I couldn't be sure if Xu Tuo was analyzing the situation as quickly as I was. Although I felt a bit self-satisfied when I said that... Of course, Xu Tuo wasn't someone who only knew how to act recklessly.
He definitely has more combat experience than I do. If he judges the current situation as "not even worth analyzing," it means he knows how to break it.
Ji Yuyi, who looked like a delinquent, was clearly much more capable than a delinquent. Even without his right eye, he quickly straightened his stance, sheathed the knife in his hand, and pulled out an IV stand from the side to use as a weapon, putting some distance between them.
Dong Quanming also pulled my stretcher away from the center of the battlefield. Xu Tuo glanced over, and Dong Quanming smiled and said, "You don't want him to be affected, right?"
Before he could finish his words, Ji Yuyi rushed towards Xu Tuo with a roar, and the metal infusion stand swept across the nearby stretchers and iron frames, making a harsh metallic sound.
"It should be safe if we retreat here." Dong Quanming pulled me behind the nurse's station and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry, Xiaoyu has been like this since he was a child... but he's actually a very kind and good child..."
"What I'm more concerned about is, do you really have the antidote?"
"Hey? Do you suspect I'm lying?"
There is still a certain difference between reality and martial arts novels. Not all poisons have corresponding antidotes. Even if he really has the corresponding chemical agent to remove the poison, it is difficult for these people to be saved 100%.
"Tell me what poison you used?" I asked. "Respiration, heartbeat, and pulse are all suppressed. Let's rule out aconitine for now. Did you use a cyanide-based agent? Injected? Ingested? Inhaled? I'm guessing a very low concentration of calcium cyanide. So your corresponding antidote is..."
"Amyl nitrosate."
"Hmm, an inhaled poison and an antidote. I was just thinking, if it's an injectable antidote, the injection alone wouldn't take long enough."
His smile remained unwavering. Elsewhere, the knife in Xu Tuo's hand was knocked away by the iron rod, falling to Dong Quanming's feet. With the knife knocked away, Xu Tuo, without hesitation, picked up the IV stand that had been on the ground and used it as a weapon.
"--Is your brother a good fighter?" I asked. "Why are you so confident that he can beat Xu Tuo?"
"I trust Xiaoyu very much. You're an only child, right? So you don't quite understand this... But Xiaoyu and I are half-brothers."
Their father is the same man. Dong Quanming's mother left him with her children because she could not bear the man's endless beatings and gambling addiction.
Many years later, Dong Quanming, a university student, received a strange message. The sender was Ji Yuyi, and the content was simple and blunt: "I am considered your younger brother. My family is broke and I need to borrow some money."
"It's strange, isn't it? My parents haven't been in touch for years since their divorce, but when I heard from Xiaoyu, I still wanted to go see them." He picked up the knife, and the blade reflected his elegant face like a mirror. "Not long after Dad remarried, his wife became pregnant and gave birth to Xiaoyu. Even after remarrying, Dad didn't change his bad habits... When I went to see Xiaoyu, the child had been beaten badly."
"...boring story."
"Hahaha... Yeah, it's a boring family drama. Xiaoyu's mother was beaten by her father and suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and she needs medical treatment. Her father only drinks and beats people up every day, and he's completely unreliable. Xiaoyu makes a little money by fighting in underground boxing and has dropped out of school."
Not long after, Ji Yuyi's mother passed away due to worsening illness. Dong Quanming mentioned this to his mother, and his mother said that he could take the child to live with them.
A new life seemed to be about to begin—Ji Yuyi escaped his alcoholic and violent father and became a member of Dong Quanming's family, with a gentle mother and brother to take care of him. He could even resume his studies...
"But things don't often develop that way," said Dong Quanming.
Xu Tuo, whose dagger was knocked away, picked up the IV stand on the ground and used it as a weapon.
With a clang, Xu Tuo swung the IV stand in his hand hard onto Ji Yuyi's arm. The boy was knocked to the ground, his left arm twisted into a strange shape.
"Your brother is about to lose," I said.
Dong Quanming shook his head: "No."
——Xu Tuo walked towards the injured Ji Yuyi. This man had lost his right eye and a broken left arm. If it were an ordinary person, he would have lost his fighting ability. However, Ji Yuyi turned over and stood up, and threw himself at Xu Tuo. Xu Tuo was guarding against his right hand, but the attack came from the left——
His left hand tightly grasped the dagger, the blade piercing into Xu Tuo's shoulder.
"Do you know what Qingzhi means?" Dong Quanming asked me.
"...Are you referring to the bones of a child?"
"Yes, human bones are very flexible during childhood, so children's fractures tend to heal faster than adults'. Their bones are like willow branches, flexible and not easily broken, so they are called 'green branches'."
I know this because I broke a bone in gym class when I was little. As we grow, our bones gradually harden, becoming harder but losing their flexibility.
"A very small number of people... their bones remain very flexible even after they grow up. They are not easily broken and can even bend into incredible angles." He watched with satisfaction as Xu Tuo took a few steps back, blood flowing from the wound on his shoulder. "--Xiao Yu's physique is like this."
I kept a close eye on Xu Tuo's situation. I knew the strain on his body. The abdominal wound, the lack of rest... But Ji Yuyi was different. He simply grew stronger with each battle.
"After moving to my house, my mother soon found that she couldn't handle Xiaoyu," he said. "Xiaoyu didn't want to go back to school. He would pick fights on the street every day or stay up all night fighting in underground boxing rings... When he was a child, my father discovered that he had a special physique, so he almost treated him like a punching bag."
Not everyone who suffers abuse can return to a normal life.
After more than a decade of violence dominating Ji Yuyi's life, the young man could no longer turn back. He was accustomed to violence, whether it was inflicted on him by others or inflicted on others by him.
"Mom couldn't help it. She wanted to kick Xiaoyu out and send him back to Dad... But I... I wanted to save him..." Dong Quanming's eyes flickered with moisture. "... He was also begging others to save him... Every night, every day... Xiaoyu would hug me and beg me to save him... Mingming is a very gentle child. He wouldn't hit innocent people, wouldn't shirk responsibility, and wouldn't hurt his family..."
"...In the past fifteen minutes alone, he punched and kicked you."
"That doesn't even count as fighting, does it?" He pointed to the other side with a wry smile, "That counts."
Indeed, contrast creates beauty. Compared to his level of fighting with Xu Tuo, Ji Yuyi's affection for his brother can be described as tender and gentle.
"Why did you join their group?" I asked. "You don't look like one of them."
"Because I met the teacher."
"You keep talking about 'teachers'... What kind of group is this? If they're a killer organization, their targets are so random..."
He didn't answer me, but instead stared at the fighting, his mind slightly distracted. The back of my head was aching, and I didn't dare move. If a vital blood vessel in my brain ruptured, it would kill me.
Then Dong Quanming asked: "Have you ever masturbated?"
I was stunned. I hadn't expected him to ask that, anyway.
"Everyone has experienced it. Humans are naturally adapted to the pleasure of sex," he said. "Humans can admit their desire for sex, their desire for money, their desire for food... These desires are inevitable for any animal. However, humans are unwilling to admit their desire to kill. Even though there have been countless wars, no one dares to stand up and admit that humans are innately driven to kill their own kind. This desire arises at any time and in any place, just as common as masturbation."
"But most people would defecate in their own toilet or bedroom, not on the streets... or in hospitals."
"Well, most people can control their killing urges. But there are a few who can't... So, Class L was created for these people." He leaned down close to my face, looking into my eyes. "Xu Tuo, Xiaoyu and I... You've always been curious about what the organization we're in is. It's called Class L, and it's a place that houses those of us who can't control our killing urges. And our targets are also those who can't control their killing urges."
— Almost instantly, the broken coils were connected. I understood the significance of Class L.
Why does Xu Tuo always hunt criminals or extremely aggressive people... Because these people are their prey.
"...Is this how I understand it?" The truth suddenly dawned on me, and my voice trembled slightly. "You couldn't help but want to kill, so you joined this L class. The people there will teach you how to hunt, how to avoid attracting attention, how to erase clues, how to create a false identity... It's like you've received a license to kill, a certificate of skill, allowing you to hunt freely. And the targets you hunt are those who can't suppress their murderous urges—violent criminals with a history of crimes, hooligans, gangsters, fugitives... In other words, ordinary people are sheep, and those who can't control their killing urges are lions. To put it bluntly, the meaning of L class is a group of lions purposefully hunting another group of lions."
As a price, the "lions" in Class L couldn't live with the "sheep," had to move frequently, and were forbidden from getting involved with ordinary people. For example, if Xu Tuo stayed at my house for too long, he would be driven out by the other lions. If the expulsion failed, he would go from being the hunter to the hunted.
The same thing happened to Jackman. Once you've been in Class L, you're burdened with countless unsolved cases. No one will allow you to leave the lion group with these unsolved cases and return to ordinary human society to start a new life. Because if you attract attention, your past might be dug up, implicating others.
Dong Quanming nodded: "You understand correctly."
"The relationship unit in Class L is 'teachers and students'?"
"Well, teachers can bring students into Class L. One teacher can take two students. After students graduate, they automatically become teachers and can bring new students into the class."
"How do you graduate?"
"--Killed the teacher." He smiled. "By the way, the old man you knocked unconscious was Xiaoyu and I's teacher. To be honest, although he is our teacher, he is really looked down upon... He only dares to pick prey weaker than himself, and most of the time, he only dares to attack women... Dai Xueming, you don't know Xu Tuo's status in the class, right? Xu Tuo is a celebrity in Class L, because he can kill anything. Only those who can hunt strong people will be respected in Class L. Whether it's my teacher or that freshman who only dares to kill women, such people will be looked down upon by other classmates."
While we were talking, Ji Yuyi stabbed Xu Tuo again, this time in the thigh. Xu Tuo's movements became noticeably slower.
"It's not an exaggeration to say that Xu Tuo is the idol of most people in Class L..." He was trembling with excitement and looked over there with relief. "Dai Xueming, maybe you'll understand how I feel if you have a brother or a child. The thought of Xiaoyu becoming someone as strong as Xu Tuo in the future... just imagining it, just imagining it... makes me so excited..."
I realized that this guy was a lunatic himself and rolled my eyes. "I see him every day, but I'm never this excited. Since you need a murderous urge to enter Class L, I understand Ji Yuyi was able to get in, but how did you get in? Who do you want to kill?"
There are still seventeen minutes before the poison takes effect and causes death.
Xu Tuo hasn't dealt with Ji Yuyi yet.
Moreover, the situation is getting worse.
"Dai Xueming, no matter how today ends, I hope you don't misunderstand me." He squatted beside my bed. "I'm not the kind of person who takes human life lightly... I want to save people. I want to save people more than anyone else."
"There's a whole floor of people lying here waiting for you to save them."
"As long as Xu Tuo lets Xiao Yu have fun, I will rescue them immediately."
immediately?
I caught some clues - the antidote was in his hand, but he wouldn't carry it with him, so it should be hidden somewhere nearby. There was an inhaler nebulizer in the ward, but time was very tight to perform inhalation detoxification on dozens of people.
...There are two possibilities. One is more beautiful, the other is more terrible.
A more promising possibility is that the poison in all the people was not a lethal poison, but just an anesthetic, and they would wake up on their own after a while.
The more terrifying possibility is...
——From the very beginning, Dong Quanming did not prepare any antidote.
Xu Tuo's condition wasn't good. I lay on the hospital bed and tried to move my arms, but Dong Quanming held them down.
"Hush, don't make trouble," he said. "Get some rest. If you don't get enough rest, Xu Tuo might get even angrier."
I am making the worst assumption - if Xu Tuo loses and Dong Quanming doesn't prepare any crappy antidote, how will this mess be cleaned up?