This Venerable Is a Man

Shrek Academy's dining hall, breakfast time.

Wang Lin held a tray and waited in the food line.

He stood there with long hair cascading over his shoulders, fair skin, and delicate features as if he'd been painted.

The boy behind him had been staring at his back for a while. He whispered to his companion, "That girl up ahead is so pretty..."

Wang Lin's ears twitched. He didn't turn around, but his expression darkened.

When it was his turn, the cafeteria lady looked up at him and said with a smile, "Miss, how many steamed buns would you like?"

Wang Lin's face darkened completely.

"This Venerable is a man."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was chillingly cold. The cafeteria lady's smile froze, and the air around them seemed to drop several degrees.

She gave an awkward laugh. "Oh, I got it wrong, I got it wrong. Sorry about that, young man..."

Wang Lin carried his tray away, his expression as dark as the sky before a storm.

And that was only the first time today.

During the morning break, Wang Lin was walking back to the dormitory.

Ma Hongjun caught up from behind and patted him on the shoulder, grinning. "Hey, beauty, how about we become friends? I'm Ma Hongjun, with an Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, level thir—"

He didn't finish.

Because Wang Lin turned around.

Those gray-white eyes fixed on Ma Hongjun like two icy blades. The Heavenly Inverse Bead warmed faintly inside his sleeve, and a strange Power of Cause and Effect flowed around his fingertips.

Ma Hongjun felt as if some terrifying beast had set its sights on him. Cold sweat soaked his back in an instant, and his knees began to tremble.

"This Venerable is a man."

Wang Lin spoke each word distinctly.

Ma Hongjun hurriedly backed away three steps and raised both hands over his head. "Misunderstanding! A total misunderstanding! Bro, my eyesight's bad. Don't be mad, don't be mad..."

Then he scampered off. Even after he'd run far away, Wang Lin could still hear him muttering, "Why be so good-looking? You made me mistake you for a girl..."

Wang Lin stood where he was, his fingers trembling slightly.

The Heavenly Inverse Bead had nearly slipped out of his control.

But he held back.

This Venerable wouldn't stoop to arguing with mortals.

That evening, in the bathroom.

Wang Lin had finally decided to take a bath. He'd been here for several days, and though he'd cleaned himself with spiritual energy, he still felt uncomfortable.

He pushed open the bathroom door and went inside.

The water was just right, and steam swirled in the air.

Wang Lin took off his outer robe, revealing a lean but solid body. His skin really was pale—so pale that it seemed to glow under the dim lights.

He was splashing water over himself.

The door opened.

A student walked in carrying a towel and said casually, "Someone's in here? Sorry..."

Then he saw Wang Lin's back, his long hair falling over his shoulders, his slender waist, and his fair skin.

"The women's bath is next door..." the student said instinctively.

Wang Lin slowly turned around.

An Adam's apple, a flat chest, and eyes cold beyond measure.

The student froze for a second. "Sorry, I came into the wrong room... You're a man?"

Wang Lin said nothing.

He raised a hand, and gray light shimmered at his fingertips.

The next moment, all the water in the bathroom froze solid.

The student was frozen in place, his lips turning purple as his teeth chattered.

Wang Lin got dressed and left without looking back.

Behind him, the student wailed, "Help! The bathroom's frozen! How am I supposed to get out?"

The next day, during the break.

Several students huddled in a corner, heads together as they whispered.

"Look at that Wang Lin. He's prettier than a girl. Think he might be..."

"Neither man nor woman?"

"Shh, keep your voice down. He froze Old Zhao in the bathroom yesterday. I heard Old Zhao's still trembling in bed."

"What's there to be afraid of? He can't hear us."

"True... But seriously, it's disgusting for a grown man to look like that."

"Exactly. Neither man nor woman. It's just weird to look at him."

Wang Lin had appeared behind them at some point.

His footsteps were light, and no one noticed him arrive.

"What were you saying just now?"

His voice wasn't loud, but every word sounded as if it had been pulled from an ice cellar.

All four students turned around at once. Seeing Wang Lin's expressionless face, they shivered in unison.

One of the boys forced himself to stand firm and brazenly said, "I said you don't look like a man! So what? Got a problem with that?"

The corner of Wang Lin's mouth lifted in a faint, cold smile.

"This Venerable will give you a chance. Say it again."

His voice was as calm as a dead pond, but that calm was more frightening than anger.

The boy swallowed. His legs were already trembling, but with so many people watching, he couldn't back down.

"N-not a man or a woman! So what? You gonna kill me?"

Another boy chimed in from the side. "Yeah! You're just a useless one-ring nobody. What are you acting so tough for?"

Wang Lin raised his hand.

The Heavenly Inverse Bead emerged from his sleeve. Gray light swirled within it like a miniature black hole.

"This Venerable won't kill you."

Wang Lin's voice was soft as a sigh.

"This Venerable will simply let you witness cause and effect."

A flash of black light.

The student froze.

His eyes were wide, his pupils unfocused, and his face twisted out of shape. His mouth gaped, but no sound came out.

No one knew what he had seen.

But everyone could read the terror on his face: terror that had sunk into his bones and carved itself into his soul.

It lasted only a second.

Wang Lin lowered his hand, and the Heavenly Inverse Bead vanished into his sleeve.

The boy crumpled to the ground, foaming at the mouth as his body convulsed uncontrollably.

His lips moved, producing garbled sounds. Listening closely, one could make out a few words: "I won't dare again... I won't dare again..."

The entire crowd fell silent.

The other three students had already collapsed to the ground, their faces deathly pale as they held their breath.

Dai Mubai rushed out of the crowd and grabbed Wang Lin by the collar. "Wang Lin! What did you do to him?"

Wang Lin didn't resist. He simply looked at Dai Mubai calmly, not a ripple of emotion in those gray-white eyes.

"This Venerable doesn't stoop to arguing with mortals," he said. "I only taught him a lesson."

Dai Mubai's fists clenched with a crackle. The pressure of his White Tiger Martial Soul burst out of his control and bore down on Wang Lin.

Wang Lin didn't move an inch.

The Heavenly Inverse Bead turned faintly in his sleeve. Dai Mubai's pressure seemed to strike an invisible wall, part of it strangely rebounding back.

Dai Mubai grunted and staggered half a step backward.

A flash of alarm crossed his eyes. This man's Martial Soul could actually reflect pressure?

Yu Xiaogang arrived.

He crouched down to examine the student, checked his eyelids, and felt his pulse. His brow furrowed deeply.

"He's not in danger," Yu Xiaogang said as he stood and looked at Wang Lin. "He was frightened unconscious by a mental attack, but the psychological trauma... might take a long time to heal."

He paused, then added, "Wang Lin, your Martial Soul is dangerous. You're not allowed to use this ability on fellow students in the academy."

Wang Lin said nothing.

Flender arrived as well, looking rather displeased. He glanced at the student lying on the ground, then at Wang Lin, and finally sighed.

"Wang Lin, you're being assigned to clean the toilets for a week. Any objections?"

Wang Lin's expression remained blank. "This Venerable has no objections."

His expression told everyone he truly had no objections, because he didn't consider cleaning toilets a punishment at all.

As far as he was concerned, the matter was over. The cause and effect had been settled; the foul-mouthed had been punished. That was that.

But that didn't mean the others saw it the same way.

Dai Mubai blocked Wang Lin's path.

"Wang Lin, I don't care who you were before, but at Shrek Academy, you're not allowed to attack fellow students. That's the rule."

Wang Lin stopped and turned to look at Dai Mubai.

The corner of his mouth curled in a half-smile.

"Did this Venerable attack him?"

Dai Mubai froze. "You..."

"This Venerable merely let him witness cause and effect." Wang Lin's voice was as calm as if he were commenting on the weather. "A foul mouth is the cause; punishment is the effect. Cause and effect cycle as surely as heaven and earth. This Venerable never laid a finger on him. His own karma punished him."

Dai Mubai's face turned livid. "You're playing word games?"

Wang Lin stepped forward until they were face-to-face.

"When this Venerable acts, why should he explain himself to you?"

Their gazes clashed in midair like two invisible blades.

Dai Mubai released his Martial Soul completely. The pressure of the White Tiger bore down on Wang Lin like a mountain. His eyes turned into vertical pupils, and a savage aura erupted from his body.

Wang Lin stood there, his robe fluttering in the pressure, but his body didn't budge. His expression didn't change in the slightest.

The Heavenly Inverse Bead spun wildly inside his sleeve, its gray light faintly visible through the fabric.

Just as the two were about to clash—

"Stop!"

Tang San rushed over and spread his arms between them.

"Both of you, calm down! Mubai, Brother Wang Lin was just acting on impulse..."

Tang San didn't finish.

Wang Lin and Dai Mubai looked at him at the same time and said in unison, "Shut up."

Tang San: "..."

Dai Mubai took a deep breath, withdrew his pressure, and gave Wang Lin a cold look. "I'll let it go this time, but if you attack another student again, I won't let you off."

Wang Lin was unruffled. "This Venerable never acts on impulse! This Venerable is simply stating a fact. He ran his mouth, he was punished. That's all it is—cause and effect."

With that, he turned and left.

His white robe swayed gently in the wind, and his steps were graceful and unhurried.

His back was beautiful, but everyone could see something dangerous in it.

That evening, in the dormitory.

Xiao Yan sat against the wall with a blade of grass in his mouth and his legs crossed, watching Wang Lin.

"Girly boy, you almost killed someone today."

Wang Lin was making his bed. Someone had finally replaced his blanket with a new one. It was still old, but at least it didn't smell strange.

Without looking up, he said, "Say that again?"

Xiao Yan spat out the grass and enunciated each word. "Gir... ly... boy..."

Wang Lin stopped what he was doing and slowly turned around.

His gray-white eyes glimmered in the dim light like two slabs of ice.

"This Venerable will remember you."

His voice wasn't loud, but that chilling pressure raised goosebumps across Xiao Yan's back.

But what kind of man was Xiao Yan? He'd risen from being a useless nobody in Wutan City to the peak of the Great Thousand World. What had he not seen?

He scoffed and waved a hand dismissively. "Remember me all you want. You think I'm scared of you? Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west! Sooner or later, I'll beat you until you call me dad!"

Wang Lin said nothing more.

He simply watched Xiao Yan, the corner of his mouth curling into a meaningful smile.

That smile made Xiao Yan uneasy, but he forced himself not to look away.

Han Li sat on his bed with his eyes closed, seemingly meditating.

But his ears were perked up an inch higher than usual.

If these two were going to turn on each other, I'd better prepare in advance, Han Li silently calculated.

Of the four, Shi Hao was the craziest but the easiest to predict. Xiao Yan was the most impulsive but also the easiest to handle. Wang Lin was the most dangerous... I had to keep my distance.

Shi Hao was hanging upside down over the edge of his bed, doing sit-ups and muttering something to himself. He hadn't noticed the undercurrents swirling through the dormitory at all.

Suddenly, he stopped and frowned. "Could you all keep it down? I'm about to achieve Arbitrary Eternity. Don't interrupt my meditation."

All three looked at Shi Hao.

Xiao Yan: "Meditating my ass!"

Han Li: This man was putting on his crazy act again.

Wang Lin: "This Venerable advises you to shut up."

Shi Hao looked at them in confusion. "What did I say wrong? I really am meditating. Achieving Arbitrary Eternity takes a quiet mind, and you're all too noisy."

Wang Lin: "..."