STG 07
Chapter 7: I Want to Live
“Wang Shao?!” Li Yifei and the other two instantly recognized the familiar scream and shouted in unison.
Exchanging glances, the three of them immediately sprinted toward the narrow alley where Wang Shao had disappeared.
Lin Qiye remained standing where he was, frowning as he stared into the dark alley, his expression grave.
Though he didn’t know what was happening, an ominous premonition settled in his chest.
The outskirts of the old district, a serial killer, a strange rotting stench, screams…
Something was very wrong.
After hesitating for a long moment, wrestling with himself, he finally sighed in resignation and gripped his white cane tightly before charging into the alley.
Under normal circumstances, Lin Qiye would never have gotten involved in something like this. He would have turned tail and run in the opposite direction as fast as possible!
If someone was screaming, it definitely wasn’t anything good.
And if it wasn’t good, that meant trouble.
Robbery, murder, or stumbling upon a crime scene—Lin Qiye wanted nothing to do with any of it.
He wasn’t the curious type, nor did he have an overflowing sense of heroism.
Most importantly, he couldn’t fight. What if he ended up dead?
But this situation was different.
Though he didn’t want to admit it, Wang Shao’s danger was partly his fault.
If they hadn’t insisted on escorting him home, maybe Wang Shao would have taken a different route, or left a few minutes earlier, and avoided whatever was happening now.
He truly hated meddling in others’ affairs, but he hated owing favors even more.
At the very least, he had to see what was going on. If things got dangerous, he could always run.
Though blindfolded, Lin Qiye moved swiftly. The closer he got to the source of the scream, the deeper his frown became.
The stench was growing stronger.
“Ahhh—!!!”
A second scream came from around the corner—this time, a girl’s voice.
Jiang Qian!
Lin Qiye skidded to a halt at the alley’s turn. Within the ten-meter radius of his spiritual perception, he sensed Jiang Qian and the other two.
A short distance ahead, Jiang Qian was collapsed on the ground, trembling violently as she stared ahead in horror, her mouth hanging open.
In front of her, Liu Yuan and Li Yifei stood frozen like statues, their eyes locked on something in front of them, shaking just as badly.
Beyond that… Lin Qiye couldn’t sense anything.
His eyes were still sealed shut, forcing him to rely solely on his spiritual perception, which had a hard limit of ten meters.
This created an awkward dilemma: within ten meters, he could perceive everything with perfect clarity.
Beyond ten meters, he was completely blind.
What had they seen that terrified them so much?
Though he couldn’t see, his hearing was sharp. He could clearly make out a faint, rustling sound in the distance.
It sounded like someone—or something—chewing voraciously, as if savoring a meal.
Hm… reminded him of the way Black Toad gnawed on bones.
“What’s happening?” Lin Qiye whispered.
Jiang Qian flinched at his voice, her hands desperately clutching his sleeve as her teeth chattered.
“A m-monster… it’s eating Wang Shao’s face!”
Lin Qiye’s expression darkened instantly.
“RUN!!”
He and Li Yifei roared the word simultaneously.
The moment it left their mouths, Liu Yuan bolted like a rabid dog, shoving past Lin Qiye in his frenzy to escape. After stumbling from the impact, he scrambled back up and sprinted for his life.
“Monster—help! Someone! There’s a monster!!” he shrieked as he fled.
Caught off guard by the collision, Lin Qiye barely steadied himself when a heavy thud echoed from ahead.
It sounded like a grizzly bear charging toward them at full speed.
Jiang Qian’s pupils shrank. With a strength she didn’t know she had, she scrambled to her feet and fled with a piercing scream.
As for Li Yifei… he’d already taken off the moment he’d shouted “Run!”—even faster than Liu Yuan, who’d shoved Lin Qiye aside.
If not for that bastard Liu Yuan knocking him off balance, Lin Qiye would’ve been long gone by now.
But that split-second delay left him and Jiang Qian trailing behind.
In that moment, it seemed everyone had forgotten Lin Qiye’s “disabled” status. The classmates who’d sworn to escort him home safely had now abandoned him without a second thought.
Well, not entirely—after all, Liu Yuan had at least shoved him on the way out.
A cold smirk tugged at Lin Qiye’s lips.
But he had no time to dwell on it. After taking only a few steps, something entered the ten-meter radius of his spiritual perception.
It resembled a human… but not quite.
It had limbs and a head like a person, but it moved like a hyena, sprinting on all fours with the hulking build of a bear.
Most horrifying of all was the ghostly white, twisted mask of a face it wore.
Its long, crimson tongue—like a serpent—flicked out half a meter from its mouth, writhing unnaturally.
Lin Qiye’s face paled.
It was too fast. In just a few strides, it had closed the distance from beyond his perception range and was now hurtling toward him at terrifying speed.
Even the world’s fastest sprinter wouldn’t outrun this thing.
Lin Qiye quickly calculated the distance to the alley’s exit, and his heart sank.
Given the speed gap, he’d never make it out before the creature caught him.
Was there another way…?
His mind raced, scanning the surroundings with his spiritual perception for anything he could use to slow the monster down.
Then his senses locked onto the backpack on Jiang Qian’s shoulders.
“Throw your bag at it! Slow it down!” Lin Qiye bellowed.
Jiang Qian shuddered, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. With a sharp cry, she yanked off her backpack—
And hurled it straight at Lin Qiye.
His pupils contracted in shock.
He never expected Jiang Qian would turn on him.
By the time he reacted, the backpack had already slammed into his chest.
Through his spiritual perception, he could see Jiang Qian’s face with perfect clarity.
Her skin was deathly pale, her expression that of a terrified rabbit—but her eyes burned with unprecedented malice.
“You must be Lin Qiye, right? Your seat is ready, it’s over there…”
“Lin Qiye, I’m Jiang Qian, the class monitor. Let me know if you need anything…”
“What impressed us most was your aunt. That day, she stood right here with a basket of eggs, handing them out one by one, begging us to look after you…”
“We promised your aunt we’d take care of you, and we will…”
“…”
The shy, kind-hearted class monitor had, in this moment, transformed into a hysterical demon.
As she stared at Lin Qiye, her eyes brimmed with guilt, madness, and cruelty.
Yes, I’m the class monitor.
I did say I’d help you.
I did promise your aunt I’d look after you.
I can tutor you, walk you home, bring you meals… all of that is fine.
But right now…
I want to live.
So…
You’ll have to die.
Time seemed to freeze. Lin Qiye met Jiang Qian’s gaze, his own eyes as cold and fathomless as the night.
Throwing a backpack might buy a few seconds, but throwing a person? That would buy far more time to escape.
That was Jiang Qian’s choice.
The backpack wasn’t heavy, and the impact wasn’t strong—but it was enough to stagger Lin Qiye for a crucial instant.
Behind him, the creature lunged, its massive form hurtling toward the now-vulnerable Lin Qiye.
In that split second, Lin Qiye smiled.
A chilling, mirthless smile.
As if he had eyes on the back of his head, he dropped into a crouch, narrowly evading the monster’s pounce.
At the same time, his white cane lashed out like lightning, striking Jiang Qian’s ankle.
With a startled cry, she lost her balance and crashed to the ground—
Just as a hulking black shadow descended upon her.
The next moment, blood dyed the night in crimson.
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