Chapter 75: The Vanishing Light [2]

Yan Yu had never been so close to death before.

His nose and mouth were filled with water, making it harder and harder to breathe.

But that wasn’t the worst of it.

The pain about to come from the electric shock would be far worse.

He could hear Fatty and the others screaming in hysteria nearby, but none of it could help him.

“I can’t… am I really going to die like this?” Yan Yu thought, unwilling to accept it. “I haven’t even experienced my first time yet. I can’t die like this!”

Just as this thought surfaced, the wet towel covering Yan Yu’s face was suddenly yanked away.

His vision blurred, he could just make out Drillmaster Yan quickly unfastening him from the electric chair.

“Feng Liang…?” Yan Yu couldn’t help but ask.

Feng Liang was just about to speak when, out of nowhere, a sharp knife pierced through him from behind!

Blood splattered across Yan Yu’s face.

Drillmaster Yan’s face vanished, replaced by Feng Liang’s. Feng Liang gave Yan Yu a fleeting smile before suddenly spinning around, grabbing Yang Yongsheng behind him and forcing him into the electric chair, pinning him in place with his own body!

“Turn on the switch!” Feng Liang shouted in a low growl.

Yang Yongsheng was pressed down on the chair, terror filling his eyes. He thrashed wildly, but Feng Liang was staking his life to hold him there; there was no way he could break free!

“Yan Yu, flip the switch!” Feng Liang roared again.

“You won’t… neither will you… none of you dare!” Yang Yongsheng suddenly laughed maniacally. “It’s because people are too soft-hearted that we demons are able to rule over you. If you really go through with this, how are you any different from me?”

“We’re nothing like you!” Feng Liang bellowed. “Yan Yu, do it!”

Yan Yu finally snapped out of it. Gritting his teeth, he lunged for the breaker and, without a moment’s hesitation, flipped the switch!

Crackling blue arcs of electricity instantly engulfed Yang Yongsheng and Feng Liang, then burst into golden sparks in the air…

Within mere seconds, Yang Yongsheng and Drillmaster Yan, their bodies rigid from the current, slid from the chair to the floor.

They were gone.

Yan Yu shut off the power, then slumped against the wall, staring helplessly at the two lifeless bodies.

Fatty and Hao Zhuang were even paler, their faces drained of all color.

“Boss… are they dead?” Fatty whispered.

“With that kind of current, there’s no way anyone could survive,” Yan Yu sighed.

Not only dead—utterly destroyed, body and soul.

Including Feng Liang.

Electricity is a mysterious force, born of the imbalance between yin and yang, positive and negative. Naturally, it also harms the soul.

Both Feng Liang and Yang Yongsheng knew this, yet Feng Liang had still leapt forward without hesitation.

The stench of death hung heavy in the basement, and the corpses locked within glass tanks wore eerie, fitting grins on their faces.

Yang Yongsheng… was finally dead.

“Yan Yu! Yan Yu!”

Suddenly, Su Han’s voice echoed from the top of the stairs. Fatty and the others immediately called out, “Teacher Su, we’re here! Come help us!”

Footsteps sounded, and a group of police officers rushed inside. Yan Yu glanced up and saw Captain Wang Mo, as well as Chen Chuandong, both of whom he’d met before.

They entered the basement, and even they were startled by the scene before them. Wang Mo managed to keep his composure, but Chen Chuandong was already doubled over, retching.

Su Han and Master Cao followed them in. Both of their faces went pale at the sight.

“Master, are you alright?” Master Cao supported Yan Yu.

“What are you doing here?” Yan Yu asked.

Su Han replied, “Feng Liang called us… Where is he?”

“He… gave his life to save us. He’s gone,” Yan Yu answered in a heavy voice.

The bizarre corpses in the basement made Wang Mo realize this would be a major case.

He turned to Chen Chuandong. “Get them out of here first. If anyone’s injured, get them to the hospital immediately.”

“Yes, sir.” Chen Chuandong called several colleagues to escort Yan Yu and the others out.

As they walked out under police protection, just as they left the Rehabilitation Building, a crowd of parents surrounded them.

“Police at work! All unrelated persons must step aside. Anyone who interferes will be detained for obstructing official duties!” Chen Chuandong shouted at the top of his lungs.

But the parents paid his warning no mind, locking the group in.

“Officer, don’t wrong a good man! Director Yang is truly virtuous—he’s saving our children!”

“Our children have nowhere else to go but here. If you close down the Internet Detox Center, what will become of them?”

“If you take Director Yang away, you’re making enemies of us parents. We won’t let you leave!”

Looking at this mindless crowd of parents, a surge of anger suddenly rose in Yan Yu’s chest.

“Shut the hell up!” Yan Yu roared. “Ask yourselves—did you really send your kids here for their own good?!”

“What have the children done wrong? Everything they do, they learned from you, their parents!”

“You drink, smoke, gamble, play mahjong, but forbid your children from relaxing with games. You treat the internet like a scourge, a threat set to destroy them, when really you’re just hiding your own backwardness and ignorance!”

“You neglect your families, barely coming home once a year, ignore and scold your own elders, never speak to your kids, yet blame them for being cold and unfilial.”

“You have no idea what respect means. You invade their privacy at will, see puppy love as a terrible sin, turning innocent youthful confusion into acts of supposed wickedness!”

“Because you lack the ability to raise your children, you send them to this living hell, thinking that paying money solves everything, that a few shocks will pull them back from the brink—never realizing you’re the ones pushing them into the abyss!”

“The scariest thing in this world is that—being a parent doesn’t require an exam!”

Having finally shouted out all he needed to say, Yan Yu exhaled a long breath.

He hoped these parents would take his words to heart and truly reflect.

But he was wrong.

“Don’t listen to his poisonous words! Only Director Yang can save us!” someone shouted.

The parents descended into chaos once more.

Chen Chuandong watched this scene, shook his head, and said quietly to Yan Yu, “There’s a demon in every heart. Setting it loose takes only a word or two, but locking it away again… that’s never easy.”

Yan Yu suddenly felt a wave of powerlessness.

Even if Yang Yongsheng was dead, so what?

As long as there were parents who didn’t know how to raise their children, there would be another Yang Yongsheng.

The crowd of parents jostled and shoved, some even lashing out at the police—the scene was utter chaos.

But just then—

Bang—

A figure fell from the top floor of the Rehabilitation Building, landing heavily on the ground.

Suddenly, everyone fell silent.

Yan Yu pushed through the crowd and saw the boy lying there, his body mangled and bloody. A wave of helplessness washed over him.

“Li Zhixian… why…”

Li Zhixian managed a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, and in a hoarse, weak voice, he spoke.

It was as if he were speaking to the world itself.

“Maybe… only when a living life is lost before everyone’s eyes… can people finally wake up…”