A Night of Misery, One Cry After Another

Time slips back slightly.

That afternoon, as school let out, the bell rang out through the twilight. The clouds on the horizon burned fiercely—not orange-red, but a bruised, stagnant purple, as if the sky itself were slowly bleeding under the setting sun.

Occasionally, a Blackfeather Bird swept past, coming and going in haste, almost as if it were fleeing for its life with a hint of sorrowful desperation?

That thought surfaced in Zhou Yibai's mind as he stood at the school gate, but he quickly shook his head.

"I'm not Du Fu. Why am I getting all poetic, projecting human feelings onto flowers and birds?"

"'Grief makes flowers shed tears, parting startles birds'—that doesn't suit me."

"Even if I make a mistake, I won't dwell on it. The only thing I truly care about is getting into a Martial Arts University, joining the Nine Schools Alliance!"

He clenched his fist tightly, determined to turn this failure into motivation and break into the top hundred of the grade on the next Monthly Card.

"Yibai, stop spacing out. Get in the car."

Zhou Xinmin, who had driven over, waved for his nephew to hurry up.

Zhou Yibai jogged over, opened the door, and climbed in. Zhou Shenghao was already sitting in the passenger seat, his expression somewhat gloomy.

This only made Zhou Yibai feel even more contempt for his cousin in his heart.

With a mentality like that, he was no better than someone like himself, who had always lived under his parents' high expectations and demands.

If it weren't for the lack of martial arts resources before, he would have already surpassed the other and become the family's rising star.

"An Outer Scenery Martial Artist teacher, who's come to guide our city's high school, will be arriving at Bocheng East High-Speed Rail Station soon."

"Come with me to get acquainted with the instructor first."

After the crushing defeat in that afternoon's practical combat, Zhou Yibai found this kind of thing boring and wanted to refuse.

But the photo projected inside Zhou Xinmin's car made him freeze—and not just him, but Zhou Shenghao as well.

Because the tall, older sister-type woman in the photo, with a Dark Purple High Ponytail and a long sword at her waist, bore a striking seven- or eight-out-of-ten resemblance to Su Nianyi from noon.

"I asked around. The one assigned to your school comes from the Clear Spring Dawn Palace among the 'Imperial Capital Two Heavens.' She cultivates the Thunder Blade Art and is one of the top talents of her generation."

"Yibai, once you join the Elite Class, you must seize this opportunity to ask her about the Thunderclap Prison Vine Method and blade technique training."

Zhou Xinmin's words came through.

Hearing the name 'Clear Spring Dawn Palace,' Zhou Yibai immediately abandoned his earlier refusal and admitted it was tempting.

At the same time, the mindset of a high school boy at this age kicked in, making him can't help but fantasize about showing off his talent in the Thunderclap Prison Vine Method and blade arts, catching the eye of this Older Sister Teacher, and other such pleasant scenarios.

Only Zhou Shenghao stared at the photo projection, his expression growing darker, even resistant.

But having been strictly raised by his father since childhood, he didn't dare show it, remaining silent.

The three of them arrived at Bocheng East High-Speed Rail Station in that silence.

Half an hour later.

After first experiencing a Level 2 alert and being dragged by his uncle to flee for his life, then running back to the edge of the city, only to endure attacks from several War General-Level Tombstone Meat Mountains that crashed over from an explosion, along with the chaos of this area, and getting separated from his uncle—

Feeling like he had the worst luck ever, Zhou Yibai finally followed his cousin to a spot near the city's safe zone.

Following the city map on their phones, they cut through a series of alleys, almost reaching the crowded main street ahead, when—

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

"Slurp."

In the dim alley, near a streetlamp by a trash can and a sewer, a middle-aged man with his shirt unbuttoned and a bulging belly was crouched over the corpse of an Abyssal Blood Predator, eating ravenously.

The crunch of teeth breaking bones, the sound of sucking marrow and blood, made Zhou Shenghao and Zhou Yibai instinctively glance over as they passed.

That made the eating man sense something instantly. He abruptly stood up, turned his head, and stared at the two students before him.

At the same time, the jagged, blood-red mouths on his palms and the Crimson Kunpeng Pattern on the skin of his stomach were fully exposed to them.

"Actually, our Blood God Cult keeps up with the times. We don't really eat people anymore—these days, any murder case gets investigated hard. We just scavenge corpses to survive."

The man, who looked like a middle-aged unemployed uncle, spoke in a helpless, dejected tone.

Without realizing it, he had already closed some distance toward the two.

But Zhou Yibai and Zhou Shenghao, the moment they saw him, both stepped back at the same time, each trying to push their dear cousin/brother in front of themselves.

This meant the distance between them didn't shrink at all.

Noticing this, the middle-aged man asked with a last shred of hope:

"What I just said... do you believe it?"

To this, the two who had already retreated to a fork in the alley shouted almost simultaneously:

"Split up!"

In an instant, the brothers each bolted in a different direction.

The middle-aged man ultimately sighed helplessly. After a brief hesitation, his gaze landed on the figure clad in black nanoweave.

"A student from No.7 Middle School's Elite Class—what a fine seedling. If my own son had turned out this promising, I wouldn't have..."

His voice was swallowed by the sound of air tearing at high speed.

Yet none of the three—the pursuer and the two fleeing—noticed.

After they left, a blood leech the size of a red earthworm crawled out from a corner and burrowed into the corpse of the Abyssal Blood Predator, now no bigger than a cat.

The next moment, the corpse suddenly twitched, slid slowly across the sticky, bloody ground, and with a splash, tumbled into a sewer drain.

That night.

While Li Xijun cultivated in the classroom office.

Zhou Yibai frantically ran to his uncle's house, where he was currently staying.

When he opened the door and saw the entire home pitch black, he nearly burst into tears.

Fortunately, the familiar surroundings let him relax a little. The frantic escape had left him thirsty and starving, so he hurried to the thermostat box and grabbed an Energy Drink, gulping it down.

It was then that he noticed the bathroom light was on!

Seeing a tall, thin silhouette showering inside, he rushed over, pulled open the bathroom door, and shouted, "Cousin, why didn't you turn on the lights when you got back—"

"Bang!"

The moment he yanked the door open and saw the other's body, a fist slammed into his head, knocking him unconscious.

But in his blurry vision, something red seemed to flash by.

Late night.

While Li Xijun happily ate a 300-yuan Nutritious Meal at the Cafeteria, then got a massage in the matching Therapy Room and fell into a comfortable sleep.

Zhou Yibai jolted awake. Ignoring the sweat drenching him, he was about to cry out.

But he found the luxury villa he was staying in brightly lit.

His cousin Zhou Shenghao, his uncle, and a man in a Prevention Bureau uniform were drinking tea. It seemed the man was an acquaintance of his uncle's.

Seeing him awake, Zhou Xinmin spoke kindly:

"Yibai, I've already told this Prevention Bureau officer about your encounter with the cult earlier. You can fill in the details too."

"By the way, your cousin was a bit overreactive after that life-and-death crisis he went through. When you pushed the door open, he overreacted and knocked you out. Don't take it to heart."

"Here, have some Spirit Nourishing Tea first to restore your energy."