Half an hour later, Silver City No. 1 High School.
Yu Xian and Zhang Shou sat side by side, blending seamlessly into the student body. In fact, compared to some students who looked older than their years, the two appeared even more like ordinary teenagers.
"What did you come here for?" Zhang Shou looked at Yu Xian, completely exasperated.
Sitting by the window, Yu Xian remarked with keen enthusiasm, "Haven't you heard that saying? A person can never possess youth and the appreciation of youth at the same time. But right now, we're clearly the exception. Take a whiff—the air is practically brimming with the scent of youth."
"All I smell is the classmate in front of us farting," Zhang Shou replied with a deadpan stare.
The girl sitting ahead turned around, her face flushed red, and whispered, "Mister, I didn't fart."
"'Mister'! Heheh, Uncle Zhang," Yu Xian immediately mocked, grinning wickedly at Zhang Shou.
Zhang Shou rolled his eyes and retorted, "Aren't you a 'mister' too? How old are you, still trying to pass yourself off as a tender sprout?"
"Me, pretending? I've always been tender," Yu Xian said with a chuckle.
Yet after fooling around for a bit, both looked across the classroom with a touch of nostalgia. Once upon a time, they too had sat in a classroom like this, dreaming of an unknown future and eagerly waiting for the dismissal bell to ring.
"Time really flies."
Zhang Shou let out a sigh, remembering how Chen Ling used to look sitting in class.
Back then, Chen Ling was still awkward and green, not even knowing how to wear makeup, a total gossipmonger. Everyone had been carefree and thoughtless together, constantly digging for gossip and spreading rumors everywhere.
"Yeah, they don't even sell spicy turkey noodles outside the school anymore. Now they sell fiery dragon noodles," Yu Xian said, nodding.
Zhang Shou cast an exasperated glance at him. Indeed, human joys and sorrows were never shared. He was reminiscing about Chen Ling from the past, while Yu Xian's head was entirely occupied with food and fun.
Back in the day, Yu Xian had been steady and remarkably mature, acting more like an adult than anyone else. Yet nowadays, he had become increasingly unreliable, behaving more and more like a child.
In truth, precisely because of his early maturity and the untimely loss of his parents, Yu Xian had been forced to grow up and shoulder the burdens of life prematurely.
Now that every shred of pressure was gone, it had naturally reversed, leaving him growing more and more childish.
"So from now on, you're just going to stay single? No second marriage? Third, fourth, fifth, sixth marriage?" Yu Xian rested his cheek on one hand and looked at Zhang Shou.
*Sixth marriage, my ass.*
Zhang Shou retorted, "What about you? Do you still love Nora?"
The moment he asked, Yu Xian snapped his fingers, and a piece of candy materialized before him.
Popping the conjured candy into his mouth, Yu Xian nodded. "Of course. I love Nora, without a doubt!"
"..."
Zhang Shou looked at Yu Xian, seeming to understand.
He held out a hand. "Give me one."
"Here."
Yu Xian conjured another piece of Love-Flavored Candy and handed it over.
Taking the candy and putting it in his mouth, Zhang Shou immediately felt the sweet flavor of falling in love. The corners of his mouth curled slightly as if smiling, but tears welled up in his eyes.
"In this lifetime, I probably won't marry again. Loving once is enough," Zhang Shou whispered to Yu Xian after the candy completely dissolved.
Yu Xian nodded reassuringly. "It's fine. You still have your right hand."
"Screw off."
Zhang Shou raised his right hand and flipped Yu Xian the middle finger.
At the podium, the homeroom teacher was delivering her lesson. From where she stood, she had a clear view of everything happening in the classroom.
She saw every bit of Yu Xian and Zhang Shou chatting. The problem was that she couldn't afford to offend either of these two big shots. If an ordinary student had dared to chat, eat snacks, and giggle during class, she would have hurled a piece of chalk at them long ago.
Yet when Zhang Shou raised his middle finger, she reached her limit. She felt that if she didn't do something, her very soul as an educator would be tarnished.
Gathering her courage, she spoke up, "Those... two... students over there... could you please... listen quietly? I beg of you."
*So humble!*
The tigress had turned into a meek kitten.
*Tsk, tsk.*
It was the first time the other students had ever seen their fearsome homeroom teacher so submissive, and while amazed, they secretly poked fun at the sight.
"Yes, Teacher!" Zhang Shou and Yu Xian chimed in unison.
After that, the two indeed stopped talking out loud, though on the Star Ring Network, they kicked off another round of shooting the breeze.
***
Outside the school gate.
Hu Li was a Tigerkin of the beastfolk.
He possessed an innate talent: Tiger's Thrall. Any living being he killed could have their soul bound and manipulated by him.
However, souls varied in strength, and their intelligence fell into different tiers.
Ordinary animals, for example, had weak souls and were exceptionally stupid. Humans were different; although their souls weren't particularly strong either, their intelligence was quite high, allowing them to carry out his orders effectively.
As the saying went: it wasn't the wickedness of bad people that was terrifying, but the sudden inspiration of foolish ones.
Compared to fools, Hu Li naturally preferred intelligent minions. Unfortunately, Crescent Bay strictly forbade the consumption of sentient beings and maintained severe surveillance. The moment he struck just once, he became a wanted criminal and had to flee Crescent Bay.
Fortunately, luck was on his side. After piloting his starship through countless near-death encounters, he actually discovered a spatial rift, and on the other side lay a region inhabited by humans—moreover, humans living in a remote backwater.
After breaking through, he slaughtered several humans and fled into the rugged wilderness, trekking all the way to this small place called Silver City.
A small place was wonderful.
Silver City only possessed Earth Rank combatants, without even a single Heaven Rank expert.
Hu Li himself was at Heaven Rank. If not for the fear that causing a massive uproar would draw human Heaven Rank masters to gang up on him, he would have started a slaughterhouse long ago.
At this moment, he stood outside Silver City No. 1 High School, disguised as a vendor selling fiery dragon noodles.
Through the fiery dragon noodles, he could confirm that this human world was definitely linked to Crescent Bay. In other words, once exposed, as a wanted fugitive, he was guaranteed to attract elite pursuers from Crescent Bay.
*Pull off one big hit and leave!*
Hu Li loved eating human flesh. Babies didn't have enough meat, adults were too tough, but adolescents were just right. He set his sights on No. 1 High School, intending to leave this world immediately after completing the massacre.
*Clang, clang, clang!*
School was out—the time had come!
Hearing the dismissal chime, Hu Li immediately touched the ring on his finger.
This was a treasure he had retrieved from ancient ruins, known as the Human Mimic Ring. It could transform him into human form with virtually no flaws.
The only drawback was that the moment he made a move, the disguise would shatter, revealing his true form.
He had only one chance to strike. He had to butcher everyone within ten minutes and make his escape; otherwise, once the humans reacted, it would be dangerous.
"Roar!"
Having braced himself, Hu Li instantly dispelled the disguise and let out a terrifying roar.
The roar carried overwhelming deterrence, reducing living creatures to lambs waiting for the slaughter. Sure enough, as his roar echoed, the people nearby went weak at the knees and collapsed, their faces frozen in absolute terror.
Chapter 416