"This... this freaking..."
He instinctively backed away two steps, his calves trembling.
What the hell was this thing?
Six years old? Two meters twenty? Muscles?
Su Mo looked down at him. There wasn't a trace of emotion on his six-year-old face, but the pressure he radiated was real.
Zhang Fugui swallowed.
He was scared.
He was really scared.
But the next second, fear turned to anger.
He was a dignified gatekeeper at Notting Spirit Master Academy, a Level 17 Battle Soul Master, and he'd been frightened by a six-year-old brat?
There were so many colleagues watching!
If word got out, how could he, Zhang Fugui, ever show his face again?
Humiliated and furious, his face flushed red. He pointed at Su Mo's nose and cursed, "Kid, who are you trying to scare?! So what if you got bigger? I'm a Level 17 Soul Master. Beating a little brat who just awakened is child's play!"
Su Mo didn't move.
Thinking he was scared, Zhang Fugui grew bolder. He stepped forward, his finger almost poking Su Mo in the chest—
"Your mother's a penniless pauper, and so are you! Your whole family's a bunch of paupers, and you still dare come to Notting Academy and throw your weight around? I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your useless mother!"
Su Mo's gaze changed completely.
In that instant, Zhang Fugui felt a chill crawl up his spine.
But it was already too late.
Before he could pull his hand back, Su Mo had already moved.
No Soul Skill, just an ordinary punch.
"Bang!"
Zhang Fugui felt an immense force slam into his chest. He flew three meters through the air like a kite with its string cut and crashed heavily to the ground.
Knees on the ground.
Hands braced against the earth.
Like a dead dog.
The whole area fell silent.
Zhang Fugui looked down at his posture, then up at Su Mo, disbelief filling his eyes.
He was Level 17.
He was a Soul Master.
And a six-year-old had punched him to his knees?
"You... you..." His lips quivered, but he couldn't get the words out.
The other gatekeepers were dumbfounded too.
What had just happened?
They'd only seen a shadow fly out, then their buddy was on his knees.
It took a full three seconds before someone finally reacted.
"Rebellion! Someone's causing trouble at the academy!"
"Surround him! Don't let him escape!"
"Go get help!"
The gatekeepers rushed forward and surrounded Su Mo.
Someone helped Zhang Fugui up. His knees were still trembling, but his mouth was already running.
He sneered and stepped forward.
"So you can fight, huh? What good does that do you? When you're out in the world, you need power and connections! You got any?!"
"So you're just a little scumbag."
Su Mo froze for a moment.
Then he laughed.
He remembered his previous life.
He'd just graduated then, and job hunting had been one rejection after another. At last, he'd found a security guard job. The pay wasn't great, but at least it was steady. He went to the interview, and they told him, "We'll let you know."
He waited a week. Nothing.
Later, he learned the position had already been promised to a relative of some big shot.
The relative couldn't do a thing, but because he had connections, he'd gotten the job without lifting a finger.
And Su Mo, with no connections, couldn't even get hired as a security guard.
At the time, Su Mo had thought, If I could land a security guard job too, I could sit by the entrance every day, drink tea, read the paper. That'd be pretty nice.
Too bad luck wasn't on his side.
Now it was the same scene, in a different world, and things were still like this.
Seeing that Su Mo wasn't speaking, Zhang Fugui thought he was scared and got even cockier. "What? Cat got your tongue? I'll tell you, my cousin's in charge of the academy's logistics!"
The more he said, the prouder he got. The other gatekeepers joined in.
"That's right! Brother Fugui's cousin is Manager Zhang Guiren!"
"He's a manager at Notting Spirit Master Academy! He's got pull around here!"
"Daring to cause trouble at Notting Academy? You're asking for death!"
Zhang Fugui's face twisted into a vicious grin. "Kid, you're finished! My cousin's on his way! I'll make sure you never get into the academy, and then I'll send you straight to prison!"
Su Mo sighed.
This plot was so old.
But what could he do? He had to play it out.
He was just about to speak when he heard footsteps behind him.
"Quickly, quickly, Director Su, this way!"
A middle-aged man in a silk robe was walking over, bowing and scraping as he accompanied someone.
It was Zhang Guiren.
And the person he was accompanying was Spirit Hall's Deacon Su Yuntao.
Zhang Guiren beamed. "It's an honor to have you visit our academy, Director Su! Just tell us what you need!"
Su Yuntao waved a hand. "Manager Zhang, you're too kind. I'm here today mainly to welcome someone important."
"Someone important?" Zhang Guiren was taken aback. "Who could be important enough for you to welcome in person?"
Su Yuntao smiled faintly. "He's someone who once saved me. He's coming to enroll at the academy today."
Zhang Guiren's eyes lit up. "I see! Which family's young master is it? I'll make the arrangements right away and ensure he's well looked after!"
As they spoke, they had reached the academy entrance.
Then Zhang Guiren froze.
A crowd had gathered at the gate, and it was all chaos.
His cousin, Zhang Fugui, was being helped to his feet, his face twisted with rage as he shouted at a giant over two meters tall.
Zhang Guiren's heart lurched.
What was going on?
He was about to bark at them when Su Yuntao suddenly quickened his pace, passed him, and walked straight toward the giant.
Then, to Zhang Guiren's shock—
Su Yuntao clasped his hands and bowed deeply and respectfully.
"Your student Su Yuntao pays his respects to Mr. Su Mo."
The whole area fell silent.
Zhang Fugui's mouth hung open, his jaw almost hitting the ground.
Zhang Guiren's vision went black, and he nearly fainted.
What had he just said?
"So you can fight, huh? What good does that do you? When you're out in the world, you need power and connections!"
Then his greatest connection—Spirit Hall's Deacon, whom his cousin had been accompanying—had walked over and respectfully bowed to the very man he'd been insulting.
Calling him "Mister."
Zhang Fugui's brain shut down completely.
The gatekeepers who'd just been shouting, "Surround him, don't let him escape!" all took three steps back at once, as if they'd planned it together. They wished they could squeeze themselves into the cracks in the wall.
Zhang Guiren reacted a little faster than they did.
After all, to become a manager at the academy, a person needed at least a basic instinct for self-preservation.
He crossed the distance in three strides and slapped Zhang Fugui on the back of the head. The crack was as sharp as a firecracker.
"Smack!"
Zhang Fugui spun around, stunned. "C-Cousin..."
"What cousin?!" Zhang Guiren kicked the back of his knee. "You shameless fool! How dare you offend Mr. Su Mo?!"
Zhang Fugui's knees buckled, and he hit the ground with a thud.
He looked up at the two-meter-twenty mountain of muscle before him. Su Mo's six-year-old face looked down at him, his expression as calm as if he were gazing at an ant.
Zhang Fugui's calves started trembling again.
But his mind worked faster than his legs.
In the next second, his face twisted into a smile uglier than crying.
"M-Mr. Su Mo! I was blind! I deserve to die! I didn't know you were Deacon Su's... um..."
He didn't know what to call him.
Mister? He was too young.
Sir? That didn't seem right.
Grandpa? That seemed even worse.
Whatever. Better to kowtow first!
"Thud, thud, thud!"
Zhang Fugui knocked his head against the ground like a pestle grinding garlic. It made dull thumps, and his forehead was red after only a few knocks.
"This lowly one has a filthy mouth! I deserve a beating! Please, be the bigger man and let me go like a fart!"