This Cultivation World Is a Little Strange - Chapter 59 (Patreon)
Content
Chapter 59
Ever since Song Yi took office, the face of First Grade Class One had been completely renewed.
Although Li Wenwen and Lin Ze both complained that Song Yi had bribed the teachers, when it came down to actually doing something, they still had to support their little friend. They could not let her lose face.
Song Yi herself even picked up the dignity of an old ancestor. She stopped playing games, stopped copying homework, and took the lead by setting an example.
Problem children understood problem children best. Teachers might not be watching the students at every single moment, seeing what they were doing.
But Song Yi and the others knew their classmates’ movements best. Lin Ze, in particular, controlled the class’s “economic lifeline.” Whatever was trending in class lately, he knew far too well, and with one turn of his head, he sold the information to Song Yi.
The teachers might only interfere after something had already happened. But now? When certain children were in the middle of doing bad things, the moment they turned around, they could see Song Yi’s bun-like face. “What are you doing? Count me in.”
It nearly scared everyone to death.
So, betrayal from someone on the same path was often the most terrifying thing of all.
Teachers had to follow basic rules when educating students, but Song Yi did not.
Not giving her face, were they?
Fine, she would lay her cards on the table. She was done pretending. She was the ferocious old ancestor, and beneath the edge of the sword lay truth.
However, not every little child submitted to her.
As the saying went, wherever there was oppression, there was resistance.
Early that morning, the troublemaking students of Class One gathered together to discuss their great undertaking.
“We can’t go on like this. We have to find a way to take back our freedom.” The leader slapped the table.
Although the image of Song Yi’s front-desk classmate nearly getting beaten up was still fresh in their minds, children who had not been beaten would always harbor a bit of wishful thinking: that was only because Song Yi’s front-desk classmate was too weak. If Lin Ze himself made a move, that would be a little intimidating, but Song Yi…
Of course, there was no denying that Song Yi did have a little strength, and some people were a bit afraid of her. “But she really is fierce.”
“What are you afraid of? We can outsmart her.”
According to their plan, they would first separate Song Yi from her two little friends, then, before she could take out her sword, they would use all kinds of talismans and arrays to trap her and scare her a little.
The entire plan above was carried out successfully.
They first lured Li Wenwen and Lin Ze away from the classroom with a diversion, then used the excuse of asking about a problem to get close to Song Yi. While she was unprepared, they threw out all kinds of magical artifacts.
“Discipline committee member, we’re all in the same class. We see each other all the time. There are some things you shouldn’t take too seriously. Otherwise, well, the water here is too deep. You won’t be able to grasp it.”
The leader spoke in the tone of a seasoned member of society.
Unexpectedly, Song Yi looked at them in surprise. “You discussed this for half a day and only came up with this little bit?”
Yes, Song Yi had known about their plan long ago. Getting up early was already a habit of hers. And after becoming discipline committee member, she had to come in earlier to see whether anyone had arrived ahead of time to copy homework.
At the time, she had not spoken up to stop their plan. She had to give them a chance to perform. She was also rather curious about how exactly they planned to outsmart her.
Unexpectedly, this was it?
Someone wanted to hit Song Yi a couple of times, only to discover that they could no longer move.
Song Yi rubbed her chin and said, “Your immobilizing talismans are pretty useful, huh.”
Several people looked horrified.
Yes, their immobilizing restrictions had been activated. Unfortunately, they had been activated by Song Yi.
Scuffles between children did not follow rules. They just tossed out powerful magical artifacts and called it done. But in the eyes of Song Yi, a professional combatant, they were riddled with openings.
Their magical artifacts clattered into Song Yi’s hands. Looking at the children standing perfectly straight one by one, ready to be beaten, Song Yi held her sword and patted them one after another.
She was only using the sword to pat their shoulders, but they seemed very afraid. When she patted them, they could not help trembling.
Song Yi laughed loudly and said, “Don’t worry. I’m the discipline committee member, so I have to take the lead. I won’t really do anything to you.”
Someone asked weakly, “Then if you weren’t the discipline committee member anymore, you would do something to us, right?”
“What do you think?”
She still looked very easy to talk to.
The others fell silent and mumbled nothing.
“Actually, I’m not against you challenging my authority. But you have to study properly! Otherwise, you won’t even know how to outsmart someone!”
Song Yi instructed them with deep distress. “It wasn’t enough to lure Wenwen and Lin Ze away. If you had grabbed someone as a hostage, wouldn’t you have had room to negotiate?”
“Also, don’t start off by reasoning with the other side. You think you’ve immobilized them, but actually, you haven’t. Then it gets awkward. Beat them up first, make sure they have no room left to resist, and only then do you have something to talk about.”
As the group took down the key points, cold sweat broke out across their foreheads. In terms of having a black heart, they were no match for Song Yi at all.
They were not even on the same level. How were they supposed to play this?
After returning to their seats safe and sound, all limbs intact, the few of them let out a long breath and felt as if they had come back to life.
Then they remembered something else. One of them cautiously sent the others a message. “What do we do? We also secretly sent the teacher an anonymous message asking them to replace the discipline committee member.”
Although Song Yi had complained that their “outsmarting” was too immature, their plan was actually fairly complete.
On one hand, they made trouble for Song Yi. On the other hand, they also used an elementary school student’s ultimate move: asking the teacher to “uphold justice.” The general idea was that this discipline committee member was too fierce and was seriously affecting everyone’s physical and mental health.
When teachers appointed class committee members, they still had to consider public opinion.
But now, they were worried the plan might actually succeed.
They felt that Song Yi’s unspoken meaning just now had been: I’m still the discipline committee member, so everyone can be fine. If I’m not, then you’re finished.
“If she finds out we were the ones who tattled, she’ll definitely make us suffer for it!”
But very quickly, someone said, “It’s fine. As long as we absolutely refuse to admit we did it. When the teacher asks, we’ll firmly support her taking office. Who would know we were the ones behind this?”
His cleverness received unanimous approval.
Sure enough, after the homeroom teacher received a group of anonymous petitions, he brought up the matter in class. “Someone said that Student Song Yi is ‘enforcing the law with violence’ and is not suited to be the discipline committee member. What do you all think?”
That group of troublemaking students immediately jumped up. “Teacher, that’s impossible! Student Song Yi is gentle and kind, united and friendly. False reports are unacceptable!”
“Exactly, exactly! We firmly support Student Song Yi!”
The homeroom teacher: …
Although what he had received was an anonymous report, did they really think he did not know who had done it? One after another, they had far too much drama.
But since even they had no objections anymore, the homeroom teacher had even fewer objections. This had been the easiest period he had had since he started leading this class.
“Looks like my information was mistaken. Then Student Song Yi will continue serving as discipline committee member.”
The homeroom teacher, who no longer had to watch the class every day, no longer had an aching waist, no longer had sore legs, and no longer had to take pills daily just to keep himself alive.
He felt that he was simply a genius of the education world.
The genius homeroom teacher was in a wonderful mood. From time to time, he went to visit the other homeroom teachers, pulling a little hatred and so on, making the other teachers want to sweep him straight out the door and kick him out of the chat discussion group.
Li Wenwen and Lin Ze were a little uneasy about Song Yi letting those troublemakers off so lightly. “Do we really not need to teach them a lesson?”
Song Yi said, “What are you thinking? We sword cultivators are all reasonable people.”
Their gazes were filled with obvious distrust. Thanks to Song Yi carrying her sword around the classroom every day, the already precarious reputation of sword cultivators had suffered even further.
If they grabbed any classmate in the class and asked them now, no one would connect sword cultivators with “being reasonable.”
The two of them knew about Song Yi’s grand goal of “reviving the sword Dao,” but they suspected Song Yi might accidentally end up going in the exact opposite direction.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Song Yi suddenly stood up, walked to the podium, and said, “Recently, some students have raised objections about my way of doing things. What I want to tell everyone is that I am a reasonable person. If you have any problems, you can communicate with me directly and give me your opinions, so that it’s convenient for me to improve.”
Li Wenwen and Lin Ze were both stunned. Was Song Yi serious?
The other students looked at one another, not quite believing it.
But seeing how sincere Song Yi sounded, someone still raised a trembling hand.
Only, before that student could speak, Song Yi’s sword floated into midair. She said, “You come fight my sword first. If you win, then you’ve convinced me.”
That student immediately changed their words. “I have no objections. Student Song Yi is doing very well.”
Li Wenwen and Lin Ze: …
Their worries were clearly somewhat unnecessary.
Song Yi secretly winked at them. See? The reasoning of sword cultivators was just that simple.
Then Song Yi also stated that everything she had said was true. As long as they defeated the sword in her hand, she would absolutely obey every word. To make it convenient for everyone to defeat her, after school that afternoon, she would conduct sword technique training on the sports field. Everyone was welcome to attend. It was entirely voluntary.
Lin Ze and Li Wenwen went numb. Given Song Yi and the sword Dao’s current reputation, they felt that probably no one would go.
But unexpectedly, basically the whole class showed up!
Those students who had secretly cursed “sword cultivators are shameless” and “sword cultivators and I cannot live under the same sky” practiced sword with such righteous conviction that they seemed to be sword cultivators themselves.
At first, a few people were also too embarrassed to come and only wanted to watch the fun. After discovering that what Song Yi taught was indeed substantial, they settled in here permanently.
Song Yi did not teach them a specific complete set of sword techniques. She only taught them strategies for facing enemies, which was much more interesting than a single set of sword techniques.
“This is called learning the barbarians’ superior skills to control the barbarians.” Everyone was still very good at finding excuses for themselves.
Then a faint voice drifted over from behind them. “Who are you calling a barbarian?”
The children instantly shut up, but their thoughts did not change. The day I complete my training will be the day I overthrow you.
Do not think that just because they were young, they did not understand. Whether the things Song Yi taught were useful or not, they had an intuitive feeling for it. That was why they were willing to stay.
Who did not want to hurry up and become strong?
Training was not easy, but with the belief of “defeating the great demon king,” everyone persevered.
Facing the two dazed expressions, Song Yi smiled slightly. “You don’t understand. This is called everyone hates sword cultivators, and everyone wants to become a sword cultivator.”
Song Yi was not at all worried about their attempts to “betray the master and destroy the ancestor.”
She had to give everyone a little hope, make them feel that if they worked just a little harder, they would be able to defeat her. Wouldn’t that increase the number of talents in the sword Dao?
Although many years later, the naive children would discover that “a little” was actually “a billion little,” the problem was not big. Once they were on the pirate ship, getting off would be difficult.
The students of First Grade Class One occupied a corner of the sports field every day, drawing the attention of quite a few students from other classes.
Some people did not care. Some watched the fun. Others wanted to stir things up a little. “Hey, hey, little brats, this side of the field is ours. Go practice somewhere else.”
The few upper-grade students who came over were actually there with a “revenge” mentality.
That was right. They were the same unlucky fools who had once been trapped on the sports field picking up trash and had even been punished by the teachers.
They had already learned that the array on the sports field had not been made by the people from the array club, but was the handiwork of the people from the Work-Study Society.
Song Yi herself had no self-awareness, but in truth, she had always been quite good at drawing hatred.
Previously, they had not had any interaction with the little first-grade brats and could not find a reason to make trouble. If they directly said they were making trouble because of the trash-picking array on the sports field, that would also seem very humiliating. Now was perfect. No teachers were around, so they could show off a little upper-grade authority.
An upper-grade student smiled and said, “Learning sword techniques, are you? Do you even know how to use that sort of thing? Stop wasting time here. Or maybe I, your senior, can teach you a couple moves?”
The first-grade children still had a fair amount of reverence for the upper grades.
Realizing that the newcomers did not have good intentions, they prepared to give way first. They signaled to Song Yi with their eyes: How about we give them some space first? We can practice sword techniques later.
But Song Yi was not afraid of the upper grades. “Do you still remember Plan Number One, the one I taught you? Today, we’ll test the results.”
Someone looked hesitant. “Song Yi, wouldn’t this be not very good?”
Song Yi nodded. “You’re right. We should use courtesy before force.”
Then she turned her head toward the upper-grade students and said, “If your eyes aren’t very good and you can’t see that this place is already occupied, I recommend going to the school infirmary. The medical cultivators there are very skilled. If you want to show off sword techniques, then for the sake of your physical and mental health, I suggest you practice a few more years.”
Class One students: …
No, this was not courtesy before force at all. This was provocation!
But with Song Yi standing at the front and delivering such steady output, the reverence the Class One children felt toward the upper grades faded a great deal.
As soon as she finished speaking, the upper-grade students were almost laughed to anger.
“So arrogant, little brat. Then today, we seniors can only teach you the principles of being a proper person. In the future, you should listen to your seniors…”
Before his voice had even fallen, the little children of Class One made the first move.
The first key point Song Yi had taught everyone was this: do not wait for the other party to finish speaking before acting. Once you find the right opportunity, you must strike ruthlessly and seize the initiative.
“What the—!” shouted an upper-grade student who had been caught completely off guard.
Were little brats these days all this lacking in martial virtue?
The more brutal part was still to come. They had a clear division of labor. Several of them directly activated a sword array to control the field. Others used sword techniques to disrupt them. Still others wielded swords to shave their heads.
Yes, Song Yi’s Plan Number One was the head-shaving plan.
How could Student Song Yi, who had studied the school rules and discipline and had become the discipline committee member, possibly not know that fighting and brawling were forbidden at school?
The school allowed all kinds of competitions and contests, but with a private fight like this, once blood was drawn, certain things would become difficult to explain.
For such an excellent discipline committee member as Song Yi, self-appointed though she was, she absolutely could not commit such a low-level mistake.
Blood could not be drawn, but shaving off the other party’s hair could achieve an effect on another level.
At first, the students of Class One did not have much confidence. After all, these were upper-grade students…
But as they fought, they slowly gained confidence. It seemed the upper grades were nothing much after all.
This contrast in confidence excited many little children, and their sword moves became even sharper. The feeling of counter-killing upper-grade students was too satisfying!
Song Yi nodded in satisfaction from the side. She wanted to train them a little, so she deliberately let them do it themselves. However, when the upper-grade students suppressed them in return, she interfered a little and manipulated the “match results.”
The more the upper-grade students fought, the more aggrieved they felt. Their scalps tingled, and their heads felt chilly. This was not a psychological feeling. It was a direct description.
After the few of them saw one another’s appearances, their eyes filled with horror. No way, no way. I couldn’t have turned into this too, could I?
The moment they looked in a mirror, tears fell with a swish.
Who still cared about the field or the match? They ran away. “Teacher! The first graders are bullying people!”
The homeroom teacher of First Grade Class One was once again pulled back into the homeroom teacher discussion group.
Huh? These people were not afraid of him showing off anymore? The homeroom teacher was somewhat surprised.
Unexpectedly, everyone reminded him in perfect unison, “Your class got into a fight with several fourth- and fifth-grade students!”
The homeroom teacher’s heart tightened. “Who from our class?”
“The whole class.”
The homeroom teacher: …
Then that was fine. They probably had not suffered too much of a loss.
Then he watched the people in the discussion group continue speaking. “Those fourth- and fifth-grade students are crying terribly. You need to step in and resolve it.”
The homeroom teacher: “…Did you say that wrong? Shouldn’t the ones crying be from our class?”
“No. The upper-grade students were shaved bald by your class. Some of them were cut so unevenly that they would’ve been better off bald.”
The familiar recipe for a throbbing skull had returned.