Deeply Moved, Then Turned Him Down

The next afternoon.

After physical training ended, Chen Feng headed straight for the third floor.

"He didn't even lock the door. That monster's way too careless."

Chen Feng pushed the door open and searched the desk for ages, but found no trace of the key.

"Strange. Was the map's information wrong, or did the professor take the key with him?"

Most people would have left empty-handed.

But Chen Feng was certain Li Guolong and the other two had gotten the key last time.

Without it, they could never have crossed the field. They would have given up on escaping. How else could two of them have been caught while one went missing?

"I must have opened it the wrong way."

An idea struck Chen Feng. He stepped out, shut the door, then unlocked it with his key and opened it again.

This time, the moment the door opened, a cold wind rushed into his face!

"Holy shit. A fake office and a real one!"

The monsters here are sneaky as hell, Chen Feng thought. If Li Guolong and the others hadn't stolen the office key in advance, he would never have escaped on his own.

After a quick search, Chen Feng found a key engraved with a sheep's head in a desk drawer.

"This should be it."

"Monsters really aren't that smart. If it were me, I'd keep a key this important on me."

Key in hand, Chen Feng returned to the dorm. By then, Fatty and Li Guolong had finished delivering the liquor.

Now they only had to wait patiently for a few hours. Once Pig Instructor got drunk, they could escape under cover of night.

Yellow Hair stamped his feet impatiently. "Why isn't it dark yet? If only we could skip ahead."

Watching Yellow Hair pace back and forth, Fatty grew irritated. "Are you in a hurry to die?"

Yellow Hair was brimming with excitement. "What do you know? I can't wait to show you a one-life speedrun of the Fourth Mental Hospital."

Fatty looked puzzled. "Who's doing the speedrun?"

Yellow Hair pointed at himself. "Me."

"Good grief. You didn't help steal the key or the liquor. You haven't done a damn thing, and now you're the one doing a one-life speedrun?" Fatty got angrier with every word. "Forget the professor. I want to shock you myself."

As the two bickered, night finally fell.

Li Guolong called out, "Come on, let's all go to the bathroom."

Fatty put on an act. "Seriously? You're a grown man and you're still afraid to go to the bathroom in the dark? You need company? Have you no shame?"

It wasn't Chen Feng's first time seeing it.

But he still had to say it: "Terrible acting."

Fortunately, the audience for this performance—the Imposters—had only rudimentary intelligence. They would act only when a living person broke one of the ten rules.

And going to the bathroom in the middle of the night clearly broke none of them.

The four slipped out of the dorm, skirted the Imposter patrol, and reached the field.

A thin layer of white fog hung over the field. Anyone who entered without a key could walk all night, wear out their shoes, and still never find the way out.

"Brother Feng, the key!"

"I've got it."

Holding up the key, they passed through the fog and saw the high wall lined with electrical wires, the vermilion academy gate, and the lit security booth.

Even from far away, they could hear snoring coming from the booth.

Yellow Hair peered through its window and gave them a thumbs-up. "Sleeping like a pig."

"He is a pig," Fatty muttered.

Li Guolong put a finger to his lips. "Keep it down. Don't wake the monster."

Under the light from the security booth, something metallic gleamed at the center of the academy gate.

An iron lock.

Thick. Solid.

Anyone who saw it would think the same thing: unbreakable.

"Brother Feng, give me the key."

Li Guolong inserted the sheep's-head key into the lock, then froze.

It wouldn't open.

Yellow Hair's expression changed. "Wrong key. The gate can't be opened from this side!"

The map had only said the key would get them across the field. It had never said it would open the gate.

"Maybe Pig Instructor has the key," Fatty guessed.

"I'll take a look."

Chen Feng pushed open the security booth door, and the reek of liquor hit him. Covering his nose, he crept inside on tiptoe. Before long, he came back out with his head hanging low. One look told them he'd found nothing.

Just as everyone's hopes were collapsing, Yellow Hair suddenly said, "Wait. I've got a plan."

"Like hell you do," Fatty scoffed.

"No, I really do," Yellow Hair explained. "I heard the academy's electrical room is over by the sanatorium. If we shut off the power, we can climb over the wall."

As he spoke, his voice trailed off. "But the map clearly says the sanatorium is even more dangerous than the Internet Addiction Academy. And none of us has ever been there."

Heading into the unfamiliar sanatorium alone—how was that any different from walking to one's death?

"Good grief. Who'd volunteer to die in the sanatorium?" Fatty said.

After a brief silence, Li Guolong said, "I'll go."

Fatty nodded. "Exactly. Nobody wants to... Wait, what?"

Yellow Hair was startled too. "Brother Long, you're joking, right?"

Li Guolong's gaze was resolute. "I'll go."

Chen Feng fell into thought.

So that's why Professor Sheep only brought back two of them last time. Something happened to Li Guolong at the sanatorium.

While Chen Feng was thinking, Li Guolong had already begun giving his final instructions. "Once you get out, find Captain Li at the police station and ask him for help. He's my father."

Captain Li?

He's Old Li's son!

Chen Feng's mind reeled.

Of course. When someone was taken into the academy, their entire life history was erased from the world.

But a few traces still remained.

Old Li was so old, yet supposedly had no children. But his beloved windproof lighter bore a metal engraving that said "To Father"... So Old Li did have a child. His son had just been taken into the academy!

"No wonder I felt a connection to Li Guolong the moment I saw him," Chen Feng said, the truth dawning on him.

By now, the others were in tears.

"My father always said that if I didn't make something of myself, I shouldn't come back and embarrass him," Li Guolong said. "If you see him, please tell him that I didn't come back, but I didn't embarrass him either."

Yellow Hair's eyes were wet. "Don't worry. I'll tell your dad."

Even Fatty sounded serious for once. "Once I get out, I'll come back and save you. I swear!"

"Then I'm counting on you for what comes next."

With those last words, Li Guolong turned toward the sanatorium, resolve in his eyes.

At that moment, Chen Feng, whom everyone had been ignoring, clapped his hands to get their attention. "Hey, hey. There's one more person here."

"Little Long, I really am deeply moved by your willingness to sacrifice yourself."

"But hold on a second."

Chen Feng took a deep breath, gripped the iron lock, concentrated all his strength into one point, and gave it a mighty wrench.

Crack!

The force twisted the lock apart in an instant, scattering fragments across the ground.

Brute force worked wonders.

Seeing the three of them staring in shock, Chen Feng said smugly, "Who says you need a key to open a gate?"

"Uh..."

Yellow Hair stared at him. "I've never seen anyone this incredible in my life."

Fatty sighed. "Well, now you have."

As for Li Guolong, he remembered all the embarrassing things he'd just said.

His ears turned red.

After all that buildup, would it be rude not to die now?