A Desperate Plea Under Moonlight

The moonlight was brilliant, spreading a layer of silver sand on the concrete ground. The street lamps on both sides of the road flickered faintly.

Inside the orange-yellow light flickering outside the security booth, a tall and thin shadow grew from small to large, gradually becoming clear.

It was Shi Lei running at full speed. He saw the old security guard dozing off in the booth.

“Don’t sleep!!! Uncle!!!”

He shouted, leaped up, and kicked the security booth door open with a flying kick.

Bang!

The iron door slammed against the wall and rebounded, shaking down a bit of wall dust.

The old security guard woke from his dream, startled, and slipped off his chair.

“What are you doing!”

He hadn’t yet figured out the situation. Looking at the student who had disturbed his good sleep, the old security guard picked up his glasses from the table and said with extreme dissatisfaction, “Which class are you from?”

“Damn, uncle, someone jumped off a building on campus and died! Call the police quickly, or something big will happen!”

Shi Lei didn’t directly say there was a monster on campus. The old security guard definitely wouldn’t believe that. It was more effective to say someone jumped off a building.

“Really?” The white-haired old security guard shot up like a rocket.

A death was a big deal! He fumbled for his phone from his pocket, not realizing why a security guard would need to call the police.

Shi Lei watched anxiously, thinking that calling the police didn’t require unlocking the phone anyway. So he rushed over and snatched the phone.

“Give it here!”

“Why are you grabbing my phone!”

Seeing his phone snatched, the old security guard reached out to take it back, but Shi Lei slapped his hand away.

“Don’t mess around!” he shouted.

Life was at stake. At this point, Shi Lei didn’t care if he made the old security guard angry.

Shi Lei pressed the power button, his eyes filled with a complex mix of anxiety, guilt, and regret.

‘Brother Xiu, you have to hold on!’

If it weren’t for his own cowardice and weakness, Brother Xiu wouldn’t have needed to stay behind to cover their escape. With Brother Xiu’s speed, they could have escaped from that monster alone.

Looking at the signal bar in the top right corner of the phone showing no signal, Shi Lei felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

“How is that possible!”

He dialed the emergency number anyway, but no one answered on the other end. The phone was silent with a busy tone, just like his dead heart.

“f*ck!”

Grabbing the phone, Shi Lei ran outside.

“Hey, my phone!” The old security guard paused for half a second, then chased after him. “Give me back my phone!”

“No signal? Then I’ll run to a place with signal!”

Shi Lei ignored the old security guard. He grabbed the electric gate with both hands, pulled himself up, and flipped over it.

But when he landed, he tripped over something and fell flat on his face.

He struggled to get up, but suddenly a huge black shadow appeared in front of him.

A dirty, stinking smell blew in with the night wind. A long, sharp claw gently tapped on his head.

The sharp, cold sensation passed through his scalp and spread throughout his body, making his hair stand on end and his body tremble. He froze halfway up.

He looked up and saw the monster in front of him. It was as if his throat had been squeezed shut; he couldn’t breathe. A weak hiss escaped his throat.

“Uh, uh, uh.”

This was the residual memory from ancient times when humans faced animals they couldn’t resist.

‘Move!’ he roared in his heart, but sadly found it impossible.

The emotion called cowardice had long been etched into his DNA, passed down through his ancestors’ blood to him.

Suddenly, the back of his shirt tightened, and then a strong force lifted him up.

His hands flailed in the air, tears streaming from his eyes. The immense pressure, with the erosion of void energy, finally overwhelmed his mental defenses.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I can’t do it!” he sobbed.

Unhappy childhood memories flashed wildly before his eyes: scolding, humiliation, bullying, cowardice, running away, changing schools, immersing himself in the virtual world…

He couldn’t do it. He simply couldn’t! No matter where he ran, he was still the same him. He had only thought about running from the start. Reporting was just an excuse he made for himself!

A coward is always a coward. Just like before, he hadn’t changed at all.

At that moment, the small campus gate behind him creaked open. The old security guard, cursing, stepped out in his slippers.

“That naughty student, don’t let me catch you…”

His gaze followed the opened iron gate. A monster with a fox head, wearing a security guard uniform, a full three meters tall, was holding the student who had snatched his phone.

“Mon… monster!”

The old security guard’s vision went black. His legs gave out, and he fainted, falling straight to the ground.

The seductive fox eyes glanced at the old security guard carelessly, but then looked cunningly at the crying Shi Lei.

“Curfew hours. Not allowed to leave campus without permission.”

A snake-like tongue extended from its long snout and licked Shi Lei all over.

“Violators, according to school rules, expelled!” it sneered.

Its mouth split open to the sides of its ears, opening a full 180 degrees. Layers of densely packed fangs were still stained with blood. Who knew if some unlucky student had already ended up in its stomach.

It lifted Shi Lei with its sharp claws and brought him toward its mouth, as if already savoring the delicious taste. Its fox eyes narrowed into slits.

Shi Lei was still mumbling to himself, “Brother Xiu, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

The sharp claws were about to let go, but then a dark shadow suddenly swept in from afar.

A kick to the head! The figure curled in mid-air, spun, and landed steadily.

Bang!

The fox monster howled in pain, its huge body rolling on the ground like a tumbleweed. It didn’t stop until it knocked over the electric sliding gate.

The dark shadow reached out and caught the falling Shi Lei, whispering softly with an apologetic look, “Sorry, I’m late.”

“You don’t need to be afraid anymore.”

Moonlight fell from the sky, illuminating the face of the dark shadow. It was a boy with delicate features. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, as if he had come in a hurry. He carried no weapons. Or perhaps he didn’t need any.

His name was Yun Ning. He was a student in the Exploration Department at Tiandu University, a gifted freshman rated A-level. As for his current strength… he was at the Mercury rank. As for his ability? Sorry, that’s highly classified.

Back to the story.

He had run all the way and arrived just in time. He gently set Shi Lei down and turned to look at the monster, which was holding its head and getting up, leaning on the electric gate.

“A sentient void creature, huh…” he murmured.