Ch. 15 - Campus Horrors (7)

Shoved into the open without a shred of warning, He Shuyang narrowly avoided barreling straight into a monster.

Standing twice the height of an ordinary man, the pitch-black creature had spindly limbs, glowing red eyes, and a monstrous mouth split all the way to its ears.

Its pristine white teeth were packed tightly together, forming a lethal, jagged row of saw teeth.

"Holy shit! What the hell is this abomination?!"

Raising his dagger defensively, He Shuyang barely blocked a clawed strike tearing toward his chest, only to turn around and come face-to-face with a second monster.

The creatures bore wicked, elongated talons honed to a razor's edge, so viciously sharp that even a light touch would carve bloody gashes into flesh.

Weaving frantically between the bookcases to evade them, He Shuyang realized these abominations possessed not only terrifying brute strength but incredible speed as well.

Within mere minutes, the frantic chase had reduced He Shuyang to a heavily panting, exhausted mess.

Sparing a brief glance backward, he saw Fu Yan still lingering at the newspaper rack, taking his sweet time browsing.

He Shuyang yelled desperately, "Big Bro, are you reading the fine print or something?! I'm about to drop dead!"

"A real man," Fu Yan quipped, "should never admit he's lacking stamina."

By now, the mob hunting He Shuyang had swelled from two monsters to five. Entirely outmatched in combat, his only recourse was to lead them on a wild goose chase around the library.

Thank heavens the library was spacious enough to provide ample room to run.

What completely baffled him, however, was that Fu Yan was the one who had broken the fire rule. Yet the monsters completely ignored the sitting duck that was Fu Yan, opting instead to chase He Shuyang relentlessly.

Did the monsters somehow sense that Fu Yan was a total freak of nature not to be messed with?

Holding his candle aloft, Fu Yan rummaged thoroughly through the newspaper rack until he eventually found a folded stack of papers wedged into an obscure corner.

He was absolutely certain this specific pile hadn't been there during daylight; it had only materialized after curfew.

Fu Yan pulled out the newspaper, noting the printed date: April 4th, 2*14.

Flipping it open, he discovered a relevant article buried in an inconspicuous corner.

He noted the key details:

'April 4th, 2*14.'

'Sports Field.'

'49 People.'

'Fire.'

'Ritual.'

'This incident has triggered extremely severe social repercussions. Please stay tuned for follow-up reports.'

"A ritual..." Fu Yan murmured thoughtfully.

Holding his candle, Fu Yan strode over to the religious books section, which occupied barely a single wall of shelving.

Examining the books one by one, he reached the corner of the final row and uncovered a weathered diary.

Beneath the flickering candlelight, dried patches of dark crimson blood became visible on its cover.

The hint was practically slapping him in the face with how obvious it was.

Fu Yan extracted the diary and flipped it open, only to be met with stark, blank pages completely devoid of ink.

He smoothly held the diary above the candle flame, letting the heat warm the pages.

Line by line, horrifying dark-red letters began to surface.

'Sept 1, 2*11. First day of school today.'

'Sept 2, 2*11. Everyone likes Gu Yao a lot.'

'Sept 3, 2*11. I really envy Gu Yao.'

...

'May 6, 2*12. I heard them calling me ugly behind my back. Gu Yao was laughing with them, even though we're family.'

...

'Oct 25, 2*13. I hate Gu Yao!!!'

...

'Mar 22, 2*14. I hate them all. Why won't they just die?! Die! Die! Die!'

After that chilling entry, the diary's owner hadn't penned a single word.

That is, until April 4th, 2*14, when a final macabre update appeared.

'I am despised by all, but my God hasn't abandoned me. If I sacrifice forty-nine lives, I can awaken Him. He will bestow blessings and grant my wishes.'

'April 5th, 2*14. The sacrifice was a success. I got everything I asked for, but...'

The diary ended right there.

Fu Yan had pretty much pieced together the truth of the story. Only one small detail still needed to be verified.

On the other side, He Shuyang was barely holding on.

To create a good reading environment for Fu Yan, he had attracted almost all the firepower.

The monsters were fed up with being led around like dogs. If they had merely been targeting the easiest prey at first, they were now overwhelmingly obsessed with murdering He Shuyang out of sheer annoyance.

To think someone could be so annoying that even the person tagging along with him could be this annoying as well!

Sprinting madly down the aisles, He Shuyang made a fatal miscalculation and cornered himself in a dead end.

A solid wall blocked his path ahead, flanked by towering bookshelves on either side.

Perched atop the shelves were two monsters, baring their jagged fangs and lolling scarlet tongues, their bloodshot eyes glaring down at him with savage malice.

He whipped around to bolt back the way he came, only to be met instantly by the gaping, blood-soaked maw of another monster.

All five abominations were standing right behind him now, grinning as they stared at him with predatory excitement.

He could even smell the putrid metallic reek of blood wafting from their foul breath.

"Holy fuck!"

Unadulterated panic seized He Shuyang.

Despite having survived seven or eight Instance Dungeons before, they had all been low-level, two- or three-star runs. He had never faced anything this terrifying in his life.

In a frantic last stand, he brandished his dagger, determined to at least stab a monster in the gums before being inevitably chewed to pieces.

As the monsters closed in step by step and a massive jaw unhinged to bite his head clean off, a figure plummeted from above.

It was none other than Fu Yan, who landed upon the beast's back with the agile grace of a falling hawk.

With a single devastating punch, he obliterated the monster's skull.

A horrific fountain of gore and brains splattered violently across He Shuyang's face, carrying the suffocating stench of raw rot and an unsettling residual warmth.

How should he describe the sensation?

It was just... rather refreshing.

[Ding! Fear Points +65]

The Fear Points notification beeped in Fu Yan's head.

He had successfully deduced the system's rule.

Whether it was the last Instance Dungeon or this one, each NPC could only provide him with a maximum of 100 Fear Points.

Therefore, this freshly decapitated donor of 65 points had to be the first edgy delinquent who had given him Fear Points.

Without his flamboyant hairstyle and edgy look, Fu Yan had genuinely almost failed to recognize him.

After destroying the delinquent, Fu Yan casually swung a backhand punch that effortlessly punched through the abdomen of the monster creeping up behind him.

[Ding! Fear Points +70]

Hmm...

He hadn't the faintest clue who those points were from.

Wiping the gore from his face, He Shuyang turned to Fu Yan and demanded, "What's the plan now?"

"Run!" Fu Yan said, immediately breaking into an absolute, unhesitating sprint.

Without the open flame, the monsters rapidly lost track of their prey.

Shaking off their monstrous pursuers, Fu Yan and He Shuyang burst out of the library and into the night.

Bracing his hands against his knees and leaning heavily against the library's exterior wall, He Shuyang wheezed painfully.

"Haa... where to next?"

Fu Yan asked, "Do you know where the woman in the baseball outfit is?"

"When I came out," He Shuyang replied, "I saw her heading toward the gymnasium with that guy."

Fu Yan pulled the newspaper out of his pocket, wiped his hands clean, and said, "Let's go to the gym."

"You're not planning to take advantage of the night to do something sketchy to her, are you?!" He Shuyang gasped.

Fu Yan passed the diary he'd found over to He Shuyang.

"You guessed right."

"What's this?"

He Shuyang grabbed the diary and began reading as he walked.

"Hey, slow down, I can't keep up."

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