Human Hearts Are Not Ancient!

Li Mu Yang was a kind person; he had never bullied anyone from childhood to adulthood.

In his memory, he hadn't done such a thing even once.

What's more, he had always been the one being bullied. How much had that contributed to alleviating juvenile delinquency in the empire?

If those energetic and impulsive youths weren't constantly picking on him to vent their frustrations, they might have done something more extreme and terrible to others.

Therefore, Li Mu Yang couldn't help but recall that question—how could a man as angelic as him be struck by lightning?

Being struck by lightning had always bothered Li Mu Yang, instilling a deep sense of inferiority within him.

Just think about it, Haotian had just sent you to this world and then, filled with regret, wanted to strike you back. Anyone would feel insulted by that, right?

It was also because he had been struck by lightning that Li Mu Yang's health had been poor since birth.

While other children grew up pampered, Li Mu Yang grew up being force-fed medicine.

From the time he could remember, a Taoist priest, much like a wandering physician, would often visit his home.

He always wore a dirty Taoist robe, the sleeves so greasy they looked like they hid a roast chicken. Every time he came, he'd bring a large bag of medicinal herbs, busy himself in the kitchen, and then present a bowl of traditional Chinese medicine, even more disgusting than his sleeves, forcing Li Mu Yang to drink it.

Li Mu Yang initially refused, but the old Taoist didn't insist. With a snap of his fingers, Li Mu Yang would foolishly take the bowl and drink it down—

Li Mu Yang always felt uneasy doing such things, but being young and ignorant, he couldn't find the right words to describe how he felt at the time.

Later, he accidentally stumbled upon a word that sent a shiver down his spine: masochistic!

When Li Mu Yang was eleven, the old Taoist felt him all over and then, with a face full of relief, told Li Mu Yang's parents, "This old man has fulfilled his duty and managed to save the young master's life. It's already a miracle that a mortal's frail body could withstand the heavenly lightning entering it. The young master is blessed with great fortune, and his future wealth will be immeasurable. Although his life is saved, his physical constitution still differs greatly from that of an ordinary person. Practicing martial arts or swordsmanship is impossible, and his head—"

"His head is damaged?" Li Yan, Li Mu Yang's father, asked anxiously.

"Not quite," the old Taoist shook his head, signaling Li Yan not to panic. He continued, "It's just that due to the lightning strike, his brain has suffered a tremendous impact. He might become somewhat dull-witted—perhaps as he grows older, with the young master's immense fortune, he might recover day by day."

"That's still a damaged head," Li Yan said, his face ashen. "Master, can't you think of another solution? This child has suffered so much hardship since birth—can you take another look? If you stay in Jiangnan for a few more years, I promise you the best food and wine—no, no, no, we'll ensure you have a comfortable stay. How about it?"

"Do your best, and leave the rest to fate," the old Taoist smiled and refused. "This old man has an impending tribulation soon and needs to make preparations. We shall meet again."

The old Taoist left, and Li Mu Yang missed him dearly.

He liked it when the old Taoist called the pastry shop owner's child "young master." Li Mu Yang cherished that title. Unfortunately, no one called him that anymore.

More people called him "Little Charcoal."

If you do anything for three years, you can become an expert in that field. Li Mu Yang had been taking traditional Chinese medicine for over a decade, so he could easily detect the various pungent medicinal scents from Zhang Chen's fart—

"The times are changing, and people's hearts are not what they used to be. Zhang Chen, I never expected you to use such malicious methods to get revenge on me—you're always the one bullying me first, can you blame me for the incident on the lake? You ran over to hit me, and I just blocked it, and you flew away—can you blame me for that?"

Li Mu Yang couldn't continue because he noticed Zhang Chen was crying.

He was genuinely crying, tears streaming down like he had been dragged out and violated thousands of times.

Li Mu Yang paused and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

"Stop talking—" Zhang Chen said, wiping his tears. "Please, stop talking—"

Li Mu Yang eyed him warily. "Are you deliberately trying to play the victim card?"

"Li Mu Yang—" Zhang Chen clutched his stomach, unable to stand straight. "You can't bully people to death like this."

Li Mu Yang scanned his surroundings and saw all eyes in the classroom fixed on the two of them.

Li Mu Yang panicked slightly and quickly explained, "Everyone saw it, he was the one who came to bully me first, I didn't do anything—"

"You said Zhang Chen's fart contained poison," someone said indignantly.

At this moment, many people began to sympathize with Zhang Chen.

Although they disliked Zhang Chen usually, thinking he was attention-seeking and often bullied classmates.

However, they had seen insults before, but never an insult of this magnitude.

"His fart really does have the scent of Wulingzhi, smell it if you don't believe me," Li Mu Yang said earnestly. He was a serious person, serious when sleeping and equally serious when explaining. "He didn't go near anyone else, why did he stand next to me and not leave—isn't it just to get revenge for embarrassing him last time?"

"—"

Zhang Chen felt like he had been stabbed again.

Clang—

The class bell rang.

Zhao Mingzhu, the Imperial History teacher, walked into the classroom right on time. As she stood at the podium and prepared to begin the lesson, she noticed her beloved student Zhang Chen standing by Li Mu Yang, tears streaming down his face. Anger surged within her, and she shouted, "Li Mu Yang, what bad thing did you do again?"

Seeing Zhao Mingzhu angry at him, Li Mu Yang was certain his guess was correct. He stared coldly at Zhang Chen and said, "I knew you were deliberately playing the victim card—"

"—"

Li Mu Yang looked directly into Zhao Mingzhu's eyes and said, "Teacher Zhao, I didn't do anything."

Zhao Mingzhu became even more furious. In her ten years of teaching, she had never encountered a student as dull and unmotivated as Li Mu Yang.

She strode up to Li Mu Yang, slammed her hand on his desk, and yelled in a sharp voice, "Li Mu Yang, do you take me for an idiot? Would Zhang Chen be like this if you did nothing? Would Zhang Chen stand in front of you and cry like this? Have some intelligence, won't you? And have some consideration for our intelligence too!"

"Teacher, I really didn't do anything," Li Mu Yang said with a wry smile. "Zhang Chen rushed up to me, slammed my desk, and called me despicable—"

"That just proves you are indeed despicable," Zhao Mingzhu cut off Li Mu Yang's explanation forcefully. "Don't I know what kind of person you are? The first day I met you, I knew you had this clingy personality—"

Zhao Mingzhu, a renowned teacher from Jiangnan, had transferred to teach Imperial History to the third-year students at Fuxing Middle School, aiming to add fuel to the fire for these students, who were already one step away from higher education, to achieve even better results.

To her surprise, on her very first day at this school, something very unpleasant happened. Someone actually dared to sleep in her class.

This was extreme disrespect towards her, an extreme act of contempt and provocation.

Zhao Mingzhu was furious. After calling out a few times with no response, she grabbed her ruler and beat it against her desk for the entire class, until the ruler snapped—

Zhao Mingzhu asked Li Mu Yang if he could refrain from sleeping in her class, but to her surprise, Li Mu Yang shook his head and said 'no'.

From then on, she found this student increasingly unbearable. Whenever she had the chance, she would mock him a few times, holding him up as a typical example of a bad student. The word 'pig' was even first uttered by her.

However, no matter how she insulted or belittled Li Mu Yang, he would just grin foolishly and then fall back asleep.

"Teacher Zhao, I think you have some misunderstanding about me. You don't know the situation at the time—"

"Misunderstanding?" Zhao Mingzhu sneered repeatedly. She turned to look at the students behind her and asked, "Am I misunderstanding Li Mu Yang?"

No one dared to respond.

Everyone could see that Zhao Mingzhu intended to make an example of Li Mu Yang. Who would want to step forward and speak up for Li Mu Yang at this moment and incur the wrath of the demoness teacher?

"Li Mu Yang, do you know who the founding emperor of our Xifeng Empire was? Do you know which year the 'Reign of the New Moon', which influenced the entire continent, began? Do you know which two sages 'Civil Virtue and Martial Prowess' refers to?"

"Li Mu Yang, you know nothing— all you do all day is eat and sleep, sleep and eat— I just don't understand, did your parents give you money just so you could sleep at school? If you like sleeping so much, why don't you just go home and get enough sleep— that way, no one will bother you, and you won't waste your parents' hard-earned money—"

"Teacher Zhao—"

"Get out."

"Teacher—"

"Out."

"Teacher, you are the one who is wrong." A clear, gentle voice suddenly rang out in the tense classroom.