Expulsion

The four or five lackeys behind him had yet to react when Li Hanche moved.

The techniques of Shadow-Skimming Legs made their first appearance in the academy. His right leg swept low across the ground, striking the nearest lackey's ankle. The man spun sideways through the air before his back slammed into the ground, leaving him staring blankly at the sky.

His left leg followed, his knee driving into the bend of the second lackey's leg and forcing him down onto one knee.

He turned and delivered a side kick to the third lackey's chest, sending him staggering back several steps before his back crashed into a stone pillar by the academy gates.

Liu Hu and his four or five lackeys were all on the ground.

Li Hanche withdrew his leg and dusted off his trousers, where there was no dust at all.

"From now on, in this academy, whenever you see me, Li Hanche, keep your heads down. Got it?"

Liu Hu knelt on the ground, clutching his stomach with both hands as beads of cold sweat emerged one after another on his forehead.

He struggled to raise his head, his voice hoarse and hurried.

"Got it, got it! No, wait! Why did you hit us without even telling us why? We would've agreed! We would've agreed!"

Li Hanche paused.

He looked down at the people kneeling all over the ground, then at his own legs.

"Uh, that does seem a little wrong. I hit first and talked later..."

Fourth-year student Zhou Wenyuan was cornered at the back entrance of the cafeteria.

This young nobleman had just come out of the cafeteria carrying a bowl of iced sour plum soup when he saw Li Hanche standing in front of him.

The bowl in his hand shook, spilling sour plum soup over his sleeve, but he did not even think to wipe it away.

"Li Hanche? W-what do you want with me?"

"To beat you up."

Zhou Wenyuan's face went pale.

He instinctively took a step back, his back hitting the cafeteria wall. The bowl fell from his hand and shattered on the ground.

The arrogance he had displayed when he pushed that student down the stairs that day had vanished completely.

"No, listen to me, I..."

A fist smashed into the wall beside his cheek, less than half an inch from his ear.

Plaster showered down from the wall, and a shallow fist mark was embedded between the bricks.

Zhou Wenyuan's legs gave out, and he slid down the wall to the ground.

"From now on, anyone in this academy who doesn't lower their head when they see me gets beaten up. Understand?"

Zhou Wenyuan nodded frantically, his chin nearly jabbing into his chest.

"Spread the word."

Li Hanche stood on the steps at the cafeteria's back entrance, looking at the group of noble students before him—some kneeling, some sitting, some leaning against the wall and gasping for breath.

Every word he said landed clearly in the ears of everyone present.

"Whoever won't lower their head, I'll beat them until they do."

One noble student kneeling on the ground trembled as he raised his hand.

He clutched his stomach, his voice uncertain.

"Uh, um... does that include girls?"

The air fell silent for a moment.

The other students who had been beaten all looked at him as if to say, Are you fucking stupid?

But the question had hit the point. There were so many female students in the academy—surely he would not beat them too?

Li Hanche glared at him.

"Hm? Aren't girls people?"

His gaze swept across everyone present.

"I mean all teachers and students in the academy. If any teacher disagrees, I'll go tell on them to my teacher and see whether his sword is sharp enough."

"Spread the word. Start with yourselves."

The next day, Heaven Dou Imperial Junior Academy had changed.

More precisely, the people in the academy had changed.

The older students who normally barged through the corridors now walked close to the walls, their footsteps lighter than cats'.

The library was quiet—not because people were studying quietly, but because no one dared make a sound.

No one cut in line at the cafeteria anymore. The food lines were more orderly than a military parade.

During breaks, there was no more chasing and roughhousing in the corridors. A few older boys huddled in a corner whispering. Halfway through, they saw Li Hanche coming up the stairs and immediately fell silent, lowered their heads, and stepped aside in perfect unison, as though they had rehearsed it.

Su Nianxue came to see him during lunch break the next day.

She wore her academy uniform, and the liveliness usually on her face was gone.

She stopped in front of Li Hanche, twisting her hands together, pressing and releasing her lips.

"Li Hanche."

There was a cautious, probing note in her voice.

"That thing you said... all teachers and students in the academy... does that include me too?"

Li Hanche looked at her.

The system panel flickered in the corner of his vision. The reward had already been issued, and the icon for Shadow-Skimming Legs was still blinking on and off.

He nodded expressionlessly.

"Mm... Nianxue, you too."

Su Nianxue's eyes reddened.

She felt wronged at being lumped in with "everyone," at discovering she was no different from the others.

She lowered her head, refusing to let her tears fall.

Li Hanche looked at her bowed head, at the knuckles she had clenched white, at the mist of tears gathering on her eyelashes.

He raised a hand and rubbed his nose.

"Uh. How about when you see me in the academy, you nod first to say hello? That counts too..."

Su Nianxue raised her head.

Her eyes were still red, but the corners of her mouth had already curved upward.

It was an expression caught between grievance and tears turning into laughter, not yet fully transformed.

When the news reached the Crown Prince's residence, Xue Qinghe was reading in his study.

The sunlight outside the window was just right, and fine dragon saliva incense burned in the censer.

A maid stood before the desk with her hands folded in front of her and her head lowered, reporting every detail of the news from Heaven Dou Imperial Junior Academy.

Including his exact words: "If any teacher or student in the academy doesn't lower their head first when they see Li Hanche, he'll go find Sword Douluo Chen Xin and have him test his sword."

Xue Qinghe's fingers paused. With a soft rip, he tore the book in his hand apart.

He had not torn out a page. The entire book split into two from the middle.

He lowered his head and looked at the book split in half in his hands, then raised it again. The expression on his face was terrifyingly calm.

He placed the torn book on the desk and picked up his teacup for a sip.

"Go tell the headmaster there."

His voice was so steady that the maid could not help but shiver.

"Expel him."

Li Hanche stood at the gates of Heaven Dou Imperial Junior Academy, holding an expulsion notice that the dean of discipline had just shoved into his hand.

The dean of discipline had run off the moment he handed it over, faster than a rabbit, as if afraid Li Hanche would fly into a rage on the spot.

Li Hanche looked down at the red seal on the notice, then up at the two ten-foot-tall stone soul beast statues by the academy gates. They looked exactly as they had on his first day of enrollment.

"Uh, I got expelled? Thank heavens! It was too boring in there."

He had just folded the notice and tucked it into his clothes when a carriage stopped in front of him before he could take a step.

The driver was from the Crown Prince's residence.

The maid got down from the carriage, bowed to him, then stepped aside and opened the carriage door. Her manner was polite but left no room for refusal.

The Crown Prince's chambers looked the same as ever. The only difference was the two halves of a torn book on the desk.

Xue Qinghe sat behind the desk. There was no book in his hands, nor any memorials. His face was expressionless, devoid even of the standard gentle smile he usually wore as the Crown Prince.

Li Hanche stood before the desk with his legs together, his hands hanging at his sides, and his head lowered so far that his chin nearly touched his chest.

"Raise your head."

Xue Qinghe's voice came from across the desk.

Li Hanche raised his head.

"Didn't you make everyone lower their heads when they saw you in the academy? Why are you lowering yours this time?"

Li Hanche looked at Xue Qinghe's expressionless face and replied with a cheerful grin.

"Well, aren't you my big brother? Isn't it only right for me to lower my head to my big brother?"