Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

Chapter 271: He Is Still Him

Xiang Ning happily skipped up to Fang Rou like an excited puppy, confusing everyone that saw him as their idol.

“Didn’t they call him a cold, strong, gentle senior?”

“What’s up with that?”

“Are Xiang Ning and Fang Rou officially together?”

“No, I’m too late!”

“What? You’re a guy, what’re you talking about?”

“You never know if he has other preferences too?”

But barely three seconds after he said that.…

“Wait, dammit, why’d you hit me!”

“Shut your mouth about Teacher Xiang Ning! Oh my god!”

Xiang Ning was completely unaffected by the antics of everyone else. Under the admiring, watchful gaze of the crowd, he walked to class with Fang Rou, who felt slightly guilty when she saw them pointing at her. “Xiang Ning, don’t you think we’re being too public like this?”

To be honest, if he hadn’t acted so dramatically just now, no one would have thought anything. But now gossip had already spread like wildfire, with many teenagers picking their relationship apart. Xiang Ning was so awesome, which girl wouldn’t be attracted to him? Their conversations made it look like Fang Rou was the lucky one.

But Xiang Ning didn’t agree. Without Fang Rou, he felt like he wouldn’t have achieved as much as he had.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Let them be.” Xiang Ning smiled nonchalantly. Hmmph, Fang Rou is such a great catch, if I don’t advertise our relationship, someone would snatch her.… No, she still has good taste. More like she would get harassed by a bunch of idiots. Yeah, that’s right. Harassment. This way, all these people will be put off. He wouldn’t like them harassing her! He grinned and directly held her hand, his thumb rubbing her soft skin. It reminded him of before.

Although he had held a girl’s hand before, it was only his sister’s; he had never touched another girl of the same age. Before coming to Qiling Academy, he didn’t have any friends, much less female ones. That was why he was so fascinated when he pinched Fang Rou’s cheek or grabbed her hand. All he thought was that she was very soft, nothing else. He still wanted to pinch her cheek, but gradually, he learned the appropriate manner of interacting as friends.

Now that he could hold hands with her in public, one could only imagine how happy he was.

“Sir, it’s a matter of true love. Please don’t oppose matters between us.”

“Hehe, true love? How old are you? Your only job is to study hard and cultivate!”

“Sir, I feel much more motivated to learn and cultivate ever since we got together, so why can’t we date?”

Xiang Ning and a blushing Fang Rou, who had her head hung low, walked past the commotion and the teacher greeted them.

That teacher was Chicken-Killer Liu, Liu Ouhai.

“Oh, Xiang Ning and Fang Rou? How’re you guys? Are you confident about tomorrow’s qualifiers?”

“We’ll do our best.” Xiang Ning muttered and left.

Chicken-Killer Liu watched as Xiang Ning held Fang Rou’s hand and left, stroking his goatee in deep thought.

“Sir, I have a question,” the student he caught moments ago indignantly said.

“What question?”

“Aren’t they dating? They’re holding hands! So why don’t you catch them?” The student felt like he had received unfair treatment.

Chicken-Killer Liu looked down at the student in contempt and coldly laughed. “Do you know who he is?”

“I do.”

“Then why are you still asking useless questions? He achieved tier four in half a year, well above the graduation requirement. If you can reach the same level as him within half a year, I’ll let you date anyone you want!”

Qiling Academy’s graduation requirement was to reach tier one, but if you wanted to enter Martial University, you’d have to be at least tier two. At least in reference to regular students. But currently, more than eighty-five percent of the students in special training were already tier two, four-star and above.

“Why… why would you compare me to him? That’s going to be difficult,” muttered the student.

Chicken-Killer Liu smiled. He was a tier three martial artist, after all, and naturally had good hearing. “Yes, you’re right, it will be difficult.”

The student was speechless.

“Alright, I’m going to class. See you at the inner court this afternoon.”

“Oh, okay. Bye.” Xiang Ning watched Fang Rou enter Class 2, then walked to Class 8 alone. He felt sentimental, looking at the class he had studied in for the past semester. He remembered everything that’d happened when he first arrived, and the experiences he had over the past half year….

His seat was still in the last row, near the window.

The bell rang. It was the last day of the semester, and although there was nothing much to teach, Su Muhan was still dressed up very nicely. She stood on the teaching platform, looking at all the students. Her gaze stopped at Xiang Ning. To be honest, she was still stunned by his performance over the semester.

She still remembered the way he had been shunned when he first arrived, and the stubbornness in his eyes. He remained as stubborn as ever when he fought the other students, and even when he was ostracized. At that time, he really was just a regular student.

But there was something magical at play that drew her attention to him. There was something that made her spend more time and attention on him. She wasn’t sure what it was at first, but now she knew. She looked at Xiang Ning, who was now much more muscular than the scrawny, malnourished kid he used to be.

Slowly, he had started to deviate from the typical path other students were on. Su Muhan had been worried about him in the beginning, but now he’d become her pride.

Xiang Ning impressed the public again and again. After winning first place in the wilderness activity, the gossip and shunning almost destroyed the kid, but he survived it all. Just with his courage and stubbornness, he even challenged Third School and Hanwu.

Usually, school ended at 11:30, but since it was the last day, the bell rang at ten.

Xiang Ning met the squad for lunch, then headed for the inner court.