Chapter 40: Listen, the Sound of a Heart Shattering~
Lu Liangting took a step back, slipping his hand into his jacket pocket where he clutched a bloodstained pen, keeping a vigilant eye on Li Nan. If that guy made any funny moves, that pen was going flying!
He wasn’t stupid, and his eyesight was just fine. He clearly saw the monster on Li Nan’s back.
This monster? Oh, he’d encountered it once before—and let’s just say it was a close call. If it hadn’t been for that woman who showed up to save him, there’s no way he’d still be standing here today.
And now, seeing that same monster on his classmate? Yeah, that weighed heavy on his heart.
Looks like those things were starting to invade the real world.
“Lu Liangting!”
With bloodshot eyes, Li Nan ripped off his mask dyed red with bl**d.
His face was a bloody mess, his nose caved in, looking like it had gone ten rounds with a meat grinder. The horror was intensified by his gaze—it was like staring into the eyes of a genuinely wicked ghost.
When enemies meet, it’s personal. To Li Nan, Lu Liangting was his sworn enemy.
“k*ll him!”
Li Nan pointed a shaky finger at Lu Liangting, his voice hoarse.
After taking a slam from Zhao Mingyue right on his noggin, plus the influence of the black shadow, Li Nan’s mind was far from clear. The first thing he saw was Lu Liangting, and all he could think was: must. k*ll. Him. The wise words of Teacher Chen? Yeah, those flew right out the window.
Seeing that the person in front of him wasn’t Bai Yu, the black shadow felt a surge of courage.
It had just lost an arm to Bai Yu and was badly wounded, needing life force to recover.
“Roooar!” After dying, it exploded out of Li Nan’s back, launching its pathetic little body straight for Lu Liangting. Only half of it shot forward while its feet remained firmly planted on Li Nan.
The black shadow’s form elongated in a creepy way, its mouth stretching wider than a surprise party cake as it lunged for Lu Liangting’s head.
“Zhang Lin!”
Lu Liangting stepped back and let that pen fly from his pocket!
Suddenly, a school uniform-wearing ghost popped up, looking about as vacant as a TV when the signal cuts out—totally losing out to the black shadow’s aura in terms of intimidation.
But even so, he still charged in bravely.
Zhang Lin, poker-faced and determined, gripped the black shadow’s body tightly. Tiny threads of bl**d started oozing from the tips of his fingers, slowly munching away at the shadow.
After being walloped by Bai Yu, the black shadow instinctively paused at the sight of Lu Liangting conjuring yet another ghost.
Once Zhang Lin got a hold, the black shadow’s eyes flashed with fury.
This weak ghost dared to hinder it?
With its remaining claw, it swatted Zhang Lin away like a pesky fly. Its fingers stretched like a bowl of overcooked spaghetti, binding Zhang Lin while it yanked him closer, mouth wide open in preparation for a snack.
Zhang Lin, indeed weak, went all in like he had a d*ath wish. Even after he got wrapped up, he bit one of the ghost’s fingers, tearing it off with a bl**d-threaded gnash!
The black shadow shrieked in pain, its gaze now filled with spite towards Zhang Lin.
Zhang Lin was dragged closer, and the black shadow seized the opportunity, retracting its other spaghetti fingers before its hand morphed into a kn*fe and stabbed straight into Zhang Lin’s gut, smashing him back against the wall.
It all happened so fast! Even a brief tussle between two ghosts could make the strength difference evident.
Lu Liangting wasn’t about to stand around waiting for a ghostly invitation to his demise; seizing the moment Zhang Lin sacrificed himself, he lunged forward, punching Li Nan square in the nose.
Li Nan’s tears flew out like confetti, but fueled by hatred, he didn’t go down and instead retaliated, but Lu Liangting dodged with ease.
Both kicked out simultaneously—Lu Liangting remained upright while Li Nan stumbled back three steps, causing the black shadow’s mouth to miss its intended bite on Zhang Lin’s head.
Zhang Lin seized his chance to breathe. Though he was practically transparent from the injuries, he charged back into the fray, fully aware he stood no chance against the black shadow.
“I want you DEAD!”
Li Nan’s teeth were stained with crimson as he resembled the monster on his back more and more.
Lu Liangting threw another punch, landing a solid hit on Li Nan’s already broken face. Li Nan, in a desperate move, hooked his arm around Lu Liangting’s and kicked him in the gut.
“Mingyue, run!”
Amid the chaos, Lu Liangting finally noticed Zhao Mingyue standing at the back, looking utterly bewildered with her magic wand.
At that moment, he realized that Li Nan was definitely there to cause trouble for Mingyue—maybe even trying to k*ll her!
Panic rose inside him; if he didn’t take down Li Nan quickly, not only Zhang Lin but Mingyue would be in danger too.
He had to win, and do it fast.
Why, all of a sudden, did a familiar silhouette pop back into his mind? If she were here, things would be a lot safer, right?
Zhao Mingyue held onto her solid magic wand, not sure what to do.
Should she jump in to help? What if she hit the wrong target? And without Bai Yu around, she was genuinely scared of the ghost shadow on Li Nan’s back.
“Don’t go over, just slowly back away and listen to me.”
Suddenly, a cold voice rang in her heart, startling her back to reality.
Backing up step by step, when she turned her gaze upwards, her pupils shrank.
At the stairwell’s corner, the red-clothed female ghost appeared as she descended, standing just behind Lu Liangting. Her long, dark nails dragging to her knees, skin deep blue, with swollen black veins like worms.
With her head down and black hair obscuring her face, her eyes were barely visible through the tangled mess.
The ghost surveyed her surroundings, seemingly searching for something.
With the ghost’s arrival, the atmosphere shifted dramatically—suddenly, the hallway felt ten degrees colder, an icy draft wailing through the souls of those present.
A violent stench, mixed with a strong burnt aroma, created a nauseating odor that made a certain someone start to miss the sterile smell of disinfectant.
“The ghost’s corpse has been moved; her strength has increased slightly,” Bai Yu’s voice whispered in Zhao Mingyue’s ear.
“Can you handle her?”
“Sure, I was hoping to leave her alone for a bit. She shouldn’t be back so soon; I think she sensed my presence and has come looking for me.”
Bai Yu’s seriousness hit hard. If this ghost decided to gobble up Li Nan’s shadow and Lu Liangting’s ghost, things would get dicey.
Lu Liangting felt the atmosphere shift as he kicked Li Nan away, hesitating to look back, a lump forming in his throat while cold sweat drenched his back.
He knew they were on the fifth floor, and that female ghost was definitely going a bit crazy.
But he never thought she would come down.
Faced with the red-clothed ghost, both Zhang Lin and the black shadow momentarily halted. The shadow had hardly been injured, while Zhang Lin appeared extremely transparent.
The pen zoomed back into Lu Liangting’s pocket, and Zhang Lin vanished.
As the fierce red-clothed ghost strode in, even the black shadow felt it best to retreat, pulling Li Nan back as they ambos cautiously stepped back to widen the distance.
Without Bai Yu around, the ghost was truly beginning to lose it.
Her silent scream locked onto the black shadow on Li Nan’s back, dashing toward it with alarming speed.
Lu Liangting instinctively thought she was about to pounce on him, so he raised an arm to shield himself.
As the noxious smell surged towards him, it was truly an olfactory assault.
He squeezed his eyes shut, seemingly suspended in slow motion, waiting for the inevitable pain.
But suddenly, a gust of wind blasted past him, whisking that horrid stench away even faster than it arrived.
The expected pain never came, and Lu Liangting frowned, peering through squinted eyes.
What red-clothed ghost? Now, there was just a delicate figure in a white dress.
“It’s you…”
Seeing Bai Yu, Lu Liangting didn’t even realize he was curving his lips into a subtle smile.
For some reason, his heart filled with a sense of safety, accompanied by a complicated, indescribable emotion.
“I’ve been looking for you these days…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the figure suddenly turned, delivering a flawless sidekick without hesitation.
Lu Liangting went spiraling through the air, and thanks to his enhanced physique, that kick didn’t outright k*ll him or harm him too much.
But the psychological damage? That one was a direct hit.
*
I have to drive back home tomorrow, so there will just be one update for today. I’ll resume two updates tomorrow.
My apologies, everyone!
And a big thank you to @绿端 for the tip! I’ll write an extra chapter for you soon~
Without any surprises, it should be either the day after tomorrow or the day after that.
