12: Chapter 12 My Half-Father!
The classroom was filled with a nauseating, sour stench and a lingering bloody aura.
The students who had just finished vomiting lay limp on the floor, their eyes fixed on the podium, their fear of Su Yun even outweighing the relief of having survived.
"How... how on earth did he do it?"
Li Hao wiped the filth from the corner of his mouth, his voice trembling so badly he didn't even dare to look directly at Su Yun on the podium.
"And the Strange Tales? That monster that Old Zhou turned into... how did it suddenly turn to ash?"
Wang Dan's eyes were red, her arms tightly hugging her shoulders, her voice filled with thick sobbing and disbelief.
"Did he... did he just talk it to death with a few sentences? Talked a B-Level Weird Tale into depression with verbal sparring?!"
"Is that the point?"
Another male student with glasses gulped frantically, his face as pale as paper, shivering with lingering fear.
"Did you hear the problem-solving logic he mentioned earlier? Eating people's fingers, connecting arteries to a thermos to collect interest, using a fire axe to hack off someone's hand... Is this logic that a normal human can think of? This kid is simply a living Yama who is anti-human!"
Once these words were spoken, the surrounding air seemed to grow even colder.
A few students subconsciously shrank under their desks, trying their best to distance themselves from the podium.
"Do you think..."
A girl grabbed her desk-mate's arm tightly, her nails almost digging into the flesh, trembling as she lowered her voice.
"Su Yun usually keeps a low profile in class... Could he, could he also be some kind of monster? Wearing a human skin, the kind that is even more terrifying than Old Zhou..."
"Shh! Are you crazy? Do you want to die? What if he hears you!"
The desk-mate was so scared that he quickly covered her mouth tightly, glancing at the podium with terror.
"Su Yun."
A very light but exceptionally clear voice suddenly interrupted these whispers.
Chu Youwei pushed her chair aside and, facing the horrified gazes of the whole class, walked straight to the podium.
She stared fixedly at Su Yun, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes holding no fear, only deep relief.
"Thank you."
Chu Youwei bowed, bowing earnestly. "Thank you for saving all of us."
Su Yun looked at Chu Youwei in front of him.
The aura of the living Yama that had just been rubbing the Strange Tales into the ground instantly receded like a tide.
His complexion turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His legs suddenly went weak.
With a "thump," Su Yun fell into the chair behind the podium.
His chest heaved violently, as if all his strength had been drained.
"Don't, don't thank me..."
Su Yun gasped heavily, as if he were so scared he couldn't speak properly. "That thing... is it really gone? It won't come back to life, will it?"
He raised his hands.
All ten fingers were shaking violently and uncontrollably.
This was, of course, something he had acted out, but in the eyes of others, it was post-traumatic stress disorder after extreme panic, as real as it could be.
Several students in the front row stared blankly.
Wang Dan mustered the courage to stick her head out: "Su Yun, didn't you... weren't you quite fierce just now? You even said you were going to take a fire axe to hack people..."
Su Yun wiped the cold sweat he had squeezed out of his forehead and pulled out a bitter smile that was worse than crying.
"I was faking that!"
He raised his voice, his tone full of the weakness of someone who had just survived a disaster.
"Haven't you read those suspense novels? When you encounter a monster that sticks to rigid rules, the more afraid you are, the more energetic it gets! You have to act crazier than it, not play by the rules, to jam its logical blind spot!"
He pointed at Li Hao, who was still lying on the ground.
"I saw that Old Zhou's head was about to gnaw on Li Hao's neck. We've been classmates for two and a half years; I couldn't just watch him get eaten, could I? My head got hot at the time, I couldn't care about anything else, and I was just spouting nonsense out of pure instinct."
"The stuff about cutting arteries, collecting interest, it was all made up!"
Su Yun swallowed, appearing extremely terrified.
"Actually, I don't even dare to watch fish being killed. Standing that close, the smell of rotten meat in Old Zhou's mouth almost made me faint. My legs were cramping, and I only managed to stand by holding onto the podium so I wouldn't wet myself."
He let out a long sigh.
"It was really dangerous; it was so close. If it hadn't been confused by me and had just attacked directly, I would have been done for today."
After speaking, he silently added in his heart.
It was indeed close.
It was close to Old Zhou fighting him; if they had really started fighting, wouldn't all that talk have been a waste?
The classroom was silent for two seconds.
Then, a series of gasps of admiration erupted one after another.
The students looked at each other, the fear in their eyes completely replaced by guilt and shock.
So that was it!
Su Yun was not some cold-blooded, perverted monster at all.
He was just an ordinary seventeen-year-old high school student!
To save the whole class, he had forcibly suppressed his fear, risked being swallowed by a B-Level Weird Tale, and acted like a living Yama!
What kind of courage was this? What kind of selflessness was this?
Just a moment ago, they had secretly suspected that Su Yun was an anti-human pervert.
How damnable!
How could they think that about their savior!
Wang Dan's tears fell again, but this time it was out of being moved.
She rushed out of her seat, crying and wiping her tears: "I'm sorry, Su Yun! I actually thought you were a psychopath just now... wuwuwu, you are too great!"
With someone taking the lead, other students also reacted and rushed forward excitedly.
"Su Yun, you are the most badass man I have ever seen!"
"Your logic just now was absolutely perfect; you literally scared the Strange Tales to death. This achievement is enough to brag about for a lifetime!"
"Brother Yun! From now on you are my own brother! I'll cover all your snacks with my living expenses for the next half month!"
The ecstasy of survival combined with gratitude toward Su Yun caused the entire Class 2 of Senior Year to erupt in enthusiastic cheers.
Everyone swarmed onto the podium, surrounding Su Yun.
Just then.
A shrill howl suddenly came from the edge of the crowd.
"Move! Everyone get out of my way!"
Li Hao scrambled through the crowd, the wet patch on his crotch still not dry.
He rushed in front of Su Yun. Without any hesitation.
He bent his knees.
"Thump!"
A slide-kneel, landing solidly at Su Yun's feet.
His hands tightly hugged Su Yun's right leg.
"Dad!!!"
This "Dad" was shouted with such heart-wrenching intensity.
The whole class was silenced for a moment by this shout.
Su Yun's eye twitched wildly, trying to pull his leg out, but he found that this guy was holding on super tight, like a piece of chewing gum.
"Li Hao, are you sick? Let go! You're getting my school uniform pants dirty!"
Su Yun looked disgusted.
"I won't let go! Even if you kill me, I won't let go!"
Li Hao was covered in tears and snot, burying his whole face in Su Yun's lower leg, crying like a two-hundred-pound giant baby.
"From today on, you are my father from another mother! My real father only knows how to beat me with a belt; only you, to save my life, dared to talk logic with a monster!"
"In the future at No. 2 Middle School, whoever dares to say a bad word about you, I, Li Hao, will be the first to fight them to the death!"
Su Yun rolled his eyes helplessly.
What is all this?
He just ate a meal, how did he end up with such a big son?
Chu Youwei stood at the edge of the crowd, watching this chaotic scene, and couldn't help but smile.
But after laughing, her gaze landed on Su Yun's helpless face, and her brows furrowed slightly again.
Was it really faked?
She was in the front row just now.
That composure when facing the Strange Tales directly, that aura of playing with a B-Level monster like a monkey... If this was all just a normal high school student forcing himself, then this psychological quality and acting skill were too terrifying.
However...
There is another possibility, which is that he really wasn't afraid!
Even if the B-Level Weird Tale went crazy.
He had the confidence to easily suppress it!
Chu Youwei looked at Su Yun, who was surrounded by the crowd and looked helpless, and the curiosity in her eyes grew stronger.
She took a step forward, hands behind her back, tilting her head slightly, and whispered a tentative question in a half-joking tone.
"Su Yun, you hide so deep; are you an Awakened from some mysterious organization? Or... are you a Psionic Martial Artist with a Legacy? Or perhaps a God-Favored one blessed by the gods?"
Once these words were spoken, Li Hao, who was still howling, instantly raised his head, his eyes shining like two light bulbs.
"That's right! Dad's aura just now was definitely not that of an ordinary person!"
The surrounding students immediately became excited like they were on stimulants, joining in the commotion.
"Need you ask? Brother Yun's performance this time is at least that of an S-Level big shot!"
"Exactly! What legendary Monster Hunter Night Owl, what Watchers Dark Blade, and that Heavenly Dome that often appears on TV, are all trash in front of Brother Yun's logical dimension-reduction strike!"
"Right! Wherever Brother Yun goes, nothing grows! Can those big shots with such great reputations talk a B-Level Weird Tale to death with just a few words?"
Listening to the increasingly outrageous flattery around him, Su Yun paused.
He glanced at the smiling Chu Youwei out of the corner of his eye, thinking to himself that the school beauty had quite sharp intuition, but unfortunately, she guessed everything wrong.
He was neither an Awakened nor a Psionic Martial Artist, but the ultimate living ancestor in the Strange Talk Sequence.
He turned his head without changing his expression, pretended to be weary, raised his eyebrows, and interrupted the crowd's revelry with annoyance.
"Read less web novels. I am just an ordinary high school student who was influenced by capitalism early on and Awakened a proletarian fighting spirit."
As he spoke, he lifted his chin, pointing at the bright sunlight coming in through the window.
"If you have time to think about these things, the barrier is broken, why don't you hurry up and call the police?"
Chu Youwei was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously took out her mobile phone from her school uniform pocket.
The signal bar, which had always shown no service, finally jumped to full bars!
"There really is a signal!"
Chu Youwei woke up as if from a dream, her expression instantly returning to seriousness, and she turned to shout to everyone: "Quick! Call the Investigation Bureau!"