Sunlight streamed through the windows onto the desks, casting a warm glow. Fan Daoyi finished reciting the last lines of the poem and gently closed the lesson plan in his hands with a soft sound.
His gaze slowly swept over every corner of the classroom. Smiling, he asked, "So, did you understand?"
The players who had not encountered this sudden situation stood rooted to the spot, unable to recover their senses for a long time.
The NPCs, on the other hand, fell silent for a moment before a girl with a ponytail raised her hand. "Teacher, I think this poem is about the rose's stubbornness and its instinct to protect itself. Although it's delicate, it takes a firm stand."
A boy wearing glasses also offered his opinion. "But all the same, the rose ultimately couldn't escape being picked. Its resistance was futile, and it could only helplessly accept its tragic end."
"Helplessly?" Fan Daoyi chuckled and gestured for the students to look at the players impaled by thorns. "But wherever there is oppression, resistance will rise. They are unyielding, pricking anyone who picks them at will."
"Then add just a little poison..."
With a sizzling sound, corrosion began to spread across the skin of the corpses pierced by thorns.
Deep purple spread over their entire bodies, until they finally dissolved into pools of bloody water that seeped into the cracks in the dirt.
Fan Daoyi turned his gaze back to Wang Long, who had once again been saved by the item in his hand.
The thorns were a curse, and this defensive item happened to block curses. He really was lucky.
At that very moment, some people in the other examination rooms had also been impaled by thorns.
He Piaojian barely managed to save one person. The thorns on that person's back had spread more slowly than on the others, so he resorted to an extreme measure, stripping the skin and flesh directly from the person's back and cutting away the pattern.
"This thing is a curse. Did you touch anything you shouldn't have last night?"
The player burst into tears and clung to He Piaojian's thigh, telling him everything. "I didn't want to either! I was just getting ready for bed when I smelled a faint fragrance. That was seduction, temptation—it's only human!"
"They're all adults. They couldn't hold back for a moment and pounced on them. I was scared. I've never experienced anything like that, and usually I only dare to look. This time too..."
"And then, and then their skin suddenly shriveled up, and they turned into skeletons." The player wiped away his tears and looked up, only to see undisguised disgust in He Piaojian's eyes.
"In any case, there's something wrong with this Guixu. Stay close to me for now," He Piaojian said, pulling his leg free from the player's grasp.
"F-follow you to class, space out and mouth off at the teacher, then hack at classmates in the hallway after class?" the player stammered, his tone full of doubt about He Piaojian.
He Piaojian paused, then amended what he had said. "For now, just follow the guide obediently and resist every temptation from those pink skeletons. Don't go doing inhuman things with me. You can't handle it."
Though he was usually a bit of a rascal, other people's lives were at stake now. He couldn't let this bunch fool around with him.
"I wonder how things are outside..." he murmured.
If even He Piaojian couldn't get the situation under control, things couldn't be much better in the other examination rooms.
They were completely unable to resist: by night they succumbed to the Female Ghosts, and by day their corpses rotted away.
The upheaval was like a nightmare, gripping the heart of every player still alive.
Those flying insects silently watched everything from the corners, passing what they saw on to Fan Daoyi.
Fan Daoyi had destroyed them and then given them new life, to serve as his eyes for monitoring the copy game.
The death count was lower than expected. It seemed most people were strong-willed.
Fan Daoyi walked slowly down the silent hallway. His footsteps echoed through the empty space with a steady, mysterious rhythm.
Ahead, Jiang Lin was chasing Wang Long.
Jiang Lin pursued relentlessly while Wang Long fled in panic. Their figures raced down the hallway, gradually moving out of Fan Daoyi's sight before vanishing around a corner.
Fan Daoyi was in no hurry and continued strolling along. More than ten minutes passed before he saw them again.
Wang Long was covered in tiny wounds, beads of blood seeping from them. Jiang Lin had already cornered him in a dead end, leaving him nowhere to escape.
Fan Daoyi unhurriedly came to Jiang Lin's side and looked at the thoroughly bedraggled young master with amusement.
"Young Master Wang, you're hard to kill." He didn't forget to taunt him.
Wang Long clutched his wounds, his body exhausted and his eyes dull, as though he could see how things would end for him.
"What, you're not carrying that lousy bamboo cane of yours?" Wang Long taunted weakly.
Fan Daoyi's hands were empty. He smiled and replied, "Oh, I might have left it in the classroom."
Fan Daoyi appeared exceptionally composed, as though everything were under his control.
Without wasting any more words on Wang Long, he stood with his back to Jiang Lin and said to him, "Jiang Lin, kill him."
A cold gleam flashed along the short blade as Jiang Lin raised his weapon. But just then, the blade aimed at Wang Long's vital spot turned and stabbed toward Fan Daoyi.
Fan Daoyi's pupils contracted sharply. Unable to react, he clutched his wound in disbelief and looked at Jiang Lin, meeting his icy gaze. "You... you actually..."
Before he could finish, Wang Long kicked him in the stomach.
Wang Long shed his earlier appearance of a dying man and stood upright, looking perfectly healthy.
"Looks like as long as I don't use my ability, you can't take it and use it."
Wang Long planted a foot on Fan Daoyi's wound and said smugly, "Didn't expect that, did you? I don't know why he cooperated with you in the first place, but the facts prove he loves money more."
"You wanted to target me, huh? You wanted to hunt me down? Come on, do it again if you dare!"
Sizzle—
The flying insects transmitted the scene in the hallway. Using the method He Piaojian had demonstrated, Fan Daoyi was replaced with an arbitrary player, and a piece of false evidence was born.
"Mm, he bought it." Fan Daoyi, staying in the washroom, received the video. "He laid his little scheme out in the open and still thought he could turn someone against me."
The short blade in Jiang Lin's hand shifted slightly. His gaze hardened, and he charged straight at Wang Long.
Wang Long instantly unleashed a python of fire and fought Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin was burned again and again, only to recover each time, attacking Wang Long with no regard for his life.
"You really think I wasn't on guard against you?!" Wang Long shouted, his face full of rage.
Jiang Lin, however, was unmoved and continued his frenzied assault.
"Good children don't play with fire. You might wet the bed in the middle of the night."
Fan Daoyi's voice came from behind Wang Long. The figure lying on the ground had disappeared at some unknown point.
"Killing you outright wouldn't be much fun. Do you like the show I arranged for you?" Fan Daoyi moved closer to Wang Long. "Pushing your confidence to its peak, only for you to discover in the end that it was all a lie."
Wang Long's face instantly turned deathly pale. He finally understood that Fan Daoyi had been playing him for a fool. His pride crumbled in an instant, and he shouted like a madman, "You plotted against me!"
Fan Daoyi watched Wang Long quietly, without a trace of pity in his eyes. To him, Wang Long was merely a piece in his game, someone he could manipulate at will.
"Oh, right. I imagine you're also curious why Jiang Lin wasn't tempted by your offer."
He snapped his fingers and said something Wang Long could never have anticipated. "Jiang Lin..."
The two syllables came lightly from his lips.
"Kill yourself."