Chapter 25: A Terrifying Cafeteria

Xiaoqi shook her head. “One class a day; the rest is all self-study.”

“All self-study?” Jiang Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up. “That’s pretty laid back. I can play some games…”

Before he could finish, Xiaoqi cut him off. “This afternoon is the departmental group activity. You need to go to the Foreign Language Squad—Teacher Zhao Lu’s office area.”

Jiang Xiaoyu nodded.

“And tonight?”

“No classes at night. Anyone can challenge anyone else at will, monitored by the counselors.”

Jiang Xiaoyu froze for two seconds, then breathed a sigh of relief, patting his chest. “Well, someone like me at the bottom of the ladder definitely won’t have anyone bothering to challenge me. Winning gets you no points, and losing is just embarrassing.”

Xiaoqi glanced at him. Jiang Xiaoyu couldn’t see her expression clearly, but he could feel something significant in that gaze.

“Many will.”

“Huh? Why?”

“To build confidence.”

Jiang Xiaoyu’s mouth twitched. “…”

Xiaoqi’s footsteps came to a sudden halt. She turned around, her voice dropping a notch lower than usual. “You’re coming back to the dormitory with me tonight.”

“Cousin, it’s fine, your brother is—”

“Once the challenges begin, a life-or-death pact is automatically signed.” Xiaoqi’s tone held no trace of jest. “As you are now, you’re too weak.”

A chill ran up Jiang Xiaoyu’s spine.

“My god… what a terrifying place this Huangshan Vocational Institute is.”

Xiaoqi didn’t respond, simply continuing on her way. Jiang Xiaoyu couldn’t help but chase after her. “Isn’t there a safe zone? What are the weaker ones supposed to do?”

“There is. The dormitory.” Xiaoqi paused. “But staying in the dormitory during the day consumes ghost coins. It’s not cost-effective.”

“Good heavens!” Jiang Xiaoyu’s mouth hung open for a long time before he finally squeezed out, “Where is this trying to force people?”

Xiaoqi didn’t look back, her voice indifferent. “The Aberration Forest. Hunt monsters to level up.”

“It’s too cutthroat, this place is just too damn cutthroat…” Jiang Xiaoyu sighed from the bottom of his heart.

Just as they were talking, a strange sound erupted.

Grumble—

Jiang Xiaoyu looked around, searching for the source.

The sound occurred again. This time he heard it clearly: it was Xiaoqi’s stomach.

Before he could say a word, Xiaoqi’s voice rang out, her speaking speed just a fraction faster than usual: “I’m hungry. Let’s go to the cafeteria to eat.”

Jiang Xiaoyu froze for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Xiaoqi ignored him and marched forward briskly. Jiang Xiaoyu chased after her, laughing all the way. Xiaoqi walked even faster to escape his mockery, until eventually, the two reached the cafeteria walking hand-in-hand.

The cafeteria was much livelier than Jiang Xiaoyu had imagined. Before they even entered, he saw a long line snaking away from the service window. The air was filled with a scent that he couldn’t quite identify as appetizing or repulsive, but it was certainly enough to trigger a hunger deep in his gut.

He couldn’t distinguish which window led to which line, just a mass of blurry shadows huddled together. Thankfully, he was with Xiaoqi, so he just followed wherever his cousin went.

After waiting for a while, a critical question popped into Jiang Xiaoyu’s head.

“Cousin, do we need a meal card?”

Xiaoqi shook her head.

“It’s free?” Jiang Xiaoyu couldn’t believe his ears. “Cousin, do you know what you’re saying? Free? Where in the world is there a free lunch—”

“There is one here,” Xiaoqi cut him off coldly.

Just as Jiang Xiaoyu was about to offer his economic insights, a commotion broke out ahead.

A frail figure lay slumped before the window, shivering like a leaf in the wind. The person’s voice was thin and small, timid, reaching Jiang Xiaoyu’s ears in stuttered fragments.

“…Auntie… please, give me a serving of green vegetables…”

Standing behind the window was a mutated old willow tree. Its trunk was so thick it would take two people to wrap their arms around it; the bark was crusted like scales, and dark green threads of supernatural energy seeped from the fissures. The canopy was towering, and hundreds of willow branches swayed under the sickly green spirit light. At the tips of several branches dangled spatulas, iron ladles, and sharp, bone-cleaving knives.

A face with rough features—as if carved by an unskilled carpenter—had emerged from the tree’s trunk, but the murderous glint in those eyes was something no one would want to stare at for more than a second.

The cafeteria server—this willow spirit—was said to be a senior cultivator who had graduated from the Biology Department and stayed on as a cook. She held high seniority; even the department chair had to respectfully call her “Auntie Willow.”

At this moment, Auntie Willow lowered that massive, leafy head and peered down at the shivering male aberration at the window.

“Greens and mushrooms, one thousand ghost coins. Pay up front.” Her voice drifted from a fissure in the trunk—coarse, harsh, and accompanied by the rasping sound of wooden fibers grinding together.

The frail male aberration’s voice turned into a sob, stuttering about how he couldn’t digest the meat of intermediate-level aberrations, and how high-level living aberrations would cause a backlash to his own energy, pleading with her to have mercy and sell him a serving of vegetables cheaply.

As Auntie Willow listened, the willow branches on her canopy suddenly went perfectly still—the absolute stillness of a predator locking onto its prey.

Then, she smiled.

“You eat my clansmen, and you expect not to pay?” Auntie Willow said, enunciating each word coldly. “Then pay with your life.”

Before the words had even finished, a thick willow branch shot out from the window with a speed that left a green afterimage in the air.

The branch impaled the frail aberration through the chest, the tip protruding from his back, pinning him in place. A moment later, two more branches dragged him casually into the shadows behind the window.

The cafeteria went silent for a heartbeat, then instantly returned to normal, the crowd seemingly unperturbed by what they had just seen.