"Run! Pang Xin, take Lin Qiye and run!"
Yun Hexian bit his cheek to steady his nerves. The fragmented blades hidden in his sleeves flew out with a cold glint, shredding his school uniform sleeves into rags, and then transformed into thousands of bright shards reflecting the moonlight. They shot toward the two Masked Ghosts.
The Masked Ghosts rolled to dodge, then pushed off the ground with force, leaping into the air to charge at the group.
"Ahhh!!!" Jiang Qian didn’t need Yun Hexian to urge her; she scrambled away, crawling and running as fast as she could. Ahead of her was Li Yifei, who had already turned into a blur, followed by the even faster Liu Yuan and Wang Shao.
"There are two of them, Brother Yun, I'll help you!" Pang Xin turned to Lin Qiye and said, "You run first, go home!"
Lin Qiye was stunned. In truth, facing monsters like these, running away was human nature. He hadn't expected that a simple request from his aunt would make the two of them so committed to his safety. Yun Hexian... he didn't seem quite as self-centered as he had thought.
"You don't know how to do anything; what are you staying for?" Yun Hexian kicked Pang Xin, then used the momentum to retreat, charging toward the Masked Ghosts while backing away. His heart was pounding—he was nervous and terrified, but the BKing System was his key to survival; he had to activate it successfully.
"Whip-blade!" Yun Hexian flipped through the air, summoning his weapon. The countless blade fragments scattered on the ground flew back to his hands, forming a long, handle-less whip.
Yun Hexian held two fingers together, using his mental energy to lash out with the whip-blade. It instantly severed the arm and leg of one Masked Ghost. Amidst its shrieks, the whip-blade shattered and reassembled into a small shield.
The shield blocked a strike from the other Masked Ghost. The sheer force sent Yun Hexian skidding back nearly ten meters. Swallowing the urge to spit blood, he turned the shield into a flying disc and hurled it.
At the same time, the one-armed, one-legged Masked Ghost lunged toward Lin Qiye and Pang Xin. Pang Xin’s burly frame stood in front of Lin Qiye. "Run!"
The Masked Ghost, still able to leap forward on its single leg, flicked out its scarlet tongue, seemingly intent on licking Pang Xin’s face. Pang Xin smashed his schoolbag into its face, tongue and all. But in the next second, Pang Xin was sent flying by the impact.
Lin Qiye’s mind went blank. He could see that Pang Xin and Yun Hexian had genuinely stayed to protect him instead of running like the others.
He watched Yun Hexian struggling in a "difficult" battle against the intact Masked Ghost, soaked in his own blood; he saw the crippled Masked Ghost knock Pang Xin aside and then dart toward him, leaving Pang Xin’s fate uncertain...
The anger, unwillingness, and grief in his heart coalesced into a raging flame. He felt a unique power erupt from deep within his body.
"Go to hell!!!"
In that instant, a column of platinum light, carrying scorching heat and divine majesty, erupted from Lin Qiye and shot straight into the sky. The pitch-black night was instantly illuminated, as bright as day.
"Who turned on the lights? Damn it!"
"What the hell is that?"
"Mom, someone's going to heaven!"
"..."
Yun Hexian, who had deliberately left the half-crippled Masked Ghost for Lin Qiye to trigger his cheat, cursed inwardly as he saw Lin Qiye awaken his power while Pang Xin lay against the wall, his life hanging in the balance.
If Pang Xin had just listened and taken Lin Qiye away, the Masked Ghost's first target would have definitely been Lin Qiye, as that was the catalyst for the protagonist’s awakening. Sometimes, excessive loyalty was not a good thing.
Suppressing his irritation, Yun Hexian summoned back his whip-blade and slashed it fiercely at the Masked Ghost. Flesh flew, and his school uniform was soaked deep red. The Masked Ghost was shredded by Yun Hexian’s whip until there was nothing left but fragments, even smaller than the blade shards themselves.
Yun Hexian ran to Pang Xin, checking him over with concern, until he heard Pang Xin rubbing his chest and mumbling in his sleep: "Brother Yun, I'm so hungry, miamiamia..."
[Host, there is no need to worry. Pang Xin and Pang Lifeng’s lives are tied to the Host. As long as the Host lives, they will not die.] the BKing System explained.
Yun Hexian: (?▼Benefit▼)!
Why didn't you say so earlier! And he's even smacking his lips! What a waste of my emotions!
Yun Hexian looked at the crippled Masked Ghost, which had collapsed, suppressed by the holy aura radiating from Lin Qiye. Though he didn't know why he himself was unaffected, he stood up—and before the whip-blade disappeared, he split it into thousands of pieces, raining them down on the creature until it was nothing but debris.
"Xiao Qi, are you alright?" Yun Hexian looked at the recovered Lin Qiye, then glanced at the sky as the world plunged back into darkness.
Lin Qiye had already opened his eyes. He grabbed Yun Hexian’s arm. Yun Hexian’s right sleeve was in tatters and he was covered in blood, but he acted as if he didn't notice.
"Are you okay? Just now, you and those monsters... and Pang Xin..." Lin Qiye’s voice was tense. His black eyes seemed to hold a flicker of golden divine luster, which quickly faded.
"He's fine. Put on Pang Xin’s backpack and let's go. This place is too loud; it’s not safe." Yun Hexian patted Lin Qiye’s shoulder and went to fetch Pang Xin.
"Get up, Pang Xin. If you don't wake up, I'm leaving you behind," Yun Hexian threatened in a low voice.
Lin Qiye: (￣.￣)?
Lin Qiye didn't understand, but Pang Xin snapped awake in an instant, stood up, dusted himself off, and scratched his head. "Brother Yun, I think I heard you say you didn't want me anymore."
"Did you? You heard wrong." Yun Hexian stood up and signaled to Lin Qiye. "Let's go!"
Truly worthy of being system-produced—that loyalty was top-notch.
BKing System: [BKing Event: #Since I am in the front, I will never let you face danger alone#
This was a difficult victory. Yun Hexian pushed Lin Qiye aside to face the danger alone. Shouting about friendship and bonds, he threw himself into the fray, standing tall in the face of peril to protect Lin Qiye. Successfully won Lin Qiye’s heart.
Congratulations to the Host for unlocking BKing System - Game God Mode.Received: 3x One-time Game items, 1x Forbidden Ruins Awakening opportunity, 2x Random Forbidden Artifacts.
Future BKing actions don't necessarily need to be performed in front of plot characters to unlock new games.]
Good, good, this is fantastic. This is a massive haul—definitely worth the effort of saving the awakening opportunity for Lin Qiye while putting on such a grueling performance of "protecting" them. Yun Hexian was thrilled.
"Wait a moment—"
A figure approached rapidly, calling for the three of them to stop.
*Whoosh—!*
The world blurred for a moment, and the man stood before them. His dark red cloak fluttered, and he carried a long blade at his waist, looking steady and composed.
"Did you do this?"
He gestured to the pile of Masked Ghost fragments, his gaze fixed on the blood-soaked Yun Hexian.
Yun Hexian didn't change his expression. "No, it was a man in a feathered mask. He emitted golden light and shredded them instantly. The blood on me is just from the spray. If you don't believe me, ask them—we don't have a single scratch on us. It's a good thing that person arrived in time."
Feathers, golden light...Could someone have awakened a Divine Ruin, saved them, and then left?
The man studied them for a long while. Confirming they truly had no injuries, he frowned. "In that case, you need to sign a confidentiality agreement."
"No problem," Yun Hexian agreed instantly, then feigned curiosity. "Mister, are there many people like that? He looked incredibly powerful."
Lin Qiye, who had only been "glowing": ... Wow, he’s a great actor. He makes it sound so real.
Lin Qiye looked at Pang Xin, whose eyes were glued to Yun Hexian with an expression of "Brother Yun is always right," without needing to act at all.
Lin Qiye: ←_←
I give up.
"Not many. People with that kind of talent are very rare. I’m Zhao Kongcheng, you can call me Uncle Zhao." The man pulled a crumpled confidentiality agreement from his pocket. "Just have the three of you sign together; I didn't bring enough copies."
"Alright." Yun Hexian responded, waving a hand. Pang Xin immediately pulled a pen from the backpack Lin Qiye was carrying and placed it in his hand.
"Whoa, you’ve got a little sidekick? That definitely brings peace of mind." Zhao Kongcheng patted Pang Xin’s shoulder. "Still high schoolers... with that build, have you thought about joining the military?"
"I'll listen to Brother Yun," Pang Xin scratched his head and gave an honest smile.
"Brother Yun?" Zhao Kongcheng looked at Yun Hexian and gave him a thumbs up. "Not bad, Brother Yun."
Yun Hexian smiled slightly and wrote "his name" on the agreement:
He Yun
He even helpfully added the pinyin for Zhao Kongcheng. *Say thank you to Brother Yun.*
Lin Qiye took the pen, gave Yun Hexian a strange look, and wrote:
Qi Ye
Pang Xin scratched his head, following Yun Hexian’s lead, and wrote his name:
Pang Tong
Out of the three, there was only one honest person, but that honest soul was destined to follow the dishonest one to the very end.
Zhao Kongcheng glanced at the agreement and looked at Yun Hexian. "Not bad. You must get asked that a lot, to go out of your way to add the pinyin."
"That’s right. Get asked enough, and explaining becomes tiring," Yun Hexian shrugged.
"Go on then, and don't talk to anyone else about what happened here." Zhao Kongcheng put away the agreement and waved them off.
Yun Hexian waved back enthusiastically, very politely saying, "Goodbye, Uncle Zhao."
"Goodbye, Uncle Zhao!" Lin Qiye and Pang Xin echoed.
"Goodbye, goodbye." Zhao Kongcheng grinned. Why did they, the Night Watchers, work so hard? It was for the sake of these bright, sunny flowers of the nation. They were the future of Daxia!
"The two fleeing Masked Ghosts have been purged. Send the logistics team to clean up the battlefield." Watching them leave, Zhao Kongcheng pulled out his radio. "Cleared by a mysterious person in a feathered mask. Three high schoolers signed the confidentiality agreement."