Chapter 11: Curtain Call

Shen Qingci reached out and grabbed Zhao Min’s chin.

The gesture was similar to the one she had used to grab Bai Zhinuo’s chin in the bike shed a few hours ago, but this time her grip was on a whole different level of force.

Zhao Min’s jaw creaked under the pressure.

Pain twisted her whole face into a grimace.

“You touched her.”

When Shen Qingci said this, the lazy playfulness was gone from her voice.

What remained was pure, biting cold.

“You yanked her hair and slapped her face. Did you know she’s mine?”

“Oh, right. Even if you knew, you’d have done it anyway. After all, she belongs to that useless piece of trash, Shen Qingci…”

With every word, her grip tightened.

Zhao Min’s jaw was already turning purple.

Tears streamed down her face, and she pleaded in garbled, muffled words.

“I won’t… I won’t do it again, Shen Qingci. Shen, Sister Shen, Miss Shen… please, just let me go…”

“Let you go?”

Shen Qingci tilted her head, seeming to mull it over.

After a moment, she released her hand, stepped back half a pace, and straightened up.

Zhao Min thought her begging had worked.

She let out a breath, and a sliver of venomous hatred flickered deep in her eyes.

‘That damned Shen Qingci. As expected, she was too chicken-hearted to deliver a real killing blow.’

‘Just wait! As long as I get out of here alive tonight, I’ll make sure you pay, Shen Qingci! Trash should stay in its proper place!’

But before she could enjoy her fantasy any further, she saw Shen Qingci lift the baseball bat without warning, point it at her right knee, and bring it straight down.

“Huh?”

Crack!

“Aaaaahhhh!!!”

Zhao Min’s scream caught in her throat.

Her whole body arched violently against the wall, twisting and thrashing like a snake with its tail stomped on.

Her right knee bent at a horrific angle.

The crunch of breaking bone echoed through the empty room, mingling with her ragged gasps.

It wove into a bloody, grating requiem.

“You f*cking… you’re insane! Ahhh!”

Crack!

Before Zhao Min could finish her scream, the second swing already hit her left leg.

Same twist.

Same crack.

But this time, Zhao Min couldn’t curse anymore.

She curled up at the wall, cold sweat plastering her hair to her face, lips white as paper.

Broken sobs leaked from her throat, and her eyes rolled back.

“Such an ugly scream.”

Shen Qingci drew the bat away from Zhao Min’s leg and turned to Zhang Rui.

Zhang Rui had already pissed herself in terror.

A dark wet patch stained the floor.

She knelt on the broken wood fragments and slammed her head into the ground, blood seeping from her forehead.

“I was wrong, I was wrong, I really was wrong! Shen Qingci, spare me! I’m kowtowing to you!”

“Kowtowing to me?”

Shen Qingci cut her off and tapped the bat against her forehead.

“She’s the victim. Kowtow to her.”

Zhang Rui froze, then scrambled frantically toward Bai Zhinuo, who was cowering in the corner.

Her knees ground across the wood chips and glass shards.

Streaks of blood smeared the floor behind her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Bai, Bai Zhinuo, no, no, no! Sister Bai! Mother Bai! I’m sorry!”

Liu Jia stopped cowering as well.

She scrambled over and squeezed beside Zhang Rui, babbling apologies without end.

Zhao Min was slumped against the wall with two broken legs, unable to form a single complete sentence, only uttering agonized sobs.

Bai Zhinuo watched the whole scene, still stiff as wood.

She sat in the corner, back against the freezing concrete wall, arms wrapped around her knees.

Her deep purple eyes were wide, reflecting Shen Qingci’s silhouette in the moonlight.

She had never seen anything like this.

The three people who, just moments ago, had been viciously tormenting her.

Now one lay with both legs shattered against the wall, and two knelt on the ground kowtowing until their faces were soaked in blood.

They kept repeating the word “sorry” over and over.

Whether they meant it was unclear, but their terror was unmistakable.

Shen Qingci stood in front of them, baseball bat propped on her shoulder.

A few dark drops of blood stained the hem of her school uniform skirt, and the handprint on her left cheek was still swollen.

Yet her face was calm.

She looked down at the three people at her feet and curved her lips into a satisfied smile.

That smile hit Bai Zhinuo like a punch to the heart.

It felt strange.

She knew she should be afraid.

Any normal person would be afraid of a scene like this.

But huddled in the corner, watching Shen Qingci’s shadow, the curve of her lips, and the peculiar emotion surging behind her eyes, the tight knot inside her chest loosened instead.

It felt safe.

She was standing up for her.

Bai Zhinuo was certain of that.

Ever since her mother died, Bai Zhinuo had developed a sharp sensitivity to other people’s emotions.

When Shen Qingci had barged in, the first person she looked at wasn’t Zhao Min or either of her companions.

It was her.

She was checking whether she was okay.

“Shen…”

Bai Zhinuo started to call her name, but Shen Qingci seemed to sense it and turned her head to meet her eyes.

The wine-red eyes reflected Bai Zhinuo’s figure curled in the corner under the moonlight.

Her gaze lingered on Bai Zhinuo’s face for two seconds, then she blinked slowly.

“Scared?”

The voice was soft, nothing like the tone she had used to shatter Zhao Min’s legs.

Bai Zhinuo’s eyes stung at the sound.

She nodded instinctively, then quickly shook her head.

Scared.

And not scared.

Shen Qingci smiled knowingly at the answer.

“Sharp little toy. Not bad. Keep it up, and as long as you haven’t spent all my interest, this lady will protect you and let you live well…”

With that, she turned back to the three still kowtowing and begging.

That softness in her eyes vanished.

‘See that, System?’ Shen Qingci said in her heart. ‘This is real revenge. This is how you get the sinner’s most resounding repentance. Got it?’

The mechanical voice in her head paused for a few seconds before sounding again.

[Host, you really are made for this role…]

‘Shut up.’

Shen Qingci cut it off coldly in her mind. ‘There’s still cleanup to do.’

Shen Qingci gave those three no more chances.

The bat slid off her shoulder and into her hand, its iron tip gleaming coldly.

She walked up to Zhao Min.

The girl was collapsed at the wall, both legs broken, still murmuring pleas for mercy between ragged breaths.

Shen Qingci looked down at her, eyes utterly emotionless.

“Your pleading voice is pleasing to the ear. Go cry somewhere in your next life.”

The bat was raised and brought down.

A dull thud.

Zhao Min’s voice stopped abruptly.

Shen Qingci then walked over to Zhang Rui with a lazy laugh.

“You…”

Bang!

Liu Jia stared at the two heads split open beside her.

Her mind went blank with terror.

When she saw Shen Qingci aim the bat at her, she mustered all her remaining strength to scream.

“You… didn’t you say you’d let me live a little longer?”

Shen Qingci rubbed her forehead with some amusement.

“What, I did let you die last. You got a few extra minutes to live, and you’re still not satisfied? Greedy…”

“?! Shen Qingci, you f*ck…”

Bang!

Clean and decisive, like three ripe watermelons popping open with a crunch.

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