Feigned Retreat

Just as Gao Teng was about to use all his remaining theft opportunities, Meng Yao lunged forward and shoved a pill into his mouth.

As the pill hit his stomach, a massive surge of medicinal power instantly swept through his entire body; the black aura on Gao Teng's face faded rapidly, and before long, his complexion returned to its usual ruddy state.

Meng Yao let out a sigh of relief, saying with lingering fear, "It's a good thing I always keep various emergency pills on me, otherwise it would have been over today. If I had died from poison, it would have been such an unjust death."

"Indeed."

Gao Teng gave a casual response, though he felt no real ripples of emotion inside.

After all, once he had stolen the physical strength, he likely would have been able to purge the snake venom from his body anyway.

"What kind of pill did you give me just now? The grade shouldn't be low, right?"

"You have a discerning eye."

Meng Yao said, "That was a Nectar Pill. Aside from specially concocted exotic poisons, it can neutralize almost anything. This pill is a unique secret recipe of the Hundred Flowers Pharmaceutical Company; a single one costs quite a fortune."

Gao Teng changed the subject, "Let's get out of here quickly; it's too dangerous."

Meng Yao chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to pay me back. You think too little of me. But you're right, it's not safe here. Let's go."

With that said, she picked up the corpse of their classmate and hurried toward the edge of the woods with Gao Teng.

The journey was uneventful, and the two soon reached the riverbank, where they boarded a kayak and paddled toward the opposite shore.

Once they arrived, Chen Yan immediately rushed over, both shocked and overjoyed, "Meng Yao, Gao Teng, you're still alive! It's so good that you're both okay!"

Meng Yao wore a look of relief, "We almost didn't make it back. Thankfully, Gao Teng saved me."

"Oh?"

Chen Yan said in surprise, "There is such a huge gap in your strength, yet it wasn't you saving him, but him saving you?"

Meng Yao explained, "When we were preparing to return, we encountered a very powerful venomous snake, likely at the fourth-level of strength. Gao Teng fought for his life to kill it. If it had been me, I definitely wouldn't have had his ruthlessness, so I owe my life to him."

"By the way, Teacher, Zhang Jie..."

Meng Yao's mood sank, her face filled with sorrow.

Chen Yan's gaze fell upon the corpse, and her heart tightened. Three students from their class had gone missing—Gao Teng, Meng Yao, and Zhang Jie. Even though she had mentally prepared herself, seeing the body in person made the reality hard to accept.

"There shouldn't have been enemies on this island. Who could be so vicious?"

Chen Yan clenched her fists, a surge of fury rising in her heart.

Meng Yao subconsciously wanted to explain, but suddenly remembered Ma Wei's warning: she must never tell anyone what she and Gao Teng had done today, or else once the arrest warrant was issued, they would certainly face retaliation.

Thus, she obediently kept her mouth shut; it was better to let the Public Security Bureau handle the explanations.

"Meng Yao, Gao Teng, go rest in the car first. You must be terrified today, right? It's my fault for not protecting you well. I'm sorry."

Chen Yan felt deeply guilty and bowed deeply to the two of them.

Meng Yao quickly said, "Teacher, you can't blame yourself for this. No one expected there to be enemies on Snake Island. If this had been a normal training exercise, such a tragedy never would have happened. The enemies were just too deranged."

Gao Teng added a word of comfort as well.

However, instead of feeling comforted, Chen Yan's sense of guilt only intensified. The more sensible the students were, the more incompetent she felt. If she had been stronger, she could have protected every student in her class, and there would have been no casualties.

"Go rest in the car. You're the ones who were traumatized, yet you're the ones comforting me."

Chen Yan gave a bitter smile and urged the two of them toward the vehicle.

"Teacher, don't think too much about it, and don't blame yourself so harshly."

Meng Yao offered one last word of comfort before heading to the car.

Gao Teng followed closely behind, and the two sat inside the vehicle, separated by the distance of their seats.

Forty minutes passed in this manner before Ma Wei and the others returned in their kayaks.

They had not only investigated the pharmaceutical den but had also searched the woods for the missing students.

But the result was cruel: all the missing students had perished in the jaws of snakes, and the only survivors were Gao Teng and Meng Yao.

Thirteen lives had been lost in this training exercise; it was truly a tragedy!

Ma Wei was in immense pain, and he had no idea how he would face the students' parents.

As if venting his rage, he gave Meng Wei a brutal beating, then ordered all the teachers and students of Fifth Middle School to return to campus, while arranging for the officers on the scene to collect the bodies and transport them to the funeral home.

On the bus.

The atmosphere was much heavier; the students were no longer as exuberant as they had been on the way there, each wearing a complex expression with a mix of emotions in their hearts.

Even after returning to school, they still hadn't managed to settle their moods.

As for Liang Guofu, upon learning what had happened on Snake Island, he immediately realized the severity of the situation. He gave the entire school a half-day off and then contacted the parents of the victims one by one to begin handling the aftermath.

As for Gao Teng, he followed the crowd out of the campus.

Now that he had 17,838 merit points, he could go to Mercy Hospital to visit Zhou Xing.

Just as he reached the roadside and pulled out his phone to hail a ride, someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

Gao Teng turned his head, then looked down.

The girl before him was petite, yet her figure was somewhat exaggerated; her full chest stretched her white shirt until it was bulging, the curves quite eye-catching.

Beneath a blue pleated skirt, her lotus-white legs were straight and slender, and she wore a pair of small black leather shoes with white lace-trimmed socks that just covered her ankles.

This girl was none other than Meng Yao, who had shed her training gear and changed into her daily attire.

"Gao Teng, where are you planning to go?"

"Home to cultivate." Gao Teng said it straight-faced, "The college entrance exam is coming up soon, I need to work harder and strive for a good result."

"Oh."

Meng Yao nodded, then asked, "Aren't you going to eat lunch? My treat."

"I'll pass."

Meng Yao's eyes widened instantly, as if she couldn't believe her ears.

Gao Teng actually rejected her?

Rejected a pretty and cute girl like her?

Playing hard to get, going to such great lengths just to grab my attention.

Soon, Meng Yao came to this realization and couldn't help but sigh at how deep Gao Teng's thoughts were.

"If you don't want to, then forget it. I'm leaving."

With that said, Meng Yao turned and walked away.

But after walking several steps, she didn't hear Gao Teng chasing after her.

She turned back to see that Gao Teng had actually raised his hand to hail a taxi and was already sitting inside after opening the rear door.

"Wait!"

Meng Yao ran over, flustered, and grabbed the rear door, "You're really rejecting me?"

Gao Teng sighed helplessly, "Do you really have to treat me to this meal? What exactly do you want?"

Meng Yao's face was full of disbelief; Gao Teng was actually impatient?

She let out a cold snort and squeezed into the taxi, "I'm only treating you to a meal to thank you, don't be ungrateful.

Dining with a girl as pretty and cute as me is your honor!"

"Heh."