Human Hearts

The video was only twenty seconds long, yet its content was explosively shocking, carrying a powerful impact.

Shen Yue was stunned senseless. It was his first time seeing such a real and brutal battle, and what shocked him even more was that the protagonist was actually his best friend, Gao Wu.

When he saw the final few lines of text in the video, Shen Yue suddenly understood. No wonder Gao Wu had vanished—he had been detained by the Public Security Bureau.

As a good kid, Shen Yue felt that the Public Security Bureau had done nothing wrong. Gao Wu had used a sword to chop someone into two pieces. That was exceedingly brutal!

No matter how justified such an act might have been, it had to be thoroughly investigated.

But then he felt something was off. Gao Wu was his best friend, and now his best friend was being wrongfully accused of intentional murder. He had to speak up for him!

From a technical perspective, the video editing was simple and crude, and the final line of text lacked any real power to stir people up. Fortunately, it had made the matter clear enough.

Looking at the video uploader again, it was a new account. The other party had merely used Gao Wu's alt account to forward it to him.

Kuaiyin also had a dedicated Martial Artist battle channel, accessible only to adults. It contained some combat videos, but at worst they showed broken bones and torn tendons—no one died.

This video was different. Even with the mosaic censorship, its brutality and bloodiness could not possibly be concealed.

For it to pass review and be posted directly on Kuaiyin, the video's creator had considerable influence!

Under normal circumstances, Shen Yue would not have forwarded such a video. The content was sensitive, and it would be very easy to get his account banned.

Forwarding it would not bring much traffic revenue, while the risk was high and the reward low. There was no need to do it at all.

But this video was clearly building momentum for Gao Wu and putting pressure on the Public Security Bureau. He had to forward it.

He also had access to Gao Wu's main account, which posted training videos every day. Thanks to Gao Wu's outstanding performance in the Middle School Martial Arts League and the high quality of the videos, it had already accumulated more than two hundred thousand followers.

Shen Yue considered it for a moment, then gave up on forwarding it through Gao Wu's account. Doing so could easily trigger all kinds of problems and get the account banned.

Running an account was not easy. Gao Wu's main account should not be risked.

Though Shen Yue's account only had several tens of thousands of followers, most of them were Dongjiang students. Once he posted the video, it would immediately ignite public opinion across Dongjiang...

No sooner had Shen Yue posted the video than several classmates following him saw it.

The moment they opened it, the students were so shocked that they cursed aloud, then quickly forwarded it. Within minutes, the video spread through Dongjiang's middle school students like a virus.

As the best player of the match, Yu Rulong stood before the cameras to receive his trophy and be interviewed by reporters, basking in boundless glory.

Not far away, Huang Long and the other No. 9 Middle School Martial Arts Team members watched on. Every one of them wore a dejected expression, heads hanging low. Their coach, Huang Hai, remained calm, as though he did not care about this crushing defeat in the slightest.

"It's all Gao Wu's fault. He made us lose so much face." The more Huang Long thought about it, the angrier he became. He cursed indignantly, "He acts so damn smug every day, but when it mattered, he dropped the ball. He didn't even dare show his face. What a fucking useless piece of trash!"

"He's always acting all cool. It's fucking disgusting..."

"What urgent business could he possibly have? He didn't even leave a word? What fucking garbage!"

The other Martial Arts Team members all chimed in. They had lost so miserably on an official livestream, and their hearts were full of resentment. With someone taking the lead in cursing, and Gao Wu absent, they felt no pressure at all letting loose.

Zhou Yi did not like Gao Wu, and he was also resentful that Gao Wu had not come to compete. But he disdained talking behind someone's back, and he looked down even more on the ugly faces of these people doing exactly that.

If Gao Wu had been there, these guys who were cursing so merrily would have behaved like grandsons. Even if they had a fart in their stomachs, they would have had to hold it in.

He had barely taken out his phone and opened it when he found several people in the class group @-ing him. A video had already been reposted several times in the group, followed by a neat row of identical "Holy shit!"

Curious, he opened the video. After watching it, he could not help cursing too.

Seeing Huang Long cursing so viciously, Zhou Yi truly could not stand it any longer. He handed his phone over to Huang Long. "Gao Wu didn't come because something major happened to him."

"What the hell could happen to him..." Huang Long was even more disdainful. He casually took the phone and opened the video, while several other Martial Arts Team members curiously crowded their heads together to look.

Zhou Yi quietly watched from the side. Before twenty seconds had passed, several Martial Arts Team members simultaneously changed color and blurted out curses.

Huang Long, at the head of the group, did not curse. His mouth merely gaped wide open, and his terrified expression was almost comical.

Huang Long quickly came back to his senses, but his face remained extremely ugly. No matter how formidable Gao Wu was in the ring, it had ultimately only been an ordinary martial arts match.

Yet in the video, Gao Wu had cut his opponent into two pieces with one sword strike. The ruthlessness and decisiveness of that strike were simply terrifying. Huang Long had truly been frightened.

When Huang Long looked up and saw the strange expressions on his companions' faces, he knew he had lost his composure. He said dryly, "I never realized Gao Wu was this ruthless!"

Several companions felt those words were right on the mark. Gao Wu was warm and cheerful, always smiling at everyone and happy to help others. None of them had realized that this kid could be so vicious and so ruthless.

They had cursed loudly just moments ago, and now they all felt somewhat guilty.

Yu Rulong, holding his trophy, happened to look up and spot Huang Long and the others with their uneasy expressions. He raised the trophy in his hand and gestured at them. No. 9 Middle School's Martial Arts Team was truly weak; even winning had not given him much sense of achievement.

Only when he saw Huang Long and the others' ugly expressions did Yu Rulong become somewhat interested. These kids were both bad at fighting and unable to accept defeat. He happened to enjoy putting people like that in their place.

Song Minglin and Yang Ru laughed heartily from the side. They both found those No. 9 Middle School guys rather amusing.

With his companions supporting him, Yu Rulong became even more pleased with himself. He wagged a finger at Huang Long and the others. "Being weak can be fixed with training. Cowards can train forever and still be cowards!"

The No. 9 Middle School Martial Arts Team members were all furious. It was one thing for this guy to win, but he even had the nerve to mock them.

Holding his phone, Huang Long strode over and said loudly, "If Gao Wu hadn't had something to deal with and missed the match, would it be your turn to act so arrogant?"

"Gao Wu didn't miss it because he had something to deal with. He wet his pants from fear and could only stay home washing them..." Song Minglin mocked.

"Watch your fucking mouth." Huang Long did not like Gao Wu, but he hated this group from First Middle School, with their noses held high in the air, even more.

He shoved the phone at Song Minglin. "Watch it before you speak!"

"Tch..."

Song Minglin sneered and casually opened the video. Twenty seconds later, the mocking smile on his face froze solid.

Seeing that Song Minglin's expression was off, Yang Ru and Yu Rulong leaned over and watched the video as well. Then both their faces changed drastically, and Yu Rulong blurted out a curse.

Han Yang found it a little strange. His teammates could be childish at times, but they were not usually so jumpy.

"Second Brother, hurry and watch this video..." Yang Ru hurriedly handed the phone to Han Yang. Han Yang fell silent after watching it.

That sword strike had truly been terrifying! Even more terrifying was the strength and decisiveness Gao Wu had displayed, stirring awe in people's hearts.

Having achieved his goal, Huang Long took back his phone and smugly told Yu Rulong and the others, "You got lucky today!"

The words were grating, but Yu Rulong and the others had no mood to argue with Huang Long. That twenty-second video had genuinely stunned all of them.

As middle school students, they had fought in plenty of league matches, but they had never experienced a real battle, much less one so brutal.

First Middle School's mid-sized bus slowly drove out through No. 9 Middle School's gates, but the atmosphere inside was exceptionally gloomy. The Martial Arts Team members all wore grim expressions, utterly devoid of the joy of victory.

It was past five in the afternoon, and the sky had already darkened. Buildings on both sides of the road had lit up. The bus sped up, and the lights outside flickered between bright and dim, casting shifting shadows over the passengers' faces.

After a long silence, Yang Ru could no longer hold back. She asked the mature and glamorous Song Yunhui beside her, "Coach, what level was Gao Wu's sword strike?"

Song Yunhui noticed that everyone was in low spirits, so she simply opened her phone, played the video, and explained it to them. "Look at this strike from the man in black. The sword whistle was piercing, and the speed was extremely fast. That proves his swinging force should have reached between 1,700 and 1,800 kilograms.

"With such a fierce sword momentum, Gao Wu still relied on his sword's sharpness to meet it head-on. It was precisely because the other party's strength was too great that Gao Wu was able to sever his sword in one strike.

"Then he swung his sword backhanded. That was the Breaking the Waves stance of the Dragon-Roaming Sword, which was nothing too difficult. The man in black was clearly not thinking straight, and he counterattacked with his broken sword. Life and death were decided in an instant."

Song Yunhui said with some feeling, "Gao Wu was inferior to the man in black in every aspect, but at that critical moment, he remained extremely calm. In the shortest possible time, he thought of using the sharpness of his sword to break the enemy. Even if his sword technique was merely average, his response could be called brilliant. It also showed that he possessed tremendous talent for combat!

"What was truly remarkable was that he dared to meet the sword head-on and dared to strike down and kill his enemy. That courage and decisive temperament—he truly was a born warrior..."

Han Yang said somewhat regretfully, "It's a pity I didn't get to exchange moves with him today. There probably won't be any chance in the future, either."

Yang Ru added, "That guy's caught up in a homicide case. Who knows when he'll be released!"

The others all nodded in agreement. Their families were all well-off, but they all knew that cases involving human lives were the most troublesome.

The Alliance had always maintained strict controls in this regard. Only Demon God Believers and wanted criminals officially identified by the authorities were not protected by the law. The man who had been killed looked like a Demon God Believer, but he only looked like one—the exact circumstances were still hard to determine.

Gao Wu's family background was nothing special, but even if they encountered such a matter, it would be extremely, extremely troublesome. It would be absolutely impossible to get away easily.

"Heh..."

Song Yunhui smiled. Yang Ru and the others were still too naive. The fact that the video could spread so widely and garner over a hundred million views in just a few hours meant that someone was undoubtedly fanning the flames behind the scenes.

With such enormous public pressure, and with Gao Wu not at fault, the Public Security Bureau would certainly release him very soon in order to quell the uproar...