"Boss, I think Teacher Wu's setting us up."
Xie Xie leaned close to Tang Wulin's ear, his short orange hair nearly brushing against it.
He kept his voice low, but his eyes plainly said something was wrong. The four of them stood in the middle of the arena like lambs surrounded by wolves, their lonely shadows stretched long by the silver light of the cold moon overhead.
"Xie Xie, didn't you say that boy was interested in you? Why don't you... make a sacrifice?" Tang Wulin turned toward him with a gleeful smile, his dark eyes full of mischief. He didn't look nervous in the slightest.
He even took half a step back, leaving Xie Xie out in front.
Opposite them stood, from left to right, Ye Xinglan, Xu Lizhi, Yue Zhengyu, Luo Guixing, Wu Siduo, Yang Nianxia, Xu Yucheng, Yuanen Yehui, Duan Hunxiao, and Bai Hanying.
The ten stood in a line. Their Soul Power mingled in the night wind, forming a heavy pressure that bore down on the four like an invisible wall.
They hadn't all entered the arena while the four were chatting. Only now that everyone was here did the full weight of their presence emerge.
"Wait. Something's wrong." Tang Wulin's face twisted, his smile freezing in place. He craned his neck toward the entrance he had come through. Maybe another teammate would show up.
"Boss, stop looking." Xie Xie's words crushed that hope. The orange-haired boy spread his hands and shrugged, his expression saying, Just accept it.
"It's fine. Teacher Wu still has a shred of humanity left." Tang Wulin glanced at the moon, then at Xu Xiaoyan. The blue-haired girl hugged her staff and gave him a sweet, confident nod. There was not a trace of fear in her eyes.
They looked toward Wu