Director Wang, How Did You Die in the Rift?

As the team pushed deeper into the third layer of the rift, the students of Ping'an Martial High School had already split into three groups.

The instructors led the way at the front, the veterans flanked the sides, and the students followed in the middle.

Wang Jianguo hung back at the very rear, keeping a gap of over ten meters from the students ahead.

Lin Feng walked behind him, his pace unhurried.

"Lin Feng." Wang Jianguo suddenly spoke, his voice low and probing as he glanced back.

"You're not still holding a grudge over that subsidy thing, are you?"

Lin Feng didn't respond.

Seeing his silence, Wang Jianguo grew bolder.

"That matter was indeed my fault, but you hit me too, so we're even. You're a Sergeant Major now, with a bright future ahead—why bother settling scores with a mere director of the Academic Affairs Office?"

He pulled a card from his pocket and held it back toward Lin Feng.

"There's fifty thousand in here, consider it my apology. Look, just drop it, and we both keep our dignity."

Lin Feng glanced at the card.

"Fifty thousand?"

"That's right, fifty thousand! It's not a small amount!" Wang Jianguo's tone turned ingratiating.

"Director Wang, you're quite generous."

Wang Jianguo forced a smile, saying nothing.

Lin Feng's voice was soft.

"Do you know that for that two hundred thousand, I signed a life-binding contract with the Northern Territory and nearly died in the beast tide?"

Wang Jianguo's smile faltered.

"Let's not dredge up the past."

Lin Feng pushed the card back.

"Not enough."

"Then how much do you want? A hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand?" Wang Jianguo grew anxious.

Lin Feng shook his head.

"Your life."

The three words left his mouth, and Wang Jianguo's face went pale.

"What are you, joking?"

Lin Feng said nothing more.

The team continued forward.

At the end of the third layer, there was a fork in the path. The instructor led the main group down the left passage, stationing a veteran at the junction.

Lin Feng called out to the veteran.

"I'll take a few Ping'an Martial High School students down the right side passage for individual training ahead. Just wait here."

The veteran glanced at his Sergeant Major insignia and nodded, letting him pass.

Lin Feng turned and called out to the students walking ahead.

"You all go with the main group. I'll take your Director Wang to check out the side passage."

The students, eager to stay far from Wang Jianguo, didn't even look back as they followed the main group into the left passage.

At the fork, only Lin Feng and Wang Jianguo remained.

Wang Jianguo's legs began to tremble.

"What are you going to do?"

"Move." Lin Feng pointed at the right side passage.

"I'm not going!"

Lin Feng looked at him.

The pressure of a Martial Master at the fifth stage, even if only a tenth was released, was more than enough for an ordinary person.

Wang Jianguo's knees buckled, nearly sending him to the ground.

His face flushed crimson, sweat beaded on his forehead, and his lips quivered, but no words came out.

"I'll say it again. Move."

Wang Jianguo's legs numbly stepped forward, heading into the side passage.

The side passage was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Water seeped through the rock walls, making the ground slick.

After about three minutes of walking, the passage opened up into a small cavern.

The cave held three Venom-Sting Lizards, F-rank, at the Martial Disciple fifth-layer level.

Sensing someone enter, the lizards hissed, tongues flicking, and crawled toward the pair.

Wang Jianguo collapsed to the ground in terror, his crotch instantly soaked through.

"Help! Save—"

Lin Feng stood still, not moving a muscle.

The three lizards bypassed him and made straight for Wang Jianguo.

They could sense strength and weakness; the Martial Master-level aura instinctively made them avoid Lin Feng, turning instead toward the weaker prey.

"Lin Feng! Save me! Please! I'm begging you!"

Wang Jianguo scrambled backward on the ground until his back hit the cave wall, with nowhere left to retreat.

The first lizard lunged.

Its venomous stinger sank into Wang Jianguo's thigh.

"Ah!!!" The scream echoed through the cave.

The second lizard bit into his arm.

The third lunged for his neck.

Only then did Lin Feng move.

Mountain Splitter left its sheath—three slashes, three lizards, all dead.

But his timing was impeccable.

Wang Jianguo's thigh, arm, and neck already bore deep bite marks and venomous stinger wounds.

Venom-Sting Lizard venom wasn't lethal, but it was enough to make an ordinary person writhe in agony.

Wang Jianguo lay on the ground, convulsing, letting out garbled moans.

"Lin Feng, please... save me."

Lin Feng crouched down.

"Director Wang, remember what you said to me back at the Academic Affairs Office?"

Wang Jianguo's face was twisted in pain; how could he remember any words now.

"You said, 'What can you do to me?'"

Lin Feng patted his cheek.

"Now you know."

He stood up and took a step back.

Spiritual will condensed at his fingertip.

An invisible force blasted directly into Wang Jianguo's mind.

Wang Jianguo's body went rigid, eyes wide, pupils dilating rapidly.

The next second, he went limp.

No external injuries, no blood.

Cause of death: spiritual backlash, or extreme terror from an alien beast attack triggering a heart rupture.

Either explanation held up.

Lin Feng dragged the three lizard corpses over to Wang Jianguo, arranging a scene of mutual destruction after a struggle.

The bite marks and venomous stinger wounds on Wang Jianguo were real.

The lizard corpses were real.

A powerless Academic Affairs Office director, alone in a rift encountering three alien beasts, bitten and dying from venom.

Reasonable.

Flawless.

Lin Feng first pocketed the thick gold chain from around his neck, then rifled through Wang Jianguo's pockets.

The bank card with fifty thousand yuan went into his own pocket.

From the inner pocket of his clothes, he pulled out a phone and an envelope.

Inside the envelope was a document, reading: "Practical Combat Simulation Participant Insurance Compensation, One Hundred Fifty Thousand Yuan."

This sum was jointly allocated by the military and the Department of Education—if a student or teacher met with an accident in the rift, the compensation would go to the family.

Wang Jianguo had also signed a life-and-death waiver.

Everyone signed one before entering the rift.

Black on white, stamped with an embossed seal.

Lin Feng tucked the envelope away, wiped the phone clean, and tossed it beside Wang Jianguo.

He gave the scene one final check.

Perfect.

He turned and walked back, exiting the side passage, and at the fork in the road ran into the veteran soldier who had been standing guard outside.

"Reporting." Lin Feng's tone was steady. "A residual beast nest was discovered in the side passage. Director Wang of Ping'an Martial High School was attacked by three Venom-Sting Lizards while assisting in the investigation."

"By the time I arrived, the lizards had already been killed, but Director Wang's injuries were too severe. He had no vital signs."

The veteran's face changed.

"Dead?"

"Yeah. Please notify the instructors and the military to arrange for someone to collect the body."

The veteran vanished like a gust of wind.

Lin Feng leaned against the rock wall and closed his eyes.

The debt for the subsidy was settled today.

"Not a total waste of effort."

He muttered to himself.

Then he opened his eyes and followed the group toward the exit of the fissure.