The Rite: Your Epitaph Can Say It Was Entirely Their Fault

At seven o'clock the next morning, on the football pitch of the Great Beck Stadium, Teacher Xue Ming asked the students to put on basic protective gear in preparation for teaching the first big lesson.

The previous mental cultivation exercises were just the beginning. These little ones need to undergo physical testing to understand their own elemental composition. These things can be easily determined with the calculation of Polarized Sextant. Today, however, we'll be discussing criminal law. But before that, there's one more thing to explain.

Xue Ming: "A new transfer student is joining our class today."

As she said this, Meteor pushed Strong Bro into the line of children.

"--Isn't this inappropriate?" Liu Weiqiang looked embarrassed, wearing protective gear like the other students, and his awkwardness in fiddling with his skirt armor and groin protector was quite embarrassing.

Xue Ming said to Strong Bro, "Go to the last seat in the second row and stand next to Liu Xiaomin."

Strong Bro: "This"

When the father came to his daughter's side, Xiao Min pursed her lips, a strange smile on her face.

Meteor, shaking his head and grinning, said, "To regain your manly prowess, start by stomping on weaklings! Hey, Strong Bro, don't be shy—you'll regret it later."

At the time, Liu Weiqiang didn't quite understand what "[you'll suffer later]" meant.

It wasn't until he saw the five astral hybrids in his class casting kind and friendly glances at him that he seemed to understand Teacher Xue Ming's arrangement.

"I'm going to learn knightly combat techniques with these children?"

Xue Ming bluntly explained his intentions, "Protect your daughter, don't let her get hurt. The other students have all found good friends when they were assigned dorm rooms. Your family's financial situation is average, and Xiao Min has also triggered the passive skill of not fitting in. Our course involves a lot of physical collisions and scuffles that can cause injuries—as a waiter, you should know some skills to protect your employers."

"Hey! These are the kids." Strong Bro laughed, "You assigned me here so I could bully them?"

Xue Ming continued, "A month from now, all classes in the eighth grade, students aged thirteen to twenty-one, will be learning knight combat skills."

Strong Bro immediately stopped laughing; upon hearing this answer, he found it difficult to maintain his composure.

Given the developmental pace of children in the underground world, Hasben joined the logistics department of the Guangling Zhixi warband at the age of sixteen, loading bullets and carrying machine guns, and occasionally went to fight disaster beasts with his good older brothers.

The top students studying at Galahad are all incredibly strong. If a 21-year-old student from the eighth grade meets Strong Bro, the contest will be a one-sided crushing defeat; he'll become a human punching bag.

Strong Bro quickly said, "No! No, no, no me!"

Meteor whispered, "Your daughter is listening."

Xue Ming shouted loudly, "Your little sister Hong is watching!"

Looking up towards the southwest corner of the stadium, in the empty stands, Red Sister sat with a tray of food and a bottle of wine, gazing into the distance.

An extremely terrifying psychological pressure enveloped Strong Bro.

--That was the sense of responsibility of being a father, and the strong sense of self-esteem when facing the scrutiny of someone he admired.

Beads of cold sweat the size of soybeans instantly appeared on Qiang Strong Bro's forehead, and his expression changed from laughing and joking to looking as if facing a formidable enemy, his brows furrowed and his mind focused.

"Gunsmith, are you serious?"

Xue Ming: "I want you to learn knightly combat techniques from me, to defeat every challenger in the entire Galahad school year. Red Sister Hong indirectly but sincerely told me about this request, only asking that I complete it. You are forty-two years old this year, and your physical attributes have long passed their prime—"

Strong Bro nodded slightly, the sticky sweat immediately making the sponge leather helmet cling tightly to his cheeks, but he dared not look up, only wanting to open his eyes wide, like he used to hunt, and lock his gaze into the gunsmith's eyes.

Xue Ming continued, "--Nevertheless, I still have faith in you. I want to prove to the leaders of the Academic Affairs Office and the Dean that the knightly combat skills I teach are effective and easy to understand. Regardless of age, they can be used to protect oneself, and they are very practical skills even when traveling to various cities in the underground world."

Meteor brought over a large bronze gong, like the opening bell of a ring, which the Iron Knight struck violently.

"Let the class begin!"

"In the last class [when we were supposed to be aware of our own strength], we talked about recognizing our own capabilities." Xue Ming pulled Meteor over and took off Meteor's shirt on the freezing lawn. "That was just pre-class assignment. The Polarized Sextant will give us a vague assessment of our combat skill level."

From E to S and even beyond the specifications, this is the proof of strength awarded by Ming De to Homo sapiens.

However, under Xue Ming's meticulous research, this [combat skill] will be subdivided into different branches. He turned these things into a detailed teaching material based on the idea of the [Six Arts of a Gentleman] that Director Simmons casually mentioned.

"We understand our own muscle exertion, physical endurance, and the body's ability to withstand blows. We also understand the capacity to tolerate pain, the ability to observe our own injuries, the strength of our fighting spirit, the ability to use tools and equipment, the determination and courage to destroy the enemy, and other related factors. Today's lesson will teach [etiquette]—that is, the etiquette required before formally engaging the enemy in combat."

The boy who had been standing in the back row, grinning, immediately stepped forward.

--This kid is the tough guy who sat in the back row of the classroom by the window and caught Xue Ming's chalk with his bare hands.

"Teacher! Why bother with etiquette when dealing with bad things?"

Xue Ming patted Liuxing's pectoral muscles. "Good question!"

He then opened the roster and called out the boys' real names.

"Shao Jinghao!"

"I'm here!" Xiao Hao stepped forward, brushing aside the stray hairs on his forehead with a nonchalant expression.

Xue Ming pushed A Xing forward. "I'm asking you, if you encountered an enemy like Assistant Instructor Meteor, what would you do?"

Xiao Hao rubbed his hands together, shaking his head from side to side to loosen the muscles in his neck. "Of course, it's time to fight!"

He was 20 centimeters shorter than A Xing, standing at 175 centimeters. He had a lot of muscle, Polarized Sextant gave him a grade of [B], indicating that he possessed excellent physical qualities.

Xue Ming gently waved his hand, as if loosening A Xing's dog leash, and flicked his palm forward.

A Xing immediately opened his arms, and in an instant, steam rose from his arms. His body fat percentage was very low, and the heat generated by the tightness and congestion of his muscles caused his sweat to be released along with pheromones.

His arms and chest turned bright red, and then his hunched body bulged out with his latissimus dorsi muscles, like a giant wolf standing up, about to reach out and paw at Xiao Hao's throat!

His adrenaline surged, and the blood vessels on his skin expanded along the muscle lines, turning into a complex network of twisted, bulging, and relaxing veins. Just a few steps forward, and the footprints he left on the grass left the students speechless.

A few junior girls were initially captivated by Meteor's tall and muscular physique as he undressed, but the moment this wolf entered battle stance and fully awakened his muscles, the girls instinctively covered their mouths, smelled the pungent, Hot Wind, and instinctively hid behind their companions.

When Xiao Hao saw the teaching assistant's fierce expression, his crooked-mouthed dragon king look turned into a pitiful one, and the corners of his mouth drooped involuntarily, as if he had suffered a great insult but could not find an adult to stand up for him. The profound sense of powerlessness made his legs go weak, and he dodged to the left and right, only to see the teaching assistant's two-meter arm span, almost like a city wall rushing towards him.

"No, no, no, no! I don't want to fight him! I don't want to!"

Meteor braked immediately, and his fierce appearance returned to normal with each breath. He tossed his sweaty hair, like a big dog that had just finished a walk, and returned to Teacher Xue Ming's side.

Xue Ming: "He destroyed your fighting spirit without even touching you."

Xiao Hao: "That's because he's too strong. He's so tall."

Xue Ming: "That's not what you were thinking just now."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hao suddenly realized—

--Yes, Gunsmith is right.

That's not what I was thinking just now. Facing this 195cm tall enemy, I might have still harbored a sliver of hope, mistakenly believing that I could hold my own for a few moves and maybe even defeat him. Even subduing him and gaining some advantage, leaving a few wounds on Assistant Instructor Meteor, would be something to brag about.

But when Assistant Teacher Meteor opened her arms and walked towards me—

--I truly have no intention of being his enemy anymore.

Thinking of this, Shao Jinghao's eyes sometimes showed doubt, sometimes realization, and sometimes a deep curiosity.

"How did he do that? How did Gunsmith Instructor and Meteor Teaching Assistant manage to do it?"

"This is what I was saying earlier: when facing an enemy, you must switch to a polite posture." Xue Ming helped A Xing put on his pajamas and explained to the students, "What Meteor just demonstrated to you was muscle control. Accompanied by intense anger, the adrenaline switch is turned on—allowing the core and limbs to be in optimal power output."

He pointed to A Xing's upper arm and forearm.

"Muscles will swell to a full size due to increased blood flow, making the body appear larger."

He patted Meteor's lower abdomen and side waist.

"The same applies to the latissimus dorsi and core muscles. Muscles are 95% water, which raises the heart rate and increases blood flow. The body releases pheromones along with anger. These scents and images, combined with the complete dynamic of walking towards you, create a kind of mimicry."

Xue Ming patted Liuxing's face, grabbed Liuxing's head, and made a fierce expression.

"His eyes never leave your brow. Your center of consciousness is in the thalamus. Even though your eyes are locked, you have a feeling of being locked on because he is always looking at your [command center]—this is a ritual of displaying force."

Xiao Hao: "Why am I afraid to back down?"

Xue Ming then smoothed down Liuxing's expression and patiently explained.

"Because you don't know his background."

Tap the meteor's thighs and calves.

"You don't know his stride length, you don't know the force he exerts in his thighs, you don't know his initial speed."

Tap the meteor's waist and abdomen.

"You don't know how strong the torque and horsepower of his core engine are; it's difficult to know the destructive power of an opponent just by looking at them."

The two arms that struck the meteor.

"You're intimidated by those arms because they emit heat in cold weather. We can release that same mist during just two warm-up quarters of a basketball game, but when that mist comes out of his arms, it looks like a butterfly flapping its wings. The sudden increase in arm size, along with the bright red skin and the swirling white mist, makes him appear even stronger. It's a visual illusion—a kind of optical illusion. There are many creatures in nature that disguise themselves as predators. For example, butterfly larvae use Miller's mimicry to avoid being pecked by birds."

"Oh! It's just bluffing." Young Xiao Hao was still admiring the graceful demeanor displayed by Assistant Coach Meteor.

The elderly Daniel and Kaycee, along with Strong Bro, had already taken out their notebooks and were writing and drawing, their pens practically spitting fire.

Xiao Hao frowned, then asked, "Why do you seem so approachable, gunsmith?"

Xue Ming gave a kind smile.

"Then we need to return to the basic function of etiquette lessons—the first thing we do when we encounter an opponent is not to think about how to attack, but to gather information."

Meteor immediately followed and explained to the eager-to-learn Xiao Hao, "I'm hunching over to get closer to you because from a distance, I can't see what you look like or what weapons you have. As for how powerful you are, I'll have to touch you with my arm to find out—before that, I'll use Miller's Mimicry to intimidate you. Unless you're a completely insane battle maniac who's lost his mind, you won't go all out in the first round. We have a gradual, probing process; that's the etiquette of dueling."

As he said this, A Xing chuckled and scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

"I'm sorry I startled you! But I think that coming in with a 'I'm not someone to mess with' attitude right away is a sign of respect for the other party in the duel. After all that, in the end, as the gunsmith said, I'm just gathering information."

The teaching assistant put his arm around the gunsmith teacher, glanced sideways at his good friend, and then explained to the children.

"As for the gunsmith teacher, he looks ordinary, not very tall, and not very bright. This is an offensive mimicry."

In nature, aggressive mimicry refers to the behavior of imitating other organisms to facilitate approaching the target of an attack. For example, predators mimic their prey, and parasites mimic their hosts in order to get close to them.

For example, mantises mimic flowers to better approach their prey.

This kind of mimicry warfare philosophy has already been demonstrated in Xue Ming's battles against the Rose Sect and the Little Brotherhood. It is also for the purpose of gathering information; the closer one is to the target and the longer one stays there, the easier it is to find the opponent's Gate of Death.

"You might think I'm easy to get along with, but judging from my physique, I'm not very tall, and my muscles are hidden by my clothes; my trapezius and latissimus dorsi muscles are all concealed within my clothing," Xue Ming continued. "If I didn't have a few teachers vouch for me, I'm afraid you wouldn't believe that I killed so many calamity beasts."

The students nodded in agreement, feeling that the gunsmith teacher had a certain inexplicable approachability.

Just like ordinary passengers rushing about everywhere, they might talk to these children about food, hotels, local customs at various stations, and trivial matters of daily life, but they would never associate them with the King of Hell.

Xue Ming looks too frail--

--Compared to these overnourished little darlings, the gunsmith teacher's height is only average among the girls.

When he's not speaking, he has a cool and solemn air about him, but as soon as he opens his mouth, it's like a sweet fragrance, a gentle tone that's so soothing it's almost hypnotic, and his slow and deliberate manner gives people a warm feeling.

Moreover, he's very good-looking; his eyes alone make him impossible to dislike.

There are many beautiful eyes in nature, but most of them belong to carnivores. Their eyes are large and bright, located at the front of their skulls, and are used to calculate distances and lock onto targets. Homo sapiens' aesthetic sense may mistakenly perceive such eyes as gentle and beautiful.

"Now let's move on to the next step," Xue Ming said to Xiao Hao. "Come up here, I need to borrow your body to demonstrate for the other students."

Xiao Hao nodded blankly, and without any hesitation, walked to the gunsmith teacher's side.

Even as Xue Ming's smooth white gloves touched Xiao Hao's Vital Point spot, he still felt no discomfort.

Xue Ming: "This is the jawbone. Seventy pounds of force can trigger Trigeminal Nerve. Any stronger force can cause the brain to collide with the inner wall of the skull, creating a shock. This can affect the Fourth Ventricle, Vagus Nerve, larynx, neck, and other parts of the brain, causing convulsions and paralysis, vomiting, palpitations, and tracheal obstruction, which could be fatal."

A gentle punch--

Xiao Hao fainted on the spot.

Xue Ming then picked up Hao Bro, grabbing his hair like she was carrying a rabbit.

"Without timely rescue, without Universal Elixir, and without medical assistance, the aftereffects of the fainting spell would cause him amnesia, irreversible brain damage, and respiratory shock and cardiac arrest could be fatal. However, the chance of killing an enemy with a single punch is very rare. His elemental constitution is good, so he won't die. If we did this in our daily lives, in terms of Hui Stone Currency, we would have to pay more than 30,000 in damages—and we might go to jail, which, according to the laws of the Nine Realms, is a minimum of three years."

There was no sound from the student group anymore.

Daniel stared with his mouth agape, and his pen stopped moving.

The A Qiang and daughter were in the same boat, watching the gunsmith teacher brutally beating the students, not knowing what to do.

Xue Ming performed first aid on Xiao Hao and woke him up.

"--This is the xiphoid process, the center of the thoracic spine, the location of the Solar Plexus, where many neurons of organs are located. If struck hard..."

Strong Bro shouted, "No, no, no! That's enough! Gunsmith teacher! I know!"

Xue Ming didn't continue attacking Xiao Hao; instead, he pushed the still-shaken Hao Bro back into the team.

"At least 120,000 yuan in compensation, plus funeral expenses, it will be around 200,000 yuan, and there's a possibility of the death penalty—you have to understand that in this situation, our own survival is more important than anything else. If it's an extremely serious and high-intensity combat situation, we need to know the location of these fatal weaknesses."

He pulled A Xing over and showed the students, one by one, the results of different punches and kicks striking different parts of the body, the amount of compensation required, the responsibilities to be borne, and the sentences to be handed down.

Then he took out a knife and demonstrated the texture of A Xing's body and the location of his organs, showing how to cut into major blood vessels, how to avoid bones and damage fascia to slow down the enemy's movement, and so on.

This lesson lasted almost four hours.

--Not a single punch or kick was thrown.

Strong Bro finally understood: the protective gear these students wore was mostly used by the gunsmith instructors to embolden the children.

When explaining the results of bare-handed attacks at the beginning, the gunsmith would also mention the possibility of execution. Later, when simulating the results of attacks with different knife sizes, clubs, and bullet calibers, the gunsmith would mostly tell the students that in such cases, there was no need for a sentence; they could just go straight to the execution ground and have a good meal.

This is what Xue Ming by "etiquette class".

Towards the end of the course, Strong Bro huddled to one side, trembling, and smoked.

He heard the gunsmith nearby giving earnest and patient advice.

"Life is like driving a car. We don't strive to be the fastest, but we must be steady—what does 'steady' mean?"

"Criminals are just like hit-and-run drivers; they don't care how many people they kill or how many cars they damage, and they don't care about traffic laws."

"We must understand which angle to drive from to avoid these criminals. If we can't avoid them, we have to find a way to confront them head-on."

"I've compiled a reading list using medical books about the weaknesses of the human body, including the different physiological structures of men and women, as well as 'The Great Rift of All Things' as supplementary teaching materials. You can take a look if you're interested."

"As for this 'stability,' let me explain it again: it means that even in the worst-case scenario, after recognizing the situation, recognizing yourself, recognizing the enemy, you should think about your parents and the people you care about most."

"They're going to lose their children, their loved ones, and the people you cherish most are going to say goodbye to you—that's when your fighting spirit is at its strongest. Don't think about sentencing, because your epitaph absolutely cannot say '[The other party is fully responsible]'. On this one-way street of life, what you're losing is your life."

As soon as Strong Bro looked up, he saw Red Sister in the distance bowing slightly, smiling and clapping gently with the people on the lawn.

Xiao Min is a very sensible girl; she immediately went to her father's side and whispered something.

"This is Mertensian Mimicry, Dad! Don't give up! She's not poisonous!"

This mimicry refers to the similar physical characteristics of highly venomous snakes and less venomous snakes. Predators bitten by highly venomous snakes usually don't have a chance to learn from this. Only individuals bitten by less venomous snakes that look similar will actively avoid these snakes.

Xiao Min squinted, her expression strange, and nudged her father's armpit.

"Aunt Hong is just teasing you! She wants to put some pressure on you!"

Strong Bro patted his daughter's head, stubbed out his cigarette, straightened up, and smiled knowingly, looking radiant.

"This woman"