I'm sorry, Wen Lingyu.

A white handkerchief flew straight toward Wen Lingyu, but fortunately she had not lost consciousness. With a sudden, desperate struggle, she threw off the boy who was assaulting her, grabbing the handkerchief with one hand and the boy with the other. Because of the contact, the handkerchief locked onto its next target. The boy hadn’t yet realized what was happening when the handkerchief wrapped tightly around his head, plunging him into instant darkness.

Blinded in a heartbeat, he flailed about like a terrified rabbit, crashing into walls. Seizing the opportunity, Wen Lingyu snatched up her clothes and rammed her elbow into the boy pinning me down, knocking him aside. I quickly pulled up my trousers. Everything happened so fast that the other boys didn’t have time to react. The darkness and the blinded boy’s frantic movements kept them from reaching us.

The leader, knocked to the ground by Wen Lingyu, groaned and scrambled up, shouting, “Do something! Grab them!”

At that moment, the woman in white glided in soundlessly, slicing the blinded boy neatly in two. Blood sprayed everywhere. I immediately stepped in front of Wen Lingyu to shield her from the gore.

“Turn on the lights, now!” the leader shrieked, as if blood had been splattered across his face. He frantically ordered the others to switch on the lights.

I waited for the moment they flipped the switch—my ability activated. As soon as the lights came on, I absorbed all the illumination, plunging the room back into darkness, as if the brief flash of light had been nothing but a cruel illusion.

“What’s going on? Turn on the lights!” The leader’s eyes, drenched in blood, were unable to see. I wielded my blade of light and swiftly dispatched the boy who had tried to attack me. Then, in a single stride, I stood before the three who had humiliated Wen Lingyu. Three blades of light pierced their chests. In an instant, three corpses hit the ground.

The leader, unaware of the carnage, kept shouting. When no one responded for a long time, his voice faltered, and he rubbed at his eyes, desperate to regain his sight.

“Where are you all?” His voice trembled, the realization dawning that his companions were gone.

“Stop shouting. They’re all dead,” I said coldly, stripping a complete set of clothes from the floor and handing them to Wen Lingyu.

She took the clothes with trembling hands, quickly covering her nakedness.

“Wen Lingyu, I’m sorry,” I said sincerely. “My ability doesn’t work in the dark.”

She stared at me, biting her lip as if wanting to speak, but in the end, tears flowed silently down her cheeks. I could only hear her quiet sobs from the corner.

“The ghost killed them, didn’t it?” The leader drew a shaky breath. “It doesn’t matter. We’re all going to die anyway. All of us.” He laughed, teetering on the edge of collapse. Who could blame him? The struggle for survival was too much for ordinary people like them. Simply making it this far was already remarkable.

If only we’d died in the first trial—perhaps that would have been easier, sparing us this torment.

“You’ll die too, all of you,” the leader spat, no longer caring whether he could see.

“No, we won’t,” I replied firmly. “The ghost only killed one of your friends. The white handkerchief is gone now. Wen Lingyu has already touched it—she’s safe.”

I looked at Wen Lingyu. Though what she’d suffered was devastating, I could still see the will to survive shining in her eyes.

“Then how did the others die? Are you saying you killed them? Or was it her?” The leader sneered, not believing a word.

I laughed coldly and strode up to him. “It doesn’t matter if you know. You’re about to die anyway. I’m not like you—I’m one of the chosen, one of the fifty-four ability users. I will survive to the end.”

I deliberately spoke with arrogance, wanting him to feel the sting of inequality, to make him even more furious.

“An ability user? Don’t lie to me.” He scoffed.

I gathered light energy in my hand, holding it before his eyes. Even if he couldn’t open them, he could feel the glow.

“Watch closely—this is called the Light Blade.”

With that, I drove a blade of light through his left hand, pinning him to the floor.

He cried out in pain, “Let me go!” He tried to pry the light from his hand with his other, but I wouldn’t allow it. Another blade pierced his right hand. “That was for Wen Lingyu. This one is for myself. You tried to violate us both—this is your price.”

He howled, not caring about my words.

“This one is for your disregard for life.” Another blade plunged into his left leg.

“And this one is for leading others to their deaths.” The last blade pinned his right leg to the floor.

Helpless, he could only whimper and beg, so I gagged him with a scrap of cloth.

Finished, I returned to Wen Lingyu’s side.

“If he wants to wait for death, let him.”

“Can you walk?” I asked.

She nodded, struggling to her feet. I saw red trickling down her legs and quickly turned away.

She noticed too, her face white as chalk. “It’s alright, let me clean myself up.”

I helped her to the bathroom and let her wash alone. She was safe now; she didn’t need me to protect her. But I didn’t know how to comfort her—there was nothing I could do but offer silent companionship.

If only I hadn’t hesitated. If only I’d killed those bastards the moment I entered, Wen Lingyu wouldn’t have been humiliated, and none of this would have happened.

I’d once doubted Wen Lingyu’s loyalty to our group, but now I understood—she truly wanted us all to survive together. She saw us as her real companions, and I had let her down. When she was dragged away, my first thought wasn’t to save her, but whether using my ability would expose me. I’d only thought of myself.

The sound of running water filled the air, but beneath it I could hear her heart-wrenching sobs. She had lost the most precious thing a girl can lose.

I bowed my head and waited silently at the door for Wen Lingyu.

Suddenly, Pang Dongqiang’s voice came through the radio.

“Is anyone on the fifth floor? Come help, quick!”

Only then did I remember the portable radios we carried. So much had happened since the third trial began, I’d forgotten all about them.

“Where are you all?” I quickly sent a message to everyone. As I did, I heard my own voice echo from the laboratory—Wen Lingyu’s radio was lying on the ground, next to her torn clothes. The leader was already dead, probably from blood loss—perhaps I’d stabbed too hard, or maybe struck an artery.

Soon, I received replies. Han Xue and Sun Cheng had made it out safely. Now, only I, Tan Tou, Chen Hao, Pang Dongqiang, and Li Yuan remained in the hospital.

“Hurry up! Zhou Zhenyu is fighting the ghost!” Pang Dongqiang’s voice crackled urgently over the radio.

Damn, seriously? Of all people, Zhou Zhenyu was fighting the ghost? Most would be hiding, but not him.

I called into the bathroom, “Wen Lingyu, Zhou Zhenyu is fighting the ghost—can you hurry?”

Even though I knew how distraught Wen Lingyu must be, right now Tan Tou’s life was more important.

Hearing me, she quickly dressed and emerged, wearing the oversized uniform of the engineering school, tear streaks still clear on her face.

I pretended not to notice, turning away toward the stairwell.

But Wen Lingyu stopped me. “Zijian, please don’t tell anyone about what happened today.”

I turned back and promised, “I won’t. No one will ever know…”

With that, Wen Lingyu and I parted ways in the corridor—she to the first floor to meet Han Xue, and I to the fifth floor to find Tan Tou.