The shrill sound of the alarm clock rang out. Chu Fei woke up feeling unusually refreshed.
Since arriving in this world, he hadn't had a good rest. Last night's sleep was deep and sound.
Could it be the effect of the Wisdom Dew?
There was no time to think further. Chu Fei quickly got dressed, washed up, gathered with the others, and went for a run.
During the run, Chu Fei was almost certain that the Wisdom Dew helped improve sleep quality and slightly boosted physical ability. His body seemed to have learned some techniques for exertion and conserving energy.
"The effects of the Wisdom Dew still need to be explored."
After the run, Chu Fei had a fallout with Jiang Shaohu — Chu Fei took second place, and Jiang Shaohu ended up third, receiving lashes.
There was no such thing as yielding.
No hiding one's strength either.
Friendship? What's that?
Under the strong "whip," the competition was not just fierce — it was brutal. There was no room for friendship here.
The morning classes were chemistry, and the afternoon was biology, with no homework assigned.
Chu Fei escaped the whipping today.
"No homework!" Li Honggang cheered. The boys chattered happily, relieved.
When the evening self-study bell rang, Cao Liwen came in holding a stack of test papers and placed them in front of the boys.
"Pass these around. Everyone gets four papers. The key points from the past two days are all covered here. It's 6 PM now, papers are collected at 8 PM. You have enough time."
The cheerful atmosphere suddenly broke, replaced by the rustling of papers.
Chu Fei flipped through the test papers. There weren't many questions, but not too few either.
If you knew the answers, that was fine. But if you didn't...
The classroom was unusually quiet, with only the scratching of pens heard.
Within half an hour, anxious noises began — sighs, heavy breaths, frantic flipping, teeth grinding, feet scraping the floor, dragging chairs, restless twisting...
"Crack!"
The sound of a whip echoed.
The voice of the whip-holder rang through the classroom, "Do not disturb others!"
Soon after, another whip cracked, "No whispering! This is your last warning, or next time it's cheating punishment!"
Cheating meant at least five lashes!
The noisy sounds abruptly stopped. After a moment, they resumed but cautiously.
Chu Fei ignored everything outside his ears and focused on answering.
Time passed little by little.
Suddenly, footsteps came — four teachers arrived and lined up at the podium.
Almost at the same time, Cao Liwen tapped the table, "Time's up, stop writing immediately. Those in the back, bring your papers forward."
After a pause, he shouted sharply, "Jiang Shaohu!"
"Teacher, I didn't write my name!"
Cao Liwen snorted, "Trying to be clever! Last time!"
Twenty-seven test papers were quickly gathered before the four teachers.
After over half an hour, the grading was done, papers divided into three piles.
The first pile was the smallest, the second the largest, and the third was medium-sized.
Cao Liwen flipped through the test results, the rustling sound making many students tremble.
Chu Fei stared at his test paper, palms sweaty.
If he failed, there would be lashes.
If he got the teacher's emphasized points wrong, it would be twice as bad.
Although he felt the test went smoothly, no one could be sure.
Cao Liwen put down the paper and said, "Those whose names I call, come up."
The atmosphere instantly tensed.
"Zhang Xuan, Li Honggang, Lu Hong."
"Chu Fei!"
Chu Fei's body tensed, but he stepped toward the podium step by step.
The four stood at the podium as Cao Liwen nodded slightly, "Good, full marks. Each of you gets 10 yuan!"
Four large coins were pushed in front of the four.
They all sighed in relief, their chests heaving from heavy breaths.
The four thanked the teacher before taking the coins.
Cao Liwen glanced at Chu Fei's paper and said, "Extend your left hand!"
Chu Fei stretched out his left hand.
Cao Liwen grabbed a bamboo stick nearby and struck once.
Chu Fei pulled back his hand like being shocked, then pressed it tightly to his chest, teeth grinding loudly.
Cao Liwen then looked at Zhang Xuan, "Left hand!"
Zhang Xuan flinched.
"Crack!"
The bamboo stick struck her left cheek.
Zhang Xuan screamed, clutching her face as she trembled on the ground, blood quickly seeping through her fingers.
Cao Liwen looked at Li Honggang, "Left hand!"
Li Honggang quickly stretched out his left hand.
The bamboo stick struck, and he pulled back immediately.
But Cao Liwen didn't stop, "One more time!"
Li Honggang gritted his teeth and extended his hand again without hesitation.
Last was Lu Hong.
He closed his eyes tightly and willingly stretched out his left hand.
"All done, nothing for you."
Lu Hong quickly pulled back his hand, fear written all over his face.
Cao Liwen continued, "Messy papers, corrections, one warning. If you four keep up this learning state, you'll at least be 1.5-level Awakened in the future and maybe go to the battlefield.
Battlefields don't tolerate carelessness, regrets, or corrections.
Alright, you may go."
Zhang Xuan got up, sobbing.
Cao Liwen pointed at the desk, coldly staring at Zhang Xuan without a word.
She immediately stopped crying.
The four returned while Cao Liwen started checking the second pile.
The others trembled.
The roll call continued.
This time 17 students.
Cao Liwen asked about each mistake.
The test wasn't difficult; all knowledge points had been taught, and key points emphasized in class.
This time Cao Liwen didn't hit. The whip-holder stepped forward instead.
Fortunately, the whip was only about a meter long, still painful but less severe.
After lashing all 17, it was 9:16 PM.
Cao Liwen said coldly, "The rest, come up."
Six students hesitated, trembling as they stepped forward.
The previous 17 who did well mostly received ten lashes. They didn't know how many lashes these six would get.
Cao Liwen stood and said, "Follow me outside! All of you."
Their faces instantly turned pale.
Chu Fei, Zhang Xuan, Li Honggang, and Lu Hong followed Cao Liwen.
At the north square under dim light, four muscular old men looked like Shura warriors; their lightly shaking leather whips seemed like poisonous snakes in the dark.
After the 21 arrived, the six were still lingering.
Cao Liwen said nothing, only raised his left hand and checked the time.
One shouted and ran to Cao Liwen, trembling as he stood beside him.
Seeing the first, others quickly followed.
Jiang Shaohu ran wildly but in the wrong direction.
He fled downhill faster than morning runs!
Cao Liwen just watched and coldly said two words, "Deserter!"
Chu Fei stared blankly as Jiang Shaohu ran out of the light and disappeared.
A scream was heard next, followed by a large shadow appearing in the dark.
It was Captain Huang!
Huang's unmodified right hand looked like a claw, grabbing Jiang Shaohu's neck and dragging him back; his left eye's electronic lens flashed red in the dark.
Jiang Shaohu screamed, scratching wildly at Huang's arm but left no marks. His own nails broke, bloodied, yet no effect.
Captain Huang lifted Jiang Shaohu with one hand; two old men bound his hands and hung him up.
Jiang Shaohu struggled and screamed.
One old man took out an even thicker, longer whip, swinging it in the night with a terrifying whistle.
Seeing that whip, Chu Fei felt his heart contract.
It was about three meters long, coiling like a snake.
The old man's wrist twitched, the whip tore through the air and struck Jiang Shaohu's back hard.
The sound of tearing cloth was followed by a sharp scream echoing far in the night, waking dogs and chickens.
The whip kept striking.
After three lashes, Jiang Shaohu could no longer scream, only his body convulsed in the dark.
After ten lashes, the old man finally put away the "long" whip.
Jiang Shaohu was silent.
His back had blurred chunks falling off, blood dripping onto the ground.
The cool mountain wind blew, chilling Chu Fei to his core.
The other four youths standing by the classroom door were like statues.
Suddenly, a frail girl screamed and jumped off the cliff on the west side of the square, plunging into darkness.
The scream echoed in the mountains, quickly fading, then abruptly stopping.
Cao Liwen said nothing, still checking his watch.
The remaining three boys exchanged looks, gritted their teeth, and trembled as they approached Cao Liwen.
The old men put away the three-meter whip and replaced it with a two-meter one.
Many sighed in relief — although the two-meter whip was terrifying, it was gentler compared to the three-meter.
These five received 6 to 9 lashes each. Not fatal but unable to stand.
Chu Fei and the others helped carry them to the infirmary.
The healing device could repair wounds, but serious injuries needed hours to fully recover. The process was maddeningly itchy, making sleep impossible.
Poor sleep meant dozing off tomorrow, missing class, failing tests, and more lashes.
Chu Fei thought, and so did the others.
Some timidly requested leave.
Cao Liwen said flatly, "Tomorrow's the weekend. Rest for one day. No going down the mountain."
A collective sigh of relief.
Chu Fei was only slapped on the palm, needing no treatment, but he turned to Captain Huang.
Huang looked at Chu Fei without a word.
Chu Fei took out the newly earned 10-yuan coin and said directly, "To buy stuff."
"Ten yuan? Only enough for some simple anti-inflammatory medicine, low-grade hemostatic drugs, bandages, small knives, and such."
Chu Fei nodded.
(End of chapter)