Return Journey

It had all happened so suddenly.

Lin Xia was in an awkward position.

Although he had realized that something was wrong with Meng Bo,

he couldn't tell anyone.

After all, it involved the secret of his own murder.

But if he kept quiet, it felt as though a bomb that could go off at any moment had been buried in his heart. It was unbearable.

Still... so much time had passed.

Lin Xia had also realized that Meng Bo didn't seem to intend to tell anyone that he had hurt him.

But Meng Dahai was feeling mighty pleased with himself.

First, he wrapped Meng Bo in a tight embrace. Then he put an arm around his shoulders and showed him off to everyone.

He gave Meng Bo all the credit.

It was as if Lin Xia were just a lucky guy who'd won by doing nothing and gotten to bask in the glory.

At that, the crowd's gazes shifted back and forth between Lin Xia and Meng Bo, as they quietly waited for something to happen.

But Lin Xia and Meng Bo seemed to have reached an unspoken understanding. Both chose to stay silent.

Seeing this, everyone took Meng Dahai's guess as the truth.

Before long, Meng Bo was surrounded by envious voices and sycophantic praise.

Meng Bo, however, didn't care in the slightest. His gaze passed over the crowd and found Lin Xia.

When he noticed Lin Xia watching him too, he immediately gave him a meaningful smile.

Just then, the Healing Awakener arrived.

Xie Feng and Xiao Ya immediately set Lin Xia down so he could be treated.

Green light shone from the Healing Awakener's palms, quickly enveloping Lin Xia.

His wounds began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Seeing that the treatment would take a little while, Xie Feng suddenly remembered something and hurriedly told the staff to detonate the bombs.

A moment later, the bombs finally went off.

One portal after another appeared.

Xie Feng counted them and found there were only eight.

Aside from Xu Jian, all 39 of the students who had come to take part in the secret realm expedition had returned.

Wu Ziyang and four other students hadn't managed to enter the secret realm.

The remaining 34 students had entered the secret realm in pairs.

So, excluding Lin Xia and Meng Bo, there should theoretically have been 16 exits.

But now there were only eight...

That meant at least 16 Awakeners had died...

As the students came out of the portals one after another,

some parents rushed forward and threw their arms around their children.

Others stood rooted to the spot, their faces ashen, because their children hadn't made it to the end.

Even the students who had survived were in a sorry state, with their health nearly depleted.

Zhu Ledong came to his beloved daughter, Zhu Tingyu. Seeing the still-bleeding wound on her, he was nearly heartbroken.

But even though she was gravely injured, Zhu Tingyu hadn't abandoned her partner. She had brought out the Short-haired Girl, who was on the verge of death.

Not only that, but Zhu Tingyu, dragging her weakened body, hurriedly scanned the area. Only after spotting Lin Xia being treated did she close her eyes, collapse against her father's chest, and lose consciousness.

Zhu Ledong had seen it all.

They said that when people were at their most desperate, they instinctively looked toward the person they cared about most.

"Could it be..."

Frowning deeply, Zhu Ledong held his daughter in his arms and looked toward Lin Xia.

Liu Yucheng, on the other side, had come out alone.

He was weak too, but no parents had come to meet him.

The area was in utter chaos, with crying filling the air.

"Bang—!"

At the edge of the grounds, where no one was looking, a crack suddenly split open.

Wu Ziyang flew out as if someone had kicked him through it, then slid across the ground.

"Cough, cough... Yard Guard Dog!"

As the crack sealed shut, he clutched his chest, spat blood-tinged phlegm, and said resentfully, "One day, I'll beat you!"

The next moment, Wu Ziyang forced himself to his feet despite the pain.

He didn't want anyone to see him.

So he immediately staggered toward the crowd.

Then he suddenly remembered something and stopped. He checked his status panel and, after confirming that his level had returned to LV1, continued on his way.

An hour later.

The injured had all been treated.

Even so, people who knew each other well, like Zhu Tingyu, Lin Xia, and Liu Yucheng, didn't greet one another.

After all, so many parents who had lost their children were standing nearby...

But once Lin Xia saw that Zhu Tingyu was all right, he felt much more at ease.

The next moment, Xie Feng canceled the Reinforce Card segment.

He had a whole pile of pressing matters to deal with now.

He had to comfort the parents who had lost their children and thoroughly investigate the mystery of how the secret realm had been altered.

So Xie Feng told the students to go home and rest. Afternoon classes were canceled, and they would be notified later about the Reinforce Card matter.

And so, the parents who had lost their children remained where they were.

The parents of the survivors took their children home.

As for Lin Xia, who had neither father nor mother, he could only return to the dorm.

Fortunately, he wasn't alone.

Liu Yucheng and Wu Ziyang, whose parents hadn't come either, were with him.

There were only the three of them on the return bus. They sat far apart, each gazing out the window, and no one spoke the entire way.

Wu Ziyang kept glancing at Lin Xia, the incredible sight of him firing the Ki Blast Cannon replaying in his mind.

That move had actually killed a level-six secret realm boss in one hit... It was unbelievable.

And what was that short figure in a Battle Suit that had restrained the secret realm boss?

Was it a new Card Lin Xia had just obtained?

Or had he already had that Card, just like the Pink Jelly Person?

But Wu Ziyang knew that he might never get answers to these questions.

After all, he'd seen all of that in the Otherworld. He couldn't let anyone know he had seen it.

So Wu Ziyang looked away from Lin Xia and gazed out the window too, remembering his fight with the Shadow Figure.

Compared with Lin Xia, he was more curious about what that Shadow Figure really was.

Meanwhile, Liu Yucheng sat quietly, leaning against the window.

He wondered who had altered the secret realm this time.

And why?

Of course, what troubled Liu Yucheng most was that the things he'd done to survive in the secret realm kept replaying in his mind.

Liu Yucheng didn't want to remember any of it, but no matter how hard he tried to stop himself, the memories kept surging over him like a tide.

Lin Xia, sitting in the fourth-to-last row, didn't care at all about who had tampered with the secret realm.

Nor did he feel any joy at obtaining a new Card, Vegeta, or jumping eight levels.

His mind was filled with Meng Bo's face.

Why was someone he had killed with his own hands standing there, alive and well?

And what had Meng Bo meant by that meaningful smile across the crowd?

"Eee—!"

After an unknown amount of time, the brakes squealed.

The bus reached the school gates, and the three of them got off one after another.