Chapter 4: Time's Up!

Page 1 of 3

The night was pitch-black and the wind howled.

Ling Qiu arrived at a desolate stretch of the outskirts where not a soul stirred.

He sat down cross-legged, his breath swirling through his body. Fierce currents of power wrapped around him, radiating a faint and mysterious glow.

“Foundation established at last!”

Ling Qiu slammed a fist hard upon the ground.

In an instant, a terrifying fissure split the earth beneath him, carving a jagged chasm into the soil. The trees within dozens of meters all around shook violently, some nearly uprooted.

“And this is only thirty percent of my current strength.”

He stood up, a faint smile curling his lips. In the darkness, he gazed in a certain direction. “According to Dizang, the power of the ‘Ten Halls of Yama’ requires me to temper myself in the mortal world. When the opportunity comes, I’ll awaken it naturally. So for now, I’ll go home and get a good night’s sleep, and head to school early tomorrow. The world of mortals—I intend to truly experience it.”

...

The next day.

Jiang’an City’s Third High School.

This was the most infamous school in the whole city, notorious for its gangs and an atmosphere so unruly that troublemakers seemed to spring up everywhere.

Ling Qiu arrived at school early.

Breathing in the air of campus life again, with the playground full of energetic youths, boys and girls bursting with vitality, Ling Qiu felt his spirits soar.

Three years earlier, after his grandfather passed away, the Ling family had exiled Ling Qiu to this den of delinquents and forbade him from ever revealing his true heritage. No one at the school knew who he really was.

“Well, if it isn’t Ling Qiu!”

“Heh, this idiot… Can you believe he had the nerve to write a love letter to Zhang, the belle of the class?”

“Everyone knows she’s with Zhu Yiqun, the school’s top boss! Ling Qiu must have a death wish!”

The whispered gossip all around did not escape Ling Qiu’s ears, but he paid it no mind. Hands in his pockets, he strolled leisurely back to class, countless eyes following his every move.

“Holy crap! He… he actually dared to come back!”

“Hah, what a fool. He must not know the meaning of fear! Zhu Yiqun already heard about him writing that letter to Zhang Qian… and Zhu’s boss is none other than ‘Skull Bro’ from the night market!”

“Skull Bro’s a real psycho… Someone once stepped on his new shoes by accident, and he broke the guy’s leg right there!”

“Ling Qiu… why are you here at school?”

At that moment, a timid voice called out anxiously behind him.

He turned to see a short-haired girl, her appearance scholarly and reserved.

She was petite, clad in the school uniform, unremarkable in looks, and wore thick black-framed glasses that made her seem a little dull. As she spoke, she fidgeted with her sleeves, her cheeks flushed shyly, unable to meet Ling Qiu’s eyes.

Page 2 of 3

“Shen Meng?”

The model student before him was none other than his deskmate, Shen Meng!

Though she seemed ordinary now, in two years she would soar to great heights. She was, in fact, the heiress of the Shen family in Donghai City. Once she learned to dress and carry herself, she would become a renowned beauty, celebrated for her grace, with a legion of wealthy suitors vying for her hand.

But at present, she had no idea she was the illegitimate daughter of Shen Zhantang, future chairman of the Shen Group in Donghai City.

Ling Qiu had only learned all this after his death, in the underworld.

However, this was not the point.

What mattered was that this kind-hearted, slightly foolish girl had always harbored feelings for Ling Qiu.

A year ago, when Shen Meng’s mother was hospitalized after a car accident, Ling Qiu—though disdained by the Ling family and stripped of any status—still had a little money in his pocket. He casually lent Shen Meng twenty thousand yuan, a gesture that ended up saving her mother’s life.

From that moment on, this pure, simple girl inexplicably fell in love with him.

Since his death, she would often cry in secret at night. As a forsaken outcast of the Ling family, his grave was left utterly neglected. Yet every festival, a devoted, quiet, sweet, and slightly melancholic figure would appear before his weed-choked tombstone.

That person… was Shen Meng.

For a moment, a warm current surged through Ling Qiu’s heart, emotions welling up with countless things he longed to say to her.

For in the underworld, the souls of the unremembered dead suffer terribly. If not for Shen Meng’s frequent visits and offerings at his grave, Ling Qiu’s spirit would have long since dissipated, never surviving to encounter Ling Li.

“Silly girl… It’s so good to see you again.”

Taking a deep breath, Ling Qiu spoke with unexpected tenderness.

“Huh?”

Shen Meng was so startled by the gravity in his voice and gaze that her cheeks instantly flamed crimson.

“N-no, Ling Qiu, listen! I have something important to tell you!”

Though her heart fluttered, there was something more pressing.

“When you wrote that letter to Zhang Qian… Zhu Yiqun found out! He said… if you showed up at school again, he’d cripple you! You—”

But just then, a harsh voice rang out.

“Well, well, Ling Qiu. You’re the first who dares mess with my woman and then still has the guts to walk back into this school.”

Page 3 of 3

All eyes turned.

A cocky youth with dyed yellow hair swaggered in, one arm draped around a girl dressed so garishly she looked laughably older than her years.

Behind them trailed five arrogant minions.

“Zhu Yiqun and Zhang Qian are here!”

“Tsk tsk, looks like Ling Qiu’s in for a world of hurt today!”

Zhu Yiqun strutted up to Ling Qiu with Zhang Qian in tow, full of swagger. He tossed a folded letter onto Ling Qiu’s desk.

“Boy, swallow this paper and apologize on your knees, and I’ll let it slide. Otherwise, I’ll break your legs!”

Several girls who idolized the school’s bad boys gazed at Zhu Yiqun with starry-eyed admiration.

Wow!

Zhu Yiqun truly lived up to his reputation as the school’s kingpin. Every move he made exuded the aura of a gangster—so domineering, so cool!

Yet from start to finish, Ling Qiu hadn’t spared him a single proper glance.

“I don’t want to frighten Shen Meng. I’ll give you three seconds. Leave.”

What?!

The entire class was stunned, their mouths agape as if they could swallow an egg whole.

Was Ling Qiu insane?

This was a warning straight from Zhu Yiqun, the Third High’s top dog! Rumor had it Zhu Yiqun wasn’t afraid to swing a blade in a street fight.

Was this fool Ling Qiu really courting death?

“What… did you say?!”

For a long moment Zhu Yiqun was speechless, then his brows knotted in fury. “You little bastard… Are you tired of living?!”

At that instant—

Ling Qiu finally lifted his eyelids, his gaze cold as if it hailed from the depths of hell itself, fixing Zhu Yiqun with a chilling stare.

“Three seconds. Time’s up.”