"Let's go find a safe place first," Lin Yu said.
As soon as the four stepped into the teaching building, a mechanical voice came over the loudspeaker. "Lin Yu, Son Goku, Xiao Yan, Shi Hao, please come to the principal's office."
The voice was cold and devoid of any emotion, as if issuing a command.
"Tsk, I was just about to catch my breath when trouble came knocking on my door."
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow, a flash of Heavenly Flame disappearing from his hand. "This principal is probably no pushover either."
Lin Yu didn't speak, but his brows furrowed slightly. He opened his Heavenly Eye slightly and scanned the broadcast that had just delivered the message. He keenly sensed that there was a faint fluctuation of rules in the air, guiding them in a certain direction.
Since there was no way to rest, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and keep going. The four of them walked down the corridor, and it was eerily quiet all the way. Even the school rules no longer came to mind; only the sound of their footsteps echoed.
Lin Yu was exhausted and was protected by the three people in the middle.
Just then, hurried footsteps came from the stairs ahead.
"Watch out!" Xiao Yan stepped in front, a faint Heavenly Flame flickering around him, ready to strike at any moment.
"It's alright, it's Sister Su." Lin Yu pressed down on Xiao Yan's shoulder. He had already sensed that it was Su Xiaoxiao coming down from upstairs.
As soon as she finished speaking, Su Xiaoxiao ran down the stairs from the corner, her face filled with anxiety.
Upon seeing people, she immediately stopped, and after recognizing Lin Yu and his group, she visibly breathed a sigh of relief, "Why are you still here? Let's go!"
He then anxiously urged the four of them to run.
"What's wrong, Sister Su? Why are you so nervous?" Xiao Yan asked, puzzled. Why did she suddenly want to run away?
"Didn't you hear the announcement? The principal of that weird school has come out. It won't be a simple matter of survival anymore." Su Xiaoxiao's tone was clearly terrified when she mentioned the principal.
She almost died in there dealing with a teacher, let alone the school principal.
"There's no time to explain, come with me!" Su Xiaoxiao was the first to step past the crowd and run towards the school gate.
As soon as the words were spoken, several lines of blood-red school rules suddenly appeared on the wall at the end of the corridor:
[School Rule 13: Students must obey all instructions broadcast over the loudspeaker.]
[School Rule 14: Those who refuse to comply will be considered for expulsion.]
[School Rule 15: Withdrawal is equivalent to death.]
"Looks like the principal won't let us leave," Shi Hao said helplessly, pointing to the blood-written words on the wall.
"Then let's go and have a go at it!" Goku rubbed his hands together, eager to try.
Xiao Yan carried the large ruler without saying a word, but his body radiated the oppressive aura of Heavenly Flame.
It was obvious that none of them were particularly afraid of these rules; in their eyes, they weren't that powerful, just a bit troublesome.
"Are you all crazy?!" Su Xiaoxiao exclaimed.
"Rules can't be killed!" Su Xiaoxiao thought the others hadn't encountered these things before, so she anxiously explained them to them.
"It's alright, we've seen even more powerful ones before, what's the principal?" Lin Yu actually wanted to run away too, but since it was the rule, he was afraid that breaking it would give the person behind it a loophole.
Since He did not intervene afterward, it means that He also followed some kind of rule.
"Besides, you've seen Sister Su's rules. Not going means certain death, and going doesn't guarantee anything, so you might as well try your luck."
"You guys..." Su Xiaoxiao looked at the four of them and saw that they all looked eager to try. Knowing that she couldn't persuade them, she could only stomp her foot in frustration.
She gritted her teeth and said, "Fine, I'll go with you."
After all, the four of them came to help her; how could she abandon them and run away alone?
The group encountered no danger along the way, as if the entire school was deliberately "allowing them to pass."
The strange teachers and students that Lin Yu had seen earlier had also hidden themselves away, and the only sound in the entire corridor was the footsteps of five people.
Soon, a wooden door with the words "Principal's Office" engraved on it appeared ahead, with dried bloodstains still remaining on the doorknob.
"Be careful." Su Xiaoxiao pressed her hand on the broadsword at her waist, about to warn him, when Goku had already reached out and pushed the door open.
The chair facing the door was empty, but a black suit jacket was draped over the back of the chair, and the word "Principal" on the school badge pinned to the lapel of the suit jacket was slowly bleeding.
Behind the desk was a wall covered with photos, all of students in school uniforms. Every face was blurry, except for the eyes, which were two black holes, as if they had been gouged out.
"Now that you five students are here, please have a seat."
Suddenly, the chair began to spin inexplicably, and a dark figure appeared on it.
"Don't move, this is a trap. The people in the photo have all been sucked in." Su Xiaoxiao stopped the four of them.
"Why are you five students causing trouble on campus?" Seeing that the students weren't fooled, the principal continued to ask.
Lin Yu, who had been observing all along, finally understood the principal's background.
He kills according to certain rules; only those who violate his rules are allowed to kill.
After understanding, Lin Yu suddenly felt weary of this world.
The principal, as the one who sets the school rules, actually has to follow the rules, allowing people to break them in order to reap lives.
Lin Yu used his Heavenly Eye to look at the principal, and sure enough, there were several rules in his chest.
[The principal can arbitrarily dispose of students in his or her school.]
[Basic respect for the principal needs to be maintained.]
"Don't answer him. His rule is that once he acknowledges we're students, he can take action." Lin Yu whispered this message to the others.
It's a shame that this damn principal keeps referring to them as students. In other words, as long as they answer, it confirms their student status, and the principal can do whatever he wants with them.
If they don't answer, it's considered disrespectful to the principal, and the principal can then accuse them of violating the rules and take action against them.
While you can't break the rules, that doesn't mean you can't kill a school principal!
Lin Yu and the other four did not reply, and the office fell into a deathly silence.
The black mist surrounding the principal was expanding at a visible speed, and the principal's shadow grew larger and larger, with the area covered by him emitting a hissing, corrosive sound.
In no time, the dark figure had swallowed up half the office, and an invisible pressure spread out.
Su Xiaoxiao felt her breathing become heavy, her shoulders slumped slightly under the weight, she even heard a slight buzzing in her ears, and her vision began to dim.
She held her breath, and even her hands, hanging at her sides, were trembling slightly.
"Didn't you say it would be fine if I didn't answer him?" Su Xiaoxiao's voice trembled slightly, feeling like she was under immense pressure.
"I forgot to mention, if you don't respect him, he'll also resort to violence," Lin Yu said with a smile that seemed particularly out of place amidst the suffocating pressure.
"What should I do?" She had never faced a rule-maker before, and she was starting to panic.
Lin Yu patted her shoulder, his voice extremely low. "Don't panic, there's a loophole in his rules; it doesn't say we can't fight back!"
"Huh!" Su Xiaoxiao was stunned. Did she mean that?
"What, you can't even give a basic response?" The principal's voice came from the depths of the shadows, hoarseer than before, like sheet metal rubbed smooth by black mist. "Is this your 'respect' for the principal?"