Deadly Benevolence

Yong City No.1 High School.

Inside the Boys' Dormitory building.

Brother Knife, bruised and battered, had both arms bound behind his back and was hanging upside down from the ceiling.

Only a few of his once-perfect teeth remained, and he begged indistinctly:

"B-Brother Jin, everything I said is true!"

"I really informed you the moment I found out. I never colluded with Lu Li..."

"Besides, wasn't I the one who had my guys tell you long ago that that kid could summon a Blade Mantis?"

"Please believe me, I really didn't lie to you..."

Zhao Jin sat in a chair, absentmindedly playing with the pliers in his hand.

As he tightened his grip, the tooth clamped between the jaws—freshly pulled—made a grinding creak.

"So what you're saying is, I wronged you?"

Brother Knife's entire body tensed, and he shook his head like a rattle drum.

"No, no, no! That's not what I meant..."

Zhao Jin suddenly clenched his hand, and the tooth shattered on the spot!

"Who was it that pounded his chest and swore he could definitely keep Lu Li under control?"

"You said that even if he were the Monkey King wreaking havoc in Heaven, your men could keep him firmly pinned beneath Five Finger Mountain?!"

Brother Knife pulled a miserable face, looking utterly aggrieved.

"If that brat Huang Bin had been even slightly reliable, Lu Li never would've been able to make trouble!"

"I originally planned to use his [Scales] talent to temporarily lock down Lu Li's attributes and restrain him."

"But who would've thought that brat would have his right hand chopped off by Lu Li the moment they met?! He didn't even have time to activate his talent..."

"By the time I got there, Huang Bin was already dead..."

Zhao Jin rose to his feet and slowly picked the broken tooth fragments out of the pliers, his voice devoid of warmth.

"So you simply played along, colluded with Lu Li, and turned around to deal with me instead, is that it?"

With that, Zhao Jin crouched down, the pliers slowly moving toward Brother Knife's face.

"No! No!!" Brother Knife struggled desperately, like a pig about to be slaughtered.

Just as the pliers were about to clamp onto one of his teeth, an idea flashed through Brother Knife's mind, and he shouted urgently:

"Wait! I know how to find Lu Li!"

"Oh?" Zhao Jin paused, tilting his head as he urged, "Speak!"

"Xu Xiao! Lu Li is very close with that chick named Xu Xiao. As long as we find Xu Xiao, we can definitely force Lu Li's whereabouts out of her!"

Zhao Jin's gaze sharpened as he pressed on.

"Where is Xu Xiao?"

"I-I don't know. She should've been in the girls' dormitory across the way... Aah!!"

Before Brother Knife could finish, another tooth left his mouth forever.

Zhao Jin tossed the tooth and pliers to the ground, then straightened up.

"Kill him."

Brother Knife thrashed wildly, shrieking hysterically:

"W-Wait! I have Yong City No.1 High School students and teachers among my men! Ask them—they definitely know where Xu Xiao is!"

Zhao Jin raised his brows, seeming to agree with Brother Knife's suggestion.

"You're right. Which is why you're useless now. Go in peace."

A flash of blade light, and his head hit the ground together with his unfinished words.

"Bring those pigs up here!"

Zhao Jin's face darkened as he returned to his seat.

Before long, the teachers and students led by square-faced Teacher Yang were brought into the room.

"Does any of you know Xu Xiao's whereabouts? Tell me, and you can live."

No one spoke.

Zhao Jin sighed and said softly:

"Kill two."

Two students died on the spot.

Square-faced Teacher Yang looked unable to bear it and said:

"We truly don't know where Xu Xiao is. We aren't deliberately hiding it!"

Zhao Jin turned a deaf ear, not even sparing Teacher Yang a glance.

"Is anyone willing to talk now?"

Still, no one made a sound.

"Kill four more."

Four more lives vanished.

The crowd began to stir restlessly, and several girls had even wet themselves.

He Shufen squeezed out of the crowd, her face full of ingratiating smiles.

"Big brother, I might know where Xu Xiao is!"

"Xu Xiao went to the Shopping Supermarket to gather supplies two days ago. There must be one of her temporary bases there."

"As long as you station someone at the supermarket entrance, you'll definitely catch that little bitch within three days!"

Impatience appeared in Zhao Jin's eyes.

"Three days? That's too long. Does anyone know a more precise location?"

"I do! I do!"

Wang Xuyan raised her hand and shoved her way out of the crowd, hopping excitedly as she did.

"Xu Xiao contacted me just now! She asked how things were on my end!"

Hearing this, Zhao Jin sprang up from his chair and crossed the distance to Wang Xuyan in a few quick strides.

"You have Xu Xiao on your friends list?!"

Wang Xuyan nodded repeatedly, her eyes full of fawning flattery.

"I lied to her just now. I told her I'd already escaped and begged her to take me in. Guess what happened?"

"That stupid bitch shared her coordinates with me right away!"

Near the Shopping Supermarket.

Inside an apartment building.

Ma Han lay on the sofa with an irritated expression, stuffing another piece of bubble gum into his mouth.

This was the eighth piece of bubble gum he had eaten in a row. The gum in his mouth had already formed into a huge lump, making it difficult even to chew.

Yet Ma Han kept chewing over and over with force, as though the motion could vent the frustration in his heart.

Wang Chao fetched a trash can and held it out before Ma Han.

"If you keep chewing, you'll turn that gum into a condom. Spit it out already."

"Fuck off!"

Ma Han cursed irritably. In his carelessness, he spat the wad of gum out of his mouth.

He let out a frustrated sigh and stuffed a fresh piece into his mouth.

"Oh, stop being mad. That's just the class monitor's personality..."

Wang Chao tossed the gum from the floor into the trash can and tried to persuade him.

"Besides, we have enough food here. One more Wang Xuyan doesn't make much difference."

At those words, Ma Han immediately sat up from the sofa.

"What the fuck do you know, you fat bastard?! Do you think I'm worried about food? I'm worried Wang Xuyan will sell us out!"

Wang Chao scratched his head, looking puzzled.

"But Wang Xuyan said she'd already escaped..."

Ma Han rolled his eyes and flopped back onto the sofa.

"You believe whatever people tell you? Can't you be a little more vigilant?!"

Wang Chao chuckled foolishly.

"Come on, we're classmates. What's there to be vigilant about..."

Before he could finish, gunfire rang out downstairs!

Wang Chao and Ma Han exchanged a glance, then hurried downstairs.

By the time they reached the entrance to the stairwell, quite a few people had already gathered outside.

A small number were residents of the building, while the rest were students who had escaped from the dorms with Xu Xiao.

At some point, the entrance had filled with fully armed men in black, sealing off the entire residential complex so tightly that not even water could pass through.

A figure lay collapsed at the entrance, seemingly badly injured.

"Class monitor!"

Wang Chao recognized the person on the ground and shouted as he ran toward the entrance.

After getting over his initial shock, Ma Han immediately followed.

Only when the two drew close did they discover a familiar face hidden among the men in black not far away.