Ch. 288 - You Said Ten Seconds

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Zhong Weixing shook his head hard, clearing his mind a few degrees.

"You think you can just hit me and run?!"

He pushed off the ground — and caught up to Zhang Dali in an instant.

The physical gap between an ordinary person and a Black Iron beast tamer was simply too vast.

With sheer overwhelming strength, he grabbed Zhang Dali and held him fast.

"Uncle Liu, help!"

Zhang Dali immediately screamed at the top of his lungs. His voice was enormous — it startled the gate security guard in an instant.

"Stop!"

A guard uncle walked over and immediately intervened.

He recognized Zhang Dali. But Zhong Weixing was a complete stranger to him. Naturally, he'd step in.

Zhang Dali bellowed, "Uncle Liu, this guy's from another school! He said he's gonna slaughter our entire Spirit Chef University!"

"??"

Zhong Weixing's eyes bulged. Could you possibly be any more full of shit?!

I'm not a goddamn criminal! How did "slaughter" even come out of your mouth?!

"Let go!"

The guard uncle barked, firmly taking Zhang Dali's side.

He was also an ordinary person — but he represented Capital Spirit Chef University.

"Uncle, I didn't do anything to him..."

Zhong Weixing released his grip, holding both hands up, looking utterly innocent.

He leaned in close to Zhang Dali and lowered his voice.

"Kid, I'm just here to warn you — stay away from Lin Weiwei! Or face the consequences. Unless you plan on staying inside this school forever!"

Zhong Weixing smiled and gave Zhang Dali a deep, meaningful look.

Zhang Dali's expression froze for a split second — then a strange grin spread across his face. "I think the person who needs to worry right now... is you."

"Hm?"

Zhong Weixing turned his head, confused.

A wall of darkness descended, accompanied by the choking stench of urea.

"What the—?!"

Chen Shu and Fang Si stood there, perfectly composed, jointly holding a urea bag.

The sinful mouth of the bag had been securely fitted right over Zhong Weixing.

Both of them kicked out simultaneously — straight at his calves.

In an instant, Zhong Weixing lost his balance and pitched headfirst into the urea bag.

His body flipped over, both legs flailing wildly like a pig at the slaughter.

"You dare lay a hand on the Nanjiang Bandit's brother?!"

The two kept kicking at the bagged Zhong Weixing without pause.

"Uncle, none of them are from our school. No need to get involved!"

Zhang Dali waved a hand dismissively at the security guard beside him.

Then he promptly joined the beatdown squad...

"Motherf—! Who the hell are you people?!"

Bang bang!

Another flurry of punches and kicks. Absolutely no holding back.

"I'm a student at Capital Comprehensive University! You're dead!"

Bang bang bang!

"You're finished! All of you, finished!"

Bang bang bang bang!

"I was wrong! Boss, I was wrong!"

But the three of them completely ignored him. They just kept beating him while casually chatting away.

"Dali, long time no see."

Zhang Dali grinned. "Chen Pi, you actually got into Huaxia Academy!"

At the same time, he threw a straight punch, making Zhong Weixing howl.

The guy's screams became the BGM[1] for the three's conversation. The scene was equal parts surreal and brutal.

Passersby all turned to look, pointing and murmuring, treating it like free entertainment.

"Dali, how'd you get into trouble with an outside student?"

Fang Si threw another kick as she asked.

Zhang Dali was an ordinary person, and he'd only just entered Spirit Chef University — yet he'd already run into friction.

Most people on campus were beast tamers, just ones with lousy talent.

They weren't strong, but they still had that sense of superiority. They ordered Zhang Dali around constantly.

Fang Si had stepped in to teach them a lesson a few times. With a Huaxia Academy sister backing him up, naturally no classmate dared bully him anymore.

She hadn't expected an outsider to show up today.

Chen Shu raised an eyebrow. "Who's Lin Weiwei?"

He'd clearly overheard Zhong Weixing's earlier whisper.

"A senior under the same advisor."

Zhang Dali's expression immediately lit up. "She's that streamer I used to watch! A Silver-rank Spirit Chef!"

Chen Shu paused, then remembered. "That coincidental?!"

Back when the three of them had gone to Taiqing Mountain, he'd told Zhang Dali in the car to watch fewer streams.

Their mission was to build the motherland...

They were under the same advisor, and Zhang Dali had frequently asked Lin Weiwei for advice before. Over time, the two had become good friends.

As the three chatted away—

Zhong Weixing inside the bag had gone completely silent, like a dead dog.

"Cut the act!"

Chen Shu delivered a kick that sent him flying. They stopped beating him.

He and Fang Si controlled their force perfectly. Handling ordinary people was one approach — handling a Black Iron beast tamer was another.

After a long moment, Zhong Weixing finally confirmed the beating was over. He scrambled and thrashed his way out of the urea bag.

Fang Si clapped her hands. "Want revenge? Come find us at Huaxia Academy anytime!"

Zhong Weixing clutched his face, teeth gritted in pain.

He'd been about to spit out some threats, but the words "Huaxia Academy" made him swallow them right back down.

Chen Shu spoke flatly. "Come looking for trouble again, and I'll blow up your school."

"..."

Fang Si and Zhang Dali both turned to stare at him.

Boss, isn't that a bit much? The school didn't do anything...

Chen Shu grinned. "Ten seconds to get out of my sight. Or you can keep getting beaten!"

Zhong Weixing shuddered. He immediately spun around and ran.

"Ten... nine... one!"

Chen Shu calmly counted off — jumping straight from nine to one...

Zhong Weixing shuddered again. He instantly sensed something was very wrong.

Bang!

In a flash, Chen Shu launched a flying kick that sent him tumbling several meters...

"Goddammit!"

Zhong Weixing cursed inwardly as he crashed face-first into the ground, a complete and utter mess.[2]

He looked back, his face twisted with resentment. You said ten seconds!

Chen Shu dusted off his hands. "You ran too slow. Twenty more seconds."

"..."

Zhong Weixing scrambled and crawled, disappearing rapidly into the crowd. He didn't dare waste a single second.

Who the hell knew whether the Bandit's "twenty seconds" meant one second or two...

The security uncle at the gate swallowed hard. He forced a smile. "Dali, are both of these your friends?"

"Yep!"

Zhang Dali nodded, about to lead the two of them into Spirit Chef University.

The security uncle added a reminder. "Don't go causing trouble on campus..."

"Uncle, don't worry!"

Chen Shu smiled. "We're all civilized new youths."

As he spoke, he tidied up the urea bag on the ground. It still had bloodstains on it...

"Heh heh..."

The security uncle nodded. He'd originally wanted to stop them.

But since they were Dali's friends, and both were from Huaxia Academy, he could only turn a blind eye.

The three slung their arms around each other's shoulders and swaggered into Capital Spirit Chef University.

Quite a few people had witnessed the brawl at the gate. They instinctively steered clear of the trio.

"Senior Fang Si!"

"Boss!"

The students on campus wore expressions of pure apprehension. Fang Si, standing up for Zhang Dali, had shocked the entire school with her violent methods.

And now, the Chen Shu beside her looked even fiercer...

[1] BGM: Background Music. Internet slang borrowed from gaming/video culture — describing ambient sound that plays behind a scene. Here, Zhong Weixing's howls of pain serve as the literal "soundtrack" to the trio's casual conversation.

[2] 说好的十秒 (shuō hǎo de shí miǎo): "The ten seconds we agreed on." The chapter title's payoff: Chen Shu told Zhong Weixing he had ten seconds to flee, then counted "Ten, nine, one" — skipping eight through two entirely. When Zhong's resentful glare wordlessly protests "You said ten seconds!", Chen Shu's response is that he ran too slow, and he's now granted "twenty more seconds" — which the narration dryly notes could mean anything from one to two seconds based on established precedent. The Bandit's word is worthless, and his countdowns are even worse.