Intimidation

Hei Lin slowly rose to his feet.

His movements were not fast, yet they carried a suffocating pressure.

He took a step forward, walking toward the chubby boy, who had gone completely blank, all color drained from his face, his legs beginning to tremble uncontrollably.

Every step he took seemed to land upon everyone's hearts.

He stopped in front of the chubby boy and looked down at him.

His icy gaze scraped inch by inch across the boy's fear-twisted face.

"A knife?"

Hei Lin spoke. His voice was no longer Bai Lin's clear one, but low and cold, devoid of any human emotion, like a frigid wind sweeping across ice.

"Not a bad toy."

He leaned forward slightly, his cold little face nearly pressing against the chubby boy's deathly pale one. The corners of his lips slowly curled upward, forming an arc with no warmth whatsoever, filled instead with boundless malice.

"I'm looking forward to it..."

"In our future combat classes..."

His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached the ears of every child frozen stiff with fear, like the whisper of the Grim Reaper.

"When you use it..."

"To chop up my 'useless martial soul'..."

"I hope that when the time comes..."

Hei Lin's gaze swept over the chubby boy's violently shaking legs and the dark wet stain rapidly spreading around his crotch. The mockery in his eyes was like tangible ice needles.

"You won't..."

"Back down at the crucial moment."

"Waaah—!"

Extreme terror, like a flood bursting through a dam, instantly crushed the last shred of the chubby boy's reason!

He could no longer hold himself back and let out a shriek so miserable it became distorted!

Scalding urine poured down his pant legs, rapidly spreading into a large dark puddle across the floor.

Snot and tears smeared across his face. Like a ball of flesh scared out of its wits, he scrambled and crawled toward the classroom door, sobbing incoherently.

"Waa..."

"Mom..."

"Monster!"

"There's a monster!"

"Waaah..."

Just as the chaos reached its peak, the classroom door opened.

Lin Ximeng, the new homeroom teacher of the Soul Master class, entered carrying her lesson plans, wearing a gentle, warm smile meant to leave a wonderful first impression on the new students.

The encouraging opening remarks she had carefully prepared were still caught in her throat—

A ball of flesh reeking of urine, howling and covered in tears and snot, his lower body soaked through, shot straight at her like an out-of-control cannonball amid desperate cries!

The smile on Lin Ximeng's face instantly froze, then was replaced by utter shock and undisguised disgust!

Almost on instinct, she nimbly darted aside!

Whoosh!

Covered in filth and howling in despair, the chubby boy shot past her and crashed heavily into the hallway outside the classroom, producing a dull thud followed by even louder wailing.

Lin Ximeng steadied herself, still shaken, and looked at the wretched, foul-smelling figure outside the door.

Then she looked at the classroom, where the students were packed tightly together in deathly silence, pale-faced like startled quails, not daring to breathe. A surge of irritation shot straight to her head.

The gentle persona she had carefully cultivated instantly collapsed!

Suppressing the urge to cover her nose, the last trace of gentleness on her face was completely replaced by disgust and annoyance.

"This..."

"What is the meaning of this?!"

She snapped under her breath. No longer caring about appearances, she immediately turned and strode out of the classroom, calling toward the end of the hallway.

"Teacher Li! Teacher Li!"

"Please come over here!"

"There's a student here..."

"Who needs to be dealt with!"

Very soon, a tall male teacher rushed over. Frowning, he glanced at the chubby boy rolling around on the floor and crying, then, without a word, endured the smell and lifted him up like a chick before quickly carrying him away from the mess.

Standing at the classroom door, Lin Ximeng took several deep breaths before she barely managed to suppress the irritation in her heart and the lingering sensation of that foul odor.

She rearranged her expression and tried to force out a reasonably gentle smile, but the lingering anger in her eyes and the trace of irrepressible disgust could not be hidden.

She walked into the classroom, her gaze sweeping over the group of trembling little children below, their eyes darting away from hers. She cleared her throat and spoke in as steady a tone as she could.

"Alright, students, it was just a small accident. Don't let it affect our class."

"Now, please return to your seats. We..."

Her voice stopped. A faint flicker of confusion crossed her eyes.

Strange...

Why were these new students...

So quiet? So...

Well-behaved?

From what she remembered, children in Soul Master classes, having awakened their martial souls, were often livelier and more restless than ordinary children, even carrying a bit of the arrogance of fearless calves.

On the first day of class, even without an "accident" like the one just now, they would usually be whispering among themselves and constantly fidgeting.

But now, the entire classroom was silent enough to hear a pin drop!

Dozens of children sat perfectly straight, their hands placed properly on their desks. They did not even dare let their eyes wander, behaving so obediently it was unbelievable!

It was as though something utterly terrifying had just shaken their souls!

Lin Ximeng's gaze instinctively swept toward the corner of the classroom.

The boy named Tang Wulin was quietly sitting by the window, his head slightly lowered. His long lashes hung over his eyes, concealing them and revealing only the outline of a quiet, well-behaved profile. He looked utterly different from the "monster" who had just scared the chubby boy into wetting himself.

"Was it just my imagination?"

Lin Ximeng suppressed the doubt in her heart and spoke again. Her voice regained its usual gentleness, though it carried a faint, nearly imperceptible tension.

"Let's begin class..."

Meanwhile, deep within the sea of consciousness, beyond anyone's sight.

Control returned in an instant, like the receding tide.

Bai Lin's consciousness took over the body once more, and that suffocating, icy pressure vanished as though it had never existed.

He only felt weak all over. A layer of cold sweat had even seeped across his back, while his heart continued pounding wildly in his chest.

Hei Lin had already retreated into that eternal corner of darkness and sat down cross-legged, as though he had never left.

His cold gaze pierced through the mental barrier, "watching" Bai Lin outside, who had returned to "normal."

Bai Lin was trembling slightly from lingering fear as Hei Lin let out a silent, mocking sneer.

"Did you see that?"

The icy voice rang directly within the core of Bai Lin's consciousness, carrying cruel bluntness.

"Bai Lin."

"This is reality."

"A group of six-year-old brats has already learned these jungle laws without anyone teaching them."

"They flatter and fawn over powerful martial souls; they despise and trample weak martial souls!"

Hei Lin's voice was like an ice blade steeped in poison, every word stabbing viciously into Bai Lin's heart.

It tore apart the small, warm illusion he had only just formed about hard work and protection.