Chapter 43: The Emergence of an Impostor

"Oh... sorry!" Seeing the tears in Fan Fan’s eyes, Qin Xiaochuan became quite clumsy. It wasn’t as if he’d never made her cry from anger before, but every time that happened, he’d always been chased off by Fan Fan in a rage. This was the first time he’d ever seen her weep right in front of him, and he was at a total loss.

"Um... here are some tissues, you..."

Fan Fan snatched the tissue from Qin Xiaochuan and wiped her tears, still clearly dissatisfied with his answer. She pressed on, "I want you to promise me that no matter what happens, you’ll always tell me first, okay? You have no idea how much I worry about you!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I don't want your apology, I want your serious promise!"

"Don’t worry, I won’t let you face such danger again!"

"No, that answer isn’t good enough!"

"It’s fine, there won’t be any more dangerous missions like this next time!"

"That’s not a good answer either!..."

And so, having returned from the other world, Qin Xiaochuan slipped back into his old routine of skipping classes and dodging school. Yet after surviving a life-and-death ordeal, Zhang Yang seemed to have become his sworn brother, always at his side.

Word of Qin Xiaochuan and his friends defeating the Four Sacred Beasts spread swiftly among the hidden monsters living among humans. When these monsters heard a mere human had taken down champions of their own kind, they saw that capturing Qin Xiaochuan and devouring him would be the quickest way to boost their own reputations. So, as unseen currents swirled beneath the surface, a new crisis began to brew.

On a clear morning, Qin Xiaochuan walked through the gates of Yan Jiao High School, hands stuffed in his pockets. "Why hasn’t this stinging pain in my body gone away yet? The wounds have nearly healed, but the pain feels like being pricked by a thousand needles, and my muscles are heavy as if cast in plaster. It’s killing me..."

"Damn, don’t—don’t touch me!"

Recognizing the familiar voice, Qin Xiaochuan saw Zhang Yang behind him, scolding his underlings with a grimace. Ever since coming back, Zhang Yang had begun to suffer the same affliction—his body couldn’t be touched. Any contact was so agonizing it was worse than death. So whenever anyone got close, he’d always warn them off, threatening to fight if pushed. Yet today, he seemed to have let his guard down and someone managed to greet him.

As usual, Qin Xiaochuan shot Zhang Yang a look, and the two headed for the rooftop. Zhang Yang’s two lackeys followed, both carrying a bounty of snacks as tribute.

When they reached the rooftop, everyone set the snacks out on the ground and began to eat and chat.

"Brother Zhang Yang, here’s the latest charcoal-grilled cake—try it! Brother Xiaochuan, here’s some concentrated yogurt for you. So, where have you two been these past few days? You both look awful now that you’re back!"

"It’s nothing, just had some business to take care of with Xiaochuan," Zhang Yang replied, taking a bite of cake. "How’s the school been lately? Any trouble?"

"None at all. With you and Brother Xiaochuan here, our school’s the safest place around. But while you were gone, something new happened!"

"This bread’s filled? Nice!" Zhang Yang laughed, biting into his bread. "So what’s going on?"

"These past few days, two guys have been impersonating you and Xiaochuan—and they even have student IDs with your names on them!"

"What? Even the student IDs?" Zhang Yang was clearly surprised.

"Could they be spies or something? I saw on TV that only spies use fake identities to do bad things. Brother Zhang Yang, you two haven’t angered anyone from the underworld, have you?"

"Don’t talk nonsense, Fatty. Do I look like someone who’s that easy to hate?" Zhang Yang glanced at the chubby lackey, then continued, "So what have those guys done behind our backs? Spill it."

"Those two seem to be purposely ruining your and Brother Xiaochuan’s reputation. They’ve started gang fights at No. 4, No. 7, and No. 15 High Schools. During the fights, they deliberately leave behind student IDs. You know the guys at No. 15—they’re all meatheads. Once they decided it was you and Xiaochuan, their boss, Iron Head, has been leading his crew around looking for you these past couple days. Brother Zhang Yang, you and Brother Xiaochuan need to be careful and not let them catch you."

"Those two are really despicable, Zhang Yang!"

"Yeah! To do such vile things behind our backs, we can’t let them get away with it!"

"Once I recover, I won’t let them off!"

"Me too—when I’m back to normal, I’ll beat them so badly their own mothers won’t recognize them!"

Seeing that neither Qin Xiaochuan nor Zhang Yang seemed ruffled, Fatty and his classmate Chickenhead shared a glance. This wasn’t like them at all. In the past, hearing about a fight would have had these two itching for action, the more opponents the better, always leaving their enemies utterly defeated. Why the lack of reaction now? Maybe the trick hadn’t worked hard enough. Nodding at Chickenhead, Fatty embellished further, "But Brother Zhang Yang, because those imposters have been starting fights under your names, guys from No. 4, No. 7, and No. 15 have been causing trouble at our school. Some of our students have already been beaten up by Iron Head’s crew from No. 15. You can’t just ignore this, Brother Zhang Yang!"

"......"

"......"

Watching the two of them crouched in silence, Fatty glanced at Chickenhead, shook his head, and got up, tugging at Chickenhead’s sleeve to signal that they should leave. Maybe Zhang Yang and Qin Xiaochuan had something else planned—otherwise, why would they be so calm? As they neared the staircase, Fatty couldn’t resist turning back. "Brother Zhang Yang, if those No. 15 guys come for us, you have to call me and Chickenhead! Even if it’s just the two of us, we can’t let them run wild in our school!"

"Wait!"

"What!? Brother, have you decided? Are we going to teach them a lesson? We’ll make them pay, right, Chickenhead?"

"No, just help us up, Fatty."

"Yeah, help me too, my legs are numb and I can’t move!"

"Dammit..."

On the sports field at No. 15 High School, a gang of shirtless youths armed with sticks were shouting.

"Iron Head, just say the word. We’re all with you!"

"Yeah, Iron Head. Those two punks are too much, even sending us a challenge!"

"Yeah, I’ll break their legs when I see them..."

"Outrageous..."

"Right! Do they think No. 15’s got no one? Let’s beat those bastards to death!"

"Iron Head, just give the order..."

"Yeah, Iron Head, say something, everyone’s looking to you..."

Seeing the excited crowd, a shirtless, bald student with a bandaged head raised his hands to quiet everyone, then pulled out a crumpled letter from his pocket and waved it before the crowd.

"Look, brothers! This is the challenge sent by those two fools..."

"Kill them!"

"Beat them to death!"

"Break their legs!"

"Smash their little—"

As Iron Head brandished the challenge letter, his underlings went wild. This was an open insult, a brazen provocation.

Iron Head nodded in satisfaction at their fervor—this was exactly what he wanted. He’d challenged Qin Xiaochuan to a duel before, but the guy wasn’t the least bit afraid of his so-called Iron Head. After trading blows for a while, Qin Xiaochuan even headbutted him in return. After years of toughening his skull, Iron Head never imagined he’d lose to someone else’s head, and the lumps on his head just kept multiplying. The humiliation still burned.

All his hard-earned reputation, ruined by Qin Xiaochuan. He longed to bite the guy to death for revenge, but since the duel had been held publicly, he couldn’t go back on his word. Now, though, he finally had another chance. One-on-one he couldn’t beat Qin Xiaochuan, but with so many underlings, this time he’d make sure Qin Xiaochuan’s own mother wouldn’t recognize him.

Iron Head waved his hand and continued, "Qin Xiaochuan and Zhang Yang dared to set a duel with us—today at four, on the lawn in Jingxiu Park. What do you all say?"

"Cut them down!"

"Kill them!"

"We’ll finish them!"

"Let’s all go get them!"

Egged on by the shouts, Iron Head tore the challenge letter to pieces and threw the scraps among his men, who stomped them to shreds as if trampling on Qin Xiaochuan and Zhang Yang themselves. The scene was utter chaos.

"Looks like they’ve taken the bait," someone muttered smugly.

"Of course. These fools—once we take down Qin Xiaochuan, we’ll be famous among humans," came the reply, laced with sinister laughter.

In the shadows, two figures emerged, watching with glee as the students fell for their scheme. The two monsters looked eerily similar to Qin Xiaochuan and Zhang Yang—except for the cold, bestial gleam in their eyes.