Chapter 18: Human Nature

Chapter 18: Human Nature

The last person to scramble away was the manager, Wu Dahai. Out of everyone, he was the oldest and the chubbiest. Middle age had brought a pudgy tummy, and his stamina was quite low.

Whether he meant to or not, in his frantic attempt to flee, Wu Dahai grabbed a guy running ahead of him, pulling him back. He pushed himself forward, while the guy he yanked almost tripped, ending up at the very back.

SWISH!

A silver streak whizzed by.

The unlucky guy Wu Dahai had pulled back had his head chopped off, not even getting a chance to scream.

Seeing this, Fang Xiu stopped for a moment. Then, he smacked his thighs twice in anger and kept running. He wasn't worried about lagging behind. He was young, fit, and exercised often, so he was in top form.

He didn't know how to activate his spiritual power, so he was trying out different things, not sure if they'd work. They ran down a long hallway on their right for about a minute until they reached a dead end. However, they found themselves in a wide-open area.

It was a cafeteria. The space was huge and completely bare, just old tables and chairs everywhere. In one corner, they spotted stoves and a few large black pots.

Wang Ziteng was thrilled and shouted, "There's usually an exit in cafeterias."

The group felt a sense of relief upon hearing that. They quickly looked around and saw a door on the far left of the cafeteria. Without hesitation, they made a dash for it.

Meanwhile, Fang Xiu kept his cool, running at the back of the group while carefully scanning the area.

They walked through the door into another dim, narrow hallway. This one seemed even darker; the bulbs overhead looked ready to flicker out any second.

No one cared about anything around them; all they wanted was to escape. They rushed to the end of the hallway.

Wang Ziteng, who was leading, looked visibly frustrated. "It's a dead end!"

Besides Zhao Hao, the other person didn't say anything, but their accusing gaze clearly blamed Fang Xiu.

A smile tugged at Fang Xiu's lips. He didn't smile often these days unless he was excited to face a Specter. But for some reason, looking at Wang Ziteng and the others, he felt like laughing.

Zhao Hao stood up for him, "Xiu didn't force you to follow him. You came on your own. You guys asked which way to go, and now that it's the wrong way, you're blaming him. If you're so clever, why didn't you choose the path?"

"We might not be as smart, but we wouldn't have decided alone. If we didn't know, we could've discussed it together. We trusted him and let him choose. But he chose wrong! He broke our trust and led us to a dead end!" Wu Dahai, being a boss, put Zhao Hao, who wasn't good with words, in his place.

"Enough, stop fighting." Wang Ziteng yelled. "We need to figure out how to stay alive. I've noticed the Specter only attacks one person at a time, and after each attack, there's a safe window of two to three minutes. So now, our only option is to pick one person to distract it while the rest of us run."

As soon as Wang Ziteng mentioned the idea, tension filled the air. Even those who weren't particularly bright could understand: it wasn't about distracting but sacrificing one person so the rest could survive.

Wang Ziteng watched everyone's reactions, already thinking ahead. He had strategically blamed Fang Xiu to prepare for this moment. When everyone blamed Fang Xiu, they would probably pick him to be the bait, sacrificing him to buy more time.

Wang Ziteng knew he had to act quickly. In times of panic, people tend to follow the crowd without much thought. If someone else had suggested that Wang Ziteng, the spoiled rich kid, should be the first to go, he might have been chosen.

In this tense moment, Wang Ziteng did something no one saw coming. He suddenly shoved Fang Xiu and yelled, "It's all Fang Xiu's fault we're stuck here. So he should be the one to pay! Come on, help me!"

Everyone else exchanged glances; they were torn. The thought of surviving at the cost of sacrificing someone else was difficult to bear.

"Let him go!" Zhao Hao shouted, charging at Wang Ziteng.

Wang Ziteng was taken aback and quickly yelled, "Wu Dahai, aren't you going to help?"

Wang Ziteng was skilled at basic mind games. When seeking assistance, it was better to call someone out by name. It made them feel responsible, and it often worked surprisingly well. Instead of asking for help in general, he targeted individuals specifically. He would use their name or a description to pick someone to help.

Even though Wang Ziteng usually goofed around, his fancy education growing up came in handy."