Game

Yu Xian endured until the bell rang, signaling the end of class. He quietly walked out of the classroom and stood by the corridor railing, staring blankly into the distance. A cool breeze swept past. He closed his eyes, but before he could breathe in the fresh air it carried, that rotting stench flickered across his senses once more, turning his briefly relaxed mood heavy in an instant. He feared death greatly, especially waiting to die in agony as his father had. Because he had personally handled every aspect of his father's care, he knew the torment and despair of needing machines just to breathe and swallow, unable to move a single muscle. Eaten away until nothing remained but the brain... Yu Xian could well imagine that this was an even more horrific way to die than his father's. Because he understood, he could empathize. "Report it to the police!" Yu Xian took a deep breath, having made up his mind. Though he was no longer human, he could not abandon his humanity. A real man knows what must be done and what must not; though thousands stand against me, I will press on! Even if his identity was exposed, at worst he could duck into the deep mountain wilderness and return to human society once he was invincible. He refused to believe vampires could track him down in the remote wilds. After all, he had no need for blood, or even ordinary food. As long as the sun rose as usual, he had nothing to fear from any war of attrition. "Old Zhang, lend me your phone." Yu Xian walked up to the window and called out to Zhang Shou, who had his rear stuck out as he chatted with Chen Ling. "Where's yours?" Zhang Shou pulled out his phone, unlocked the screen, and handed it over, asking casually. Yu Xian had no choice but to produce his cracked phone and sighed helplessly. "Dropped it and smashed the screen. Don't even know if it can be fixed." With that, he carried the phone back to the railing and dialed the Public Security Bureau. "Hello, I want to make a report." Yu Xian felt tense, speaking up the moment the call connected. "May I ask what you wish to report?" inquired the voice on the other end. Yu Xian composed himself and said, "I want to report that aberrant worms have invaded Silver City. Many people have already been parasitized. The situation is extremely urgent, so please hurry—" "Oh dear, we're exposed." Suddenly, the voice on the other end shifted, turning from a woman's voice into a shrill male register. Yu Xian's eyes widened instantly. His mouth hung open, unable to utter a word. Even the sunlight pouring down upon him failed to dispel the chill seizing his heart. Just who... was on the other end of the line? "Since we're exposed, let's play a game. Thanks for the call, little bro. Don't go dying on me now," the speaker said in a leisurely drawl, completely unbothered by being uncovered. *Beep, beep, beep...* The call went dead. Gritting his teeth, Yu Xian crushed the phone in his grip to pieces in an instant. *Bastard! Have the aberrant worms already infiltrated the Public Security Bureau?* Before he could think about what to do next, a blinding glare erupted from a chemical plant in the distance. Immediately following it, a deafening blast accompanied by violent tremors rolled in from afar. The school's windowpanes shattered instantly, and terrified screams erupted from students everywhere. Just then, one student after another who had been parasitized by aberrant worms stood up expressionlessly from their seats. As if having received a synchronized command, six red tentacles three meters long burst from each of their backs. The classmates who had barely recovered from the initial shock all stared with wide eyes. Zhang Shou had been talking to Chen Ling, but seeing this, he vaulted through the window into the hallway without hesitation. A tentacle struck like lightning. Before Zhang Shou could react, it whipped around his neck—only for a flash of silver light to sever the tentacle on the spot in the next second. Yu Xian condensed what little Silver Blood he had at his fingertips and barked, "Get behind me!" Even as he spoke, he dashed to the window, leaped up, and flipped into the classroom, slicing through a tentacle wrapped around Chen Ling's neck while still in midair. "Thank you!" Still trembling in terror, Chen Ling gasped for air. Yu Xian shoved her behind him and said, "Stay with Zhang Shou! Don't stray far from me." With that, he severed several incoming tentacles, then grabbed a chair with one hand as a weapon and bludgeoned a charging aberrant worm to the floor. He stomped down hard, crushing its head flat, then swung the chair rapidly in wide arcs. Wherever he swept through, aberrant worms were knocked down one after another. To him, the chair was far too light, effortless to wield. With his baseline strength of a full ton, if he had a suitable weapon, he wouldn't fear these aberrant worms in the slightest. The problem was that he had no proper weapon on hand; a chair bent out of shape after just a few smashes, completely unfit for sustained combat. "Holy shit, did Salty Fish eat a Forbidden Fruit or something?" Zhang Shou was also clutching a chair for self-defense, completely stunned by the spectacle. Chen Ling's eyes sparkled as she whispered, "How did I never notice before? Yu Xian is so handsome, so manly!" "Don't just stand there, help save people!" Catching sight of the two from the corner of his eye, Yu Xian snapped irritably. Some students had been knocked down by aberrant worms before they could even react, their fates currently unknown. What was even more exasperating was Nora. A dignified vampire, she had actually been caught by an aberrant worm's tentacle around her neck and hoisted into the air, her long legs—unconcealable even by the school uniform—kicking frantically. At first, Yu Xian had suspected Nora had transferred here to target him. Seeing her clumsy, pathetic performance now completely dispelled all his concerns. With moves like that... an ordinary person could probably handle her with ease. "Salty Fish, help!" Just then, Zhang Shou tried to block a tentacle with his chair, only for it to be ripped from his hands instantly. Yu Xian glanced back, his brow furrowing. Clearly, the students in the other classrooms had been entirely wiped out; aberrant worms from the other classes were now swarming toward them. The classroom had doors both in front and behind; holding it was completely out of the question. They had to retreat to the rooftop. The rooftop had only a single access point, and as long as they held that bottleneck, they could wait for official rescue. "Prepare to fall back! To the roof!" Yu Xian hurled his chair, instantly striking down the aberrant worm that had snatched Zhang Shou's chair. Then he vaulted over two desks, grabbed another chair, and smashed the head of the aberrant worm strangling Nora. As Nora dropped to the floor, he hoisted her onto his shoulder and charged out, the surviving students following in a rush. He rammed his way through the corridors. Any aberrant worm that barred his path was either sent flying by the impact or brutally crushed with a single punch. Fortunately, the school building had only six floors, and Class 3 of Senior Three was on the fifth floor. In under a minute, they surged onto the building's rooftop terrace. Yu Xian set Nora down and shoved her toward Chen Ling, then spun around to guard the heavy door, kicking the aberrant worms trailing behind down the stairwell. Slamming the door shut, Yu Xian leaned his back against it, absorbing sunlight to recover his strength. The other students were panting heavily as well, bent over with hands on their knees, drenched in sweat. After catching his breath for a moment, Zhang Shou couldn't help asking, "Salty Fish, what on earth is going on? Why are there so many aberrant worms in our school?" "No way... How could aberrant worms from Rongcheng end up at our school?" a student cried in terror. Chen Ling snapped, "What do you mean 'no way'? Isn't the situation obvious? Those *are* aberrant worms! But what do they want?" As she spoke, she turned toward Yu Xian, hoping to get an answer from him. "I don't know," Yu Xian sighed, shaking his head. He truly didn't know what the aberrant worms were after, and the mysterious person on the other end of the phone cast a massive shadow over his heart. Someone who could command all the aberrant worms with a single word was definitely a dangerous figure he couldn't afford to provoke. "We're not safe here. Once the aberrant worms take full control of the school, they'll definitely launch a full-scale assault on the roof. I can't hold them off alone. Look around and see if there's anything we can use," Yu Xian said, addressing the group after a moment of rest. Aberrant worms were not zombies; staying quiet and not making a sound wouldn't hide them. "What about tearing down the wire mesh to wrap up the door?" Zhang Shou suggested immediately. A wire mesh fence ran along the edges of the rooftop terrace; with Yu Xian's brute strength, tearing it down was indeed feasible. "Um... it's four-thirty in the afternoon right now, two and a half hours until nightfall. If we can hold out until dark, my guardian Luo Qi will definitely rush over, and then we'll be saved," Nora piped up timidly at this moment. To be honest, she felt completely useless right now. She had clearly come to assassinate Yu Xian, yet Yu Xian had ended up saving her life. Her silence hadn't been out of shyness, but because she was too ashamed to show her face. She clearly wasn't weak. She even had Blood Flame as her trump card. Yet when an attack hit, she had still frozen up like a sitting duck. It was utterly humiliating.