Ever since the school was built, this had never happened before. The two classes that drew the Black Building came back unscathed. In the tragedy, children with special persona represented hope. Yan Lan shielded all the seeds of hope on her own. The light showered on her hair. Her fearless eyes looked down the city of ghosts. Blood slid down her metallic arms. Her presence was imposing.
Yan Lan dragged the rusted chains behind her. The headmaster, that had turned into a monster, collapsed to the ground. The torn Lingering Spirit fell behind her. The dark boots stepped on the headmaster’s spine. The Pure Hatred rippled, but it couldn’t escape from the chains.
“The former headmaster used the students’ lives to trade with the Black Building. He was no longer a human. He became a ghost!
“As you can see, the deaths and massacre were all caused by him!” The public anger was li,t and their negative emotions found a venting point. Someone shouted to kill him, and slowly the public picked it up. The small number of managers who knew the truth didn’t dare to say anything. “To him, human lives became a commodity. The children who didn’t have a persona became even more worthless than ghosts.” Yan Lan pulled the headmaster by his neck and raised his to the light. “During the tragedy, some risked everything to fight it. Some submerged in the darkness and lost their humanity. They forgot their persona and couldn’t see the light.”
The headmaster struggled in the light. He was ugly and disgusting.
“Those who want to submit to ghosts, pay some respect to your last king. This is your ending.” With the crowd cheering, Yan Lan’s spikes pierced through her skin. She raised her right fist and smashed the headmaster’s head. The headmaster was shattered by Yan Lan and dissolved into black mist.
At the same time, Han Fei pulled the headmaster back into the greed abyss. To cooperate with Yan Lan to put up this scene, his mental corruption increased again. Yan Lan successfully won the trust of the school. She had a great persona and would go out to rescue people every night. People remembered the things that she had done.
“The old headmaster planned to sacrifice everyone at school to the Black Building. He has destroyed our food and water processing plants. This place is not safe anymore. But I’ve found a new path.” Yan Lan released the chains and pointed at Zone C. “The Tragedy Investigation Center, one of the last three large human bases at Xin Lu. They have invited us. Don’t worry. I will escort everyone there! Just like how I have protected these kids, I will protect everyone as we move to the new base!”
The survivors had no other choice.
“Before the new headmaster is elected, I’ll take the temporary lead.” Yan Lan looked at the crowd. “If there’s no objection, we need to pack up. We’ll depart two hours later. We should arrive at the Tragedy Investigation Center before dark.” After a short hesitation, most of the survivors trusted Yan Lan. The small minority had to follow the crowd. Things went smoother than expected. There was no voice of objection. Even Crow had the students went to pack their stuff. Even though no one said anything, everyone treated Yan Lan as the new headmaster.
“You agree with me, right?” Yan Lan walked through the crowd and stopped before Crow and the other teachers.
“This is too rash. You basically started a war with two Black Buildings. You want to pull all of us into a dangerous whirlpool.” Crow looked at Yan Lan. “I need an explanation.”
“There’s nothing to explain. I’ve been meaning to do this a long time ago.” Yan Lan closed her fists together.
“Is the Center helping you? You can’t kill the headmaster alone.” Teacher of Class Two, Yin Yan’s face was dark. He had always been seen as the headmaster’s successor.
“Is that so?” Yan Lan smiled and left.
“Crow, are we going to let her be? With her personality, we’ll soon be in trouble.” Yin Yan had a two-faced persona. Normally, he was kind to everyone, but when in times of trouble, he was extremely vicious.
“How? Do you think she can do everything on her own?” Crow’s eyes wandered among all the other teachers. He noticed that Han Fei was gone. “There have to be other teachers helping her. We’ve forgotten someone very scary.”
“Gao Cheng?”
“Endless greed and ambition that will burn everything! I should have thought of it. I was tricked.” Crow didn’t continue this topic. He turned to the school. “The headmaster is dead but there are many important things at school. Come with me.”
Crow and Yin Yan entered the education block. The office was very quiet that day. They moved up the stairs until they reached the headmaster’s office. When they planned to open the door, they realized the lock was broken. Black mist oozed out through the gap. Crow narrowed his eyes and pushed the door open.
“Good morning, Crow.” Han Fei’s voice came out of the office. He sat on the headmaster’s craw and shook the ghost’s blood in his hands. The headmaster had three black boxes. All of the contained things he exchanged with the Pure Hatred. The three boxes sat on the table. The first box contained two perfect Lingering Spirit hearts and five vials of ghost blood. The second box had the school’s confidential documents. Han Fei couldn’t open the third box. The box was made from a special resentment. Killing it would destroy everything inside the box.
“Gao Cheng!” Yin Yan followed Crow. His eyes flashed with hatred. Han Fei had taken his seat.
Crow blocked Yin Yan. He slowly entered the office. “The headmaster was killed so his effects should belong to the school. I’ll temporarily look after these three boxes. We’ll share it when we reach a safe space.”
“The old headmaster’s stuff naturally belongs to the old headmaster.” Han Fei twirled the coin. The black mist leaked out. The headmaster slowly appeared to stand behind Han Fei. Pure hatred was like a storm. Crow was frozen into place.
“Headmaster? You’ve swallowed the headmaster?!”
“The boxes are right here. Do you dare to take them?” Han Fei drank the blood and smiled. The office doors closed. Illness Core and Wu Chang stopped them from leaving.
“Gao Cheng, what is the meaning of this?” Yin Yan didn’t expect Han Fei to do this. He drank the ghost blood and swallowed the headmaster. Who would do that?
“I want to do many things like lead the survivors into the investigation center, rebuild the school, kill all the bad people and take back the city.”
“Be realistic.” Crow pulled back his hands. He stared at the last black box on the table. “You can keep two boxes. Yin Yan and I will take one. I’ve compromised a lot.”
“You don’t need to compromise. The box is right here. If you want, just take it.” Han Fei stared at Crow. The mist gathered behind him.
“This world is already different from before. You possess endless greed and ambition. You’ll one day be killed by them!” Crow didn’t move forward.
“I want to save more people. Is that greed? I want to take back the city. Is that ambition?” Han Fei stood up. “I’ll do things you don’t dare to do. I’ll kill people you don’t dare to kill. If that is greed, then I’m the greediest person ever.”
The coin of fate spun on top of the black box. Han Fei opened his arms. “There’s nothing that can’t be done. I will kill all the monsters that stand in my way. I will clear the clouds, shatter the altar until everything is as I wish!”
The greed abyss appeared behind Han Fei. The black flame burned. Han Fei’s healing persona was compatible with Gao Cheng’s greed persona. They had the same goal, kill the altar owner!
“Madness…” Crow looked at the greed abyss behind Han Fei. He gave up the last box and turned to leave with Yin Yan. Han Fei sat back down. The office door on the side suddenly opened, and Yan Lan walked in. “Do you really plan to take back the city from the ghosts?”
“Of course.” Han Fei glanced at Yan Lan. “I mean everything I said. No matter whether you believe it or not, I will move towards that target.”
“Notification for Player 0000! Friendliness level with Yan Lan increases by 1!” Yan Lan nodded slightly. “The path you choose is very difficult, but you won’t do it alone.”
Yan Lan didn’t touch the black box and left. One and a half hours later, all the survivors gathered in the street. They were nervous.
“Only bring the things you need!”
The school had 4000 plus survivors. When Yan Lan executed the headmaster, the headmaster’s supporters left. They had done some horrible things with the headmaster. They were afraid. A small part didn’t want to leave, or they left for another location. Yan Lan waited for two and a half hours before departing. Including the students, around 3000 people were willing to go. The long team meandered through the city. Such a big migration was only possible in the day. If they moved at night, they would be food.
“The patients I get from the third mental hospital are still with the black merchant. After we reach the center, I need to come back.” Han Fei was curious about who the black merchant worshipped. Technically, the altar world should only have one God, Gao Xing.
Yan Lan led the way, and Gao Cheng covered the rear. They ran into some ghosts and monsters, but no one was injured.
When the sky darkened, some of the survivors became anxious. Han Fei suddenly heard someone calling Gao Cheng’s name.
“Is there something wrong with this ghost?”
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