They Were... Afraid?

The stench of Feral Beast grime was pungent and hard to remove. Li Qingshan could only scrub himself with body wash again and again.

Outside the bathroom stall, things gradually grew lively as the other students returned to the lounge to change.

After a while, the voices faded away.

"Brother Shan, I'll wait for you outside." Zhao Hongzhou's voice came from beyond the door.

Li Qingshan answered, sniffed himself from side to side, and after confirming there was no smell left, turned and picked up the machete leaning against the door before placing it beneath the showerhead to rinse.

Under the rushing water, the grime quickly vanished, and the 1.2-meter blade gleamed with metallic luster once more.

Li Qingshan ran a hand over the blade, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

Wan Keshan had used it to shatter an alloy iron cage with a single strike, yet there was not a single mark on it now.

"What a fine blade!"

Perhaps because of its material, the blade retained no odor after being rinsed.

Li Qingshan quickly changed clothes and walked out of the lounge.

Zhao Hongzhou stood by the door, holding a scabbard in both arms. The moment he saw him, he tossed it over.

"Brother Shan, the teacher asked me to bring this to you."

"Alright. Let's go eat at the cafeteria."

The long blade returned to its sheath, and the two headed toward the cafeteria.

It was lunchtime, and students from the entire No. 1 High School had gathered in the cafeteria. The place was bustling.

After Li Qingshan and Zhao Hongzhou got their food, they casually found an empty table in a corner and sat down.

"Li Qingshan? Li Qingshan came to the cafeteria too."

Fifty meters away, more than twenty students from Class 7 occupied several tables. Jia Jiang was among them.

When someone noticed Li Qingshan, every gaze except Jia Jiang's turned toward him.

"Why are Li Qingshan and Zhao Hongzhou sitting in the corner?"

"Yeah, why aren't they sitting with the Martial Arts Class?"

Someone asked in confusion, turning to look toward the other side of the cafeteria, where more than a dozen tables stood.

Aside from students from their own school like Jia Jiang, nearly all the martial arts students who had transferred in from other schools sat there.

Particularly conspicuous was a small table at the center of the group, where a man and a woman sat facing each other, as though surrounded by stars.

"They must be the elites of this year's Martial Arts Class, right?"

Several students who had previously given up on applying revealed envious looks and deliberately muttered near Jia Jiang's ear.

Jia Jiang ignored them and simply continued eating.

Unable to press him further, they once again turned their attention to the corner.

"Tell me, why did Li Qingshan have to do this? He insisted on squeezing into the Martial Arts Class!"

"You need connections wherever you go. Looking at it now, he hasn't even managed to squeeze into the Martial Arts Class's circle."

"Heh, what do you know? He's planning to soar to the heavens. Our little Class 7 can't contain someone like him."

"We're classmates. Don't put it that way. Li Qingshan won't last long in the Martial Arts Class anyway. He'll have to come back eventually."

"Hehe, when he withdraws from the Martial Arts Class with his tail between his legs, he'll understand that honest advice is hard to hear and good medicine tastes bitter."

Snickers rose one after another, followed by an endless stream of mockery.

Bang!

An empty tray slammed heavily onto the table, interrupting the "gathering."

Everyone paused and looked at Jia Jiang.

"I'm done eating."

Jia Jiang wiped his mouth and looked at the classmates who had kept speaking.

They were all people who had given up on applying to the Martial Arts Class at the very last moment.

After two years as classmates, Jia Jiang naturally knew them well.

But now, they seemed exceptionally unfamiliar.

He did not understand.

There had clearly been no conflict of interest at all. Li Qingshan had merely acted according to his own wishes, yet these bystanders could harbor such immense malice?

Jia Jiang turned to look at the Martial Arts Class "circle" and said,

"The woman sitting in the middle is Yu Lei, and the man is Hong Qian. Both are at the Body Tempering First Stage."

Yu Lei was still slightly short in punching strength, but there was no need to explain that in detail to these people.

"Body Tempering First Stage? They were already at the Body Tempering First Stage when they first entered the Martial Arts Class?" The people around him all widened their eyes.

But Jia Jiang was not finished.

"Li Qingshan is also at the Body Tempering First Stage, and his results are even better than theirs. He ranked first in the entire class among this year's martial arts students."

The words stirred up a storm.

The first reaction of the Class 7 students present was disbelief.

"What? Impossible!"

"Li Qingshan is just a publicly funded student. What gives him the right?"

"Absolutely impossible. Jia Jiang, stop joking around!"

A joke?

Jia Jiang shook his head, picked up his empty tray, and turned to leave.

At least one thing those people had said earlier was right.

No matter where one went, there were always "circles."

He no longer wanted to remain in Class 7's "circle."

Watching Jia Jiang's retreating back, someone hesitantly spoke.

"Jia Jiang... he was just joking, right?"

"Bullshit, you actually believe him?" The speaker looked disdainful and pointed toward the corner.

"If it were true, would he and Zhao Hongzhou be sitting in the corner by themselves?"

"That's right, that's right!"

The people around him nodded in agreement and looked toward the Martial Arts Class "circle."

"Those Martial Arts Class students aren't blind. They wouldn't possibly ignore the top student in the class, would they?"

The moment those words fell,

they suddenly noticed that all the Martial Arts Class students who had been eating stopped moving and looked in one direction.

Hm?

Confused, everyone turned their heads and followed their gazes.

In the corner, Li Qingshan was holding a bowl and drinking soup.

All the Martial Arts Class students were looking at Li Qingshan? How was that possible?

As the thought flashed through their minds, the Class 7 students turned back in disbelief.

Yet they discovered that the Martial Arts Class students who had been looking around all jolted, lowered their heads, and sped up their eating.

They were... afraid?

The Class 7 students stared wide-eyed, utterly bewildered.

Just then,

the man and woman at the center of the Martial Arts Class "circle"—Yu Lei and Hong Qian, whom Jia Jiang had mentioned—

stood with their trays and walked toward the corner where Li Qingshan was seated.

"What Jia Jiang said was true."

The Class 7 area fell silent.

They looked at one another. In the end, they stood up in shame and quickly left the cafeteria.

In the corner, Yu Lei and Hong Qian had already arrived beside Li Qingshan and Zhao Hongzhou.

"You don't mind if we sit here, do you?"

"Be my guests."

Li Qingshan smiled as he set down his soup bowl and gestured for them to sit.

Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!

The four froze and looked at their wrists.

Their Communicators vibrated incessantly, their frames flashing red.

It was not just them.

The entire cafeteria instantly fell silent. Everyone lowered their heads at the same time and looked at the Communicators on their wrists.

"Patrol Bureau announcement!"

Li Qingshan and the others exchanged glances. Not too surprised, they quickly opened the message.

"Last night, an Evil God Follower appeared in Fallen Blossom City and completed a sacrifice in the outskirts. Two citizens were killed."

"Based on the victims' genetic information, the Patrol Bureau has confirmed their identities. Their photos are now being released. If you have any clues, please contact the Patrol Bureau."

"The criminal is still at large. All citizens are advised to remain cautious."

After several short lines of text, two photos popped up.

The two faces he had seen just last night appeared on the light screen.

"Yellow Hair?"

Li Qingshan's pupils contracted. He swiped his finger across the screen and reread the announcement.

"There were only two victims!"

After confirming the number of victims, Li Qingshan's eyes flickered.

"There were clearly three of them together, yet only two 'Yellow Hairs' died?"

"Hiss!"

Purple-red wavy long hair flashed through his mind, and Li Qingshan sucked in a sharp breath.

Fortunately, he had held firm to his bottom line last night.