The Red Scarf Bandits' Storm

Still no dreams, and still waking up right at six in the morning. Upon waking, my mind felt as clear as crystal and my body was brimming with energy; I felt as fresh as a head of Chinese cabbage that had been soaking in water all night.

When I woke, I first checked the alarm clock in the room, which pointed to 6:08. Then, I looked down at my underwear. My little brother was standing at attention, incredibly robust, yet my mind was devoid of any lewd thoughts. I reached in to check, and there was no sticky or damp sensation on my underwear or stomach. I hadn't had a wet dream in days, and the quality of my sleep lately had been shockingly good. I remembered that after my cultivation last night, I had taken a leak inside the Castle of Black Iron before coming out, hitting the pillow, and falling asleep instantly until now. Such occurrences happened occasionally in the past, but having it happen for four days in a row made Zhang Tie stop to ponder the reason. Thinking it over, it seemed to have started the very night I merged with the Castle of Black Iron. Since it involved the Castle of Black Iron, Zhang Tie lost interest in investigating further. To him, other than understanding that the soil inside was real and could make a Potato sprout, everything else was beyond his comprehension.

I quickly got out of bed, got dressed, and finished washing up. I lit a fire in the kitchen, put a few washed sweet potatoes into the steamer to prepare breakfast for Mom and Dad, and then, after picking out a washed raw sweet potato for myself, I headed out. I left for school about an hour earlier than usual today.

Stepping outside, the sky was still slightly dark. After finishing the raw sweet potato in my hand for breakfast, I started jogging. The path to school was the same as always, yet to Zhang Tie, this old road felt different—everything was so fresh. Even this raw sweet potato seemed much tastier than before. Zhang Tie made up his mind to try and grow sweet potatoes inside the Castle of Black Iron in a few days; planting such things wasn't complicated anyway.

When a person's mood changes, everything changes.

By the time I finished my light jog to school, the sky had completely brightened. The school gates had only just opened, and although I wasn't the first to arrive, I was definitely among the first few. Looking around, there were almost no students in the vast campus.

The entire teaching building for the graduating class was empty. Zhang Tie was absolutely the first person among all the graduating classes to arrive at school. After walking into his classroom, Zhang Tie felt a bit like a thief and quietly closed the classroom door behind him.

After the weekend, since no one had been in the classroom, the floor was relatively clean, but a layer of dust had inevitably settled on the desks and chairs. Zhang Tie grabbed a dried hemp cloth from the window, peeked around sneakily again to make sure no one was there, and then, feeling bold and nimble, he began wiping the dust off the desks and chairs. He wasn't just cleaning his own desk and chair, but everyone's in the room.

The dust that naturally settles on classroom furniture isn't hard to wipe off; a swipe with the rag and a couple of shakes out the window, and it's gone. This was the first thing every student did upon arriving at the classroom.

After twenty minutes, Zhang Tie had finished cleaning every desk and chair in the room. Seeing that people were starting to arrive in the graduating building, he quietly slipped out, went to the school restroom to dawdle over a bowel movement, and then strolled back to the classroom. After all that, by the time he returned, more than half the class had already arrived. This surprise should be big enough, right? Zhang Tie thought, feeling quite smug.

The animals in the classroom were indeed rowdy, and just as Zhang Tie had expected, everyone was wondering why the desks and chairs had already been cleaned.

That shouldn't be right—who would be so kind?

"Hey, Big Head, you're here..." Seeing Zhang Tie, that fat slob Barry walked over enthusiastically, hooked his arm around Zhang Tie's shoulder, and said sneakily, "Did you notice the classroom looks a bit different today?"

"What's different?" Zhang Tie remained calm on the surface, but was laughing triumphantly inside. Praise me, hurry up and praise me, I'm waiting to hear it.

"Some idiot cleaned every single desk and chair in our class. Ha... ha..."

Zhang Tie's reserved smile froze on his face. He glared at the fat slob, grinding his teeth, wishing he could punch Barry in the nose and make it bloom again.

"Did you brush your teeth this morning? Why does your mouth smell so bad!" Zhang Tie pushed Barry away with a dark face and sat back in his chair, feeling sullen.

Only Barry stood there, curiously cupping his hands to his mouth to breathe on them and smell. "No way, I brush my teeth every day!"

Listening to the chatter of the animals around him, Zhang Tie felt even more depressed.

"Ah, who is it? Who is so bored that they'd come here to play a prank on us?"

"Exactly, what an idiot. Could it be someone from our class?"

"Don't say that, it might hurt someone's fragile heart. Maybe it's a junior trying to find a big brother in our class to look out for him!"

"I bet someone has a crush on me and is trying to confess!"

"Then why wipe everyone's desk?"

"Could it be that they have a crush on all of us? Hahahaha...!"

"Crap, watch out, everyone's chrysanthemum is at risk..."

You bastards, if it weren't for the Merit Value, I wouldn't give a damn about you, Zhang Tie continued to grind his teeth. He made up his mind to check his Merit Value in the Castle of Black Iron later; if it was less than two, he would never do such a stupid thing again. These bastards.

This was just a minor ripple. By the time the first class of the morning started, everyone had put the matter behind them. The first two periods on Monday morning were Survival Class. This course covered a lot of ground and was quite eclectic, encompassing everything. Different teachers often took turns, and each would talk about things they deemed relevant to survival. Once, a teacher even spent two hours lecturing on pick-up techniques, calling it an essential skill for procreating and the most important survival lesson. As a result, those two classes left the animals in the class restless for an entire week.

Survival Class was everyone's favorite because the atmosphere was relatively relaxed. It was less like a lecture and more like exchanging survival experiences with a senior. Because of this, it was exceptionally popular. Under everyone's eager anticipation, the teacher in charge of today's Survival Class finally walked into the room.

Seeing the most terrifying One-Eyed Dragon in all of Black Flame City, the relaxed atmosphere in the classroom instantly solidified. Everyone straightened their backs in their seats, not daring to even breathe loudly. Captain Colin's presence alone was enough to crush this class of restless animals into nothingness.

The One-Eyed Dragon walked into the classroom and stood on the podium with a calm expression. His sharp, single eye swept across everyone's face like an arrow. For a full half-minute, he didn't say a word.

Zhang Tie, not knowing what the One-Eyed Dragon was up to, was also affected by the atmosphere and began to feel uneasy.

Only after the classroom was so quiet that everyone could hear an ant crawling on paper did Captain Colin finally speak.

"Everyone has heard about the Red Scarf Bandit Group, so I won't repeat it here. Today, I am going to teach you the most important survival skill, one related to the Red Scarf Bandit Group. Suppose you were outside the school right now and encountered a member of the Red Scarf Bandit Group, and that person was standing right in front of you just as I am now—what would you do? Don't rush to answer me; think carefully for two minutes. For this question, there is a reward for the right answer and a penalty for the wrong one! You may discuss it..."

As soon as Captain Colin finished speaking, the whole class erupted. Everyone was whispering and debating. If a Red Scarf Bandit were standing in front of them right now, what would they do? Looking at Captain Colin's robust and mighty physique and the expectant look in his single eye, the animals' blood began to boil. Faced with such a notorious piece of human trash that everyone wanted to eliminate, what could they do? There was only one answer...

"Obviously, kill him!"

"Right, let's go up together and take him out!"

"Rid the world of evil!"

"Charge and kill him!"

The animals in the classroom began to clamor. Some were still hesitant and thinking, but those with opportunistic minds, seeing the faint smile on Captain Colin's lips after hearing these blood-boiling "declarations," also started to join in the noise. The fat slob Barry was one of the latter. Zhang Tie had been observing everyone's reactions. At first, only Doug and Baghdad from the Airplane Brotherhood were shouting about killing the Red Scarf Bandit. Barry was keeping his head down, squinting his eyes, and secretly gauging the expression on Captain Colin's face. The others were considering it, but seeing everyone else getting fired up, they were gradually influenced. Shavin, who didn't have much of an opinion, was watching Barry; when he saw Barry shouting, he followed suit. Light and Sista were initially hesitant, seemingly weighing their options, but seeing Barry take a stand, they joined the "pro-war" faction. The classroom descended into chaos.

Zhang Tie was also considering Captain Colin's question. Unlike the others whose heads were hot with excitement, Zhang Tie was thinking about two things: Why would Captain Colin, who always gave the impression of being fierce and tough, bring up this question in Survival Class? And if I really encountered a Red Scarf Bandit standing in the classroom right now, what would I actually do?

Some people like to follow the crowd and join the fun when making choices, but since he was a child, Zhang Tie had developed the habit of letting every choice interrogate his heart. This was what his mother taught him. His mother said that everyone's life is the result of a series of different choices made in different situations. These choices, when strung together, make up a life. Life is a path of questioning one's heart...

Don't care what others think; when things happen, act according to your heart. If the heart has no regrets, life has no regrets.