Chapter 18: The Uncertainty of Life and Death

Chapter 18: The Uncertainty of Life and Death

A pedestrian blocking the way was flung aside by the barbarian, his body flying over six meters before crashing heavily to the ground. Fortunately, the cars on the street immediately slammed on their brakes upon sensing the danger, averting a tragedy.

"He's a barbarian! Take him down—don't let him escape!" shouted a middle-aged man who had also fled from the bookstore. He grabbed a broom from a nearby shop, brandishing it like a sword in a defensive stance.

His posture suggested he had some training in swordsmanship, possibly even as a Martial Artist Apprentice. Otherwise, no one would dare provoke a barbarian in such a situation.

Chen Shouyi, who had been about to flee, couldn't help but slow his steps.

As a young man, his heart had not yet grown cold, and his blood still ran hot. He glanced around, searching for a suitable weapon.

But before he could find one, the barbarian lunged at the middle-aged man with terrifying speed. Chen Shouyi could barely track the movement with his naked eyes—the distance of over ten meters was crossed in an instant.

The middle-aged man hadn't even managed to thrust his makeshift sword before a fist smashed into his skull.

His body was sent flying, tumbling to the ground like a ragdoll.

His skull was shattered, resembling a smashed watermelon.

The most horrifying part was that the barbarian had been carrying a large cloth bundle filled with books the entire time, weighing at least fifty kilograms.

With just one glance at the gruesome corpse, the fire in Chen Shouyi's heart extinguished. A chill spread through his body, and the eagerness he had felt moments earlier vanished, replaced by sheer terror.

Thankfully, the barbarian didn’t continue his senseless slaughter. After establishing his dominance, he warily scanned his surroundings before swiftly fleeing. His strides were heavy yet enormous, covering five or six meters with each step.

Within seconds, the barbarian had disappeared down the street.

Everything had happened too quickly. By the time fully armed SWAT officers arrived, three minutes had already passed.

But by then, Chen Shouyi had long since left the scene.

The two of them pushed their bicycles down the street, the bloodstains on their clothes causing passersby to recoil in fear.

Yet, in their dazed state, neither of them noticed.

Zhang Xiaoyue was unusually quiet, her body trembling slightly.

Chen Shouyi could sense her terror—but then again, he was no different.

Those who lived in peace could never truly fathom the brutality of death. Even if such incidents were occasionally reported in the news, they felt distant and unreal, lacking any personal impact.

Dongning City had always been a quiet and peaceful town. Even the otherworldly invasion war from over a decade ago had been nothing more than a small-scale, high-intensity conflict in a distant border region.

In terms of scale, it couldn’t compare to the two World Wars, and it hadn’t even disrupted daily life.

Perhaps Chen Shouyi had once found online discussions about the advanced weaponry used in that war fascinating, but he had never truly grasped its cruelty.

In this small city, the only incident that could be called an otherworldly invasion had occurred two years prior—when two smuggled barbarians were killed in the outskirts of Dongning.

Not long after, the hidden Wormhole near Dongning City was discovered, and the military swiftly moved in to secure it.

The police acted with remarkable efficiency. As Chen Shouyi walked down the street, the advertisement screens in the square were already broadcasting the wanted notice for the barbarian, drawing crowds of onlookers whose faces were etched with panic.

Chen Shouyi escorted Zhang Xiaoyue all the way to the entrance of her residential complex before saying, "Class Monitor, I’ll head off now."

After a brief pause, he added reassuringly, "That barbarian won’t get far. The streets are lined with surveillance cameras. Maybe by tonight, the news will have an update."

"Thank you, Chen Shouyi. If you hadn’t dragged me away, I might have—"

"You’re our class monitor. How could I just leave you behind? Don’t overthink it. I’ll go now." He forced a smile, feigning nonchalance, before pedaling away swiftly on his bicycle.

On the way, his phone rang.

"Why are you still outside? Come home now!" Chen Mu’s frantic voice crackled through the receiver.

"Mom, I’m on my way," Chen Shouyi replied without asking for details.

Hanging up, he sped toward home.

The shop’s rolling shutter was already half-closed by dinnertime. After parking his bicycle at the back door, Chen Mu yanked him inside and quickly locked the shutter.

"Bodhisattva be praised, you’re finally back! You have no idea what just happened—it’s terrifying!" Chen Mu’s face was taut with anxiety.

Suddenly, her expression froze, her complexion turning ashen.

"Why is there blood on you?"

Chen Shouyi touched the stains—now dried, leaving only flakes of blood and what might have been bits of flesh on his palm. The memory of it splattering from the corpse made his stomach churn.

Seeing no way to hide it, he confessed truthfully.

"Of all places, why did you have to go to the bookstore? You scared me half to death!" Chen Mu’s relief warred with lingering fear before she smacked him twice in frustration. "Take those clothes off. I’ll burn them later. Then we’ll pray to the Bodhisattva to ward off the bad luck."

As shopkeepers, the family was deeply superstitious. Their home had long enshrined both Guanyin and the God of Wealth, though neither Chen Shouyi nor his sister ever paid them much attention.

"Okay, Mom. By the way, where’s Xingyue?" he asked, peeling off his jacket.

"She came back ages ago. She’s upstairs with your dad, watching the news."

Under Chen Mu’s watchful eye, Chen Shouyi offered a quick prayer before heading upstairs, where Chen Dawei grilled him with questions.

The TV replayed the breaking news—blurred-out corpses being carried out of the bookstore, some so mangled they were little more than pulp, stuffed into body bags.

"As of now, the death toll from this attack has reached 135, with another 43 critically injured and undergoing emergency treatment..."

Chen Shouyi glanced at the screen before looking away. The reality had been far worse than what the sanitized footage showed. He retreated to the bathroom, scrubbing himself clean of the lingering stench of blood.

By evening, the family had a simple dinner before gathering around the TV for updates. Outside, the wail of police sirens was constant—every available officer had been mobilized.

The living room was heavy with tension, the silence broken only by the news broadcast.

With such a terrifying Otherworld terrorist roaming the city, no one could eat or sleep peacefully as if nothing had happened.

At 7 PM, a news bulletin suddenly interrupted the broadcast.

The anchor glanced at the script, a flicker of joy crossing their face before it vanished, replaced by solemnity: "We now report breaking news. Under the city-wide lockdown, at 6:40 PM, the Dongning SWAT team and several honorary SWAT members from the Martial Arts Association finally located the barbarian's hiding spot in Yanghu Park. After a fierce battle, the barbarian was ultimately eliminated.

In this operation, four SWAT officers, including Zhou Shaofeng, the vice president of the Dongning Martial Arts Association, tragically sacrificed their lives in the line of duty..."

Zhou Shaofeng was dead!

Chen Shouyi froze for a moment. The first time he had heard Zhou Shaofeng's name was from his school's Martial Arts teacher.

Two years ago, that man had single-handedly slain two barbarian scouts outside Dongning City with a single, masterful thrust of his sword.

Yet such a formidable figure, a seasoned Martial Artist, had died unexpectedly—killed in the operation to eliminate the barbarian.

A wave of dread washed over him, followed by a tinge of relief.

If he had acted on impulse and charged forward back then, perhaps...