Life and Death Are Uncertain

A pedestrian blocking his way was flung aside by his hand, flying seven or eight meters before crashing heavily to the ground.

Fortunately, the cars on the street slammed on their brakes the moment they saw something wrong, preventing a tragedy.

"He's a Barbarian—kill him, don't let him get away!" A middle-aged man who had also fled the bookstore shouted, grabbing a broom from a roadside shop and turning it around to hold like a sword in a defensive stance.

From his posture, he had clearly studied swordsmanship, maybe even a Martial Apprentice; otherwise, no one would have the courage to provoke a Barbarian at a time like this.

Chen Shouyi, who had been about to flee, couldn't help slowing his steps.

As a young man, his heart hadn't yet grown cold, his blood still ran hot. He looked left and right, trying to find a suitable weapon.

But before he could find one, the Barbarian charged at the middle-aged man in an instant. Chen Shouyi couldn't describe his speed—even his naked eye could barely track it. A distance of over ten meters was crossed in a flash.

The middle-aged man hadn't even thrust his sword before a fist slammed heavily into his head.

His body flew through the air, then tumbled to the ground like a torn sack.

His skull was shattered, like a smashed watermelon.

The most terrifying part was that throughout it all, the Barbarian held a large cloth bundle made from a bedsheet, stuffed full of books, weighing at least a hundred jin.

Chen Shouyi glanced at the gruesome corpse just once. The heat in his heart quickly faded, a chill spreading through his entire body. His earlier eagerness to act vanished like smoke, leaving only fear in his heart.

Fortunately, the Barbarian didn't engage in any more pointless killing. After making his point, he glanced around warily, then fled swiftly ahead. His steps were heavy and long, each one covering five or six meters.

In just a few seconds, the Barbarian had disappeared from the street.

It all happened too fast. By the time fully armed SWAT officers arrived, three minutes had already passed.

But by then, Chen Shouyi had long since left the scene.

Both of them pushed their bicycles. Pedestrians on the road, seeing the bloodstains on their clothes, quickly moved aside, faces filled with panic.

But lost in their own unease, neither of them really noticed.

Zhang Xiaoyue was very quiet, her body trembling slightly.

Chen Shouyi could feel the fear in her heart. In truth, it wasn't just her—he felt the same.

People living in peace could never truly imagine the cruelty of death. Even when the news occasionally reported such incidents, they felt unreal because they were too far away, with no personal experience.

Dongning City had always been a quiet, peaceful little town. Even the otherworldly invasion war twenty or so years ago had only been a small-scale, high-intensity conflict on a distant border.

In terms of scale, it couldn't even compare to the two World Wars, and it hadn't even affected daily life.

Chen Shouyi might have enjoyed reading online about how much advanced equipment was used in that war, but he never truly felt its brutality.

In this small city, the only event that could be called an otherworldly invasion happened two years ago.

Two Barbarians who had sneaked through were killed on the outskirts of Dongning.

Soon after, the hidden wormhole near Dongning City was discovered, and the military set up a garrison.

The police were efficient. As he walked, the wanted notice for the Barbarian was already playing on the square's advertising screen, drawing a crowd of onlookers with fear on their faces.

Chen Shouyi escorted Zhang Xiaoyue all the way to the entrance of her residential complex. "Class Monitor, I'm heading off now."

He paused, then added to comfort her, "That Barbarian probably won't get far. There are cameras everywhere on the streets. Maybe by tonight, the news will have an update."

"Thank you, Chen Shouyi. If you hadn't dragged me along, I might have..."

"You're our Class Monitor—how could I just leave you behind? Don't overthink it. I'm going now." Chen Shouyi forced a faint smile, pretending to be at ease.

With that, he got on his bike and sped away.

On the road, he got a call.

"Why are you still outside? Get back here!" Mother Chen's anxious voice came through the phone.

"Mom, I'll be right back." Chen Shouyi didn't ask why.

He hung up and pedaled faster toward home.

The restaurant was already closed, the rolling shutter half-down. He put his bike away through the back door, and Mother Chen pulled him inside, quickly locking the shutter.

"Buddha be praised, you're finally back. You have no idea what just happened—it scared me to death!" Mother Chen said, her face tense.

Suddenly, she froze, her face turning pale.

"Why do you have blood on you?"

Chen Shouyi touched it. The blood had already dried, leaving only crusty flakes on his palm, maybe even some bits of flesh. Thinking that these had splattered from a corpse made him feel sick.

Seeing that he couldn't hide it, Chen Shouyi had no choice but to confess honestly.

"You... of all places, you had to go to the bookstore? You're going to scare me to death!" Mother Chen felt both relief and lingering fear, then angrily hit him a couple of times. "Take off those clothes. I'll burn them later. Then go pay respects to Buddha and get rid of the bad luck."

As someone who ran a business, she was superstitious. They had statues of Guanyin and the God of Wealth at home year-round, but neither he nor his sister ever really prayed.

"Alright, Mom. By the way, where's Xingyue?" He asked as he took off his jacket.

"She came back long ago. She's upstairs with your dad watching the news."

Under Mother Chen's supervision, Chen Shouyi paid his respects to Buddha and went upstairs, where Chen Dawei grilled him with questions.

The TV was playing the news. He saw bodies covered in mosaics being carried out of the bookstore, some of them barely more than lumps of flesh, loaded into body bags.

"As of now, the death toll from this attack has reached 135, with another 43 seriously injured and undergoing emergency treatment..."

Chen Shouyi glanced at it, then looked away. The scene was even more brutal than the news broadcast. He got up, walked to the bathroom, and took a shower, washing all the lingering bloodstains from his body.

By evening, after a simple dinner, the whole family gathered in front of the TV, watching the latest news.

Outside, the wail of police sirens could be heard from time to time—clearly, every available officer had been deployed.

The atmosphere in the living room was heavy. Few people spoke.

With such a terrifying Otherworld terrorist roaming the city, no one could eat well or sleep soundly, let alone act as if nothing was wrong.

At seven in the evening, a breaking news segment suddenly cut in.

The anchor looked at the script, a flicker of relief crossing her face before it vanished, replaced by a solemn expression. "We now bring you an update. Under the city-wide lockdown, at 6:40 PM, the Dongning City Special Police and several Honorary Special Police from the Martial Arts Association finally located the Barbarian's hideout in Yanghu Park. After a fierce battle, the Barbarian was killed.

In this operation, four Special Police officers, including Zhou Shaofeng, Vice President of the Dongning City Martial Arts Association, unfortunately died in the line of duty..."

Zhou Shaofeng was dead.

Chen Shouyi froze. He had first heard Zhou Shaofeng's name from the school's Martial Arts Teacher.

Two years ago, the two Barbarians on the outskirts of Dongning had been taken down by him alone, each killed with a single, masterful thrust of his Sting Sword.

But such a powerful man, a seasoned martial artist, had died unexpectedly—killed in the hunt for a Barbarian.

A chill of fear ran through him, mixed with a trace of relief.

If he had let his emotions get the better of him back then and charged in, maybe...