Another Survivor

The girl was named An Han. She had once been Xiao Wang's neighbor, and she was the other survivor of that explosion.

After the explosion, she and Xiao Wang were sent to the same orphanage. Not long after Xiao Wang was adopted by Zhou Zhengxiong and his wife, she too was adopted by another couple.

Over the years, the two had remained in close contact.

Xiao Wang walked out of the classroom and stood side by side with An Han by the corridor railing, looking at the athletic field ahead and the ever-present inner city walls in the distance.

"Any progress?" An Han asked.

For years, the two had been secretly investigating the truth behind the explosion together.

Xiao Wang paused, wondering whether he should tell her that he had already killed one of their enemies.

After thinking it over for a moment, he decided to tell her, only leaving out information about Aries and the rest.

Over the years, the two had built a deep trust.

"Did you hear the broadcast this morning?" Xiao Wang asked.

An Han turned to look at Xiao Wang. She did not know what he meant, but she nodded anyway.

"Did you hear that an employee from the constabulary bureau died?" Xiao Wang continued.

The moment An Han heard that, she understood what he meant.

Shock filled her eyes as she stared fixedly at Xiao Wang and asked in confusion, "Was it the constabulary bureau?"

"I don't know. He died before I could question him, but they were definitely involved." Xiao Wang glanced to either side and continued, "There are others besides him."

"Who?"

"I don't know yet. I'm investigating."

An Han turned away, her gaze falling on the inner city wall. "Next time you do something like that, remember to bring me."

"Sorry. It was urgent, so I could only deal with it first."

"It's fine. Just remember to bring me next time."

"Okay."

The two stood side by side, neither speaking for a long time.

After a while, An Han spoke. "Are you still planning to go to the Martial Arts Academy?"

"Yeah, it's basically decided. What about you?"

An Han fell silent for a moment before saying, "I'm going to a cultural university. I'm going to enter the inner city."

Xiao Wang tilted his head and looked at An Han. He knew her academic grades had always been excellent, and getting into a cultural university should not be a problem for her. But this was the first time he had heard her say that she wanted to enter the inner city.

Actually, so am I. Xiao Wang sighed inwardly, recalling Aries's condition.

Xiao Wang did not ask her why. An Han did not seem to intend to explain either; she had merely come to tell him.

After that, the two fell silent again.

A moment later, An Han turned to Xiao Wang. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Go ahead."

After Xiao Wang agreed, An Han fell silent again, as though she were deeply hesitant. After thinking for a while, she looked at Xiao Wang and smiled. "Never mind."

After the two stood there a little longer, the bell for class rang.

"I'm leaving."

"Okay."

Xiao Wang did not ask what An Han wanted his help with. If she did not say it, he would not ask. He knew she would tell him when the time came.

An Han did not talk much, even when she was with Xiao Wang.

Xiao Wang often heard others complain about An Han, saying she was like an iceberg. Though she was very beautiful, she gave people a cold, unapproachable feeling.

But Xiao Wang knew she was not.

The morning classes passed quickly. After Xiao Wang finished lunch in the cafeteria, he headed straight for the martial arts training hall.

By their final year of high school, students determined to apply to martial arts academies or military and police schools generally spent half the day on academic classes and the other half training.

The moment he entered the training hall, all sorts of training noises reached him—grunts and shouts everywhere.

Mount Yuan Martial Arts Academy's admission assessment was divided into two parts. The first was a muscle test, which tested a student's absolute control over their own muscles and muscle fibers.

The human body had 640 muscles and six billion muscle fibers. When someone achieved absolute control over every muscle and every muscle fiber in their body, they would have broken through the first limit of martial arts—the Skin-and-Flesh Limit.

Of course, Mount Yuan Martial Arts Academy's admission requirements were not that high.

The second part was actual combat. Generally speaking, the more muscles a person could absolutely control, the stronger their combat ability. But there were exceptions. The essence of martial arts was still combat ability, which was why there was a second part: the practical combat assessment.

Every student aspiring to apply to the Martial Arts Academy carried out targeted training according to their own circumstances.

If their absolute control over their muscles was weak, they trained that control. If their combat ability was weak, they fought repeatedly to improve it.

Although Mount Yuan Martial Arts Academy's admission standards for this year had not yet been released, the assessment content remained unchanged.

Xiao Wang had never tested how many muscles and muscle fibers he could absolutely control, because each test was very expensive. It required a set of measuring instruments developed by Boao Group. There were only two such sets in the entire outer city of Mount Yuan City: one at Mount Yuan Martial Arts Academy, and the other at Boao Group's outer city branch.

But he knew his combat ability was decent. At the very least, it was decent at Mount Yuan Outer City's Seventh Advanced High School.

The moment Xiao Wang entered the training hall, someone called out to him. "Xiao Wang, come fight me."

The speaker was a student from another class named Chu Wenlong. He could barely be considered a second-generation rich kid. The reason he only barely qualified was that his family did not have an inner city pass either, so they were not among the outer city's top elite. Although his family did not lack money, he was wholeheartedly devoted to martial arts and wanted to enter the Martial Arts Academy. He had already paid for three tests of his absolute muscle control.

Based on Mount Yuan Martial Arts Academy's admission standards from previous years, he was still some distance away.

Xiao Wang looked at Chu Wenlong. "You got your absolute muscle control tested again?"

"Yeah. I gained control over five more muscles and another 0.3 billion muscle fibers. Quit talking. Do you dare? Come fight me already." Chu Wenlong was eager to try, his fighting spirit blazing.

Among the martial arts students at Seventh High School, Xiao Wang was fairly well known. Because his combat ability was strong, many students hoped to spar with him to improve their own.

"Are you sure?"

"Come on already."

Seeing that Chu Wenlong would not let it go, Xiao Wang set down his backpack and walked to the center of the training area.

The surrounding students automatically made space, forming a circle around them.

Chu Wenlong tilted his neck, cracking the joints of his fingers with both hands. Then he took a forward-backward stance, slightly crouching with his hands raised before his chest. His eyes fixed on Xiao Wang, no longer playful and grinning, but calm and focused.

Xiao Wang also stepped one foot back, his toes touching the ground, both hands raised before his chest. His eyes were just as cold as he looked at his opponent.

"Ready? Here I come."

Chu Wenlong spoke, but Xiao Wang said nothing.

The next moment, Chu Wenlong pushed off with his rear foot and charged at Xiao Wang. He was fast and steady on his feet. At the same time, he gathered force in his hand and threw a punch straight at Xiao Wang's face.

Xiao Wang remained where he was, staring fixedly at Chu Wenlong's incoming fist. Every muscle in his body tensed. When Chu Wenlong's fist was less than ten centimeters from his face, Xiao Wang threw his entire body backward, nearly parallel to the ground.

Immediately afterward, he planted one hand on the ground and held his whole body up. Then he pushed off with his right foot, pivoting instantly around the hand braced against the floor. At the same time, he drove force into his leg and delivered a side kick straight into Chu Wenlong's abdomen.

Boom!

With a dull thud, Chu Wenlong fell sideways and sprawled facedown on the ground.

No one in the crowd laughed at Chu Wenlong. They merely marveled inwardly at Xiao Wang's combat ability.

That move had not only been fast and powerful—the posture had looked cool too.

"Damn, I still suck. Looks like I need to train more." Chu Wenlong climbed to his feet and looked at Xiao Wang. "Did you secretly go train extra at some martial arts gym outside school? Why do I feel like you've gotten a lot stronger than before?"

Xiao Wang walked to the side and picked up his backpack. He looked at the bead in his mind and answered, "I didn't."