Chapter 22: I Can't Tell, You Go Ahead and Speak

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Jiang Si didn’t rush to skip class to find the Crippled Man. If the other party really wanted to fight, he wouldn’t leave so easily. No need to hurry. He decided to use these few Chinese and English classes to focus on reviewing, barely paying attention to the teacher.

He had always thought that quietly listening in class was the least efficient way to study, especially for Chinese and English, which often felt like repetitive time-wasting. These subjects were best learned actively. He only came to school three or four times a week and attended few classes, but in each session, he diligently recited previously forgotten material, now even covering content from the senior year of high school.

His progress was much faster than those who just listened obediently, naturally because he had studied it all before, making review much more effective. As for physics, chemistry, biology, and math, he had never been strong in biology in his previous life but only memorized key points enough to maintain passing grades. The other subjects—physics, chemistry, math—he had already reviewed the senior year material long ago.

Scoring high enough for top-tier university admission shouldn’t be difficult. The test papers in BH City were obviously simpler than those he had done before, likely similar in difficulty to the BJ papers.

During breaks, the PE teacher would have the students run two laps around the playground. It wasn’t an official PE class. Since there was no morning exercise on Saturdays and the school didn’t want students to idle during breaks, they replaced it with running laps.

Many students grumbled, preferring to just sit inside rather than run outside, especially now that the weather was heating up—running two laps made them sweat. The campus of Fourth High School was large; two laps really felt exhausting.

For Jiang Si, though, two laps weren’t even enough to warm up.

He managed to review all senior year content in four classes today. After that, coming to school held little meaning. He intended to focus on training at the Qingyun Sect, ask Ice Sugar for some mock exam papers before finals as a precaution, and after finals, have the principal arrange the college entrance exam for him.

His recent training had reached a bottleneck. He needed to buy some supplements and try the Qingyun Sect’s magic fusion experiment again to alter the nature of his magical power, further tempering his body with magic.

Although he had failed before, he could feel the magic penetrating deeper, and the seed on his forehead had some strange movements. However, the experiment was risky and needed further optimization.

If successful, even if he couldn’t advance his body to the early sprout stage, he could break through his current half-step sprout perfect stage and reach the half-step sprout ultimate perfection.

“Jiang Si, that guy has been staring at you all along...”

At the end of the run, the teacher didn’t rush the students back to class but let them walk around on the field to rest.

Li Yi ran over to Jiang Si’s side.

Although their classrooms were on the same floor, Li Yi was a first-year student. Fourth High School didn’t divide floors by grade but by academic performance. Jiang Si’s class was at the bottom and thus placed on the first-floor section for first-years.

If Ice Sugar hadn’t insisted on following Jiang Si, she wouldn’t have been assigned to this class. Her grades were rock-solid top of the grade, unmatched by anyone.

But aside from Ice Sugar and Jiang Si, few students in this class showed potential to enter top universities, and Jiang Si often skipped exams. The overall class performance was predictable.

Yin Lian, also a first-year student, ranked near the top but was a bit behind Ice Sugar, usually holding steady in the top five and occasionally taking first.

Still, with her looks and personality, her grades were enough to make her a focal figure in the first year.

Her approach naturally attracted attention.

Jiang Si clearly heard a girl behind her, likely a friend of Yin Lian, whisper nervously, “Quick, Li Yi, let’s go! You’ll get beaten!”

Li Yi just made a “no problem” gesture.

Some boys also casually moved closer.

If Jiang Si dared to lay a hand on Li Yi, they’d probably swarm him, eager to show off in front of the girls. Even if they lost, they could wear him down.

As for Jiang Si, he was silently reciting the third English passage.

Not being good at English composition, he used a simple method: memorize English passages and stitch them together for essays.

This ensured he never scored low.

Usually, three or four passages with minimal grammar and vocabulary overlap were enough.

All were things he had memorized in his past life; reviewing them was easy and quick to recall.

He paid no attention to the surroundings. When Yin Lian—or rather Li Yi—came to speak, he just glanced at the Crippled Man outside holding onto the railing and staring fixedly, and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

“I can help you deal with him,” Li Yi whispered, “I can create illusions after transforming, so he won’t be able to find you.”

“Be careful not to expose yourself.”

“Don’t worry, I’m backed by the Disaster Strategy Bureau, no one will find out!”

No, precisely because it was the Disaster Strategy Bureau, there was reason to worry.

Being a magical girl was public knowledge in the Qingyun Sect.

Jiang Si shook his head. “Magical girls shouldn’t bully ordinary people.”

“It’s not bullying... He wants to pick a fight, I’m just making him hallucinate...”

“Just wants to spar.”

Jiang Si said evenly, “Sparring is exchanging skills, not picking fights.”

Sure, right.

Watching Jiang Si walk back to class alone, Li Yi felt annoyed.

Does he really like fighting so much? What sparring? Street thugs never go easy. She knew this Crippled Man had once stabbed the principal’s son. He was vicious and ruthless.

No matter how much Jiang Si trained, getting stabbed was still dangerous.

Yet Jiang Si’s cold attitude made her a bit unhappy.

I’m just trying to care for him...

Her deskmate hurried over after Jiang Si walked away, grabbing her arm. “What are you doing, Li Yi? Talking to such a bad student is dangerous. What if he attacks?”

“He won’t. There are so many people at school; he’s afraid,” Li Yi said confidently. “I’m not afraid of him either.”

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“Don’t get too close to bad students; it’ll affect your studies.”

Li Yi was speechless at her deskmate’s worries.

How could a few words affect her studies?

She glanced again at the thug outside, feeling something off but couldn’t say what.

Because she sensed danger, she wanted to warn Jiang Si and help him.

Yet she was ignored just like that.

Hmph. How dare he disrespect me? I, Yin Lian, am no pushover.

I’ll help Jiang Si when he gets beaten up.

But she also worried that might seem petty or grudging.

Torn between these thoughts, Li Yi couldn’t focus on the last two classes.

…

Zhang Song had been in a terrible mood lately—terrible enough to wish a disaster beast would appear at school and smash everything to pieces.

He heard that the middle school nearby was attacked by a disaster beast, their dormitories ruined.

Why not Fourth High School?

If only it got smashed, maybe the principal and Jiang Si would be dead too.

They said disaster beasts were incarnations of resentment. His resentment was so huge, why hadn’t one appeared?

He had worked for years, about to become director of academic affairs, but because of Jiang Si, he never got any awards or bonuses each semester. This pesky student was impossible to get rid of; no other class would take him.

He wanted to persuade the principal to expel Jiang Si, but the old man wouldn’t hear it. Instead, the principal tried to convince Zhang Song to accept Jiang Si, but Zhang Song got no help with the lost bonuses and awards caused by Jiang Si!

Damn it!

At noon dismissal, Zhang Song came out of his office to find students crowding the school gate.

He shouted, “What are you doing? Why aren’t you going home?”

Walking through, he saw the student who made him furious—Jiang Si.

That outside thug, called the Crippled Man or something, he couldn’t remember.

Most of the gangsters outside were losers with no prospects.

Zhang Song always looked down on them—they just bullied students and were worthless.

As a teacher, he naturally treated these hopeless minors as trash, shouting as he pushed through, “What are you doing here? Who told you to come to the school gate? Don’t you know Fourth High School doesn’t welcome outsiders? Where are the security guards? What are you doing?”

The guard replied from the security room, “I’ve called the police; don’t get involved...”

Outside the gate, the guard didn’t dare provoke the gangsters.

They were guards, often beaten by people for meddling.

With a salary of a few thousand a month, risking their lives was pointless; calling the police was the best choice.

“What good are you guards for? I’ll ask the principal to fire you!” Zhang Song grumbled as he strode forward.

He heard the Crippled Man talking to Jiang Si, and faintly caught his words.

“Aren’t you tough? Today either you kill me, or I kill you…”

“We won’t fight here, it’s not suitable. Let’s go to the alley…”

“Damn, who is this guy? So annoying, can you shut up…”

Zhang Song, still shouting angrily, reached out to push the Crippled Man back, trying to pull Jiang Si away.

Then, in the next moment, the Crippled Man suddenly turned and slapped Zhang Song hard, sending him slightly airborne!

His glasses were knocked onto the curb, and Zhang Song fell to the ground, blood spilling from his mouth.

The students at the gate gasped.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?! Huh!”

The Crippled Man’s roar was so loud it drowned out the students’ cries.

The middle-aged man struggled to sit up, clutching his swollen right cheek, his face dazed. The slap stunned him.

“You...”

He wanted to say something. As a veteran homeroom teacher used to commanding students, he was accustomed to looking down on kids his age, bossing them around. After a moment of confusion, pain and humiliation surged, and anger flared.

He wanted to ask, “Where are your parents?”

But when the Crippled Man shot him a violent glare, he fell silent.

The methods he used on students didn’t work on street thugs...

Realizing this, fear finally gripped him.

Holding his face, he painfully crawled aside, picked up his cracked glasses, and shakily put them on, too scared to speak, just looking up.

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The student he had scolded and beaten before, who never fought back—Jiang Si—stood there expressionless, not even glancing at him, completely ignoring him.

He only stared at the Crippled Man ahead.

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

The Crippled Man’s tone was excited, expectant, and somewhat wary.

The Crippled Man was afraid of Jiang Si.

Zhang Song swallowed the bloodied saliva, feeling a complex mix of emotions.

Seeing Jiang Si follow the Crippled Man into the alley, Zhang Song got up with difficulty and took a few steps forward, calling, “Jiang Si…”

Jiang Si turned, frowned, and looked at him once. Zhang Song immediately stepped back, frightened.

That slap had made him a scared rabbit.

“Get lost, don’t be in the way.”

But Jiang Si didn’t strike back. He just said coldly.

If this had happened at school before, that sentence would have driven him mad.

He wouldn’t be satisfied without kicking Jiang Si a few times.

But now, he couldn’t summon any anger.

This was outside school; he had no grounds to argue with Jiang Si.

He didn’t even have the courage to reply.

After Jiang Si and the Crippled Man disappeared into the alley, no one dared to follow.

Zhang Song looked back; all the students crowding the gate were staring at him.

“What are you looking at?”

He had wanted to roar at them as before, but suddenly fear prevented him from getting angry.

“Go, go home. Don’t get involved in these things.”

He stammered, rubbing his burning right cheek.

A few students snickered; he noticed.

Shame and anger mixed inside him, but fear kept these emotions from erupting.

After losing face, even if he exploded, it would only make him a laughingstock.

So he waved them off, dispersing the crowd.

“Go, go! Be careful on your way home!”

The school was a sanctuary for students, who had yet to be hardened by the world—innocent and naive.

But the same was true for teachers.

Zhang Song hobbled back to the teaching building, rubbing his reddened eyes.

He realized that even a teacher with decades of experience was protected by this ivory tower...

…

For the Crippled Man, of course, he couldn’t fight Jiang Si at the school gate.

He had to bring Jiang Si to the person who gave him his power, so the fight had to be somewhere less visible.

The narrow alley opposite Fourth High School was once a hotspot where gangsters ambushed students—secluded enough with plenty of escape routes.

But since Jiang Si started practicing real fights, hardly anyone came here.

Students avoided it, fearing ambush; gangsters avoided it, fearing Jiang Si.

The Crippled Man remembered their first fight, right there. At that time, he had just unified the region around Fourth High School, with dozens of followers, full of pride.

But there, in front of a dozen brothers, Jiang Si blocked him, repeatedly slapping his face and stepping on him.

Even when he fought fiercely with a knife, roaring wildly, Jiang Si was like a mountain—unshaken—just pinning him down and kicking him like a dead dog until he could hardly breathe.

The past humiliation and rage surged in his heart; the seed on his forehead began to stir again.

Limitless power spread through his body!

He laughed wildly, “Jiang Si! Haha! You wouldn’t believe it—I’m different now!”

Seeing the seed on his forehead, Jiang Si took off his backpack and tossed it aside casually, asking, “Different how?”

“You’ll find out soon!”

The Crippled Man stomped the ground with his right foot and launched himself like a cannonball!

Jiang Si neither dodged nor avoided; he twisted slightly, gathered strength, and his right leg struck like a cleaver!

The unstoppable force slammed the Crippled Man into the alley wall, and he collapsed softly, coughing blood, staring blankly at Jiang Si.

Jiang Si brushed dirt off his pants, lowered his leg, cracked his neck, and asked again, “Different how?”

“Tell me.”