“What the hell…” Qiao Jiajin’s mouth instantly dropped open. He pointed tremblingly at where the old man had just disappeared. “Liar Boy, did you just see that? The Terminator!!”

“Baihu…?” Qi Xia muttered the name to himself, feeling it was extremely strange.

Could this “Baihu” be the same “Baihu” who held the same status as “Zhu Que”?

Judging by how he disappeared in midair, he was clearly no ordinary human—very likely a “manager” like Zhu Que.

But why did he seem so insane?

Despite being a manager, he seemed to be helping Qi Xia escape from this place.

As Qi Xia was deep in thought, Qiao Jiajin suddenly slapped his shoulder hard. “Liar Boy! Don’t tell me you’re scared stupid?”

“Hm?” Qi Xia froze. “Scared stupid?”

“How are you not surprised?!” Qiao Jiajin looked both frightened and excited. “A living, breathing Terminator old man! Arnold Old-Man Schwarzenegger!”

After saying this, he paused and muttered, “Or maybe it should be Arnold Schwarzen-Old-Man-egger…”

“Stop.” Qi Xia waved his hand. “It’s getting more ridiculous. Let’s hurry to the ‘school.'”

Qiao Jiajin nodded with lingering interest, glanced again at where the old man had disappeared, and muttered quietly, “Could they be filming a movie?”

Following the map Jin Yuanxun had given them, the two headed toward the school.

Along the way, they saw quite a few “Zodiacs” standing at the entrances of buildings. Although Qi Xia had witnessed this scene once before, it was clearly Qiao Jiajin’s first time seeing it, leaving him greatly surprised.

Last time, Qi Xia had dragged his injured body for a full four hours before reaching the school. Now it took less than two hours.

Two unfamiliar faces stood at the entrance, cautiously surveying their surroundings.

Qi Xia slowly approached.

“Liangren?” a middle-aged man asked.

“Yes.” Qi Xia nodded. “We’re both Liangren, invited here by Chu Tianqiu.”

The other young man pondered briefly and asked, “Is either of you two named ‘Qi Xia’?”

“That’s me.” Qi Xia nodded in response.

Upon hearing this answer, the young man turned to look at the middle-aged man. The two exchanged a glance.

This detail was captured clearly by Qi Xia.

“I see. Please follow me, you two.” The young man showed a trace of a smile, then turned and beckoned to them.

Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin also exchanged a glance before following the young man into the campus.

The young man deliberately quickened his pace, maintaining a distance from Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin that was neither too far nor too close.

After the three walked away, the middle-aged man immediately left in another direction.

“What kind of elite school is this?” Qiao Jiajin stamped on the rubber basketball court beneath his feet, his expression filled with disbelief. “Damn, is this ground made of rubber? It must be way more expensive than sand courts, right?”

Qi Xia looked up at the teaching building. Several window frames seemed to have silhouettes looking in their direction, but the moment Qi Xia raised his head, they all pretended to be busy and left one after another.

“Something’s not right.” Qi Xia muttered quietly. “Qiao Jiajin, be careful.”

“Be careful?” Qiao Jiajin, who had been acting carefree just moments ago, suddenly turned cold after hearing this, revealing the ruthless expression unique to enforcers. He asked quietly, “Is there a situation?”

“I don’t know, but it’s all very strange.” Qi Xia recalled several details from earlier, feeling that “Heaven’s Mouth” didn’t seem to be welcoming new members—rather, it felt like they were “catching turtles in a jar.”

The two followed the young man into the teaching building. Several people trailed far behind them, neither approaching nor distancing themselves, maintaining a safe interval throughout.

Qiao Jiajin keenly noticed this and then inconspicuously rolled his neck.

“You’re really something, Liar Boy. You could see this coming in advance.” After rolling his neck, he twisted his wrists. “We’re surrounded.”

“Can you tell how many people there are?” Qi Xia asked.

“Nine.” Qiao Jiajin answered. “Four behind us, one in front, two on each side.”

Qi Xia’s expression darkened as he frowned deeply.

What was going on?

Was “Heaven’s Mouth’s” goal to kill people?

But if that were the case, why didn’t they attack directly when Qi Xia’s group first landed? Why go through all this trouble to bring them to this school?

Thinking it over again, Qi Xia still felt something was off.

Where were Officer Li, Han Yimo, Doctor Zhao, and the others?

If the other side really wanted to kill people, Officer Li, who graduated from police academy, definitely wasn’t someone ordinary people could handle.

In this place, perhaps only Zhang Shan and Officer Li had any real combat capability. But Qi Xia had met Zhang Shan—he wasn’t someone who killed innocents indiscriminately and had no reason to attack everyone.

If that was the case, what was this strange encirclement about?

Qi Xia had many questions in his mind, but there was no one to answer them right now.

“Liar Boy, how are your fighting skills?” Qiao Jiajin asked.

“Not great.” Qi Xia shook his head. “But I’ve read military strategy texts.”

“Military strategy? Then having you deal with nine people would really be beneath you.” Qiao Jiajin smiled. “Just stay put—let me show you what I can do.”

As soon as the words fell, Qiao Jiajin gradually quickened his pace, walking right up beside the young man ahead and throwing an arm around his shoulders.

The young man seemed not to have anticipated this situation and froze slightly.

“Hey handsome, this place of yours is pretty big.” Qiao Jiajin chatted with him with a grin.

“Is, is it?” The young man forced out a smile. “This used to be a school, so of course it’s big.”

“You know what?” Qiao Jiajin looked at the young man seriously. “If you want to surround someone, it’s best to do it in an open area. The terrain here is too complex—surrounding someone can easily fail.”

“Ah…?” The young man’s gaze flickered. “What are you talking about? I don’t quite understand…”

“Look…” Qiao Jiajin pointed at the abandoned desks, chairs, and benches on the ground. “There are obstacles everywhere on this ground. Not only can they block those trying to surround us, but I can also pick them up as weapons. Do you think nine people can stop me in this kind of setting?”

The young man gradually realized things were going badly and tried to break free from Qiao Jiajin’s arm, but Qiao Jiajin’s strength was tremendous—he couldn’t budge even a fraction.

“Hey handsome, why are you blocking us?” Qiao Jiajin’s expression gradually turned cold. “Where are our teammates?”

The young man tried to break free again but was held firmly by Qiao Jiajin. In the end, he could only give up.

“You really do seem quite formidable…” The young man forced out a bitter smile. “But you miscalculated one thing—it’s not nine people surrounding you, but ten.”

Just as the words fell, a door beside them suddenly exploded.

A burly man had smashed through the door and charged out.

Like a wild bull, he slammed fiercely toward Qiao Jiajin.