Lin Moyu's gaze was icy as he looked down at the bleached-blond punk, making no effort to conceal his utter disdain.
Knowing that the transfer student standing before him was a cultivator—someone far out of his league—Xiaolong recalled what Lin Moyu had told him yesterday. He hurried to his feet and said in a low voice, "Bro, go take a rest in the classroom for a bit. I'll haul everyone who ever bullied Yun Rumo right over here."
Lin Moyu was well aware of what had just transpired, so he didn't care what Xiaolong was thinking. He stated flatly, "Yun Rumo is my sister now. You catch my drift?"
Xiaolong nodded immediately. "Got it. I'll go..."
Hearing the answer he wanted, Lin Moyu didn't even bother listening to the rest and headed straight toward the classroom.
Glancing at the curious students in the room, Lin Moyu couldn't be bothered to speak to them; after all, they belonged to different worlds. Watching them look at him with a mix of curiosity and dread, he found it rather amusing. But it wasn't long before those stolen glances stopped entirely, for Xiaolong had arrived with a whole crowd of people.
"Bro, I've brought everyone who ever bullied Yun Rumo. Do you need me to help with anything?" Xiaolong walked up to Lin Moyu, his attitude thoroughly submissive.
Lin Moyu surveyed the twenty or thirty young men and women standing before him, frowning as he said, "All of you, explain how you bullied Yun Rumo."
They looked between Xiaolong and Lin Moyu, stammering and too terrified to speak.
Taking in the scene, Xiaolong pointed directly at a young woman and shouted, "You, yeah, you. Don't hide, get over here."
Looking thoroughly reluctant, the spunky-looking girl shuffled up to Xiaolong and muttered, "Brother Long."
"Out with it! How did you bully Yun Rumo?" Xiaolong bellowed furiously.
Startled out of her wits, the girl blurted out, "I... I just shoved Yun Rumo down in the bathroom, that's all."
A look of horror crossed her face, and she instantly regretted letting it slip. After all, this seemingly frail Lin Moyu had spent yesterday beating up their school's reigning tyrant.
"Just?" Lin Moyu smiled playfully. "Right, you just shoved her in the bathroom for a little while. No big deal at all."
The girl nodded eagerly, as if it genuinely were a trivial matter in her eyes.
Unfortunately for her, before she could even feel relieved, Lin Moyu continued, "Since it's such a trivial matter, let's break her fingers so she remembers this lesson!"
The girl looked at Lin Moyu as though gazing upon a demon. She turned to run, but Xiaolong's thugs pinned her to the floor.
"No... please!" No one paid her any heed, and her so-called best friends were currently powerless to save themselves.
With his henchmen holding the girl down, Xiaolong stepped forward, pried open her tightly clenched fingers, and, taking a deep breath, began snapping them one by one.
Listening to the girl's agonizing screams, the other students stared in terror. They tried to flee, only to find that Xiaolong's underlings had already blocked every exit—escape was impossible.
By now, the students who had taken part in bullying Yun Rumo were ashen-faced, while those who hadn't were silently thanking their lucky stars.
After every single one of the girl's ten fingers had been broken, Lin Moyu feigned utter astonishment. "I meant for you to break just one finger. How on earth did you end up breaking all of them?"
Lying limp on the floor in a pool of helpless tears, the girl screamed internally: *Why didn't you say so earlier?!*
Though Xiaolong knew exactly what Lin Moyu was playing at, he put on a deeply apologetic expression and offered the girl a hypocritical apology.
"Next," Lin Moyu commanded. His main purpose today was to show Yun Rumo that once she was under his wing, she would never be bullied again. It was also about securing loyalty—cultivation, after all, consumed a tremendous amount of resources.
Seeing that the rest of the crowd was now even more terrified to step forward, Xiaolong casually grabbed another person and demanded, "You there, talk! What did you do to Yun Rumo?"
The young man hesitated for a moment, but catching Lin Moyu's sidelong glance, he shrieked, "I... I just stole a bite of Yun Rumo's cookies! Please don't break my fingers!"
Seeing Lin Moyu frown, Xiaolong immediately slapped the guy across the face. Seeing this, Lin Moyu blinked in surprise and quickly interjected, "That's enough, that really was a minor offense."
Clutching his reddening cheek, the chubby boy didn't even dare harbor a shred of resentment as he slinked away in sorrow.
"Hurry up, next!" Xiaolong barked.
...
When only the very last person remained, Lin Moyu recognized her as the ringleader Xiaolong had told him about—a short, heavily built girl with a fleshy face. Truth be told, the others had only bullied Yun Rumo because of her.
"Zhang Lingyu, right? Care to explain why you led the bullying against Yun Rumo?" Lin Moyu looked at the exceptionally unattractive girl. Still, having lived for several decades across two lifetimes, he managed to keep his disgust from showing on his face. He was genuinely curious as to what could possibly have driven them to torment Yun Rumo to such an extent.
Zhang Lingyu looked panicked, tears streaming down her face. Her expression caused Lin Moyu to frown repeatedly as he fought to keep his composure. Yet, Zhang Lingyu seemed to misunderstand entirely.
"D-do you... do you have a crush on me?" Zhang Lingyu stammered after a moment of silence, dropping an astonishing question.
Clenching his jaw, Lin Moyu pressed on, "What do you think?"
"You must like me. Otherwise, why else would you go through that scrawny little monkey Yun Rumo just to chat with me?" Completely oblivious to the freezing atmosphere in the room, Zhang Lingyu was about to keep talking when Xiaolong landed several vicious slaps across her face.
"Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you stand here and nauseate Brother Lin!" After knocking Zhang Lingyu to the floor with a single blow, Xiaolong felt unsatisfied and immediately followed up with a few kicks.
Waving a hand, Lin Moyu stood up and said, "Tell me, why on earth did you bully Yun Rumo?"
Clambering up from the floor and wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, Zhang Lingyu snarled, "Who told Yun Rumo to seduce my Brother Hao?"
Lin Moyu frowned once more, waved dismissively, and said, "Handle her however you see fit."
With that, Lin Moyu left. Although he had already spoken to the school administration about this matter specifically, he still needed to go and smooth things over—he hadn't actually intended to play the role of a local tyrant.
...
Upon leaving the office, the teachers and school administrators all let out a collective sigh of relief. Earlier, while watching the surveillance footage, they had genuinely thought someone was going to end up dead; after all, cultivators killing people wasn't illegal. But seeing in the end that only those trashy students were injured while the well-behaved ones remained entirely unharmed, they could finally put their minds at ease.
As Lin Moyu passed the classroom on his way out, he heard the sound of Zhang Lingyu pleading for mercy from within. A cold look flashed in his eyes, and he walked away without breaking stride.