Chapter 45.1: You’re Still Alive?
The seemingly tacit understanding between Zhou Yi and Wang Dong sent the students standing in front of Zhou Yi’s desk into a daze. They had no diea what had happened.
Zhou Yi waved towards them, “You guys can go back and prepare first.”
“Yes.” Though the three students were very curious as to what had occurred, they didn’t dare to stay behind. They hurriedly left Zhou Yi’s office, cleverly closing the door as they did so.
Wang Dong spoke impatiently. “Teacher Zhou, has Huo Yuhao not come back yet? If you haven’t seen him either, why don’t we go over to the Soul Tool Department and ask them about it?”
Zhou Yi furrowed her brows, and a hint of anger appeared in her eyes, “No need. I’ve already gone there to ask them about it. Just what is that brat Huo Yuhao doing? He told me that the teachers from the Soul Tool Department were accompanying him to get a soul ring, but when I asked Fan Yu about it, he said that Huo Yuhao had told him that the teachers from the Martial Soul Department were taking him to get a soul ring. Isn’t he just lying to both parties? In the end, nobody went with him. Don’t tell me this brat just entered the Great Star Dou Forest alone?”
Hearing her words, Wang Dong immediately became even more anxious, “No way. He doesn’t even have any attacking soul skills, so how in the world is he going to go hunt a soul beast by himself? That’s too dangerous. No way, no way. Why would he be that dumb? When we left each other, his mood was still very normal!”
Zhou Yi spoke in a low voice, “He’s definitely hiding something from us. Let’s do this. Immediately go to the upperclassmen’s dorms and bring Bei Bei and Tang Ya over here. If they’re not here either, then that’s what must’ve happened. Huo Yuhao belongs to the Tang Sect, so they might know what happened. If Bei Bei and Tang Ya followed him to the Great Star Dou Forest, then it’s explainable.”
“Okay.” Wang Dong turned away and left. Right now, he was only praying that Bei Bei and Tang Ya weren’t back yet. They must’ve followed Huo Yuhao to help him get his soul ring.
However, reality wouldn’t just change due to a person’s willpower. Within a few moments, Bei Bei and Tang Ya appeared inside Zhou Yi’s office. Though they’d just arrived, they’d truly returned!
After hearing that Huo Yuhao hadn’t returned, they were both astonished. Bei Bei said, “Teacher Zhou, our little junior brother was still fine the last time we saw him. He can’t possibly have gone to hunt a soul beast by himself. Though we saw him kill a soul beast the first time we saw him, he was injured. Furthermore, the soul beast he killed was of the ten year rank. This time around, he’s looking for his second soul ring. With his combat strength, even with a low-ranked Soul Tool and the martial arts of our Tang Sect, it’s still going to be very difficult for him to take on a hundred year soul beast. After all, his cultivation’s still too low. Our little junior brother’s very smart, so why would he act so foolishly?”
They all looked at each other. No matter how they thought about it, they just couldn’t understand why Huo Yuhao had lied to everyone when he left the academy.
He hadn’t returned, and there was no use in panicking. Zhou Yi was anxious, but Fan Yu was even more anxious than she was.
It had been so hard for him to find such a good disciple who even revealed such an astonishing amount of talent in the field of soul tool creation. However, he had actually hatched such a wicked plan. It’d be strange if he wasn’t feeling anxious. Like the others, he wasn’t completely sure as to why Huo Yuhao was doing this. However, with his understanding of Huo Yuhao, he knew that he wasn’t an unreliable person! He definitely had a predicament that gave him no choice but to do this.
Every person who was close to Huo Yuhao had their own different thoughts. Some of them were angry, some were remorseful, and some were puzzled. However, none of them could think of the true reason why Huo Yuhao had hidden the truth from them. But, time didn’t stop for anyone.
Within the blink of an eye, one day passed.
Within another blink of an eye, the second day ended.
It was finally time to re-enroll in Shrek Academy. The students from the various year groups were all reporting in and registering their names. The entrance exams had already ended, and the newcomers had already entered the school. However, the students from the other year groups were still waiting for the coming advancement test.
The registration period started in the morning and went on all the way till the afternoon before ending.
Wang Dong had already completed his re-enrollment. After that, he anxiously stood by the entrance to Shrek Academy and gazed outwards, waiting.
Why? Why hasn’t he come back yet? Why?
Shrek Academy’s rules were very stringent. If you weren’t able to register in time, you would be forced to leave the school!
The sky gradually darkened, but he still hadn’t returned yet.
As Wang Dong looked towards the distance, his gaze was already somewhat dazed. He was only twelve this year, and he was slightly younger than Huo Yuhao. During his twelve years of life, this was the first time he’d thought so much about anyone.
His legs had already gone numb after standing for so long, but scenes of his activities and studies with Huo Yuhao in the same dorm room during the past year floated up in his mind unceasingly. They had gone to class together, cultivated together, participated in the freshmen assessment together, become champions together, eaten roasted fish together, and completed their first year in Shrek Academy together.
I’ve already come back, so where are you?
The sky gradually turned dark, and the sunset left a pale red at the edge of the horizon. The glow of the sunset was very beautiful, but it was unable to illuminate the haze in Wang Dong’s heart.
Late, he’s already late. He’s already gone past the registration time. He won’t make it, he won’t make it!
Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Xiao Xiao had also walked over to the academy’s entrance. Their expressions darkened as they looked toward the gradually dimming sky.
Wang Dong didn’t even know how he’d returned to his dorm. By the time he got back, the outside sky was completely black. In the end, Huo Yuhao hadn’t managed to make it back in time for him to register. At this moment, however, Wang Dong didn’t blame him at all.
As long as you can come back alive, that’s fine!
The thing he was most scared of was Huo Yuhao being buried in the Great Star Dou Forest! If that occurred, he wouldn’t even have a corpse to bury.
While thinking, Wang Dong slowly sat on Huo Yuhao’s bed, which was still covered with dust. At this moment, he seemingly forgot about his own mysophobia.
Huo Yuhao, are you still alive? Wang Dong couldn’t help but clench his fists tightly. His eyes gradually reddened, and an anxiety that could drive one mad appeared in his heart.
At this very moment, the sound of rushed footsteps sounded out from the outside. This was accompanied by the sounds of a person’s somewhat heavy breathing.
Wang Dong raised his head, somewhat stunned. Right after that, a person suddenly charged inside with a bang.
“I’m screwed, I’m screwed! I’m late! I ran over as quickly as I could, but I was still late. How in the world is this supposed to be good!?” The youth who rushed in had an anxious look on his face as he muttered gloomily to himself. Raising his head to look at Wang Dong, he smiled, “You’re back! Is today the day when registration ends? I’m screwed, I’m late. This won’t do, I have to quickly find Teacher Zhou and think of a way to go about this during the night.”
With that, the youth turned around, about to leave.
“Huo– Yu– Hao!!!” An extremely loud screech suddenly rang out, causing the leaving Huo Yuhao to feel his back sink. He felt a large force strike him, immediately slamming him to the ground. Then, his back was struck by a series of typhoon-like fists.
Right. Was the youth who’d rushed into the room not the owner of the empty bed, Huo Yuhao? Though he’d exhausted all of his energy, he had still arrived late. He’d simply wasted too much time fusing with the Ice Empress, and he didn’t even know how much time he had actually wasted. After the Skydream Iceworm helped him obtain his second soul ring, he left the icy plains. After asking someone what time it was, he was struck dumb. He did all he could to rush back, but he was still late by a day.
“Uhh…” Huo Yuhao wrapped his hands around his head, feeling somewhat dazed after being beaten up by Wang Dong. He felt two soft lumps of meat on his butt moving non-stop, causing his weary buttocks to feel a sense of relaxation that didn’t feel bad at all…
“You still remembered to come back? You bastard, you still remembered to come back?” A stream of tears fell from Wang Dong’s eyes. This was the first time he’d actually worried about someone other than his family. The instant he saw Huo Yuhao, he felt something in his heart shatter. This caused his repressed emotions to explode out uncontrollably.
His fists gradually lost their power, and he suddenly starting crying while sitting on Huo Yuhao’s back.
Huo Yuhao was originally feeling somewhat gloomy after being beaten up by Wang Dong, but now he was struck dumb by the latter’s crying. As he was being pressed down onto the ground, he wasn’t able to get up even if he wanted to. For a period of time, Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but feel that he was at a complete loss.
“Wang Dong, what are you crying for! Why’re you acting like a girl?” Huo Yuhao was very speechless.
“Bastard, don’t you know how worried everyone is? I even thought that you’d turned into a pile of shit from a soul beast in the Great Star Dou Forest. Why’d you have to lie to us and tell us that a teacher was accompanying you to go kill soul beasts? Why’d you go by yourself?”
Wang Dong was sitting on Huo Yuhao, his hands holding onto his shoulders firmly as he spoke angrily.
“This… the teachers can’t have found out, right?” Huo Yuhao asked somewhat guiltily.
“What a load of rubbish. You didn’t even come back. Is it even possible for them to not have found out?” Wang Dong gnashed his teeth with anger, itching to bite Huo Yuhao a few times to vent his anger.
Huo Yuhao smiled bitterly. “I say, why don’t you get up before we start talking. You’re not heavy, but you can’t just keep pressing down on me like that.”
Only then did Wang Dong react. As if he’d been electrocuted, he shot straight up, his face already blushing.
Huo Yuhao turned over and got up. Looking at the tear-filled Wang Dong, he knew that the latter had been worried about his safety. He couldn’t help but feel moved. Scratching his head, he said apologetically, “I’m sorry! I’ve made you worry. I didn’t think that I’d take this long. It’s actually because I lost track of time.”
After wiping off his tears, Wang Dong glared at him fiercely. “You lied to all of us. If you don’t give me a logical explanation to this, we’re not settled.”
Huo Yuhao smiled mischievously. “Just look at you, you look like a little weeping woman. Just where did the imposing might of an assault-type soul master go to!”
Wang Dong was astonished. The tone of his voice immediately turned deep. “Just who did you call a little woman? Aren’t you going to look for Teacher Zhou? Quickly go. I’ll follow you. Teacher Zhou’s also very angry. You’d better pray for luck.” While speaking, he pushed Huo Yuhao out the door in a somewhat impatient manner.