Chapter 43 Contempt

Is the choice given to you by others or by yourself?

For He Jingtong, this question was one he asked himself from the beginning to the end... probably.

Although it seems that it has always been given to him by others.

The fire came with great force. The students who had found a tree branch on the mountain to rest were awakened by the scorching heat and only then did they realize what had happened.

He couldn't help but yell, "Fire!"

As all his cell phones were confiscated, Qi Xueyi went to bed early in order to participate in the competition, so even at 10 o'clock in the evening, he was already in a deep sleep.

So when he woke up, he saw He Jingtong with his back to him, facing the flames.

"What happened?" Qi Xueyi jumped down from the tree. The flames were so hot that even though they were some distance away from them, the temperature seemed to make his white hair curl.

"It's on fire, but we don't know if it was an accident or man-made." The one who answered his question was Jian Zirui. It was hard to imagine that someone who practiced Taoism and cared about nature would die in his sleep in the forest.

When I opened my eyes again, I was faced with such a fire.

"But what you said actually shows that this is man-made." Qi Xueyi's face was heavy. Maybe he didn't trust himself very much. After all, when he was really asleep, he couldn't be moved by thunder.

But he believed in his teammate Jian Zirui, who grew up in a Taoist temple.

When this guy was a kid, he had to worry about rain leaks when he slept, so vigilance has long been ingrained in his bones.

"What should we do now?" There were no fools in the team. Qi Xueyi reacted after confirming that the persistent coma from which one could hardly wake up was also man-made.

"The fire cannot be put out, so we can only call for help to go down the mountain. But the word 'only' means that the purpose of this fire is to drive us down the mountain."

The crackling sound of the burning trees in the distance and the large amount of smoke produced when the oilier trees were ignited all indicated that we could not stay in this place for long.

Even though going down the mountain might be manipulated by an unknown hand, it seemed to be a necessary option.

"You go first, I'll go see if there are any classmates trapped nearby." When He Jingtong said this, Qi Xueyi and Jian Zirui were both stunned.

Because they didn't expect——

Yes.

If there is someone hiding in the dark and wants to control something, even if some students need to go down the mountain, it will not require dozens of students.

With so many people, as long as it is not necessary and does not affect the purpose of the people behind the scenes, in the eyes of those people, the death of a few people is certainly not a big deal, right?

"Let's go too!"

"Let's go, there's no time to hesitate."

The talisman could not stop the raging fire. Jian Zirui released the power of her soul to wrap around her body, then pointed in a direction and said she was going to look for someone.

If you can't find anyone within half an hour, run down the mountain from your respective locations. If you find someone, explode a spiritual energy bomb into the air.

They were all teammates and were very familiar with each other's strength. Qi Xue, who also wrapped himself in green, nodded, chose a direction, and rushed into the fire without hesitation.

But Qi Xue saw from the corner of his eye that He Jingtong's overly conspicuous white power only protected his head, eyes, joints, and heart.

It seems that as long as you don't die, it's not a problem.

That picture was firmly engraved in Qi Xueyi's mind, but his current thoughts were completely occupied by going deep into the fire scene to see if he could save his classmates.

Fu Zexun's side.

He knew early on that the academy would use artificial worm-shaped surveillance to monitor the game, so he didn't even need to use illusion spirits to cover himself.

He only needed to light a torch, and then command those spirits that could not be captured by ordinary surveillance to pour a large amount of gasoline linearly, and then he could stand on the back of the mountain and throw the torch...

It's easy to set the whole mountain on fire.

The subordinate asked, "Are you going to look for the teachers from the two schools now?"

"No." Fu Zexun denied this statement. The camera reflected the burning fire, and the orange light illuminated the sky and earth behind the mountain.

In addition to a few people here, there are also dozens of human-shaped spirits.

“The time has not come yet.”

Fu Zexun said: "Of course, if you want to show your strength in front of the officials, you can attack those teachers at any time."

Now no one spoke.

There are only a few people and dozens of humanoid spirits. If I act alone, I will probably be beaten to death by those teachers.

The silence made Fu Zexun feel ridiculous: "Oh, go ahead. Except for the white one, the others are all under your command."

It seemed that without realizing it, Fu Zexun had even acquired the ability to transfer the command of alien spirits.

This certainly won't make him lose his absolute and unique control; on the contrary, this ability will only give him more choices.

The pure white spirit followed behind Fu Zexun, and the two of them walked into the burning forest together.

The high temperature had already rendered the various artificial insects' surveillance systems ineffective, and the area below the mountain was in chaos.

Cui Tong's lips were dry and chapped, but he continued to ask how many students had already left the mountain.

"Except for those who were eliminated in the afternoon, there are only eight students left so far." Sweat kept flowing down Tan Dong's face. She was also afraid that a large number of students would die here.

But rather than saying that the eight students who came later went down the mountain, it would be more accurate to say that they had set up camp at the edge of the mountain. When they discovered the fire, they immediately rushed to the camp where many teachers were and reported the situation.

"Find those people from 'N' and ask them to transfer some people to put out the fire. Jing Yunsong will go up the mountain with me, and Tan Dong will stay here. I will remotely contact An Lai in the academy and ask An Lai to call all the backup teachers and students in the academy. Anyone who can help, come and help me!"

Listening to Cui Tong's command, the teacher from the opposite school seemed to relax a little. The teacher from another school who had teased He Jingtong and the others before also said to Cui Tong: "Add me to the group going up the mountain."

"Action."

As the word "decisive" came out, the Dean of Studies and Jing Yunsong were no longer there.

Tan Dong also quickly contacted An Lai.

Instead of typing as fast as he could to explain the situation, Tan Dong chose to make a video call to An Lai.

Despite her fear and terror, and the reminder of her own death, she still managed to calm her broken emotions as best she could, and spoke clearly what the dean had told her.

"This is the current situation here." Tan Dong summarized.

An Lai on the other end of the computer also quickly started typing away. After about a minute, the spiritualist apps installed on the teachers' and students' cell phones all sounded the alarm. The sound scared Tan Dong, but he quickly calmed down.

An Lai on the other end also said, "The notice has been sent out. I will connect with all the teachers and students at the same time and explain the specific situation in one go. However, the distance between the back mountain and the dormitory building is not short, so it may take 5 to 10 minutes for them to really get there. During this time, I'll trouble you to support them."

"Also..." The originally quick tone came to an abrupt halt as if the pause button had been pressed.

An Lai uncontrollably hammered the computer desktop with his left hand. His eyes were sharp, but in the end he just gritted his teeth and said, "Be careful of Fu Zexun."

Tan Dong couldn't help but widen his eyes.

From the moment this name was mentioned, what He Jingtong had said before seemed to have a clear direction.

How would a person who could easily turn students into supernatural beings treat her, a former colleague whom she was not very familiar with?

There was no need to think about this question at all. The three words "You will die" were accompanied by He Jingtong's expression of pain that was difficult to conceal.

Tan Dong's only knowledge of He Jingtong was his admiration for him as a genius and their subsequent chance encounter.

Of course she could see familiarity in the child's eyes, but that familiarity seemed so strange and indescribable to Tan Dong.

Because there was no reason. They had never met before, so how could they feel familiar with each other?

That look that seemed to be looking at a friend who was about to die...

Tan Dong couldn't figure it out, but she would still reply to the other end of the computer: "I understand."

At the same time, she also asked those who are currently staying in the camp: "You must protect this place well."

But there was only her here, and the teachers and students who would arrive at any time, and the members of the "N" organization who would need time to arrive even if they were notified and even if they took a helicopter.

If she wasn't here, how could those people who arrived later be mobilized in the first place without delaying any rescue time?

Is this a false sense of self?

No, it is the awareness that supports oneself to still have the will to resist after knowing that there is no escape.

Just like ice, it will always crack and melt, but from the moment it freezes, it remains extremely hard.

The plain below the mountain was bright, illuminated by the fire.

Reflected in Tan Dong's eyes, apart from the flashing light of the computer, were only the shadows that could not be illuminated by the flames.

There are also those wanted criminals with considerable bounties on wanted warrants, as well as a large number of inhuman humanoid spirits.

When the leader saw her, he said in a disdainful tone: "Why are you the only one here?"

"Caught or killed?" asked another person next to that person.

"There are so many of us. Killing one person may not add a few hundred thousand to the bounty on the wanted list. Without even this, there is no difference between killing and arresting."

Tan Dong's heart beat as fast as a drum.

Maybe he knows that he still has room to strive for something.

If she really died here, then the words "You will die" spoken by He Jingtong would be doomed to no return.

"Since there is no difference, wouldn't it be better to use my existence to threaten others?" Tan Dong clenched her fists when she said this. Even she has self-esteem and would feel humiliated by such words.

But self-esteem is meaningless at this time.

"I've never heard of a teacher at Elite Academy who is so greedy and afraid of death."

Those who originally wanted to attack a large number of teachers now had a hint of surprise and 90% contempt on their faces. !