Qin Ze dodged to the side.
Was there something seriously wrong with this woman?
She just loved sticking needles in people.
Lin Siyao wasn't angry. She brushed the bangs off her forehead.
"Don't be nervous. I'm only doing this for your own good."
Qin Ze looked at the man in the trench coat. "Does cooperating with the investigation include drawing blood?"
The man in the trench coat coughed a few times, then said to Lin Siyao, "Professor Lin, we should deal with the important business first."
Lin Siyao pursed her lips and reluctantly put the syringe back in her pocket.
She first examined the lackeys' corpses, then finally turned her attention to the hole in the big guy's chest.
"The cut is clean, and the wound is charred. He was likely struck by a powerful electric current."
Lin Siyao really was a professional.
With just one glance, she had identified the big guy's cause of death beyond all doubt.
"I didn't expect you to have a talent ability."
"A lightning ability?"
Lin Siyao looked at Qin Ze again.
She was growing more and more curious about him.
I really want to draw a vial of his blood.
"So what's the deal with these exotic beasts?" Qin Ze changed the subject.
"They aren't exotic beasts," Lin Siyao said quietly, then said to Qin Ze, "Anyway, this was an accident at our research institute."
"They broke out of their cages while the guards were off guard, damaged the transformer, and tried to escape through the ventilation ducts."
"Luckily, they ran into you."
Qin Ze said, "All I know is that I, a student too weak to truss a chicken, nearly died just now."
Lin Siyao rolled her eyes.
You, too weak to truss a chicken?
"You'll be compensated."
"But before that, you need to sign a confidentiality agreement."
Lin Siyao placed a document in front of Qin Ze.
Knowing the position he was in, Qin Ze signed his name without a moment's hesitation.
"Good."
"I thought I'd have to do a lot of talking to get you to compromise."
Lin Siyao nodded in satisfaction.
There were so many muscular men across from him.
Qin Ze had no doubt that if he so much as said "no," he'd be covered in burly men the next second.
"So what's my compensation?"
Lin Siyao put away the confidentiality agreement.
"We'll announce that you subdued the rioters who infiltrated the research institute."
"I'll give you full marks for this practical class, and then a cash reward for your bravery."
"What else?" Qin Ze pressed.
That little bit of hush money? Dream on.
"Yao Xue told me you've already reached the bone-tempering stage. I'll also give you a bottle of advanced Bone-Tempering Liquid."
Lin Siyao beckoned, and the man in the trench coat took out a brown plastic bottle filled with an unidentified black liquid.
Judging by its appearance alone, it looked a bit like pesticide.
"What does this do?" Qin Ze asked.
Lin Siyao answered, "Bone-Tempering Liquid. As the name suggests, it's for tempering bones."
"Soak whichever bone you're tempering. Mix it with water at a ratio of one to ten, and use enough to cover the bone you want to temper."
Qin Ze's eyes lit up.
Good stuff.
Just what I need right now.
"So many exotic beasts showed up in the pitch dark. You have no idea what a shock it was to the psyche of a little underage boy like me. I'm depressed now."
Lin Siyao rolled her eyes. "Two bottles."
Qin Ze sighed. "Alas, I tend to talk in my sleep. If I fall asleep and say something I shouldn't..."
A vein bulged faintly on Lin Siyao's forehead.
She had actually been fleeced by a little brat today.
Just thinking about it made her angry.
"Three bottles. Not one more."
"Advanced Bone-Tempering Liquid is produced in very small quantities. You can't buy a bottle on the market even for several million."
Qin Ze smiled. "Thanks, sis."
"With the Bone-Tempering Liquid, I can devote myself to cultivation at night. I'll sleep less, so naturally I won't talk in my sleep."
Lin Siyao snorted. "Take your Bone-Tempering Liquid and get lost."
Little brats are so annoying.
"Bye, sis!"
The three bottles of Bone-Tempering Liquid stuffed Qin Ze's pockets until they bulged.
"Oh, right."
"Yao Xue asked me to tell you she's already taken care of the He Family."
"Just focus on preparing for the martial arts exam. Don't think too much about anything else."
Qin Ze was a little surprised to hear that.
To be honest, he and Teacher Yao weren't particularly close.
He was a little touched that Qin Ze had gone so far for him.
Now that the He Family was no longer a threat, he could call back the clones near Ma Yan's home. The Circus needed manpower right now.
"Where did Teacher Yao go?"
"I'm not her mother. How would I know? Get lost, hurry up."
All the numbered test subjects were dead, and she'd been extorted for two extra bottles of Bone-Tempering Liquid.
Lin Siyao was annoyed.
Is this woman going through menopause?
Qin Ze muttered to himself.
Her mood changes faster than a dog's face.
"Brother Ze, you're finally out!"
Seeing that Qin Ze was safe and sound, Fatty spoke excitedly.
The class monitor also patted her utterly flat chest. "It's good that you're okay, it's good that you're okay."
The homeroom teacher walked over and patted Qin Ze down.
Only after finding that he wasn't missing any parts did the teacher breathe a sigh of relief.
Qin Ze explained, "Just a few rioters who infiltrated the research institute. I subdued them."
"I handed them over to the institute's security just now. Everything's fine."
"They were just rioters?"
Fatty muttered to himself.
It had been pitch-dark at the time, and he really hadn't gotten a clear look at them.
But since Brother Ze said they were rioters, then they definitely were.
After an incident like that, the practical class came to an end.
The students boarded the bus and returned to school.
When Qin Ze got home that evening, he couldn't wait to mix up a basin of bone-tempering water. It was black and sticky, and even warm.
"Qin Ze, are you fucking cooking up some shit?"
"Good thing it isn't food."
"Hurry up and put your hands in. See what it feels like."
"Looking at it is making me a little hungry."
"This one's an even bigger heavyweight."
"..."
The clones began to gloat.
They didn't often get a chance to laugh at the original.
Qin Ze took a deep breath and quickly plunged both hands into the basin.
A tingling sensation traveled through his hands and instantly spread throughout his body.
"Sugoi!"
"This feels great!"
"It's like getting a full-service massage."
"You've had one?"
"I've imagined having one."
"..."
Because the original and the clones shared their senses, the clones also experienced the wonderful sensation of the bone-tempering water.
He had to admit, soaking like this really did speed up bone tempering.
If it had been in first gear before, it had shifted into at least second gear now.
"At this rate, I'll finish the first round of bone tempering in less than half a month."
"Looks like I can go even faster."
Qin Ze went to the bathroom, mixed up another basin of bone-tempering water, and brought it out for the clones to soak in too.
He'd gotten it all for free anyway, so he might as well use it up and speed things up for the clones too.
For a while, the room rang with incessant grunts and moans.
Over the next week, Qin Ze took time off to temper his bones at home.
He wished he could soak his hands in the water twenty-four hours a day, and they had become a little swollen.
The clones were suffering just as much. Their perfectly good hands had soaked into pale chicken feet.
But the results were remarkable.
"After tonight, the last hand bone needed for the first round of bone tempering will be finished!"
Outside the window, the sun was sinking toward the western hills. Qin Ze decided to break through in one go that night.