Chapter 12: Fallen into the Trap

Upon seeing the message, Zhang Xiaofan frowned. For now, it seemed best not to trust people who had little to do with him. He paid the message no further attention, but immediately Shen Fengxing sent another: “Do you need any help? Don’t worry, I’m the vice class monitor—I won’t let anyone hurt Su Qianqian.”

Zhang Xiaofan sneered. Shen Fengxing always gave him a sense of unpredictability; there was no way he would tell him his whereabouts. Shen Fengxing sent several more friendly messages, but his intent was clear—to get Zhang Xiaofan to reveal his location.

Zhang Xiaofan stared intently at his phone. Minute by minute, time ticked past, and soon it was well past one in the morning. Though their bodies were exhausted, neither he nor Su Qianqian felt the least bit sleepy.

He kept his eyes glued to the group chat. Suddenly, Shen Fengxing posted: “We’ve checked the teaching building, administration building, both the boys’ and girls’ dormitories.”

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaofan snorted. As expected, this guy had been lying all along. Good thing he hadn’t fallen for it.

Wang Hu: “I’ve checked the cafeteria and the sports field.”

Song Feng: “I’ve led people to search every classroom from the freshman to the senior year.”

“Damn, did they just fly away or something?”

“Yeah, that bastard Zhang Xiaofan must be hiding somewhere with Su Qianqian.”

“Way to state the obvious.”

Shen Fengxing: “By the way, we’ve checked everywhere on the ground. Why haven’t we checked the rooftops?”

Wang Hu: “Good point, let’s check the rooftops.”

“We’ll go to the teaching building.”

“We’ll check the administration building.”

“We’ll head to the dorms.”

All at once, everyone in the chat started chiming in. The next moment, Shen Fengxing said: “I’ll go check the rooftop by the bathrooms.”

Zhang Xiaofan’s pupils contracted. A chill ran through him—he had never expected Shen Fengxing to be this cunning.

Su Qianqian also saw the message and said anxiously, “Xiaofan, let’s go down now.”

Zhang Xiaofan thought for a moment and replied, “Now that they’re all saying they’re going up to the roof, there shouldn’t be anyone by the sports field. Let’s head there.”

With that, he grabbed Su Qianqian and leaped down. The two of them crouched low and darted toward the sports field.

Rounding the teaching building, they reached the field. As they rushed toward the small grove, several beams of light from cellphones suddenly swept through the darkness.

“Haha, Shen Fengxing, that was a clever trick—posting in the group that you’re all going to check the rooftops, when in fact we already did. We purposely left out the sports field so Zhang Xiaofan and Su Qianqian would walk right into our trap. Brilliant move!” Song Feng’s arrogant voice rang out.

Wang Hu laughed as well. “Bet you didn’t expect this, Zhang Xiaofan—we’ve been waiting for you here all along.”

As he spoke, the group closed in on Zhang Xiaofan, each leading their own followers. Zhang Xiaofan’s heart sank. He had never imagined that all of this was Shen Fengxing’s scheme.

He’d been careless. He should have guessed that, with so many people searching for so long, the rooftops had already been checked. Posting about it in the group was just bait to lure him into the trap.

“Shen Fengxing, you really are despicable!” Zhang Xiaofan shouted angrily.

“Tch, the victor takes all,” Shen Fengxing replied with disdain, suddenly producing a jade pendant. At his command, a third-level evil spirit appeared.

“Kill her!” Shen Fengxing pointed at Su Qianqian.

Wang Hu and Song Feng’s faces changed. “Everyone, kill Zhang Xiaofan—Su Qianqian is ours!” they shouted.

With that, they attacked together. Zhang Xiaofan spun around and hurled several fireballs, scalding a few of their lackeys, who howled in pain. Taking advantage of the chaos, he pulled Su Qianqian into the grove.

At this point, Zhang Xiaofan had only one thought: if these people truly wanted to drive them to death, he wouldn’t hesitate to burn them all alive once they came in.

“Damn, that kid ran into the woods. What if he sets a fire?” Wang Hu was the first to voice his concern.

Song Feng replied coldly, “Don’t worry, I’ll freeze the area.”

“I have water affinity,” another lackey chimed in.

So, as they entered, the water-affinity lackey doused the way ahead, making it hard for any fire to start.

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Xiaofan said to Su Qianqian, “Wait here.”

He crept away, climbing up a tree to hide. As the group drew near, he suddenly leaped down, hurling a blazing fireball straight at the water-affinity lackey.

A deafening boom.

A scream.

Engulfed in flames, the lackey could only shriek a few times before falling silent.

“Damn it, it’s Zhang Xiaofan! Get him!” Song Feng yelled in fury.

Seizing the moment, Zhang Xiaofan retreated swiftly. But when he returned to where he’d left Su Qianqian, to his shock, she was gone.

Despair nearly overwhelmed him. He wanted to call out, but feared Song Feng and the others would hear, so he could only search quietly among the trees.

Just then, a flash of white light flickered in the distance, accompanied by a familiar fragrance. Zhang Xiaofan frowned; it was Lin Rou’s scent.

Could she have taken this chance to kill Su Qianqian?

He looked up to see Lin Rou leap down from a tree, wearing Su Qianqian’s clothes. Stunned, Zhang Xiaofan snapped, “Lin Rou, you promised to help me—what have you done with Su Qianqian?”

If she hadn’t been a woman, he might have already punched her.

Lin Rou curled her lip. “Really, is it that important to you?”

“Of course it is.” Zhang Xiaofan pointed at Su Qianqian’s clothes on Lin Rou. “If she dies, I’ll never forgive you.”

A shadow flickered in Lin Rou’s eyes before she retorted harshly, “You treat my good intentions like garbage. I came here to help you, and this is how you treat me.”

Zhang Xiaofan hesitated, then mustered his courage. “What do you mean?”

The lights behind grew brighter. Lin Rou urgently grabbed his hand. “No time to explain. I left Su Qianqian up in a tree. I put on her clothes, and I’ll help you distract them.”

“Lin Rou, you…” Zhang Xiaofan could hardly believe that, at the crucial moment, it was Lin Rou who came to his aid.

“Moved? Then accept me,” Lin Rou said, gripping his hand.

“Is this really the time?” Zhang Xiaofan grumbled helplessly. Together they slipped into a corner, right where Shen Fengxing and his group were searching. To draw attention, Zhang Xiaofan shouted, “Su Qianqian, run!”

With that, he and Lin Rou burst out of the grove. Shen Fengxing and several others gave chase. “Catch them and kill them!” Shen Fengxing shouted to the spirit he controlled.

“Looks like Shen Fengxing actually bought a spirit-summoning talisman. He must be loaded,” Lin Rou muttered bitterly.

They didn’t linger, racing to the sports field gate. Sure enough, their pursuers had left the woods and were now coming after them.

Zhang Xiaofan breathed a sigh of relief. “Come on, let’s head to the bathroom rooftop.”

“So that’s where you two were hiding all along?” Lin Rou remarked.