He Makes a Lot of Sense

"Lin Mo, Tong Dong, come here for a second."

Mr. Xu Haoming, the teacher in charge of the competition, stood at the front door of the classroom, leaning halfway in.

"Okay," Lin Mo replied. He casually tossed his pen on the desk, stood up, and followed him out.

The moment he moved, the eyes of two people in the back corner of the classroom instantly lit up.

Zhou Nianqian gently nudged Ye Minghui beside him with his elbow. The two exchanged a knowing look, their grins stretching from ear to ear.

Finally!

This guy was going to the training camp!

Zhou Nianqian's gaze drifted subtly toward Jiang Yunlu's back in the front row, while Ye Minghui's stare was much more direct, locked firmly onto Xie Yuling sitting diagonally ahead.

With Lin Mo gone, wasn't this the opportunity they had been waiting for?

It could be said that these two each had their own targets.

However, they had no idea just how foolish they were.

In the office, Xu Haoming handed two bags of materials to Lin Mo and Tong Dong respectively.

"Here, these are your things. Take them with you to Tianjing."

"Once we get to Tianjing, I'll have to come back after dropping you off at the training base. That place is under strict closed-off management, and teachers aren't allowed inside. So, the rest of the journey will be entirely up to you."

(Author's note: Parallel universe logic, otherwise it's hard for me to write. Please ignore the rules and formats of real-world national competitions and just go with my setting.)

Xu Haoming's voice carried a hint of solemnity. The most he could do was escort them to the threshold.

Lin Mo took the bag, finding it quite heavy.

With a discreet sweep of his divine sense, the contents of the bag were categorized and clearly displayed in his mind.

Over a dozen thick reference books, dozens of mock competition exam papers from all over the country, and a few notebook-like booklets.

They were all specially customized materials.

These were internal teaching materials, unavailable for purchase outside. Some people might not understand the true value of these things.

To put it bluntly, they were equivalent to a sect's top-tier cultivation technique.

Looking at Lin Mo's breezy and indifferent demeanor, Xu Haoming couldn't help but offer a few more words of advice, aiming his words mainly at him:

"Lin Mo, listen to me, kid! When you get to a place like that, the top students from all over the country will be gathered together. There is always someone better out there!

Put away that careless attitude of yours and behave! Especially during the exams, once you finish the paper, you must check it from beginning to end three times before handing it in, you hear me?"

"Understood, Mr. Xu," Lin Mo nodded, his attitude unusually proper.

Lin Mo gave him a lot of face. After all, Old Xu was quite responsible, so listening to him nag a bit wouldn't hurt.

"The departure time is set for a week from now," Xu Haoming finally said.

As for the cruel rule that those at the bottom of the rankings during the training would be directly eliminated, he didn't even mention it, wanting to avoid adding unnecessary pressure to the two kids.

Thinking that there was only one week left before departure, Lin Mo felt he had to quickly resolve the remaining little troubles.

Right at this moment, Lin Mo's phone rang.

It rang openly and brazenly right in the middle of the teachers' office.

The ringtone was even a song by Eason Chan.

Many teachers looked up, wanting to see who had such good taste.

When they saw it was Lin Mo slowly taking his phone out of his school uniform pocket, they simply lowered their heads in a completely unsurprised manner and went back to their own work.

Are you kidding me? Who in the entire Grade 12 group didn't know Lin Mo, the study god, the darling of the school? Let alone answering a phone call in the office, even if he played video games here, probably no one would say a word.

Only a few other students who had come to ask questions stared at Lin Mo with wide eyes, as if they were looking at a giant panda.

Lin Mo looked down at the caller ID.

It was a call from Liu Zheng, and he didn't even need to guess what it was about.

Then, in front of all the teachers, he calmly pressed the reject button and casually shoved the phone back into his pocket.

The whole set of movements was smooth and flowing, without a hint of guilt.

Xu Haoming's eyes twitched, but it ultimately just turned into a helpless sigh.

Forget it, he couldn't control him, and couldn't be bothered to try.

He waved his hand, "Alright, you can go out."

--System: Kill! I want to kill, kill, kill!--

Yanhuang Awakening, Yangcheng Branch.

The office was shrouded in smoke, and the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

On this end, Liu Zheng could only helplessly put away his phone.

Opposite him, Chen Lai crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, already half-numb to the situation.

According to the scattered intelligence they had received, last night, that Fiend Lin Mo had single-handedly barged into the Situ family's heavenly grotto. Not only did he take away their Situ Yunshu, but he also conveniently popped off a few skulls while he was at it.

Taking someone away wasn't the problem; killing a lot of people was the main issue.

There had been no movement from the Situ family so far, but the quieter they were, the more it felt like they were holding something back.

But they, Yanhuang Awakening, still had to communicate with Lin Mo first.

After all, even though the Situ family was a member of the hidden sects, they still fell under the jurisdiction of the Yangcheng branch of Yanhuang Awakening.

Chen Lai looked at him, a trace of worry in his tone. "Still not answering? Why don't we just go straight to the school to find him? After all, the Situ family is a hidden sect. Although those hidden sect guys fight fiercely amongst themselves on normal days, once outsiders are involved, they band together tighter than anyone else."

He paused and added, "Five years ago, over a minor issue, they joined forces to pressure the higher-ups and almost got the person in charge of Xiang region fired. This incident is no simpler than that one."

Although Yanhuang Awakening wasn't afraid of the hidden sects, it didn't mean they were immune to pressure.

After all, internally, Yanhuang Awakening didn't want the hidden sect people running out and causing chaos either.

Liu Zheng rubbed his temples, checked the time, and spoke with a tone full of helplessness.

"Lin Mo is a good student at school, so it's normal for him not to answer his phone. Let's wait, he'll eventually get back to us."

Just as he finished speaking, the phone on the desk buzzed.

The screen lit up with a message.

Lin Mo: "?"

Liu Zheng's spirits lifted. Not bothering to call back, he immediately picked up the phone and started typing, wording his message carefully.

"About what happened last night..."

He was deliberating on how to begin and hadn't even thought of the next sentence when the other party replied instantly.

Lin Mo: "I went to bring Jiang Yunlu's mother back. They are suspected of illegal imprisonment. Is there a problem?"

Uh... that actually seemed flawless.

Liu Zheng's eye twitched.

Good heavens, he immediately seized the legal and moral high ground right off the bat.

He took a deep breath and continued typing.

Liu Zheng continued: "But it seems you killed a lot of people..."

Lin Mo: "I was just defending myself. If they hadn't made a move, would I have made a move?"

Liu Zheng stared at this line of text, feeling his blood pressure slowly rising.

These words... were simply unassailable!

Lin Mo: "What? Did someone file a police report? Then I'll file a counter-report. They illegally imprisoned my client, Situ Yunshu, for eighteen years, and intended to attack me. It was justifiable self-defense on my part."

Seeing this paragraph, Liu Zheng felt completely numb.

Seeing Liu Zheng's expression, Chen Lai craned his neck to look.

He also went numb.

Liu Zheng took a deep breath and looked up at Chen Lai.

"He... actually makes a lot of sense, and the people of the Situ family might not even report the case."