Chapter 257: The Stick and the Sweet Date

Su Zhan picked up the shower gel and shampoo hanging on the wall. They were common student brands, but to him right now, they were practically luxuries.He applied a generous amount of shampoo to his hair.

The greasy, tangled long hair encountered a powerful cleanser for the first time. Rubbing it produced a large amount of murky, colored foam that washed down with the water, pooling into a gray-black, filthy stream on the floor.

Su Zhan vigorously scrubbed his scalp.

Next was the shower gel, applied all over his body, scrubbing carefully.

Layers of grime, dried blood scabs, and sweat stains were washed away, revealing the well-defined muscular skin beneath.

The lingering foul stench also gradually faded as the dirty water flowed away.

The icy cold water stream washed over his body, carrying away the filth and bringing a sense of release.

Being drenched head to toe in cold water, he felt a long-lost sense of cleanliness.

This process was about cleansing his body, but also a ritual, a ceremony to bid farewell to that desperate period of the past.

Su Zhan opened his eyes again.

The person in the mirror still had overly long hair and an unshaven beard.

But at least he no longer looked like a wild man, and his eyes seemed clearer.

The cold shower washed away the filth and exhaustion covering his body.

Su Zhan felt much more refreshed overall, his hair still damp and hanging over his shoulders.

Standing before the mirror.

Looking at the face still mostly obscured by the overly long hair and thick beard.

"This beard... is too much of a nuisance."

Su Zhan murmured to himself.

Extending the index finger of his right hand, with a slight thought, the fingernail on his fingertip instantly sharpened.

Facing the mirror, he used this sharp nail to carefully scrape across his cheeks and chin.

Beard hairs fell away one after another, washed away by the water.

Soon, a young face with a hint of sharpness was completely revealed.

Su Zhan touched his smooth chin.

He decided to keep the long hair, casually tying it back.

This length could serve as a constant reminder of the long, difficult years he had spent in the Mist World, a kind of warning.

After washing all the shaved-off beard down the drain.

He faced the next problem: clothes.

Su Zhan's original set of rags had long been thrown in the trash and were unwearable.

He unceremoniously began rummaging through this dorm room.

A few washed school uniforms and some casual clothes were hanging on the balcony to dry.

He picked out a black tracksuit that looked like a decent fit and found a pair of relatively clean sneakers.

Straight-up freeloading.

After changing into these clean clothes.

He looked like a normal person.

Time to erase traces.

Su Zhan began carefully searching the dorm room. Sure enough, under a pillow on one of the beds, he felt a disposable lighter.

In a high school, there were always some students who secretly smoked, so finding a lighter wasn't surprising.

Su Zhan picked up the lighter, his eyes cold.

He walked out of this dorm room and into the hallway.

Confirming no one was around, he lit the lighter.

Piled-up clothes, bedding, books, and other flammable items.

The weather was dry, and these items were highly combustible.

Soon, flames leaped up, spreading rapidly.

Thick smoke began to fill the air.

Su Zhan watched the fire grow, then quickly retreated to the dorm room he had first entered, throwing his pile of discarded ragged clothes into the inferno as well.

Ensuring all items that might retain his DNA or scent were incinerated.

After doing all this, he swiftly left the dormitory building.

Behind him, several dorm rooms were already engulfed in roaring flames, completely erasing all evidence of his previous presence.

Putting on the mask.



Su Zhan was a completely new person.

Deliberately suppressing all his aura, he moved quickly through the still-chaotic campus.

His goal was clear: to find Lin Wei again.

That female Aberrant was his only local guide for now.

Before the Mist incident ended, he had to ensure she stayed alive and couldn't let her slip from his sight.

The chaos on campus continued, but compared to the initial massacre, the situation had changed somewhat.

Some slightly braver students and teachers had begun spontaneously organizing, using the terrain and simple weapons to deal with isolated Snake-Tailed Beasts.

Sigh, it's a pity they're just delaying the inevitable.

Medium-risk level Snake-Tailed Beasts weren't that easy to evade.

The Transcendence Society's black-robed figures weren't even pretending anymore and were openly hunting humans.

Su Zhan was indifferent to all this, carefully scanning his surroundings.

Recalling the general area where Lin Wei last appeared, he searched that area meticulously.

Along the way.

He avoided several combat zones and casually dispatched two Snake-Tailed Beasts that tried to attack him.

Near a relatively remote laboratory building.

Su Zhan once again caught that familiar aura.

Silently approaching, he peered through a broken window and saw the scene inside.

Lin Wei had just finished a hunt.

She was leaning against a lab bench, wiping the corner of her mouth with a tissue. At her feet lay a skeleton.

Su Zhan observed quietly from the shadows for a while, confirming there were no other ambushes nearby, before silently appearing at the laboratory doorway.

A faint, almost imperceptible peak Medium-risk level Pressure emanated from him.

Lin Wei, who was wiping her mouth, suddenly froze mid-motion, her head snapping up to look at the doorway.

When she saw the figure wearing the black cat mask.

Her pupils contracted slightly, but she quickly regained her composure, showing a somewhat ingratiating smile:

"Sir, you've come."

This sir looks like... he took a shower?

She thought he might have some special quirks, but it turns out he's just clean.

Changed into clean clothes.

Tied back his long hair.

Now he looks like a normal person.

Su Zhan gave a faint nod.

His action was precisely to tell her that no matter where she went, he had the ability to find her.

It was a way of demonstrating his power.

Lin Wei naturally understood, feeling even more helpless inside.

"Full?"

Su Zhan's voice was hoarse but slightly smoother than before.

"Pretty much~"

Lin Wei patted her completely flat stomach, her tone carrying a hint of coquettishness: "But, this food isn't very nutritious, the energy is too low. If only there were Awakened individuals... Sir, you see... could you... help me?"

Su Zhan raised an eyebrow slightly.

He didn't expect that in this situation, the other party would still dare to push her luck and make demands of him.

It seemed necessary to knock her down a peg again, to make her recognize her place.

"Do... your job well."

Su Zhan's tone suddenly turned cold: "You know the consequences... of not doing it well."

Lin Wei's smile stiffened for a moment, and she lowered her head: "Yes, Sir..."

Su Zhan changed tack, offering a sweetener: "Perform well... I'll consider it. I've always been... fair with rewards and punishments."

The carrot and the stick, the simplest method of controlling subordinates.

As for whether he truly meant it?

Having experienced over a year of lonely struggle in the Mist World and witnessed too much darkness.

Su Zhan now had no extra sympathy left for the lives of unfamiliar humans.

Aside from Wang Mingyuan from his memories and a handful of others like Feng Jue, everyone else in his eyes was simply divided into two categories: valuable and worthless.

If Lin Wei demonstrated enough value, he wouldn't mind rewarding her with the lives of a few unfamiliar Awakened individuals.