Elderly Gongsun suddenly realized he might have walked into a trap. He halted, straining to catch any sound around him. At that moment, a crisp laugh echoed in his ear, like a ghost whispering beside him. He immediately turned, ready to change direction.
Suddenly, the stem of a wildflower silently transformed into a sharp spike, darting towards his back. Sensing the danger instinctively, Elderly Gongsun spun around, catching the spike in his hand and crushing it into a pink mist that dispersed into the air."Child's play!" he scoffed.
Without hesitation, he lunged to the right, his hand clawing at the trunk of a dark tree. With a mighty pull, the bark turned into a red cloth. A scream echoed through the forest,"Old man, if you wanted my stockings, you could've just asked!" The red cloth dissolved into smoke, leaving only a fleeting glimpse of pale thighs.
A woman's ethereal and cunning voice drifted from afar,"You think you can catch me? I am the queen of this forest!" Elderly Gongsun's heart tightened as he locked eyes on the swiftly moving red shadow. Her speed was like a whirlwind, making her hard to catch, but he was undeterred, ready to strike again.
"You're old. You should stay in the village and enjoy your twilight years. Why come out and suffer?" Her voice turned seductive, laced with mockery. Elderly Gongsun detested being called old; the remark ignited his anger. He quickened his pace, chasing the red shadow. Though he sensed no powerful monsters lurking nearby, he knew he had to capture this woman quickly.
Every time he thought he was about to catch her, she eluded him with finesse, fueling his frustration. Unbeknownst to him, he was drifting further from the school, his movements becoming stiff and slow. Tonight, the peaceful school was surrounded by unknown threats, destined to be anything but calm.
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The centipede inched its way up the wall, its tail still on the first floor while its head reached the fourth. A villager, peeking through a broken window, caught sight of the enormous creature's numerous slender legs and was so terrified that he covered his mouth, unable to make a sound. The creature's head, with countless glistening red eyes, flashed with a cold light, and its enormous pincers loomed large before him. In the next moment, the villager fell like a log from the third-floor window. The centipede, undeterred, continued toward the next classroom window.
Little Fly was the first to notice something was amiss. His eyes fixed on the enormous black shadow outside, he tried to retreat but stumbled and fell. When the creature's grotesque head appeared at the window, his face turned pale, and he trembled uncontrollably.
The sudden disturbance stirred a sense of anxiety and unease in A-Lai. He glanced around warily, trying to pinpoint the source of the anomaly."What's happening?" the girl beside him asked, looking up in confusion. A-Lai followed Little Fly's gaze, seeing the moonlight outline a gigantic, blurry shadow through the drifting clouds.
At that moment, three resonant chimes echoed from afar, seemingly distant yet reverberating in their hearts. Some villagers involuntarily knelt, murmuring,"The chimes toll, the gods descend, judgment day, blessings and curses!"
To those inside, A-Lai and the girl seemed to be fading, while to A-Lai, the people around him were disappearing. Reality and illusion intertwined, indistinguishable.
Instinctively, A-Lai reached for his damaged spear. Unknown to others, its core was forged iron, wrapped in aged bamboo and bound with hemp, soaked in oil for forty-nine days. Though lacking its tempered spearhead, its potential for destruction was formidable.
But to the gamblers behind the screens, his weapon was a joke. A professional commentator, clad in dazzling attire, exclaimed,"Am I seeing this right? A warrior with an ancient spear, a little warrior, against a centipede that even mechanical soldiers struggle to defeat? This reminds me of those natives attacking our overseas camps with knives and spears, falling en masse before our metal storm. It was a pitiful sight!"
A teary-eyed woman added,"Such a perfect pair, a handsome boy and a beautiful girl. Why pit them against something so hideous? I can't bear to watch beautiful things be destroyed in front of me! It's too cruel! I can't watch anymore!"
Mr. Kim, however, was thrilled."Everyone's calling this a slaughter, but is no one betting on the boy and girl winning? Bet a million star coins, and you'll be set for life!"
The gamblers scoffed,"We're poor, not stupid!"
Caron, observing the chatter on the screen, smiled wryly."To get rich, you need capital, courage, and vision. Few possess even one of these qualities!" He wagered 100 star coins on the boy and girl but 1, 000 on the centipede.
Despite the odds favoring the centipede, many placed sympathetic bets on the pair, pushing the ratio to 1:8.
Sebastiel called Caron again, and Caron hesitated before answering on the fourth ring, arguing in a corner. Frustrated, he returned to his seat, muttering,"That old man wants to ruin my show! I won't interfere this time. Another mishap, and I'll be roasted!"
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A-Lai turned to the anxious girl,"Hide under the table!" he ordered, leaping onto the windowsill. His motto was to attack when escape was impossible. Grabbing the wooden frame with his left hand, he spun the short spear in his right like a high-powered drill, tearing through a two-meter-long leg, leaving a fist-sized wound that sprayed an unknown liquid all over him.
The centipede, searching for targets in the classroom, roared in pain from the sudden assault, its upper body rearing up. Hundreds of red eyes on its compound eyes emitted beams of light, making A-Lai feel as if he were under the sights of numerous snipers. Its glossy black pincers poised to strike.
Clinging to the window frame with one hand, A-Lai swung through the air, landing at the adjacent window just as massive fangs shattered the wood where he had been, leaving a gaping hole.
A scream made A-Lai glance back anxiously. Seeing the familiar but pale, beautiful face, he signaled her to hide, then kicked the broken glass out of the window. Spear in hand, he thrust repeatedly, knocking off several more legs.
The fierce fight became a dance of evasion for A-Lai, using the wooden stumps for cover, rolling through the debris to attack, while the beast's venomous fangs struck like lightning, piercing the thick wooden walls and leaving gaping holes. The centipede's hammer-like head crashed through, splintering wood like bullets, scattering blackened splinters like snow in the night.
The audience watched, riveted by the thrilling battle. Caron's voice rang out,"The centipede is furious! It's rearing up, what's it planning? Is it about to unleash its ultimate move? I see half its legs are ready! What's this? It's secreting mucus! Once it sticks to its opponent, escape is impossible. It's going for the kill—Centipede Constriction!"
As he spoke, countless legs reached for A-Lai, the putrid, sticky liquid glistening in the moonlight. At the last moment, A-Lai hurled his spear. Despite its twisted shaft, at such close range, it struck a gap in the centipede's armor, deeply embedding itself, dark fluid seeping out.
Simultaneously, A-Lai smashed through the wooden door into the hallway. The girl screamed, crawling to the corner. They felt the classroom's furniture and floor sucked out the wall.
The centipede roared silently in pain, the vibrations echoing painfully in the girl's ears. A-Lai, wincing in agony, glanced at her, gritting his teeth as he leaped back. Blood trickled from his ears, but he lunged, grasping the quivering spear shaft, twisting and pushing it deeper like a drill, then yanked it out, drenching himself in dark fluid.
Caron's exclamation echoed the audience's shock,"Impossible! This boy has wounded the giant centipede with a desperate strike! Well done! Oh no, he's enraged the beast. The centipede is blurring—no, it's releasing poison gas! Our screens can see it, but to the naked eye, it's invisible. The boy has no idea he's already poisoned!"