Chapter 310

A sea of people, over a hundred strong, surged toward us the moment they saw Pangzi and I walk into the school gate.

Each one had a hateful look, a red silk band tied on their forehead bearing eight characters: "Strive for strength, drive away the lechers." The speechless part was that one brother's red band had a typo: "Strive for strength" was written as "feces strength".

When Pangzi looked astonished, ignoring the crowd surging forward, he asked that brother a question.

"Ah, brother, you wrote the wrong character on top."

That brother gave an embarrassed smile: "I came to your school to fix the toilets; seeing so many people, I couldn't resist joining the fun. I've read little, I don't know many characters."

Pangzi let out an "oh" and suddenly understood.

Immediately after, the two seemed to have tacit understanding—Pangzi stepped back, tightly shielding me behind him. That brother with the "feces" band also instantly stepped back, righteously shouting along with the crowd: "Strive for strength, drive away the lechers." Besides changing faces, even Sichuan opera performers couldn't keep up.

Me: "…" Is it necessary to make such a fuss? Never mind that Yao Yirong and I have nothing; even if we did, it's none of your business.

What's bizarre is that someone behind brought a large banner, the words on it read surprisingly smoothly: "United effort, united will, drive away Hai Sheng, protect the goddess."

Me: "…" Furious, tears welling. Heaven, will you even let me live? I'm just here to take a test—am I not making it easy for myself?

Looking at the surging crowd, Pangzi and I wanted to cry but had no tears, nearly unable to cope. Then I thought of another good brother, Wei Xiong. Given his nature, he'd surely step forward with a big cleaver, roaring: "Who dares move my brother?" He'd surely scare these bastards into not daring to fart; we wouldn't be this passive now.

Brother Xiong, brother Xiong, where are you? Brothers, we miss you so much.

At this moment, this feeling, this scene, I closed my eyes; my longing for that bold, fiery good brother was like the Yellow River's waters, endless and surging.

"You bunch of bastards, all get lost!"

Huh, could it really be Xiong returning? No, the voice sounds like a woman's—did Xiong go to Thailand? Damn, if he went to Thailand he didn't even say a word; at least he could've brought Pangzi along.

I opened my eyes, my brows instantly knotting into an eight; the speaker wasn't Xiong but the one who caused this turmoil, the person I absolutely never want to see again—Yao Yirong.

She stood there before us, confronting the surging crowd, truly possessing the spirit of a woman who could hold a pass against ten thousand.

After Yao Yirong's shout, that bunch of turtles instantly fell silent; the air grew so quiet you could hear a leaf drop.

One of those turtles gathered courage and stepped forward: "Yirong, you don't need to be afraid. I will pro… ah"

He hadn't even finished saying the "protect" character when it turned into a blood‑curdling scream; Yao Yirong kicked his lower abdomen hard.

The kick sent him flying—clear off the ground… three meters away.

Yao Yirong clapped her hands cleanly, looked around, and said: "Who else wants to meddle?"

The crowd sucked in cold air, retreating three feet.

This girl, she's definitely trained… Looking at her clean, capable bearing, Pangzi and I felt a chill. Kicking someone like that—she certainly isn't doing it for the first time; you can tell from her clean, swift kick.

Pangzi looked at the dumbstruck crowd and sighed sorrowfully: "Why do these men love to act so base?"

At that moment, Silijing led a large group of teachers arriving just in time, driving the onlookers away.

Upon seeing Silijing, Pangzi's expression instantly shifted from sorrowful to a flower‑like, fawning smile: "Jingjing sis, you've come just in time—I was about to bring these troublemaking students to justice and then hand them over to you."

Me: "…" Pangzi, you're probably one of those base men too.

Silijing gave me a sideways glance, tone neither salty nor bland: "Chen Hai Sheng, what you do outside is your business, but please don't bring bad atmosphere to school; campus is a holy place of learning—I don't want your words and actions to defile this sacred ground."

Having said that, her face turned cold and she walked away. Pangzi, meanwhile, completely abandoned me, his life‑and‑death brother, trotting after Silijing, affectionately calling her Jingjing sis.

Me: "…" Can you tell me I've been a pure victim from start to now?

After everyone dispersed, only Yao Yirong and I remained, staring at each other.

She didn't speak, neither did I; little one, how could your willpower possibly compare to mine, a cultivator?

After a while, Yao Yirong gritted her teeth and said: "Chen Hai Sheng, my family is holding a gathering in a few days—come with Pangzi; my brother wants to see you."

I rolled my eyes and retorted: "Your party is your party—what's it to me? Besides, who's your brother? If I have to go see him just because he wants to see me, I'd lose face."

Hearing that, Yao Yirong seemed greatly stimulated, leaping up like a tigress and roaring at me: "Chen Hai Sheng, you've made me like this—what more do you want?"

With red‑rimmed eyes, she turned and ran.

This girl actually cried. I scratched my head behind her, feeling utterly bewildered. What does Yao Yirong mean? Clearly I'm the victim, yet it sounds as if I ruined her reputation.

"Brother Hai Sheng, you okay?"

I turned around and saw Meng Xue panting, standing behind me. Looking at Meng Xue, startled like a fawn, I smiled and shook my head, saying: "Brother Hai Sheng is fine—look, everyone's gone."

Meng Xue patted her small chest: "This is good—you don't know, ever since Brother Weiqiang got a call in class, everyone's been saying you did something to Yao Yirong in the middle of the night; the rumor's growing wilder, and some even say Yao Yirong is pregnant with your child."

Me: "…" This is just a rumor, a naked rumor—damn, even if I did something, could she get pregnant that fast? No, what does this have to do with Pangzi, and what call did Pangzi get?

"Brother Qiang got a call that day in class; the original words were like this."

"What, you're from the police bureau—what are you saying? Hai Sheng was in Yao Yirong's boudoir last night, still half‑dressed. Officer, please believe me, I'm innocent; I'm heartbroken that this happened—wait, I'm going to the police station right now to arrest Hai Sheng this beast and give him a beating."

Little Meng Xue, eyes brimming with tears, honestly repeated Pangzi's words to me.

Me: "…" Damn Pangzi, so the rumor's source was him spreading it. No wonder Yao Yirong just said I ruined her. To be precise, it's this bastard Pangzi who ruined both of us.

My heart now feels like it's filled with magma; the moment Pangzi shows up, I'll absolutely erupt like a volcano and beat him to death.

"Brother Hai Sheng, you okay?" Meng Xue tugged my sleeve, asking cautiously.

I suppressed the feeling of vomiting blood, forced a smile through gritted teeth: "It's fine, Brother Hai Sheng's doing well. Come on, let's go find your Brother Weiqiang now."

In fact, I'd long been gritting my teeth, secretly clenching my fists till they creaked; the moment I see that bastard Pangzi, I'll unhesitatingly beat him into a pig's head.

Walking on, I didn't find Pangzi, but I noticed Meng Xue beside me acting odd.

"Meng Xue, what's wrong? Did you catch a cold? Why is your face so pale? And what's that bump on your forehead?" Only then did I notice Meng Xue's forehead had a raised lump, like from a knock. Moreover, her face remained pale, she was sweating coldly, as if she'd suffered a great fright.

Meng Xue hesitated a while, looked around seeing no one, then leaned close and whispered: "Brother Hai Sheng, let me tell you something."

"Mm, go ahead."

"You know I like to draw."

"Eh, what's up?"

Meng Xue gritted her teeth and continued: "Recently the school's art studio is being renovated; I've been going to that abandoned studio at night to draw… but last night, when I was in that studio, I saw… I saw."

As she spoke, Meng Xue seemed to recall something terrifying; her whole body shuddered and she burst into panicked sobs.

Frightened, I hurriedly hugged her, comforting her not to cry.

"Beast, let go of that girl—wait, no, that's my sister." Just then, Pangzi, who'd been missing for a while, appeared. As soon as he showed up, he bared his teeth and claws, hurling abuse at me: "Chen Hai Sheng, you bastard, you said you had no interest in my sister—look at you now, what rotten things have you done, where are your hands?"

I glared, angrily shouting at Pangzi: "Shut up, I haven't settled the score with you yet." Then I patted Mengxue on the back: "Take it slow, don't rush. With Brother Hai Sheng and your Brother Pangzi here, you have nothing to fear."

Pangzi also sensed something was off, standing quietly to the side, no longer daring to joke.

Mengxue slowly lifted her head, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, and spoke haltingly: "The night before last, I was practicing drawing in the art studio, but when it hit twelve, all the lights in the studio went out. When I turned the lights back on, I saw……"

Fear appeared again in Mengxue's eyes: "I saw on the blackboard of the wall a red little bird slowly appearing, as if someone were drawing it with chalk on the blackboard. The bird's color was as red as fresh blood, and, moreover, the bird had no feet."

"Immediately after, a woman in white clothes suddenly appeared outside the window, her hair very long, I couldn't see her face clearly. I blinked, and she was already inside the art studio. I was terrified, I ran as fast as I could toward the outside of the studio, the woman kept chasing me, shouting strange words I couldn't make out."

"I ran to the bottom of the stairs, she was still following me behind, and then I crashed into a pillar and passed out."

After finishing the whole story, Mengxue's little face turned deathly pale.

"Little sister, you mean the art studio in that small building across the way?" Pangzi propped his chin, pointing at the dilapidated small building across.

Mengxue nodded, gave an assent, and once again, like a frightened fawn, she buried her head in my embrace.

"What the hell, what damned thing dares to bully my sister; once I catch him I'll make him regret it." Pangzi grabbed my shoulder: "Hai Sheng, let's go check out that art studio tonight."

"Mm, that makes sense, but before that I still have something to do."

Pangzi wondered: "What matter, is it urgent?"

I stared at Pangzi, eyes flashing with menace, gritted my teeth and snarled: "This matter is…… to beat you up."

As soon as the words fell, I didn't give him a chance to react, clenched my fist and went up to give him a fierce beating.

"Damn, Hai Sheng, are you crazy?"

"You dead Pangzi, letting you answer the phone in class, letting you shout so loud, letting you ruin my and Yao Yirong's reputation so happily. I'll make you like having a big mouth; if I don't beat you to death, I'm not Chen Hai Sheng."

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