This Venerable One is a Man

Shrek Academy cafeteria, breakfast time.

Wang Lin held his tray, standing in the queue for food.

He stood there, long hair draped over his shoulders, his face fair and his features as exquisite as a painting.

The boy queuing behind him stared at his back for a long time before whispering to his companion, "That girl in front is so pretty..."

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

When it was Wang Lin's turn to be served, the cafeteria auntie looked up at him and said with a smile, "Little girl, how many steamed buns do you want?"

Wang Lin's face turned completely black.

"This Seat is a man."

The voice was not loud, but it was bone-chillingly cold. The cafeteria auntie's smile froze, and the surrounding air seemed to drop several degrees.

The cafeteria auntie laughed awkwardly, "Oh my, I saw wrong, I saw wrong. My apologies, young man..."

Wang Lin walked away with his tray, his face as gloomy as the sky before a storm.

This was only the first time today.

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

Ma Hongjun chased after him from behind, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a cheeky grin, "Beauty, want to be friends? My name is Ma Hongjun, Evil Fire Phoenix spirit, level thirty..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because Wang Lin turned his head.

Those grey-white eyes stared at Ma Hongjun like two cold blades. The Heavenly Inverse Bead grew slightly hot in his sleeve, and a strange power of karma swirled at his fingertips.

Ma Hongjun felt as if he were being watched by some terrifying beast; his back was instantly soaked in cold sweat, and his legs were trembling.

"This Seat is a man."

Wang Lin said, enunciating every word.

Ma Hongjun hurriedly retreated three steps, raising his hands above his head, "A misunderstanding, a total misunderstanding! My eyes are just bad, brother, please don't be angry, don't be angry..."

He then scurried away, still muttering from a distance, "Why grow up looking so good? You made me mistake you for someone else..."

Wang Lin stood in place, his fingers trembling slightly.

The Heavenly Inverse Bead had almost gone out of control.

But he held it back.

This Seat will not lower himself to the level of mortals.

Evening, the bathroom.

It was a rare occasion that Wang Lin wanted to take a bath. He had been transmigrated for several days; although he had cleaned himself with spiritual power, he still felt uncomfortable.

He pushed open the bathroom door and walked in.

The water temperature was just right, and the air was thick with steam.

Wang Lin took off his outer robe, revealing a lean but sturdy body. His skin was indeed fair, so fair that it almost glowed in the dim light.

He was just splashing water on himself.

The door was pushed open.

A student walked in with a towel and said casually, "Someone's in here, my apologies..."

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

"The girls' bathroom is next door..." the student said instinctively.

Wang Lin slowly turned around.

An Adam's apple, a flat chest, and those eyes that were cold to the extreme.

The student froze for a second, "Sorry, wrong place... a man?"

Wang Lin did not speak.

He reached out, and grey light flickered at his fingertips.

The next second, all the water in the bathroom froze into ice.

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

Wang Lin put on his clothes and left without looking back.

Behind him came the student's wail, "Help... the bathroom is frozen! How am I supposed to get out!"

The next day, during the break.

Several students gathered in a corner, heads huddled together, whispering.

"Look at that Wang Lin, he looks better than a girl. Do you think he is..."

"Neither man nor woman?"

"Shh, keep it down. Yesterday he froze Old Zhao in the bathroom. I heard Old Zhao is still shivering in bed."

"What are you afraid of? He can't hear us."

"That's true... but honestly, for a grown man to look like that, it's disgusting."

"Exactly, neither man nor woman. Just looking at him is awkward."

Wang Lin had appeared behind them without anyone noticing.

His footsteps were so light that no one had sensed his arrival.

"What did you just say?"

The voice was not loud, but every word sounded as if it had been fished out of an ice cellar.

The four students turned their heads in unison and shivered upon seeing Wang Lin's expressionless face.

One male student braced himself and retorted stubbornly, "I said you don't look like a man! So what? Is there a problem?"

The corners of Wang Lin's mouth curled into a faint, cold sneer.

"This Seat gives you a chance to say that again."

His voice was as calm as a stagnant pool, but that calmness was far more terrifying than rage.

The male student swallowed hard, his legs already trembling, but with so many people watching, he couldn't back down.

"Neither... neither man nor woman! So what? Are you going to kill me?"

Another male student chimed in from the side, "That's right, a one-ring trash, what are you acting so tough for?"

Wang Lin raised his hand.

The Heavenly Inverse Bead emerged from his sleeve, gray light swirling within the bead like a miniature black hole.

"This Seat will not kill you."

Wang Lin's voice was as soft as a sigh.

"This Seat will only let you see the cause and effect."

A flash of black light.

The student froze completely.

His eyes widened, his pupils dilated, his expression twisted into a grotesque mask, and his mouth hung open, yet he could not make a sound.

No one knew what he had seen.

But everyone read the terror in his expression—a fear that reached deep into his marrow and carved itself into his soul.

It lasted only a second.

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

The male student collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, his body twitching uncontrollably.

His lips moved, emitting vague, garbled sounds; if one listened closely, a few words could be distinguished: "I won't dare again... I won't dare again..."

The entire scene fell silent.

The other three students were already paralyzed on the ground in terror, their faces deathly pale, not daring to even breathe loudly.

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

Wang Lin did not struggle; he simply looked at Dai Mubai calmly, his gray-white eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

"This Seat does not bicker with mortals," he said. "I merely taught him a lesson."

Dai Mubai's fists clenched until they cracked, and the pressure of his White Tiger Martial Soul released uncontrollably, bearing down on Wang Lin.

Wang Lin did not budge an inch.

The Heavenly Inverse Bead rotated slightly within his sleeve, and Dai Mubai's pressure seemed to strike an invisible wall, strangely rebounding in part.

Dai Mubai let out a muffled groan and took half a step back.

A flash of shock crossed his eyes; this person's martial soul could actually rebound pressure?

Yu Xiaogang arrived.

He crouched down to check the student's condition, lifted his eyelids, checked his pulse, and furrowed his brows tightly.

"There is no danger to his life," Yu Xiaogang said, standing up to look at Wang Lin. "He was just frightened into a stupor by a mental attack, but the psychological trauma... it may take a long time to recover."

He paused and added, "Wang Lin, your martial soul is dangerous. Within the academy, you are not allowed to use this ability on your classmates."

Wang Lin did not speak.

Flender arrived as well, his expression grim. He looked at the student lying on the ground, then at Wang Lin, and finally sighed.

"Wang Lin, I am punishing you with one week of cleaning the toilets. Do you have any objections?"

Wang Lin remained expressionless: "This Seat has no objections."

His expression told everyone that he truly had no objections, because he did not consider cleaning toilets a punishment at all.

In his view, the matter was already concluded; the cause and effect were set. Those with loose tongues were punished—that was simply how it was.

But that did not mean the others felt 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 are not allowed to lay a hand on your classmates. Those are the rules."

Wang Lin stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at Dai Mubai.

The corners of his mouth curled into an arc, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Has This Seat laid a hand on anyone?"

Dai Mubai was stunned: "You..."

"This Seat merely let him witness karma." Wang Lin's voice was as calm as if he were commenting on the weather. "A foul mouth is the cause; suffering is the effect. The cycle of karma is natural law. This Seat did not touch a single hair on him; it was his own karma that punished him."

Dai Mubai's face turned livid: "Are you playing word games?"

Wang Lin stepped forward, face-to-face with Dai Mubai.

"Why would This Seat need to explain his actions to you?"

Their gazes collided in the air like two invisible blades.

Dai Mubai fully unleashed his Martial Soul. The pressure of the White Tiger bore down on Wang Lin like a mountain. His eyes turned into vertical slits, and a fierce, predatory aura erupted from his body.

Wang Lin stood his ground. His robes whipped violently in the pressure, but his body remained motionless, and the expression on his face did not change in the slightest.

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

Just as the two were about to strike.

"Stop!"

Tang San rushed over from the side, spreading his arms to block the space between them.

"Everyone, calm down! Mubai, Brother Wang Lin was just acting on impulse..."

Tang San didn't get to finish his sentence.

Wang Lin and Dai Mubai looked at him simultaneously and spoke in unison: "Shut up."

Tang San: "..."

Dai Mubai took a deep breath, retracted his pressure, and gave Wang Lin a cold glare: "I'll let it slide this time, but if you lay a hand on a classmate again, I won't let you off."

Wang Lin replied indifferently: "This Seat is never impulsive! This Seat merely stated the facts. He had a foul mouth, he was punished—it is simply karma."

With that, he turned and walked away.

His white robes swayed gently in the wind, his pace elegant and composed.

His back looked graceful, yet everyone watching felt a sense of danger radiating from it.

That night, in the dormitory.

Xiao Yan sat leaning against the wall, a blade of grass hanging from his mouth, legs crossed, watching Wang Lin.

"Sissy, you almost killed someone today."

Wang Lin was tidying his bed. Someone had finally replaced the bedding; it was still old, but at least it didn't have that strange smell anymore.

He didn't even look up: "Say that again?"

Xiao Yan spat out the grass, enunciating each word: "Sis... sy..."

Wang Lin stopped what he was doing and slowly turned his head.

Those gray-white eyes glowed with a ghostly light in the dim room, like two shards of ice.

"This Seat has remembered you."

The voice was not loud, but the chilling pressure made the hair on the back of Xiao Yan's neck stand up.

But who was Xiao Yan? He had climbed from being the trash of Wutan City to the peak of the Great Thousand World; what kind of situation hadn't he seen?

He scoffed and waved a hand dismissively: "Remember away, you think I'm scared of you? Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west! I'll beat you until you're calling me Daddy sooner or later!"

Wang Lin didn't speak again.

He simply stared at Xiao Yan, the corners of his mouth curling into a meaningful arc.

The smile made Xiao Yan's heart crawl with unease, but he forced himself not to look away.

Han Li sat on his own bed, eyes closed, appearing to be in meditation.

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

These two are going to have an internal conflict; I must plan ahead, Han Li calculated silently.

As it stands, Shi Hao is the craziest but most predictable of the four, Xiao Yan is the most impulsive but easiest to deal with, and Wang Lin is the most dangerous... I must keep my distance.

Shi Hao was hanging upside down from the edge of his bed doing sit-ups, muttering something to himself, completely oblivious to the undercurrents in the room.

Suddenly, he stopped, frowning: "Can you all be quiet? I am about to achieve Arbitrary Eternity, stop disturbing my meditation."

The three of them looked at Shi Hao at the same time.

Xiao Yan: "Meditation my ass!"

Han Li: This guy is playing the fool again.

Wang Lin: "This Seat suggests you shut your mouth."

Shi Hao looked at them, confused: "Did I say something wrong? I really am meditating. Arbitrary Eternity requires a calm heart; you guys are too noisy."

Wang Lin: "..."