Zacks and Cloud, who had long been in awe of Zhang Wen, found his scolding perfectly justified and didn’t even entertain the thought of opposing it.
“No problem. I guarantee on my honor as a nobleman that I will never challenge Cloud again,” Zacks solemnly nodded.
“I feel the same,” Cloud also pledged on his noble status.
“Good,” Zhang Wen smiled and uttered the single word before waving them off and watching them leave.
As Zacks and Cloud departed, the girls who had come specifically to catch a glimpse of the two handsome guys naturally followed their idols. The boys, suddenly remembering that the final round of the Almithermus Academy beauty contest had been ongoing for quite some time, also turned around. They rushed toward the teaching building where the beauty contest was being held, excitedly discussing Zhang Wen’s astonishing performance moments ago.
By this time, almost no one could recall the bet between Zhang Wen and Carlet—of course, except the two parties involved.
In fact, the moment Zacks and Cloud admitted defeat, Carlet remembered her humiliating bet. With her last hope shattered, Carlet could only accept the reality. Before the crowd dispersed, she kept urging herself mentally to stay calm and composed, vowing not to show any embarrassment and give Zhang Wen a chance to laugh at her.
As a result, Carlet kept her head down, mentally preparing herself until she didn’t even notice when Zhang Wen approached.
“President Carlet?” Eventually, Amyris gently nudged Carlet, causing the girl to hurriedly lift her head.
“Oh… oh! You’re here,” Carlet stammered, suddenly seeing Zhang Wen’s smiling face, her heart fluttering again. Fortunately, her earlier mental preparation had somewhat worked, and the blush on her face gradually faded.
“Don’t worry, I will definitely honor our bet,” naturally, no matter how hard Carlet tried to compose herself, her voice still betrayed a hint of nervousness when mentioning such an embarrassing agreement.
“Haha!” Seeing Carlet trying to act nonchalant while her face kept reddening, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
The sight convinced Zhang Wen that he had already left a deep enough impression on Carlet that day, achieving his predetermined goal. As for the bet with Carlet, Zhang Wen actually didn’t care much about it.
“Forget it!” Zhang Wen soon shook his head with a smile at Carlet. “I’m not so lazy as to ask female students to wash my socks. After all, I’m a teacher. It was just a joke, don’t take it seriously.”
“This… this…” Carlet naturally understood that Zhang Wen was letting her off the hook. However, the more magnanimous Zhang Wen appeared, the more embarrassed she felt. Whether to insist on honoring her promise or conveniently let the bet slide, Carlet felt she had never been so conflicted in her life.
Fortunately, Zhang Wen didn’t let Carlet stew for long. “That’s settled then. I also want to check out the campus beauty contest! Would you two like to join me?” Without waiting for Carlet to speak, Zhang Wen smiled and extended another invitation to the two girls.
“The beauty contest! Right! I almost forgot! Both me and senior Carlet are finalists this year!” As soon as Zhang Wen finished speaking, Amyris exclaimed and jumped up.
“Oh?” Reminded by Amyris, Carlet suddenly remembered this. A look of stunned cuteness appeared on her delicate face.
“Let’s go!” Without hesitation, Amyris grabbed Carlet and ran off. After a few steps, Amyris suddenly seemed to remember something, turned around and made a face at Zhang Wen. “Oh right! Teacher Zhang, you must vote for me and senior Carlet later, okay?” With that, Amyris happily dragged the blushing Carlet away.
Zhang Wen smiled, seemingly gazing at the two beautiful girls running off. In reality, however, no one would ever guess that from the moment Zacks and Cloud admitted defeat, Zhang Wen had been keeping a third of his attention on Linoah in the crowd.
Although during the fight with Zacks and Cloud, Zhang Wen had deliberately concealed his speed abilities, he certainly didn’t think Linoah would drop her suspicions so easily.
The fact proved that Linoah was indeed very interested in Zhang Wen. Even when the crowd in the square had mostly dispersed, Linoah’s gaze hadn’t moved from Zhang Wen.
Noticing Linoah’s continued gaze on him, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but smile faintly. Pretending not to notice anything, he followed the crowd toward the venue of the beauty contest. Zhang Wen wasn’t a fool. If Linoah realized he was also paying attention to her, wouldn’t that be like admitting he was the one who had peeped at her in the library?
However, although Zhang Wen’s choice wasn’t wrong, he seemed to have underestimated Linoah’s suspicion and interest. He hadn’t walked far when he heard Linoah’s smooth and melodious voice from behind: “Teacher Zhang Wen!”
“Hmm?” Zhang Wen stopped in his tracks and turned around somewhat surprisedly. “Commander Linoah? Why aren’t you attending the beauty contest?”
“Hehe, naturally not. Teacher Zhang doesn’t know? According to the rules of the beauty contest, finalists from last year aren’t allowed to participate in this year’s competition,” Linoah smiled as she approached Zhang Wen, stopping just under a meter away from him.
At this distance, although Linoah was already wearing the standard female officer’s uniform, her figure still appeared curvaceous beneath it. Below the short skirt, her long legs wrapped in sheer stockings were still enough to draw anyone’s gaze.
Moreover, at such close proximity, Zhang Wen’s keen sense of smell could clearly detect the alluring fragrance emanating from Linoah’s body. This immediately triggered Zhang Wen’s memories. The mature and charming Linoah before him now gradually merged in his mind with the sensual temptress from his memories, the one dressed in that seductive low-cut cheongsam, lying on the desk gently caressing her feet. His battle energy within began to pulsate rhythmically again.
Seeing that Zhang Wen was still smiling at her without speaking, Linoah couldn’t help but call out with a hint of displeasure: “Teacher Zhang?”
“Sorry, sorry! I was just thinking about what business Commander Linoah might have with me. I got a bit lost in thought,” the sound of Linoah’s voice snapped Zhang Wen back to reality, and he immediately smiled and shook his head.
“Is that so? Teacher Zhang truly is a strange person! When others are being sought out, they directly ask the person seeking them what they want. But Teacher Zhang prefers to guess,” Linoah couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh, casting a coquettish glance at Zhang Wen.
“Is that so? Teacher Zhang truly is a strange person! When others are being sought out, they directly ask the person seeking them what they want. But Teacher Zhang prefers to guess,” Linoah couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh, casting a coquettish glance at Zhang Wen.
“Haha! Actually, it’s quite understandable. You just didn’t realize the key point,” Zhang Wen casually replied to Linoah.
“Oh? There’s actually a key point here?” Linoah looked at Zhang Wen curiously.
“Of course,” Zhang Wen smiled faintly. “Think about it, if I could quickly guess your purpose for seeking me out and say it outright, wouldn’t you find it intriguing?”
“Of course,” Linoah nodded without hesitation.
“Commander Linoah, haven’t you heard the saying? If a man can make a woman curious about him, he’ll have it much easier if he wants to pursue her!”
“Oh! So Teacher Zhang’s intention is to pursue me, then?” Linoah folded her arms across her chest, looking at Zhang Wen with a half-smile.
“Pity! I racked my brains but still couldn’t figure out what Commander Linoah might need from me. So I had to give up,” Zhang Wen didn’t deny Linoah’s counter-question but shook his head regretfully.
“Haha! Even without guessing my purpose, Teacher Zhang has already made me quite curious!” Linoah laughed seductively, suddenly winking at Zhang Wen. “If Teacher Zhang is genuinely interested in pursuing me, I might just give you a chance!”
“Oh?” Zhang Wen raised his eyebrows.
“Teacher Zhang, I’m really interested in the martial skills you used to defeat Zacks and Cloud just now. If possible, could I trouble you to teach me?” Linoah continued to ask Zhang Wen.
Zhang Wen naturally knew that Linoah’s request to learn martial arts from him was probably mostly an excuse to investigate whether he was indeed the mysterious peeping Tom. However, Zhang Wen wasn’t worried about this.
Firstly, under the cover of Spring Water Technique, as long as Zhang Wen was determined to hide it, Linoah would almost certainly be unable to discover his secret. Secondly, even if Linoah did find out that Zhang Wen was the peeping Tom, what could she do? Would she go around announcing to the world that she had been caught red-handed by Zhang Wen while conducting secret dealings with Oude?
If it had been just a few minutes ago, Zhang Wen might have worried about Linoah and Oude teaming up to harm him. But now, given Zhang Wen’s current standing among the students, Linoah and Oude would have to think twice before attempting anything against him!
Thinking about this, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but smile slightly. However, he didn’t directly agree to Linoah’s request but instead asked, “Commander Linoah, if you want to learn martial arts, why not just go directly to the physical training instructors? I’m sure they wouldn’t refuse if you asked. Why bother with my amateurish skills?”
“Isn’t that easily understandable?” Linoah smiled, borrowing Zhang Wen’s previous words. “The other physical training instructors teach techniques at the eighth or ninth level. How could I possibly learn from them? But Teacher Zhang’s martial arts, if I’m not mistaken, should be learnable at the fifth level, right?”
“Commander Linoah’s eyesight is truly excellent,” Zhang Wen readily nodded.
“Teacher Zhang, weren’t you just saying you wanted to pursue me? Now that I’m offering myself, why are you hesitating?” Linoah lightly used reverse psychology.
“I never said I wouldn’t teach. If Commander Linoah genuinely wants to learn, feel free to come find me anytime.”
“Then we have a deal.” Linoah shook hands with Zhang Wen and then smilingly left the academy square.
“Hehe!” Watching Linoah’s retreating figure, Zhang Wen once again curled his lips into that peculiar smile.
After seeing Linoah gradually walk away, Zhang Wen’s interest in watching the Almithermus Academy Miss Election had somewhat diminished. He hesitated for a moment before directly leaving the academy square.
No matter which world it is, students always have the strongest curiosity. The speed at which rumors spread in school often surpasses that of official newspapers.
On his way back to the dormitory, Zhang Wen experienced this power firsthand. Normally, when Zhang Wen walked through Almithermus Academy, almost no one paid attention to him, a rather ordinary advisor of the discipline committee. But today, as he walked along, he noticed many students looking at him with strange gazes—among them were even some girls with very attractive appearances and revealing outfits.
Fortunately, before the battle with Zacks and Cloud, Zhang Wen had already made adequate preparations for these “side effects.” Zhang Wen was very clear that in a prestigious academy like Almithermus, where various geniuses emerged one after another and astonishing events occurred frequently, the students’ interest came quickly and faded just as fast. Today, he had indeed become famous in one battle, but in a few days, the discussions about him would gradually subside, and the students of Almithermus Academy would find new idols to admire.
With this thought, Zhang Wen, who was now the center of attention, remained calm throughout. He neither appeared embarrassed under the pointing fingers of the crowd nor felt elated by the hot gazes of pretty girls. He simply returned to his dormitory located in a corner of Almithermus Academy, walking along the small path beside the academy square as usual.
In essence, Zhang Wen’s residence couldn’t really be called a “dormitory.” This was because not only was its location extremely remote, but just a few months ago, this small house standing alone in a secluded corner of the school had only been an abandoned warehouse. If it weren’t for Zhang Wen, it might have taken another ten years before anyone remembered that there had once been a disused warehouse here!
As for why Zhang Wen ended up living here, it was mainly due to Governor Temisso’s sudden decision to assign him to Almithermus Academy as a discipline teacher before the evaluation period.
You see, Almithermus Academy had many teachers, and single-occupancy dormitories were always in high demand. Suddenly, the academy’s logistics department was caught off guard by the governor’s order. They spent a while trying to rearrange but couldn’t find a place for Zhang Wen to stay—they couldn’t possibly have Zhang Wen live with the students, after all.
Just when everyone was getting anxious, a clerk accidentally discovered this long-abandoned warehouse on the academy map. As a result, the logistics department of Almithermus Academy immediately mobilized, spending two days renovating the warehouse into a brand-new dwelling and handing the key over to Zhang Wen.
Zhang Wen was actually quite satisfied with his new residence. Although the small house, converted from a warehouse, looked somewhat shabby from the outside, the interior was very neat and spacious. Moreover, although the location was remote within the academy, the fresh air and undisturbed surroundings were exactly what Zhang Wen desired.
Upon returning to his dormitory, Zhang Wen immediately sat cross-legged on the single bed in a corner of the small room. The teasing from Linoah when she left had kept his Spring Water Technique pulsing even until now. Based on his experience in the library, Zhang Wen felt that this pulsation could be highly beneficial for cultivating the Spring Water Technique! On his way back, Zhang Wen had already decided to take a risk and try practicing the Spring Water Technique under these circumstances to see what results it might yield.
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