After Zhang Chen returned from Sanxue Temple, it was only nine in the morning. He did not call Wang Yizhi. Though they had agreed to go out today, he decided to spend the day alone first.
"Looks like even though I killed Yang Zi with someone else's help last time, I was still nothing more than a 'pawn.'" Zhang Chen naturally understood the meaning of that word: a lowly foot soldier. There were over a billion people across the country, and there were probably hundreds or even thousands of prison agents among them. He was merely the smallest of soldiers. To put it bluntly, he was cannon fodder.
"Why hadn't Master Pu Hu told me anything about my abilities? Since he hadn't mentioned it, there must have been a reason. After all, everyone could only truly rely on themselves."
Zhang Chen lay on his bed at home. Looking at his hands, he let out a deep sigh. "Sigh, I'm still far too weak. I have to work harder and harder. I have to keep trying."
Zhang Chen spent the entire afternoon and evening in Forest Park, constantly running, constantly jumping, constantly using Telekinesis... until nine that night.
"My progress is too slow like this. Do I really have to eat those wandering ghosts?" Zhang Chen draped his sweat-soaked clothes over his shoulder as he walked home, thinking about how to improve himself.
Yet Zhang Chen did not notice that a faint green glow suddenly lit up inside an abandoned sales office not far ahead of him. A woman dressed in a long green robe walked out, her shoulder-length hair covering half her face. She slowly headed toward Zhang Chen.
"Forget it. Those wandering ghosts haven't done anything evil. If I'm going to eat anyone, I should eat the ones who harm people. I can't abandon my principles." As Zhang Chen pondered this, he raised his head and discovered that the woman in green had already reached him.
"Hello, sir. Our travel company has recently launched an event for all middle school students. As long as you have passed the entrance exam for a prestigious high school, you can bring proof to our company and complete the necessary procedures. Then, by only paying for the round-trip fare, you can enjoy a seven-day villa tour," the woman in green said softly beside Zhang Chen.
After speaking, the woman handed Zhang Chen a flyer. Zhang Chen was already exhausted, and he had been deep in thought, so he did not think much of it and accepted the flyer.
"Right, hadn't I said I'd take Wang Yizhi on a trip after this was over, so she could relax? This works out perfectly." Zhang Chen noticed nothing unusual at all. He thanked her and went home.
As he walked, Zhang Chen gradually realized that something seemed off.
"Why was that woman so strange just now? Even if I wasn't paying attention, she was dressed so brightly, yet I didn't notice her until she was right in front of me. Besides, who handed out flyers so late at night? And dressed like that, too. She seemed pretty attractive—why would she be handing out flyers?"
Zhang Chen frowned and looked back, only to find that the well-built woman in the long green robe had vanished without a trace.
"Could she have been a ghost? No, that couldn't be right. If she were a ghost, I couldn't possibly have had no reaction. Maybe I'd exercised for too long today and was just being paranoid."
Zhang Chen stopped dwelling on it. After returning home, he took out the flyer the woman had given him. It read:
To encourage young people to strive for excellence, our company has raised its own funds to create the perfect holiday trip for outstanding middle school students.
Location: A large villa outside Jiaoping Village, Lvyuan County.
Time: August 1, 2007—August 7, 2007.
Eligible participants: Students admitted to key high schools and their classmates, up to three companions.
Contact number: xxx-xxxxxxx.
There was also a picture on the back. A pure white, classic European-style villa stood amid lush woods. It covered a large area and had two floors. Zhang Chen, who had only ever seen such luxurious villas in movies, immediately became interested. There was also a massive lake behind the villa, giving the place a distinctive charm.
"Lvyuan County... I remember it being fairly remote, since it's on the edge of the province. How could there be such a nice villa there? Did some rich person build it long ago?"
"Something this good should attract plenty of people. Maybe I should discuss it with Wang Yizhi now. With her grades, getting into a key high school shouldn't be a problem." Zhang Chen smiled and carefully put the flyer away in a drawer.
Clearly, Zhang Chen had taken this as a windfall from heaven, never imagining the conspiracy behind it.
Zhang Chen took out his phone and called Wang Yizhi. The instant the call connected, she answered.
"You bastard, Zhang Chen! Where the hell have you been? You ignored me all day!" Wang Yizhi's angry voice came from the other end.
"Hey, how did you answer so quickly? Were you holding your phone and waiting for me?" Zhang Chen asked.
"Pfft, you're so narcissistic. I was looking up English words. Unlike you, you lousy student who never studies."
"Alright, alright, Yi Zhi. I called because I wanted to discuss something with you. Just now..." Zhang Chen carefully told Wang Yizhi about meeting the woman in green and the graduation trip.
"Wow, really? Such a great deal! Why wouldn't I want to go? I can even bring one of my best friends along," Wang Yizhi said. Her single-minded nature kept her from considering any potential problems, and she agreed right away.
"Listen, Lvyuan County is pretty far from here. It'll take around four hours by bus. You should talk it over with your parents first. You can only go if they agree," Zhang Chen said.
"Mm-hmm, I know. My parents will definitely agree," Wang Yizhi said excitedly.
"You're already this happy? We've only just started ninth grade. There are still two semesters before the entrance exams. Study hard. Come over to my place tomorrow and teach me some English, alright?" Zhang Chen said.
"Mm-hmm, I'll come over tomorrow morning. My parents are going to some wedding banquet, but I can't be bothered to go."
"Alright, then come early. I'll make tomato and egg noodles for you at home."
"Haha, great! Hehe, I want a big bowl."
"Alright, you little foodie. Get some rest early. Good night."
Time passed quickly. Because of what happened to Xie Wen, Class 3 of Year 9 got a new teacher. However, the chemistry teacher was completely not to everyone's taste. Not only was he over fifty, but he was also a man, which made it hard for many students in the class to accept. Their efficiency in class truly dropped quite a bit.
As for Zhang Chen and Wang Yizhi, practically the entire class found out about them. Everyone enviously said they were a talented man and beautiful woman, a match made in heaven. Since Zhang Chen had brought honor to the class, even their homeroom teacher, Lu Ba, tacitly approved of their relationship. This left quite a few couples whom Lu Ba had personally broken up feeling bitter.
Then there was Lei Xiaori, who had returned from the hospital. Whenever he saw Zhang Chen, it was as if he had seen a ghost, and he could not run away fast enough. Later, for some unknown reason, he personally brought several lackeys over and said he wanted to treat Brother Zhang to a meal to smooth things over. Naturally, Zhang Chen refused. He only replied that as long as Lei Xiaori stopped collecting protection money from others, he would not hold the past against him.
Lei Xiaori really did start acting like a decent person. He even returned the seven yuan he had taken from Tan Fei at the internet café last time, doing so right in front of Zhang Chen.
A year could feel neither long nor short.
Over that year, Zhang Chen shot up to 1.85 meters tall, and his body became much stronger. Even more gratifyingly, both Zhang Chen and Wang Yizhi were admitted to key high schools in Tianfu City. That very day, they prepared to take their admission notices to the travel company and finalize the trip.
However, Tan Fei and Er Wa somehow heard about it. They stubbornly clung to Zhang Chen, insisting that they wanted to tag along and have fun. There was no way to shake those two off. Besides, Wang Yizhi was bringing one of her good friends as well. Thus, what Zhang Chen had envisioned as a sweet trip for two became a five-person graduation trip.
With everyone's ID cards in hand, Zhang Chen called the travel company. A familiar voice answered from the other end. Listening closely, it was the voice of the woman in the long green robe from a year ago.
"Hello, Wanda Travel Company."
"I'd like to ask something. Two of us were admitted to Hande High School in Tianfu City, and we have three classmates with us. Can we take part in your villa tour event?" Zhang Chen asked.
"Of course. Just send me the ID numbers," the voice on the other end said.
"Hm? Don't we need to bring our admission notices and ID cards to your company to register? Also, I don't know whether all the spots have already been taken," Zhang Chen asked strangely.
"We can look up all of that information ourselves. As for capacity, you're the first group, so there naturally won't be any issue."
"Then let me ask one more thing. Roughly how many people will be going? That villa only has two floors, so it probably can't accommodate many people, right?" Zhang Chen was afraid that if too many people went, it would not be much fun, and it would be too noisy.
"As for the number of participants, only the second floor of the villa is used as a living area. The total number will be between ten and twelve people, and it will absolutely not exceed that."
"Thank you. That's all."
"At nine in the morning on August 1, our bus will depart punctually from the entrance of your school. Please be on time."
"Alright." With that, Zhang Chen hung up. He felt a little excited. Such a great free trip, with only ten people staying in such a huge villa—it was exciting just to think about.
"If they're a scam operation, I wouldn't mind taking care of them while I'm at it." Zhang Chen was not afraid that they might be fraudsters.
The next day, after Zhang Chen informed his two brothers and Wang Yizhi, everyone was thrilled. It was their first time traveling on their own, and they were going somewhere so nice. How could they not be happy?
Jiaoping Village, Lvyuan County
Inside a shabby brick house, a white-haired old woman carried a bowl of soup containing only a few vegetable leaves to a bald old man who lay on the bed convulsing nonstop. Looking closely, one would notice that both of the old woman's little fingers were missing. She stared at the old man and softly said,
"Old man, come have some soup."
Hearing the old woman's voice, the convulsing old man immediately stopped shaking. He slowly sat up from the bed and looked at the soup with a few vegetable leaves floating in it. Then, suddenly enraged, he knocked the bowl from the old woman's hand. He returned to the bed and began convulsing again.
"Sigh, old man, just hold on a little longer. It won't be long before we can eat meat, alright?" the old woman said helplessly.
Seeing that the old man's entire body was convulsing without any response, the old woman suddenly pulled out a knife and chopped off the ring finger of her left hand in a single stroke. Blood immediately splattered across the convulsing old man.
The old man instantly stopped convulsing again. He turned around, picked up the severed finger from the ground, his eyes shining as he began gnawing on it in huge bites. The old woman completely ignored the injury to her hand. She merely stroked the old man's bald head and said,
"Look at the way you eat. Honestly, if you keep eating like this, I'm afraid I'll end up like our son and daughter, with only a head left. You're so picky. Something as delicious as a head, and you won't even eat it."
Just then, a cry rang out from the neighboring house beside the old woman's home.
"Looks like Old Master Luo next door is hungry too. Honestly, it'll be soon, it'll be soon. There'll be meat to eat very soon, hahaha..." As she spoke, the old woman suddenly burst into wild laughter.
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