readsfreenovel Ch. 193 - The Only Constant Is the Bandit Spirit...
Ch. 193 - The Only Constant Is the Bandit Spirit...
"How rude."Chen Shu pursed his lips, looking for all the world like they were a bunch of country bumpkins who'd never seen the real deal.
"Sis Fang Si, what's the material on yours? I'm thinking about going home and making one myself."
As he spoke, he walked over to Fang Si's side, trying to get a closer look at the Dragon Guard armband.
"Get out of here!"
Fang Si's mouth twitched, and she immediately tucked the armband away.
She'd assumed that after half a year apart, Chen Shu would've stayed more or less the same. She hadn't expected him to get even more outrageous...
Just as the group was chatting, a staff member from the Spirit Fighting Arena arrived.
"Student Chen Shu, here is your prize!"
The man held a glass jar containing a vivid red heart that was still visibly pulsing.
A Lord-class material from a Black Iron-rank beast, obviously.
Chen Shu spoke up. "And what about my five million in protection fees?"
"The Huaxia currency will be deposited directly into your account shortly!"
The staff member said his piece and left, clearly not wanting to stay a single second longer than necessary.
Anyone bold enough to collect protection money from the Wu family couldn't possibly be an ordinary person.
"Obtained reward: Gigantification +1, large amount of Beast Taming Power!"
Chen Shu's expression brightened. Since the Spirit Fighting Arena had already distributed rewards, it meant they'd officially recognized him as January's number one.
Gigantification Lv4: Temporarily increases body size by 8x. Speed greatly reduced!
A simple description, but the effect was nothing short of terrifying. The Slime's entire livelihood depended on this thing...
"Let's go, let's go!"
Shen Wushuang spoke up and led the Special Training Class students out of the Spirit Fighting Arena.
The group returned to the hotel and finished packing their luggage.
That afternoon, everyone boarded the bus in high spirits.
"New Year's finally here!"
Chen Shu felt a weight lift from his chest. The future looked bright.
His combat power was this strong, and the Beast Taming Power needed for his breakthrough was already more than halfway there.
Next semester, becoming a Black Iron-rank Beast Tamer was basically a lock.
Now THAT was a future worth looking forward to.
"Huh? We're short on seats?"
Because Fang Si and Zhang Dali had joined the group, the bus didn't have enough seats for everyone.
"Sis Fang Si, please take my seat. I can stand."
Wang Qinghan stood up. She and Fang Si had known each other since they were kids, and the two of them were extremely close.
"No need for all that hassle."
Chen Shu spoke up casually. "Listen to your class president's arrangements."
"Young Master Tang, you sit on Wang Yun's lap. Du Long, you sit on Hong Ming's lap."
"..."
Tang Lie and Du Long's mouths twitched. THIS was his idea of "arrangements"?
Despite the indignation churning in their guts, the two obediently sat themselves down on their respective human chairs...
Chen Shu shrugged. "See? Now we've got seats for everyone."
Up front, Shen Wushuang let out a sigh. He'd thought he was appointing a class president. Turned out he'd appointed a tyrant.
The group began the journey back to Nanjiang City...
Chen Shu spent the ride calculating his plans for winter break, hoping to trigger more options.
As for the Wu family's retaliation -- Chen Shu couldn't care less.
With Fang Si's status backing him, as long as they hadn't completely lost their minds, the Wu family wouldn't dare entertain even a flicker of revenge.
These were peaceful times. Face wasn't worth much. Everyone valued their own skin...
"Dali, how's college life treating you?"
Off to the side, Xie Sunan and Zhang Dali had struck up a conversation.
The two already knew each other -- Chen Shu had originally met Xie Sunan through Zhang Dali.
"Pretty good. Competition's kind of intense, though."
"Do you guys have group activities often?"
"Sometimes. Depends on whether there's a holiday coming up."
Everyone on the bus turned to look, expressions uniformly strange.
The conversation between those two was perfectly mundane, but somehow... something about it felt off...
By nightfall, the bus had returned to Nanjiang Second High.
The school was eerily quiet now. The students had all gone home for New Year's ages ago.
"I'll keep this short -- prizes out, then everyone scram!"
Shen Wushuang didn't waste a single breath. He had to hurry home himself and had no time to dawdle with the group.
More importantly, Chen Shu and Fang Si were standing right next to each other.
If those two happened to find themselves short on holiday spending money, there was no telling if they'd rob him on the spot...
January's competition results.
Chen Shu was the uncontested first place, naturally. The others' rankings hadn't shifted much.
The only exceptions were Xie Sunan and Xu Xingxing.
Neither of them had placed, but Shen Wushuang gave them both the same prizes as the top ten finishers.
"Education is just wonderful! I love studying!"
Chen Shu sighed with feeling. He'd earned this much in a single semester -- way better than what any professional Beast Tamer out in the real world was pulling in.
The rest of the class stared at him, eyes brimming with resentment.
This guy had not only hogged most of the educational resources, he'd spent the whole time bullying them on top of it.
Being in the same class as him was nothing short of a nightmare...
"Chen Pi, I'm heading out first!"
Xie Sunan and Xu Xingxing left ahead of the others. Neither of them lived in the same neighborhood as Chen Shu.
"Homeward bound!"
The three of them walked side by side, and for a moment it felt like three years ago all over again -- back when they'd ruled the roost at Nanjiang Second High.
Three years had passed. They'd all grown. They'd all changed. But the one thing that stayed the same... was the bandit spirit.
Outside the school gate, Zhang Dali's father Zhang Feng had been waiting for a while.
Chen Shu called out. "Zhang-shu, you still haven't reimbursed me for that cab fare from last time!"
"..."
Zhang Feng's mouth twitched. "Little Fang Si! Dali! Get this shameless thing out of my car!"
"I'd rather die than yield!"
Chen Shu death-gripped the seat, immovable no matter how the other two tried to pry him loose.
"You can beat me to death and I still won't get out!"
"Well then, I guess we'll just have to beat you to death..."
Zhang Dali and Fang Si grabbed Chen Shu from both sides and launched into a merciless "beating."
Screams echoed through the car, one after another. Anyone passing by would've thought someone was slaughtering a pig in there...
The group laughed and bickered the whole way back to the neighborhood.
...
The three families had gathered early at Zhang Dali's house. This was their first reunion of the year.
"I've brought home four sons!"
Zhang Feng pushed open the door and made his grand announcement.
Fang Si's father, Fang Guowei, spoke up. "Old Zhang, what are you on about? You kidnapped a son?"
Zhang Feng explained with utmost seriousness. "What do you know? In my eyes, Fang Si counts as two sons!"
Everyone else nodded. That actually tracked.
"Get lost!" Fang Si's father said, grinning from ear to ear.
The whole room was all smiles, brimming with the warmth of the holiday season.
"Everyone, sit down!"
They gathered around the dinner table. The aroma of home-cooked food drifted through the air. The sound of firecrackers echoed outside the window. Everything felt warm and close.
Every year, the three families would get together like this. They shared no blood, but they were as good as one family.
Fang Guowei spoke up. "Old Zhang, I always said all three kids would turn out great. Was I wrong?"
"Not wrong! Not wrong at all!"
Zhang Feng laughed heartily. His son had gotten into the best Spirit Chef university in the entire country -- of course that was something to be proud of.
He continued. "If you ask me, though, it's Little Chen who's the real beast. Kid even got on TV!!"
"Oh right -- Chen-son, why'd you bring a telegraph machine to that broadcast?"
"..."
Chen Shu's mouth twitched. What the goddamn telegraph machine -- how the hell was he supposed to know that everything he said would get bleeped out...