Chapter 38: The Matter Is Settled

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

Each one looked hateful, with a red silk band tied on their forehead bearing the eight characters: "Strive for strength, drive out the lechers." The absurd part was that one brother had miswritten "Strive for strength" as "Feces for strength" on his red band.

When Pangzi looked surprised and, despite the crowd surging forward, posed a question to that brother.

"Ah, brother, you wrote the wrong character up there."

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

Pangzi let out an "oh" and suddenly understood.

Immediately, the two seemed to have a tacit understanding—Pangzi stepped back, shielding me behind him. The brother with the "feces" band also instantly stepped back, righteously shouting with the crowd: "Strive for strength, drive out the lechers!" Besides changing his face, even a Sichuan opera performer couldn't keep up.

Me: "…" Is it necessary to make such a fuss? Whether or not I have anything with Yao Yirong, it's none of your business.

What's bizarre is that someone behind us lifted a large banner whose words read smoothly: "United effort, united will, drive out Hai Sheng, protect the goddess."

Me: "…" I was furious, tears welling up. Heaven, will you even let me live? I'm just here to take a test—how hard can that be for me?

Looking at the surging crowd, Pangzi and I wanted to cry but had no tears, nearly unable to hold our ground. Then I thought of another good brother, Wei Xiong. Given his nature, he'd surely step forward with a big cleaver, roaring, "Who dares touch my brother?" He'd scare these bastards so badly they wouldn't dare fart—we wouldn't be this passive now.

"Brother Xiong, brother Xiong, where are you? Brother, brother, I miss you so much."

At this moment, eyes closed, my longing for that bold, fiery brother who acts with a great axe flows like the Yellow River's water—unceasing.

"You bunch of bastards, get lost."

Huh, could it really be Wei Xiong coming back? No, the voice sounds like a woman's—did Wei Xiong go to Thailand? Damn it, if he went to Thailand he should at least have said something, and maybe taken Pangzi along.

I opened my eyes, my brows instantly knotting into a "V". The speaker wasn't Wei Xiong but the one who dragged me into this turmoil—the person I never want to see again in my life—Yao Yirong.

She stood there facing us, confronting the surging crowd, radiating the aura of a woman who could hold a pass against ten thousand.

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

One of those turtles mustered courage and stepped forward: "Yirong, you don't need to be afraid. I'll pro—"

He hadn't finished saying the "protect" character before his words turned into a blood‑curdling scream. Yao Yirong kicked his lower abdomen viciously.

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

Yao Yirong clapped her hands briskly, scanned the crowd, and said, "Who else wants to meddle?"

The crowd sucked in cold air and retreated three feet.

This girl has definitely trained… Seeing her clean, efficient movements, Pangzi and I felt a chill. Kicking people like that—she's certainly not a novice; her neat flying kick says it all.

Pangzi stared at the dumbstruck crowd and sighed, "Why do these men love to act so despicably?"

Just then, Silijing led a large group of teachers arriving in time, driving off the onlookers.

Upon seeing Silijing, Pangzi's expression shifted instantly from sympathetic to a flowery, fawning smile: "Sis Jing, you've come just in time—I was about to punish these troublemaking students and then send them to you."

Me: "…" Pangzi, you're probably one of those despicable men yourself.

Silijing gave me a sideways glance, her tone neutral: "Hai Sheng Chen, what you do outside is your business, but please don't bring bad habits into the school. Campus is a holy place of learning; I don't want your words and deeds to defile this sacred ground."

Having said that, she turned cold and walked away. Meanwhile, Pangzi completely abandoned me, his life‑and‑death brother, trotting after Silijing and affectionately calling her "Sis Jing."

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

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

She said nothing, nor did I. Little girl, in terms of willpower you could never match me, a cultivator.

After a long 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 meet you."

I rolled my eyes and retorted, "Your party is your party—what's it to me? Besides, who's your brother? If he wants to see me, I'll go see him, but that would make me lose face."

Hearing that, Yao Yirong seemed greatly provoked, leaping up like a tigress and roaring at me, "Chen Hai Sheng, you've ruined 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 confused. What did she mean? I'm clearly the victim, yet it sounds like I ruined her reputation.

"Hai Sheng bro, you okay?"

I turned around to see Meng Xue panting behind me. Seeing her like a startled fawn, I smiled and shook my head: "Hai Sheng bro's fine—look, everyone's gone."

Meng Xue patted her small chest: "That's good. You don't know, but ever since Weiqiang gege took a call in class, everyone's been saying you did something with Yao Yirong late at night, and the rumors keep growing—some even claim Yao Yirong is pregnant with your child."

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

"Gege Weiqiang got a call that day in class; here's what he said exactly."

"What, you're from the police bureau? What are you saying? Hai Sheng supposedly showed up in Yao Yirong's boudoir last night, half‑dressed. Officer, please believe me—I'm innocent. I'm heartbroken over this; wait, I'm going to the police bureau now to arrest that beast Hai Sheng 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 that bastard Pangzi who's ruined both of us.

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

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

I forced back the urge to vomit blood, squeezing out a smile through clenched teeth: "I'm fine, Hai Sheng bro's doing well. Come on, let's go find your brother Weiqiang right now."

In truth I'd been gritting my teeth, fists clenched tight enough to creak; the moment I see that bastard Pangzi, I'll unhesitatingly beat him into a pig's head.

As we walked, Pangzi was nowhere to be found, 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 a raised lump on her forehead, like she'd been hit. She remained pallid, sweating faintly, as if she'd suffered a great fright.

Meng Xue hesitated a moment, looked around to see no one, then leaned close and whispered softly: "Hai Sheng bro, let me tell you something."

"Sure, go ahead."

"You know I like to draw."

"Yeah, what's up?"

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

As she spoke, Meng Xue seemed to recall something terrifying, her whole body shuddering as she burst into panicked sobs.

Startled, 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 and lunged at me, shouting: "Chen Hai Sheng, you bastard, you said you had no interest in my sister—look at you now, what vile things have you done, where are your hands?"

I glared, angrily staring at Pangzi and shouted: "Shut up, I haven't settled the score with you yet." Then I patted Mengxue's back: "Speak slowly, don't panic, with Brother Hai Sheng and your Brother Pangzi here, you have nothing to fear."

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

Mengxue slowly lifted her head, wiped 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 o'clock, all the lights in the studio went out. When I turned the lights on, I saw……"

Fear appeared again in Mengxue's eyes: "I saw a red little bird slowly appearing on the blackboard on the wall, 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 hard toward the outside of the studio, that woman kept chasing me, shouting strange words in her mouth that I couldn't make out."

"I ran to the bottom of the stairs, she was still following me behind, then I crashed into a column 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 opposite.

Mengxue nodded, gave an affirmative hum, and once again, like a startled fawn, she buried her head in my embrace.

"Damn it, what the hell, daring to bully my sister—once I catch him I'll make him pay." 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 is it? Is it urgent?"

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

As soon as the words left my mouth, I didn't give him a chance to react, clenched my fists 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 loudly, letting you ruin my and Yao Yirong's reputation so happily. I will let you."