When the black cat saw that Meng Chao had scared her biochemical beast and was staring at her with great interest, she became angry.
She bared her teeth at Meng Chao and let out low growls.
Meng Chao's smile froze, but the interest in the depths of his eyes burned even brighter.
The black cat seemed to be … the same kind of person as him?
Ever since he returned from the apocalypse, he had never sensed such great, sharp, and undisguised killing intent from someone his age.
Even Luo Hai, Sun Ya, and Xie Feng, who came from cultivation families, could only deliver spirit energy of one hundred or two hundred Crystals no matter how many main meridians they cleared and how many skills they practiced.
In Meng Chao's eyes, they were still flowers in a greenhouse. They had never experienced a real storm.
But the black cat was different.
She had a scent that came from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. It was the scent of death.
This scent instantly turned her from a small black cat to an incredibly dangerous black cheetah.
Even her eyes turned from black to green, and they looked like two highly condensed balls of phosphorescence.
Meng Chao did not doubt that if they fought against each other, it would not be a boring fight between freshmen over a few monster coins. There would not be a stage, rules, and bottom line.
Instead, they would use everything around them and even their own lives to perform a dazzling dance between life and death.
'Judging by her appearance, she shouldn't be an upperclassman, right?'
Meng Chao was very surprised. 'Didn't the monster controller course run into a minor year and don't have any talents? Why is there a freshman like her?!'
Once the girl sensed his "interest", she was also slightly stunned. Her cheeks, eyes, and canines shone with a hungry light.
Their gazes met, and they looked around at the same time.
They simultaneously scanned the distribution of every tree and every branch in the small forest, calculating the tenacity of the branches of different trees, how much elasticity they could provide, and how many attack routes they could find with the help of elasticity.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Sparks flew in their eyes. Countless offensive and defensive strategies were being formed.
Profound and complicated spirit tattoos appeared faintly around Meng Chao. Even though they were covered by his long-sleeved uniform, they could not hide the raging spirit flames.
The mysterious monster controller course girl crouched down and let out whimpering sounds from the depths of her throat again.
The ghost-like biochemical beast appeared behind her. The human and beast seemed to have fused together to form a brand new monster. Four balls of green phosphorescence practically burned through Meng Chao's throat and heart.
A light wind blew through the trees.
The branches rustled.
Around the two of them, however, there were a few branches that were frozen and motionless, as if they were being controlled by two mysterious forces.
"Pa pa!"
After a few seconds of stalemate, the branches that the two of them had chosen at the same time actually broke one after another, causing them to lose the foothold to attack first.
"Wu Wu!"
Just then, a shout came from outside the grove.
The mysterious girl frowned slightly, as if she was unhappy that an exciting game had been interrupted.
However, she still let out a light snort and transformed back into a little black cat from a black panther.
He cast Meng Chao a deep glance and licked his sharp canine teeth. Then, he twitched his nose and sniffed for a long time, as if he was trying to remember Meng Chao's scent.
The little black cat took the biochemical beast and jumped out of the grove with a few leaps.
"Hey, don't go! You're a freshman too? Add me as a friend! If we have the chance, we can spar again! "Meng Chao climbed to the top of a tree and shouted.
The little black cat was already gone.
…
On the way back to the monster controller course from the martial arts course …
The little black cat sat on the biochemical beast's back with its legs crossed. It rested its chin on its hands and seemed to be deep in thought.
The other monster controller course freshmen were at least five meters away from it. They idolized her but were also afraid of her.
"Wu Wu, where did you go just now?"
A monster controller course lecturer with white hair and a beast bone necklace around his neck asked. "The martial arts course is someone else's territory. Don't run around there, especially today. Your performance was really shocking. It'll be easy for you to cause trouble."
The little black cat called Wu Wu nodded absentmindedly. After a while, she gestured and said, "There's someone. He smells really good."
Her voice was hoarse, and she spoke very slowly. She even stuttered a little. She was used to using gestures to express her meaning.
"He smells good?" The lecturer was slightly stunned.
"Yeah, he smells really good, and he's definitely going to taste really good."
Wu Wu narrowed her eyes and gulped. She revealed her sharp teeth again and said with a smile, "I want to eat him."
…
Due to the little black cat's delay, when Meng Chao reached the cultivation center, the tournament between freshmen had already ended.
He wanted to sneak in through the back door, but he saw the martial arts course students coming out in a scattered fashion while sighing.
"They lost?"
Meng Chao scratched his head. "Didn't they say that the monster controller course doesn't have many talents this year and that the martial arts course has a high chance of winning? Besides, even if they lost, they don't seem to be in the right mood."
In the past, if they won the tournament between courses, they would naturally be happy, and if they lost, they would rub their palms together and refuse to admit defeat.
To put it bluntly, it was not like the martial arts course had never lost before, so they could just come back next time!
But today, he did not just see dejection on the students' faces. There was also … fear.
That was right, fear. It was as if something terrifying had happened, and it made everyone feel like they were about to break down.
At that moment, Meng Chao saw Duan Lian walk out dejectedly with a swollen face and one of his arms tied down.
Duan Lian saw Meng Chao as well, but he only glared at him before he walked over without a word.
'Has Duan Lian … broken down mentally?'
Meng Chao scratched his head. 'Ever since he suffered the consequences of his own actions during the admission test, he's been yelling about wanting to get even with me. A few days ago, I ran into him in the canteen, and he said that he would fight against me after the tournament between courses ends. But today, when he saw me, he didn't even dare to say anything.
'That shouldn't be the case. He's one of the Four Great Kings. Even though he didn't get an ace lecturer, he relied on his family's resources and trained really hard. When he goes mad, he's as violent as a Demonic Halberd Pig who has been single for twenty years. Even if he lost, there's no reason … for him to lose so badly.'
Meng Chao thought about it, then decided to go against the flow and enter the cultivation center.
The auditorium was empty. Most of the people had already left.
Sun Ya and Xie Feng sat at the edge of the stage with a dumbfounded expression. The two most outstanding freshmen in the martial arts course had stark pale faces, and they looked as if their souls had left their bodies. They were the same as Duan Lian.
Jiang Rui, who was known as the fastest and best in leg techniques among the Four Great Kings, had bloody legs and was receiving treatment in a corner.
The arena was stained with bloodstains and horrifying claw marks, telling of the intensity of the match just now.
Griffin Li Yingzi stood at the center of the stage and observed the signs of the fight. She thought about the problem that she could not solve.
When she saw Meng Chao, she frowned and said darkly, "Meng Chao, you're finally here. Logically speaking, I'm not your personal tutor, so there's no need for me to talk too much to you, but …"
"Wait, Ms. Li, I have something very important to tell you!"
Before Li Yingzi could scold him, Meng Chao winked at her and led her to a corner where no one was around. He whispered, "Do you know why I was late for such an important day? Project 1024 has achieved initial success. We found a way to cultivate branch meridians!"
Li Yingzi's pupils shrank swiftly, and she asked in disbelief, "What? Tell me clearly!"
"Ah, the project succeeded. The cultivation of the branch meridians isn't important. The important thing is that to celebrate the breakthrough of the project, Mr. Gu got drunk and grabbed me like a madman. He kept talking to me for a few hours, and I couldn't stop him!" Meng Chao said with a serious expression.
Li Yingzi was stunned. "What are you trying to say? What does his intimate words have to do with me?"
"It has to do with you. Mr. Gu cried and said that over the past ten years, his love for you has never changed. In fact, it's growing with each passing day."
Meng Chao sucked in a deep breath, and before she could interrupt him, he spoke like a machine gun. "But he knew that your ideals for Project 1024 were completely opposite, and neither of you could convince the other. And as a man, he had to carry his brother's dying wish and continue down this path quietly.
"He could only seal his love that was as hot as magma in the dormant volcano in the deepest part of his chest and hope that one day, he would be able to do something and let it explode in a righteous manner!"
Li Yingzi was dumbfounded. "But —"
"But why didn't he say anything? Instead, he just kept smiling and acting like a carefree person, right? It's because he's conflicted! "
Meng Chao said anxiously. "On one hand, Mr. Gu naturally wants to reconnect with you, but on the other hand, he's been carrying out dangerous experiments in secret. The side effects are really great, and he might die one day. He feels that he can't bring you happiness when he's in danger and his future is uncertain, so he's terrified!"
"What?!"
Li Yingzi became anxious. "Didn't you just restart the project recently?"
"Yes, but for the past five or six years, he's been researching on his own. It's very painful, very hard, and he suffered a lot," Meng Chao said.
"Mr. Gu said that every time he stepped on the cultivation machine, he didn't know whether he could survive. There's no way he would dare to tell you about it and make you worried and unable to sleep at night.
"He also said that the person he let down the most in his life is Ms. Li, and every single time he went through experimental cultivation and suffered pain worse than death, the only thing that flashed in front of his eyes was you.
"He also said that before Project 1024 succeeds, his life belongs to the project, but once it succeeds, his life belongs to you."
"That bastard …"
Li Yingzi's face was so red that she looked like a burning cloud. She gritted her teeth. "He did this behind my back, and he still told you?"
"That's right. I'm really embarrassed too. Mr. Gu is too cowardly. He should have told you this in person. Why did he tell me?"
"But now that I think about it, he must have placed too much importance on your relationship, so he intentionally hid it while he was drunk. He even told me about it. That way, even if you flew into a rage or ignored him, he would still have room to turn things around.
"Ms. Li, from my standpoint, I naturally don't have the right to say anything, but Mr. Gu is really pitiful. Why don't you find some time to visit him?"
Li Yingzi sucked in a deep breath. "Is he still drunk?"
"He's a little better now, but I reckon that he's no longer as cowardly as before. I have to say that he's really cowardly sometimes. If I don't torture him, he won't tell me the truth," Meng Chao said.
"But I promise you that everything I said just now is true. If you don't believe me, you can take off his clothes and look at the wounds all over his body. Then, you'll know how much pain he's suffered over the years, especially that fatal wound. Ah …"
Li Yingzi scowled and grabbed Meng Chao's wrist. Her voice quivered. "What fatal wound?"
"The fatal wound on his butt. I think he used electricity to stimulate his coccyx in hopes of clearing the 188 branch meridians around his spine, but the electricity was too strong and injured his spine. I don't know the details, and it's impossible for Mr. Gu to let me look at his butt!"
Meng Chao shrugged. "Every time I asked him to get a doctor to take a good look at it, he just brushed it off. Do you know what I'm the most afraid of right now? I'm afraid that when the project didn't succeed, he would use his unyielding willpower to persevere, and his nerves would be tense. Now that he finally saw hope and relaxed, the fatal wound on his coccyx would act up, and he'd be done for!"
"… Enough. Just stay here. I have something to do." Li Yingzi turned around and left.
"Wait, Ms. Li."
Meng Chao thought about it and added, "I know that there are a lot of rumors in the university. They say that Mr. Gu is a womanizer and has ambiguous relationships with a lot of female entrepreneurs.
"I have to help him explain that he went to those female entrepreneurs to get sponsors for Project 1024.
"Of course, I can't guarantee that they didn't engage in some interesting entertainment activities to get sponsors.
"But based on my personal experience, before I find the correct formula and method, cultivating branch meridians is very painful and difficult. When rampaging spirit energy surges into the branch meridians, it's like a stick that's as thick as a fist is shoved into your nostrils. Every time, you feel like you're going to die, and you're going to be exhausted.
"Even though I'm a young man who has just turned eighteen and is full of vigor, every time I finish cultivating branch meridians, my fingers become limp, and when I pee, I pee on my shoes.
"So …"
Without waiting for him to finish, Li Yingzi glared at him fiercely. Like an aggressive female griffin, she flapped her wings and flew away quickly.
As he watched her disappear outside the door, a gratified smile appeared on Meng Chao's face.
"Big Brother Bo, the Dragon Citizens can only help you this much. You'll have to rely on yourself next!"
= = =
The fourth chapter was delivered to me with nearly four thousand words!
I can finally straighten my back and ask for tickets again. Brothers and sisters, do you have any monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, or subscriptions? Let me stimulate you a little. I'm exhausted right now, and my fingers are limp!
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