Chapter 8: Slaughter

“Tsk, these Spirit-users have harder heads. Knocking them in really takes some effort.”

The red-nosed clown showed not a shred of mercy, smashing a female student to death with a hammer before using her clothes to wipe the brain matter off his weapon.

Elsewhere, the other clowns were also at “work.”

The mall was only so big, and all around you could hear the sounds of blunt and sharp weapons.

“Honestly, they’re not much different from ordinary people—just a bit tougher.”

“That’s what happens when they come out of their ivory towers.”

“Stop rambling,” said the man in the mask.

“Let’s finish the mission first.”

Unlike the others, who were enjoying the killing, he held a DV camera, filming the clowns as they did their “work,” transmitting the footage to those who had assigned them the task.

“Hey, boss! Check this out!”

A dog-faced clown posed not far off, revving his chainsaw as he saw a boy’s head off, then stomped a foot on it to strike a cool pose.

He thought he looked amazing and wanted the boss to catch it on tape for the bigwigs who’d hired them.

But his face suddenly changed as the boss turned the DV toward him. “Dogface, watch your back!”

“Huh?”

Dogface felt something flash by behind him, and just as he started to turn, pain seared through his ankle.

“My leg!”

Dogface crumpled with a scream.

Two nearby clowns rushed to help, only to see a deep gash down to the bone at his ankle, blood pouring out.

The one holding the DV grew serious.

On the screen’s playback, a shadow had zipped past Dogface, and just as it hugged the ground, a gleam of steel had sliced his tendon.

The light was too dim to see much—just a pair of black thigh-highs, girl’s shorts, and slender legs.

“Not all of these students are defenseless,” he warned the others. “There’s a girl. Find her!”

“But boss, what about him?” one of the two clowns asked, pointing at the howling Dogface.

“How do we retreat?”

The boss was silent for a few seconds.

That silence sent a chill through the rest of them.

“Find her first. She’s lurking in the dark, picking us off. If we don’t flush her out, none of us are leaving!”

Behind a corner shelf, Shen Ning had already slipped back into hiding after her successful strike.

The kitchen knife in her hand had several nicks now—still too flimsy for a Spirit-user’s body.

Her gaze fell on the tiles.

Her reflection stared back:

“They came with a detailed plan,” she thought.

“Every stage was rehearsed—from the attack to a clean getaway.

But one glitch is all it takes to seed fear. Completing the job is key for their bosses, but for these grunts, escape is all that matters.

And right now, time is on my side.”

The clowns’ movements became erratic.

Occasionally one would trip over cowering students—not because the students fought back, but because the clowns were losing their edge, their strikes becoming sloppy.

“Pick up the pace!” the boss barked.

“If we move fast enough, we can take Dogface and get out safely!”

He meant to bolster morale, but it had the opposite effect.

“Quick means safe,” but what if they were too slow? What if they couldn’t leave at all? And if they failed to leave, who would be next to lose a tendon? Especially after the second scream.

“AAAHHH!!”

This time it was the red-nosed clown.

Kneeling and shrieking, someone rushed to him to see his other knee was a mangled mess.

“That girl… she took my hammer and crushed me…”

“Did you see her face?”

No need to ask.

The boss had already caught it on camera.

A small, hooded figure in a gray sweatshirt, face hidden behind a respirator, only a pair of scarlet eyes glowing in the gloom.

At first glance, you’d think she was some monster escaped from a lab.

No one dared act rashly anymore.

None of them wanted to be left behind as expendable bait.

“She’s doing this on purpose,” one muttered.

“Obviously,” snapped another.

“Boss, what do we do?”

Pressure built up over all their heads.

Two were already injured; they couldn’t split up further.

Numbers were thinning fast.

“Stay calm,” the boss ordered.

“She’s probably just a first-rank Spirit-user. Just a student.”

Then he asked the group, “How many have you killed?”

“One,” said one clown.

“Two,” replied another.

“Me too… one,” croaked Red Nose, who couldn’t stand at all.

That was four.

Plus Dogface’s earlier kill made five total.

That was still short of the big bosses’ order.

But in this state… wait, Dogface?

He spun around and froze.

Sure enough, standing right next to the injured Dogface was that slight figure.

“Those vests they wear are protective,” the reflection murmured into Shen Ning’s ear.

“They can take a hit. But their heads? They only have those ridiculous masks.”

“Smash them,” the voice urged.

“Do it like you did back in the mine. Smash!”

Almost instinctively, Shen Ning brought the hammer down.

Then reality hit her—this wasn’t some mutated monster; this was a living, breathing human.

“You don’t kill him, he’ll kill you,” the voice whispered.

“They all want to kill you.”

Biting her lip, Shen Ning nodded.

“You’re right.”

With Dogface dead, it was like lighting a fuse.

Except for the boss, still filming, the remaining four clowns went berserk and rushed in.

But the mall was crammed with shelves that toppled with the slightest shove, and in the chaos, Shen Ning doubled back to her old position, bringing the stolen hammer down on Red Nose too.

Before he could react, his skull cracked like an egg.

“Hey! What’s going on in there? We’re out of time. The academy’s people will be here any minute!”

That voice came crackling over the earpiece.

Seeing the situation collapse, the boss gave up.

“Retreat! Everyone out!”

But only two could even hear him.

The other two had already lost their minds, lashing out wildly at anything that moved.

“Come out! Come out!”

“Where is she?! Where?!”

The team’s comms were pure chaos.

Outside by the bus, a woman in sunglasses glanced into the driver’s seat, where the driver was starting to come to.

“If you don’t come out, I’m leaving without you,” she muttered.

“Who are you talking to?”

A voice suddenly spoke from behind her. Turning around, she saw a composed, elegant woman standing there.

“Your people are inside? Hurting my students?”

After saying that, Yu Jing didn’t even look at her and walked straight towards the mall.

The woman wanted to stop her, but as soon as she stretched out her hand, her whole body started to burn.

She didn’t even have time to scream before she was reduced to a pile of ashes.