Chapter Thirty-Two: Who Dares Lay a Finger on Him

The next day, at the break of dawn, I found myself unable to sleep and got out of bed. "It's only five o'clock..." I muttered as I glanced at my phone. Bored, I scrolled through the news—mostly gossip and scandals about celebrities. Eventually, I stumbled upon something different: "Overnight, all students in a class died... Is it a distortion of humanity or a collapse of morality?" Suddenly energized, I tapped on the link. "Damn, it's just an ad..." I cursed aloud, thinking I'd found some clue, only to discover it was an advertisement for a horror game.

After that pointless episode, I could no longer stay lying down and decided to get up and practice boxing in the living room.

Time slipped by quickly as I boxed, and before I knew it, it was seven o'clock. I took a quick shower and, at twenty past seven, left the house on time. After boxing, I could feel the mark on my head becoming more saturated.

The mark?

I slapped my forehead and whispered, "How did I forget to ask my second uncle about this yesterday? Sigh." It seemed I'd have to ask him another time.

I planned to have breakfast at the bun shop across from school, and as I approached, I bumped into Chen Chen walking this way too. I waved to him, and he jogged over.

"Up so early?" We walked into the bun shop together, choosing an empty table to sit at.

Chen Chen looked around nervously as if he'd done something wrong.

"What's up?" Knowing his temperament, I asked quietly.

He didn't respond until the shop owner brought over two trays of steamed buns we'd ordered. Then Chen Chen whispered, "I've heard recently that the Ghost King isn't actually the Ghost King."

His words stunned me. They sounded strangely familiar.

I thought for a moment... The Ghost King isn't the Ghost King...

I remembered! It was what Senior Hongshan from Toothless Village had once said.

I frowned slightly and pursed my lips. "And then?"

I didn't reveal what I knew to Chen Chen; I just wanted to hear him out.

"Uh... Actually, that's the only thing I heard."

I clicked my tongue in disappointment, losing interest, and asked, "Who did you hear that from?"

"I know an old gentleman who's quite famous in the surrounding villages. He's known as Cheng Feng. Yesterday afternoon, when I was visiting my grandfather, I happened to run into him. The first thing he said to me was that sentence."

Listening to Chen Chen's account, I wondered if this old man was really so remarkable.

"Didn't you ask him more?"

I pressed on.

"No, after that, he didn't say another word to me."

I nodded in understanding.

...

We quickly finished our steamed buns, each ordering another tray before heading to school.

By then, the school was completely sealed off. Apart from our two classes, no one else was around—not even many teachers. There were few people along the way, only a handful of classmates scattered here and there, all expressionless, their dark circles like pandas. And today was overcast, as if rain could fall at any moment.

It took less than five minutes for us to reach our classroom, where I said goodbye to Chen Chen.

At that moment, I noticed that Li Zijian, who was usually the earliest to arrive, hadn't shown up yet.

I checked my phone—it was already 7:55. I sent Li Zijian a few messages, but when he didn't reply, I tried a video call.

"Brother Yao, help me!"

As soon as Li Zijian answered, he blurted out those words, but the screen remained pitch black.

"I'm downstairs, surrounded by masked men. Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Before I could ask, Li Zijian had already told me his location.

The video call was on speaker, so the whole class looked over.

After he finished, I decisively hung up, gripped my Snow Blade, and ran downstairs.

I guessed Li Zijian was probably cornered on the first floor. With my speed, getting down a few flights of stairs was no issue.

But once I reached the ground floor, I realized something was wrong.

Nearly twenty people had surrounded Li Zijian, who could only lean against the stairwell corner.

Li Zijian held a dagger in his left hand and his backpack in his right, but for some reason, I saw a hint of confidence in his eyes...

Without thinking, I sprinted forward and kicked the person at the back of the group, then took my place in front of Li Zijian.

"Holy crap, bro, you finally made it! If you hadn't come, I'd be done for," Li Zijian joked, visibly less nervous now that I was there.

"You little brat, scram. This has nothing to do with you," said one of the men, all dressed in black athletic pants and headscarves—no doubt, killers.

"Why are you after him?"

I pointed at Li Zijian.

"Heh, I kill whoever I want. If you don't leave, I'll kill you too," growled the man with a hoarse voice.

"Brother Yao, they're trying to kidnap me to extort money from my dad. Damn!" Li Zijian spat on the floor in disgust.

I forgot to mention, Li Zijian's family is quite renowned—one of the top ten in our city.

So that's it...

"If it's a fight, let's fight—no need for all this nonsense," I said, assuming the opening stance of the Eight-Level Fist, right hand ready to summon the Snow Blade.

"Who dares touch them?"

I turned to look—somehow, classmates had gathered behind me.

The speaker was Feng Qi'ao from our class, who gave me a slight smile in greeting.

"Who the hell are you all?"

"Get out of here, or you won't survive one strike from my machete."

"Their lives are ours to protect..."

I looked gratefully at all my classmates behind me, my eyes already reddening.

Though the Ghost King's appearance had turned our once harmonious class into a bloody battleground, the students still held onto the last shred of conscience.

They slid weapons from their sleeves, and some, like me, were moved to tears.

"Fine, you're the boss. We'll leave," said the lead man, putting away his weapon and slinking off with his crew.

I turned and smiled at everyone, feeling warmth in my heart.

Before I could finish my emotional speech, everyone's phones rang at once.

"Classmates, it's time to begin the next game."

"You may leave the school to prepare supplies before noon."

"At twelve o'clock, you must return to the school and begin a three-day game."

A chill ran through me.

This was imprisonment—my classmates thought the same.

"Three days? I've never spent the night outside since I was a kid. How am I supposed to explain this to my parents?"

"Yeah, are you trying to torture us to death?"

"Forget it, we can't resist anyway."

But this time, the Ghost King didn't reply.

I messaged Chen Chen to meet at the school gate, glanced at the classmates behind me, all looking defeated, and said,

"Thank you all for helping me today. As long as we keep our hearts and don't lose our humanity, even if we die, we won't be ashamed. Trust me, there is honor beyond!"

After speaking, I didn't care if they understood. I turned and pulled Li Zijian along, heading out of the teaching building.