Run Faster

"Oww..."

"Why are all your family members at my house..."

As the third slap landed, the kid with the side-part finally remembered to cry. Han Su's fierce expression was a nightmare he'd never seen before, even more terrifying than the monsters upstairs, because at least the monsters didn't beat him up alone.

"You hit me, you hit me..."

"You're out of luck. When my dad comes to save me, I definitely won't let him save you. I'll make him bury you in the garden..."

"..."

"Then I'll let you taste the iron palm education of the working people again..."

Hearing this, Han Su grew even angrier and kicked him again. He deliberately didn't put too much force into it, just enough to hurt, and then chased the kid with the side-part around the cellar.

The kid's sharp, childish cries echoed noisily in the night. Even the other children in the cellars, who were being crowded and stepped on, or accidentally kicked, couldn't hold back their fear any longer.

This suppressed chaos erupted, and various crying and shouting voices reverberated through the hollow cellar, even sounding grating to Han Su.

Gulp, gulp!

But the chaotic cries suddenly alerted someone, or rather something, outside. Heavy footsteps approached rapidly.

"Bang!"

The small door was suddenly pushed open heavily, and a ball of fire rushed in from outside.

A tall, dark silhouette loomed behind the firelight, emitting hoarse, guttural sounds, as if threatening the children in the cellar to be quiet.

Some children were scared into silence, but Han Su immediately stomped hard on the side-part kid's foot. The boy yelped in pain and started crying loudly again, throwing the cellar, which had just quieted down, into chaos once more.

Seeing that the children in the cellar weren't quieting down but were instead crying even louder, the monster outside seemed to get angry. It made guttural noises in its chest, accompanied by the clanging of metal objects.

The firelight rapidly approached the cellar. Only then could they see clearly that it was a horse lantern, held aloft by a long pole.

It seemed to want to see clearly who was crying, and it was also a way to intimidate the children.

When the horse lantern wasn't shining on them, the children dared to cry, but when it was held up to their faces, they all cowered back in fear, afraid the monster would use it to burn their faces.

But at this moment, Han Su, who had been silently observing from within the crowd, suddenly rushed up the stairs.

The small figure scrambled up the stairs, using his legs and feet, casting a blurry shadow in the firelight.

Outside the small door, the hunchbacked person holding the lantern was greatly startled. He hurriedly tried to pull back the horse lantern, wanting to see clearly who this little thing climbing up was. But he had greatly underestimated Han Su's speed.

He reached the small door at the top of the stairs faster than the horse lantern was pulled back.

He got to the top first, facing the extremely large and oppressive shadow outside the small door. Without hesitation, he quickly ducked down and rolled.

He wriggled out from under the monster's legs at the doorway and dashed into the living room. The hunchbacked person guarding the door was clearly taken aback. He hastily grabbed the horse lantern he had just taken back and turned to shine it at Han Su to see where he was.

Unexpectedly, as he turned, he saw Han Su standing calmly behind him, not having fled at all.

"Slap!"

Almost the instant he turned around, precisely timed, Han Su raised his hand and swatted.

He was only a nine-year-old child now, lacking the strength to fight this tall hunchbacked person for anything. But at this moment, he merely raised his hand to knock the horse lantern out of his grasp.

It was very simple.

The horse lantern fell, spilling its oil. The flame followed, igniting the thick carpet covering the floor.

This bunker was very old, showing signs of its former glory. The carpet was thick, but having been used for a very, very long time, it was covered in thick dust, making it particularly flammable.

This was something Han Su had determined the first time he was kidnapped.

"Whoosh!"

The flames leaped up almost instantly and spread in several directions. Even the hunchbacked person, who had been about to grab Han Su, was greatly shocked.

The flames spreading across the carpet separated Han Su from the hunchbacked person. Through the flickering flames and smoke, the hunchbacked person saw that the small, less-than-ten-year-old child before him was behaving strangely.

He merely took a few steps back, his expression unusually calm, but then he suddenly opened his mouth and let out a childish, nervous shout:

"Run, Teacher is coming to pick us up..."

"The main door is open, Teacher, wait for me, Teacher, wait for me..."

"..."

This seemingly bizarre scene even made the hunchbacked person feel a chill down his spine. "Is this kid crazy?"

But then, realizing something, he turned his head towards the cellar in surprise.

No, it was the children below who had gone crazy.

Among them were some who had a bit of cleverness. They saw Han Su rush up from the cellar but didn't imitate him, having guessed that anyone acting like that at this moment would likely be beaten to death by the monster.

But they hadn't expected to hear Han Su's surprised shouts instead of his screams.

His voice was so real, as if he had truly seen the Teacher, as if the Teacher was now closing the main door and there would be no chance if they were late.

So, they began to scramble up the stairs desperately.

They pushed and shoved each other, their small bodies unleashing boundless strength.

Even if a few of them were clever, the others were enough to create a commotion. Moreover, even the clever ones, seeing everyone else believe it, quickly lost their composure.

(Some content has been omitted due to content policy conflicts)