Correction of Ayanokoji

"Oh?"

Long Yuan's gaze swept over Xia Mu's back, and he tossed the jacket he had been using for warmth onto the ground. "You seem quite confident, coming here all by yourself?"

"Not exactly."

The smile on Xia Mu's face, bright as dew under the sun, gradually faded. "There is one more spectator."

As if in response to these words, a rustling sound emerged, and the figure of Ayanokoji hidden in the bushes trembled.

That shouldn't be possible; his movements had been so light that no normal person could have detected him.

Only a hunter who had spent years walking through the wilderness would possess such vigilance.

He recalled how Xia Mu had been shooting arrows and catching fish in the water over the past few days; it seemed he did indeed fit the profile of a hunter.

However, he didn't feel too panicked and remained in hiding.

Perhaps he was just trying to bluff?

"A spectator, huh..."

Long Yuan narrowed his eyes. Was it something like a camera or a device to record evidence?

He remembered that every time Xia Mu disrupted his plans, he liked to leave behind a record of the process.

He really was cautious in everything he did.

However, he would never let this so-called evidence leave this place.

He walked slowly toward Xia Mu, a dangerous aura erupting from his body.

"Oh?"

Seeing Xia Mu so calm, Long Yuan became interested.

His smile turned increasingly manic. He had been in plenty of fights, but this was the first time he had seen someone actively seek out a beating.

Once within his striking range, Long Yuan attacked without warning. His whip kick spun through the air like a whirlwind, lashing out toward Xia Mu's body with the ferocity of a starving tiger pouncing on its prey.

Immediately following that, he closed in on Xia Mu with the speed of a gale, his fists raining down on Xia Mu like a torrential storm.

He didn't care what kind of injuries Xia Mu might sustain; winning the fight was the only thing that mattered.

This was the experience he had gained from years of fighting: one must be fast, ruthless, and accurate.

This was how one broke the opponent's psychological defenses first.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!!" Countless iron-like fists hammered down, leaving Long Yuan panting like an ox. He struggled to lift his gaze, and what met his eyes was the calm, indifferent look in Xia Mu's eyes, as still as a lake.

Nani?

He froze for a moment. He had been hitting him for so long that even a dead man should have made a sound; why was Xia Mu showing no reaction at all?

"Long Yuan, you are truly pathetic and pitiable."

Xia Mu had not moved from the very beginning, wanting to see just how strong the violence Long Yuan was so proud of really was.

In reality, he was trash. What he relied on was nothing more than that violent aura, combined with the reckless, life-or-death ferocity he displayed in fights and his accumulated experience, which was why many students feared him.

But against someone with even a few years of martial arts training, he was nothing.

"You..." The smile on Long Yuan's face vanished, and he furrowed his brows.

Before the words could finish, Xia Mu's fist swung out like an arrow released from a bowstring.

His fist was like a cannonball, tearing through the air with a deafening whistle as it broke the sound barrier.

Long Yuan attempted to dodge, his mind having already planned the movement, but his body refused to obey.

With a loud bang, Xia Mu's fist slammed into Long Yuan's body like a heavy hammer.

This single punch was like Mount Tai crushing an egg, sending him flying like a cannonball to crash into the ground, his mind plunged into chaos.

He tried to struggle to his feet to fight back, only to find that his body felt as if it had been put under a spell—limp and devoid of strength, unable to move, let alone stand up.

This punch had too much power; it paralyzed me instantly! Long Yuan reached this conclusion, then struggled to shift his gaze. When he looked at Xia Mu again, his eyes flickered with a mix of monster-like shock and mania.

"You damn brat, are you trying to kill me?"

Even though he had been reduced to this state, Long Yuan remained arrogant. Not only was he not afraid, but he radiated a sense of excited mania.

After all, Xia Mu wouldn't dare kill him.

He was right.

But Xia Mu never intended to defeat Long Yuan solely through physical means.

To truly crush a person, one had to start by destroying them psychologically.

He crouched in front of Long Yuan, his gaze no different from how one would look at a pig or a dog. "Long Yuan, do you think you're particularly clever?"

At first, the corners of Long Yuan's mouth still curled in arrogance, but as Xia Mu spelled out his plan word by word, he could no longer force a smile.

"Signing an agreement with Class A to have them transfer a fixed amount of points to Class C every month, the price being that you must tell Class A the leader information you obtained."

"And you had Ibuki and Kaneda infiltrate Class B and Class D, attempting to find the leaders."

Xia Mu's words were like needles, piercing deep into Long Yuan's heart. Since Xia Mu dared to say it out loud, he must have already prepared a way to counter it.

"Anyway, in the end, you're going to betray Class A and write down the leaders of every single class."

Xia Mu slowly laid out the plan of Long Yuan, "That way, you can instantly gain two hundred class points. It doesn't matter if all twenty students in your class drop out; you're already in the negative, so there's nothing left to deduct."

Using the calmest tone possible, Xia Mu laid out Long Yuan's thoughts with perfect precision, "Even if something goes wrong in the end, it doesn't matter. You signed an agreement with Class A, and they have to pay your class points on a regular basis every month."

"You really know how to exploit the loopholes in this game."

Hearing Xia Mu's words, Long Yuan's pupils shook violently; Xia Mu was practically a tapeworm living inside his own stomach.

"You..."

Long Yuan's brain spun rapidly, "How did you know?"

"Let me guess, was it Ibuki or Kaneda?"

"It's most likely Kaneda. Although Ibuki hates me, she would absolutely never do anything to betray me."

"I still have that much confidence!"

Long Yuan had already started trying to bait Xia Mu into talking, but how could Xia Mu possibly fall for it?

He revealed a punchable expression, "Guess."

"Rest assured," he said, slowly standing up, "your plan will never succeed."

"And this is just the beginning. From now on, every single one of your plans will fail."

Under the moonlight, Xia Mu's gaze shone with a terrifying, chilling light, causing a rare trace of fear to surface in Long Yuan's heart.

Everything Xia Mu said was true.

This aura of confidence was as if he had already calculated the final outcome of the game.

"What are you trying to do?" Long Yuan gritted his teeth, "So, is this the challenge you're issuing me?"

"A challenge?"

Xia Mu smiled, pulled a pocket watch from his sleeve, and began to swing it in front of Long Yuan, "Didn't I tell you? Your days of despair have only just begun. You will encounter even greater despair in the future."

"Don't you like to control others through violence?"

"I wonder what kind of expression you'll have when you realize that everything you've done was completely meaningless. It must be spectacular!"

"You bastard!!"

This time, Long Yuan was truly angry. Flames of rage burned in his eyes, yet at the same time, a sliver of fear clung to him like a shadow, causing his body to tremble involuntarily.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to defend himself or lash out at Xia Mu.

However, as the pendulum in Xia Mu's hand swung, the sound acted like a devil's whisper, piercing his eardrums and reaching straight into his soul. Gradually, his consciousness became like a small boat tossing in a storm, blurring until it finally sank into endless darkness.

"You will forget what happened tonight."

Xia Mu's words were like a decree from a god, and Long Yuan responded subconsciously, "Yes."

"It seems your willpower isn't quite enough, Long Yuan."

Xia Mu looked at the hypnotized Long Yuan and shook his head with a chuckle.

Or perhaps, his own Hypnosis ability was simply too difficult to resist.

Hidden in the bushes, Ayanokoji witnessed the entire process.

His heart, which had been as calm as a still pool of water, began to ripple.

[Mission: Correction of Ayanokoji]

[Current progress: 1%/100%]

[Reward: 3 Skill Point]