Chapter Forty-One: Vengeance for Every Slight

It seemed that *** had no intention of finishing me off; after firing the shot, he simply fled. I looked down at the wound—luckily, the bullet hadn’t struck bone and hadn’t gone in deeply. So I made a bold decision.

Taking a deep breath, clenching my teeth, I actually managed to extract the bullet with my bare hands. I was surprised it didn’t hurt, but then I noticed that the area where my calf had been hit was gradually turning black.

There could only be one explanation—the bullet was poisoned!

I hadn’t expected Jiang Yuan to be so cunning, even smearing poison on the bullets.

I had to find *** before the poison spread through my body, to see if there was an antidote. Otherwise, even if I completed the mission, Jiang Yuan wouldn’t let me live.

I struggled to my feet, trembling not from pain but because one of my legs was already useless.

There was nothing else I could do but limp toward the teaching building.

Classes had already started, so I wasn’t afraid of being seen by other students. I used all my strength to hurry inside, but my pace was still painfully slow—a journey that should have taken only a few minutes ended up taking an hour.

My condition continued to worsen. Now my entire right leg was blackened, and the poison was slowly spreading to the other leg.

All this was thanks to Jiang Yuan, who was quite formidable—he’d even managed to get his hands on a handgun. I gritted my teeth and swore to myself: no matter how powerful he is, he must die.

I glanced at my phone, which I’d kept in my ring, only to find that Feng Qi’ao had already found the Ghost King Card. There were two periods left before lunch break—almost two hours.

Chen Chen had sent me a message as well: “Lin Yao, where are you? Hurry up and look…”

Did I not know I needed to hurry? The problem was my legs.

I tossed my phone back into the ring and began searching the floors, but my speed was too slow. The poison had now spread to my other leg.

With a thud, I collapsed to my knees—both legs were now completely powerless.

I had no choice but to crawl, dragging myself to a nearby pillar for support.

I could no longer feel any pain where my calf had been shot; only a trickle of blood, now black, oozed out.

I sighed quietly, bracing myself either for discovery by the enemy or punishment by the Ghost King.

...

Yet fate seemed to delight in tormenting me. Suddenly, the untainted blood within my body began to surge wildly.

The burning sensation was uncomfortable, but after a moment I realized—it was actually helping me.

The poison was clearly being suppressed, and before long, most of it had faded away.

I was overjoyed, even though the process was uncomfortable; it had been worth it.

In just half an hour, I was able to move freely again. The poison seemed to have vanished completely, as if it had never existed.

I was sweating profusely from the heat, but I knew now was not the time to rest.

I tried standing up; aside from a slight numbness in my legs, everything else felt normal.

This time, I didn’t hesitate to use spiritual energy, channeling the remainder into my legs and dashing through the teaching building.

It was the third period—most classmates were in their classrooms. I hadn’t attended class properly in so long that the environment felt unfamiliar.

Perhaps I’d never return to regular classes in this lifetime; I only hoped the upcoming game wouldn’t affect the others.

Each time I passed a classroom, I pressed myself against the window and checked carefully, moving on only after confirming no one had a Ghost King Card stuck to their back.

“Hey, student, what are you doing?” I was focused on peeking when a sudden voice startled me.

I turned and saw it was the Yellow-faced Woman.

That was the nickname we’d given her, though her real name was Huang Lili—our school’s director of political affairs. She was strict, and her skin was quite sallow, so we simply called her the Yellow-faced Woman.

“Uh… I’m just wandering around,” I replied awkwardly, smiling as I turned to leave.

But today, she was acting odd—she didn’t question me further. I walked a few steps, then turned to look back.

What I saw shocked me—the Yellow-faced Woman had a Ghost King Card stuck to her back, glowing brightly.

I thought for a moment and decided to act quietly. I didn’t have much time, and it wouldn’t do to waste it on her.

I followed behind her, keeping a distance of ten meters.

She walked slowly, peering into each classroom as she passed.

When she reached the corner of the stairs, I stepped up behind her and tore the Ghost King Card off her back.

“Hey, what are you doing?” she shouted angrily, glaring at me.

“Uh… there was a piece of paper on your back,” I replied with a forced smile, hiding the card behind me.

“What’s that in your hand?” she demanded, surprisingly sharp-eyed. But she seemed to forget I had a storage ring.

I flicked the Ghost King Card into my ring and spread my hands.

“Get back to your class!” she coughed a few times, glancing suspiciously behind me before letting me go.

There was about an hour left until the end of the game. I just needed to protect the Ghost King Card I now possessed.

Bored, I wandered through the teaching building, and inadvertently spotted our class’s paper-cut artwork hanging on the wall. A wave of sadness washed over me.

Once the strongest and most united class in the grade, now it had become a living hell.

I let out a cold laugh and headed in another direction.

While I was wandering, a sudden scream came from the nearby bathroom.

“Ah!”

By now, most of my spiritual energy had recovered. I quickly channeled it into my legs and dashed to the entrance of the boys’ restroom.

As I’d expected, inside were *** and Feng Qi’ao.

I crouched at the door, watching as Feng Qi’ao was pinned down by ***. Feng Qi’ao’s shoulder had been stabbed with a knife—more specifically, a three-edged bayonet.

I’d never seen one before, but I’d heard it was a particularly cruel weapon. A wound from it wasn’t fatal but caused endless bleeding.

As I stood stunned, *** pulled the bayonet out, and blood spurted out like a fountain.

“Give me the Ghost King Card and I’ll let you go. You still have one chance to avoid punishment, so what are you afraid of?”

When *** finished speaking, I realized Feng Qi’ao really did have a chance to avoid punishment.

“Why should I?” Feng Qi’ao roared, unexpectedly breaking free and shoving *** aside.

But ***’s fate was mine to decide.

I drew my Snowblade, infused it with spiritual energy until the blade shimmered into view.

Standing at the restroom door, I coughed a few times.

“You… you’re still alive?” *** stared at me, incredulous, pinching his own arm to check if he was dreaming.

“You’re not seeing things—I’m alive!”

***’s eyes widened in disbelief. He stammered, unable to find words, for in his mind, I should have been dead beyond all doubt.