Evan Lin followed behind Lily Zhong, heading toward the office.
Walking alongside Lily Zhong, Evan glanced at his left hand, his gaze repeatedly drifting toward her.
"That was definitely spiritual qi just now. I can still faintly sense it inside me, but it’s way too weak. The real question is, why—why would she have spiritual qi in her body?"
Evan found it hard to believe: "Back in the Immortal Martial Continent, cultivators drew spiritual qi from heaven and earth, and the density varied by location. But here on Earth, I can’t sense any spiritual qi around me at all. That means the trace I felt must have come directly from her body. But where could Lily Zhong have gotten spiritual qi from?"
No matter how he thought about it, Evan just couldn’t figure it out.
"What are you looking at?"
Lily Zhong suddenly spoke up. She’d noticed since just now that Evan kept glancing at her, his look a bit strange, making her feel a little uncomfortable.
Evan shook his head. "It’s nothing, Miss Zhong. Have you eaten anything special lately?"
"Something special? No, not really. Why do you ask?"
Lily Zhong found Evan’s question odd, but since he didn’t say anything more, she didn’t press the issue.
When they reached the office, another biology teacher was inside, grading papers.
Lily Zhong pulled out a chair for Evan to sit down.
Evan sat there, his eyes constantly scanning Lily Zhong, trying to locate the source of spiritual qi—but came up empty.
After being stared at for so long, Lily Zhong felt uncomfortable all over.
Lily Zhong had been writing lesson notes. She looked up, gave Evan a glare, and whispered, "Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have dirt on my face?"
"No, I just suddenly thought this dress looks really good on you, way prettier than usual. I couldn’t help looking a few more times," Evan said with a smile. He was actually being honest.
Lily Zhong didn’t show much reaction on her face, but deep down she was clearly pleased. "Slick-tongued. Is your hand seriously injured? I was planning to tutor you in biology tonight, but if your hand’s hurt, we can postpone it for a few days."
"No need. A little scratch like this is nothing to me."
Evan stayed in the office until the bell rang, then went back to class.
All the way back, Evan kept thinking about the spiritual qi, but still couldn’t figure it out.
"Looks like I’ll have to wait until tonight to search for more clues from Lily Zhong."
"On the path of cultivation, impatience is the biggest taboo. Life is long—there’s no need to rush anything."
Evan walked to his seat. As he passed by Mia Chen’s desk, he glanced down at her, still buried in her exercises, then went straight back to his own spot.
When the class bell rang, Evan kept working on his own problems and didn’t look up at the blackboard once all period.
During class, Mia Chen glanced back once and saw Evan completely focused on his own exercises. Disappointment flickered in her eyes: "He doesn’t listen in class, just goofs off and lets himself fall behind. No wonder his grades never improve."
"A guy like that really isn’t worth pitying."
Mia Chen shook her head and sighed to herself, then didn’t look at Evan again.
Evan stayed in his seat until the bell finally rang, then stretched lazily and stood up.
This break between classes lasted twenty minutes.
By now, news that Trevor Liu and Sean Sun’s whole crew got beaten up at the school gate had already spread across the campus.
Students in every class were buzzing, all guessing who the tank was that beat up Trevor Liu’s crew.
When Evan made his move that morning, plenty of people saw it, but almost nobody recognized him.
After all, Evan was basically invisible at school—nobody knew his name.
"Second period’s over—time to make him keep his promise."
Evan muttered to himself, in a pretty good mood. Hands in his pockets, he strolled out of the classroom, looking totally relaxed.
"Hey, which class is Trevor Liu in?"
Evan stopped a passing girl to ask.
The girl had twin pigtails, light makeup on her brows, wasn’t very tall, wore shorts, and had fair skin.
She glanced at Evan like he was crazy. "Class 11. What, you looking for Brother Trevor? He’s in a foul mood right now."
Evan smiled. "It’s fine. He’s only upset because he hasn’t kept his promise yet. You know, any guy who breaks his word is bound to feel unhappy."
"Damn, psycho."
The little girl shot Evan a curse, then hopped off toward the restroom.
Evan stood in front of Class 11’s door, scanning the room.
Inside Class 11, the students were all gossiping and chatting.
In the corner, Trevor Liu was surrounded by his crew, face twisted in rage: "Damn it, when my brother gets back, I’m gonna cripple that punk myself!"
Bang!
Just as Trevor finished speaking, a loud crash sounded from the classroom door.
The noise was so sudden, Trevor shuddered all over.
"Excuse me, is Trevor Liu here?"
The noisy Class 11 instantly went dead silent.
"Who the hell are you? How dare you come looking for Brother Trevor like this!"
"Your left hand’s still bandaged—cripples like you think you can act tough?"
A short, glasses-wearing boy was the first to react, slapping his palm on the desk and shouting at Evan, trying to show off in front of Trevor Liu.
After all, Evan looked kind of skinny and easy to knock down.
Like a total pushover.
Evan didn’t even glance at him, just kept his calm gaze fixed on Trevor Liu in the back row.
Cold sweat broke out on Trevor’s forehead as he nervously swallowed.
"He doesn’t know me. Do you know who I am?"
"Y-yeah... I know you..."
Trevor tried to steady his voice, but couldn’t help trembling.
"Good. So you know what you’re supposed to do."
Evan nodded slightly.
The short, bespectacled boy was confused. Hearing Evan’s words, he scowled and glared at Evan, his eyes behind the glasses full of dumbfounded contempt: "Are you brain-dead? Who do you think you are, talking to Brother Trevor like that? You want a beating?"
"The last guy who talked to Brother Trevor like that ended up in the hospital, you know?"
Before the short boy could finish, he sensed someone behind him.
He turned—and before he could react, felt a sharp pain in his butt as Trevor Liu kicked him over, sending him sprawling.
What the hell just happened?
The short boy scrambled up from the floor, staring at Trevor Liu, suddenly questioning his entire life.
"All right, now get out there and get ready to run three laps around the track. While you run, shout ‘I love bananas, bananas make me happy.’ If you skip even one lap, I’ll beat you again."
Evan’s calm voice rang out right on cue. Trevor’s face turned dark, and he was so frustrated he was almost in tears.
Just then, the twin-pigtail girl Evan met at the door finished in the restroom and came back, humming a song and looking cheerful.
"Hey, weren’t you looking for Brother Trevor? Why haven’t you gone in yet?"
She reached out and slapped Evan’s shoulder.
Suddenly, she realized something was off about the atmosphere.