Too Lazy to Speak, Yet Worth Listening To

That pressure, that aura, those eyes that seemed ready to choose someone and devour them...

"Mon... monster..." The lanky boy's teeth chattered, and his crotch was soaked.

Zhong Shenxiu paid no heed to their fear.

He moved.

His first step took him toward the chubby boy.

The chubby boy was still lying on the floor. Seeing Zhong Shenxiu approach, he began trembling all over. "Don't... don't come closer... I know I was wrong..."

Zhong Shenxiu crouched down, his golden vertical pupils fixed on him.

There was no emotion in those eyes, only pure coldness, like a predator sizing up prey about to be torn apart.

"You like dirtying other people's beds?" Zhong Shenxiu asked, his voice terrifyingly calm.

"I... I..." The chubby boy stammered incoherently.

Zhong Shenxiu extended his hand, his dragon claw lightly pressing down on the chubby boy's right hand.

"No... don't..." The chubby boy realized what was about to happen and struggled in terror.

"Crack."

A crisp sound of breaking bone rang out.

One by one, Zhong Shenxiu forcibly snapped all five fingers on the chubby boy's right hand.

Not broken by bending, but snapped apart, like frail twigs being broken one after another.

"Ah—!!!"

A shrill scream echoed through the dormitory.

The chubby boy's face went deathly pale from the pain. His body convulsed as tears and snot ran together down his face.

Zhong Shenxiu released him. As he looked at the boy's twisted, deformed fingers, there was not the slightest ripple in his golden vertical pupils.

This was still not enough. Compared to the agony of being torn apart by Star Dragon and devoured by the Black Death Dragon in his dreams, what was this little pain?

He rose to his feet and walked toward the lanky boy.

The lanky boy had already collapsed limply onto the floor. As he watched Zhong Shenxiu approach, he did not even have the strength to run. He could only shake his head frantically. "No... it has nothing to do with me... It was Lin Xuan... it was all Lin Xuan..."

Zhong Shenxiu did not listen to his explanation.

He grabbed the lanky boy by the collar and lifted him up, then drove a fist into his face.

Bang!

The lanky boy's nose broke instantly, blood spraying everywhere. The blow sent him reeling backward, and the back of his head slammed heavily into the wall. His vision went dark, and he nearly passed out.

But it was not over.

Zhong Shenxiu pinned him against the wall. His left dragon claw gripped the boy's shoulder while his right hand clenched into a fist. One punch, two punches, three punches... his fists rained down on the lanky boy's abdomen.

There was no Soul Power behind them, only raw physical strength. Yet the body tempered by the Eternal Myriad Dragon Source Art far surpassed that of an ordinary person. Every punch carried the weight of a thousand jun.

"Urgh... urgh..."

The lanky boy retched continuously under the blows, vomiting the contents of his stomach mixed with bloody foam, soiling his clothes and the floor. He felt as if he were about to die. Every punch seemed ready to shatter his internal organs.

Zhong Shenxiu threw more than a dozen punches before finally releasing him, once the lanky boy had gone limp as mud.

The lanky boy slid to the floor and curled into a ball. His entire body twitched, blood flowing from both his mouth and nose. He had already lost consciousness.

Finally, Zhong Shenxiu turned and looked at Lin Xuan.

Lin Xuan had been scared utterly witless. He looked at the chubby boy's twisted fingers, then at the lanky boy's miserable state, and a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head. He wanted to flee, but his legs had gone weak, and he could not take a single step.

"Don't... don't come over..."

Lin Xuan's voice trembled. He backed away step by step until his back hit the wall and there was nowhere left to retreat. "I... my dad is the chairman of the Lin Family Soul Guidance Technology Group... If you dare touch me... my dad won't let you get away with it..."

Zhong Shenxiu turned a deaf ear.

He walked up to Lin Xuan, reached out, and seized his hair with his dragon claw, yanking hard.

"Ah!" Lin Xuan cried out in pain, feeling as though his scalp were about to be torn off.

Zhong Shenxiu dragged him to the center of the dormitory, then raised his right hand—

Slap!

A heavy slap landed across Lin Xuan's face.

Lin Xuan's head snapped to one side. His left cheek swelled instantly, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Before he could react, a second slap came down.

Slap!

His right cheek swelled as well.

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!

Zhong Shenxiu struck from both sides, one slap after another landing on Lin Xuan's face. He did not use his full strength; otherwise, a single slap could have sent Lin Xuan's head flying. But he controlled his force precisely, making every slap painful enough to cause excruciating agony without knocking Lin Xuan unconscious right away.

He wanted Lin Xuan to remain awake and feel every bit of pain.

"For stealing my money."

Slap!

"For dirtying my bed."

Slap!

"For acting so arrogant."

Slap!

"For thinking having money made you so great."

Slap!

Every slap was accompanied by cold words.

Zhong Shenxiu's voice remained calm, terrifyingly calm, as if he were not committing violence but merely stating facts.

Lin Xuan's face swelled visibly, turning into an inflated pig's head.

His teeth loosened. On the seventh slap, one of his front teeth flew out, falling to the floor amid bloody foam. His eyes had swollen into narrow slits, his vision blurred, and his ears buzzed. All he could hear were the unceasing slaps and Zhong Shenxiu's cold voice.

Fear.

A fear he had never known before engulfed Lin Xuan.

Ever since childhood, he had been a young master pampered in everyone's hands. Whatever he wanted, he got. He had never suffered such humiliation or pain. He wanted to beg for mercy, but his swollen face would not let him speak. He wanted to resist, but he could not even muster his Soul Power, his body held down tightly by Zhong Shenxiu's pressure.

He could only endure passively, feeling the searing agony each slap brought, feeling his teeth loosen and fall out one by one, feeling his dignity crushed bit by bit.

Zhong Shenxiu no longer knew how many times he had slapped him.

His arm rose and fell mechanically, while the savagery in his eyes burned like tangible flames. The negative emotions that had built up over nine years finally found an outlet at this moment.

If not for—

"Stop!"

A stern shout came from outside the door. Immediately afterward, a powerful surge of Soul Power forced the dormitory door open.

A middle-aged man in a black uniform rushed inside. The moment he saw the scene in the dormitory, his expression changed drastically.

He was Long Hengxu, dean of discipline for Eastsea Academy's Intermediate Division, a powerful five-ringed Soul King.

Long Hengxu's gaze swept over the dormitory. A chubby boy lay on the floor with all five fingers on his right hand twisted grotesquely, wailing without end. A lanky boy curled up beside the wall, his face covered in blood, unconscious. And there was another... Long Hengxu could barely recognize him as Lin Xuan. His face was swollen like a pig's head, one front tooth missing, while a dragonized youth gripped his hair and slapped him.

"Zhong Shenxiu! Stop!"

Long Hengxu recognized the dragonized youth at once. He was Zhong Shenxiu, the new student who had enrolled today. Those Light Gold Vertical Pupils were far too distinctive.

Zhong Shenxiu paused and slowly turned his head, his golden vertical pupils looking toward Long Hengxu.

In that instant, Long Hengxu's heart tightened. He had seen many fierce Soul Masters and many violent gazes, but never before had he seen such cold, such pure killing intent in the eyes of a nine-year-old child.

It was not anger, nor was it hatred. It was something more fundamental—an predator's indifference toward its prey.

"Zhong Shenxiu, I order you to release him immediately and dismiss your Martial Soul Possession!"

Long Hengxu shouted in a deep voice, releasing the pressure of a five-ringed Soul King in an attempt to suppress Zhong Shenxiu.

Yet to his surprise, Zhong Shenxiu did not submit at once beneath that pressure.

Those golden vertical pupils remained cold. Although his movements had stopped, the hand gripping Lin Xuan's hair did not loosen.

"They stole my money and dirtied my bed."

Zhong Shenxiu spoke in a hoarse voice. "I was only seeking justice."

Long Hengxu frowned deeply. His gaze swept over the wrecked dormitory, taking in the empty iron box on the floor, the snack crumbs scattered across Zhong Shenxiu's bed, and the footprints. He could roughly guess what had happened.