Volume Two: The Youth of a Thousand Faces—Reality in Disguise Chapter Thirty-Three: The So-Called Teacher

Huo Ye and his companions found Professor Meng’s office. Leilimi was about to knock, but Huo Ye grabbed his hand, stopping him at the handle.

After releasing Leilimi’s hand, Huo Ye gestured for the two to step back. He let out a quiet breath, then suddenly kicked the door with a powerful force.

With a loud bang, the door was kicked clean off its hinges, flying straight into the office.

A minute earlier, Cheng Lu had arrived at Meng Lou’s office. After being kicked out of Leilimi’s office by Huo Ye, he’d run straight here to complain.

“Great-uncle, you have to help me. All my points were taken away—how am I supposed to survive?” Cheng Lu wailed.

Meng Lou glared angrily at the disappointing son of his niece’s family but refrained from scolding him. All he could say was, “Ah, of all people you could have picked a fight with, why did it have to be the eldest son of the Halls family? Do you really think you can afford to mess with him? Never mind his father, who is far away—even his current mentor is someone I’d rather avoid.”

Meng Lou had nothing but contempt for Ke Zhen. When Huo Ye had been taken by Ke Zhen, Ke Zhen had never missed a chance to mock him, and even now, the memory left him fuming.

“I didn’t do anything! All I did was what I usually do—go to that loser Leilimi and collect some points. Who knew they actually knew each other? If I hadn’t handed over a full 2,000 points, I might not have made it out alive. You didn’t see his eyes—he looked like he wanted to eat me.”

“Useless.” Meng Lou raised a hand as if to slap him but ultimately held back.

At that moment, the office door suddenly burst open with a thunderous crash, slamming directly into Cheng Lu, who was standing in front of the entrance, pinning him underneath.

From outside, a man with phoenix eyes and a dimple appeared, stepping atop the door, pressing Cheng Lu beneath as he cried out in pain. The striking young man said, “Well, Professor Meng, having a family chat?”

As Huo Ye had approached the office, he’d overheard the conversation inside. He possessed spatial abilities and was adept at spatial arts; the technique he’d just used was a basic one known as “Echo Location.” By gathering sound waves with spatial energy, he could visualize the positions of all objects producing or reflecting sound in his mind as a three-dimensional map.

Having realized that Cheng Lu had the audacity to seek Meng Lou’s help, Huo Ye figured the earlier lesson hadn’t been harsh enough—so he decided to make it clear.

Meng Lou looked at the student he’d once coveted but had ended up in Ke Zhen’s hands, a thought that still filled him with indignation. But Huo Ye’s entrance was clearly hostile—who visits by kicking in someone’s door?

Determined to assert his authority as a professor, Meng Lou raised his head and chest, brimming with presence. “What is this? Are you students here to cause trouble?”

By now, Cheng Lu had scrambled out from under the door, pointing at Huo Ye and shouting, “Great-uncle, that’s him! That’s Huo Ye!”

“Enough, I don’t need you to tell me!” Meng Lou snapped.

Huo Ye responded, “Of course I’m not here to cause trouble. I just have something to ask you, Professor Meng.”

“Oh? What’s that? Go ahead,” Meng Lou replied in a leisurely manner.

“I want to ask—are you aware that your grandson has been bullying his junior peers?” Huo Ye asked.

“Bullying? What do you mean bullying? At Bancroft, the strong rule the weak—that’s the academy’s code. The strong are entitled to the resources of the weak. Isn’t that natural?” Meng Lou didn’t even bother to deny that Cheng Lu had robbed Leilimi of his points, acting as if it were only proper.

“But as far as I know, that rule doesn’t cover taking someone’s points and resources without even a formal duel. Cheng Lu crossed the line,” Huo Ye said.

“So what? Didn’t you help that useless guy get his points back? And even more than he lost. Let’s just drop the matter. I won’t call for the Hunters to deal with it,” Meng Lou replied with perfect self-assurance, as though he were in the right.

Bancroft had a permanent Hunter corps responsible for external defense and, alongside the student council’s security division, formed the academy’s law enforcement system. Meng Lou’s meaning was clear: his grandson robbed Leilimi, but you got him back, so we’re even; I won’t call the campus police on you.

Huo Ye was so infuriated he laughed. “You’re really shameless for an old man. And you’re wrong about something else—Leilimi is immensely talented; it’s only your short-sightedness that keeps you from seeing it. In your hands, pearls are cast before swine.”

Meng Lou’s face turned thunderous. “Short-sighted? He barely scrapes by his exams! If the mentors weren’t giving me face, he’d have been expelled long ago!”

Huo Ye pressed on, “But as far as I know, you’ve never taught Leilimi a thing. He’s been working on his own for a whole year. Have you fulfilled your duties as a teacher?”

“Hmph, with his abilities, do you really think I should lower myself to teach him personally? Flies don’t lay eggs with intact shells. Cheng Lu may be disappointing, but if Leilimi were strong enough, Cheng Lu wouldn’t dare collect points from him. Why doesn’t Cheng Lu go after the presidents of the seven major clubs?”

Huo Ye drew a deep breath, trying hard to remain calm, but both Alice and Leilimi, familiar with him, could tell he was near his breaking point.

Alice wasn’t worried that Huo Ye would lose to Meng Lou in a verbal spar—her brother’s tongue was a sharp one. She quietly scanned Huo Ye with her crystal-brain and whispered to Leilimi, “Look, my brother’s ability level is almost S-rank; he must be furious.”

Humans did possess ability levels. After all, it was these powers that allowed them to fight calamities. While humans didn’t have disaster grades, after reaching S-rank, their ability levels became almost impossible to measure, so the system wasn’t used often.

Huo Ye was usually at peak A-rank and had been stuck at that bottleneck for over a year. Now, in his fury, his powers seemed ready to break into S-rank.

His expression darkened. “Such shameless bandit logic. When someone suffers misfortune, you blame the victim. Your victim-blaming mentality is truly disgusting.”

Even Meng Lou was driven past restraint, making no further attempt to excuse Cheng Lu. “It takes two to fight. If Cheng Lu took from him, why didn’t he resist?”

At that moment, a sharp crack rang out, as if a string in Huo Ye’s heart had snapped. With a crisp, resounding slap, Meng Lou was sent flying into the wall, crashing so hard that two of his teeth broke loose.

Huo Ye had immense strength—truly the force of tons. Even so, he’d held back; had he used his full power, the unprepared Meng Lou, with no ability shield, would likely have had his neck snapped.

Huo Ye took out a pack of wet wipes, wiping his palm with obvious distaste. Then, holding the hand that had struck Meng Lou in midair, he stared at it and said, “I only used one hand, but it was pretty loud, wasn’t it? Hey, Baldy Meng, did you hear that?”

Huo Ye had exploded.

Leilimi was in awe of his elder brother—how could anyone be so composed and mocking, even while losing his temper?

Huo Ye stepped forward, intending to haul Meng Lou up by the hair and continue intimidating him, but alas, the old man was bald.

Instead, he drove his long blade into the floor in front of Meng Lou, crouched down, and said, “Honestly, if you hadn’t run your mouth, I’d have settled for a few harsh words. Why bring this on yourself? By the way, according to your own logic, shouldn’t you ask yourself why you lost two teeth to me just now?”

Meng Lou was seething, smoke nearly pouring from his ears. He tried to get up, but Huo Ye shoved him back down. “Stay down.”

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—Huo Ye felt utterly refreshed, body and soul.

Meng Lou’s blood pressure was certainly rising, but there was nothing he could do. Though a teacher in title, he was weak in reality and couldn’t compare to Huo Ye. Had he not spent his early days at the academy in the company of the old headmaster and Old Jack, he’d never have achieved his current status.

Huo Ye continued, “One more thing to tell you. From now on, Leilimi will attend classes with me under Mentor Ke Zhen. This is not a request. If you refuse, we can sit down and debate logic for a while longer. Ke Zhen will come to transfer Leilimi’s enrollment soon. For now, we’ll take our leave.”

With that, he stood and led the other two out of the office.

Once outside, Leilimi worriedly asked, “Brother, will you be in trouble for hitting him? He is a teacher, after all.”

Huo Ye replied, “Teaching is a noble profession. I don’t believe in hitting a true teacher. But he’s unworthy of the title—just a scoundrel with a teaching certificate. Anyone can get a piece of paper, but who can say whether a man calling himself a teacher is truly worthy of the name?”