She's the Boss?

Tang Wulin was a Forging Master.

When he was little, he had learned forging specifically to save money for a Soul Spirit, so he had always been very interested in metals.

Tang Wulin had not been particularly interested when he came out with Xie Xie, nor had he had any particular plans... or rather, that should have been the case.

But the moment Tang Wulin touched one of the dolls, he immediately discovered its distinctive quality. It had been made entirely of metal, and crafted using extraordinarily advanced techniques!

If he could uncover its secrets, Tang Wulin was certain that his forging skills would improve by leaps and bounds!

That was right. Although Tang Wulin thought these dolls were beautiful, what he cared about more was their forging technique. He was looking for a way to break through his limits.

How could Tang Wulin possibly refuse when such an opportunity was right before him?

So he immediately planned to buy it. Though he was young, he had managed to save up a little nest egg over the years through forging.

"Th-this... isn't allowed." The female clerk was clearly embarrassed. She had never encountered a child trying to buy something like this before.

"Wulin, forget it. Let's hurry back!" Even Xie Xie tried to persuade him from the side, wanting to pull Tang Wulin away. But how could his strength possibly budge Tang Wulin?

"Is it too expensive?" Tang Wulin looked at the clerk's expression and spoke with some understanding. "If the whole thing costs too much, could you sell it separately? Just one hand would be enough!"

Even a little bit of metal would greatly improve Tang Wulin's forging skills—or at least, that was what he believed.

But those words sounded entirely different to everyone else. Xie Xie collapsed onto the floor the instant he heard them. He had never found Tang Wulin this terrifying before...

Even the female clerk was so frightened by Tang Wulin's words that she staggered several steps back, staring at the boy in disbelief. She had seen plenty of strange customers lately, but she had never expected one this terrifying to show up... and at such a young age!

If he grew up, wouldn't that be disastrous?

No, I need to get the boss right away! With that thought, the clerk turned to leave, but Tang Wulin noticed first and grabbed her hand.

"One hand is too much? Then how about one finger? I can afford it!"

"Don't come near me! Aaaaah—!"

Every word Tang Wulin said was so explosive that the clerk completely broke down. She sat on the ground and frantically scooted backward, while Xie Xie stared at Tang Wulin in horror... This guy was simply inhuman!

The commotion grew louder and louder. Just as it was about to reach a breaking point, a voice arrived and brought everything here to an end.

Swish!

Just as the atmosphere among the three became tense, the sound of the black curtain being pulled aside rang out again. Clearly, another customer had arrived.

But when Xie Xie and Tang Wulin turned around, what entered their sight was something they never wanted to see again for the rest of their lives...

Liu Ying, their classmate from the same team, was looking at them with an utterly disgusted expression, as though they were non-recyclable garbage. Being misunderstood by a girl for coming to this sort of place was already bad enough, but what was even more terrifying was the other person...

"You two have some nerve! You actually dared come to a place like this?"

An icy-blue figure stood in front of Liu Ying, staring at Xie Xie and Tang Wulin with an extremely grim expression... especially Tang Wulin!

It was their teacher, Wu Zhangkong.

"Go call your boss. I want to have a word with him."

Upon hearing that, the female clerk nodded in relief, then quickly ran into the back of the shop.

When Tang Wulin saw that, disappointment even appeared on his face. That made Wu Zhangkong's expression turn even darker. Especially when he felt Liu Ying's grip on the back of his clothes growing tighter and tighter, he only wanted to teach these two little punks a proper lesson.

"It seems my recent training has been too lenient. You still had the energy to come to a place like this? Then your training will have to be even stricter from now on!"

Wu Zhangkong shielded Liu Ying behind him with one hand, then directly pulled off his belt and transformed it into a longsword.

"But before that, simply entering a place like this was already wrong!"

If Xie Xie and Tang Wulin had gone somewhere they should not have, Wu Zhangkong would certainly have listened carefully to his students' explanations and made his judgment after learning the whole story.

But this time, the situation was clearly different.

What kind of place was this? Winterfire Hall!

Was this somewhere students of Eastsea Academy should be entering? No matter what explanation they had, the very fact that they had walked into this shop was already wrong.

So they had to take this beating!

"Aaaah! Teacher Wu, spare us!"

"We'll never dare do it again! Aah!"

Miserable screams rang out from inside the shop. Some passing pedestrians were drawn over by the sounds and stood outside, pointing and whispering, though none dared go in.

But through gaps in the black curtain, they seemed to see a teacher doing something indescribable to his students. All they could do was sigh helplessly.

"The morals of society are declining! The morals of society are declining!"

Some time later.

"So this was why you came here?"

After listening to the two students' explanations, Wu Zhangkong sighed helplessly, then looked at the doll on the counter in surprise.

Who could have imagined that such an exquisite doll had been made from rare metals? No wonder it had attracted Tang Wulin so strongly and made him say such outrageous things...

"However, my decision will not change. After we return to the academy, you must accept your punishment."

Since students had done something wrong, teachers naturally had to punish them and make them understand that it was wrong. But as a teacher, Wu Zhangkong also knew what should and should not be done.

Although this matter was indeed improper, if word got out, it would clearly have a huge impact on the students' reputations. Wu Zhangkong did not want their futures to be ruined by this incident, so he chose to suppress the matter and punish them with additional training instead.

Just then, faint footsteps reached Wu Zhangkong's ears. He slightly turned his head and looked toward their source.

It was a young woman with pink hair and blue eyes, who looked to be around twenty. Was she the owner of Winterfire Hall?

"I'm very sorry. I didn't expect something like that to happen just now. It seems our privacy measures still weren't thorough enough."

"I'm Asta, the owner here. Please keep what happened just now confidential. We will offer compensation..."

The bonus update is over. I can't take it anymore—I need to sleep.

Good night, everyone.