looked at the person devouring their food opposite her with lackluster interest:

"You can actually eat this?"

Ming Yiyang looked at her indifferently.

"If I left you in the depths of the forest for a few days without food, you'd even swallow live mice."

Suzhao was still weeping silently, stuffing things into her mouth as tears flowed. Her sleeves, used to wipe away her tears, were soaked through.

Seeing this, Si Shuhao's eyes reddened slightly. She averted her gaze and mumbled, "Stop crying. If you keep it up, your eyes will be swollen tomorrow."

With rice still in her mouth, Suzhao struggled to suppress her urge to cry.

But the memory of Yan Qiling's calm demeanor when he left, and the possibility that his blood might have been among the pooling red liquid in the classroom, made her tears flow uncontrollably.

"I shouldn't have shown that beast the student ID number. I thought we all had an understanding. If I hadn't told him what the number looked like, he might not have torn Brother Yan's ID, and Brother Yan wouldn't... Wuuu..."

She couldn't continue, her words interrupted by a cascade of tears.

Si Shuhao poked at the food on her plate, revealing half of the silver filigree bracelet on her wrist, which shimmered coldly in the dim light.

She had no appetite and allowed the bracelet and the metal tray to clank together:

"Don't resonate with that beast. It doesn't have any consensus. Even if you didn't say it at the time, it's easy to recognize a student number. If he decides to harm someone, he'll tear you apart regardless of whether it's true or not."

Sibu Tao asked with tears in his eyes:

"What about tomorrow? Will it be the same? Do we still have to face such things?"

The silver-haired man threw his chopsticks onto the clean plate and retorted,

"Then what do you think? Do you think you're here on vacation?"

He glanced at Si Shuhao's barely touched plate and said,

"Hurry up and eat. If you get hungry at night, don't expect me to find you food."

Si Shuhao realized he was right and forced a few bites into his mouth. But unable to continue, he eventually gave up.

Silence filled their journey back.

Hu Gaoming was always lively. The previous night, he had been playfully chatting with two girls on his way back to the dormitory. But now, he only followed closely behind his uncle, feeling as if he had been suddenly cast out from paradise onto an isolated island.

Only the mournful whisper of the wind remained.

Si Shuhao was exhausted, physically and mentally. Upon entering the dormitory, she had intended to find a chair to sit down but was stunned to see someone lying on Yan Qiling's bed!

She momentarily forgot her fear and rushed over to take a closer look. Her face darkened instantly, and her voice rose sharply:

"What the hell are you doing here?! How dare you occupy Yan Qiling's bed?!"

The person lying there was none other than the disheveled Yao Kunrui.