Another Dispute, Splitting into Two Groups

Inside the bus, the cloud of blood from the explosion was still slowly drifting apart.

Everyone was stunned, their gazes darting between the crow's mangled head and Jiangnan's still-raised finger.

Fear, confusion, and the bewilderment of a worldview collapsing.

"Wh-what happened? Why did the crow suddenly die?"

In the corner, a petite girl wearing thick glasses timidly raised her hand.

Her name was Liu Yuqing. She ranked near the top of her class in every subject and was one of the school's top students.

"I... I think I saw..."

"Jiangnan made a finger-gun gesture just now, and... he even said something!"

"Then the crow exploded!"

At her words, several girls nearby drew in sharp breaths.

But before their shock could even sink in—

"Huh? Liu Yuqing, did fear fry your brain too?"

A scoffing laugh rang out.

The speaker was a girl sitting in the front row.

She wore designer clothes and clutched a Hermes bag with its tag still attached. Her chin was sharp enough to impale someone.

The light shone through her nose bridge; she had the unmistakable look of an over-operated influencer.

Her name was Bai Lianhua, the class's notorious snob.

"Do you think you're watching a novel? He made a gesture and spoke?"

Bai Lianhua rolled her eyes and pointed at Jiangnan, whose face remained blank.

"Everyone knows he's mute!"

"What, do you think some lunatic would stay silent for eighteen years just to show off with one little outburst today?"

"That's ridiculous!"

Bai Lianhua's words were harsh, but there was no denying they made sense.

Who would be crazy enough to pretend to be mute for eighteen years?

But Liu Yuqing bit her lip and summoned the courage to argue back.

"B-but I really saw it."

The next second, the girl sitting beside her spoke up.

She was Liu Yuqing's best friend and the class beauty, Yu Shishi.

She was lovely and pure-looking, and the two were usually inseparable.

"Yuqing, Jiangnan has a certificate from the hospital. You must have seen wrong."

"Think about it. If you were pretending to be mute, and could speak but couldn't because of some reason..."

"If you heard earth-shattering gossip but couldn't share it, or people misunderstood you and you couldn't explain, how awful would that be?"

"Forget eighteen years—even I couldn't last a year!"

Hearing this, Jiangnan, who had been expressionless, twitched slightly at the corner of his eye.

He nodded furiously in his mind.

You've said exactly what's in my heart!

Eighteen years! A whole eighteen years!

Do you know what I've been through these eighteen years?!

To save up all those words, to make that one outburst hit with all its force—

How many times had I wanted to gripe, how many times had I wanted to curse, only to dig my nails into my thigh and swallow every word?

That was why he could barely make any expression now.

Aside from managing a crooked smirk, he was basically a stone-faced man!

"But..."

Liu Yuqing tried to say more, but a furious roar cut her off.

"Enough! Who cares whether he's really mute or pretending?"

Yang Wei sprang up from his seat, his trembling finger pointed at the corpse on the floor.

Unlike Li Xin, whose eyes had been full of desire, Yang Wei's were full of fear.

"Forget how the crow died..."

"Didn't you see what he just did?!"

Yang Wei's face was a mix of terror and fury as he shouted:

"He grabbed Li Xin and used him as a shield!"

"He used a living person to block the crow's beak!"

His words stirred up a thousand waves.

The others, still reeling over the crow's death, suddenly remembered that horrifying scene.

The mute they had always regarded as weak and utterly insignificant—

He had grabbed Li Xin, who weighed a hundred and forty pounds, with one hand and tossed him at the monster like a piece of trash!

"I saw it too... That was so cruel..."

"Li Xin went too far just now, but Jiangnan still can't just kill someone!"

"Exactly. He's a murderer... How is he any different from that monster?"

In an instant, the mood inside the bus shifted.

Fear often turned into an attack on someone else.

Jiangnan looked at the classmates who had been meek and submissive moments ago, but were now pointing fingers from their lofty moral high ground.

His eyes held nothing but amusement.

Especially that big guy. He was actually using the herd mentality to win the others over.

It reminded Jiangnan of something he'd once seen online.

When a stray dog on the roadside barked at you, would you bark back?

Of course not.

Jiangnan would just beat it to death.

Then he slowly raised his right hand, straightened his index finger, and pointed it at the center of Yang Wei's forehead.

At that moment, every hair on Yang Wei's body stood on end.

"Y-you... What are you trying to do...?"

When he saw the other man's trembling voice and terrified eyes—

Hm? Wait. That wasn't right.

I see... So that's how it is.

Jiangnan furrowed his brow, then raised the corners of his mouth.

It seemed...

Things weren't as simple as he'd imagined.

He had underestimated the big guy, letting his preconceptions get the better of him.

Then Jiangnan lowered his hand, shook his head, and spread his arms.

The meaning was simple: do as you please.

But in the very next moment—

"Whoosh!"

A fragrant breeze swept over him.

Then Jiangnan's vision went black as two soft mounds enveloped his entire face!

It was Chen Tong!

In her panic, the voluptuous beauty of a teacher rushed over and gave Jiangnan a "face wash."

She forcibly pressed his head into her ample bosom!

"Mmph..."

Jiangnan's face was instantly buried in warmth, but he nearly suffocated too.

Oh! That damn suffocating feeling...

And that damn softness!

Chen Tong hugged Jiangnan tightly, then turned toward Yang Wei and the others and scolded them.

"What time is it, and you're still fighting among yourselves?"

"Can't you think calmly about what we should do next?!"

There was no denying Chen Tong had some authority as their teacher.

She was also good to her students and had helped many of them pass the winter exams the previous year.

And she was a beauty, so when she lost her temper, plenty of people lowered their heads.

"Hah..."

Yang Wei had just let out a breath of relief when he heard Chen Tong speak. He stiffened his neck and yelled,

"Teacher Chen, you're being biased! Jiangnan clearly—"

"Stop arguing! All of you, stop!"

Just then, another voice cut in.

It was Wang Meng, the chubby little guy with glasses.

He came running over from the driver's seat, drenched in sweat, and interrupted their argument.

"Our goal isn't to fight among ourselves. It's to survive until sunrise!"

Wang Meng panted as he spoke.

"Oh, and my family owns an auto repair shop. After Wang Shifu died, I went up front to check the bus."

"The bad news: the Power System is completely dead, and the engine's wrecked too. This bus is a steel coffin now. There's no way to drive it!"

At that, everyone's faces turned deathly pale.

The bus was broken?

Would they be trapped here until they died?

"Why don't we figure out what to do next? I don't recommend staying on the bus."

Wang Meng pushed up his glasses and pointed at the shattered window.

"You saw it too. That crow smashed right through the glass without any trouble."

"Against those monsters, this bus is no better than paper!"

Hearing Wang Meng, everyone turned their attention away from Jiangnan.

After all, staying alive came first!

"Damn it!"

Yang Wei slammed his fist on a seat and cursed. "That bastard Wang was a real son of a bitch! He must've known all along!"

"No wonder the doors wouldn't open! And he'd already lost it back then!"

Yang Wei paced up and down the aisle, his expression shifting between dark and stormy.

Now and then, he stole a glance at Jiangnan, who was still struggling, and trembled all over.

At last, he stopped abruptly, his eyes hardening.

"No! We can't wait any longer!"

"The bus is too big a target! And..."

He looked at the corpses of Wang Shifu and Li Xin on the floor, and the blood covering the ground, with disgust.

"There's too much blood here! It's bound to attract more monsters!"

"We have to leave!"

As he spoke, Yang Wei looked around. His eyes fell on the large wrench in Chen Tong's hand, and he seemed to consider snatching it.

But the next second, he met Jiangnan's gaze as Jiangnan pulled free from Chen Tong's embrace.

Yang Wei jolted all over and immediately abandoned the idea.

"Hmph!"

He snorted, turned around, and grabbed a few scattered bags of potato chips and beef jerky from the floor, stuffing them into his bag.

Then, quick as a flash, he took the Window Breaking Hammer hanging by the window and the High-Power Flashlight beside Wang Shifu's corpse.

They were the most valuable supplies on the bus.

He went to an intact window, smashed it with the hammer, then looked back at everyone.

"This bus is a death trap! Who's coming with me?"

"It may be dark outside, but if we find an open area without trees, there won't be any of those crows! A clear view is safer!"

Everyone looked at one another.

Seeing the blood and corpses filling the bus, then the shattered window, fear overwhelmed everything else.

"Me! Brother Yang Wei, I'm coming with you!"

"I'm coming too! This bus stinks!"

"Let's go, let's go. I think outside is safer too!"

Driven by the will to survive, most of the students grabbed their things and scrambled after Yang Wei through the window.

In just two minutes,

the crowded bus was suddenly empty.

Only four people remained.

Chen Tong, Jiangnan, Wang Meng, and the petite girl from before, Liu Yuqing.

Outside the window, Yang Wei shone his flashlight and called back.

"Teacher Chen! Aren't you getting down?"

Chen Tong looked at Yang Wei, then at Jiangnan beside her, and hesitated.

"Jiangnan... Should we leave too?"

"It really does reek of blood here..."

However, Jiangnan shook his head.

He found a clean spot and sat down, his expression calm.

You've got to be kidding.

Right now, he was a Glass Cannon Mage with high attack and low defense. His Word Spirit was powerful, but his body was still only flesh and blood.

This bus might be a wreck, but at least it had a layer of steel around them.

Voluntarily leaving their shelter to venture into that unknown Night Jungle?

And go into an Open Area?

Wouldn't that be downright idiotic?

Seeing that Jiangnan wouldn't budge, Chen Tong grew even more conflicted.

She didn't know what to choose. Her reason told her Yang Wei had a point, but her instincts made her reluctant to leave this student behind.

In the end, she looked into Jiangnan's eyes and asked,

"Why? Give your teacher a reason."

Jiangnan took out his Memo Pad. His pen tip swept across the page, writing two forceful characters that seemed to pierce right through the paper:

[Trust me.]

Looking at those two characters, Chen Tong took a deep breath.

An inexplicable sense of security welled up inside her once more.

"Okay."

Chen Tong's gaze grew resolute. She called out the window, "I'm staying! Be careful out there!"

At that, Yang Wei and the others outside the bus flew into a rage.

"Tch, I think Teacher Chen's been bewitched by that pretty boy!"

"Exactly! Stay with that mute and wait to die!"

The crowd chattered and jeered.

To Jiangnan, their words sounded like a joke.

Who would bother arguing with the dead?

His gaze swept over the other two who had stayed behind.

Wang Meng was bent over the driver's console, fiddling with it. He seemed to be checking if he could fix anything, and paid no heed to the calls from outside.

Meanwhile, a small argument was breaking out around Liu Yuqing.

She was leaning out the window, desperately trying to persuade Yu Shishi, who stood below the bus.

"Shishi! Come on up! It's really too dangerous out there!"

"I think it's safer inside the bus!"

Liu Yuqing shouted anxiously.

Yu Shishi stood in the cold wind, gazing at the bus with hesitation.

But before she could say anything, Bai Lianhua grabbed her by the arm.

"Oh, Shishi! Why listen to that bookworm?"

Bai Lianhua looked at Liu Yuqing with disdain.

"Liu Yuqing, if you want to die, don't drag anyone else down with you! Can't you see Jiangnan kills without batting an eye?"

"Compared to a freak like that, I'd much rather stay with Brother Yang Wei!"

"He's the center for the School Basketball Team and a sports major. Even if we run into monsters, he can carry us while he runs!"

The three boys who had been pursuing Yu Shishi immediately chimed in.

"Exactly! Shishi, don't listen to that four-eyed girl!"

"We'll protect you! What future could you have with that mute?"

"Shishi, let's go! It's too cold here!"

The boys nodded and bowed to her. Don't ask why they didn't seem like simps; the answer was that they were devoted, caring gentlemen.

Yu Shishi looked at Liu Yuqing, then at the boys surrounding her like stars around the moon. In the end, she gritted her teeth.

"Yuqing... I'm sorry."

"I think everyone's right. Why don't you... come down too?"

At her words, the light in Liu Yuqing's eyes dimmed at once.

She understood now. Faced with life and death, their friendship had amounted to nothing.

She took a deep breath and shook her head desperately.

"Shishi, can't you trust me just this once?"

Yu Shishi avoided her gaze and made an excuse. "I... I'm afraid of blood."

Liu Yuqing said nothing more.

She quietly stepped back, then shut the bus window in front of her former friend, resolute.

She even latched it shut.

That single act divided them into two worlds.

"Tch! What kind of person does that? We tried to help, and she threw it back in our faces!"

Bai Lianhua spat viciously at the window.

Then she affectionately linked arms with Yu Shishi, not forgetting to turn and shoot the three boys a flirtatious look.

"Come on, let's go! You boys had better be good Flower Protectors~"

"Don't worry!"

The three boys instantly lit up like they'd been injected with chicken blood.

"All right, quit dawdling!"

Up ahead, Yang Wei impatiently waved his flashlight.

He glanced back at the pitch-black bus and Jiangnan, who had no intention of leaving, and felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

I don't want to be stuck with a monster...

Wary, Yang Wei gave the order.

"Move! Head for that clearing over there! The more open it is, the fewer trees there'll be. No trees means no crows!"

The group set off in a grand procession, heading toward a slightly less dense patch deeper in the forest.

Night deepened, and the blood-red moon climbed above the treetops.

Inside the bus, Jiangnan leaned against the window, watching the group's silhouettes gradually vanish into the darkness.

"An Open Area..."

Jiangnan sneered inwardly.

In this perilous Barbaric Realm, exposing yourself in a wide-open field with no cover...

That wasn't safety.

That was laying out a buffet.