047: Attack at the Cinema

"Anyway, you saw it just now," Han Xue said, still a little embarrassed.

"Saw what?" Her words left me utterly confused. "You mean, saw you beating someone up?"

In the very next second, I learned something important: you must be cautious when speaking to women.

A heavy blow landed on my face, sending me flying backward without warning. As I sailed through the air, Han Xue’s voice rang out, commanding me to get lost.

I crashed into a shelf and landed in the middle of a pile of towels. The more this happened, the more convinced I became that Han Xue’s ability was some kind of monstrous strength, not unlike Chen Hao’s.

Lin Wan gave me a sympathetic glance and said, "Han Xue, don’t be angry."

Qian Duoduo, standing nearby, sucked in a breath and added, "Don’t be mad, beautiful. Anger… anger doesn’t suit you."

Han Xue shot Qian Duoduo a glare, but the chubby guy just grinned even wider, his cheeks quivering with delight as if he’d just been graced with Han Xue’s attention.

"My ability is Word Spirit," Han Xue said suddenly.

"It means that what I say comes true instantly—though only a small part of it."

"That’s a bit… underwhelming," I commented as I crawled out of the towel pile, dusting myself off.

Once again, she barked, "Get lost." Before I knew it, I was back on the ground. I was starting to think Han Xue’s power was less about words and more about some kind of lion’s roar.

I asked Han Xue for her card and examined its design—a stone.

Adding that to what I’d seen before—my mirror, Lin Wan’s ruler, Su Mu’s tree—I boldly guessed that the Spade cards’ abilities were all tied to objects.

The last time we’d faced Dan Feng, he’d mentioned that we hadn’t yet awakened our true powers. So, I speculated that one of the conditions for unlocking our real abilities was to find the corresponding artifact.

Just then, a shadow darted out from the supermarket entrance. By the time I rushed out in pursuit, whoever it was had already vanished.

"Who could that have been?" I wondered aloud.

Lin Wan, seeing me suddenly dash out, came after me. "What’s going on?" she asked, noticing the look on my face. I told her about the strange sensation of being watched.

She shrugged, unconcerned, and said loudly, "Well, as long as they’re not a threat to us, what’s there to be afraid of?" Then she typed a message on her phone: "I noticed too, but let’s pretend we didn’t. Just stay alert from now on."

I nodded, and together we returned to the supermarket.

Wang Bin and Zhao Liang, the two local thugs, were making a scene, urging Han Xue to be Qian Duoduo’s girlfriend. Qian Duoduo was standing off to the side, leering at Han Xue with a foolish grin, while Han Xue’s face flushed as red as an apple, too embarrassed to react.

Seeing the situation, I strode over, grabbed Han Xue’s hand, and led her out.

On our way out, I couldn’t resist turning back to Qian Duoduo and calling out, "She’s my woman!"

The three of them were left staring after us in bewilderment, while Lin Wan followed behind, grinning.

On the way to the cinema, Han Xue kept her head down, seemingly too shy to meet my gaze. She was tugging at my shirt with her left hand, making me feel awkward. I tugged at my collar and said, "Um… Han Xue."

Trying to sound casual, I continued, "Could you let go of my hand? It’s a bit uncomfortable."

"Oh!" Han Xue yelped, immediately releasing me. I took a deep, relieved breath; she’d been pulling on my shirt so hard that my collar had been choking me.

"Han Xue… um, cough, you can let go now," I said, noticing that her right hand was still clutching me.

"Oh," she said again, hastily pulling back her other hand and clasping both hands behind her back, twisting shyly as if she had something she wanted to say.

Glancing at Lin Wan, I saw he was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.

Trying to save face, I blurted out, "Han Xue, I just wanted to help you out back there. Maybe you should head back to the dorm?"

"Ah?"

"Ah!"

The first exclamation came from Lin Wan, whose expression was as if I’d just ruined a perfect moment. Han Xue, too, was stunned, and I suddenly felt my own face flush with embarrassment.

I quickly turned away from Han Xue. "You should go get some rest. Lin Wan and I have things to do!"

"Right, Lin Wan, let’s go!"

I hurriedly beckoned for Lin Wan, feeling sweat bead on my forehead—I’d never felt so nervous in my life.

He understood my predicament and jogged over.

"Han Xue, we’re leaving now!" he called, throwing her a knowing look.

In that instant, the power of my Six of Spades activated!

In a flash, Lin Wan and I were standing in front of the cinema.

Lin Wan looked at my reddened face and teased, "Why didn’t you confess? That was a golden opportunity."

I waved my hand. "Given everything that’s going on, this isn’t the time for that."

He glanced around the cinema, then asked offhandedly, "If none of this had happened, would you have confessed to Han Xue?"

"No!" I answered reflexively, surprising even myself with my speed.

Lin Wan said nothing more, probably thinking I was just avoiding the issue.

But only I knew the truth: my feelings for Han Xue were those of deep friendship, not love. As far as I was concerned, love never grows out of friendship. Love is, by its nature, purposeful; when friendship evolves into love, it’s only because prolonged companionship makes it seem appropriate. You might spend a few peaceful years together, but eventually, irreconcilable differences will surface.

That’s not the kind of love I want.

With that, Lin Wan and I walked straight into the cinema. But as soon as we entered the screening hall, every door slammed shut at once.

All the lights went out in an instant.

Lin Wan and I stood back to back. He drew a small knife he’d grabbed at the supermarket and concealed it in his sleeve.

"Light!" I whispered, sending a faint glow radiating from my hands. The weak light was enough for us to see our surroundings.

Drifting around us were four female ghosts. One was especially striking—dressed in tattered clothes, her entire body blackened as if she’d been burned in a fire.

After I told Lin Wan what I saw, I immediately activated the Spade Two’s Light Shield ability, encasing us both in a protective half-dome. The ghosts seemed not to notice us, drifting aimlessly around us.

"They don’t seem to know we’re here," I said with relief, planning to drop the shield.

But Lin Wan quickly raised his hand to stop me, whispering in my ear, "These ghosts are intelligent. The moment you thought of dropping the shield, I saw them react."

Thanks to Lin Wan’s Ruler ability, he was particularly sensitive to changes in speed.

Given the circumstances, I decided to trust him.

These ghosts were waiting for the exact moment we let our guard down. If I’d really dropped the shield, they’d have swarmed us instantly. I’d never encountered ghosts with such intelligence before.

But the Light Shield was a draining ability—I couldn’t keep it going indefinitely. In past battles, I’d always had allies to cover me, but Lin Wan had little solo combat ability, so I wouldn’t have time to recover if things went wrong.

If I kept the shield up, I’d last maybe half an hour at most. The mental fatigue was already hammering at my mind, and I had no idea when my nerves might snap.

If I really exhausted my mental energy, I’d probably collapse on the spot. Lin Wan quickly sent a message to Lu Ling and the others.

Then he told me, "Zijian, drop the shield in a bit, and I’ll use my acceleration. Let’s make a run for it."

"That’ll give you some time to recover," he added.

I nodded. At his signal, I dropped the shield and broke into a full sprint, relying on physical exertion to buy time for my mind to recover.

It was a desperate strategy; neither of us was particularly fit. While our recovery had improved since becoming Contractors, our physical abilities hadn’t.

Only Lu Ling, Chen Hao, and Carbonhead, the Square card Contractors, gained physical improvements after each fight.

I felt the wind from our running whip across my face—painfully so.

Behind us, the four female ghosts shed their former appearance, baring fangs and claws as they chased us relentlessly.