Chapter 110: Vomiting Blood from Rage
Furina sniffled, as if summoning the very last shred of her courage. She lifted her tear-filled eyes toward the utterly deranged Zhou Yi, and her voice—though not loud—rang out with startling clarity. "Teacher Zhou Yi, do you dare? Do you dare swear an oath before the plaque bearing Shrek Academy's ten-thousand-year glory? Before the statue of our Sea God Ancestor?"
"Do you dare swear that the person who just declared she would expel all of us, who used her martial soul's pressure to oppress us, who deliberately attempted to lay hands on a student—do you dare swear that this person was not you, Zhou Yi, but... but a damned evil soul master in disguise?! An impostor as vile and filthy as the foulest rat crawling in the darkest sewer, neither human nor ghost, so loathsome that even the spit of all under heaven would be too clean for it?!"
This long, venomous, ingeniously varied torrent of curses and accusations struck like a relentless barrage of heavy hammers, blow after blow crashing against the already crumbling walls of Zhou Yi's sanity.
Huo Yuhao immediately chimed in beside her, his voice thick with feigned sobs. "That's right! Teacher Zhou, do you dare swear before the Sea God?! What kind of skill is it to bully a weak, pitiful, helpless support-type soul master girl?!"
"You... you... Ptoo—!!!"
Zhou Yi's finger jabbed at Furina and Huo Yuhao, her chest heaving violently. A strange, guttural rasp rattled from her throat. The flush on her face swelled to an ugly, liver-like purple. The split human-skin mask, pushed outward by the crimson, engorged skin beneath, twisted into something even more grotesque and horrifying.
She opened her mouth—as if to roar, to defend herself, to tear these two little wretches to pieces. But the ultimate confluence of rage, hatred, injustice, and suffocating indignation, mingled with her blood and qi surging violently in reverse, finally—
"Bwaaah!"
A mouthful of dark, crimson blood erupted from Zhou Yi's lips, spraying in scattered droplets across the ground.
Absolute silence gripped the entire plaza.
Everyone was stunned. Mugin. The teachers who had just arrived. The students watching, openly or from the shadows. All of them—frozen.
A dignified and respected Soul Emperor, a veteran instructor of Shrek Academy... driven to the point of vomiting blood on the spot—by a student, with nothing more than words?
This utterly overturned everything anyone thought they knew! No one would believe it even if it were told to them!
And the students of Class One—after the initial shock passed—looked at Furina with eyes that had completely, irrevocably changed. It was no longer the gaze one gave an interesting, impressive classmate or temporary teacher. It was a complex mix of worship, awe, and just a faint, creeping trace of fear.
This new classmate of theirs—not only was her true strength an unfathomable mystery, but her methods... were nothing short of fiendishly diabolical! Without even lifting a blade, using only words, she had driven a Soul Emperor teacher famed for her harsh severity to the point of vomiting blood?
Just then, a sharp-eyed student suddenly pointed at Zhou Yi's face and let out a horrified shriek. "Look! Everyone, look! Teacher Zhou's face! The skin on her face... it's torn! It's split open! She... she's not human!!!"
That cry of alarm cut through the silent plaza with excruciating clarity. Every single gaze—swoosh—locked onto Zhou Yi's face.
The seam in the human-skin mask—fully split open by the violent convulsions of her facial muscles during that eruption of blood, its edges now slightly curling outward—was unmistakably, horrifyingly clear beneath the light. The skin exposed beneath the crack was visibly smoother, finer, and far younger than the "aged" complexion surrounding it.
"It really is a mask!"
"She's been disguising herself as an old hag all along?!"
"My god! Why would she disguise herself? Could it really be..."
Fear spread through the students of Class One like a plague. Combined with Furina's earlier accusation of "evil soul master," the eerie, unnatural human-skin mask on Zhou Yi's face instantly took on the darkest, most sinister connotations imaginable. Many students recoiled involuntarily, their eyes now filled with horror-struck suspicion and dread as they looked at Zhou Yi.
"Teacher Zhou really is an evil soul master! Teacher Mugin! All you teachers—hurry and suppress her!" The student who had first spotted the mask cried out, his voice cracking and shrill with terror.
Mugin's heart was, at this moment, an indescribably tangled knot. She knew—she knew—that Zhou Yi was actually around the same age as herself, and that she had only adopted the disguise of an old woman to maintain so-called "teacherly authority."
But she had never, ever imagined things would spiral to this extent. Zhou Yi driven to vomiting blood. Her disguise was exposed. In the eyes of the students, the suspicion that she harbored sinister intentions was now all but confirmed.
As much as Mugin took a certain satisfaction in seeing Zhou Yi brought low, if rumors of "a Shrek Academy teacher being an evil soul master" were truly allowed to take root, the damage to the entire academy's reputation would be catastrophic.
"Students! Quiet! Calm down, everyone!" Mugin had to raise her voice to quell the rising commotion. "Listen to your teacher! Since its founding, Shrek Academy has maintained the strictest oversight and monitoring systems. It is absolutely impossible for any evil soul master to infiltrate our ranks! On this point, I implore you all—trust the academy!"
Her words were cleverly crafted to defend only the academy itself, with not a single syllable uttered in defense of Zhou Yi's personal innocence. She even deliberately emphasized the "strictest oversight and monitoring systems"—implying, by clear subtext, that if Zhou Yi truly had problems, the academy would have discovered them long ago.
Mugin swiftly turned to the other teachers, who were still somewhat dazed by the entire unfolding spectacle, and issued rapid instructions. "What are you all standing around for? Teacher Zhou Yi is clearly emotionally unstable and seems physically unwell. Quickly—help her to the Academic Affairs Office. No, go directly to Dean Yan Shaozhe and Director Du Weilun and explain the situation! I'll stay here and settle the students!"
The teachers exchanged glances, their expressions a varied tapestry. One or two of them had been at the Spirit Arena district just this afternoon and had witnessed Furina, in her role as "temporary teacher," interacting harmoniously with the students and guiding them with skill and insight. Now, seeing this earth-shattering reversal, they felt as though their entire worldview had been dealt a staggering blow.
Perhaps... that harmonious, pleasant scene this afternoon had been the true disguise? And this young woman before them—who could drive a Soul Emperor to vomit blood with just a few sentences and incite a massive upheaval—was this her real face? And as for Zhou Yi's current state—regardless of how it had started, the facts were undeniable: she had openly released her Soul Emperor pressure to oppress students and had spewed venomous curses. She was clearly in the wrong. Both publicly and privately, the most prudent course of action was to first control the situation and report to the higher-ups.
Two teachers who were on decent terms with Mugin nodded and stepped forward, attempting to support the swaying, nearly collapsing Zhou Yi, whose eyes had gone somewhat unfocused. Zhou Yi seemed to want to struggle, to say something more, but the acute attack on her heart combined with the temporary disruption of her soul power had left her limbs utterly drained of strength. She could only allow the two to hold her up. Her gaze remained death-locked on Furina, who stood shielded behind Mugin. The venomous hatred, fury, and unwillingness burning in those eyes seemed almost tangible.
Yet when the corner of her eye caught the students surrounding her—those students she had once regarded as clay to be molded at will, who must obey without question—and saw in their eyes only fear, alienation, disgust, even schadenfreude... a bone-deep, unprecedented, icy despair seized her.
Her lips trembled. And then—two streaks of murky, turbid tears slid silently down the edges of that split human-skin mask.
Watching her in this state, even the petty satisfaction Mugin had felt from their long-standing feud faded somewhat, replaced by a faint, subtle, and—she herself was unwilling to admit—thread of sympathy.
As for these students... Mugin swept her gaze across the young, emotionally charged faces and understood. In just a single day, Zhou Yi's high-pressure policies had already provoked such an intense backlash, such deep-seated resentment, that now, when her walls crumbled and everyone turned against her, not a single voice spoke in her defense. Was this not, in its own way, a testament to a complete failure of teaching?
"Alright, students." Mugin clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention back. Her voice had returned to its usual steady calm. "As you've all seen, the academy's teachers have already stepped in to handle the situation. I once again assure you, in my name as a teacher of Shrek Academy—this academy is absolutely safe. Any issue will receive fair and strict treatment."
"Until there is a clear conclusion regarding Teacher Zhou Yi's matter, New Student Class One will be temporarily under my care. For now, everyone, please return to your classrooms or spend your free time calming your emotions. Do not continue gathering here."
The students exchanged glances, then looked at the bedraggled, pathetic figure of Zhou Yi being supported away. They looked at Furina—pale-faced now, but with calm, steady eyes—and at Huo Yuhao beside her, who had likewise returned to his usual composure. The sudden, violent storm seemed, for the moment, to have passed.
"Yes, Teacher Mugin." Ragged, scattered replies rose up. The students began to disperse in twos and threes. Yet the low, murmured discussions spread outward like the tide, silent and unstoppable.
After today, the name "Furina"—along with the legendary tale of "a Soul Emperor teacher driven to vomit blood"—would surely spread through the entire freshman cohort of Shrek Academy, and even the upper years, with astonishing speed.
Mugin watched the departing students, then glanced toward the direction of the Academic Affairs Office. Her brow furrowed slightly. This matter, she feared, was far from over. That girl named Furina... was no ordinary person. And as for Zhou Yi—after this incident, both her teaching qualifications and her personal reputation would likely face grave and severe challenges.