Teacher!

Elsewhere.

In the shade of the trees across from the sports field.

The principal stood beside a scruffy, dispirited middle-aged man with long hair, watching the mock test on the field.

"That kid's footwork is interesting." The man nodded slightly.

"Yes, he's the top student in our year," the principal said with considerable regret. "He missed the first exam. I thought it was such a shame, so I asked you to come take a look."

The man yawned and said lazily, "He has quite a talent for footwork-if he can get full marks in mental power too, I wouldn't mind giving him a chance."

"Full marks in mental power? Supervisor Qian, isn't that asking too much?"

The principal couldn't help asking.

After all, mental power was Shen Ye's weakest area.

Although his mental power was fairly good by their school's standards, it was very ordinary compared with students across the city, let alone the province.

Seeing his hesitation, the man shook his head.

"If his mental power isn't enough, there's simply nothing we can do."

"Let's wait for his mental power results. Maybe he'll get a high score," the principal said.

"A high score won't do. Only full marks will meet the requirement," the man stressed.

The principal couldn't help sighing.

Naturally, Shen Ye knew nothing of this.

It was almost noon now.

Quite a few students had finished the mock test and gone straight back to their dorms.

Even more had gone to the cafeteria.

Chen Haoyu had gone to wash the paint off himself.

He had already arranged to meet Shen Ye on the path outside the cafeteria so they could have some stir-fried dishes together for lunch.

With a little time to spare, Shen Ye returned to the classroom and started a Language and Science Knowledge practice paper.

Practice questions!

I have to keep doing practice questions!

Math, physics, and chemistry were fine; they were all the same.

But the historical figures, events, and even literary works in the humanities were all unfamiliar, and he needed to recall them again.

Unlike the other students, he still needed practice to activate many of the facts in his memory.

In fact, Language and Science Knowledge was the subject he felt least confident about.

An ocean of questions!

It really drives you crazy.

Shen Ye buried himself in the questions, giving them his full attention, and before he knew it, noon had arrived.

When the bell rang, he looked up and realized with a start that hardly anyone remained in the classroom.

It was lunchtime.

He was hungry.

Shen Ye stretched, planning to finish the last major question before going to eat with Chen Haoyu.

Outside the window, a tall figure blocked the light.

Sparky? Sparky the goat?

Shen Ye rubbed his eyes and took a closer look. It was Sun Ming.

"Need something?"

Shen Ye asked.

"You little bastard, Zhao Yibing doesn't want anything to do with you." Sun Ming glared fiercely at him and spat out the words.

"That's wonderful." Shen Ye smiled.

"Don't think acting like you don't care will get her attention," Sun Ming sneered.

"I really never want to see her again," Shen Ye said sincerely.

Sun Ming gave a cold snort, then turned and beckoned toward the corridor.

Six or seven boys walked over.

They entered the classroom, shut the door, and surrounded Shen Ye.

Shen Ye smiled and said,

"Why bother? We're all friends here."

The trait "One of Us" activated!

The next instant.

Their expressions changed.

"We're such good friends. Why surround me?" Shen Ye spread his hands.

"I don't have a choice. Zhao Yibing said she wanted me to help her vent her anger." Sun Ming scratched his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, we don't want to beat up our own brother either. It really puts us in a tough spot," one boy said.

"It's all because I like her so much, and you're usually too arrogant, bro. That's why I wanted to beat you up," another boy said.

"Forget it. He's one of us. I'm not doing anything."

"Right."

They all spoke at once.

Ten seconds.

Time was up.

The boys went blank for a moment, then immediately forgot what they had just said.

They closed in again.

Shen Ye put his phone on the windowsill, put away his stationery, and slowly stood.

After hearing them out, he could finally relax.

-This was just a fight between students. The person who wanted to kill him wasn't among them.

"I don't want trouble."

Shen Ye continued earnestly,

"I hope you'll think this through. The second official High School Entrance Exam is the day after tomorrow."

"The footwork exam is crucial. If an injury affects your performance, it could affect your prospects for the rest of your life."

"I hope you'll think more about yourselves."

The boys exchanged glances.

Sun Ming snorted and said, "It's your fault for treating Zhao Yibing like that. None of us could stand watching it."

"Yeah, she said you even went out of your way to curse her out afterward."

"She cried all morning."

"You really are a hateful bastard."

Shen Ye looked at them calmly.

After what had happened that morning, he had thought Zhao Yibing had already backed down.

But now it seemed she had gone into hiding to chant a spell.

Now she had unleashed her ultimate move-

"Zhao Yibing's Fishpond"!

Shen Ye began to grow impatient.

The exam was imminent, and he needed to hurry up and work through questions, yet these trivial matters kept entangling him.

"Tell me what you want," Shen Ye said.

"You're not allowed to pester Zhao Yibing again," Sun Ming said.

"Right."

"Stay away from her."

"You already can't get into a top high school. Stop clinging to her."

The boys spoke over one another.

Shen Ye picked up the test paper on his desk, held it up before them, and grinned.

"I'm doing practice questions. I haven't even gone looking for her. How am I pestering her?"

The boys said nothing.

Sun Ming took out his phone, dialed a number, and switched on the speaker.

"Hello?"

Zhao Yibing's voice rang out.

"Bingbing, I'm with Shen Ye," Sun Ming said.

"What are you doing? You guys know perfectly well he bullied me, yet you're still being friends with him?" There was a trace of hurt in Zhao Yibing's voice.

"I've talked it over with Shen Ye. He's decided he won't bother you ever again," Sun Ming said.

He held the phone in front of Shen Ye.

Shen Ye thought he could cooperate-

Zhao Yibing had just said, "You guys know perfectly well he bullied me," not "You know perfectly well he bullied me."

This proved she knew exactly what was happening here and what these boys were doing.

He couldn't ask for anything better than staying away from a girl like her.

"Zhao Yibing, I won't bother you ever again," Shen Ye said.

"I hate you." Zhao Yibing hung up immediately.

Beep-beep-

A busy signal came from the phone.

"All right, that's settled. You guys go ahead. I still want to work on questions for a while," Shen Ye told them with a smile.

Sun Ming suddenly threw a punch.

"She hates you. Did you hear that? You damn pretty boy, just looking at that face of yours pisses me off!"

He cursed.

This ignited the others' emotions. They surrounded Shen Ye, punching and kicking together.

Shen Ye had no room to dodge at all. He raised his hands to block a few blows, then suddenly stumbled as searing pain spread across his back.

"And you're the top student in our year?"

Sun Ming sneered.

His first punch had been blocked. While Shen Ye turned to deal with the others, he had seized his chance to launch another sneak attack from behind and finally landed a blow.

At that instant-

The smile vanished from Shen Ye's face.

When it comes down to it, you just want a fight, don't you?

With the High School Entrance Exam almost here, you're beating up a student who missed an exam, without any regard for the consequences.

And that student used to rank first in the year.

So beating him up must feel great, really satisfying.

It'll even be a funny story to look back on.

And you can please Zhao Yibing, stand up for her, and win her favor too.

After all, she said, "I hate you."

-She wants me to get beaten up too, doesn't she?

Two birds with one stone. Everyone's happy.

How nice.

Devour trait.

Shen Ye said silently in his mind.

He had used the trait "One of Us" once, and his assessment was that it was of little use.

It could only be used once a day.

It could only be used on people of roughly equal strength.

If there had been an assassin just now, it would have been completely useless.

He might as well use it to increase his strength.

In an instant, lines of faintly glowing text appeared on his retinas:

"Devouring successful."

"This green trait has been devoured. Gained 3 attribute points."

"Your current attribute point total: 4."

"As you willed, your current attribute points have been allocated to strength."

"Your strength: 5.2 (1.2+4)."

"As a base attribute, strength does not mean mere brute force. It refers to the hardness of an individual life-form's limbs and bones, the strength of its internal organs, the resilience of its extraordinary meridians, the explosive power of its flesh and blood, and the apoptosis levels of all its cells (the baseline of vitality). Together, these are known as an individual's 'strength.'"

Thud.

Another punch struck Shen Ye.

Shen Ye didn't budge.

He heard air rushing beside his ear as another boy punched toward his face.

Shen Ye didn't block it either. He simply turned his head and rammed into it.

Crack.

Amid the crisp snapping sound, the boy clutched his arm and let out an earth-shattering scream.

There was a hint of despair in his cries.

The movement skills test was the day after tomorrow, yet his hand had been broken at a time like this.

It would definitely affect his score.

-But what good would regret do?

Weathering several wildly thrown punches, Shen Ye kicked out, sending another boy flying into the wall.

He stepped forward again and drove his knee with all his strength into the boy beside him.

Knee strike!

The boy spat out a mouthful of blood and immediately collapsed.

Shen Ye turned, seized Sun Ming by the neck, pinned him to the floor, and punched him in the face again and again.

The others swarmed Shen Ye like madmen.

Shen Ye hauled Sun Ming up by the hair and used him to block the others' attacks.

"I'd really like to know how Zhao Yibing will feel when she finds out you've all gone belly-up."

He spoke into Sun Ming's ear.

Sun Ming struggled desperately, but could not break free of his grip.

He had thought that with five or six of them, they could beat him into submission however they liked and teach him a proper lesson.

But once they put it into practice, things suddenly spiraled out of control.

Should I apologize?

Beg for mercy?

Maybe that would keep me safe?

Zhao Yibing's pitiful appearance flashed through his mind.

"You're not the top student in our grade anymore!"

Sun Ming roared and drove his elbow backward with all his strength, striking Shen Ye's chest with a faint sound like a blow landing on thick rubber.

-Middle school students were only fourteen or fifteen. A strength of 1 put them on par with an ordinary adult man.

That was already quite good, enough to rank among the better students in their grade.

But Shen Ye's strength was now 5.2.

5.2 against 1.

Shen Ye felt no pain at all. He merely tightened his grip around Sun Ming's neck, using him to block the others' attacks as he spoke in a conversational tone:

"What makes you think you can order me around?"

For some reason, an indescribable fear suddenly welled up in Sun Ming's heart.

The next instant-

Like a stick, he was swung in a full circle through the crowd in Shen Ye's grip.

A tremendous crash erupted inside the classroom.

Several boys were swept clean off their feet, knocking aside seven or eight desks, chairs, and stools before falling to the floor.

One boy even smashed through a window with a piercing crash of glass and tumbled into the corridor outside.

The noise died away.

Dragging Sun Ming, Shen Ye avoided the camera on the phone sitting on the windowsill beside his seat and went all the way to the lectern.

Before Sun Ming could speak, Shen Ye slapped him hard.

Blood covered Sun Ming's mouth and nose, but Shen Ye pulled him back around by the hair.

"I've already missed one exam, and you still came to beat me up. Was it because you thought you were sure to win? Or did you want to show how tough you were by beating me?"

Shen Ye raised his hand and slapped him four or five times in succession.

"You deserve to die-"

Sun Ming roared, refusing to back down.

Shen Ye slapped him across the mouth again, then yanked him back and slammed him hard against the blackboard with a thud.

Sun Ming immediately collapsed.

Shen Ye turned and kicked another boy who had just struggled to his feet in the stomach with all his strength.

The boy knocked over seven or eight desks and rolled into the corner.

This time, he could not get up.

Shen Ye walked back over to Sun Ming and looked down at him.

Sun Ming sneered:

"Kill me if you've got the guts. If you don't kill me today, I'll come back for revenge sooner or later."

Shen Ye shook his head, unconcerned.

When children's blood ran hot, they always thought they were invincible.

"Sun Ming, I've always been curious. Which elite high school were you planning to get into?"

As Shen Ye spoke, he looked at Sun Ming's legs.

Sun Ming froze.

He followed Shen Ye's gaze to his own legs.

At that moment, he realized something.

-The second exam was coming up soon.

His entire future rested on the High School Entrance Exam.

Fighting was merely an insignificant part of middle school life. It was not worth sacrificing his future over.

He could endure humiliation for that.

"Pah. Shen Ye, we were wrong today. Forgive us this once."

His face covered in blood, Sun Ming spoke with his neck stiff.

Shen Ye looked at him expressionlessly, then turned away. First, he stopped the phone on the windowsill from recording, then went behind the door and picked up a mop.

"You want me to forgive you?"

Carrying the mop, he walked back at an unhurried pace and continued lazily:

"If it had been any other classmate, or... the old me, they'd already be lying on the floor, beaten so badly by you that they couldn't get up."

He stopped in front of Sun Ming.

"With the High School Entrance Exam right around the corner, you got together over nothing more than romantic jealousy, intending to destroy someone's life without a care."

"You humiliated him, beat him, and ruined his future."

The mop rose high.

"-And you actually expect my forgiveness?"

The mop came down hard.

Sun Ming let out a burst of screams, but the blows did not stop.

Not until his leg broke.

"What are you doing!"

An angry shout suddenly came from outside.

It was the High School Entrance Exam period. Hearing the commotion, several teachers did not even bother with the stairs. Instead, they made several running leaps outside the school building and landed on the fourth floor.

They pushed open the door to Class 5 of Year 3 and immediately saw the scene.

Broken desks, chairs, and stools littered the floor.

Several students lay on the floor, their arms and legs bent at strange angles, groaning in pain.

Shen Ye stood in the middle. Having just thrown away the broken mop, he was wiping the blood from his hands with an exercise book.

"What's going on? What happened?"

Jiang Hantao asked loudly.

Shen Ye threw the exercise book onto the floor and said, his eyes red:

"Sir, they were bullying me."