I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 37

The entire school had descended into absolute chaos. As the night grew deeper, the shrieks of the vultures became louder. Throughout the circular corridor, the skin-crawling sound of sharp claws scraping against stone echoed, punctuated by the frantic screams of students fleeing in terror.

Bai Qing rushed out with Qi Yan in her arms as the number of vultures circling the hallway continued to grow.

“This is too many! There are way more than when we started!” Qi Yan huddled in Bai Qing’s embrace, trembling.

“Vultures increase as prey decreases,” Bai Qing replied coldly.

The air was thick with the stinging, metallic scent of blood, enough to make one gag. Following the signs, they located the faculty office area. Suddenly, a vulture dove straight for Bai Qing’s face.

“Eek!” Qi Yan cried out, burying her head in Bai Qing’s chest.

Bai Qing’s gaze was freezing. Protecting Qi Yan with her left hand, she swung her right, sending out a wave of sword energy that struck the vulture down. Qi Yan peeked out, but before she could breathe a sigh of relief, she saw two or three students sprinting toward them with four or five vultures in hot pursuit.

“They—” Before Qi Yan could finish, the vultures dove. They worked with terrifying coordination; some clamped their talons into the students’ shoulders to pin them down, while others struck from the front, their sharp beaks tearing open throats in an instant.

Blood sprayed everywhere. As the students collapsed, the scent of fresh blood drew even more scavengers, who swarmed the bodies to begin their feast.

Three lives vanished in the blink of an eye. Surrounded by the relentless sound of sobbing and screaming, Qi Yan felt her breath catch. Her chest felt tight, and her stomach churned violently. Had she not been a doll held safely by Bai Qing, she wouldn’t have been able to stand.

In the End-Mountain Sacrifice script, Qi Yan had seen death. She had seen the corpse pinned to the drum in the underground altar and had watched Cao Jian be served as minced meat. She thought she was used to it—until she witnessed the process of life being extinguished right before her eyes.

Humans were so fragile. A few birds were all it took to kill so many and tear them apart. It wasn’t until Bai Qing started running again that Qi Yan snapped out of her trance.

“Don’t dwell on it,” Bai Qing’s voice reached her ears, clear and refreshing as spring water. “This is the reality of this script. You must be strong to survive. I know it’s hard, but for the sake of your life… Qi Yan, nothing is more important than staying alive.”

Qi Yan clung to Bai Qing’s arm and looked back. The moment they left their spot, more vultures descended, sweeping over the ground to fight for the fresh prey. Had she stayed there frozen, she would have likely been lost to those claws.

She took Bai Qing’s words to heart. This narrow escape made her realize more deeply that this world was cruel and offered no room for luck. The smooth transition through the previous script had been an illusion born of a “Newbie” difficulty level. From the Carnival onward, the malice of the scripts would only grow, and the price of survival would get higher.

Bai Qing moved with incredible speed, reaching the faculty area and finding the office of the Class 8-1 headteacher under Qi Yan’s guidance. Countless vultures pursued them, attracted by Bai Qing’s agile movements. However, to a Demon King, these brutes were nothing. She burst into the office, struck down the closest pursuers with a wave of energy, and slammed the door shut, reinforcing it with a spiritual shield.

“Search for whatever you need. They can’t get in.”

The vultures outside pecked at the door with maddening persistence. Suppressing her discomfort, Qi Yan hopped onto the desk and began searching.

Bai Qing stood guard, her ears suddenly twitching as her eyes locked onto a bookcase. “Someone is in there.”

She scooped Qi Yan up to protect her. With a flick of her finger, the bookcase door split in two, followed by a piercing scream. A frail boy in a school uniform was curled inside, his hands over his head, shaking uncontrollably.

“Don’t kill me! I don’t know anything! Ling Yi, don’t kill me!” the boy muttered like a man possessed.

Realizing this was likely a crucial NPC, Qi Yan spoke gently. “Don’t be afraid. We aren’t the bad guys. We’re here to help!”

The boy remained defensive. “Impossible! Everyone trapped here is either a classmate or one of Ling Yi’s helpers! Ling Yi has become a vengeful spirit… he’s here for revenge!” He looked up, his eyes wide with trauma. “We’re all dead. He wants to torture us! Those eagles… everyone died so horribly!”

“Don’t blame me. I just wanted to live! I was just protecting myself. It’s Cui Hao and the others who were the animals! They’re the ones who should die!”

Qi Yan caught the name: Cui Hao. “Who is Cui Hao? Is he the boy with a tattoo on his lower back?”

At the mention of the tattoo, the boy shook so violently he couldn’t form a sentence. Bai Qing, losing patience, grabbed him by the collar and hauled him out. The boy was so terrified he wet himself.

Qi Yan decided to use intimidation. “Listen, kid. The hallway is full of man-eating vultures and a ghost who wants you dead. If I throw you out of this room, you know what happens, right? Answer my questions honestly.”

Under the threat (and after Bai Qing negotiated a fee of two roasted chickens for her cooperation), the boy broke down. “I lied to Ling Yi! I lured him to that small storehouse by the toilets. I didn’t have a choice! If I didn’t do it, Cui Hao and his gang would have targeted me!”

Qi Yan stood on the headteacher’s desk, flipping through a detailed teaching log. The truth finally clicked into place.

“You didn’t just lie to him; you betrayed him,” Qi Yan said coldly. “Ling Yi saved you once and reported the bullies to the teacher. Because of that, Cui Hao’s gang targeted him instead. Since he was already isolated and had no friends to stand up for him, you lured him to the storehouse and watched while they tormented him, didn’t you?”

The boy collapsed into sobs of regret. “I couldn’t help it! But Ling Yi’s death wasn’t my fault! That day… he was framed by Cui Hao!”

Qi Yan turned to the final page of the log. It was dated the day Ling Yi committed suicide by jumping from his building.

Suddenly, the pecking on the door stopped. A frigid wind swept through the office, and thick black mist coalesced into the form of Ling Yi. He appeared exactly as he did at the moment of his death: blood dripping from his forehead, eyes bulging, and his limbs twisted at unnatural, broken angles.

Ling Yi lunged at the boy, pinning him against the wall with a massive hand made of shadow. “Why? Why did you lie to me?!”

Black vultures manifested from his aura, circling the boy’s head like an execution squad. Qi Yan watched silently, her hand resting on the final, cruel words of the teaching log. Looking at Ling Yi, her eyes were filled with nothing but pity.

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