Chapter 334: The Countdown (1/2)

Obviously, in the eyes of these school leaders, well-known entrepreneur Bai Lei's life was worth more than those children. The professors and students went at it hammer and tongs. I had seen too much of the ugliness and selfishness of human nature that I had grown numb.

One of the professors suddenly stood up and shouted, ”Deng Chao, I was your counselor. Stop this! You’re only adding to your crimes! Listen to me, repent and be saved! Think about your parents and family. How are they to face the world after all you’ve done?”

Deng Chao seemed to have heard him and spoke sweetly into the speakers, ”Hello, Professor Zhou!”

Then came a thunderous explosion and a blood mist rose from the professor’s body. Amidst the screaming and retreating crowd, the professor fell to the ground, his eyes still wide open. There was now a hole in his chest and blood spattered everywhere.

Deng Chao was almost out of breath from laughing too hard. ”Goodbye, Professor Zhou!”

”Ahh, take off your corsages!” yelled another professor.

The professors attending today's graduation ceremony all wore corsages with their names and seating positions written on them. Deng Chao had apparently placed a pocket-sized bomb on the corsages. The professors quickly threw their corsages to the ground, prompting the frightened students to back away.

I picked up a corsage and found nothing unusual. It seemed that only Deng Chao’s counselor's was given “special” treatment.

”Ten minutes have passed,” Deng Chao continued. “And now you’re the only ones left on campus. Our game is about to officially begin. First, let me explain the other rules. The second rule is that Song Yang is today's leading actor. None of you are allowed to hurt him or I’ll kill the hostages... and maybe some of you!”

Everyone fixed their gaze on me. Deng Chao's voice continued to reverberate through the auditorium, ”As for the third rule, although you can move freely around campus, the following areas are absolutely forbidden–the lab building, the student activity center and the library!”

The broadcast studio linked to the school’s PA system was located in the student activity center which was most likely Deng Chao’s hiding place. As for the lab building and the library, they were merely a diversion.

It suddenly dawned upon me, ”It turns out that he was preparing for today.”

”How’s the situation over there?” asked Xiaotao.

”Well, things almost went out of control earlier. But it’s slightly better now. The game will start soon.”

”I'm in the small building opposite your campus,” said Xiaotao. “You can see my window from the auditorium. The SWAT teams have been dispatched to seal off the whole school.”

I looked out and saw Xiaotao standing at the window, waving at me.

Our conversation was suddenly interrupted by Deng Chao, ”Song Yang, do you remember what I said that day? I told you we’d have a good fight. I’ve waited so long for today!”

The auditorium quieted down. I didn't want to waste energy shouting at him so I carefully listened.

”I have prepared some tests for you. As long as you smoothly pass these tests, I’ll make sure everyone’s safe, even the hostages. Right now, it’s time for the first test. Please use an idiom to describe what you’ve done to me. I placed a little hint in this auditorium. You need to find the other missing words that I’ve hidden throughout the campus and complete the idiom. The time limit is five minutes!”

I quickly turned on the timer on my cell phone and shouted at the others, ”Let’s all look for it!”

The crowd immediately dispersed and half a minute later, a boy held up a sign with the word ”fall” and shouted, ”I found it!”