Lin Zhen seemed to be awake.
Surrounded by dark energy, he hung limply, easily caught in He Luo’s grasp, clearly gravely injured. He was still wearing the school uniform of Morning Light High School, but the jacket was torn in many places, and the originally pure white uniform was now stained with blood. He Luo’s hand pierced through Lin Zhen’s shoulder, the fresh blood deepening the crimson on the uniform.
Although He Luo’s appearance was terrifying, he still wore his uniform neatly. At this moment, holding the severely injured Lin Zhen, a Ghost/Monster looked more presentable than the players.
In the dim night, Yan Wei couldn’t see Lin Zhen’s specific expression, but he vaguely saw Lin Zhen seemingly straining to lift his head to look at him, even managing a smile.
Yan Wei took a deep breath.
Yu Feizhou, unable to hold back, stepped forward, but Yan Mingguang quickly grabbed him, his tone steady yet sharp: “Calm down.”
Yan Wei asked in a low voice, “What happened?”
Yu Feizhou clenched his fists, his usually gentle face now seemingly covered with a layer of frost. He said, “After you went in, the Ghost/Monsters here were attacking sporadically, and we were handling it easily. But Lin Zhen never came back. He said there were a lot of Ghost/Monsters on his way back—at that time, Yan Mingguang and I felt something was off. The small grove was the key; how could there be more Ghost/Monsters than when Lin Zhen was coming back? Then, before you came out…”
Yan Wei understood.
He instinctively tightened his grip on the Punishment Notice in his hand, leaving very noticeable creases on the yellowed paper.
So it was like this.
He had sensed something was off before he went in. He was about to enter to get the Punishment Notice, and every step was crucial, yet He Luo had not shown himself, seemingly unhurried. That’s why he had told Yan Mingguang to be careful; He Luo might have a trump card. This instance’s NPCs were different from those in previous instances; it was a nineteen-layer Dynamic Instance reassembled from the energy scattered after a high-level instance, and this time the gambling floor was opened, raising the difficulty and the NPCs’ abilities significantly.
He Luo had always been no different from the players; he would use schemes and tricks, pretending to be a player to deceive them, and naturally, he could see their relationships. This ghostly entity had not consumed resources in the small grove from the start but had directly concentrated all the Ghost/Monsters to capture Lin Zhen first, intending to exchange Lin Zhen for the Punishment Notice.
No matter how powerful Lin Zhen was, he was still just one person; it was impossible for him to single-handedly kill all the Ghost/Monsters here.
He was a step ahead of He Luo, pulling all the players to their side in racing mode, using a swarm tactic to find Qian Xuanxuan’s Retrospective Illusion, and in the shortest time, obtained the expulsion Punishment Notices for He Luo and Qian Xuanxuan. He Luo simply gave up on this step, allowing them to obtain the Punishment Notices, and instead targeted the isolated Lin Zhen, waiting for them to hand over the Punishment Notices.
One advance, one retreat, back and forth, the balance in the game between both sides had been completely achieved.
But this was merely a superficial balance.
Yan Wei frowned as he looked at the blood-soaked Lin Zhen, knowing full well that the Ghost/Monsters were different from them. The Ghost/Monsters were only after pure profit, but they had to consider Lin Zhen’s injuries and life.
His mind was racing with thoughts, yet he maintained his composure on the surface, saying, “If I destroy the Punishment Notice, you and Qian Xuanxuan will disappear, and Lin Zhen will naturally be fine. Why should I give it to you?”
“Then go ahead and destroy it, gamble a bit, and see if I can kill your friend in that instant.”
“Giving you the Punishment Notice is also a gamble, isn’t it?”
At this moment, seeing that they did not immediately agree, He Luo let out a sinister laugh: “But I can afford to gamble. If you don’t give it to me, I can take my time. Every period, I will stab him a little more until he dies from the pain. If you give me the Punishment Notice, I can spare your lives.”
The hand that pierced Lin Zhen’s shoulder suddenly withdrew, then stabbed back into the same spot. Lin Zhen let out a muffled groan but did not cry out in pain; he merely used his weak voice to say, “I believe your nonsense… give you the Punishment Notice… we are the ones truly waiting to die. If you have the ability, stab my heart, you fool.”
He Luo unhesitatingly stabbed another hole in his shoulder.
This time, Lin Zhen didn’t even make a sound.
Yu Feizhou’s pupils constricted, and he was about to step forward, but Yan Mingguang, while using his Long Whip to fend off the approaching Ghost/Monsters, firmly held onto Yu Feizhou, repeatedly saying, “Calm down.”
At this moment, the other surviving players were entangled with the Ghost/Monsters, their gazes flickering back and forth towards this side—none of them were friendly.
Lin Zhen was not related to them; what they cared about was the Punishment Notice. If Yan Wei were to say yes now, the first to approach him would likely not be He Luo, but those players who were only connected to them by interests.
Veins bulging on his forehead, Yu Feizhou’s expression darkened. He turned to Yan Wei and Yan Mingguang, saying, “Yan Wei, Yan Mingguang, Lin Zhen is right; He Luo is untrustworthy. If we give him the Punishment Notice, he and Qian Xuanxuan will no longer be restrained, and we will undoubtedly die. I can’t ask you to use the Punishment Notice to exchange for Lin Zhen; this is everyone’s life, and no one has the obligation or responsibility to take risks for Lin Zhen. You can destroy the Punishment Notice right now, completely ending He Luo and Qian Xuanxuan’s Resentment, and finish this instance, but do not stop me from saving him. Even if I fail, it will be my choice.”
His words were rapid, a stark contrast to his usual slow demeanor, clearly serious.
Yan Wei tightened his grip on the Punishment Notice, saying solemnly, “I cannot make a move that leads to death, but I also cannot just watch Lin Zhen get hurt. Yu Feizhou, trust me, I just came out of Qian Xuanxuan’s Retrospection, and I feel like something is still off. I need a little time to figure out what we missed. We are stopping you not to abandon Lin Zhen, but because I feel something is wrong. I just need even a little time—”
He paused.
Not far away, He Luo moved slightly, once again creating a blood hole in Lin Zhen’s arm. He stared intently at the Punishment Notice in Yan Wei’s hand, his tone eerie and urgent: “Give me the Punishment Notice!”
Yan Wei’s thoughts became chaotic, but under the influence of reason, he suppressed his emotions again.
He needed time, but their opponent was well aware of the pressure of time on them. It had only been about a minute since the last attack on Lin Zhen, and He Luo struck again. Lin Zhen was already hanging by a thread; how many more times could he hold on?
Yan Wei gritted his teeth, about to speak when Yu Feizhou suddenly said, “How long do you think it will take you to figure it out?”
Yan Wei was taken aback.
In front of him, Yu Feizhou held a blue orb item in one hand and a dagger in the other, and without hesitation, he stabbed it into his own hand. At that moment, the blue orb emitted a soft glow, and the wound on Lin Zhen’s arm, which had just been injured by He Luo, healed instantly.
Yan Wei understood in an instant.
He had always been a rational person who prioritized interests, but at this moment, he felt a faint pang of sorrow rising.
Yu Feizhou let out a muffled groan, his hand gripping the dagger turning red from the force. He said, “…My skill allows me to exchange wounds for power or wounds for wounds. Lin Zhen won’t just sit and wait to die; I also want to believe in you. I can transfer Lin Zhen’s injuries to myself to buy time, but I can only endure it myself; you…”
Yan Wei said earnestly, “Ten minutes, give me ten minutes.”
“Okay.”
Yu Feizhou turned to glance at the neatly dressed Ghost/Monster not far away, his gaze deep.
The immense pressure bore down on Yan Wei, his rationality firmly suppressing his emotions. With an unchanged expression, he took out the incomplete Moon Wheel. In the next moment, an invisible wall rose around Yan Wei and Yu Feizhou, temporarily separating the small space they occupied from the chaos outside.
Countless Ghost/Monsters attacked towards them, and the surrounding area was filled with the turbulence caused by players and Ghost/Monsters entangled together. Dividing such a small space was more challenging than splitting a large area during the day, and Yan Wei’s face turned pale, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
He raised his eyes, meeting Yan Mingguang’s gaze through the barrier.
The man’s eyes were calm and deep, his black pupils shining like stars in the pitch-black night. He had only enclosed himself and Yu Feizhou within, allowing Yan Mingguang to respond to any sudden situations in these few minutes. Yan Mingguang did not ask him anything but conveyed his unwavering trust through his gaze.
Yan Wei understood in his heart and said no more.
In front of him, Yu Feizhou saw He Luo strike at Lin Zhen again, and without hesitation, he stabbed himself again, gritting his teeth against the pain, transferring Lin Zhen’s new wounds to himself.
Suddenly, a low, hoarse ghostly wail erupted from the dormitory building in front of the small grove, accompanied by the sound of teeth grinding—it was the starving ghost, emerging as night fell.
Yan Wei blurted out, “…The three from Broken Scythe.” The starving ghost had come from the second floor of the dormitory; he had thrown Wu Hua in the bathroom on the first floor, and now the other surviving players were in the small grove. The starving ghost’s first target would undoubtedly be the unconscious Wu Hua and the others.
Yan Mingguang asked him, “Can you hold out alone with the Moon Wheel for a while?”
The choice between Lin Zhen and the Punishment Notice weighed heavily on Yan Wei’s mind. The Moon Wheel hovered in his palm, draining his stamina and perception, causing his lips to turn pale. But he still said, “A few minutes should be fine. You need to hurry back to help me hold them off; otherwise, if they charge with full force, I won’t be able to hold on. You go; if you don’t go… then you’re not the person I know.”
He wouldn’t save him, but Yan Mingguang would.
Yan Mingguang looked at him deeply and said, “Be careful.”
Then, with a swing of his Long Whip, the whip’s tail sliced through the air and wrapped around a branch. Yan Mingguang used the momentum to leap, breaking through the second-floor dormitory window and flipping inside.
Yan Wei withdrew his gaze. He maintained the operation of the Moon Wheel, slowly closing his eyes, shutting out the chaotic sounds around him and the sound of Yu Feizhou’s knife striking. He gathered all his thoughts together.
In ten minutes, he would either find a better way to break the deadlock or completely fall into a disadvantage in this game, facing the choice between the Punishment Notice and Lin Zhen.
In the internal world of the building, in the gambling area, before the projection of the Death Schoolhouse instance.
At this moment, it began to rain in the internal world, a light drizzle falling, bringing a hint of coolness.
Lin Qing, however, remained here, holding an umbrella, his gaze fixed on the still-open projection angles. In the projection, the instance had clearly reached its final moments, yet his expression showed no change, still as serious as before.
Suddenly, his gaze paused.
In the air before the projection, some black invitation letters appeared at an unknown time. The drizzle and cool wind seemed to have no effect on these invitation letters; they floated down slowly, not touching a single drop of rain.
The people beside Lin Qing were startled, confused: “Why are there only six or seven?”
Lin Qing raised his hand, signaling others to retrieve the invitation letters, saying, “Because the instance is about to end, but the balance between players and Ghost/Monsters has been disrupted, so limited slots are opened for new players to enter.”
As he spoke, he looked towards the scene with Yan Mingguang. The previous footage of Yan Mingguang had been sparse, but after nightfall, it opened up, allowing those outside to see the situation in the dormitory.
The starving ghost was driven back by Yan Mingguang just as it was about to bite Wu Hua and the others. While entangled with the starving ghost, he threw the members of Broken Scythe one by one towards Yan Wei, who then pulled the unconscious Broken Scythe players into the space divided by the Moon Wheel through a corner of the barrier.
In just a moment, Yan Mingguang rescued all three members of Broken Scythe, but the starving ghost followed him all the way to the small grove.
In a corner of the small grove, Qian Xuanxuan, with long hair and covered in blood, silently floated there.
“The Ghost/Monsters are too strong and numerous; we need more people to go in,” Lin Qing said, watching He Luo stab another hole in Lin Zhen, calmly continuing, “Arrange for seven of the strongest players below the nineteenth layer to go in. Once inside, they should do nothing but fight the Ghost/Monsters.”
This was equivalent to sending in reinforcements, simply providing Yan Wei and the others with muscle.
The people beside Lin Qing clearly did not understand: “What… are we not saving Lin Zhen? Otherwise, after going in, we should try to ambush this Ghost/Monster and save Lin Zhen—”
“No need, as long as he is there, Lin Zhen will be fine.”
“He?”
“Yes.”
