After Clearing the Infinite Flow, I Tamed the Mad Dog Boss - Chapter 34

“If your theory is right, then we need to adjust our plan immediately…” Yuan Fengying looked at Qin Xian. “Any suggestions?”

Qin Xian considered it. “First, the faster we destroy the master of this Domain, the sooner the students can be rescued. There may not be enough time for you to interrogate these people. The police might lose whatever leads they have.”

Yuan Fengying answered without hesitation. “The seniors come first, no matter what. I came in to protect the students, not arrest these people. Of course, if we get the chance to keep one or two alive, all the better.”

“Can you contact the colleagues who entered the school? We need to gather everyone.”

“I’ve reached six of them. I’ll have them concentrate the students in the teaching building, then stay there and protect them.”

Qin Xian shook his head. “I suggest leaving only three officers there. We need to concentrate our firepower and kill the anomaly as quickly as possible. The enemy took a group of students who joined them, and most of those students are still missing. They’re probably being used.”

A deep crease appeared between Yuan Fengying’s brows. “Sorry, but I have to be more conservative. I need to prioritize this location. There are far more students here. If we make the wrong decision and this position falls… No. We can’t bear the consequences.”

Qin Xian understood her decision completely. “Fine. They’re your subordinates, so deploy them as you see fit. But I won’t stay here and guard—”

“Captain!”

A shout interrupted them.

Zhang Min jogged over, his clothes streaked with blood. A large group of roughly twenty people followed behind him.

Judging by their age and appearance, they were probably teachers from the school.

The woman leading them was disheveled, but still spirited. She took Yuan Fengying’s hand at once.

“Officer Yuan! I’m Zheng Jiemin, the school’s vice principal. The criminals locked us in the school laboratory yesterday, and Officer Zhang rescued us. He’s already explained the general situation. Please tell us what you need us to do. We’ll follow every instruction—even if it costs us our lives, we’ll protect those students!”

The teachers were not in good condition. They appeared to have resisted. Some were injured, and all looked mentally exhausted, but not one showed any intention of backing down.

Qin Xian glanced at them, then smiled at Yuan Fengying. “It seems you won’t need to leave quite so many people here after all. The sooner we concentrate our strength and eliminate the culprit, the sooner the teachers and students will be safe.”

After a moment’s thought, Yuan Fengying turned to Zhang Min.

“You and Fu Quanjin stay here with the teachers. Protect the students and maintain order. We need to go to the source and try to end this. If anything unusual happens on your side, use a flare gun to signal us.”

Zhang Min saluted. “Yes, Captain! We’ll get it done!”

He pulled a tiny pistol from his pocket.

Qin Xian recognized it immediately as the starting pistol commonly used at school sports meets. Who knew where Zhang Min had scavenged it from?

Zhang Min was an exceptionally capable officer. He immediately gathered the teachers, assigned their duties, and explained what they needed to watch for.

Yuan Fengying turned away, reassured, and asked Qin Xian, “The school is huge. Do you know where the enemy is hiding?”

Qin Xian raised his head and looked north, toward the school gates. It was the one direction he had not examined closely. None of the four monsters from the long recess had appeared near the northern end of the school. Perhaps they had been meant to draw everyone’s attention elsewhere.

Gold flashed in his eyes.

Sure enough, an ominous aura hung over the building closest to the gates. Through its windows, he could even make out figures moving around on the upper floors.

His eyes began to throb violently. Qin Xian closed them at once and pointed.

“That way. They’re on the upper floors of that building.”

He rubbed his aching eyes. The moment his guard relaxed, someone seized his shoulder.

Qin Xian jolted and kicked out. Before his leg connected with anything, something wet slid across his eyelid.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

He hurried back a step and opened his eyes. Sure enough, the Student Council President stood there, pretending to look concerned.

Qin Xian wiped the saliva from his eyelid and cursed, “What is wrong with you…”

The president grinned. “Well? Don’t your eyes feel better?”

They did.

The pain from the backlash had vanished at once, and his vision was unaffected.

He could see with perfect clarity the dozen-odd pairs of wide eyes fixed on him and the president.

One teacher even covered her mouth with a quiet gasp, then lowered her head and whispered furiously to the colleague beside her.

Qin Xian ground his teeth.

He really wanted to rip this bastard’s tongue out.

There was no time for that now. With a flick of his hand, Qin Xian summoned the whip and said to Yuan Fengying, “Let’s go. We’re heading over there.”

Qin Xian ran at the front. The Student Council President immediately caught up and matched his pace. Casually, he hooked the whip’s narrow tip and wound it around one finger.

“Where’s the Blue Flame? Why is it gone?”

Qin Xian could not be bothered with him.

The president answered his own question. “Oh. This ability takes a heavy toll on you. I suppose you can only use it once in a short period.”

Qin Xian jerked his hand back. The whip slipped from between the president’s fingers with a crack, lashing his fingertip on its way out.

A sick smile pulled at the president’s lips. He placed the stinging finger in his mouth.

“Pervert.”

The word had barely left Qin Xian’s mouth when he lashed the whip beneath the president’s feet. It moved so quickly that only a black blur remained.

The Student Council President stumbled and crashed to the ground. Yuan Fengying and the others hastily parted behind him. One officer froze in confusion, unsure whether he should help the boy up. But when he saw that Qin Xian and Captain Yuan were already far ahead, he took a step back and ran after them instead.

It did not take long for Qin Xian to reach the Comprehensive Building nearest the school gates—the same building where they had first noticed a large pool of blood outside.

Police tape surrounded the entrance, and the doors were locked. The building looked entirely deserted. When Qin Xian, Yuan Fengying, and the others had entered the school, they had walked straight past it without looking too closely.

Now, the moment they stepped over the tape and approached the building, gusts of cold air began drifting from within. They carried the nauseating reek of blood and mildew.

“The lock is only hanging there.”

Qin Xian reached out and lifted the padlock free.

Yuan Fengying raised her gun and nodded. “Be careful going in. You two, watch the left. You two, the right. Everyone else, keep an eye on the upper floors.”

Qin Xian pushed open the door and walked straight through, his steps steady and relaxed. The officers around him were far more cautious. Their guns pointed in different directions as they watched for movement with admirable professionalism.

At the very rear, the Student Council President strolled along as if nothing were wrong, both hands laced behind his head.

The officers on the outside carried two briefcase-style folding shields, enclosing Qin Xian between them for protection. They glanced at the Student Council President, hesitated, then included him within the shields as well.

The group slowly reached the center of the first-floor lobby without spotting any movement. Only a security camera in one corner of the ceiling blinked steadily.

Everything in the lobby seemed to have been vandalized. The walls, like the building’s exterior, were covered in graffiti. Someone had scrawled *TRASH SCHOOL*, *FUCK STUDYING*, and *LONG LIVE FREEDOM* across the display boards.

The principal’s office and administrative conference rooms on either side were in even worse condition. Their closed doors were slashed with knife marks, and the overpowering stench of urine rose from yellow stains on the floor.

“Someone really hates this school and its administrators…” one officer muttered.

Yuan Fengying frowned. “It was probably the students they took. They must have been allowed to destroy whatever they wanted and vent their anger here.”

Qin Xian stood at the foot of the stairs and looked up. The entire stairwell was equally appalling, and the stench was so strong that he almost did not want to climb it.

He covered his nose. “Most of the students they took were probably the so-called ‘bad students’ from their classes—the more rebellious ones with strong negative feelings about the school. They’re the easiest to exploit. The Ghost Path is magnifying those feelings and letting them run wild… Let’s hope it hasn’t gone too far to undo.”

“Come on. They should be upstairs.”

Qin Xian had just lifted one foot when he stopped. He signaled Yuan Fengying, instantly putting her on alert.

Thunk.

A round object suddenly dropped through the center of the stairwell.

Yuan Fengying recognized it at once. “Tear gas!”

Hiss—

The grenade struck the ground and spewed a dense cloud of gas.

Qin Xian and the Student Council President reacted even faster than Yuan Fengying. Before the smoke could spread, they sprinted up one flight of stairs.

A window used for ventilation stood on the landing between floors. Without any discussion, both men leapt straight through it.

Qin Xian snapped his whip around an air-conditioner bracket on the floor above. The Student Council President’s jumping ability was astonishing. He planted a foot on the window frame, sprang upward, and caught the sill of the second-floor window directly.

Gripping the whip, Qin Xian hauled himself up in several smooth movements, the muscles in his arms flexing beneath his skin.

The second floor was not high enough. The gas was still spreading upward. Like a pair of superheroes, they kept climbing the building’s outer wall until they reached the third floor.

A commotion erupted below. After throwing the tear-gas grenade, the criminals had put on gas masks and charged downstairs, planning to use the cover to capture Qin Xian and the others.

How could they have expected two people to leap out a window and climb up the outside?

Two men remained on the third floor. When Qin Xian and the president appeared at the window, both began yelling in shock.

“What the fuck?! This is the third floor!”

“Quick! Get the guns! The guns!”

Qin Xian had no intention of giving them the chance. His whip flew out, coiled around both their necks, and yanked. The men slammed hard into the floor.

“Go,” Qin Xian told the Student Council President. “Take off their gas masks and throw them downstairs.”

“As you command, Teacher.”

Smiling, the president leapt from the window frame toward his targets.

“Wh-who are you people?!”

“What are you doing?! Don’t kill me! We can talk about this!”

“Stop.”

Qin Xian raised one finger. The Student Council President halted at once.

“Then tell us what you know about the Ghost Path.”

The men’s faces went white. Their mouths opened, but no sound emerged.

Qin Xian had expected as much. He lowered his finger, and the Student Council President stripped off their gas masks and threw both men down the stairs.

“Aah! Ow! AAAAAH!”

They tumbled away screaming. A moment later, their violent coughing and wails drifted back up.

The president leaned happily over the railing to watch. Before long, however, he clapped a hand over his nose and sneezed twice—loudly. Looking deeply annoyed, he immediately retreated up to the fourth floor.

Qin Xian shot him a sidelong glance. “Sensitive nose?”

The president blinked through reddened eyes, though not a single tear fell. Covering his mouth, he retorted sulkily, “Why don’t you go smell it?”