C10 Suddenly

Su Wei was well aware of the situation in the Sea of Whispers.

There, he had not only encountered the most powerful first-level Spectre but had also taken down a second-level one. With only ordinary Spectres remaining, he saw no reason to linger.

He turned to Lee Silin and said, "Four Eyes, we should head out. If we stick around any longer, it'll be dark, and the Sea of Whispers is far more treacherous at night!"

"Let the others know I'm off to find Liu Shiya!"

With that, Su Wei made his way toward the group of girls where Shiya was.

Lee Silin stood there, stunned. "What? You saddle me with this chore while you're off chasing a girl? That's just abandoning your friends for romance!"

Despite his grumbling, Lee Silin dutifully informed the other students of the situation, urging them to quickly make their way back to the school camp.

Seeing that Liu Shiya and Lee Silin's group were preparing to return to the camp, Soong Sanjin didn't dare to stay in the Sea of Whispers any longer. He gathered his followers and trailed behind them.

At the Order Department's rendezvous point, the imposing Liu Zheng continued his discussion with the surrounding teachers.

"The Sea of Whispers has been thoroughly scouted by the operation team. The most formidable Spectre, lurking deep within the graveyard, is merely a first-level one. The students won't be in any danger as long as they don't provoke it. You can relax, teacher!"

"That place doesn't look inviting at all!"

"Our students generally stick to the lower slopes, hunting for Spectre fragments until they reach their limit."

"They haven't even been equipped with soul mark skills yet. They might be completely terrified by a slightly more frightening Spectre. Heck, some might even wet their pants!"

Ma Tufu, the homeroom teacher, was skeptical of Liu Zheng's reassurances.

"Hahaha, I doubt that—they're high schoolers, after all!"

As they bantered, a throng of students emerged from the forest, returning to the gathering point. Upon seeing the numerous instructors and teachers, many were overcome with emotion, with some of the more timid girls bursting into tears.

"Mr. Ma, we're terrified!"

"Wuwuwu!" Some were even sobbing uncontrollably.

...

Ma Tufu quickly approached and, seeing everyone's disheveled appearance, urgently inquired, "Is anyone hurt?"

"Yes, Ann Muxi is injured!"

"He got spooked by a Spectre and hit his head on a nearby rock. There's a big gash on his head!"

A female classmate immediately responded. Ma Tufu's face went pale, and he quickly called out to the instructor behind him, "Hurry! We have an injured student!"

"What?"

Liu Zheng signaled, and the medics swiftly brought a stretcher and dashed towards Ann Muxi.

Meanwhile, the other students gathered around the campsite, quickly overcoming the afternoon's frightening ordeal through casual conversation.

At the same time, the Order Department's statistician was busy collecting pouches from the students and tallying the Spectre fragments they had gathered.

Su Wei, observing the carefree boys and the cheerful girls around him, felt a wave of nostalgia, as if he were back in his high school days.

Back then, he had thought the school beauty, Liu Shiya, was out of his league.

Although, ultimately, he and Shiya had drifted apart...

Today was different; he had really impressed her!

With that thought, Su Wei felt a stir of emotion.

As Su Wei was lost in memories of times gone by and reliving the present moment,

The Order Department's statistician had finished counting all the Spectre fragments collected by the students and was ready to announce the results.

First up was Soong Sanjin's tally. Eager to flaunt his excellence, he had been the first to submit his Spectre fragments to the statistician.

"Soong Sanjin, 220!"

"Wow, that's a lot!" The surrounding students exclaimed in awe.

"Zhang San, six pieces."

"Yelu Qi, ten pieces."

Typically, most students had about ten evil soul fragments each, but some of the more exceptional ones had managed to collect several dozen. Liu Shiya had gathered the most of all.

"Student Liu Shiya has secured 284 evil soul fragments, demonstrating an exceptional performance," praised the statistician, unable to contain their admiration.

"Zhang Youcai, 35 fragments."

"Hao Meimei, 47 fragments."

"Wang Dachui, 39 fragments."

"Su Wei, 267 fragments."

Soong Sanjin couldn't resist a jab, "Oh, only 267 fragments? You're way behind Liu Shiya, hahaha."

As Su Wei turned to retort, the statistician at the front suddenly let out a cry of surprise. "Wait! It's not 267 fragments! It's 467! And there's a second-level Shadow Orb here!"

"A second-level Shadow Orb is worth an additional 200 evil soul fragments!"

"How can this be? What's going on? Where did this second-level Shadow Orb come from?"

Su Wei replied with a nonchalant air, "These are my spoils of war. Both Student Liu Shiya and Student Soong Sanjin can vouch for me."

With the statistician looking on incredulously, Soong Sanjin and Liu Shiya stood up to confirm, "Yes, Teacher, this Shadow Orb was indeed obtained by Su Wei himself after he defeated a second-level Spectre in the swamp. We can attest to that."

In this moment, Soong Sanjin had no desire to highlight his rivalry with Su Wei.

"What? Su Wei can take down a second-level Spectre?"

"Are you kidding me? How could that be possible? With his abilities?"

"He's only just awakened today, and we're struggling to take down ordinary Spectres. And he's supposed to have defeated a second-level one?"

"Isn't Su Wei's Horcrux a kitchen knife with three soul marks? Is there some kind of special boost it gets when fighting Spectres?"

"Yeah, that makes sense. A kitchen knife is used for chopping vegetables, right? Maybe it gains extra attributes from all that slicing?"

Amidst the increasingly absurd speculations swirling around him, Liu Zheng's lips quirked as he gestured for Su Wei to come over.

While the other students continued their loud debates, the Order Department's statistician went on with the announcements, but the excitement had waned. After Su Wei's impressive tally, the championship seemed a foregone conclusion, and the crowd paid little attention to the rest of the numbers being reported. The teacher, reading off the remaining counts of ten or so fragments each, did so without much enthusiasm. What was there to say, after all?

After being summoned by Liu Zheng, Su Wei found himself recounting his experiences in the Sea of Whispers to the head of the Order Department. This time, however, Su Wei was selective with his words, carefully omitting the fact that his Horcrux was sentient. Instead, he described a special ability within his Horcrux that could unleash red threads with immense destructive power.

Liu Zheng seemed intrigued by this revelation. He turned to Su Wei and said, "You have tremendous potential, Su Wei. Your family background doesn't seem very affluent, and I imagine your parents work hard, don't they? If you're looking to make money quickly, why not join the Order Department after your college entrance exams? I can offer you a squad leader position. How does that sound? You'd receive the benefits of a formal employee—plenty of perks. What do you say?"

Confronted with the Order Department leader's eager gaze, Su Wei felt a discomfort with the excessive enthusiasm and hastily excused himself from the conversation.

"Interesting! Such a potent Horcrux! To think his talent has manifested so soon after awakening," Liu Zheng mused to himself. "It seems the world is on the cusp of significant change. Fortunately, I managed to slip my business card into his jacket pocket. Hopefully, he won't discard it when he finds it. If only Lee were still here..." With a shake of his head, Liu Zheng walked away.

Later that evening, the students of Moontown High arrived back at school at 8 o'clock. "No evening self-study today—head straight home!" Ma Tufu announced. His words were barely out before the classroom erupted in cheers.

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