Chapter 31: The Price of Premonition

[Automatic deduction of 100 yuan failed. Please replenish cash promptly.]

However, the subsequent turn of events caught Qiao Xia completely off guard.

To his astonishment, the recharge had failed.

Qiao Xia immediately pulled his wallet from his pocket. Seeing only a few dozen yuan inside, he abruptly realized he had activated the future premonition too many times yesterday, draining his finances completely.

While this golden finger ability was undoubtedly powerful, it came at a steep financial cost.

Moreover, from the looks of it, funds in his mobile banking account were useless; only physical cash would suffice.

But at this critical moment, where could he possibly acquire cash?

Zhou Li was nowhere to be found, and Qiao Xia wasn’t particularly close with his other classmates, let alone comfortable asking for money. Then, a thought struck him: he remembered tucking some money into his Chinese textbook. Perhaps he could scrounge together 100 yuan from there.

When he returned home after school, he vowed to withdraw a thousand yuan from the bank and keep it on him. Better safe than sorry!

Recalling his hidden stash, Qiao Xia quickly hurried back to his seat. He opened his Chinese textbook and immediately retrieved 200 yuan.

Now, there was no need to worry about gathering enough.

[Automatic deduction of 100 yuan. Future scene constructing… Construction successful. Activating now.]

Just as Qiao Xia held the money in his hand, the peculiar sound reverberated once more.

As Qiao Xia’s vision plunged into complete darkness, he couldn’t help but lament how even supernatural abilities had become so pragmatic these days. Without money, no premonition could be displayed. He recalled how, in the novels he used to read, protagonists’ golden fingers were always free.

Fortunately, he had accumulated a decent amount of pocket money over the years. Even with a 100-yuan deduction each time, Qiao Xia could sustain this for quite a while.

Compared to his own life, merely paying a monetary price was an absolute bargain.

The darkness rapidly receded, and light surged back.

The moment Qiao Xia opened his eyes, he was immediately jolted by the sight before him.

It was still the familiar classroom, yet now it was drenched in a horrifying crimson.

The entire room appeared as if it had been thoroughly purged in blood. Besides the various splatters and drag marks covering every surface, severed limbs lay eerily still on the floor, abruptly entering Qiao Xia’s field of vision.

Simultaneously, a grotesque face loomed into view, its wide-open red eyes and ferocious expression making Qiao Xia wonder if he had stumbled onto the wrong film set.

Damn it, if he hadn’t confirmed the accuracy of his golden finger ability yesterday, Qiao Xia would have dismissed this as a cruel prank.

Yet, even as Qiao Xia’s mind reeled, his hand instinctively shot out, seizing the red-eyed student. With a powerful backward heave, he flung the unfortunate soul across the room.

“Qiao Xia, hurry and kill Li Peng! We can’t stay in this classroom any longer. We need to quickly find somewhere else to hide from these red-eyed monsters!”

Just as Qiao Xia ruthlessly tossed the red-eyed classmate aside, another voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

When Qiao Xia glanced back, he immediately saw that, apart from himself—a seemingly normal person—three other normal-looking classmates stood behind him.

However, unlike him, who was covered in dirt and grime, these three appeared impeccably clean.

It was clear at a glance that Qiao Xia had been the sole individual struggling to fend off the red-eyed patients.

Witnessing this, Qiao Xia’s conscious mind couldn’t help but inwardly grumble. While he considered himself a kind person, he wasn’t foolish enough to risk his life for such troublesome teammates.

Therefore, this current turn of events felt profoundly wrong.

“Wang Guo, I owe none of you anything! If you want to leave, then go. Don’t treat me like some free enforcer! Had I not underestimated how swiftly the red-eyed people would storm the teaching building, slaughtering everyone, and the terrifying speed of infection that plunged the class into disarray, making escape impossible… I would have been long gone, sparing myself from being dragged down by you all!”

Upon hearing Wang Guo’s words, which sounded like she was commanding a servant, Qiao Xia’s patience snapped. After giving Wang Guo a pointed glare, he unceremoniously retreated to the other side, intent on making a swift exit from the classroom.

From Qiao Xia’s recent outburst, his conscious self sensed something deeply amiss.

Taking Liu Ge as an example, the red-eye disease typically required over a week for symptoms to manifest in others. Yet, why was it that just ten minutes later, a bite from a red-eyed person resulted in such rapid and successful infection?

‘Could the virus have mutated?’

‘Had it already begun to evolve?’

As Qiao Xia moved towards the other side, the other three proved even faster, clinging to him like glue. This infuriated Qiao Xia to no end, making him wish he could simply knock them unconscious.

“Qiao Xia, you’re the most skilled! The rest of us are useless. If you don’t protect us, we’re as good as dead!”

Wang Guo then uttered the infamous “I’m weak, therefore I’m right” line, making Qiao Xia’s conscious self at that moment yearn to spit directly in her face.

‘How audacious!’

‘If his skill meant he had to protect the weak, then even Superman wouldn’t be as busy as him.’

“Since you know everything depends on me, then be quiet and stop babbling!”

The situation was dire. Seeing the red-eyed patient lunging again, Qiao Xia ignored the other three. He raised his hands into a defensive posture, intending to throw the patient out once more before making an immediate escape from the classroom.

Currently, inside the classroom, besides Qiao Xia and the three other living individuals, there were five red-eyed patients, their faces contorted in grotesque expressions.

However, apart from Li Peng, who had the leisure to attack them, the other four patients were grunting as they devoured corpses, momentarily oblivious to their presence.

Watching the red-eyed patients feast on corpses, Qiao Xia felt a surge of nausea, on the verge of vomiting.

‘Were these truly still patients?’

‘If they ever recovered, and learned they had consumed human flesh, he wondered if they could ever come to terms with it…’

As Qiao Xia’s conscious mind pondered these grim thoughts, he suddenly felt a powerful shove from his left. The unexpected push slammed into his body, catching him off guard. This allowed Li Peng, whom Qiao Xia had been about to throw aside, to seize the opportune moment and take a large, brutal bite from his neck.

A familiar agony surged through him, yet Qiao Xia grit his teeth and endured it. He then lifted his gaze towards the classroom door.

He watched as the other three scrambled frantically towards the exit. That despicable Wang Guo even cast a triumphant smirk in Qiao Xia’s direction, then extended a hand to flip him off before swiftly escaping the classroom with the other two.

Left alone, Qiao Xia managed to knock Li Peng away, but his body rapidly lost strength. He slumped against the wall, hand pressed to the gushing wound on his neck, utterly unable to stem the swift flow of blood.

[Preview sequence ended. Returning to reality.]

When Qiao Xia opened his eyes once more from the darkness, he saw Wang Guo chatting and laughing jovially with Li Peng just ahead. Qiao Xia reached up to touch his neck, then abruptly stood from his seat and strode towards Wang Guo.

‘What needs to be done today, do today.’

‘Violence might not solve problems, but it certainly could provide satisfaction.’

Qiao Xia was not one to quietly endure injustice. Knowing what would transpire in ten minutes, even though it hadn’t happened yet, he would not let Wang Guo off so easily.

‘A leopard cannot change its spots.’

‘Even if the scenario replayed, Wang Guo would still slyly push him.’

Therefore, with that realization, Qiao Xia wasted no words. He simply extended his fist and delivered a brutal punch directly to Wang Guo’s face!

Damn that bastard for getting him bitten!