“All right, let’s get down to business.”
“Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph…”
Su Xi brushed the bangs from her forehead, looking utterly refreshed.
“Hey, your two classmates and my sister are in Room 305. I won’t go into the details, but your classmates and my sister are probably in serious danger.”
“Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph…”
“My sister may not be much of a fighter, but she can look after herself, so I’m not worried about her. But your classmates? They’re just ordinary people. Who knows when they’ll end up sliced into pieces and dried out by my sister and me for a New Year’s snack.”
“Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph…”
“So, as those two guys’ friend, I’m sure you’ll bravely risk your life for them without a second thought.”
“Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph…”
Ignoring Zhou Heng’s frantic head-shaking, Su Xi clasped her hands and sighed in admiration.
“No answer means you agree. Ah, what incredible brotherhood. I might just have to rethink my opinion of men.”
When she finished, Su Xi pulled the stinky sock out of Zhou Heng’s mouth.
“I fucking—”
The furious roar was still rising in his chest when Su Xi grabbed Zhou Heng by the chin and said icily,
“I hate people who don’t keep their word. You know what I do to people like that?”
Su Xi narrowed her eyes, looking just like a butcher with a knife, ready to slaughter livestock.
“First, I’ll smash your teeth one by one. Then I’ll pull out your fingernails, one at a time.”
Zhou Heng’s mouth twitched. The words caught in his throat vanished right back down.
Satisfied, Su Xi released her grip on Zhou Heng’s chin.
“That’s more like it. I’m a very democratic person, you know. I’d never force anyone to do something they don’t want to do.”
Zhou Heng didn’t have the strength to argue anymore. He could only say helplessly,
“Could you untie me first? The shoelaces around my wrists and ankles really hurt.”
Su Xi snorted, then bent down and untied the shoelaces around Zhou Heng’s wrists and ankles.
As Su Xi bent over to untie the laces, Zhou Heng flexed the hand behind his back, clenching and unclenching it. His wrists could move again now.
After their two clashes, Zhou Heng had made a startling discovery: this little girl, Su Xi, was far stronger and tougher than he was—even though he was a freakishly built guy who stood out among men.
Zhou Heng had rarely lost a fight at school, yet this middle-school girl had beaten him twice.
But strength was strength, and toughness was toughness. A person’s weak points didn’t shift just because their build changed.
Zhou Heng stared at Su Xi’s smooth, pale neck. He wondered if a knife-hand strike there would knock her out at once.
Then he could settle the score and get even for every grievance.
He’d pay Su Xi back for everything she’d done to him, without leaving a single thing out.
His fist clenched tightly behind his back.
“All right, you’re untied.”
As Su Xi straightened up, Zhou Heng let out a quiet sigh. After hesitating for a long while, he unclenched his fist behind his back.
Whether or not an attack would work was beside the point. Right now, there were clearly more important things than personal grudges.
Zhou Heng asked Su Xi,
“What’s your sister doing in Room 305? My two buddies went in, and we haven’t heard from them since.”
Su Xi scoffed and pointed at Zhou Heng’s face.
“My sister’s business is none of yours. As for your two buddies, they brought this on themselves. Ordinary people shouldn’t be entering our world in the first place. And of all times, they had to come in when things were most dangerous. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were both dead, reduced to a pile of minced meat.”
To Su Xi’s surprise, Zhou Heng didn’t panic or look grief-stricken. Instead, he nodded in understanding, then asked with a straight face,
“You’re in your second year of middle school, right?”
“I’m in my first year…”
“Wait, then you’re not even old enough to be chuunibyou yet.”
Ignoring Zhou Heng’s muttered comment, Su Xi kicked him again.
“Hey, you pervert. We don’t know what’s going on, so I can’t just go into Room 305 and take them by surprise. You’re going in first to test the waters.”
Su Xi raised a hand and pointed at Room 305.
“Go knock and ask if they want any special services.”
Zhou Heng rubbed his head and answered awkwardly,
“Um, if there’s really danger, shouldn’t we call the police? Why drag two minors like us into this mess?”
Su Xi grabbed Zhou Heng by the collar. Her slender arm lifted his upper body with ease. Zhou Heng marveled inwardly at the ridiculous strength of the girl, wondering what she’d been eating all her life.
“You pervert, listen. This isn’t something the police can handle. Do you get it?”
How could Zhou Heng not get it? His own sister had gone out to work the streets. If they called the police, Su Mo’s life would be ruined.
But what happened to Su Mo’s life was someone else’s problem. Zhou Heng really didn’t want to throw himself, Zhang Xuan, and Lu Yile into the fire for the sake of her future.
Still, no matter what he thought, the sight of the violent little Su Xi raising her fist—and the killing intent in her clear eyes—made Zhou Heng lower his head and back down.
All he had to do was get someone to open the door. He could take a look at whatever he could see from outside. If there was danger, he wouldn’t go in—he’d just turn and run.
Zhou Heng made up his mind.
If he could save Lu Yile and Zhang Xuan, he would. But if he couldn’t, he wasn’t about to get himself killed too. Zhou Heng had always hated the kind of behavior where you shouted about loyalty and brotherhood, then ran straight in to get yourself killed.
Once he’d made up his mind, the rest was simple. He put on his socks and shoes, straightened his messy hair, and walked back to Room 305—the door that had swallowed Zhang Xuan and Lu Yile without a sound.
To be honest, Zhou Heng was a little scared.
He took a deep breath to push down his feelings, then slowly raised his clenched fist toward the doorbell.
Just as he was about to press it, Zhou Heng suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Su Xi, who stood nearby, eager and solemn.
Su Xi snapped.
“You pervert, what are you waiting for? Ring the bell!”
“No, there’s something I want to ask you. We made a huge racket in the hallway just now. The people in Room 305…”
Su Xi snorted and lifted her chin, looking immensely pleased with herself.
“They can’t hear us. My sister brought a mutant in with her. Unless the door’s open and the spaces are connected, it can block all sound between the room and the outside. We can’t hear what’s happening in there, and they can’t hear what’s happening out here. Pretty impressive, huh? Ordinary people can’t get their hands on things like mutants. They belong to our world alone.”
Zhou Heng felt like an idiot for asking a chuunibyou middle-school girl a question about reality. He’d barely asked one thing, and already all kinds of baffling lore were spilling out. If he kept asking, he had no doubt Su Xi could invent an entire magical world for him.
Better get back to business.
Zhou Heng pressed the doorbell and called out clearly,
“Excuse me, would you like any special services?”
