# Class Time

Men and women getting it on?? Seriously?? After reading the description of the patrol god above, Xiao Ran nearly bit his tongue. He'd been expecting an evil god like last time. With his Suturing Technique, why not start by chopping himself into a thousand pieces? And now you were telling him it was the God of Pleasure this time?? Could he boost his combat power just by doing naughty things?? Xiao Ran was reading intently when he heard an engine rumbling behind him. "Huh, is Driver Brother back?" When Xiao Ran turned around, he saw a bus—but its number wasn't 404. It was 0000. "Looks like there's more than one of these buses. So..." A thought stirred in Xiao Ran's mind. Could he run into other newcomers in this Mystery City? "Pfft..." The bus pulled up beside the stop sign. Before long, Xiao Ran watched a boy in a short-sleeved shirt get off. He looked even younger than Xiao Ran, wore round glasses, and had a scholarly air. He was clearly a student. The boy stepped off the bus and looked toward Xiao Ran, seeming surprised that someone had arrived before him. After hesitating for two seconds, he walked over to Xiao Ran. "Pickled cabbage, pickled cabbage, I'm Jiu Hua!" "Black Cat, Black Cat, I'm White Cat." Xiao Ran replied calmly. It was a way for newcomers to greet one another. He didn't know when it had become popular, but he'd read about it in Xue Hongling's memories. But how had this boy learned it? There was no way to know. One thing was certain, though: the boy probably wasn't a novice like him. At the very least, he was on the same level as Xue Hongling. The boy then took out his Student ID and read it carefully. His smile grew brighter and brighter. "So it's Pleasure this time. This is... simply wonderful." He turned to Xiao Ran. "Big Brother White Cat, I'm in Class 2015. What about you?" "2017!" "I see." The boy nodded thoughtfully, then said with some regret, "A new class, huh? Looks like you've never been here before, Big Brother White Cat." Xiao Ran's heart skipped a beat at that. From the boy's tone, it seemed he'd been here before. And the boy's class number seemed to be higher than his. "Here's a tip, Big Brother. If you have the money, you'd better get a single dorm room." As he spoke, the boy walked toward the school gate without looking back. A lecherous grin spread across his face. "Here I come, pretty underclassmen!" Watching the boy's retreating figure, Xiao Ran couldn't help but smile wryly. He'd clearly underestimated this Mystery City. This campus probably wasn't a one-time Mystery City like Niujia Slope. If that was the case, someone might have been coming here and making a life for themselves for quite some time. With that thought, Xiao Ran stopped standing around. He could think about it all he wanted, but it was better to go in and see for himself. An old man stood at the gatehouse just inside the school entrance. He held a baton against his waist, one arm folded across his chest, his eyes nearly shut. When he sensed someone approaching, he opened them just a crack and glanced at the Student ID hanging on Xiao Ran's chest, then closed them again. Xiao Ran glanced at the baton in the old man's hand. It emanated a chilly aura. Looking closer, he could see wisps of faint black mist drifting off it now and then. It was clearly a Cursed Object, much like Driver Brother's white gloves. The school's teaching building was large and new, with six floors. Since the boy had said he was in a new class, Xiao Ran's classroom should be on the first floor. "Ring-ring-ring..." Xiao Ran had only just reached the classroom on the first floor when he heard the school bell ringing in the distance. He turned around and saw students streaming over from the dormitories. They jostled to get ahead, afraid of falling even one step behind. "Are these kids all such eager students?" Just as Xiao Ran was stunned by the enormous crowd, he noticed a few students near the back, unable to outrun their classmates, pulling slingshots or knives from their pockets and attacking those around them. Some even grabbed bricks, smashing anyone who got in their way. Well, this sure was a fiery school life. Xiao Ran's mouth twitched. He looked up and spotted the 2017 classroom sign not far away. Without another thought, he walked in, glanced around, and headed straight for a seat at the back near the door. As soon as he sat down, Xiao Ran noticed dried blood smeared across the desk in front of him. That was when he noticed two signs hanging on the classroom wall. The one on the left listed the classroom rules; the one on the right, the school rules.

[Classroom Rules]

Rule 1: Any student called on by the teacher will become the demonstration material for that lesson.

Rule 2: Don't let the teacher catch you cheating, or you'll become special teaching material for the semester.

Rule 3: Be careful of your deskmate.

Urban Legend: If the teacher who comes to class is wearing a white dress, you'd better keep quiet! Otherwise, you'll get the whole class killed.

[School Rules]

Rule 1: You'll receive a Campus Badge for completing each class.

Rule 2: You may complete no more than three classes a day. After that, you must return to the dormitory as soon as possible.

Rule 3: When night falls, be prepared. Hopefully, you'll still be able to attend class as usual tomorrow morning.

Urban Legend: You must sing when you use the restroom. Remember, there are only three restrooms here.

Looking at the rules and urban legends, Xiao Ran couldn't figure out what this school was supposed to teach. He checked the cloak he was wearing and the mourning ring on his finger, then wiped the Black Swan Brooch hidden beneath the cloak. After making sure everything was in order, he felt a little less uneasy. In just that short time, students had continued rushing into the classroom. As soon as they entered, they began fighting over the less obvious seats. There was no doubt that Xiao Ran's seat near the back was a popular spot. Two young men made a beeline for him as soon as they entered. When they saw Xiao Ran sitting there, they drew daggers without a word and stabbed at him. But they were nowhere near his match. Even before the Mystery City, Xiao Ran wouldn't have considered them a threat. Before their daggers could reach him, he kicked the desk. "Crash!!" The desk flew up like a cannonball and smashed into the two men. The force sent them tumbling to the floor. Before they could get up, Xiao Ran had rushed over, snatched the dagger from one of them, and kicked the leader in the face. Seeing this, the other young man grabbed a stool and swung it at Xiao Ran. Xiao Ran easily dodged to the side, clamped a hand around the young man's throat, and slammed him against the wall. "Stab, stab, stab, stab..." He drove the dagger into the young man's waist seven or eight times, cutting a gaping wound through his flank. "Squelch..." In an instant, intestines and all sorts of other things spilled through the cut. Xiao Ran peered closely into the wound, his eyes lighting up. "Just as I thought. They're all corpses!" Back at the school gate, he'd wondered: if his Student ID said he'd died by suicide after jumping from a building, what about all the other students here? Aside from the newcomers, surely none of them were alive. He'd worried they might be evil spirits or something, but things seemed even better than he'd expected. Xiao Ran's lips curled upward. As a Second-rate craftsman, he'd always held life in deep reverence, whether it was a person or a stray cat or dog. He'd never refused to help when he could. But corpses were another matter. Just like a doctor at the hospital: you might feel embarrassed about taking off your pants for an examination. But in a doctor's eyes, from the moment you walk in, you're no longer a person—just a pile of diseased, rotting flesh. The people before him looked like students, and they weren't exactly fresh, but they were undoubtedly flesh-and-blood corpses. Xiao Ran felt no qualms about dealing with them. "Activate, Black Swan!" At Xiao Ran's thought, the [Corpse Stitcher] and [Black Swan Brooch] runes merged. The eyes on the black swan brooch glowed with an eerie red light. "Classmate, how could you be so careless? What if such a big wound gets infected? Let me stitch you up." Xiao Ran spoke with concern, but his actions were anything but gentle. He pressed the young man's head down onto the desk and took out a silver needle, quickly stitching up the wound at his waist. A few students at the back had been about to join the scramble for seats. But after seeing Xiao Ran's swift, decisive moves, they immediately thought better of it. They exchanged glances, then turned and rushed to claim other seats. In just two or three minutes, every seat in the classroom was filled. The air, however, was thick with the stench of blood. Xiao Ran sat down again at an unhurried pace. The young man beside him was the one whose flank he'd gutted and stitched back together. The young man's eyes were unfocused now, and the vicious look he'd had before was gone. Besides a wound almost impossible to see with the naked eye, another curse had appeared on his waist. This was the privilege of the [Black Swan Brooch Stitcher]: Enlistment. A corpse that had been stitched up would become his servant. Maybe because he'd obtained Empty Handed Master, his Suturing Technique had improved again. Stitching was now easier than before, and the post-stitching rating had even reached A grade. That meant the young man would remain his servant for a full six hours. "Ring, ring..." Just then, the bell for class rang outside. The racket outside gradually quieted down. Before long, Xiao Ran heard footsteps going "clack, clack, clack" in the corridor. The classroom door opened, and a woman in a pink dress with a floral print walked in. "Everyone, stand. Good morning, teacher!" "Good morning, students. I'm Teacher Tang, your Chinese teacher." The woman bowed slightly to signal for everyone to sit. Her slender, fair fingers gently nudged the glasses on her nose. She picked up the textbook and flipped through a few pages before looking up, a faint dimple appearing on her face. "Students, today we'll study the Tang poem, Quiet Night Thought." Xiao Ran, sitting in the back row, felt a quiet wave of relief. This lesson seemed even easier than he'd expected. "Follow along with me, and keep up with the rhythm and the movements." Teacher Tang's voice was sweet. As she spoke, the classroom began to feel like a proper lesson. "The moonlight before my bed, I suspect it's frost upon the ground." The students repeated after her in unison: "The moonlight before my bed, I suspect it's frost upon the ground." It was a poem they'd probably studied in elementary school. For Xiao Ran, it couldn't have been easier. But in the next instant, Teacher Tang suddenly grabbed her hair and yanked hard. "Crack!" Her delicate head tore free from her slender neck. She held it high in one hand, yet continued reciting in a soft voice: "I raise my head to gaze at the bright moon..." Xiao Ran's eyes widened in the back row. "Huh???"