Chapter 42: Desperation

"Wait for the other party to agree…"

Song Shi stared at those words, urgently prodding within herself.

Hurry up!

Dai Ming and the others should have already deduced that Liu Shuilin had been exposed; they would undoubtedly be altering their strategy, no longer waiting outside the school gate.

At this moment, they were likely already inside, heading straight for her.

Pick up!

Quickly!

The screen suddenly brightened, revealing Tang You as she set down a spoon.

Song Shi immediately spoke, "I'm about to awaken! Wang Danyu wants to kill me, you—"

The screen flickered to black!

[Detected that you are being coerced. Do you wish to report?]

The security system of the light brain issued a warning.

Song Shi hadn't anticipated that the light brain had such a function!

However, she had already communicated vital information to Tang You; Tang You should know what to do next.

Liu Shuilin was startled by the sudden notification.

It was his first encounter with such a situation.

But why such a loud and flamboyant alert?

Werethey afraid he wouldn't die fast enough?

Sweating profusely, he felt his imminent doom and anxiously glanced at Song Shi from the corner of his eye. "You don't have to—"

Just then, he saw Song Shi bending her elbow.

His eyes widened in horror as he realized what was about to happen. A powerful force struck the back of his head, plunging him into darkness. Instantly weakened, he collapsed to the floor.

Song Shi cast her gaze down at his unconscious body, which twitched involuntarily. She kicked him into the sink, shoved the knife back into her pocket, and dashed toward the apartment building.

Most students had already left the campus, leaving only a few scattered individuals on the path.

Song Shi sprinted past them and entered the dormitory building, bounding up several flights of stairs. She pushed open the dorm room door and quickly closed it behind her, leaving it unlocked.

Entering the bathroom, she found Mao Rong curled up like a caterpillar on the toilet seat.

Awakened and struggling, Mao Rong glared at Song Shi with furious eyes, her mouth tightly bound with bandages, allowing only muffled "mm-hmm" sounds to escape.

Song Shi stepped forward to inspect the bindings and confirmed that Mao Rong couldn't escape. She took a step back.

"As long as Yang Miao is willing to listen to me, I won't kill you."

"Mm-hmm! Mm-hmm-mm!"

Even with her words garbled, Song Shi understood the contemptuous meaning behind Mao Rong's glare.

"Yang Miao intends to ally with others to kill me. I can't just sit here and wait to die."

Mao Rong froze, her struggles stalling. The big sister had never mentioned wanting to kill Song Shi.

"Mm-hmm-mm!" You're lying!

Song Shi, uninterested in further explanations, shut the bathroom door, blocking all sound from within.

She then approached the table and crouched down.

Since the last time she had smashed a chair over Yang Miao, resulting in the chair breaking apart, she hadn't been provided with a new one.

Now, she had only a solitary table left.

Song Shi grasped one of the table legs and removed it, standing up to weigh it in her hands, testing its heft and swinging it a couple of times.

It was perfect for her.

Seating herself on the edge of her bed, Song Shi rested the makeshift club against her leg, her eyes fixated on the iron door, her ears perked up to listen to the surrounding noises.

A series of deliberate, muffled footsteps approached slowly.

They were coming!

Song Shi's fingers brushed the wooden stick as she positioned herself beside the door.

With a resounding bang, the partially ajar door was forcefully kicked open, slamming against the wall before rebounding back.

The individual who had kicked the door wedged their foot against it, granting them a clear view of the room's interior.

"Hey? No one's here?" the door kicker inquired, perplexed.

Hiding beside the door, Song Shi occupied their blind spot; there were no windows in the room, preventing anyone from peering inside from other angles.

"According to the surveillance, she returned to the dormitory building. Watch out for the sides."

Song Shi recognized the voice; it was Dai Ming.

As she heard the sound of shoes scraping against the ground, sunlight streamed into the room, casting a huge shadow as they adjusted their stance in preparation for a side attack.

Song Shi gradually crouched closer to the ground, pressing herself against the wall.

A brown boot slowly crossed the threshold.

Then came the lower leg, followed by the thigh…

Seizing the opportunity, Song Shi raised the club for a strike.

In a swift motion, she darted forward like a phantom, swinging the solid wooden stick down toward the bald head of the intruder.

With murderous intent, the bald man reacted with remarkable speed, gritting his teeth to endure the pain below as he raised his arm to defend his head.

Though he wore wrist guards, Song Shi's blow still struck with a muted thud, inflicting no significant damage.

Alterations in strategy, she aimed for his lower body on her next maneuver.

The bald man instinctively crossed his arms to shield himself below.

However, this was merely a feint; Song Shi cleverly pulled back the stick mid-swing and then swung it back down onto his head.

[Revenge Value Progress: +4]

This time, he lacked the same speed of response, and the blunt wooden stick connected with his head, making a sound reminiscent of a watermelon splitting open, accompanied by the splatter of juicy innards.

His face contorted in pain, yet he could not produce a sound, as two individuals seized his arms and dragged him backward.

He was a hefty presence, and the doorway to the dorm was rather narrow; he had previously blocked the entrance, taking up almost the entire space, so Song Shi couldn't see the situation outside.

Now, as he was pulled away, light flooded in, revealing the faces of others standing outside.

In total, there were seven young men and women, forming two rows in a half-circle around the entrance.

Dai Ming stood at the center of the outer circle, directly facing her, his brow furrowed as he frowned upon seeing the bald man being dragged away.

Including the bald man, there were eight individuals.

Yet this number only accounted for those visible to her; she could only wonder how many more were hidden by the walls.

To her surprise, Yang Miao was conspicuously absent from their ranks.

"Whoever finds her first gets ten million federal credits!" 

Dai Ming evidently recognized that the current environment favored Song Shi, realizing that approaching her one by one would only serve to offer her easy targets.

The four individuals in the front row sprang into action the moment they received their orders, advancing toward Song Shi simultaneously.

However, the narrow doorway allowed only two individuals to pass through at a time, with a restriction on one's girth.

The first two to squeeze inside were a man and a woman, both tall, wielding knives that were nearly the length of an adult forearm.

The blades were razor-sharp, glinting menacingly in the sunlight.

Their attacks were ruthless, and their movements swift. As Song Shi defended herself with the wooden stick, it quickly transformed into a flurry of wooden projectiles, flying chaotically.

Seeing that she was down to just a short piece of wood in hand, Song Shi steeled herself and swung it straight at the knife-wielding man, while diving toward the female attacker.

She evaded her overhead slash, feeling strands of her hair brush against the blade, severing a lock.

Song Shi reached out to grasp the girl's wrist, aiming to wrest the knife from her.

Suddenly, the blade shifted positions and slashed out horizontally toward Song Shi.

Instinctively, she leaned back, feeling the cold steel graze the tip of her nose, sending a sharp sting across her cheek.

The boy who had been drawn away by Song Shi's earlier move now pivoted back. Seizing the opportunity as Song Shi leaned back to evade the frontal assault, he lunged forward, knife aimed at her face.

"Let's see how you escape this time!"

The double-sided assault ensued.

Song Shi's pupils reflected the ever-growing sharpness of the blade, as well as the frenzied expression on the boy's face.

With gritted teeth, she seized the blade coming from the female attacker with her left hand, yanking it forward. The girl staggered forward, and in that instant, Song Shi's right hand shot up to grab her wrist, pulling her closer.

The knife was directed into the boy's chest, barely brushing Song Shi's nose.

The boy believed Song Shi posed no more threat, his guard down, his chest almost completely exposed.

What he hadn't anticipated was that the girl's blade would drive into him.

The knife sliced through his clothing and made a clean entry.

The moment the boy's eyes shone with the light of victory, he noticed the girl's eyes widen in panic as her grip on the knife faltered.

Yet the boy, committed to stabbing Song Shi, failed to react when a chill gripped his chest.

The knife tip had already breached her brow, a small stream of crimson leaking down.

Fully embracing gravity, Song Shi surrendered to the weight, collapsing to the ground while holding onto the girl's wrist without letting go, transitioning to gripping her collar with her bloodied left hand.

The girl was pulled backward as she fell.

"Thud!"

The boy's knife pierced the back of the girl's neck.

By the time Song Shi and the girl hit the ground, the entire exchange had unfolded in mere seconds, leaving both the onlookers and those outside gaping in astonishment.

The blade lodged itself in the girl's neck, barely missing her trachea.

(End of Chapter)