159: Xiao Zhi's Change

Xiao Zhi wanted to pretend he hadn't noticed and walked briskly toward the classroom.

"You little brat, playing deaf with me, huh?"

Immediately after, the sound of something cutting through the air came from behind him.

Xiao Zhi's heart tightened abruptly, and he hurriedly dodged to the side.

A sharp stone grazed his face and flew forward, hitting the back of a quiet girl's head squarely.

The girl fell to the ground without a sound, looking remarkably peaceful as if she were asleep.

"Murder! Someone help!"

Seeing this, Xiao Zhi hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs, drawing everyone's attention.

As they saw the girl lying on the ground, a few people gathered around to check on her condition.

Meanwhile, Xiao Zhi took the opportunity to slip out of the crowd and flee the scene.

The bully couldn't be bothered to chase after Xiao Zhi and rushed forward in a panic to check on the girl.

Seeing blood continuously seeping from the back of the girl's head, the bully panicked immediately and asked the surrounding students for help.

"Who... who has a Battle Pet that can heal injuries? I'll pay gold coins!"

The academy had rules and regulations, after all; if a life were lost, he would likely be in serious trouble.

A boy with a warm aura pushed through the crowd and appeared before the bully, making his eyes light up instantly.

"Brother Guangliang, please, let your Paradise Bird help!"

The warm boy did not refuse. By simply lending a hand, he could gain favors from two people at once and win the goodwill of the onlookers—why wouldn't he do it?

A glowing white hexagram array appeared in mid-air, and a large, snow-white bird materialized out of thin air.

"Tian Tian, cast a healing spell to treat this student."

The Paradise Bird let out a crisp cry, then emitted a brilliant radiance from its entire body.

The radiance quickly merged into the girl's body, and her wound began to heal rapidly.

Soon, the wound returned to normal, and the girl slowly woke up, though the significant blood loss left her looking quite pale.

Seeing this, the bully's expression finally eased. He knelt in front of the girl, face full of shame, apologizing repeatedly and promising to compensate her.

"It's all that little brat Xiao Zhi's fault for causing me such a huge loss. Next time I catch him, I'll definitely cripple him!"

The bully thought, gritting his teeth. He had been careless this time; not only had he failed to teach that brat a lesson, but he had also injured someone in full view of everyone.

Xiao Zhi naturally didn't know what happened afterward. By this time, he had already entered the classroom and returned to his seat in the back row.

Some students were surprised to see him. They had witnessed the "bullying" yesterday and knew what had happened to Xiao Zhi.

To think he still dared to continue attending school even after losing his Battle Pet.

Xiao Zhi was already used to the strange looks from his classmates; he had seen too much darkness already.

When school ended in the afternoon, the students left one after another, while Xiao Zhi went to the academy's Beast Garden to continue his work for the day.

This was a part-time job he had found at the academy, cleaning up the trash in the Beast Garden every day.

On a secluded path, he was intercepted once again.

"You little brat, today you made me make a fool of myself in front of so many people and cost me two gold coins to clean up the mess. Tell me... how should I repay you?"

The bully's voice, like a demon's whisper, appeared in Xiao Zhi's ears once again.

Immediately after, a giant python, fully eight meters long, lunged out from the bushes and charged straight at Xiao Zhi.

"Kǎ Qí, save me..."

A black magic array unfolded in front of Xiao Zhi. Kǎ Qí quickly dashed out from it and went straight to meet the giant python.

Looking at the transformed Kǎ Qí before him, the bully was somewhat puzzled.

This brat's Kachi Dog had clearly been tortured to death by them, so where did he get another Battle Pet?

Moreover, this dog was much fiercer than the previous one; his own giant python was actually no match for it.

In the moment the bully was stunned, the giant python had already been bitten by Kǎ Qí, sustaining quite a few wounds.

Seeing his beloved pet covered in blood, the bully was furious. He grabbed the wooden stick in his hand and charged toward Xiao Zhi, preparing to cripple this brat first.

Facing the aggressive bully, Xiao Zhi was so scared his face turned green.

He could only keep circling around the edges of the two fighting pets, using them as shields, staging a scene of "King Qin circling the pillar."

Just then, the giant python, enduring Kǎ Qí's bites, forcibly coiled tightly around it, attempting to take the opportunity to strangle it to death.

Seeing that he couldn't catch up to Xiao Zhi, and that his own python had trapped the Kachi Dog, the bully grinned hideously and walked up, brandishing the wooden stick.

"As expected, a trash master paired with a trash Battle Pet—a pair of losers!"

After saying this, he walked up to the two pets and smashed the wooden stick in his hand fiercely against Kǎ Qí's exposed head.

Xiao Zhi watched with eyes splitting from anger. The scene of Kǎ Qí being tortured to death appeared before his eyes once again, staining his eyes blood-red.

"No—"

A roar erupted from Xiao Zhi's throat, and he grabbed a rock from the ground and charged at the bully.

The bully didn't know that the coward had charged up; he was too busy excitedly beating Kǎ Qí's head.

Just then, Xiao Zhi had already rushed behind the bully. Before he could react, the rock had already smashed heavily into his head.

The bully suffered a sudden, heavy blow, and his brain went "buzz" as he became dazed.

Xiao Zhi, seemingly overcome by rage, continued to smash the rock in his hand against the bully's head, over and over again.

Soon, the bully collapsed into a pool of blood, his head smashed beyond recognition.

At the moment of his death, his Battle Pet's contract was broken; its body twisted, it released Kǎ Qí and tried to take the opportunity to flee.

Kǎ Qí naturally wouldn't let it go; targeting the giant python's seven-inch spot, it bit down fiercely.

By the time Xiao Zhi snapped back to reality, his hands were already covered in unknown red and white substances.

"Ugh—"

Stimulated by the bloody scene, Xiao Zhi vomited violently, only feeling a bit better after purging all the food residue from his stomach.

Turning his head to look, Kǎ Qí had already killed the giant python and was squatting on the ground, gnawing on the python's carcass.

This scene made Xiao Zhi's stomach churn again, and he vomited up a few more mouthfuls of bile.

After recovering, Xiao Zhi began to consider how to deal with the aftermath.

He had killed someone, which was no small matter. If the academy found out, never mind attending school, he would likely face punishment from the Public Security Bureau.

And with nothing to his name, facing the pack of wolves in the Public Security Bureau would be like a lamb walking into a tiger's den.

It seemed he couldn't stay at the academy any longer.

Run! He had to run!

Xiao Zhi made up his mind and prepared to get away from this place of trouble.

The academy was massive, and this area was quite remote, with very few people coming by.

But the academy's patrol team would pass by here every so often and would inevitably discover the anomaly here.

He had to escape as soon as possible!

Thinking of this, Xiao Zhi searched the bully's pockets, found some silver coins, and then called out to Kǎ Qí, telling it to follow.

Although Kǎ Qí was reluctant to leave such a large chunk of snake meat, it still obediently followed by Xiao Zhi's side.

Because he was covered in bloodstains, Xiao Zhi didn't dare take the main road and could only run along the secluded back mountain toward the academy wall.

Having often walked this way, Xiao Zhi was extremely familiar with the route and soon arrived at his destination.

Pushing aside the thick weeds at the academy wall, a gap in the wall appeared before his eyes—this was something Xiao Zhi had discovered by accident before.

He called for Kǎ Qí to crawl out through the hole, and then, after orienting himself, Xiao Zhi quickly fled the academy.

Passing by a water source on the way, they washed off most of the bloodstains from their bodies, though some dark red marks still remained on their clothes.

A moment later, Xiao Zhi took Kǎ Qí and left the city directly. As for where they would go next, it was unknown...