"I know a little."
Evan glanced at Sam Su, but Sam's expression showed no excitement at all upon hearing this.
In his eyes, Evan Lin might really be just what that Daoist said—a lay disciple of Buddhism.
Things like magic artifacts are expensive, and ordinary people rarely get the chance to even see one.
Sam Su suddenly brought this up because he could tell the kid in front of him wasn't weak—his moves just now proved it. Plus, Grizzly had mentioned before that this guy could even catch bullets with his bare hands, which was hard to believe, but now Sam was starting to buy it.
"Good enough. In a few days, I'll send someone to pick you up. Would you come with me?"
Sam Su spoke up, carefully choosing his words.
He waited a while, and when Evan finally nodded, Sam Su breathed a sigh of relief. He personally saw Evan off to the car, then had his men drive Evan and Stella Huang home.
Once Evan and Stella left, Grizzly finally stepped forward and asked Sam Su, "Second Brother, why didn’t you let this kid go up against the Lin family?"
Before Grizzly could finish, Sam Su waved his hand. "That’s not something he can handle. The Lin family is backed by the Southriver Sword Sect. Just that alone—do you really think a teenager like him could stand against them?"
"Even if I brought it up, what would it change? He’d probably just hear the Lin family’s name and run for his life. That’d be a total loss for us."
Sam Su shook his head, his gaze indifferent as he swept the room. Then he looked at the floor—among the broken stones, a deep footprint was faintly visible.
...
In the car, Stella Huang kept sneaking glances at Evan, her eyes full of curiosity and scrutiny.
In just a few days, Stella had realized Evan Lin was like an unsolvable mystery—whatever came up, he could handle it.
"Are you a lay Buddhist disciple?"
Stella asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Evan shook his head. "No Buddhist sect would dare accept me."
"So what was that thing you just did? It looked like a sparkler from when we were kids—you drew a symbol in midair, and it looked really cool."
Stella looked serious, but when she saw Evan didn’t want to talk about it, she just nodded and said, "I’ll pretend I never saw anything, and I’ll help keep your secret."
Hearing Stella’s words, Evan gave her a slightly odd look.
Earlier, Irene Xu had also promised to keep Evan’s secrets. At least these two girls weren’t pushy like others, which made Evan warm up to them a little.
When they arrived, the driver stopped the car, and they went up by elevator.
As the door opened, Irene Xu was sprawled on the sofa in yellow pajamas, munching chips and watching TV, looking totally relaxed.
She heard the door, instantly sat up, and when she saw Stella and Evan walk in, she immediately turned gossipy: "Stella, well? Well? Did Evan beat up your class monitor?"
"Best if he slapped him so hard even his mom wouldn’t recognize him!"
Irene pumped her fist fiercely.
"He didn’t hit him, but he made him lose a lot of face. It was pretty miserable for him."
Stella laughed, and Irene looked a bit disappointed. "That’s letting him off easy. Guys like that, shameless as they are, just losing face doesn’t hurt them at all."
As Irene spoke, she turned to Evan. "Why are you guys back so late? Did you go out playing again?"
"No, we just ran into some trouble and took care of it," Evan replied, shaking his head. "If there’s nothing else, I’m heading to bed."
With that, Evan went back to his room.
As soon as he left, Irene immediately dragged Stella over and started grilling her about all the details from tonight.
When she heard that Leo Li got beaten up and humiliated by Chase Chen from the neighboring school, and then Grizzly showed up and treated Evan with deep respect—making Evan look super cool in front of Stella’s classmates—Irene was full of regret, wishing she’d tagged along for the excitement.
As for the Triangular House incident, Stella kept it vague. Just thinking about it still made her shudder, and she hadn’t figured out what was under the floor either. She didn’t want to scare Irene or spark her curiosity for trouble.
The next morning, Irene had an early flight and left at five, while Stella—exhausted from the night before—slept in until around eight.
That day, Stella had to rush an article about Capitalview First High’s outstanding students—specifically nominating Evan Lin for the city’s ‘three-good student’ award.
Evan arrived at school and sat at his desk. By now, his status at Capitalview First High was almost untouchable—even if he was late or skipped class, his homeroom teacher Byron Yang just looked the other way.
Sometimes Byron would lean on the office railing, watching all the wild students in the school, and think back on Evan’s rebellious stunts lately. He couldn’t help but sigh.
Even if he didn’t want to admit it, Byron had to admit that a student like Evan was living the dream for countless boys—exactly the kind of guy they all wished they could be.
He was bold and unruly, with enough clout to challenge any school rules.
But if he was only good at math, that definitely wouldn’t be enough.
After all, the college entrance exam tests way more than just math.
Most importantly, the first monthly exam at Capitalview First High was just around the corner.
For every student at Capitalview First High, this was a huge deal. The results of the first Grade 12 monthly exam basically determined what kind of university you could hope to get into.
Sure, there were rare cases of students bombing monthly exams but then acing the college entrance exam and getting into top schools, but those were the exceptions.
The bell rang. Byron Yang straightened his lesson materials and walked into the classroom.
The seniors at school could already feel the storm of their first exam approaching.
Byron walked into Class 12 with a serious look, stepped onto the podium, laid out his lesson materials, glanced around, and said, "Most of you are Capitalview First High students, so you should know from your seniors that our first Grade 12 monthly exam is about to start."
"I hope you all give it your best and show your true level. The test papers this time won’t be easy—I really want to see how you’re doing!"
As he said this, Byron glanced—maybe on purpose, maybe not—at Evan sitting in the back row.
Evan leaned back in his chair, his gaze calm. Next to him was an empty desk—Jason Liu’s.
Morning sunlight streamed in through the window, bringing a hint of freshness.