Lin Qiye's high school life had begun, and the first day went surprisingly smoothly.
The moment he stepped onto campus, he had prepared himself to face all sorts of difficulties. After all, for someone as socially isolated as he was, a brand-new environment should have been a massive challenge. However, the reality was quite the opposite. Not only did the unfamiliar surroundings fail to make him uncomfortable, but the kind concern of his classmates allowed him to truly experience a different kind of warmth for the first time.
"Student Lin, your seat is over here." The homeroom teacher deliberately arranged for him to sit by the aisle to make it easier for his classmates to look after him.
During breaks, there were always students who volunteered to lead him to the restroom or the cafeteria. During lunch, Jiang Qian, the girl sitting next to him, thoughtfully helped him get his meal. Even the teachers of various subjects gave him extra attention. These small details caused a surge of unprecedented emotion in Lin Qiye's heart.
After evening self-study ended, the students actually spontaneously organized themselves to walk Lin Qiye home. This level of enthusiasm left him a bit overwhelmed.
As the night deepened, the group gradually dwindled as more students reached their homes and departed. After passing through the bustling commercial district and approaching the old city area, only five remained: Lin Qiye, Jiang Qian, Li Yifei, Liu Yuan, and Wang Shao.
On the ancient streets, the dim yellow streetlights cast mottled shadows.
"Look, that alley is so dark," Li Yifei suddenly lowered his voice, pointing toward a narrow, gloomy lane. He spoke with feigned mystery: "I heard a psychopathic serial killer appeared nearby recently who specializes in skinning people's faces. Three people have already been killed, and the police haven't caught the culprit yet."
"That alley would be the perfect spot for a killer to stake out."
As the words fell, the atmosphere instantly froze.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Jiang Qian scolded, though her voice was clearly trembling.
Liu Yuan looked around nervously. "For real? How come I haven't heard about this?"
"It's absolutely true!" Li Yifei swore. "Just last week, someone found a skinless corpse in that very alley."
Lin Qiye frowned. Although his perception didn't reach very far, he vaguely sensed something abnormal deep within the lane. A cold aura that did not belong to humans was slowly seeping out from the depths.
"We should probably take a detour," Lin Qiye reminded them subtly. "There might be danger there."
As soon as he spoke, Wang Shao let out a sneer. "Danger? Is there really a ghost? This is the 21st century; don't be scared by these rumors. You guys are so cowardly."
Lin Qiye didn't argue; he simply tightened his grip on his blind cane.
"I'll prove it's safe." Wang Shao waved his hand dismissively and strode into the pitch-black alley.
The group stood at the entrance, waiting tensely. Within seconds, a blood-curdling scream erupted from the depths of the lane. Though the voice was distorted, it was clearly Wang Shao. Amidst the scream, there seemed to be a mix of some non-human roar.
Jiang Qian screamed in terror, and the others turned deathly pale.
Lin Qiye's heart tightened. He sensed the darkness within the alley becoming thicker, as if it were some terrible entity. Even more bone-chilling was the sound of wet, squelching gnawing coming from further in. It sounded as if something was tearing and biting into flesh.
Instinctive vigilance made Lin Qiye take two steps back.
Li Yifei and Liu Yuan suddenly screamed and turned to run. In the chaos, Liu Yuan slammed hard into Lin Qiye, knocking him down.
"Sorry!" Liu Yuan threw out the apology and fled without looking back.
Lin Qiye struggled to get up, but he suddenly sensed a terrifying presence. Deep in the alley, a monster with a twisted ghost face was lunging at an incredible speed toward Jiang Qian, who was still dazed in place. The monster's body was pitch black, but its face was deathly white, its expression twisted into a hideous grin.
"Jiang Qian, run!" Lin Qiye shouted.
He wanted to pull Jiang Qian away, but he sensed another identical ghost-faced monster appearing behind him, blocking his retreat. The two monsters coordinated perfectly, completely surrounding them.
"What are these things?" Jiang Qian was shaking all over, barely able to stand.
Lin Qiye didn't answer. He could sense that these monsters were neither human nor animal, but some kind of supernatural entities. They radiated a suffocating aura of evil.
Lin Qiye was instantly plunged into despair. He had never felt such fear, not even during the darkest days in the mental asylum. The shadow of death loomed over him, but his survival instinct made him resolve to strike back in his final moments.
At that moment, a third ghost-faced monster suddenly lunged from the shadows. Its speed was so fast the naked eye could barely track it. With one claw, it swatted Lin Qiye away.
Lin Qiye slammed heavily against a wall, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Intense pain surged through his body instantly, as if every bone had been shattered and rearranged. His consciousness began to blur, and the scent of death grew stronger.
'Is it going to end like this?' he thought with difficulty. 'Auntie is still waiting for me to come home for dinner...'
Jiang Qian's desperate screams echoed in his ears; Lin Qiye guessed she might have already been caught by the monster.
At this critical life-or-death moment, a strange energy suddenly erupted from within Lin Qiye's body. The energy was warm and powerful, instantly dispelling the chill of death. His eyes snapped open, and two beams of golden light shot straight into the sky, illuminating half the city.
Simultaneously, he sensed a brilliant golden light burst forth behind him, even more powerful than the light in his own eyes.
Then, two massive figures manifested in the night sky.
The first figure was one Lin Qiye knew all too well—it was the Archangel Michael, the very being he had looked at ten years ago, the one who had rendered him blind. His massive body radiated holy light, and six pairs of pure white wings unfurled in the night sky, his golden armor reflecting divine majesty.
The second figure, however, was strange and shocking to Lin Qiye.
It was a Block Man entirely covered in golden block armor, sitting upon a Golden Throne constructed from countless glowing blocks. His eyes emitted a white light that one dared not look at directly. Although the entity was human-like in shape, it gave off a sense of fragmentation that was incompatible with reality. It looked less like a creature of this dimension and more like a character that had crawled out of a pixel game.
However, the pressure and energy emanating from Him were not to be underestimated by anyone.
The two figures stood opposed in the night sky, their golden lights blending and illuminating the entire sky over Cangnan City. The mere aftershocks from the intersection of the two gods' energies burned the ghost-faced monsters into ash.
In the distance, Zhao Kongcheng, who was rushing toward the scene, along with the other members of the Cangnan City Night Watchman squad, were all drawn to the figures in the sky.
They felt that the energy of those figures far exceeded the Klein Realm.
This meant... these might be two Gods!
Wait, isn't one of those figures Number 003 on the moon, the Seraph Michael? He was already among the most powerful of the gods. So, who exactly was that golden-armored Block Man sitting on the Golden Throne across from Him—the one whose aura was even more powerful than Michael's?