Qing Xinxue’s scream, like glass scraping against a blackboard, pierced the deathly silence of the abandoned classroom.
Silhouetted against the light, her petite figure seemed consumed by rage. Her almond-shaped eyes, usually filled with dependence and timidity, now held nothing but pure, destructive madness.
The blond-haired boy froze, startled by the sudden turn of events and her terrifying aura.
In that instant of his stunned hesitation, Qing Xinxue moved!
Like an enraged cheetah, she moved with such speed that only a blur remained. The metal table leg in her hand whistled through the air as she brought it down mercilessly on the boy’s shoulder!
“Ah—!” The boy let out a bloodcurdling scream.
He staggered backward from the impact, overturning several abandoned desks and chairs, sending dust swirling into the air.
He felt as if his shoulder blade had shattered, and excruciating pain instantly swept through his entire body.
But this was only the beginning.
Having successfully landed a blow, the crimson in Qing Xinxue’s eyes intensified.
She gave him no chance to catch his breath, clinging to him like a parasite. The metal table leg in her hand was no longer a mere club; it had become an extension of her fury, striking again and again.
With dull thuds, it landed heavily on the boy’s back, arms, and thighs. She had completely abandoned any thought of defense, like a rabid beast with only one thought in her mind: to destroy! To utterly destroy this person who dared to threaten and touch Sister Cheng!
“How dare you touch her! How dare you touch her! Die! Just die!”
As she struck him with frenzied blows, she cursed in a high-pitched, tearful voice, each word imbued with twisted affection and boundless hatred.
The boy initially managed a few more agonizing screams and mumbled pleas for mercy, but soon, only pained grunts remained.
He lay curled on the floor, twitching unconsciously, like a battered sack, enduring violence far beyond his capacity. Blood seeped from his forehead and the corners of his mouth, staining the dusty ground.
Lan Yucheng was utterly stunned by the scene unfolding before her.
She knew Qing Xinxue was obsessive, possessive, and even prone to violence.
However, she had never personally witnessed Qing Xinxue unleash the beast within her so completely, so cruelly. This was no longer the desperate, pleading threat she had seen before; this was pure, uncontrolled slaughter!
A thick, cloying smell of blood permeated the air, mixing with the dust, making it sickening.
As Qing Xinxue raised the table leg high again, its target was clearly the boy’s already bloodied occipital region. If that blow landed, the consequences would be unimaginable!
“Enough! Xiaoxue! Stop!” Lan Yucheng snapped back from her horror, shouting sternly.
But Qing Xinxue, consumed by a murderous frenzy, seemed not to hear. In her world, there was only the ‘threat’ on the ground that needed to be utterly annihilated.
The table leg whistled as it descended!
In that critical moment, Lan Yucheng found an unknown surge of courage and strength. She lunged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Qing Xinxue’s waist from behind, dragging her backward with all her might!
“Stop! Qing Xinxue! You’ll kill him!” Lan Yucheng’s voice was distorted by fear and exertion.
Restrained around the waist, Qing Xinxue thrashed like a fish out of water, the table leg in her hand still flailing wildly.
“Let go of me! Sister Cheng, let go of me! I’m going to kill him! He dared to touch you! He must die!”
She shrieked, tears and sweat mingling on her face, which bore an almost maniacal stubbornness.
“If you kill him, you’ll be ruined too!”
Lan Yucheng held her in a death grip, practically roaring into her ear, “He’s not worth it, this kind of scum! Listen to me! Put the thing down!”
Perhaps the word ‘listen’ struck a nerve, or perhaps the unprecedented sternness and a hint of imperceptible panic in Lan Yucheng’s voice took effect, but Qing Xinxue’s struggles gradually lessened.
She gasped for breath, her bloodshot eyes fixed on the dying boy on the ground, her fingers clutching the table leg trembling violently from the intense grip.
Finally, her hand loosened.
“Clang!”
The blood-stained metal table leg dropped to the ground, emitting a chilling sound.
Qing Xinxue seemed to have all her strength drained from her in an instant, collapsing limply into Lan Yucheng’s embrace, her body still trembling uncontrollably.
She turned around, hugging Lan Yucheng tightly, burying her face in her neck, letting out suppressed, fearful sobs.
“Sister Cheng… he touched you… he threatened you… I’m so scared… I’m so angry…”
She cried incoherently, as if the terrifying figure from moments ago hadn’t been her.
Lan Yucheng held the trembling body in her arms, her heart still pounding as she looked at the boy on the ground, whose fate was unknown. She forced herself to calm down, quickly scanning the scene.
An abandoned classroom, a complete mess, a severely injured and unconscious person, and an emotionally distraught assailant.
She had to deal with this immediately!
She gently patted Qing Xinxue’s back, her voice softening, yet carrying an undeniable command: “Xiaoxue, listen to me, now is not the time to cry. We need to leave here, immediately, right now!”
She pulled Qing Xinxue up, not sparing another glance at the boy on the ground. She quickly picked up her dropped phone, then, pulling the dazed Qing Xinxue along, hurried away from this problematic place.
Stepping out of the old teaching building and once again bathing in the sunlight, Lan Yucheng felt a sense of returning to the world of the living.
She glanced at Qing Xinxue beside her, who was still subtly trembling and clutching her clothes, her emotions complex beyond measure.
Qing Xinxue’s protection was effective, perhaps even overly ‘effective.’ However, this power was like a double-edged sword, capable of cutting down external threats but also constantly threatening to turn against herself.
She had to guide this power more carefully, control it more firmly. Otherwise, next time, it might not just be a matter of ‘almost beating someone to death.’
And the aftermath concerning that boy, along with the ‘debt’ he spoke of… that was yet another potential trouble that needed to be resolved as soon as possible.
Campus life, it seemed, would indeed not be peaceful.