The beast's foul smell was strong and hard to get rid of, so Li Qingshan kept rubbing shower gel over and over.
Outside the shower stalls, the rest area gradually got noisy as other students returned to change.
After a while, voices died down.
"Shan-ge, I'll wait for you outside," Zhao Hongzhou called from outside.
Li Qingshan replied and sniffed the air left and right. Satisfied there was no lingering smell, he picked up the cleaver leaning by the door and rinsed it under the shower.
The stains washed away quickly; the one-point-two meter blade gleamed metallic again.
Li Qingshan wiped the blade and smiled with satisfaction.
Zhao had used this cleaver once to break an alloy cage, yet now there was not a scratch on it.
"Nice blade," Zhao said.
Maybe because of the material, after a good rinse the knife left no smell.
Li Qingshan changed quickly and left the rest area.
Zhao stood at the door holding a scabbard; when he saw Li Qingshan he tossed it to him.
"Shan-ge, the teacher asked me to bring this to you."
"Alright, let's go eat," Li Qingshan said.
Sheathing the long knife, they headed to the cafeteria.
It was lunchtime and the whole school filled the dining hall. Li Qingshan and Zhao got food and picked a corner table.
"Li Qingshan? He's in the cafeteria too." Fifty meters away, some students from Class 7 sat at a few tables, and Jia Jiang was among them.
When someone noticed Li Qingshan, all eyes turned his way except Jia Jiang's.
"Why are Li Qingshan and Zhao sitting in that corner?"
"Yeah, why don't they sit with the martial class?"
Someone asked, glancing toward the other side of the hall where martial students gathered.
At the center of that group sat a small table with a young man and woman facing each other, looking like the focus of attention.
"They must be the elite of this year's martial class," some who had given up applying said with envy.
Jia Jiang paid them no mind and ate.
The others hesitated and looked back at the corner.
"Why does Li Qingshan insist on joining the martial class?" one scoffed.
"No matter where you go, cliques exist. He didn't even manage to get into the martial clique," another said.
Laughter and sneers rose again.
Bang! An empty tray slammed down on the table and interrupted the chatter.
Everyone looked at Jia Jiang.
"I'm done," he said, wiping his mouth and meeting the gaze of those who had been speaking.
These were the students who had given up applying to the martial class at the last moment. Jia Jiang knew them well after two years.
But now they seemed unfamiliar to him. He couldn't understand why they would be so hostile when there was no gain or loss involved.
Jia Jiang turned to the martial class table. "The two in the center are Yu Lei and Hong Qian. Both are Body Tempering Stage 1."
The surrounding students were surprised.
"Body Tempering Stage 1? Already?"
Jia Jiang continued, "Li Qingshan is also Stage 1, and he scored higher than them. He's first among this year's martial students."
The hall erupted with disbelief.
"What? No way!"
"Li Qingshan is a public ward—how could he?"
"Jia Jiang, you must be joking!"
But Jia Jiang shook his head, picked up his empty tray, and left.
One thing was clear: every group has its circle, and he did not want to stay in Class 7's circle.
Seeing Jia Jiang go, some whispered, "He was joking, right?"
"As if you'd really believe that," someone sneered and pointed toward the corner.
"If it's true, would they be sitting in the corner like that?"
At that moment, every martial-class student in the dining hall suddenly stopped eating and looked toward the same place.
Huh?
The Class 7 students followed their gaze and saw Li Qingshan holding a bowl drinking soup.
All the martial-class students were watching him? The thought flashed and the Class 7 students turned quickly.
They found the martial-class students had suddenly stiffened, then lowered their heads and hurried to finish eating.
Are they... afraid?
The Class 7 students exchanged stunned looks.
At that moment Yu Lei and Hong Qian—the two Jia Jiang mentioned—stood up and walked toward Li Qingshan's corner.
"Jia Jiang was right."
Class 7 fell silent and quickly left the cafeteria.
Yu Lei and Hong Qian reached Li Qingshan and Zhao.
"Do you mind if we sit here?"
"Go ahead," Li Qingshan said, smiling as he put down his bowl.
Buzz—buzz—buzz!
All four froze and looked at their wrists.
Their communication bands vibrated and the frames flashed red.
Not just them—the entire cafeteria went quiet and everyone looked down at their wrist devices.
"Inspection Bureau announcement!"
Li Qingshan and the others opened the message with little surprise.
"Last night, followers of an evil god appeared in Luoying City and completed a sacrifice in the suburbs. Two citizens died."
"Based on body DNA, the Inspection Bureau has identified the two victims and released photos. If you have information, contact the bureau."
"The criminals remain at large. Citizens, be careful."
Two photos popped up after the brief notice—the same two faces Li Qingshan had seen the night before.
"Yellow hair?" Li Qingshan narrowed his eyes and scrolled back to re-read the notice.
"Only two victims?" he muttered. He watched the text carefully.
Three people had been together, but only two "yellow-haired" victims were listed.
A flash of reddish-purple wavy hair crossed his mind and Li Qingshan drew a quick breath.
Good—last night he had stood his ground.