Chapter Fourteen: The Appointed Time

Qian Xiaozhen suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"Go on, tell me! You're killing me with suspense," I urged. Qian Xiaozhen lit a cigarette and said to me seriously, "There might be some intel at that place, or there might not be."

"Either way, we have to go and see for ourselves," I said anxiously. After all, no one wanted to play this twisted game any longer.

"It's near Nihon County, a place called Toothless Village. Legend has it, they never communicate with outsiders and never open their mouths to speak..."

After hearing what Qian Xiaozhen said, I suddenly found myself curious about this strange place. An inexplicable sense of competition rose in my chest.

"Let's go! We have to check it out," I agreed without hesitation.

"But..." Qian Xiaozhen trailed off, then pointed at my phone. I understood instantly.

"I... I don't even know when it'll let me have a day off," I muttered, scratching my head until my already messy hair was a bird’s nest.

"It's fine, we'll go when we have time. No rush..."

So, Qian Xiaozhen and I made a pact to go together when we could, then parted ways at the intersection.

Just as I was about to unlock my door, my phone rang again.

"Today's game is over. The next round begins at 8 AM tomorrow."

I glanced at my phone and sighed softly...

The afternoon passed quickly and uneventfully. That night, I finally got a good sleep.

The next morning, I packed my bag in a panic and rushed to hail a cab to school—I had overslept!

By the time I reached the school gates, it was already 7:55. I sprinted with everything I had, terrified of being late by even a second.

At the very last moment, I burst into the classroom.

"Damn, I thought I was a goner for sure," Li Zijian said, still playing his shooting game.

"Hey, you stupid teammate, that level 3 helmet was mine!"

Honestly, I had to admire Li Zijian. While everyone else was on edge, waiting for the game to begin, he was playing battle royale like nothing was wrong.

"Did everyone have a good rest?" The Ghost King messaged right on schedule, sending another disgusting sticker.

"Good? My ass... You're going to torture us to death."

"Yeah, when will these games finally end?"

"Can we play something easy today...?" Everyone was chatting in the group, each message more desperate than the last.

"Alright, today we'll play a simple game," replied the Ghost King, and followed up with a big red envelope of 500 yuan. Everyone, already worn down by the endless games, scrambled to claim it.

"Oh no... I'm doomed," Li Zijian groaned in misery.

I checked the results—Li Zijian had snagged the "Luckiest" spot, with Chen Chen taking second place.

I couldn’t help but smile wryly. "These two are too unlucky..."

"This round, the game will be played by Li Zijian, Chen Chen, Song Yiming, Zhang Lin, Shen Yang, and Han Qiqi."

"The rules: these six students must go to the first floor and search for three Ghost King Orbs. When time’s up, those who find the orbs win."

So it was all about luck. I messaged the Ghost King again.

"Can we go help search?"

"Yes," the Ghost King replied almost instantly. "Game start!"

I saw Song Yiming and Zhang Lin from the next class dash out first. I grabbed the still-grumbling Li Zijian and ran downstairs, messaging Chen Chen as we went: "We’ll wait for you downstairs—hurry."

As Li Zijian and I reached the first floor, Chen Chen came down the other staircase.

"Let’s get to it. Split up and search," I said.

No need for more words. We each entered a classroom and began searching.

Time slipped by, but unfortunately, I didn’t find a single Ghost King Orb—there was nothing, not even a speck of dust.

As I was still rummaging, a sudden shout came from the next room. "Ah! Who’s there!"

Something was wrong. I grabbed a mop, pulled off the head, and ran out brandishing the stick.

I remembered Li Zijian was searching next door—had things already gotten violent?

I reached the door to find Li Zijian sitting alone, rubbing his knee.

Chen Chen hurried over. "What happened?!"

"Uh... I... fell," Li Zijian replied, embarrassed.

"Idiot," Chen Chen muttered.

I shook off my nerves and asked, "Did either of you find anything?"

"No," Chen Chen said, slumping into a chair.

"I did find this," Li Zijian said, pulling a black stone bead from his pocket with the word "Ghost" engraved in white.

"This must be it," Chen Chen agreed.

"That means we need two more. Let’s keep searching," I said, handing the orb back to Li Zijian for safekeeping. Chen Chen had no objection.

Just as we stepped out, Han Qiqi passed by, looking startled. "The other two are with Zhang Lin and Song Yiming. Their class has a whole crew searching for them."

"Hey! Hand over the last orb!" Song Yiming was suddenly only ten meters away, shouting at us.

"Give it to me if you don’t want to get hurt! And you, Chen Chen, you traitor, teaming up with Class One!"

"The last guy who talked to me like that is reporting to the underworld now!"

I shot Chen Chen and Li Zijian a look and whispered, "Grab them!"

"Go! Whoever gets the orb gets two thousand from me!" Song Yiming shouted.

Suddenly, over a dozen boys burst out from the classroom, wielding iron rods, knives, and machetes...

I charged ahead with my stick, Chen Chen on my left with a brand-new baton, Li Zijian on my right with a small knife.

None of us had any fighting skills—it was all about our bravado. As long as we kept up the energy, we were halfway to winning.

After so many rounds, I’d picked up my own way of handling a fight.

The first guy to reach me swung a machete. I didn’t hesitate, using the length of my stick to strike his face, then his shoulder, sweeping the next few to the ground.

For now, we were holding our own.

"Come on! If you want to die, step forward!" I roared. The others froze. Compared to two thousand yuan, their lives were more precious.

"Come on, attack! Do it!" Song Yiming was already backing away. I shoved aside the ones blocking me and swung my stick at Song Yiming’s thigh.

"Argh!"

I’d put all my strength into that blow—his leg was definitely done for.

Zhang Lin tried to join the fight but was quickly subdued by Chen Chen and Li Zijian.

I was about to say something to Song Yiming when, unexpectedly, he fainted. I caught Chen Chen’s eye, and he knocked Zhang Lin out with a solid blow to the head.

With the remaining two Ghost King Orbs in hand, I gave one to Han Qiqi. The game was finally over.

"Congratulations to Li Zijian, Chen Chen, and Han Qiqi for completing the game. Zhang Lin and Song Yiming will receive the Bone Breaking Punishment in half an hour."

As I read the message, something felt off. Then it hit me—where was Shen Yang?

I frantically searched every classroom. Finally, in the second-to-last room from the left, I found him.

He was already a corpse, his throat slashed—a wound that had been fatal for some time.

Moments ago, I thought Zhang Lin and Song Yiming deserved their fates, but now I wondered if even death was too light a punishment.

Chen Chen, Li Zijian, and I returned to class.

As we passed our classroom, I said to Chen Chen, "Join our class. It seems your popularity in your own class isn’t so great anymore."

Chen Chen forced a bitter smile and followed me in.

A while later, a limping boy came in, machete in hand, and called out to Feng Qiao, "I’m dead. Give me your Death Immunity Card!"

It was Song Yiming, gasping for breath.

"I’ll buy it from you!"

Feng Qiao just smiled faintly.

"Why should I? Your filthy money means nothing in the Ghost King’s game! The Immunity Card is a life!"

When Song Yiming saw money wouldn’t work, he tried to use force.

What I didn’t expect was for Feng Qiao to suddenly pull a knife from his desk and stab Song Yiming hard in the stomach.

Neither I nor Song Yiming had time to react—he collapsed, helpless.

"Try to mess with me? Try to steal my stuff? You need to go back to sucking milk!" Feng Qiao cackled madly, saying things far beyond his years.

At that moment, the Ghost King’s message arrived.

"Time’s up. Punishment begins."

Up front, Song Yiming suddenly stood bolt upright. Then, with a series of sickening cracks and pops, he collapsed to the ground like a boneless creature, lifeless.