Chapter 30: Another Game?
In fact, s.h.i.+ Xiaobai wasn’t planning on going to the bathroom. Although the reason why he stood up wasn’t as Lingcun thought, it was somewhat similar.
He did not want to join Han Feng or Song Xiao’s factions. He also did not want to stand up for Xiang Wu. He just had a simple belief that voting should abide to the individual’s wishes. Although gaining safety by collectivising was beyond reproach, to use a collectivised force to kill the freedom of an individual was something that did not conform to s.h.i.+ Xiaobai’s kingly ways.
Hence, the reason why s.h.i.+ Xiaobai stood up was to head to another corner. Since Xiang Wu could become a faction himself, why couldn’t he, s.h.i.+ Xiaobai? He insisted on being isolated from the others!
However, Lingcun had stopped him, and had managed to persuade him.
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai had forgotten which line made him give up his nearly silly idea, but s.h.i.+ Xiaobai knew in his heart that the true reason why he abandoned that idea was because of fear—fear of being directly eliminated.
Be it him choosing to conceal his ident.i.ty, or choosing to use the excuse of “going to the bathroom, by indirectly agreeing to joining Han Feng’s faction, it was something that s.h.i.+ Xiaobai found difficult to accept. It should have been taken for granted that with his character, he would have roared out with laughter, saying “This King insists on not doing so”.
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai, who was never afraid of the strong, was extremely afraid of weakness—he was afraid. He had always been a weakling.
Having heard from others mention how much a genius s.h.i.+ Xiaobai was, or how outstanding s.h.i.+ Xiaobai’s natural endowment was, s.h.i.+ Xiaobai was the one who knew better than anyone else. He knew that even if he had entered the first level of the Psionic Mortal Realm, he did not feel like there was a shred of change. Be it Ye Jiaquan’s fist, or Lingcun’s mysteriousness, or Hisith’s repression, they made s.h.i.+ Xiaobai deeply feel—he was too weak.
It was not because he was afraid of Ye Jiaquan’s fists, nor had he he yielded to Hisith’s pressure, s.h.i.+ Xiaobai only desperately worried when the moment of becoming stronger would come and when he would stop being weak.
And the rookie training was by far the closest opportunity for him to become stronger. s.h.i.+ Xiaobai did not want to let this opportunity slip away. He wanted to hold on to it tightly, whatever it took.
For this, s.h.i.+ Xiaobai caved. He had concealed his ident.i.ty and joined Han Feng’s faction. This was the one of the few compromises s.h.i.+ Xiaobai had made.
After using the bathroom, and returning to his seat, s.h.i.+ Xiaobai’s heart was heavy. The opportunity of him becoming stronger was clearly at his fingertips, but for some unknown reason, he could not feel any emotion of joy. It was as if he had lost something in his heart.
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai fell into silence, but his surroundings turned noisy. All sorts of noises entered his ears. Lingcun’s voice frequently resounded in his ear, but s.h.i.+ Xiaobai felt extremely irritated. It was as if there was a heat flowing through his body, making his every nerve feel uneasy.
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai couldn’t help but glance at the isolated man named Xiang Wu at the corner. He sat there quietly, motionless. As if he was bound by the air, locked in time.
However, s.h.i.+ Xiaobai saw from his body—freedom.
The freedom to not move was also a freedom!
“It seems, This King is sick.”
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai sighed as he slowly closed his eyes. He needed rest, because he was fighting himself.
…
…
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai’s resting time did not last for very long as Hisith slowly walked into the cla.s.sroom. The moment he stepped into the cla.s.sroom, everyone shut their mouths, turning silent. The hustle and bustle immediately melted into silence.
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai involuntarily opened his eyes, and when his eyes matched Hisith’s slightly narrowed eyes, his hair stood on end, just like a frightened cub that jumped up in fright.
Thankfully, Lingcun, who was beside him, held him down by the shoulders in time, allowing s.h.i.+ Xiaobai to calm down from the sudden repressive feeling Hisith gave him.
“This darn depraved person must have done it on purpose. This King nearly got hit by his Samsara Eye Magic!”
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai cursed in his heart, and the inhibitions in his heart gradually faded away without him realizing it.
Hisith slowly walked to the podium in the middle. His gentle footsteps sounded extremely clear in the quiet cla.s.sroom. Everyone’s heartbeats seemed to synchronize with each other, as if they were involuntarily being paced by his footsteps.
Punctilious discipline was reflected fully in this cla.s.sroom.
“Relax, don’t be nervous. I’m in quite a good mood today.” Hisith spoke softly.
The moment Hisith spoke, heaving sighs of relief broke out in the cla.s.sroom. s.h.i.+ Xiaobai felt that the tensed Ye Jiaquan beside him also seemed to relax.
What would happen if this depraved person was in a bad mood?
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai could not help but have such a thought.
“When Instructor Hisith is not in a good mood, he will usually play a ‘game’. As for the contents of the game, you will see it when the time comes. I’ll not talk about it.” Lingcun leaned towards s.h.i.+ Xiaobai’s ears and used an extremely inaudible voice to tell him. His voice seemed to exude some fear.
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai was stunned, as a chill rose up from the bottom of his heart. A game that could make everyone so nervous was probably some abnormal game.
Although all the rookies in the cla.s.sroom had heaved a sigh of relief, they still maintained their silence. Every occasional motion was done extremely gingerly.
“Alright, my beloved toys, let us continue from our morning lesson.”
Hisith clapped his hands and his eyes swept across everyone. The rookies who had been addressed as “toys” did not dare show any look of discontent. They all displayed an attentive posture.
After a pause, Hisith began teaching.
“For the past few days, we have been talking about combat. In fact, combat is nothing more than the interplay between four major systems—offense, defense, evasion, as well as superpower. Those who do not have any Psy-genes, then you actually only have three of the systems. You are naturally born to have one less combat technique than Psykers. However, I can tell you seriously that it is not difficult for Psionites to defeat Psykers. This is because every ‘superpower’ needs to fulfill three elements—function, condition as well as restrictions. If you can discern the weakness in your opponent’s superpower’s conditions and limitations, then the actual thing that determines victory is still the three major systems, offense, defense and evasion. And all three of these systems rely on Psionic Power. In terms of Psionic Ability cultivation, Psykers have no advantage over you!”
Hisith threw out a series of sentences, and finally concluded, “In other words, the three major systems are the only things you can rely on to defeat a Psyker, and also your only remaining dignity and pride! You are different from Psykers who are naturally born with superpowers. You are all the most ordinary out of ordinary people, without any halo surrounding you. You have lost at the starting line the moment you were born. In various compet.i.tions in the future, you would suffer a crus.h.i.+ng defeat. In the game known as ‘Life’, you were all losers from the very beginning!”
“However, you can turn the tables. As long as you hone a powerful offense, a rigid defense, an agile evasion, then you would have the capital to fight Psykers. And for these things, I will teach them all to you!”
Hisith seemed to transform into another man. That teasing expression turned serious. The tone in his voice sounded encouraging, he was like a dedicated teacher working hard at teaching his students.
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai noticed that the rookies beside him were short of breath, as their eyes burned with fighting spirit. Ye Jiaquan even clenched his fists tightly.
Hisith’s words had touched them and infected them. His final sentence lit up the desire they buried deep in their hearts.
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai began to gradually look serious. What Hisith said about “a powerful offense, a rigid defense, an agile evasion”, could he possess them?
“However, the prerequisite of all this—is that you must hold on to the end.”
Hisith’s tone changed suddenly, as his eyes narrowed slightly.
“What a pity. This afternoon, another cute toy will be eliminated.”
A coquettish smile appeared on Hisith’s face once again as he used a teasing tone to say the word “pity”. It was heart-chilling.
The meaning behind his words made the rookies from Team Red draw a gasp, while the rookies from Team Blue collectively laughed, seemingly deriving pleasure from those words.
This was just the fourth day of rookie training, and today, a third person was to be eliminated?
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai felt that when Hisith said those words, his gaze had swept past him. That faint amused look made s.h.i.+ Xiaobai’s heart involuntarily palpitate.
“It can’t be that he is targeting This King again, right?”
s.h.i.+ Xiaobai felt a sense of foreboding.
“Oh, right. Today, there is a rookie who returned after missing cla.s.ses for many days. I happen to have thought of a fun game, and plan to let him partic.i.p.ate in it.”
Hisith revealed a sinister smile as he looked towards s.h.i.+ Xiaobai, saying, “Tu Dahei, come to the podium. Let us play a game…that is slightly more difficult.”
When everyone heard this, they traced Hisith’s gaze towards s.h.i.+ Xiaobai, who looked somewhat ordinary, seated in the row of seats. Immediately, they felt full of pity for him.
Instructor Hisith said a “game”, and not a “little game”, and he had even used the qualifier, “slightly more difficult”.
The rookies who were unfortunate enough to encounter “normal games” found it impossible to imagine how perverse Instructor Hisith’s “game that is slightly more difficult” would be.