My Strange Tale Love Strategy Simulator

Zhang Ying's attack was completely unexpected!

He was just standing between the two of them, jokingly trying to reconcile them, but the next second he darted to Old Man Xu's left, grabbed the wooden frame of the green lantern with his left hand, and followed closely with his right hand, clenching it into a fist and smashing it down with all his might!

Old Xu's eyes widened suddenly, and Old Wu's mouth opened, his smile frozen on his face, his fingers frozen in mid-air.

Neither of them reacted in time. Who would have thought that the young man who was just smiling and trying to smooth things over would be willing to risk his life so easily?

Click!

When Zhang Ying slammed his fist into the glass of the lantern, he felt a sharp pain in his finger bones. It didn't feel like he was hitting glass; it felt more like he was hitting a solid iron plate!

The glass didn't shatter, only cracked a thin fissure that spread diagonally upwards from where the fist had landed. Green flames burst forth from the crack, licking at its edge and leaping more than half a foot high, illuminating Zhang Ying's face ashen green!

At the same time, the lantern phantom that trapped Li Ziqing suddenly shook, and the green light rippled from the bottom upwards, making the phantom thinner. Li Ziqing's outline became clear for a moment behind the phantom.

Old Xu finally reacted. His body moved faster than his brain, and he kicked Zhang Ying in the stomach!

Zhang Ying was thrown backward as if he had been hit by a truck, his body arching in the air in a short arc before his back slammed solidly into the green lantern phantom that had trapped Li Ziqing.

A ripple of green light spread behind him, and his body slid off the surface of the phantom, collapsing onto the concrete floor like a shadow ripped from a wall.

He felt as if all his internal organs had been displaced, and a mouthful of blood gushed from his nose and mouth at the same time, splattering onto the floor in front of him, appearing as a dark reddish-black under the green light.

The veins on Old Xu's forehead bulged, and smoke billowed wildly from his pipe, while the wolf shadows at his feet growled in unison.

He pointed at Zhang Ying, who was sprawled on the ground, and his voice boomed so loudly that the entire vocal room trembled: "What the hell are you doing?!" As he roared, he flicked the smoke from his pipe at the crack in the lantern. The smoke coiled around the crack like a snake, layer upon layer, sealing the green flames that were gushing out.

Old Wu stood two steps away, as if his soul had been ripped from his body. His thin, bony hand remained frozen in mid-air, the yellow papers slipping from his fingers one by one, fluttering to the ground and scattering everywhere.

His lips were moving, but no complete sentences could be squeezed out of his throat. He could only utter words intermittently: "You...you...I finally managed to take on a disciple...I just said there wouldn't be any mistakes...you..." His whole body was trembling, and his pupil-less eyes were filled with only the bewilderment of someone who had been slapped in public.

Li Ziqing had already given up struggling. She lay on the inner wall of the illusory image, her forehead covered with the cracks of peeling wood, her wooden fingers hanging limply at her sides.

Hearing the click, she looked up.

Through the illusory green light, she saw a boy collapsed in front of her, his chin covered in blood, his chest heaving violently, and with each breath, new blood foam seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Isn't he in cahoots with those people outside? Wasn't he just smiling obsequiously at them and calling them "master" a moment ago?

She tilted her head, and her bloodshot eyes reflected the boy's blood-stained face. The more she looked, the more familiar he seemed.

His mind slowly returned from madness, and a tear of blood seeped from his wooden eye socket, streaming down his cracked cheek.

Zhang Ying slumped to the ground, his back against the illusory figure that was still trapping Li Ziqing. Blood blocked his airway, and his throat was filled with a sour, spicy, and metallic taste. He coughed violently a few times, spitting out a mouthful of blood that splattered onto his knees, and his breathing became a little easier.

He gasped for breath, lifted his eyelids, and looked at the furious Old Xu and the trembling Old Wu in front of him. A bloody smile curved upwards at the corner of his mouth.

I think I'm going to die.

A punch delivered with all his might only cracked the skin. He was still too weak. He had anticipated this possibility before even making a move; he hadn't even considered the option of "escaping unscathed."

But rather than lingering on in my last few days, I'd rather die like this!

At least I tried.

Old Xu took a step forward, and the wolf shadow beneath his feet moved forward a foot. His voice was lowered by half an inch, but every word seemed to be ground out from between his teeth: "Why did you do this?! Who sent you?!"

Behind him, Old Wu's lips moved for a long time before he finally managed to squeeze out a complete sentence: "I...I was actually deceived...I finally managed to take on a disciple, and yet..."

Zhang Ying looked at them. One was furious, the other was dazed. His smile didn't fade in the slightest.

With all his might, he lifted his right hand from the ground. His arm trembled, his fingers trembled, and the back of his hand was covered in his own blood. He raised that hand to his chest, and, facing the two old men, gave them the middle finger!

This was his final mockery, and also his last act of defiance.

He turned his head to the side, bringing his face close to the green, illusory figure behind him that had trapped Li Ziqing.

He could feel Li Ziqing's gaze fixed on him. He spoke, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible, each word squeezed out with the last bit of air left in his chest.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid I... can't be with you until the end."

Tears of blood welled up in Li Ziqing's eyes and streamed down her face uncontrollably. Drop by drop, they seeped from the cracks in the wooden eye sockets, crawled down the wood grain of her cheeks, and dripped to the bottom of her illusory image, splashing out dark red ripples.

As tears streamed down her face, a surge of resentment exploded from her, causing the entire school building to tremble as if in an earthquake. The plaster on the walls crumbled and fell off, the dust cover on the piano was overturned by the invisible gust of air, and the desks and chairs were scattered and twisted all over the floor.

Li Ziqing slowly stood up, and with each inch he straightened up, the cracks on his body closed up by an inch.

The deep, bone-revealing gash in the shoulder socket seemed to be pinched shut from both sides by an invisible hand, the lines gradually closing upwards and snapping back together.

She simply stood there, without moving, yet the overwhelming resentment crashed onto Old Xu and Old Wu's faces like a tsunami.

Old Xu was abruptly pulled from his rage. Before the anger on his face had even subsided, his pupils had already shrunk. He instinctively took a half step back, and the wolf shadows at his feet all lowered their bodies, the smoky mane on their backs standing on end.

His hand holding the lantern trembled, and his voice cracked: "Such...such a strong resentment!" He abruptly turned his head, glaring at Zhang Ying, who was slumped beneath the illusory shadow, "What the hell did you say to her?!"

At this moment, the most shocked person in the entire room should have been Zhang Ying. Unfortunately, he didn't even have the strength to be shocked anymore.

He leaned against the green lantern phantom that had trapped her, and through the green light, he could feel Li Ziqing standing up behind him, the lantern phantom vibrating and buzzing behind him.

Click, click—

The sound of shattering glass came from the illusory surface pressed against the back of his head, and cracks were spreading inch by inch behind him. He slowly lowered his right hand, which was holding up the middle finger, and his fingers landed on his blood-stained knee, revealing a half-smile.

"You..." he said softly, "but you almost made me break my promise to a young girl."