A Desperate Stand

“Get out of the way!”

Shi Lei heard his friend shout before he could think.

The next second, he was pushed backwards by a tremendous force.

Huh? What happened?

A flicker of confusion crossed Shi Lei’s face as he stumbled back.

Bang!

A loud crash sounded in his ear. Concrete fragments flew past his face, bringing a stinging pain.

Shi Lei stumbled and hit the outer wall of the teaching building.

“It hurts, it hurts!”

He hit his head and was dizzy. He rubbed his back and was about to stand up.

But then he froze completely.

Because where he had been standing, a giant iron compass as tall as a person was now stuck in the ground.

Calling it a compass, but its two legs were sharp spikes, more like a professional gauge. It stood proudly, piercing the ground. The cold moonlight flowed over it, exuding a chilling aura.

“Huh? What is that?”

Shi Lei rubbed his eyes, opening and closing them several times.

Thump, thump, thump!

Heavy footsteps rapidly approached from a distance. Shi Lei instinctively looked toward the sound. Then he saw a scene he would never forget.

It was a horrifying monster with a pig’s head, a human body, dripping with stinking saliva, and wearing a blue suit.

“f*ck, it’s a zombie pigman from Minecraft!” he blurted out.

“Not exactly the same.”

Huang Xiu said through gritted teeth as he got up from the ground. It was he who had reacted in time, diving to push Shi Lei away, otherwise he would have become a human kebab.

Covering the scraped wound from the dive, Huang Xiu panted and roared, “What are you standing there for? Run!”

Shi Lei was still dizzy. He looked at Huang Xiu blankly, his eyes full of innocent stupidity.

Seeing this, Huang Xiu laughed in anger. He walked over and slapped him across the face.

That slap woke Shi Lei up. He shuddered as if waking from a dream, then grabbed Huang Xiu’s arm and stood up. His legs were still weak.

Coming to his senses, he realized they were in a life-or-death situation. So despite his fear, he stumbled after Huang Xiu into the teaching building.

The heavy footsteps behind them grew closer, then suddenly stopped. But Shi Lei felt no relief, because he knew the monster was just pulling out its weapon.

“Turn left, go upstairs!”

Huang Xiu ran while looking back. Seeing that the pig-headed monster had pulled out its weapon, he yanked Shi Lei into the stairwell.

Boom!

As soon as they turned into the stairwell, the compass flew past their backs like a tank shell, piercing the green-painted brick wall at the end of the corridor. It left only rubble and a cloud of dust.

“Damn it, why does this pig-headed monster exist? Didn’t Professor Yuan say it was my awakening delusion?”

Huang Xiu cursed in his heart. He pulled Shi Lei and ran for their lives. His hair stood on end, and goosebumps popped up one after another. A bad feeling coiled around him like a snake.

If it was just Professor Yuan saying it was a delusion, fine. But hadn’t the anomalous investigation already come? How could neither of them notice? Was the Anomaly Control Bureau that useless? Damn tax thieves!

And why was Shi Lei dragged in this time? He wasn’t an anomalous! Glancing at Shi Lei, who was panting and struggling to keep running, Huang Xiu’s expression grew heavier.

And since Shi Lei was dragged in, did it mean other students were also brought in? Huang Xiu didn’t dare think about it. He could only pray.

But soon, a girl’s scream from somewhere on campus told him the worst had happened.

“Ah!”

Besides the two of them, other students were also dragged in. And the threat on campus was not just the pig-headed monster behind them.

His mind flashed back to Teacher Yue’s words. [Death is the most eternal and absolute rule. In the void realm, death is true death, no rebirth, not a fantasy.]

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” Huang Xiu growled low, his eyes burning with rage. “Is this fate?”

The pig-headed monster had killed him that night, triggering his initial awakening and a dramatic change in his life. Before that night, Huang Xiu never thought such a change would come so quickly. And now, the pig-headed monster had come again!

“Is it time?”

The teenager looked up. Under the deep curtain-like sky, the cold moon was soft and noble, just like that night. That moment was exactly like this moment.

But it was different now. Back then, he had no power and could only run like a stray dog. But now…

Huang Xiu suddenly laughed with relief.

His rapid footsteps gradually slowed. He stopped behind Shi Lei. He turned around slowly, looking ahead.

“Can’t run anymore?” Shi Lei looked anxious. He grabbed Huang Xiu’s arm. “Come on, I’ll drag you!”

This idiot, really touching. Tsk, my judgment in friends isn’t bad. I actually made a friend I can trust with my life. Spending two years of high school here ending like this isn’t a loss.

He gently pulled his arm out of Shi Lei’s grasp and turned to look at him.

“It’s not that I can’t run. I’ve made up my mind.”

He turned and looked at the stairwell behind them. The lights were flickering and buzzing, making crackling sounds. Combined with the speed of the compass earlier, it seemed the pig-headed monster had grown stronger.

“You go first! I’ll hold it off,” Huang Xiu said in a deep voice. He was in good shape and could run, but Shi Lei couldn’t. So stopping it here was the best option.

“f*ck, this thing, how the hell can you stop it?” Shi Lei panicked. “What are you going to use, your head?”

“Let’s go! We need to call the police!” He grabbed Huang Xiu’s arm, trying to pull him back. “The police will know what to do.”

But no matter how hard he pulled, Huang Xiu stood rooted to the spot, unmoving.

“The police do have ways, but how many students will die at this thing’s hands before they arrive?” Huang Xiu’s gaze was as deep as a pool.

He waved his right hand, and Shi Lei stumbled backward.

“Right now, I’m the only one on campus who can stop it!”

Facing Shi Lei’s incredulous look, Huang Xiu stood straight as a tree.

“Do you know why I passed the preliminary exam?”

“Why?”

Shi Lei seemed to think of a possibility, a glimmer of disbelief in his eyes. He looked a bit dumb and acted silly, but how could a fool get into a key high school? His foolishness was just a disguise, a willingness to play the clown to fit in better with his classmates.

“Could it be…?”

“Yes! Everything you’re thinking is right!”

Huang Xiu suddenly yelled. “Go, Shi Lei! You’ll only slow me down here!” Otherwise, if this idiot saw him transform later, it would be worse than death.

“…”

Shi Lei hesitated for a moment. “Brother Xiu, I’m going! Don’t lie to me!”

“Run to the school gate!” Huang Xiu instructed. “Don’t go to the dorm! There are monsters there too!”

A girl’s scream had just come from the direction of the dorms. There might be another pig-headed monster or other monsters…

Time was running out. He hoped it wasn’t too late. A flicker of anxiety crossed his eyes.

“And, get into a good university!” Huang Xiu said softly.

Shi Lei’s body stiffened, and his eyes reddened. He nodded vigorously, suppressing the urge to look back, and ran down the other staircase as fast as he could.

“Call the police, call the police!”

Shi Lei clenched his fists, breathing heavily like a fish stranded on the beach. He jumped down eight steps, landing heavily on the ground floor. Ignoring the pain in his ankle, he ran toward the school gate. His phone had been confiscated; now he could only run out of school and find a guard or passerby to call the police.

“Hold on, Brother Xiu!”

The boy ran like a dog, his tongue lolling. “I’ll get someone here soon!”