The Heart's Cry and the Bloody Case

Douluo Continent.

Heaven Dou Empire, Fasinuo Province, Nuoding City.

In the cafeteria of Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, Lin Yi stared at the dark, rock-hard object in his hand, lost in deep thought.

[Is this thing a steamed bun or a stone? I'm only six years old, and this is what you're feeding me?]

Tang San, who was quietly gnawing on a bun in the corner of the cafeteria, suddenly noticed several people around him choking at the same time.

Xiao Wu, sitting across from him, coughed until her face turned bright red.

Wang Sheng, sitting next to her, spat out the food in his mouth directly.

"What's wrong?" Tang San put down his bun, his brows slightly furrowed.

"It's nothing." Xiao Wu waved her hand, though her eyes couldn't help but drift toward the other side of the cafeteria.

A little boy with black hair sat there, currently locked in a struggle with the bun in his hand.

And she, it seemed, could hear that little boy's inner voice.

Not only that.

It appeared that everyone except Tang San could hear this voice.

Tang San didn't speak, continuing to lower his head to eat.

He felt that the atmosphere in the cafeteria today was a bit strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

Lin Yi hadn't noticed the commotion over there at all.

He had transmigrated to Douluo Continent six years ago. No system, no cheat codes, and after finally getting into this so-called Soul Master Academy, he was left mentally broken by the quality of the food.

[It's supposed to be a Soul Master Academy, even work-study students are people, can't you give us something edible?]

[Oh right, I remember now. In the original story, the treatment for work-study students is terrible. A cheater like Tang San can rely on his family's blacksmithing skills to earn money and improve his diet, but normal people can only eat this garbage.]

[Whatever, I'll just make do. I should be getting my first month's stipend in a few days, then I can go outside and buy meat buns...]

"Pfft."

This time, Xiao Wu couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Xiao Wu?" Tang San looked at her, puzzled.

"It's nothing, nothing,"

Xiao Wu stifled her laughter, her eyes sparkling, "It's just... well, meat buns really are better than this."

Tang San was even more confused.

Where were there any meat buns?

Lin Yi finished gnawing through half the bun with great difficulty and sighed.

[Come to think of it, at this point in time, Tang San and Xiao Wu should have been enrolled for a long time already. They might even be in this cafeteria.]

[Let me look around... that little girl with the rabbit ear hair accessory and the black-haired boy across from her must be them.]

Xiao Wu suddenly straightened her back, her small hand unconsciously touching the accessory on her head.

Rabbit ears—that description was quite fitting.

Tang San noticed Xiao Wu's strange behavior and followed her gaze, meeting Lin Yi's eyes just as he looked over.

The two locked eyes for a second.

[Tsk, he looks much more ordinary in person than in the anime. How could he get the favor of so many beauties? As expected, the protagonist halo is completely unreasonable.]

Xiao Wu "heard" this and couldn't help but cover her mouth to hide her laughter.

Tang San, however, frowned slightly and asked curiously, "Xiao Wu, what exactly are you laughing at?"

"No, nothing." Xiao Wu tried her best to calm down, "I just think that some people look ordinary, but are actually very impressive."

The comment was completely out of context, leaving Tang San utterly bewildered.

Lin Yi withdrew his gaze and continued his battle with the remaining bun.

[Forget it, none of my business. I just want to safely make it to graduation, then stay far away from the protagonist group and avoid getting involved in all that fighting and killing.]

[If Tang San wants to fight Martial Soul Hall, let him fight. If he wants to become a god, let him become one. Just don't drag me down with him.]

The cafeteria suddenly went quiet for a moment.

The cafeteria lady, who was scooping porridge, had a shaky hand and gave an extra half-ladle.

The teachers in the corner exchanged glances.

Wang Sheng swallowed hard, casting a cautious look at Tang San.

Become a god?

Fight Martial Soul Hall?

Wasn't this information a bit too heavy?

Tang San furrowed his brows.

He kept feeling that the way people around him looked at him had become very strange, as if they knew some secret he was unaware of.

"Xiao Wu, is there something on my face?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Huh? No, there isn't." Xiao Wu blinked and asked casually, "It's just... Tang San, do you have any dreams for the future?"

Dreams?

Tang San was stunned for a moment, memories of the Tang Sect flashing through his mind.

After a moment, he said in a deep voice, "I want to become a powerful Spirit Master and stand at the pinnacle of this world."

[Good grief, the chuunibyou manifesto has arrived. Though, having said that, he did actually achieve it.]

[It's just that after becoming a god, he became a bit unreasonable, using so-called rules to bind others while ignoring them himself...]

Xiao Wu: "..."

She suddenly felt the steamed bun in her mouth wasn't tasty anymore.

She never expected that the person sitting across from her would actually be this kind of person?

Seeing that Xiao Wu's expression was off, Tang San asked again, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just think your dream is quite grand," Xiao Wu said dryly.

Lin Yi finally finished gnawing on his bun and tidied up his utensils, preparing to leave.

[Sigh, I have to go to theory class in a bit and listen to that Yu Xiaogang brag.]

[What kind of "Grandmaster" is he? Isn't he just a theory plagiarist? Patching together other people's research results and packaging them as his own.]

[But I can't blame him entirely; when your Soul Power Level can't go up, you'd be bored if you didn't find something to do, right?]

[Right, I remember he didn't teach classes in the original work, what's going on??]

"Clang."

A sound of a pot hitting the floor came from the cafeteria kitchen.

Several teachers stood up almost simultaneously, their expressions becoming more colorful than the last.

Yu Xiaogang?

Theory plagiarist?

The amount of information was too large; they needed to digest it.

Tang San watched the reactions of the people around him, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

Something was wrong.

Something was definitely wrong.

These people were definitely hiding something from him.

Lin Yi had no idea what kind of waves his inner voice had stirred up.

He left the cafeteria, still calculating his days ahead in his heart.

[Work-study students still have to work, cleaning and such, but I remember in the original work, Tang San quickly turned things around by relying on his family's blacksmithing.]

[Should I get on good terms with him and mooch a few meat buns first?]

[Forget it, I won't get involved. Better to keep a low profile. Anyway, I have that secret; as long as it isn't exposed, self-preservation shouldn't be a problem.]

Secret?

What secret?

Xiao Wu pricked up her ears, her eyes darting around.

It wasn't just her; except for Tang San, almost everyone in the cafeteria was secretly paying attention to Lin Yi.

Or rather, waiting for his next words.

However, Lin Yi didn't say anything else, leaving many people feeling somewhat disappointed.

Tang San finally realized where the problem lay.

The focus of everyone's gaze was that little boy who was preparing to leave the cafeteria.

"Who is he?" Tang San asked Wang Sheng in a low voice.

"A new work-study student," Wang Sheng replied in a whisper. "His name is Lin Yi, he enrolled three days ago, and his Martial Soul is..."

He paused, seemingly trying to recall, "It seems to be of the Support type, but I'm not sure about the specifics."

Although Tang San couldn't hear the inner voice, he could see everyone's reactions.

That Lin Yi was definitely not simple.

He stood up and walked toward Lin Yi.

"Hello, my name is Tang San, I'm also a work-study student."

Lin Yi was stunned for a moment and turned his head to look at the protagonist of the original work before him.

[Holy crap, he came to find me on his own? What's the situation? According to the plot, shouldn't you be ignoring the affairs of the world and cultivating a relationship with Xiao Wu first?]