Half an hour later.
Fan Lin couldn't find the answer to his thoughts and hence chose to blame it on the God that sent him.
'He is the one doing everything.'
So I chose to do the next thing that I suddenly thought of. I still haven't washed my uniform.
I returned to the dormitory and saw someone snooping around someone's else's house. It was Xie Xie. Again.
I felt like this has happened before but I still went closer to Xie Xie.
Did I slip in time?
Or how else I would be seeing this guy everytime I come here.
"Fan Lin!"
Xie Xie exclaimed as I got closer. I looked at the broken window that was covered with a cloth. Now she was using curtains!
"Don't act chummy with me? What do you need now?"
"... Can you apologise to Yuanen Yehui for me as well? She isn't responding even though I have been apologising for the past hour. Sorry to bother you but you are the only one who doesn't have any fear."
Xie Xie mumbled while looking down. He was still ashamed and embarrassed for his actions and what Fan Lin has to pay for all this but a part of him was still afraid of Fan Lin becoming violent to him after all this. Hence he kept his head down and avoided Fan Lin's eyes.
'Did anyone actually heard a thing that I had said? I am pretty sure I explained it properly that I met her for the first time today! And I had no connection or association with her. Why would I apologize for someone else to her then?'
Could it be that I actually spoke that in my mind. Was I the only one who was hearing it? Hallucinations?
"I am not close to her and, I still need to wash the blood of my uniform, so bye. Don't disturb me and don't act like you know me. Now go and stop strolling into random homes at night."
He looked at me, wanting to say a lot but not a single word came out of his mouth.
He slowly went towards his room while keeping his head down. I know that face. The face of a child that didn't know what to do.
Didn't I have it as well?
I internally laughed at my state that was the same as his.
I went towards Yuanen Yehui's house and knocked.
The door opened, showing Yuanen Yehui in a new set of clothes. This was her third cloth change.
"Sorry."
She said to me, although I don't know why. There were just too many reasons (there weren't).
"For what?"
I asked her, still needed specification on what she apologized for.
"I just felt like saying it to you. You don't need to pay me all the things that Elder Cai said."
She said. I looked at her for a full minute and couldn't help to verbalize my thoughts.
"Why didn't you say that in front on her?"
She now looked at me for a few seconds.
"I am not mad or rich like you."
"Yeah, that's true."
I nodded my head at her statement.
Yuanen Yehui looked at Fan Lin with a smiling face but her hands griping the door tightened at his statement.
"And it's not like your words has any value if you compare it to hers plus I promised to her. I don't like breaking my promises."
Fan Lin said in a calm manner.
Yuanen Yehui mentally nodded at his statement because in front of Elder Cai's words, her words don't have that value but that didn't stop her anger from rising.
"So what are you doing here?"
She said to Fan Lin, her voice still on the calmer level.
"I will repair the window tomorrow."
Fan Lin said to her while pointing at the window.
"Ohh good. Bye then."
She said while closing the door which Fan Lin stopped.
"What are you doing?" [Yuanen]
She asked while looking at Fan Lin's hand on the door.
"Why are you closing the door?" [Fan Lin]
Fan Lin asked her as if it was a normal question to ask.
"Why wouldn't I close the door?" [Yuanen]
She questioned in return. She still didn't understand exactly how his brain worked.
"It's my room. Didn't you hear Elder Cai say that? Did none of you hear a single thing that happened in the office?"
I asked, 30 points confused and 70 points irritated.
Yuanen Yehui looked at Fan Lin for more than five minutes without saying anything. Her mind filled with various different types of emotions that she was unable to convey into words as that would made her a vulgar and rude person, which she wasn't. She was also amazed at how easily Fan Lin was able to anger her without having any malice.
"What?"
Fan Lin asked after a while because time was being wasted. Time that he could have used to wash clothes, dry them and sleep.
Fan Lin knew that even if he wasn't at fault, he did see her after she had done bathing. Although more than 95 percent was covered in the towel and nothing lucid, erotic or lewd was seen, which in a sense meant that he didn't see anything that was questionable but would anyone believe him on that.
No one understood the simple implication that if what had truly seen had, he would just say it. He had no reason to hide it. But he hadn't and the situation was such that it was pretty hard to believe him.
Since from Yuanen's point of view, she did see his eyes peering through the window and looking directly at her but for how long, she didn't know, and how can she believe the words of someone who had changed his statement multiple times. Plus she did see the eyes and people don't have eyes on the back of their heads!
Fan Lin also knew that he wasn't what others called as delightfully pleasant to interact, for example Tang Wulin.
So for him to make her believe on the fact that he didn't see her body fully was nearly impossible. He can just slowly let it be forgotten with time.
So when he saw Yuanen Yehui looking at him without saying anything but still thinking about a lot of stuff on the inside, he was little antsy as each passing moment, time was wasted.
She stared at him a few more seconds and responded.
"You mean to say, you want to change rooms right now?"
"Yeah. I have to go to school in the morning, after that I have to go to the Mecha Designer classes to increase my secondary profession knowledge, shop for the things that I need and also your compensation as well, I also have to go the train my body and then I have to cultivate. I also have to wash my uniform as well. My schedule is fully packed and I don't have any time for it tomorrow. Let's do it now."
Fan Lin seriously explained.
Yuanen Yehui listened to him but didn't reply.
"Okay, give me an hour, I will move my stuff to your room."
She said after a while. She was going to get a lot of things from Fan Lin, she can at least listen to him once, her night was ruined anyways.
"Should I help? It will take less time and why don't you just take everything in your storage guide and transfer it to my previous room. It will save a lot of time."
Fan Lin emotionlessly said.
Yuanen Yehui grip on the door increased as her smile vanished. She had enough of Fan Lin flaunting his wealth.
"I don't have a storage guide big enough to take up all of my things and my personal storage guide is already filled with important stuff. I am not rich like you."
She said sarcasm.
"You don't... Okay."
Fan Lin said, totally understanding her sarcasm but it wasn't his fault that he thought she would have a bigger storage soul guide.
Shrek Academy was renounced throughout the Douluo continent and every student studying there was provided with the best education and resources. This was the sentence that Fan Lin had heard from everyone that talked about Shrek.
Adding to the fact that the resources were actually cheaper in the Shrek City than the other cities, he thought that the senior students might have better equipment.
He was still a new student at Shrek and he hadn't read the later parts of the book that described the heavy need of resources and contribution points for everyone except the protagonist.
He didn't know that everything in the Shrek costed contribution points and as one raised higher in ranks, the resources that they required increased as well and if they can't compete with the others, they were expelled.
And Yuanen Yehui was a working student, she literally had to pay for everything, so much that she even had to work at different places instead of cultivating so she can keep her place in Shrek.
She was in her second grade and she had to pay for her classes, secondary profession classes, practice rooms, food, dorm fee, cultivation materials, materials for her battle armour, access to the spirit ascension platform and lastly her spirit soul.
And that's why she couldn't afford for 'better equipment' that Fan Lin thought. She just had to many things on her plate and she was an orphan with an Evil Martial Soul.
So as Fan Lin sort of understood the situation, he innocently did the one thing a person shouldn't say at a time like this.
"Wanna take mine, I have many of them."
Fan Lin said while taking out one of his storage ring from his finger.
Yuanen Yehui looked at him silently. Fan Lin wasn't a fool, it was just that the only female contact that he ever had was with his wife, mother and her mother's relatives. The woman he tortured to death didn't count as he never understood a single word they said. Language barriers😓.
"No thanks."
Yuanen Yehui coldly said thinking of closing the door.
"Take it as an apology for my behaviour at that time, plus it would save a lot of time, you don't even need to return it. Take it for free. It's free."
Fan Lin finally said. Little by little, time was passing but his uniform wasn't washed and he had to think about the future.
"Okay. How much it is? I will pay you later."
She said while taking the ring from his hands.
"Just 18x34x59metres. And don't need to pay, I already told you that's a spare, It's free and I have many of it. So can we hurry up?"
Fan Lin said in a pleading tone.
When Yuanen Yehui heard of the dimensions of the ring though, her hands nearly crushed the door. She viciously looked at Fan Lin and slammed the door on his face.
"I... don't understand woman."
Fan Lin mumbled as he looked at the closed door. Being civil hasn't taken him anywhere. Now if he used force, he would be the perpetrator Elder Cai would be so proud to see again.
"I should burn the ledger as well."
He sighed and went towards his room to wash his clothes.
....
Training students dormitory
Fan Lin's room.
Fan Lin looked below his bed to see the ledger. He took it out and looked at it.
This ledger was the culmination of his past three years of hard work. If this was used, the whole Human society of the Douluo Continent would be destroyed.
When I was thinking about my actions in the forest, I realised that if this ledger went into the wrong hands, be it the person who wants me to work for him or anyone else, it wouldn't be a good outcome.
Shrek didn't feel as safe as I had thought. If it was then it wouldn't have been destroyed in the first place.
My mood was ruined by that man in the morning but he did teach me a lesson that even if I can kill hundreds of weak people, I still have no way of surviving the strong. I don't want to rely on my poisons, nor do I want to create more dangerous ones. I am pretty weak at the moment.
But no matter how you think, something was wrong. If it was before today then I wouldn't have cared even if Xie Xie burnt the whole students dormitory. I would have just ignored him like I was doing for the past few years and came to collect my things later.
I never liked to show off my complete strength to anyone, nor do I have the desire to be appreciated by others. I seldom have it.
After her death, it was all about living my life for the forest and anything that comes in its way will be ceased to ashes.
In this new life though, he wanted to avoid his past life's mistake and kill only when it was needed, not when he wanted to but when he required.
It was a clean slate and a new chance for him to not repeat his past life and he will find a way for the spirit beasts to thrive.
I am being toyed.
This ledger is a power for myself but I have a copy of it with the bookkeeper so let's burn it.
And Fan Lin burnt the ledger.
I will kill that man, he knows about me and if he wants me to work for him, he isn't a good person for neither I am.
I looked at the empty room and went towards Yuanen Yehui's, no, my new room.
I don't know about my hate for that man for sure but I.... whatever.
Fan Lin stood outside his new room for Yuanen Yehui's while waiting for her to finish.
Half an hour passed.
"Does she like this room a lot?"
An hour passed.
"Are you in here?"
Fan Lin knocked.
"I am bathing. Can't waste my medicinal bath since I am poor. I will change my room in the morning."
Yuanen Yehui said while cultivating... outside the bath, fully clothed without a drop of water on her.
Fan Lin looked at the door in silence before leaving.
"Why do all the females that I meet are unreasonable?"
He said it out loud and returned to his previous room and took out his uniform to wash.
The next day.
In the Grade 1.
"This semester, you all have one assignment: create your own mechas. Now, I will be announcing your groups. Group one: Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Luo Guixing, and Wu Siduo."
After declaring that group one was composed of the four class representatives, Wu Zhangkong announced the rest of the groups. Each group had at least ten people, and the sum of every group's talents were basically on par with the rest.
"You must be able to use the mechas you make. As for how you make it, that's up to you. I have only covered the basics of mecha making up to this point, so you should go to the library to learn about things like what materials should be used or what you want to use and such."
"In order to make your mechas, you will need the help of everyone in your group. You must make your mechas by the end of the term, that three years later. If any group has a single person without a completed mecha, the entire group will lose marks. A single member failing this assignment means the elimination of an entire group, and all of you will be made to withdraw from Shrek."
"Additionally, all of you can forget about completing the assignment half-heartedly. In the second half of the semester, you will be taught how to pilot ordinary mechas. Shrek Academy's curriculum aims to raise well-rounded students, so part of the final exam will be a class-wide mecha competition with the mechas that you made. The students that rank in the bottom ten for that competition will be expelled."
Wu Zhangkong's proclamation sent chills down everyone's spines and increased the pressure they were under.
Even if everyone was strong individually, it was impossible to make a mecha without the help of their classmates. In other words, they had to rely on each other. Cooperation was indispensable for this assignment.
"The exam at the end of the final semester also includes a group competition where each group will select their four strongest mecha pilots to compete as a team. The specific rules will be announced closer to the date of the competition." Wu Zhangkong paused to let this information sink in, then gravely said, "I will now give you half an hour to gather into your groups and discuss your plans. Be warned, you do not have as much time for this task as you think."
"Sir, I want to opt out of the group." Fan Lin declared after Wu Zhangkong finished his words. His words gathering the eyes of everyone present.
"What is your reason for doing that? If it is a valid reason, you can." Wu Zhangkong said. His tone a little icier.
"I just started my secondary profession two days ago so I am still an apprentice. I would be a drag to the others. Let me work alone. That way, only my points would be deducted but my results on other things will save me from expulsion." I reasoned. My voice without a hint of fluctuation. Emotionless.
The students were now looking at me like I was joking but the heavens knew I wasn't.
Wu Zhangkong picked up the tab and started fiddling with it. He replied after a second," Are you planning on flunking this project?"
"I am rich. I am a Mecha Designer I just need to design on my own and I can ask(pay) the others to make it for me. As you said that the students occupational understanding will also be tested. I just want to raise my secondary profession to level 3 without any hitch by the end of the term and I can focus on it fully when being alone. Three years is a lot of time. As for the Mecha, given enough money, I just needed to provide the designs and it will be ready in a few days."
Fan Lin remarked. His actions contracting the 'no show off' monologue that he had the last night.
Wu Zhangkong icily said," You started your secondary profession just two days ago and you are still an beginner in it. And you are claiming that your classmates will become a hindrance in you reaching rank 3 of your secondary profession, thus failing you?"
"Yes sir."
"Ok. You are allowed to work on your project alone. But you can only use the money earned by yourself as a working student and you need to make a one word battle armour piece design by yourself as your final semester assessment. Do you accept this condition?"
The whole class started murmuring about the difficulty level of the task. It wasn't that hard. Any rank 4 or 5 Mecha designer could easily do so.
Fan Lin smiled, "I accept the terms Sir."
And now the whole class was in an silent uproar, they decided to stay away from Fan Lin cuz a normal student would have had this conversation in private. Sane people will never make an enemy of the whole class. It was like declaring that he was better than them when he hadn't even learned to talk.
" And call me teacher not Sir."
"Yes Sir. I mean Teacher Zhang."
I replied in front of the whole class.
Then half an hour passed and Wu Zhangkong went to teach about mecha armour as if the conversation never happened.
Shrek Academy's teaching methods were clearly different from what these students were used to. Here, independent studies were encouraged. Very little time, a few hours at most, was spent in class every day. Students could procrastinate and play around and no one would bother with them. However, if they didn't pass the exams at the end of the semester, they would be expelled, and no one wanted to be expelled from Shrek Academy.
So, their only option was to pour blood and sweat into their studies.
It was a long-established rule that the ten students that ranked at the bottom of the class would be expelled at the end of each semester. That was ten percent of their current class. This danger pushed everyone, especially the weaker students, to work hard. For them, the possibility of expulsion was all too real.
'Now I just need to focus on my secondary profession. What should I cut out? Training in the boundless place is heavenly for me. I am already at the peak of level 28 and will breakthrough to level 29 in around two days. My studies are good for now. Let's use my training at night. Mecha designing needs spirit engraving. Plus adding the time at night I could practice for 12 hours a day since I don't sleep and my first spirit soul will work as my passive cultivation assistant. Sounds good. Now the only thing that's left is to know whether I am allowed to practice at night.'
While Fan Lin was making plans for his future. Tang Wulin went to his seat and asked," Would you like me to help you? I am a fourth rank blacksmith. I have a hundred percent success rate in first grade thousand refining. You are also making a battle armour piece by yourself. I can first grade thousand refine them."
"I need to design a Battle Armour piece, it takes like a few hours and a pen and paper. I don't need your services now but if I do, I will contact you on my own. Now leave my sight as I am thinking something important."
Tang Wulin went towards his group with a bitter face after hearing this and a certain pair of eyes bore through my body since I hurt her Tang Wulin.