Chapter 1098 - 1098: It's Basically Settled

Outside the tent, Xiao Feng and his group kept a safe distance from Hui Yi, all feeling a bit tongue-tied.

"Senior Brother, if you're going to sleep, just sleep properly. Why are you leaving your foot out of the blanket?"

"And the guy sleeping on the top bunk is something else. He insists on sleeping upside down. If he weren't sleeping opposite to Senior Brother, it wouldn't be like this."

"Anyway, no matter how you see it, Senior Brother's performance this time has definitely tarnished the reputation of 'monks'."

Xiao Feng opened his mouth, about to speak, when he saw Hui Yi trembling, shrunk up, and said in a quivering voice, "S-s-sorry, can someone go in and get my shoes?"

Everyone exchanged glances, then shook their heads and stepped back.

Clearly, no one wanted to experience the feeling of being "poisoned."

"This time, you're sure to win." Xiao Feng said to Hui Yi earnestly.

"W-what's sure?"

"Solo combat, in competitive events like that, you just take off your shoes and use them as a weapon, your opponents definitely won't dare come near you."

After Xiao Feng's comment, the surrounding people burst into laughter.

A moment later, Hui Shiqi said, "I think Bro Feng is spot on. We should give it a try. I don't remember any rules stating you can't take off your shoes."

That comment sparked another round of heated discussion amongst the crowd.

"I really envy Senior Brother."

"Yeah, yeah, wish we had such blessings."

Hui Yi's face turned pale. Since when did having foot odor become a blessing?

If it were before, he might have sighed deeply and said something like, "How can people be so callous," and then try to appeal emotionally.

But right now, he really couldn't bother to do that.

His feet were on the icy ground, feeling like countless steel needles penetrating his soles, the pain was unbearable.

"Huffing... hissing..."

Hui Yi kept drawing in cold air, rubbing his left foot on his right to warm them up, and vice versa, switching back and forth to avoid getting frostbite.

Just at this moment, a gust of wind blustered, making Hui Yi tremble even more, his feet alternately lifting and setting down.

Xiao Feng suddenly felt something was off, checking the wind direction and then where Hui Yi stood... directly facing the girls' dormitory across.

...

"Sister Qingyue, why hasn't anyone thrown shoes here yet?" The little girl asked in a low voice.

Du Qingyue looked down from her top bunk, seeing the little girl's eyelids drooping, and said, "You go to sleep first, I'll wake you when it happens."

"No need, no need, I can still stay..."

Before finishing her sentence, she was already asleep.

Du Qingyue chuckled, lay back down, and glanced at the luminous watch on her wrist, feeling somewhat perplexed.

By right, it should've happened by now, so why hasn't it?

At this moment, Zhao Yanqiong from the top bunk on her right whispered, "Qingyue, Qingyue..."

"Hm?"

"Do you... smell something strange?"

Du Qingyue perked up, sniffed the air twice, and indeed caught a sour scent.

Moreover, the smell seemed to be getting stronger...

At that moment, Du Qingyue's mind conjured up an image.

Qi Guanghe pinching his nose with one hand, holding one of Xiao Feng's shoes with the other, ready to throw it in from outside.

But... could Xiao Feng's feet smell that bad?

Before she could think further, a few light sleepers had already woken up, frowning and complaining.

"What stinks so badly?"

"This smell is so strange, worse than durian or stinky tofu."

"Did someone not wash their feet before sleeping?"

Two minutes later, all forty people in the girls' dormitory had opened their eyes and sat up.

Most were awakened by the smell, while some were woken up by the noise.

But either way, none of them could fall back asleep anymore.

"Turn on the lights and check where the smell's coming from!" someone suggested.

The lights flicked on, and someone pinched their nose, grimacing, "I say we should go outside and avoid it first, the smell is too strong, it's all over the room."

Many people nodded, agreeing with this suggestion.

Half a minute later, someone couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh my god! It's like canned surströmming!"

Half a minute later, finally someone couldn't resist putting on clothes and dashed out of the tent.

The moment someone takes the lead, it's hard not to have a second or third.

In under a minute, half of the forty people had run out, and among those left, more than half were putting on clothes.

"Qingyue, should we head out too?" Jiang Yixin said with a grimace.

Du Qingyue nodded, signaling everyone to dress up and head out.

Given the current situation, she was a bit unsure of what was happening.

Could it be... part of the examination, testing emergency response capability, just not disclosed to us?

This thought lingered briefly before Du Qingyue dismissed it.

She decided to follow Xiao Feng's advice and go with the flow; surely forty people couldn't all fail.

"Why are the boys from the dormitory across running out too?" Lu Yao wondered.

As soon as she said this, someone shouted, "Look!"

Looking in the direction the person pointed, they saw four groups of people dressed in protective clothing, wearing gas masks, and carrying disinfectant, entering the boys' dormitory.

Not long after, another four similarly dressed people entered the girls' dormitory.

In no time, more than a hundred people divided into male and female camps, gathered between the two dormitories, separated by a distance not too long, yet not too short either.

"I'll go check out what's happening." Du Qingyue said calmly, then headed towards Xiao Feng.

With her leading the way, the others followed suit, and the two camps merged together.

Upon discovering the source of the odor, everyone looked at Hui Yi with a clear sense of dread, then retreated to avoid this "fragrant" bald head.

Xiao Feng glanced at the time, finding it was nearly dawn.

He frowned, worried that this incident might delay the examination, which would waste more time.

...

After both dormitories were disinfected, Qi Guanghe's cousin, Wu Zhanbo, appeared in the scene, standing firm, called out loudly, "There was a minor issue, but it's all sorted now. Go back to sleep.

Just a heads up, tomorrow's examination starts as scheduled, don't use lack of sleep as an excuse if you don't perform well!"

Finishing this, he looked at Hui Yi and said, "Come with me, I'll arrange a separate dormitory for you."

Xiao Feng let out a sigh of relief, no longer worried about the examination being delayed.

Though, he's unsure if Qi Guanghe still plans to go through with the shoe-stealing scheme.

But that's beyond his control.

If they decide to call off the shoe-stealing plan due to Hui Yi's stunt, Xiao Feng can't exactly hold a knife to their throats and force them to steal his shoes and toss them into the girls' dormitory across.