Chapter 13: Stop 21: Transgression

Chapter 13: Station 21: Transgression

The man merely glanced at her blankly before resuming his position, as if she didn't exist.

Si Shuhao's anger flared, and she reached out to pull him down.

"Get down! How dare you sleep on Yan Qiling's bed? Why don't you just go die!"

Yao Kunrui clung tightly to the bedrails, causing the metal bed to sway violently. With a creak, it actually shifted its angle.

Silent and unyielding, he seemed determined to stay put.

Si Shuhao slapped him across the face. The red-haired youth winced, his gaze icy as he stared back at her, still refusing to budge.

Si Shuhao was almost driven to tears by this man's shamelessness.

As she raised her hand for another slap, someone grabbed her shoulders, lifting her off the bed.

"What good is your strength? Let me handle this."

Ming Yiyang twisted Yao Kunrui's wrist that was gripping the railing. Somehow, Yao Kunrui let out a piercing cry, releasing his grip, and then he tumbled off the bed, blankets and all.

Without much effort, Ming Yiyang bundled him up and threw him out. His towering figure blocked the doorway as he looked down at the disheveled redhead with an air of superiority.

"Here's a piece of common knowledge for you: in the Realm of No Boundaries, one cannot commit murder directly, or else they'll invite the wrath of vengeful spirits."

Yao Kunrui regarded him warily.

"What do you want?!"

Ming Yiyang spoke with a hint of detachment, "Your actions today were rather clever, but if I'm not mistaken, your student ID was given to you by Su Bo, right?"

Yao Kunrui clutched the blankets tightly, wisely choosing to remain silent.

A slow, intrigued smile spread across Ming Yiyang's handsome face, imbued with an enigmatic malevolence, "You've used her trust to secure your chance to live today. But what about tomorrow?"

"You're also aware that many rules in this world come at the cost of human lives. If I were you, I wouldn't get too close to people."

"After all, scum like you don't evoke much moral conflict when it comes to dealing with you."

Yao Kunrui shivered, dragging his blanket behind him as he retreated to his own dormitory like a defeated dog, slamming the door in frustration since it hadn't returned to its original state.

For some reason, Ming Yiyang recalled the angry Yan Qiling.

Even in that state of fury, that person had maintained an impeccable demeanor, closing the door gently.

Would Yan Qiling die so easily?

If he had been in that situation, he might have gotten injured... but he probably wouldn't have died.

What about Yan Qiling?

Someone who meddled in others' affairs and knew so much about the Netherworld.

Surely, they must possess the means to protect themselves.

Ming Yiyang suddenly realized that he was actually searching for a reason for a stranger he had just met to survive.

He propped his elbow on his forehead and began to wonder if he had a fever.

Why bother caring about a dead person...! He lectured others not to meddle in other people's affairs, yet here he was, daydreaming... He hoped he wasn't catching something!

The thought of potentially turning into someone as fussily concerned as Yan Qiling sent shivers down his spine.

He needed to take a shower immediately to dispel any bad luck!

-

The atmosphere in the dormitory was much quieter, with no changes in bed assignments.

Su Bo had stopped crying and was starting to feel drowsy after lights out.

Si Shuhao seemed mentally drained as if she had just lost a tough battle.

But the consequences of not eating started to show.

First came a burning sensation in her chest, followed by an empty stomach growling loudly, draining all energy from her body.

Tired and hungry, she yearned to fall asleep instantly to escape her discomfort, but her hunger made it impossible to doze off.

She tossed and turned, noticing that Sù Bó slept soundly beside her. She hesitated to disturb her peace.

Initially, she intended to grit her teeth and endure until the next day. However, within twenty minutes, hunger overpowered her, prompting her to call out softly for help:

"Ming Yiyang..."

Sure enough, Ming Yiyang was awake, responding with a cold warning:

"Sleep, don't talk."

She felt unfairly mistreated:

"I'm a bit hungry..."

The room fell silent for a moment, and she heard the rustling of fabric.

Just as she was appreciating the bodyguard's compassion, she heard Ming Yiyang's footsteps moving towards the door, and then—

Click.

Ming Yiyang actually opened the door!

She instantly snapped awake, sitting up abruptly. Her eyes, just adjusting to the darkness, only managed to catch a glimpse of Ming Yiyang's retreating figure disappearing through the doorway!

Unable to contain herself, she yelled out,

"Ming Yiyang!"

Thud. The door closed gently.

Everyone in the dormitory was now fully awake.

Hu Gaoming, still dazed, emerged from under his covers. Seeing that Ming Yiyang's bed was empty, he exclaimed in alarm,

"Hold on, where's Brother Ming? Didn't they say we're not allowed to leave after lights out?!"

Si Shuhao was extremely nervous but dared not rush out of bed.

"I don't know! He just left on his own accord. I only wanted to ask if he had any food... I didn't tell him to go out!"

-

The flow of time in the Netherworld was much slower than in reality, but this slowness was an "illusion."

Though it seemed like two days had passed since they arrived here, only a few minutes or hours might have elapsed in the real world.

For Ming Yiyang, who had trained to adapt to time differences, staying up all night wouldn't impose too much strain on his body.

He was accustomed to spending the entire night scrolling through his phone or lost in thought, only to sleep soundly in the real world when he returned.

However, even in reality, the night was when his senses were sharpest.

...Sleep had never come easily to him.

Especially in the treacherous Netherworld, where danger lurked at every turn, it made peaceful slumber almost impossible.

Last night, with Yan Qiling around, he had managed to maintain a state of half-conscious vigilance and enjoy a somewhat comfortable few hours of rest.

But now, with Yan Qiling gone, that wasn't an option anymore.

Despite constantly labeling this guy as a superficial flower vase in his heart, he was well aware that the person's strength was far from being as simple as it seemed.

Losing such a reliable combatant made him feel slightly regretful.

If the nosy caretaker didn't bother him, life would be rather pleasant – at least he could slack off during daytime fights and sneak some rest during night patrol.

Suddenly, he heard a distinct sound of footsteps, one deep and one shallow.

Ming Yiyang became alert.

After lights out, the corridor was exceptionally quiet, so even the slightest noise stood out clearly.

Another burnt "dorm supervisor" incident?

He rolled over, listening carefully.

Something was off; the footsteps didn't match those from last night.

Just then, a faint voice came from the girl:

"Ming Yiyang..."

With full attention on the ongoing situation, Ming Yiyang subconsciously frowned and ordered,

"Sleep, don't talk."

He ignored the girl's further complaints, focusing instead on the faint sounds coming from the hallway.

After a while, the rustling ceased, lingering close to the door, followed by a click.

His gaze shifted toward the entrance.

Though the creak of a door opening echoed, the one before him remained still.

He realized that it was the door to the neighboring room that had opened.

...Odd, there shouldn't be anyone in the adjacent room. Could this ghost be up to some trick?

Half-rising, his muscles tensed slowly, ready to leap into combat at any moment.

The rustling sound moved inward, followed by the soft click of a door closing.

Not too loud, nor too gentle – an utterly ordinary sound of a door shutting.

It was from the room on the left.

"The dorm warden" closes doors?

For some reason, Ming Yiyang thought of Yan Qiling, and an irrepressible curiosity welled up within him.

In the Evervoid World, such a desire was undoubtedly perilous.

No one could be sure if this was a trap deliberately set by the Ruler of the Evervoid.

Moreover, the rules clearly stated that one was forbidden to leave their room after lights out.

Ming Yiyang had no inclination for suicide, nor did he intend to push his limits.

Compared to the enigmatic Ruler of the Evervoid, he was, after all, just a human, and humans could die.

Yet, he still sat up.

He wasn't quite sure what he was doing.

Then again, he often found himself perplexed, just like many others in this world. He wasn't the only one.

However, most ordinary people's rationality usually prevailed most of the time.

For him, though, he always did whatever he desired.

As for the consequences...

To hell with the consequences; freedom for you, me, and all.

Pushing the door open, he stepped out into the dense fog that swiftly engulfed his body, swallowing even the girl's cries, carrying them away to a distant place where they could no longer be heard clearly.

The corridors stretched out endlessly on either side, silently vanishing into the misty haze.

He should have known it wouldn't be that simple.

Behind him, the dormitory door had transformed into a red-painted wall that couldn't be pushed open.

This was the power of the rules in play.

He tugged out a shimmering silver chain from his collar, pressing his thumb against its end.

Hanging from it was a yellow bamboo slip in the shape of a flying crane.

Removing the slip, he now held in his hand an ancient and serene wooden dagger.

The blade was as thin as jade, its surface polished to a smooth sheen, appearing more like a decorative piece than a weapon.

Yet, with just a slight brush of his index finger across its edge, the digit split open, blood droplets welling up.

Plop.

The vivid red fell to the ground.

Like pigment dissolving in water, the surrounding mist stirred and dispersed, revealing intermittent glimpses of the scarlet-painted walls and dormitory door in a fluctuating, unstable state.

He pressed his finger against the door, etching a mystical incantation with his blood.

The illusory wall was forced to dissipate, revealing the dilapidated dormitory door once more.

The warm incantation glowed in the night, and with a newfound sense of direction, he finally took a step to the left.

The thick fog engulfed him once again.

This time, even the door vanished from sight.

For Ming Yiyang, the dormitory door seemed distant at this moment, and clearly, there was something amiss about his location.

With a gentle flick of his fingertip, the blood droplets scattered.

The fog let out a faint, whimpering sound as if being burned, reluctantly dispersing to reveal fragments of reality.

It was enough for him to grasp what had happened.

In just that single step, he found himself at the end of the corridor on the left, adjacent to a concrete staircase.

At the edge of the staircase, the railing mysteriously vanished, leaving only an artificial precipice behind.

If he had taken just two more steps, he would have plummeted from the third floor straight to the ground, whether he would be crushed into a pulp depending solely on the Wujian Master's mood.

Now, he suspected that the Wujian Master had deliberately lured him out to kill him.

But given the current situation, he needed to uncover the truth to make his efforts worthwhile.

Purple hues swirled in his eyes, enhancing his heightened senses as the world around him became clearer. With the blood on his fingertips, he pierced through the Wujian Master's attempt to trap him within the confines of a specific rule.

Identifying the specific door he sought, he reopened his nearly healed wound and once again inscribed the spell with his blood upon its surface. Then, he knocked on the door with great caution.

He knocked for quite a while.

Approximating around fifty or sixty knocks, the door creaked open just a crack.

With his dagger wedged against the door to slowly push it wider, he didn't immediately step inside.

When the silver cord coiled like a snake, he strangely felt a sense of relief, as if a weight had been lifted.