A moderate explosion erupted among the desks and chairs, sending both Lin Qin and Han Yimo tumbling.
"What is that?" Han Yimo shouted in disbelief, his hands instinctively covering his head. "How could this happen?"
A flaming stone slowly rolled to a stop right before Lin Qin’s eyes. She picked it up, her fingers meeting the scorching heat.
‘Is this what caused the explosion...?’ Lin Qin suddenly had a realization and quickly called out, "Are you {Cats}?"
The attacking force halted in their tracks. The leader of the men paused briefly before raising his voice in response, "Who’s there? State your name."
Lin Qin, hidden behind cover, slowly raised both hands, showing her palms to make her presence clear.
“All hail Judgment’s Domain,” she declared.
The words struck Han Yimo like a thunderclap, leaving him in stunned silence.
"Pleasure to meet you," the leader replied indifferently. "{Judgment’s Domain} is one of our major clients. Please, if you would kindly reveal your {Reverberation}. If it is one we are acquainted with, we won't trouble you further today."
At the mention of {Boosting Touch}, the expressions of the group in the distance shifted, a subtle but unmistakable change.
"Adherent Lin Qin?" the leader asked tentatively.
"I apologize for the earlier offense," the leader said as he waved his hand, signaling for his people to lower their weapons. "I'm Song Seven from {Cats}. We’ve met before."
Lin Qin nodded, slowly rising to her feet. "A pleasure..."
After confirming Lin Qin's identity, Song Seven slipped the stone he had been holding into his pocket. "Lin Qin, our mission tonight is to {massacre all of Passage to Heaven}. You've done me a favor in the past, so to avoid breaking protocol, I'll give you thirty seconds to escape. After thirty seconds, everyone will be attacked without distinction."
Lin Qin furrowed her brow slightly upon hearing his words. "How much did they offer? I’m willing to pay more."
"Lin Qin, the price this time is too high. Only he can afford it," Song Seven shook his head. "Twenty-five seconds remaining."
"There’s a key figure here. He cannot die," Lin Qin persisted, her voice firm. "At least not yet! He holds the potential to destroy this place!"
Song Seven blinked, finding her argument somewhat amusing. "Lin Qin, I thought you were part of {Judgment’s Domain}. Why are you now helping an outsider destroy this place?"
"I..." Lin Qin fumbled for a solution, realizing that this might be a lost cause. "Song Seven, I want to leave."
Song Seven sighed and shook his head in resignation. "Five seconds left."
Lin Qin’s eyes began to dull with defeat as she muttered, "Song Seven, we can’t lose hope. No one can..."
"Please, I beg you... that person really..."
"One, sorry." With those words, Song Seven took a small stone from his pocket and flicked it toward Lin Qin. The stone, upon making contact with her cheek, suddenly erupted in a violent explosion.
Before a scream could escape her lips, Lin Qin’s head was shattered, her body slowly crumpling to the ground, coming to rest in front of Han Yimo.
His eyes widened as he gazed at the black mangled remains, his mind racing. What on earth was going on?!
"Each of you, one by one, either a savior or hiding another identity...I’m supposed to be the protagonist..." His body shook, his confusion turning into dread as he couldn’t make sense of the chaos unfolding around him.
How could the protagonist be so clueless in the face of such overwhelming danger?
Shouldn’t the plot unfold gradually?
Where were the predecessors who should have come to save him?!
Where were the fortuitous encounters?!
"Hey... Lin Qin... Get up, you have a hidden identity, right...?" Han Yimo called out in panic. "How could someone with a hidden identity just die like that? Shouldn’t you be the one saving me...?"
But Lin Qin was clearly lifeless now, unable to rise again.
"The one back there, come out now. No one is leaving tonight," Song Seven called out.
Han Yimo had no intention of stepping out. Even if survival seemed impossible, he had no desire to walk straight into death. But the abilities of that person were so bizarre—it seemed anything thrown could trigger an explosion...
'Explosion...?' Under the crushing pressure, Han Yimo suddenly went blank. A memory surfaced—he recalled a character from the book he had written, someone who had caused a violent explosion at the moment of death, taking down the enemy in a mutual demise.
A sense of unease began to creep into Han Yimo’s mind. He started to worry that when his time came, the same fate might await him—that his death could trigger an explosion.
"Not coming out, huh?" Song Seven's tone grew more cautious. After all, he was still unaware of Han Yimo’s abilities.
Standing some distance away, he tossed another small stone.
His intention was to destroy the makeshift cover Han Yimo had hidden behind, but to his surprise, the stone slipped through the gaps between the overturned tables and chairs, landing right next to Han Yimo.
"Huh?" Han Yimo turned his head and spotted a small, steaming stone beside him, panic instantly flooding his senses. But before he could react, the blast struck his thigh with full force, reducing it to a bloody, mangled mess.
A heart-wrenching scream echoed as Han Yimo's thigh was scorched black, smoke rising from the blood itself.
"This isn't right!!" Han Yimo wailed in agony, his voice trembling with desperation. "This isn’t right!! Someone, save me! My savior... Qi Xia... Qi Xia!!" His cries echoed, raw and frantic, as he clutched at his ruined leg, his pleas for help hanging in the air like a haunting refrain.
But no response came.
"You're so loud..." Song Seven muttered, shaking his head. "To end up ... So you don’t have a {Reverberation}?"
He turned to the men behind him, gesturing with a wave of his hand. "Kill him."
Several men in black moved forward, their actions swift and efficient. With a few precise strikes, they ended Han Yimo’s life, his body falling lifelessly to the floor.
Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, and Li Xiangling hid in the teacher’s office on the second floor, feeling an overwhelming sense of unease.
The chaos unfolding before them wasn’t staged; it was all too real. Just moments ago, they had heard someone screaming in agony, shouting {Qi Xia}.
‘What exactly is happening...?’ Qi Xia furrowed his brows, peering through the crack in the door, looking outside. "Was that Han Yimo...?"
"Swindler lad," Qiao Jiajin mused after a long pause, finally rising to his feet. "How much of a chance do you think we have of surviving if we stay hidden here?"
"Less than one percent," Qi Xia answered.
He knew it was only a matter of time before they were discovered.
"Then I’m joining the battle," Qiao Jiajin said, casually tossing his shirt onto the floor.
Li Xiangling froze. "Qiao ge, you..."
"When everyone from {Passage to Heaven} is dead, there won’t be any chance left for us to fight back," Qiao Jiajin said, his voice steady. "By joining the battle now, we still have a chance of surviving."
Qi Xia knew he couldn’t deter Qiao Jiajin, so he simply nodded.
Unexpectedly, Li Xiangling reached out and grabbed Qiao Jiajin's arm. "Qiao ge... please don't go..."
"Hmm?" Qiao Jiajin turned back to look at her. "Kung Fu gal, don’t worry, I’ve got it covered."
"I have a bad feeling..." Li Xiangling said, tears welling up in her eyes. "Can’t you stay here?"
"No..." Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "There are too many people waiting for me to protect them." He pushed the door open, briefly scanning the surroundings, and before closing it behind him, he leaned in and whispered, "Swindler lad, Kung Fu gal, don’t open this door for anyone but me. Got it?"