C9 Incident at the Bus

Zhang Muye was set to take the exams in City No. 1 High School, though not in the same room as his buddies Liu Dong and Sheng Kai.

Since it was such an important day, he decided to take the bus to school and kick back a little before his brain got to work.

When he boarded the bus, he found other students who, like himself, were on their way to take the exams as well. Unlike him, however, they still had their noses buried in their notes in an attempt for some last-minute cramming.

Muye took a seat at the back of the bus, got comfortable, then closed his eyes.

He had barely dozed off when a commotion suddenly broke out inside the moving bus. He opened his eyes to see a sturdy-looking man wildly brandishing a knife in the middle of the bus aisle.

“I hate this life,” the man shouted, his eyes wide and crazed. “Society made me like this, so I’m going to take my revenge. Everyone here is going to die with me!”

Then, without warning, he lunged at a passenger—an old man, and tried to stab him in the chest. Luckily, the passenger was able to dodge the attack by leaning to the side, but the blade still pierced his thigh.

All hell broke loose. Everyone began to scream, cry, and yell in angry desperation. There was blood on the seat where the old man had been sitting, and it slowly leaked into the bus floor.

Just as the attacker had said, he was about to take revenge on all of society. After injuring the old man, he pulled at the knife and proceeded to wave it around and stabbing anyone else he could get his hands on. A lucky few were able to dodge and move out of the way, but a lot of them got hurt and staggered to the floor.

In the ensuing panic, the driver lost control of the bus and was struggling to get it back on track.

If no one stopped this madman soon, just how much more damage would he cause? How many more innocent people would get hurt?

To everyone’s utter shock and horror, Muye got to his feet and threw himself at the crazy assailant. Unfortunately, the man noticed him just a few seconds before Muye was upon him. He turned and roared, “So you want to die early? You’ve got some guts!”

His knife was now pointed directly at Muye’s chest.

But Muye was unfazed. To him, the attacker’s movements were far too slow to make any difference. Or perhaps it was Muye who was moving too fast.

In the blink of an eye, he managed to sidestep the man and snatch the weapon from his hands. All the other passengers could only watch in a mix of fright and disbelief.

The attacker stared blankly at his now empty hand, stunned by what had just happened. He clearly hadn’t expected anyone to stand up against him and win.

“Don’t!” he screamed at Muye, who was still holding up the knife. The man stumbled back in fear. “Don’t come any closer! If you do, I will cut myself! And you will turn into a murderer!”

His words earned scoffs of outrage and snide snickers from the other passengers. It was amusing to hear him say such things after what he had done. Muye smirked at him. “Are you sure you want to hurt yourself?”

“I have another knife on me!” The man declared, patting his chest pockets. He was bluffing, of course, and wasn’t able to produce anything. Muye took advantage of this momentary distraction and attacked. He grabbed the man’s arm, only to find that he had severely overestimated himself. The man wasn’t burly for nothing.

Muye inwardly smacked himself. All this time, he had thought he could match the strength of three to five men, but it looked like he needed to work on his strength some more.

But he didn’t feel any fear at all; if anything, he was rather excited. This was going to be his first real combat since that fateful day when his body had changed. It was the perfect opportunity to test his physical abilities.

Muye took a deep breath and tried to center all of his strength, then he willed all that force to his arms. Power surged toward his hands down to the tips of his fingers, and he twisted the other man’s arm in one effortless motion.

Pain and astonishment registered in the man’s face before it twisted in pain. But he had no intentions of going down just yet. He raised his leg to try and kick Muye away, but it was to no avail. Muye only used it against him and deftly tackled the man to the floor.

“Someone tie him up!” Muye instructed the onlookers as he pinned the madman down. “Hurry and call the police!”

That seemed to jostle the other passengers from their amazed stupor, and they scrambled to do as he said. After all, they owed their lives to this brave young man. Soon, the attacker was tied up and deposited into a corner as they waited for the police and ambulance. Those who knew first aid began to tend to the wounded.

It took a while, but they finally heard the familiar sirens of the first responders. As soon as a police car came into view, the passengers finally felt reassured and calmed down.

A group of paramedics brought out stretchers and gingerly carried the severely injured to the ambulance, while the officers apprehended the suspect and interviewed the witnesses.

The moment they got to the part where the criminal was subdued and the police asked how it had come about, everyone started talking all at once—

“It’s a young man, a student! He was so very brave.”

“And strong, too! He was actually able to take that large man by himself.”

“You have to award the boy, officer! There aren’t many good young people like him these days.”

“Oh, that’s him over there! Oh my, it looks like he’s a candidate for today’s college entrance exams!”

As another officer approached, Muye glanced at his watch and slapped his forehead in dismay. “Oh no, my exams are going to start in a few minutes.”

Without missing a beat, the officer called out to his colleagues. “Hurry and get me an available police car! We can’t let our little hero miss his college entrance exams!”

They made quick work of it, and soon Muye was inside a police car as it sped across the streets, sirens blaring, all the way to City No. 1. High School. It was certainly thrilling, all the more given that they arrived at the campus just a couple of minutes before the exams officially began.

Muye bounded out of the car and went over to the driver's side. “Thank you very much, Officer!”

The policeman actually offered him a bow. “Please focus and do well in the exams. You are a hero. Once the exams are over, I will personally make sure that you are given recognition for your bravery!”

Muye gave him one last wave before sprinting into the school. Luckily, he made it just in time.

The first round was a language test, and the atmosphere in the examination halls was glum and depressing. But Muye remained calm, and he breezed through the test papers easily. It was as if he hadn’t been in a life-or-death incident just this morning.

At noon, he went home to have lunch. His parents greeted him as usual and prepared the side dishes they would normally have on an ordinary day. There was no special treatment at all. Muye ate his meal and went into his room for a short nap.

At the allotted time, he was back in school to take the math test. He handled it just as well as the first exam, and actually finished the difficult questions half an hour earlier than the rest of the students. But he didn’t turn in his test papers just yet. Instead, he carefully went over them again and checked that his answers were correct. He waited for the bell to ring and submitted his papers along with everyone else.

Muye went home that day feeling light and carefree. He knew he had done well in the exams.

When evening came, Liu Dong and Sheng Kai came over, and the boys went out on their usual jaunts. They rode their bikes to the famous South River of Jinnan City, just behind Old Town. The wind was blowing pleasantly that night, and everything seemed peaceful and serene.

It was Sheng Kai who brought up the college entrance exams, asking how it went for the other two. They both said it was okay, then Sheng Kai asked which universities they were planning to get into. Muye told said he wanted to attend a university in a big city, and Liu Dong echoed his plans.

As for Sheng Kai, he was planning to get into a military school.