Chapter 34: Dragoncry Middle School (Complete) Part 2

“You mean that freak Zhongse?” Su Bai rubbed his temples. “If they fall into his hands, good luck to them.”

He was their top boss, after all. The guard didn’t dare gossip more and just nodded in agreement with his eyes.

After Su Bai left, the guard figured these two would go to Zone One or Two and escorted them to the zones.

He wore an electronic wristband that beeped en route—the higher-ups sending the prisoners’ files.

He checked their info and assigned zones. When he saw the names, his eyes bulged wider than saucers. “Holy shit, Old Bai, you screwed me!”

Take care of them? What the hell kind of people were these!

Dong Jun, the one who harmed the High Priest!

And some unknown info, dangerous emotionless guy who self-harmed with a Rat Spawn!

No way to “care” for them!

His hand shook as he flipped to the last page: Zone Three, severe zone. His heart sank completely.

With a deadpan face, he said to the still-lucid Yun Xueqing, “Congrats—you landed in our director’s lap.”

Falling into Zhongse’s hands meant skin getting peeled off even if you didn’t die.

The guard took them to Zone Three and impassively locked them in a cell.

Yun Xueqing said flatly, “Can you put me in the same room as him?”

The guard gave him a strange look. It was the first time he’d seen someone enter Zone Three still mentally clear. He couldn’t help but say more. “Bro, you’re here to detox in prison, not vacation. I don’t take requests.”

Everyone admitted to the institute had infected minds. Even mild cases were unstable—volatile like powder kegs, exploding at a spark.

He deliberately barbed his words to provoke a negative reaction, but Yun Xueqing just nodded obediently, sat down on the spot, closed his eyes, and began meditating.

Seeing the standard meditation pose, the guard: “…”

Now he was cultivating immortality?

Was this guy really sent in for chuunibyou syndrome?

Yun Xueqing wasn’t just putting on a show—he truly sat to meditate and cultivate.

Knowing he couldn’t leave anytime soon, he might as well slowly convert the Weird Power gained from killing the Rat Mother into Spiritual Power to heal his internal injuries.

After fully converting the Weird Power—uncertain how long he had meditated—when he opened his eyes again, a person stood at the cell door, staring at him unblinkingly through the bars.

The man wore a standard blue-and-white uniform, with long hair tied in a high ponytail. He wasn’t tall and, from behind, looked very much like a girl.

Even from the front, his fair, soft oval face lacked any aggression.

He grinned. “You’re awake. Time for the trial now that you are.”

He opened the cell door and walked in. Yun Xueqing eyed him warily. “Who are you?”

“Zhongse,” he said with the same grin. “You’ve probably heard of me.”

However, Zhongse was an out-and-out weirdo. Seeing that Yun Xueqing ignored him, he directly grabbed the man’s chin, pinching until a bluish-purple mark appeared on the pale skin. Only then did he satisfactorily let go. “As expected, you’re an infected monster who can’t even understand human speech.”

Despite the insult, Yun Xueqing felt no inner turmoil. He only said, “What methods do you plan to use against Fu Wuxuan?”

“Fu Wuxuan? That guy who was locked up with you yesterday?” Zhongse chuckled lightly. “I didn’t bother with him. Although he’s someone the higher-ups value highly and insisted I send to Zone Three, I’m not interested in monsters who’ve lost their reason… You’re far more interesting.”

His tone was frivolous, and Yun Xueqing couldn’t help but turn his head away in disgust, brushing past the hand that reached for him.

Zhongse dodged nimbly but wasn’t annoyed. Instead, he grinned and said, “Monsters who’ve lost their minds? I’ve seen plenty of those in the Degeneration Abstinence Institute. But this is the first time I’ve encountered someone who remains rational upon arrival.”

He appraised him with interest. “I heard you’re immune to Rat Spawn? Even after being bitten by one, you stay clear-headed?”

Yun Xueqing didn’t respond, but Zhongse continued chattering on regardless. “If that’s true, you’re a prime research subject. If I dissected you, could I uncover the secret to mental power that resists pollution?”

He deliberately said things designed to instill fear, but seeing Yun Xueqing’s expression remain utterly calm, he couldn’t help but laugh again. “Just kidding. I’m not some pervert who’d do that. After all, it would be against the law and regulations.”

Even as he spoke, he suddenly produced a scalpel. “But if it contributes to mental pollution research, what’s one more offense on my record?”

With that, the scalpel mercilessly stabbed into Yun Xueqing’s chest, slicing through his clothes. With a forceful gouge, it carved out a large chunk of flesh and blood.

Yun Xueqing let out a muffled grunt, his face paling from the pain as cold sweat poured down. He stared at the maniacally grinning Zhongse and said coldly, “How do you know my mental power hasn’t been polluted?”

Zhongse was admiring the excised flesh when an unidentified hard object struck his ribs. Bone-piercing pain assaulted him, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

His lower right rib had been snapped in two by the knife hilt.

Zhongse casually wiped the blood from his mouth, a sickly smile spreading across his face. He looked toward Yun Xueqing, eager to see madness, anger, obsession, or despair on the man’s face.

But the other’s expression was beyond his expectations.

“You gouge my flesh, I break your bone.”

Yun Xueqing withdrew the Calamity Blade, his face calm as if devoid of emotion. Only his pitch-black pupils, like a still, bottomless abyss, seemed capable of drawing everything in. “Thus, the cause and effect are settled.”

Zhongse stared at his face. Far from angry, he suddenly grinned like a blooming red camellia flower, exuding a bewitching aura. “Perhaps I need to retest your mental Pollution Value.”

With those words, he left the cell. Yun Xueqing didn’t see him again for three days.

Three days later, Yun Xueqing awoke to find himself no longer in the Degeneration Abstinence Institute cell but in an unfamiliar place.

He was in a small, dim black room. The door was tightly shut, and only a sliver of light filtered through the window, allowing him to barely make out the furnishings—empty and bare, with nothing but the simple flat bed beneath him. It was spartan to the extreme.

But he had no time to worry about his situation. Instead, he looked in surprise at the person lying beside him. “Fu Wuxuan?”

Fu Wuxuan nodded. “It’s me.”

Yun Xueqing’s gaze fell on him, and even his usually impassive face couldn’t hide his shock.

Fu Wuxuan’s originally pitch-black pupils had turned a thorough watery blue. Fine watery blue scales grew at the smooth edges of his temples, and his pale ears had become pointed fins.

The most terrifying aspect of the heteromorphosis was that his originally slender, straight legs had transformed into a long, watery blue fish tail, with a translucent tail fin drooping to the ground, still dripping water.

Yun Xueqing’s emotions were complex. “Your final heteromorph form is… a mermaid?”

Fu Wuxuan helplessly rubbed his forehead. “If I said I’m actually not a mermaid but a Water Dragon, would you believe me?”

Yun Xueqing shook his head decisively.

No matter how you looked at it, it was a fish—nothing to do with a dragon.

Fu Wuxuan gave up explaining. “Where are we now?”

His memories stopped at the battle with the Rat Mother; everything after was blank.

Yun Xueqing explained what had happened.

Based on his account, Fu Wuxuan inferred, “Then we’re most likely inside a domain constructed by Zhongse right now.”

Yun Xueqing: “A domain?”

“The Zhongse of the Degeneration Abstinence Institute is infamous not just for his perverse behavior but also for his unique Oracle power—Domain Reconstruction.”

“In simple terms, it’s a miniature Weird Domain created by an Oracle. But solving it isn’t as straightforward as killing the Anomalous Domain Lord. Instead, you must complete the trial that the domain lord—that is, Zhongse—wants us to undergo.”

Yun Xueqing got the general idea. “It’s like breaking a formation. You can’t just kill the one who set it up; you have to find and strike the formation’s core directly.”

Fu Wuxuan didn’t quite follow the esoteric metaphor and vaguely agreed. “Something like that. But while a Weird’s domain wants us dead, Zhongse’s is a test of humanity.”

No sooner had he spoken than a burly, horse-faced middle-aged man in a black tank top burst in. Whip in hand, he barked orders at Yun Xueqing. “You! Get out here!”

As he spoke, he cracked the whip on the ground with a sharp snap.

Fu Wuxuan sized up the intruder and slowly finished his thought. “But just because it’s a test doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous.”

The domain set by that pervert Zhongse was undoubtedly even more so.

The whip-wielding man acted as if Fu Wuxuan didn’t exist, ignoring him completely. He strode past, gripped Yun Xueqing’s shoulder, and dragged him out the door.

Yun Xueqing pretended to comply and followed him out. Only then did he realize this was a massive Livestock Yard.

Outside the door were a dozen kinds of livestock tied up for slaughter—chickens, ducks, geese—but mostly cattle and horses.

The whip-wielder pressed on Yun Xueqing’s arm, leading him to the back of the Livestock Yard. As they approached, Yun Xueqing heard the whistle of a whip slicing through the air nearby, followed by the horrific sound of it striking flesh.

The beaten person cried out in agony. “Stop hitting me, please! Spare me, sir! Please don’t hit me anymore! I beg you, I don’t want to become livestock!”

But the beater showed no mercy, lashing wildly. “You slack off on work? If you can’t be a proper slave, you’ll just end up as livestock!”

“Please, stop! It hurts so much! I don’t want to become livestock!”

The victim’s wails grew fainter, as if on the verge of death.

Until finally, the voice dwindled to a barely audible “moo moo.”

Yun Xueqing was forced closer. Upon close inspection, he saw that the beaten person had become a cow-headed, human-bodied monstrosity!

Half the face was still human; the other half had been whipped into a cow’s!