Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Chapter 96: "DanceThe barrage suddenly became excited:

The sight of someone in a long dress was indeed a bit comical. Su Ming’an turned his head away, pretending not to have seen this scene.

"Hey, hey, hey? Why hasn’t Ming An’an changed into a costume? Why is it only us who’ve changed?" Wang Xingkong saw Su Ming’an still in his school uniform and cried out.

"...What on earth does this game want us to do?" Wang Zhenzhen shrank her head: "We’re not really supposed to be acting in a stage play, are we...?"

"Why is there blood on your chest? Were you attacked?" Lv Shu noticed the blood on Su Ming’an’s clothes, but Su Ming’an waved his hand to indicate it was nothing.

Suddenly, a beam of red light struck down.

The blood-red curtain rose on its own, as if being pulled by an invisible pair of hands, and the next moment, Shen Xue, dressed in a brilliant blue miniskirt, walked onto the stage in the light, her eyes sparkling like glass beads under the stage lights.

Behind her stood a middle-aged man, whose movements were somewhat stiff, as if he was being manipulated by strings.

Those eyes that were once normal had also turned into a pair of glassy orbs, looking incredibly eerie.

"Shen Zhuo?" Wang Xingkong remembered the damned homeroom teacher who Su Ming’an had reduced to shreds with his sword, and was surprised to see him appearing human again. He couldn’t help but retreat a bit in fear: "...Damn, how is this guy not dead after that, what’s going on..."

"He’s dead." Su Ming’an clearly heard the system prompt at that time indicating Shen Zhuo’s death—he was undoubtedly dead then—but now, he might not be alive either.

There was a strong scent of roses on him, similar to the fragrance that lingered on every student that passed through his hands.

"After creating thousands of puppets and sealing the entire school, he was turned into an ’Immortal’ puppet by his own daughter and ended up here." Su Ming’an squinted his eyes: "Like father, like daughter, Shen Xue, you two indeed deserve to be family."

Shen Xue slightly lifted her head, and beneath the large blue bow, she locked eyes with Su Ming’an, hers swirling with a wild blaze:

"You lied to me... you lied to me..." She gnashed her teeth, emitting a metallic clashing sound: "Su Ming’an, you said you liked me, you said... you said you wanted to be with me..."

"I must decline." Su Ming’an said: "Your ideology disgusts me; your future is even more shattered. You’re not even as good as a Light Pursuer; you’d only hold me back. I won’t be with someone so derogatory and unfocused like you."

...That was quite a harsh rebuke.

Wang Xingkong "tsk tsked" with his mouth, and although there wasn’t a single curse word, according to Su Ming’an’s way of insulting, it was the first time he had heard such a vicious rebuke, practically burying someone into the ground.

Shen Xue’s eyes widened, rage boiling over on her beautiful and delicate face. Speaking through clenched teeth she said: "Indeed, indeed, the current you could never understand me... It’s okay, it seems, after all, I’ll have to completely turn you into something that belongs to me..."

"You called it a ’thing’ yourself?" Su Ming’an looked at her, "Didn’t you say it was ’eternal’, an immortal soul? Yet, once it passed through your hands, it’s been downgraded to a ’thing.’ Your father at least had some semblance of an artisan’s heart, but you’re even worse than him, unable to recognize your own artwork; you simply waste his craftsmanship."

Wang Xingkong was stunned, these words were meant to infuriate Shen Xue thoroughly, each and every phrase seemed designed to provoke her to death.

"Very good, very good," Shen Xue said with a laughter borne of extreme anger, "But, Ming’an, if you hadn’t chosen to enter this instance, maybe I couldn’t have done much to you. But once you’re here, you have no more choices—if you can’t find a successful method to clear this instance, sooner or later, I will transform you into a shape I like... Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough."

She extended her hand, her smile intense, "So now—let’s dance together."

Invisible threads appeared in her hands.

A fragrance of roses began to spread.

Rules thrown out without context.

Su Ming’an saw the threads in Shen Xue’s hands and pondered, but a gust of cold wind coming straight at him made him immediately activate spatial displacement. The next moment, a sharp blade edge swept the area where he had just been standing.

The emerald mantis with its forelimbs raised hopped on the ground, while Lv Shu, with an utterly confused look on his face, was being dragged around by the invisible strings, his hand wielding a knife uncontrollably slashing towards Su Ming’an!

"How come I..." Lv Shu couldn’t control his own movements, he realized that the threads wrapped abruptly around the suit he was wearing, and the other end of those threads was held in Shen Xue’s hand.

"Ahhh, I can’t control myself! Ming An’an, run away—!" Wang Xingkong cried out in agony as he drew his sword. He hadn’t really shown his full strength so far, but when it came to attacking his own, his presence was entirely unleashed, waving his long sword in a tight defense, nearly slicing off half of Su Ming’an’s body in one blow.

Su Ming’an immediately activated spatial vibration, his 1220 MP directly reduced by 200, briefly knocking Wang Xingkong back; with a high Mentality Points of 61, he sensed an intense danger, and tilting his head, he felt a sting on his cheek, as if a line of blood connected to the leaping mantis rushed towards him.

"Whoosh!" A beam of light flashed past his leg, the glow swirling around Xiao Xiao’s hands was clearly visible. A man wielding a long spear charged at him uncontrollably, with a strong gust of wind behind him.

Su Ming’an recognized this music teacher as Yang Changxu—on the stage, everyone’s appearance had been restored.

"Su Ming’an! Get out of the way quick!"

Yang Changxu’s movements were standard combat style, but fortunately his Mentality Points were far below Su Ming’an’s, and under a Mentality Attack inherent to his "Mechanical Heart," he was frozen in place.

Su Ming’an glanced over at Shen Xue in the corner—she was also looking at him, her eyes carrying a triumphant smile.

"It’s okay, Ming’an," she said. "Just keep running... They all listen to me, and I, will not let them be merciful. Even if you died, I would make you ’eternal’..."

With a "bang!" the Cloning that had seized the opportunity struck at Shen Xue... only to hit a Protective Shield that had suddenly enveloped her. Wang Zhenzhen was trembling as she maintained the light barrier, her body wrapped in threads.

"I’m sorry! I didn’t want to do this, I can’t help it!" Wang Zhenzhen said through tears, the feeling of her body being out of control was too terrifying.

In the next moment, the scarlet butterflies scattered their glow on the Cloning, causing his movements to slow down.