Chapter 56
Chapter 56
The next day dawned gray beneath heavy clouds.
The bell rang as usual, and the students filed into the classroom.
Li Que arrived too, but he had brought no lesson plan today.
“We won’t be having class today,” he announced. “A lot of people will be coming to tour the school, so we need to make some preparations.”
“Vice Principal Leng and I discussed it with the others. Our class will put on a presentation for the visitors. The theme will be-My Dream.”
This was the idea he had come up with last night.
Mingjiang No. 7 Special School was facing an existential crisis. If a group had suddenly decided to tour the school now, they were almost certainly conducting one final inspection.
If the school was to remain open, the visitors had to see its value.
And the school’s most fundamental value lay in its students.
These neglected children had dreams of their own. This school had a reason to exist.
Li Que did not know whether showing them that would help, but he had to try. These students deserved to be seen. They deserved respect.
“Meng Mo, start preparing. When the audience arrives, they’ll be yours. Let them witness your dream.”
Li Que looked at him with encouragement in his eyes.
Lin Xiaoyu would have been an excellent choice too, but she was introverted by nature. Speaking before an audience suited Meng Mo better.
Meng Mo froze. Li Que wanted him to do it?
Then he immediately remembered what Nian Youyu had told him last night: when it came time to contain his anomalous entity, Sir would naturally make arrangements.
And now, with so many anomaly wielders and anomalies about to enter the school, Sir wanted him to realize his dream.
Wasn’t this a containment ritual prepared especially for him?!
Meng Mo immediately grew excited.
“All right… Don’t worry, Sir. I’ll do it right!”
Li Que nodded. “Don’t be nervous. Just act naturally.”
“All right. Let’s go prepare the auditorium.”
Mingjiang No. 7 Special School normally used its auditorium for lectures and other events, so it needed to be arranged in advance.
Li Que led the students out of the classroom. Before long, they reached the auditorium, which could hold several hundred people. Leng Qingyan, Qin Shiyu, and the others were already there.
“Teacher Li, is there anything else we should do?” Leng Qingyan asked, her face tense.
The school grounds were surrounded by people from every major faction-and even by anomalies.
They could charge inside at any moment. An unprecedented battle was on the verge of erupting.
Even Xu Changjiang and Shi Xuan had led their people into the school early that morning. They were closely monitoring the surrounding area and waiting for Li Que’s orders.
“Teacher Li, if this won’t work… I can try speaking to my senior brother again,” Qin Shiyu said. “There may still be a way to turn things around.”
She understood perfectly well how serious the situation had become.
The Jiangdong Chamber of Commerce, the Hall of Anomalies… perhaps even wild deities that had yet to arrive.
The pressure was overwhelming.
If the Hall of Anomalies could cooperate with Li Que, their combined strength would ease his predicament.
Li Que merely smiled.
“It’s fine. Things have already reached this point. Whatever comes, we’ll deal with it.”
“Vice Principal Leng, Dean Qin, please go welcome our guests. I’ll take care of things here.”
Leng Qingyan and Qin Shiyu nodded.
“Oh, one more thing.”
Li Que had just remembered something.
“Meng Mo is the star today. Dean Qin, you should invite his father too.”
Meng Mo’s father had gone to extraordinary lengths for his son, even applying for a job as dorm supervisor. He would surely be happy to witness his son’s progress.
It would also give Meng Mo more motivation.
Qin Shiyu nodded. “All right!”
She and Leng Qingyan left immediately.
“Meng Mo, organize your thoughts for the speech. Nian Youyu, once Meng Mo finishes, you’ll be responsible for cleaning up the trash. Bai Lu, Xiaoyu, the two of you will maintain order in the auditorium.”
Li Que began assigning tasks.
These students normally devoted themselves entirely to class and rarely had the chance to organize events. Activities like this were good practice. They could teach the students about teamwork and the division of responsibilities.
All of it would help them integrate into society more successfully.
Li Que assigned only broad roles and imposed no specific requirements. He wanted the students to experience the process and learn how to work together on their own.
The students all nodded, excitement shining on their faces.
Li Que made a circuit of the auditorium. Finding no problems, he went to the work area backstage-a quiet little room filled with miscellaneous supplies, along with tables and chairs for resting.
He sat down and waited calmly.
Meng Mo was the star today, along with the other students. Li Que would remain behind the curtain.
Waiting in silence for the flowers to bloom.
…
At that moment.
“What? You want me to listen to my son’s speech?”
In the dorm supervisor’s room at the boys’ dormitory, Nightmare stared blankly at Qin Shiyu.
What the hell was this? Meng Mo was the Dream Demon. He was an anomaly. And they wanted him to give a speech?!
“A speech for anomalies?”
Qin Shiyu nodded. “Yes. A speech for anomalies.”
“Teacher Li told you to attend. If you don’t want to go… you can bear the consequences yourself.”
With that, she turned and left.
The words *bear the consequences yourself* infuriated Nightmare. Another threat?
Ever since entering this school, he-a mighty SS-class wild deity-had not received a shred of the respect he deserved. It was as if he had become some stray dog by the roadside.
“Fine. Fine! Li Que, is it? Let’s see what ridiculous trick you’re trying to pull-and what you’re truly capable of!”
Nightmare’s expression darkened. He stormed out of the dormitory and headed for the auditorium.
After waiting all this time, he would finally get to meet Li Que!
…
Meanwhile, at the school gates.
Shi Xuan, Xu Changjiang, and every member of the Anomaly Suppression Bureau stood guard in silence.
Outside, black sedans arrived one after another. Beneath the gloomy sky, the atmosphere was unbearably oppressive.
The instruments Xu Changjiang’s team had brought were already displaying readings beyond their maximum range.
There were too many anomaly wielders and anomalies outside to count.
At last, the door of the lead car opened.
An elderly man in a martial-arts jacket stepped out. He gave the school a faint smile.
It was Cao family patriarch Cao Yi.
Although no rain was falling, two men in black held umbrellas over him. Strange fur covered both men’s hands.
This was a transformation found only among the Cao family’s A-class anomaly wielders.
Cao Yi himself was an S-class anomaly wielder, and this time he had brought four A-class experts with him.
The others emerged from their vehicles as well.
Li Dao was only A-plus-class, but his second uncle, Li Buhai, was a true S-class. The sickly man had a deathly pale face and occasionally coughed up putrid blue blood.
Zuo Yuanshan, Zuo Qingyun, and the others from the Zuo family had come too. Zuo Qingyun held a box containing his grandfather, who had become an S-class anomaly.
And then there were Yin Rumei and Sun Xingsheng.
Shi Xuan swept his gaze across the gathering. Five S-class anomaly wielders and anomalies stood openly before him.
There were more than ten A-class anomaly wielders as well.
And those were only the forces in plain sight. The major factions had not brought out any of the anomalies under their control, such as the Knocking Corpse. Those were presumably still hidden.
Worse, all these people were merely pieces on Guo Shoubo’s board. Xu Guoguo was watching greedily from the shadows and would certainly arrive if the situation changed.
She came from one of the Old-Grave Clans. Who knew how many unimaginable anomalous entities she carried with her?
Shi Xuan assessed the situation in silence. Even if Li Que really was an SS-class anomaly wielder, he might not be able to suppress this many enemies.
Moreover, everything Li Que had done so far-suppressing the black mist of Five Dragons Mountain, subduing Nightmare, and more-seemed to rely on external objects. His own strength remained unknown.
The Divine Seal Fragment and similar objects could restrain black mist, but they would be far less effective against other anomaly wielders.
“What’s the matter, Old Shi?” Cao Yi called out first. “You invited everyone here, yet you won’t let us come inside and sit down?”
The others stared at them coldly.
Every family had sent scouts last night. To their surprise, even a targeted investigation had failed to reveal anything unusual about the school.
In the end, Cao Yi suggested that every family enter together today.
Whatever traps the school might hold, they would crush through them with overwhelming force.
Leng Qingyan hurried over and stopped beside Shi Xuan and the others. After she whispered a few words, Shi Xuan nodded and looked outside.
“Open the gates. Welcome our guests!”
The school gates slowly swung open.
Cao Yi did not hesitate. With his hands clasped behind his back, he strode inside.
The others followed him through.
…