Volume Three: Academy-wide Rampage - Edge of Collapse (1)

"So, you really don't know anything about the Sixth District?"

"I've told you so many times I've never heard of it-- Ughh..."

With a flash of light, a small, bloody ball flew from the man's face, fell to the ground, and was crushed by someone in the next instant.

"Ugh... My eyes! My eyes!!!"

The man's wails echoed through the house in the dead of night, but no one was drawn to them, for the others were either dead or unconscious.

"Are you planning to tell me?"

"I... I don't know! I don't know anything!!!"

"I've told you so many times, don't test my patience."

The knife was pressed against the man's throat again, cutting into his skin, less than a millimeter from his trachea. The man desperately tried to suppress his trembling, lest he accidentally move and let the knife sever his trachea or carotid artery.

"Among the people I've interrogated, you're quite stubborn. No problem, I have other ways..."

The young man, Ling Ye, put away his knife and circled around to the man's back.

"What... what are you going to do?"

"What are we doing? Something... exciting, of course."

Slender, pale fingers reached out from behind and covered the man's head, one hand supporting his face and the other pressing down on the back of his head.

"Please hold your breath and don't make a sound."

At first glance, her wrist appears rather slender, but with a slight exertion in a certain direction—

Kara.

Then, the world as seen by the man flipped 180 degrees.

The young man who had just been behind him suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

Even though there was no mirror or similar object behind them, they could still see the person behind them.

A few seconds later, he realized what had happened, just as he was about to scream—

"Don't make a sound if you don't want to die right now."

One sentence shut him up.

The situation is very strange.

The head of the human man was turned 180° to the side, facing directly backward.

But the man did not die; he simply struggled to suppress his screams.

"It's common knowledge that a human's head will break and he will die if it's turned backward—but is that really true?"

Ling Ye's bright blue eyes were like sharp daggers, and coupled with that eerie smile, he looked like a monster ready to devour its prey, giving the man the illusion of staring directly into the Grim Reaper.

"As long as you control the angle, speed, and force correctly, it's entirely possible to turn a person's head 180 degrees without killing them... However, this is the limit. If you move even slightly, even the slightest contraction of a muscle in your neck, it will kill you."

"--!!"

"Looks like you finally understand the situation," Ling Ye's smile grew even more sinister. "Well then, stay focused. I'm going to ask you a few questions, and then I'll free you. 'Yes' means blink once, 'No' means blink twice, understand? If you understand, then say 'Yes.'"

The man blinked immediately.

"Very well, so the first question is, is District Six located north of the Central United Academy?"

The man blinked twice.

"The East?" (Two answers)

"The south?" (A brief pause.)

"It's in the south, huh? That's to be expected. The southern part of the Central United Academy has some suitable hiding places... is it the swampy area?"

Two times.

"So it's a jungle?"

One time.

"I see... Come to think of it, the administration has always prohibited any group from building anything inside the jungle, claiming it's for ecological protection, but that's just a pretext, isn't it?"

One time.

"Location-wise, is it deep in the jungle?"

One time.

Do you know any more specific coordinates?

Two times.

"I see... I suppose you wouldn't lie, then--"

The hands that were supporting the man's head suddenly tightened their grip.

"I'm going to die"—that's what the man was thinking.

Click.

The neck has been repositioned.

The head was turned forward again.

The man could hardly believe that this young man, who killed people like ants, had actually let him go. He had been mentally prepared to be beheaded in the next instant.

"Is it strange that I let you go?" Ling Ye looked at him jokingly.

The man nodded repeatedly, then shook his head.

"Don't be so scared. If it were the old me, I would have used the most extreme methods to get the information and then dismembered you immediately. But... I'm not the same person I used to be."

Ling Ye's eerie laughter gradually subsided, replaced by a smile full of nostalgia and happiness. In that instant, the young man seemed to have shed his Killing Intent and bloodlust, becoming like an innocent boy.

"Men can change, especially when they meet their soulmate. The fact that I fell in love with her at first sight saved me and changed me, allowing me to be 'resurrected' on a spiritual level..."

He left the stunned man behind, put away the knife, and strode away.

"That's it, we've obtained important intelligence."

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Ling Ye. It's wonderful to have you on the team."

"Don't mention it. After all, I'm helping Xiao Wu, not you. To be honest, I don't care what happens to Miss Ye, but it wouldn't be good if Xiao Wu saddened by her breakdown. She would take all the blame upon herself."

"You really know her well."

"Secretly paying attention to a woman you like is a sign of a young man's heart."

"What? That's a bit disgusting."

Ling Ye strolled leisurely down the empty street, with the phantom of Givinia beside him.

"I'm a little curious, how do you know so much?" Givinia carefully examined Ling Ye's face, but Ling Ye's expression remained unchanged, and even she couldn't discern anything amiss.

"I just have a keener sense of observation; compared to Miss Givinia, I'm nothing."

"So, how much do you know?"

"What are you referring to? If it's Miss Ye, all I know is that she can control blood and go berserk, turning into a monster and causing chaos, that's all."

"..."

Givinia remained silent; this was the first time she, usually so adept at reading people, had been so unable to see through someone.

"What's wrong, Miss Givinia? Are you not satisfied with my answer?"

"No, it's not..."

"If that's still not enough," Ling Ye smiled at her, "I'll rephrase it a few more times until you're 'at ease,' how about that?"

"... Heh, it seems there's no point in continuing this conversation. Well then, let's leave it at that for today. We'll take action once we've ascertained the situation deep within the jungle."

Bye~

Givinia gradually faded and disappeared into the air.

On the deserted street, only Ling Ye remained.

"Hmph, this is a girl you can't afford to underestimate, Givinia Sorel... um?"

In the distance, bathed in moonlight, a dark figure rapidly approached him.

"Ling Ye!"

Whoosh! When he was less than fifty meters away, the dark figure suddenly threw something out, a long blade that flew towards him in a circle!

Ling Ye simply flicked his knife, and with a snap, he sent the object flying, spinning as it hurtled towards the attacker.

"Tsk!"

The man grabbed it; it turned out to be a huge scythe, more than two meters long, its sharp blade reflecting the moonlight and radiating murderous intent.

"Is this how you greet people, Sawyer? How rude!"

"Talk to me about manners? You scoundrel?"

Short, frilly blond hair, bulging muscles beneath his tight-fitting clothes, and most strikingly, bizarre tattoos covering half his body—this was none other than Sawyer Links, another vice-captain of the Enforcement Team.

Soya held his scythe horizontally, his facial muscles contorted grotesquely, and his emerald green eyes narrowed into slits as he glared fiercely at Ling Ye, who easily deflected that murderous gaze.

"What have you been doing all this time? Wu Cangsheng has been messing with Black Crows like a madman, and you haven't shown up at all. I've been running around like an idiot following him around like a fool! You should know that this is the kind of job I hate the most!"

"What's there to worry about?" Ling Ye shrugged lightly, as if it were no big deal. "At least in my opinion, Wu Cangsheng is just a muscle-bound idiot. He's too strong for an ordinary person, but he's far from being a dictator. He's ambiguous, in other words, a piece of trash. Don't tell me you can't even handle a piece of trash."

Soya snorted coldly and said, "You think I don't know? If I could, I'd really like to kill him and take his place, but don't forget, Ling Ye, we still have our own responsibilities!"

"Yes, yes, yes... It's really tiring being a deputy captain of an Enforcement Team who is dedicated to serving the people..."

"Yay, yay," Ling Ye sighed softly as he began his journey home.

"..." So idle.

I sat in the living room, flipping through the book in my hand, but even though I kept staring at the pages, I couldn't concentrate on anything.

Xiao Wu and Givinia still hadn't returned. After lunch, Haoyue said, "Taking a nap is very important for skincare," and then went to sleep. Xiao and the lolis were still somewhere else, leaving me the only one still awake.

"Hoo... um..."

I heard steady breathing beside me. Just a few steps away on the sofa, Haoyue was lying on her side wrapped in a towel, her sleeping face peaceful and serene. She occasionally made strange "hmm hmm ahh" sounds, and sometimes touched her neck and scratched her face. A few times she even ate some hair.

She's really good at being cute.

Come to think of it, why did she insist on sleeping next to me?

She had just mentioned wanting to take a nap when she asked me, "Xiao Ye, what are you planning to do this afternoon?" I told her I wanted to read in the living room, so she brought her blanket down from the second floor and slept on the living room sofa.

"Why would you sleep on the sofa when there's a perfectly good bed available...?"

"Because Xiao Ye smells so good, I'll feel even more comfortable sleeping next to you, so please don't wander off, or I definitely won't be able to sleep well!"

"Okay, okay, I won't wander off..."

And so, this is the situation we have now.

"... well."

Having someone who is devoted to you by your side should make you feel at ease, right?

But for some reason, a strange sense of unease lingered.

The thought that I had overlooked something important lingered in my mind.

Thinking about it carefully—I haven't been truly alone at all during this period.

Most of the time, Haoyue is by my side, and sometimes Givinia and Xiao Wu also there.

Even now, when Haoyue is taking a nap, she stays by my side and specifically tells me "not to run around."

Furthermore, Xiao Wu, who is always cold to people, always has an unnatural change in attitude when she talks to me, and her sudden cooking of very rich and delicious meals is also puzzling.

This is just like...

Surveillance? Deliberately trying to please me? House arrest?

Strange ideas kept popping up, so I shook my head vigorously to stop my runaway imagination.

Honestly, what am I thinking...?

Regardless, even if we're not friends, we're still companions.

Watching me like an outsider... that's impossible.

Or rather,

I don't want this to happen.

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I didn't originally intend to add an extra chapter for the Dragon Boat Festival, but I did anyway... It seems a bit unreasonable not to add an extra chapter during a festival when I'm already on VIP. Am I really just being a tsundere?