Chapter 13: Beating to Death

During class, the teachers explained various difficult problems as always, but beneath their rigorous and serious facade, one could still detect a sense of distraction.

Once an adult's inherent worldview collapses, it is not as easy to accept as it is for the students below; some might even do things that lose all reason.

For some reason, Zhang Wei always felt a chill down his back, but seeing the constant stream of Resentment from Han Mei in his notifications, he roughly understood what was going on.

Why do you keep thinking about me? Can't we just let go of the resentment and start a new life?

Zhang Wei felt a bit annoyed; this feeling of being fixated on by someone was truly unpleasant, and he kept feeling like something bad would happen after school.

Sure enough, just as the last class was wrapping up, Han Mei, who had just clearly called out "Stand up," shouted again after only a few seconds: "Zhang Wei, you wait a moment."

Wait for you, as if!

Zhang Wei packed up his desk with god-like speed and, amidst the bewildered gazes of his classmates, charged out of the classroom in the lead.

"In such a rush to be reincarnated... eh?" a classmate cursed bitterly, then stared in astonishment as Han Mei followed closely behind him.

What is going on here?

"Zhang Wei, you stop right there!!"

The class beauty's ponytail whipped wantonly in the wind, her tight jeans outlining her two long legs as she chased after him with the speed of a hundred-meter dash.

"Damn, are you kidding me?"

Along the way, the many students pouring out of the classrooms stared blankly at this scene; the famous beauty was actually chasing after a male student... what kind of background did this guy have?

Those who knew Han Mei knew that this girl never messed around with others, let alone played this kind of boring game of "Oh, come and catch me, you can't catch me, haha" in front of everyone.

Please, we're almost in college, can you be a bit more steady?

Sensing the strange gazes around her, Han Mei felt such hatred in her heart, but if she didn't settle this score properly with Zhang Wei, she would never be able to swallow this anger.

When Xie Zihan questioned her on WeChat, Han Mei was speechless.

"We used to be close, and seeing you with your thick eyebrows and big eyes looking so steady, I couldn't help but gossip about the secrets of our fellow sisters with you, but you actually sold me out, damn you..."

If she didn't feel she couldn't hit her target, Han Mei would have loved to take off her shoe and smash it against the back of his head.

After running out of the senior high teaching building and passing the sophomore and freshman buildings, the underclassmen watched the two chasing and fleeing in confusion, not knowing what had happened, but the envy, jealousy, and hatred from the male students were plentiful.

Absorbed Wang Zhongyu's Resentment, +66

Absorbed Qin Rui's Resentment, +38

Watching the rapidly refreshing Resentment Value, which whooshed past six thousand and seven thousand, Zhang Wei, whose heart was beating faster and faster, couldn't stop his legs even if he didn't want to run anymore—damn it, this is even more satisfying than robbing a bank, okay? I'm willing to be tired and suffer for this!

The Resentment from Han Mei behind him never ceased; this innocent girl who had been betrayed by her quasi-ex was feeling extremely stifled right now. Why the hell are you running so desperately? If you stopped and apologized properly, what could I even do to you? Huh? Why the hell are you running!

Just as he left the school gate, Zhang Wei realized he couldn't run anymore; the open space ahead was packed with students, who didn't know what kind of spectacle they were watching, their faces filled with a look of panic.

"Zhang Wei... you..." Han Mei behind him ran until she was panting, with a few beads of sweat appearing on the tip of her nose.

"Shh! Don't make a scene, something happened." Zhang Wei stopped Han Mei's "unreasonable behavior" with a serious face, then squeezed into the crowd ahead, only to realize that something had indeed happened.

In a circle of open space, a corpse was lying quietly, blinding blood flowing all over the ground; several police officers stood around taking photos for evidence, and a forensic doctor crouched beside the body, carefully examining it.

Looking at that pale and young face, the pupils in Zhang Wei's eyes shrank.

He knew this person.

A small-time thug who hung around this area in groups of three or five, occasionally extorting pocket money from students, committing no major crimes but constant minor ones, and the corpse on the ground was exactly one of them.

Come to think of it, his home was also in the area where Zhang Wei lived, so he had an impression of him.

The watching middle school students felt heavy-hearted; for most of them, who lived a life of going between home and school, seeing a corpse of a peer lying in front of them was a first in their lives.

Although countless people die in this world every day—some from old age and illness, some from war, some from murder—these scenes were always just a report on TV or the internet, or a single picture.

For those in the ivory tower, those things were too distant, like watching a fire from the other side of the river, with no direct sensory experience.

Because of this, many people walked with heavy steps and even heavier hearts, even though that was a guy with a long record of bad deeds.

Han Mei squeezed in afterward, and after seeing this scene, she lost the desire to settle scores with Zhang Wei and silently retreated from the crowd.

On the way home, Zhang Wei opened the class group on WeChat and found that the messages inside had already exploded.

He scrolled directly to the top unread message and clicked on one of the videos; the content inside was the full story of the murder at the school gate.

In the video, a student in a school uniform and that thug were fighting each other, rolling on the ground with punches and kicks; the student was quickly no match for the experienced thug and was pinned to the ground, being beaten mercilessly, while the students watching from the side dared not intervene.

Just then, an accident suddenly occurred.

The student, who had already lost the ability to parry, suddenly erupted, using a knee strike to send the thug riding on top of him flying several meters away, then pounced on him, also straddling him, pressing his neck with one hand and grabbing his hair with the other, lifting the guy's head and slamming it violently against the bluestone slab...

Zhang Wei heard the dull sound of the thug's skull hitting the slab; after only two hits, the slab cracked, and one could feel the ferocity of that force even through the screen.

When the student stopped, the skull of the corpse beneath him had changed shape...

Afterward, the student didn't run away, just sat there blankly, looking at a loss, until the police came to take him away.

"Awakened!"

After finishing the video, three words popped into Zhang Wei's mind.

The strength of that power was clearly not something a normal person could possess, and the difference before and after was also very obvious.

This is truly fantasy-like...

As for that student, Zhang Wei was not worried about the impact of the murder case on him; firstly, he was a minor student with no prior record, and it was a counterattack after suffering personal harm, so he would at most be sentenced to a few years of probation.

But what was certain was that this case was destined not to follow the original procedure... perhaps he wouldn't become some lab rat, as it wasn't an isolated case, but strict control was likely inevitable.

If... if one day, a powerful Awakened appeared in society, one that even the police or even the military could not restrain, what would that scene be like?

At this thought, Zhang Wei felt a sense of tightness in his heart.

It is imaginable that after the appearance of humans with Transcendence powers, this world will inevitably undergo major changes. The most intuitive point is the disruption and adjustment of social classes.

This change may very well surpass any class reorganization in human history.

Even the equality that currently exists on the surface may cease to exist.

And under such harsh living conditions, he had still maintained the will and determination to climb upward; how could he allow himself to be mediocre during a major transformation of the world, eventually becoming fish meat worrying about his life safety every day?

Ordinary high school students might not associate these things, or might not think so far ahead, but Zhang Wei was different.

If it could be said that in the past society, having money meant living better, then in the near future, it is very likely that having power will mean living better!

But, how can one achieve Awakening?

Referring to a series of experiences, Zhang Wei took a deep breath, imagined himself in a state of great sorrow and rage, simulated the rhythm of intense emotional fluctuations, his face shifting between overcast and clear, bright and dim, twitching at times, looking ferocious at others...

Absorbed Li Zhiqiang's Resentment, +23

Absorbed...

On the subway, the passenger sitting next to Zhang Wei couldn't help but sit further away, so as not to provoke this person who was having an episode.

"Still not working."

Zhang Wei sighed and gave up dejectedly. He seemed to have not experienced what intense emotional fluctuations felt like for a long time, as if he had always been very stable... so stable that he did not seem like a young man.