Death Match

??Bang bang bang!

??A knock sounded at the door.

??The Dorm Supervisor's voice came from outside: "Classmate Luo, are you alright? What happened?"

??Li Zhe and Xiao Yun both looked sharply toward the bed.

??But a figure crawled out from under it.

??Luo Yan!

??The two were instantly dumbfounded.

??This guy—how was he sleeping under the bed?

??Did he know what Chen Yongsong was planning tonight?

??Of course, Luo Yan wasn't that prescient.

??It was simply caution.

??Coupled with the fact that when surviving on the surface, he always curled up in a tiny spot to sleep.

??Now, being made to sleep on a big bed—

??He wasn't used to it.

??Luo Yan glanced at Li Zhe and Xiao Yun.

??Without a word, he turned and opened the door.

??The door swung open, and the Dorm Supervisor stepped inside.

??Behind him were other students, woken up and drawn by the commotion to see what was happening.

??As soon as the Dorm Supervisor entered the room, he saw Chen Yongsong's body on the floor, head severed from torso in a gruesome scene.

??He quickly closed the door.

??But many students still caught a glimpse of the bloodstains on the floor.

??The Dorm Supervisor swept his gaze around, taking in the scene, his focus lingering on the bloodied wire hanging in midair and the dagger in Chen Yongsong's hand.

??Only then did he ask: "What happened?"

??Li Zhe snapped out of it, jumping up and pointing at Luo Yan.

??"Teacher, Luo Yan killed someone!"

??Xiao Yuan also came to his senses, joining in: "That's right, that's right, Luo Yan killed Chen Yongsong—we saw it with our own eyes!"

??Luo Yan let out a scoff.

??"With your own eyes?"

??"Then tell me."

??"Which hand did I use to kill Chen Yongsong?"

??Li Zhe and Xiao Yuan fell silent.

??But quickly retorted: "The wire!"

??"You pulled a wire and cut Chen Yongsong's throat!"

??The Dorm Supervisor looked at Luo Yan.

??Luo Yan said calmly: "Where is the wire?"

??Li Zhe pointed ahead and said: "Isn't it obvious? Right here?"

??"Yes, the wire is by the window."

??"Not by the door."

??"So why would Chen Yongsong, instead of using the door, crash through the window to enter?"

??Luo Yan then glanced at the dagger in the corpse's hand: "And he brought a weapon, clearly with ill intent—he deserved to die."

??Li Zhe and Xiao Yuan were again left speechless.

??The Dorm Supervisor looked at the two: "You tell me—what did Chen Yongsong intend to do?"

??The two stammered in reply: "Chen Yongsong was humiliated by Classmate Luo during the academy exam, and he held a grudge."

??"He drank too much tonight, got hot-headed, and wanted to... to teach Classmate Luo a lesson."

??"Teacher, we tried to talk him out of it."

??"But we couldn't hold him back."

??"We never expected..."

??The Dorm Supervisor's voice turned cold: "Is that really the case?"

??"If I find out you're lying, the Academy will punish you without mercy!"

??Li Zhe's face went pale, but he still said: "Everything we said is the truth."

The dorm supervisor finally said, "You two go back first. The academy will handle this matter. Keep your mouths shut."

Li and Xiao acknowledged, lowered their heads, and left through the French window.

The teacher also had Luo Yan switch to another dorm, while he pulled down a bedsheet to cover the corpse.

After arriving at his new dorm, Luo Yan didn't fall asleep immediately.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He finally understood what that fiery red radiance represented.

Tonight, when Chen Yongsong crashed through the window.

Luo Yan had reflexively activated his 'Qi Gazing Eyes' and already spotted Chen Yongsong from under the bed.

He saw a ring of fiery red radiance within his gray light mass, with the number '127' floating inside.

But just as Chen Yongsong's head was severed by the steel wire sharpened like a blade.

That ring of fiery red radiance rapidly dimmed, and the set of numbers instantly dropped to zero.

"Qi and blood, or life..."

"That ring of fiery red radiance represents the vitality of a living being!"

Having figured out what that ring of fiery red radiance represented.

Luo Yan was very pleased.

This meant he had gained further understanding of his mutated Pupil Technique.

Then he thought of Chen Yongsong.

"Was he really coming after me because of what happened during the day?"

Luo Yan recalled the reactions of Li Zhe and Xiao Yun again.

Then he silently turned off the light in the room.

After Li Zhe and Xiao Yuan returned to their own dorm, both of their expressions were grim.

"That Luo guy is too terrifying."

"No, he's practically a madman."

"Who would set up a trap like that in their dorm?"

Li Zhe shook his head and said, "Old Xiao, I think we'd better stop getting involved in Brother Luo's matters."

"I think so too."

After reaching a consensus, they turned off the lights and went to sleep.

No one knew how much time had passed.

Li Zhe felt someone patting his face.

He groggily opened his eyes: "Who is it?"

Suddenly.

He jolted awake.

Someone was sitting at the head of his bed.

A light was shining from the other's pocket, as if a phone was inside with the screen on.

Additionally, he felt a chill around his neck.

He rolled his eyes to look.

A steel wire was wrapped around his neck.

He nearly pissed himself in fear.

Then he heard the person at the head of the bed say, "Who put you up to this?"

Li Zhe immediately recognized it as Luo Yan's voice.

He couldn't help but speak with a tearful tone, "Classmate Luo, don't do anything rash."

"What do you mean, put up to it? No one put us up to it."

"It was just Chen Yongsong being foolish."

After he finished speaking, he didn't hear Luo Yan say anything more.

But he felt the steel wire around his neck tightening.

Li Zhe suddenly recalled Chen Yongsong's headless corpse.

"Classmate Luo, what are you trying to do?"

"Stop, stop..."

The steel wire continued to constrict.

Li Zhe felt its coldness.

He seemed to see the call of death.

Madman.

This Luo guy was a complete madman!

He broke down.

"I'll talk, I'll talk."

"It was Luo Beichen, Luo Beichen made us do it."

"He sent Chen Yongsong to kill you, it has nothing to do with us."

"He's Luo Tianyi's son. Luo Tianyi is running for the next City Lord."

"His biggest rival is Commander Di Zheng, the one who recommended you to the Academy!"

Having learned the truth, Luo Yan said nothing more, silently tightening the wire around Li Zhe's neck.

Li Zhe struggled at once, but before long, his eyes bulged and he died on the spot.

He walked over to Xiao Yuan's bed.

Did the same.

After tidying up the scene, Luo Yan left.

A moment later.

Back in his own room, he called Soldier Little Li.

When the call connected, Little Li was surprised: "So late, what happened?"

Luo Yan said simply: "Luo Beichen set a trap to kill me. The men he sent stumbled into my trap and died."

Silence on the other end.

Then Little Li said: "Hold on."

And hung up.

Not long after.

Luo Yan's phone rang.

He answered, and Commander Di Zheng's voice came through: "Any evidence?"

Luo Yan played a recording.

During his 'interrogation' of Li and Xiao, he hadn't forgotten to record.

After listening, Di Zheng said in a low voice: "I'll warn the Luo Family. Get some rest."

"Warn?" Luo Yan wasn't satisfied.

Di Zheng caught the edge in his tone: "What are you thinking?"

Luo Yan said calmly: "You said, if someone tries to kill me."

"I can strike first, and report after."

"Those two just now—I've already dealt with them."

"I want to know, what about Luo Beichen?"

A pause.

Then Di Zheng said: "You want to kill him?"

"I don't like being a target." Luo Yan answered honestly.

Di Zheng said decisively: "Fine. You kill, I'll clean up."

"But you can't just barge in and kill him directly."

"This isn't the surface after all."

"The Academy has its rules."

Luo Yan asked: "What rules?"

Di Zheng said: "In the Academy, to settle personal grudges, you can set up a duel."

"The duels are divided into Martial Matches or Death Matches."

"Martial Matches don't allow weapons or potions. You need to be inspected by the Academy before going up. Fair fight."

"But Martial Matches only decide victory or defeat, not life or death."

"After the fight, grudges are cleared."

"Death Matches have no restrictions. Until Death."

"But even if you win, you'll be demerited and lose credits!"

Luo Yan didn't hesitate: "Good. I'll fight a Death Match."

"Don't underestimate Luo Beichen."

Di Zheng warned: "His father Luo Tianyi is the boss of Qiming Heavy Industry."

"He's a big shot in Guangling City."

"If you fight a Death Match, he'll definitely throw massive resources at his son to squander."

Luo Yan said calmly: "No matter."

"You definitely won't let me lose."

Di Zheng let out a soft laugh over the phone.

"I've already texted you the intel on Luo Beichen."

"There should be some useful info in there for you."

With that, Di Zheng hung up.

Not long after, messages came through one by one.

Reading through them, Luo Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, a plan forming in his mind.

The next day.

After breakfast, they gathered at the assembly hall.

Then the 65 new students were led into a lecture hall.

Director of Studies Wei Fenghua walked in with a male teacher.

He introduced: "This is Teacher Xiao Shi. Teacher Xiao will be in charge of your General Knowledge Class. Get ready—he'll begin teaching shortly."

"Also, there was an incident last night."

"A few students won't be able to attend class."

The Pale-faced Youth beside Luo Beichen said: "Teacher, was it really an accident?"

He glanced at Luo Yan: "Or was it deliberate murder?"

"Or maybe, because he's recommended by Commander Di Zheng."

"So even if he kills someone, it can be treated as if nothing happened."

"If that's the case, that's terrifying."

Luo Yan didn't move a muscle.

Hearing the Pale-faced Youth's words, many students began whispering among themselves.

"If that's true, isn't the Academy being way too biased?"

"No, this isn't just bias."

"It's cover-up."

Luo Beichen sneered inwardly.

Last night, Li Zhe and Xiao Yuan had come to report.

Learning that Chen Yongsong had been killed instead.

He was quite shocked.

But then he thought, Chen Yongsong dying wasn't so bad.

It was a perfect chance to stir up the students and use Luo Yan to smear Di Zheng.

The tactic worked well.

Last night.

Quite a few students had seen bloodstains in Luo Yan's room.

Some even saw Academy Security carrying a corpse out of Luo Yan's dorm.

Now, everyone looked at Luo Yan.

Fear on their faces.

They all distanced themselves from him.

Only two people didn't move.

A boy and a girl.

The boy was the clean-cut youth who'd wanted to team up with Luo Yan yesterday—Li Bohang.

The girl had headphones on, reading a book, seemingly unconcerned with what was happening in the classroom.

Wei Fenghua frowned.

He knew what had happened last night.

He also knew that Xiao Yuan and Li Zhe, who'd been involved, had both 'committed suicide.'

Di Zheng had informed the Academy of this matter overnight and presented the recording.

The Academy had already made a decision, but it had not yet been announced.

Now Luo Beichen was using it to stir up trouble.

This greatly displeased Wei Fenghua.

He was about to speak.

But a voice rang out.

"Luo Beichen, is this all the skill you have?"

Luo Yan sat motionless.

Without turning his head, he said, "Only daring to hide behind the scenes, doing things that can't see the light."

"With such narrow vision, no wonder Luo Tianyi values your elder brother Luo Nanxing."

"There's no helping it."

"If I were Luo Tianyi, I wouldn't take a liking to a waste either."

Luo Beichen, who had been secretly smug and complacent, upon hearing these words, his expression instantly twisted.

The Pale-faced Youth beside him was startled.

He knew that Luo Nanxing was Luo Beichen's taboo.

If anyone spoke a single good word about Luo Nanxing in front of him, at the least, they would be cursed at, at the worst, they would be beaten severely.

Sure enough.

Upon hearing this, Luo Beichen could no longer bear it.

He stood up and roared, "What did you say?"

Luo Yan said calmly, "Don't tell me you don't know."

"In Guangling City, everyone knows that Luo Tianyi values Luo Nanxing and treats him like a treasure."

"As for you, Luo Beichen, heh."

"You're nothing but a joke."

Luo Yan rarely spoke so much.

But today, to provoke Luo Beichen, he had to make an exception.

"You're asking for death!" Luo Beichen's reason instantly abandoned him.

He was about to lunge forward.

The Pale-faced Youth desperately held him back: "Don't fall for it, Brother Luo, he's deliberately provoking you."

Only then did Luo Beichen regain a shred of rationality.

He pointed at Luo Yan and said, "You slander me. I won't let this go."

"I challenge you to a match, a Death Match!"

Upon hearing "Death Match," many students looked bewildered.

Wei Fenghua furrowed his brow slightly.

He glanced at Luo Yan.

Luo Yan then raised his head, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Fine."

"Let's fight right now!"

Luo Beichen let out a cold laugh: "No need to be so hasty. A month from now will be soon enough."

"By then, I'll make sure you die with full understanding."

He needed time to prepare.

Moreover, although he had issued the challenge to Luo Yan, Luo Beichen made no guarantees that he wouldn't do something in the meantime.

If Luo Yan were to meet with some "accident," die, and be unable to step onto the arena, he wouldn't mind.

Luo Yan thought for a moment, looked at him, and said, "It's a deal."

And so the matter was settled.