Chapter 43

At seven in the morning, Huai Shi was jolted awake by his alarm.

After getting used to sleeping until he woke naturally, he was too groggy to react at first.

It was not until he remembered that school started today that his mood suddenly sank.

Back to the cage, walking straight into the net...

A string of descriptions surfaced in his mind. Compared to that crushing weight, the pain of being chased and hacked at last night was nothing...

"Ah, I don't want to go to school."

He wailed weakly a few times and crawled out of bed.

When he rolled over, he felt the itchy numbness of wounds healing all over his body, along with the dull ache of strained muscles.

Thanks to his growth phase and Crow's medicine, the injuries that would probably have left an ordinary person bedridden for two or three weeks had healed overnight.

Even the scars had begun to fade. After a while, they would probably disappear completely, right?

But why couldn't they have taken a few more days to heal?

Then he would have had an excuse to take leave. Otherwise, going to school covered in blood would be so embarrassing. The principal might have a stroke just looking at him.

With a heavy heart, Huai Shi got up and went downstairs.

"Ah, you're awake?"

In the dining room, Crow smiled like a virtuous wife and mother. She even had a white face mask hanging from her body as an apron. "I prepared breakfast and lunch for you."

Huai Shi looked at the test tubes on the table and could not help rolling his eyes.

What kind of meal looked like this?

"Why is there another one today? And why does it look different from the others?"

Huai Shi picked up the particularly slender test tube and gently shook the viscous dark green liquid inside.

His Death Sense, which seemed to be on the verge of upgrading, warned him with a faint chill that this definitely was not some nutritional drink. It was the kind of thing that would take half an ordinary person's life if they drank it.

"As they say, shit for rice and piss for vegetables... Isn't this something to go with your meal?"

"Can you say something that actually makes food sound appetizing?"

"Fine. Simply put, it probably contains some border substances and mineral toxins left over from the original extraction... Ah, don't worry. It's been diluted to a safe level where an Ordinary Person would only be paralyzed after drinking it. If you drink it, it might dissolve a small amount of muscle and do some damage to your cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems."

"...Would I drink something like this only if I thought I'd lived too long?"

"Destruction before creation, you know. Yesterday, I discovered that after you went through that beating... Ahem, that training, the stimulation to your subconscious actually accelerated your growth considerably. It proves that at your current stage, pressure and damage can speed up your absorption rate... After all, the essence of anaerobic exercise is tearing muscle fibers and waiting for them to grow back."

As she spoke, Crow pointed at the measuring tape on the table. "If you don't believe me, measure your height yourself."

A minute later, Huai Shi stared at the markings on the tape in shock.

One meter eighty?

The last time he measured himself barefoot, he had only been one meter seventy-seven. In other words, he had grown three centimeters in just two days?

"It's not only your height. Your weight, body fat, and blood have changed too, but there's no lab equipment here, so you can't see it. After about two weeks, your height will probably stabilize. Then comes the detailed strengthening of your bones, nerves, organs, and muscles, until you reach the theoretical limit of ordinary people.

"Depending on your abilities, some aspects may be strengthened even further. The Hand of Confinement covers your hands. By then, the precision and sensitivity of your fingers will improve tremendously again."

After Crow finished speaking, she used her wing to toss over the Book of Destiny and the medicine. "But before that, you should think about how you're going to earn back next week's medicine costs."

Huai Shi's expression stiffened.

The crushing loan robbed him of his smile.

Swiping the card felt great for a moment...

He sighed, pushed open the door, and headed out. Behind him, Crow waved. "Be careful on the way. Remember to take your medicine properly, and get along well with your classmates~"

The hell with getting along well!

"Are you my mom?"

"Eh, so straightforward?" Crow froze for a moment, looking somewhat shy. "If you want to, you can call me Mom. Repeating it twice is a little embarrassing, though."

"..."

Huai Shi nearly tripped on the steps. He turned back to glare at her, then set out on his first day back at school.

.

There was one advantage to being an arts-and-sports student: during the first half of senior year, there were basically no classes. Everyone was rushing through their final sprint before the New Year, after all. What determined an arts-and-sports student's future was not just the college entrance exam, but also the professional examinations and school recruitment exams before it.

Huai Shi only needed to show his face in class before he could slack off in the music room and practice the cello. He only had to appear occasionally during evening self-study to check in. It was practically complete freedom.

Others might sign up for cram courses outside school, but cheap old Huai Shi would never pay tens of thousands in tutoring fees for just three months.

He would do anything to save money!

Besides, he had already passed ABRSM Grade 8. Next month, he only needed to go to Jinling for the elementary professional exam. Why would he burn money like that?

Over all these years, he had always developed quietly and kept his head down whenever he could. But when it came to the cello, he had never feared anything.

Even now that he had become an Ascender, he had not given up his dream of finding a respectable job as a musician through the cello.

Conquering the world? A harem of beauties?

Compared to those things, he hoped that one day, in his lifetime, he could have a place of his own in Vienna's Golden Hall.

Thinking of that, he suddenly hesitated and tapped the cello case on his back. Should he cut down Crow's shopping list first, save some money, and replace his cello?

It did not necessarily have to be a masterwork worth hundreds of thousands or millions, but it would be nice to say goodbye to factory-made instruments from now on.

Lost in random thoughts, he heard two familiar voices ahead.

"Dad, this is far enough. The other students will laugh at me if they see you."

"Why would anyone laugh at a father taking his daughter to school?" A middle-aged man's helpless voice came through, full of affection. "Do you still have enough spending money? I'll be working overtime these next few days. Should I give you some more?"

"Mom already gave me some. Besides, there's nothing much to spend money on at school."

"What she gives you is what she gives you. What Dad gives you is what Dad gives you. Take it, take it..."

It sounded like a warm, loving scene between father and daughter.

Except there was something slightly wrong with the two people talking.

Huai Shi's steps halted. Instinctively, he wanted to back away, turn around, put some distance between them, and hide behind a utility pole.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

When the girl turned around, she saw him, and her eyes lit up. "Eh? Huai Shi, you're here too? I called you for days, but you never answered..."

Huai Shi froze in place and turned back stiffly.

He saw the girl whose beauty could not be concealed even by East Xia's distinctive idiotic school uniform, as well as Director Fu from the Special Affairs Department beside her, eyes wide.

Then he forced out a smile.

Dear God, you were family? No wonder... You were both surnamed Fu, so why had he never made the connection?

"Ah, long time no see, Class Monitor, and..."

He smiled awkwardly and looked at Director Fu behind her. "Uncle Fu?"

"..."

The middle-aged man stared silently at Huai Shi, his expression calm in a way that was rather terrifying.

Uncle Fu said nothing.

Uncle Fu did not want to talk to you.

Uncle Fu was building up rage.

Uncle Fu wanted to kill you...

Fortunately, Uncle Fu calmed down in the end and forced a "kind" smile onto his old face. "Xiao Yi, is this one of your classmates?"

"Yeah."

Fu Yi raised her hand casually and patted Huai Shi on the shoulder. "Dad, this is the good buddy I always told you about, the one who taught me how to read sheet music. He's amazing at the cello, and he studies pretty well too!"

"Is that so?" Director Fu smiled. "Then you two should get along well."

He was clearly smiling, but his gaze brought to mind a direct shuttle to the East Suburb Crematorium.

Meanwhile, Fu Yi kept praising Huai Shi to her biological father, while Huai Shi only wanted to cover his face like a panda and cry. "It's not me, I didn't..."

"Do you two know each other?"

Fu Yi seemed to have finally noticed something. She tilted her head, and her loosely tied side ponytail swayed.

Huai Shi glanced at Director Fu, whose face clearly said, If you say it, you're dead. After stammering for a long time, he could only say, "Uh... We've met a few times. A few days ago."

"I see."

Fu Yi did not suspect a thing. She believed him!

Seeing that he had such good sense, Director Fu's expression improved slightly. He reached out and patted Huai Shi on the shoulder. "You're a good kid. Study well, understand?"

He put special emphasis on the words "study well."

Huai Shi felt like his shoulder blade was about to be split apart by that old turtle.

With the school gate just ahead, Director Fu stopped and smiled warmly at his daughter. "I'll send you off here. Go on. I need to leave too."

Seeing her classmates waving to her in the distance, Fu Yi nodded. After waving to her father, she ran toward them.

That left Director Fu smiling as he watched his daughter go, along with Huai Shi standing where he was, his shoulder caught in the iron grip of the man's five fingers.

Huai Shi watched her leave with tears in his eyes. Then he turned back to the middle-aged man, whose expression was gradually growing cold, and could only force out a weak smile as he pleaded softly:

"Uncle Fu, gentler. It hurts."

"Uncle Fu" nearly coughed up blood. With a livid expression, he lifted the hem of his coat and showed Huai Shi his holster. Huai Shi promptly shut up and awaited judgment.

After a long while, Uncle Fu finally caught his breath and asked:

"Are you close with my daughter?"

"Not close! Not close at all!" Huai Shi shook his little head like a rattle drum. "We've only met a few times..."

"Exactly how many is a few? Once or twice?"

Director Fu was not buying that act. After all these years, what kind of tricks had he not seen? Young Ascenders like Huai Shi were inherently destabilizing factors in society. At fifteen or sixteen, once their hormones flared up, they were like wild dogs. Who knew when they might start raping, kidnapping, and looting?

Especially since Huai Shi already had yesterday's record. How could he feel at ease letting his daughter attend the same school as such a dangerous element? Ever since he had looked through Huai Shi's file, he had wanted to transfer him away.

"Kid, tell me honestly—" His hand rested on the grip of his pistol as he stared fixedly at Huai Shi. "What exactly is your relationship with my daughter?"

What relationship could it be?

A pure power-leveling relationship!

Your daughter only knows how to throw money at games. She can only reach Diamond because of me!

What else could Huai Shi say? He could not exactly say that they had always gotten along well, and that during the last school arts performance, they had even put on a joint act together—one playing the cello and the other singing opera, right?

Come to think of it, the performance had been pretty good!

If he said that, it would only prove that Uncle Fu was an unqualified parent. He had not even come to watch his own daughter perform!

And for rehearsal, the two of them had been alone in the music room during several evening self-study sessions... If Huai Shi had wanted to, something could have happened long ago, okay!

But if this daughter-obsessed man found out, he would definitely shoot him dead in the street, right?

Thinking of that, Huai Shi could not help wanting to praise her:

Uncle, your daughter is really pretty!