I’m Actually a Bigshot

Chapter 3: Su Qingxing, the guide

“The first to die are the children and the elderly, because they simply can’t run fast enough, and even if they don’t become scapegoats, they will eventually die in the world of horror.” In the dark corridor, Bai Gu slowed his pace, for he did not know what would appear ahead.

“Then there are the cowardly people with poor physical strength, who will eventually become a liability over time.
Even if an evil person like Zhang Biao can’t scare ghosts, he at least has some physical strength, so he’s still a somewhat useful scapegoat, so maybe we can escape from this world together.”

“Oh, all this is what the person I met in the last world told me.” A crazed expression had appeared on Bai Gu’s demure face, “So the moment we escaped from the village, I slit his throat with my knife and used him to block the last of the evil spirits in the village. Green is born of blue but it still beats blue1 .
You guys, do you think I am green?”

“You’re a lunatic.” Even Zhang Biao, who had been licking the edge of the knife2 to get by, couldn’t help but shudder at the sight of such a man, “If you say that now, I can put you down here in the next second and take this young master away with me!”

“Where can you escape to? Either stay here and wait for death or follow me to find an escape, you don’t have a choice at all, he he he he he he……”

“It’s the mirror.” Su Qingxing stopped in his tracks and the otherwise dark corridor lit up.
The dim light and the thick fan of his eyelashes made it hard to see his eyes, and a large, ordinary and outdated mirror appeared at the end of the corridor.

“Here it is.”

Watching Bai Gu and Zhang Biao walk forward, Su Qingxing followed them, somewhat curious about what the scene reflected in the mirror actually looked like.

Bai Gu dragged the two men over to the mirror, but the reflection in the mirror was not just of three people.

“Mr.
Bai.” Su Qingxing’s voice came from behind Bai Gu, and his already cold voice felt even more ethereal in this corridor, “You just let go of my hand, so …..
who is the person holding your right hand?”

“What?!”

Bai Gu subconsciously looked at the mirror in front of him at this moment.

In the mirror, Bai Gu and Zhang Biao were standing side by side, and behind them was Su Qingxing, who was standing against the wall, as well as countless other dead souls!

Each of the dead souls was wearing the same white school uniform as the half-mutilated female ghost, but some of the uniforms had been stained red with dripping blood, and many of the ghosts had the same body mutilations as the female ghost, some with arms missing, some with a leg missing, some with a large chunk of their body mutilated …… and all of the lost body parts were scattered randomly in the corridor, blood flowing all over the floor ……

Bai Gu and the others, it was by stepping on the countless wreckage in this corridor that they had made it all the way here!

What made Bai Gu and Zhang Biao unable to move was that the one Bai Gu was holding in his right hand was not that beautiful and delicate teenager at all, but an evil ghost lacking a head!

Zhang Biao grit his teeth to death and held back his screams, but he was scared enough to piss his pants at the sight of it!

“Run to the top of the stairs!” Remembering his previous experience of going downstairs, Bai Gu panicked and flung his hands away, running upstairs with his eyes closed.

Because both Bai Gu and Zhang Biao were too flustered, they didn’t even notice that the Su Qingxing in the mirror was a little different.

Although Su Qingxing was standing right next to the wall, the ghosts all over the corridor were standing half a meter away from him, not touching his clothes at all.

“Almost there.” Looking at the two figures going upstairs, Su Qingxing looked at the crowd of ghosts in the mirror.

In the next second, all the ghosts in the corridor took a step backwards and bowed their heads respectfully.

“The schedule is busy, so please speed up the process.” Su Qingxing glanced down at the time on his phone screen before turning to the crowd of ghosts at the back with a faint smile, “Thank you all for your hard work.”

In Su Qingxing’s eyes, these ghastly looking ghosts of the dead were not really scary.

“Please don’t worry, Lord Guide.” A small voice came out from among the group of ghosts.

After receiving a response, Su Qingxing quickened his pace up the stairs and followed closely in Bai Gu’s footsteps.

Somewhat unexpectedly, just as he got up to the third floor, Su Qingxing saw Bai Gu and Zhang Biao standing in front of a familiar-looking door as if their whole bodies had gone rigid.

The door creaked open in front of the three men.

The sound of the storm, the flickering incandescent lights, the outdated classroom, the wobbly blackboard ……the spot where Li Juan had died still had a pool of blood left behind, but the body was nowhere to be seen.

“We’re back again.” Zhang Biao’s voice was a little dry.

Su Qingxing followed the two men into the classroom, and once again the wooden door of the dilapidated classroom closed behind them.

“I can’t believe it! I can’t believe there isn’t a way out of here!” Bai Gu grabbed his hair fiercely and kicked the classroom door straight open and walked out.

This time, the corridor in front of them was not pitch black, instead emitting a dim yellow light surrounded by moths.
It was as if they had seen a similar sight somewhere before.

Su Qingxing followed Bai Gu and looked out into the corridor.

Just a short distance ahead of the corridor, a familiar mirror stood there……

“It’s scary, that mirror is getting closer and closer.” Su Qingxing’s voice was trembling, but fear did not stain the bottom of his eyes.

“It’s not going to let us go.” Bai Gu grit his teeth and looked around, but by the time he looked back again ……

“Holy crap! Do something, pretty boy!”

The mirror that was at the end of the corridor had somehow appeared on the opposite side of the classroom door, blocking everyone’s way! The dead soul in the mirror stared at Bai Gu with deadly eyes!

“Crack!” Bai Gu slammed the door and then punched the wall next to him, “Damn it, this world is completely different from the last one, there’s no logic and no choice!”

“We can’t escape.” Even Zhang Biao seemed to have lost all his strength.
He just leaned against the podium, standing helplessly.

“There is still a way out.” Bai Gu’s eyes were bloodshot and his face was pale and sweaty.
The fact that he was still able to continue to barely stand was already an incredible thing, “Zhang Biao, the time has come for you to perform, now use the tables and chairs here and smash the window open!”

Since it was impossible to escape from the corridor, what about another shortcut? Su Qingxing watched as Zhang Biao grit his teeth and lifted the table, smashing it in the direction of the window, and he had to admire Bai Gu’s ability to survive in a world like this.

Although he was not a good person, Bai Gu did know very well how one should survive in such a world.

It was a pity.

Su Qingxing curled his lips in a corner they couldn’t see.
Even if Bai Gu managed to escape from this world, he wouldn’t necessarily be able to gain the freedom he wished for.

“Bah!”

Zhang Biao’s strength really lived up to his name, and after the heavy desk smashed into the window, the glass, which was already not very strong, was smashed through, forming a large crack right after a loud bang!

The wind and rain roared from outside that hole, causing Su Qingxing to stand aside.

“It worked!” Looking at that big hole, Zhang Biao and Bai Gu seemed as if they had seen the hope of survival.
They held up their chairs and smashed the broken window against the wind and rain, revealing barely enough space for a person to get out.

Immediately afterwards, Su Qingxing and the two men took down all the curtains around the classroom and tied all the fabrics together with dead knots to create a “rope” that someone could grab to climb down from the two floors!

Tying the “rope” to a chair and holding it firmly against the window, Bai Gu tested the strength of the rope in the wind and rain, then looked at Zhang Biao, who was stronger than he was, and Su Qingxing, who was hiding as much as possible from the wind and rain, and said with a twinkle in his eye, “I’ll go down first, Zhang Biao, you take Su Qingxing down slowly.
“

“Huh?” Zhang Biao glanced at Su Qingxing beside him, “Such a heavy rain, and you have to take this young master with you? Didn’t you even say that he was a burden?”

“It’s not over yet, no one knows what we’ll encounter when we go down, and bringing an extra scapegoat will make our lives a little safer.” Bai Gu glared at Zhang Biao and was the first to grab the “rope” and climb out of the window, testing it again and again to see how strong it was before finally climbing down slowly.

“It’s unfortunate to have met such a senior,” Zhang Biao said as he looked at Su Qingxing again, “Young master, are you so scared that you don’t even dare to speak?”

“You are just like me, you are just a scapegoat in Bai Gu’s eyes.” Su Qingxing looked at the mobile phone in his hand with a bit of a headache, and in the end, he could only stuff it back into his pocket, hoping that the device would not short circuit after getting wet.

“Hahahaha, young master, you and I are not the same!” Zhang Biao didn’t even ask Su Qingxing’s opinion, he just picked him up by the waist.
“Look at you, a noble young master.
You’re so light, your waist is not even as thick as my arm, how can you be the same as this brother Biao of Dragon Lake Street! We’re not the same!”

“Nonsense!” With Zhang Biao’s back to the window, Su Qingxing finally managed to speak, “I’m a big man and you’re making me sound like a woman, watch out, I might decide to extract revenge!”

“Public revenge3?” Zhang Biao’s voice was touched by the wind4, “This young master, your words are interesting.
If you can get out of here alive, I will take you to see my buddies in Dragon Lake Street, to show you what it means to be a real man!”

Zhang Biao was very strong, but when he was helping Su Qingxing to climb down, he still used up too much strength, and his entire body was trembling slightly as he spoke.

After Su Qingxing landed with Zhang Biao’s help, the two of them followed Bai Gu all the way out.

Su Qingxing felt that this was probably the most wretched moment he had ever experienced in his life, and if those guys from the Ghost City Management Department had seen him, they might have laughed their heads off.

Bai Gu knew nothing about the route of this school, but his luck seemed to be good, and the fact that he was able to escape from the last world alone seemed to have spoken for itself.

The three of them hadn’t been running for long before they had came across something resembling the school gates, which even had two very bright street lamps on either side of them, appearing as striking as the sun!

“Hahahahahahaha! I fucking survived once again, hahahahahaha!” Bai Gu went crazy, crying and laughing as he rushed towards the school gate.
It was impossible to discern the tears on his face that had mixed with the rain.

“Look behind you!”

Zhang Biao shouted, and the three men looked behind them in the heavy rain, towards the school building that looked like a giant tombstone in the night.

Blood-stained white school uniforms, bustling groups of ghosts, oozing laughter, wreckage all over the ground, and the ground that had been washed into forming red rivers because of the rain; the ghosts that had originally only appeared in the mirror now appeared behind Su Qingxing and the others.

And they were getting closer and closer.

Closer and closer.

“Run for the school gates! If we leave the school gates, we’ll survive!” Because of his experience in the last world, Bai Gu shouted and ran away, ignoring the two “scapegoats”.

Zhang Biao seemed to be worried that Su Qingxing would not be able to keep up, so he grabbed him by the arm and ran towards the school gate.

Seeing Zhang Biao holding his hand firmly, Su Qingxing, who was soaked all over, was thoughtful.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

The three had clearly grabbed the edge of the school gate, but the swarm of ghosts had already surrounded all of them.
Pairs of pale ghost hands grabbed at Bai Gu and Zhang Biao, making it clear that the world outside the school gate was so close, yet so far away for them!

“Damn it, Su Qingxing, I’m sorry!” At this point in time, Bai Gu didn’t dare to hesitate half-heartedly.
Waving his saber in his hand, he stabbed directly towards Su Qing Xing’s chest, “A burden must have the consciousness of a burden!”

Su Qingxing’s eyes widened at that moment.

It wasn’t because the saber had stabbed his body.

Rather, it was because Zhang Biao actually stretched out his arm at that moment and stiffly blocked the saber that Bai Gu had stabbed.

“Why ……” Su Qingxing was a little confused.

Zhang Biao’s arm began to retain blood, and under the torrential rain, the smell of blood was not washed away at all, but instead instantly attracted the attention of all the ghosts, causing Bai Gu, who was originally caught by the leg, to regain his freedom as well.
He dashed straight out towards the school gate without looking back.

“Hehehe.” Surrounded by all sorts of terrifying evil ghosts, Zhang Biao still managed to laugh out loud in the torrential rain, “Young master, I told you just now that we’re not the same at all! You’ll have a good life in the future, but I’m a fatherless, land-grabbing rogue who can’t do anything but fight!”

The ghosts swallowed Zhang Biao up little by little, as if they were welcoming their long-awaited meal.

“Run, young master!”

“If you can get out of here, help Brother Biao burn more paper during Qingming5! Run!”

Zhang Biao’s voice was gradually swallowed up in the storm, leaving only Su Qingxing standing at the entrance of the school, looking at the swarm of ghosts in the Red River.

“You’re a lucky one, kid.” Standing outside the school gate, Bai Gu was finally relieved, “Come out quickly, as long as you leave the school gate, these ghosts won’t be able to catch up, that’s what those seniors told me.”

Amidst the heavy rain, Su Qingxing turned towards the direction of the school gate and walked straight towards Bai Gu to meet him.

It was clearly such a horrible and chaotic scene, but this frail young man walked as if he was retiring from the stage, step by step, not slowing down.

Those obsidian eyes were calmly looking at Bai Gu standing in front of him, who was so ecstatic that he wanted to kiss the ground.

“Dead soul number MS7459, Zhang Biao, time of death May 9, 2018, died in a street fight.
During his life, he fought more than once and hurt people many times, this deceased soul successfully passed the trial in the underworld and will be brought back to the ghost city by the guide Su Qingxing and reincarnated as a human after the atonement period.” Su Qingxing narrated as he walked out of the school gate and came in front of Bai Gu.

“What are you talking about?” Bai Gu could not understand what Su Qingxing had just said.

What was a dead soul number?

What was this story about Zhang Biao dying in a street fight?

What was the trial in the underworld, again?

Why did Su Qingxing claim to be the guide?

Under the darkness of the night and the torrential rain, Su Qingxing stood directly in front of Bai Gu with an expressionless face, and a ghostly blue light flashed in his eyes.

“Now it’s your turn, Mr.
Bai.”

Footnotes:

1. 青出于蓝 qīng chū yú lán lit.
green is born of blue, but beats blue (idiom); fig.
the student becomes superior to the master; same as couplet 青出於藍,而勝於藍|青出于蓝,而胜于蓝

2.
licking the edge of the knife: doing violent deeds

3.
公报私仇: gōng bào sī chóu: to use public office to avenge private wrongs.
Basically, ZB is telling him that the most probable way SQX can exact his revenge is by complaining to a person of authority.

4.
声音灌着风 Shēngyīn guànzhe fēng: the literal meaning.
Zhang Biao’s voice was touched by the wind from the storm outside.
I couldn’t think of a better way to rephrase it.
Suggestions are welcome.

5.
Tomb sweeping day.
This day, people visit their ancestors, sweep their tombs and make ritual offerings.