The girls hadn't expected Cao Han to get physical, and their faces paled in terror.
Just as Cao Han's palm was about to land on one of the girls' faces, a dark blur shot through the air with a SWOOSH and slammed hard into his face.
"AHHH—" Cao Han shrieked. A red mark instantly appeared on his face as blood burst from his nose, splattering everywhere. The impact knocked his swing off course; his hand missed the girl's face, grazing past her cheek instead.
CLATTER.
The 'hidden weapon' that had struck Cao Han fell to the ground. It was just a ballpoint pen.
'A pen is what just hit me?'
Cao Han clutched his bleeding nose, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at the ballpoint pen spinning on the floor.
'The impact felt like someone had smashed a brick into my face; I thought my cheekbone was going to shatter. How could a tiny ballpoint pen have so much power? And who the fuck threw it?'
He lifted his head and looked in the direction the pen had flown from, just in time to see Zhao Yuan parting the crowd and striding toward him.
"You're the one who sneak-attacked me?" New hatred piled on top of old grudges, and Cao Han looked ready to explode. A blazing fury burned in his sinister eyes, as if he wanted to devour Zhao Yuan whole.
"That was me." Zhao Yuan extended a hand, pulling the terrified girls behind him protectively. He glared at Cao Han and said coldly, "I used to think that aside from your intense jealousy, you were an okay person. Now I see you're nothing but a scumbag!"
"Fuck you! What right do you have to lecture me?" Cao Han erupted in fury, roaring as he threw a punch at Zhao Yuan. "I'm going to smash your goddamn ugly face in!"
BAM!
Cao Han's fist never reached Zhao Yuan's face. It was caught in his grip.
For Zhao Yuan, who had already reached the Mid Stage of Muscle Strengthening, Cao Han's punch was not only slow but also pathetically weak. He caught it with ease.
Cao Han froze for a second, then an excruciating pain shot up from his hand, as if it were caught in a steel vise. The agony twisted his features, making his face contort into an ugly, savage mask. "AHHH—IT HURTS, IT HURTS! Let go! You bastard, fucking let go of me!"
"Still running your mouth, are you?" Zhao Yuan's eyebrow twitched. He raised his other hand and—SMACK!—slapped Cao Han across the face. The heavy blow not only split Cao Han's lip, but it also caused half his face to instantly swell up and turn red.
"You hit me? You dare to hit me?" Cao Han gaped, speaking in disbelief.
"I've already hit you, and you're asking if I dare? Are you an idiot?" Zhao Yuan sneered. "You've been targeting me at every turn. I tolerated it because we're classmates, but you actually thought I was afraid of you? That I wouldn't put you in your place? You just got more and more arrogant, didn't you? Fine. In that case, I guess I'll be the bad guy today. Listen up, Cao Han. From now on, you'd better make yourself scarce whenever I'm around. Otherwise, I will beat you every single time I see you. Do you understand?"
"You wouldn't dare!" Cao Han shrieked. "I'm going to report you to the school! I'll report you, get you expelled, and have you thrown out of West Hua Medical University in disgrace!"
"Go ahead," Zhao Yuan said, not the least bit intimidated. He even laughed. "If I get disciplined, I'll spend the next month beating you up every single day. And if I get expelled? Then this won't end until one of us is dead."
Zhao Yuan came from a remote mountain region, and deep down, he had a ruthless streak. Anyone who mistook him for an easy target and provoked that ruthlessness was in for a world of pain.
The color drained from Cao Han's face. He was certain Zhao Yuan wasn't joking or making empty threats to scare him. He was dead serious.
'Zhao Yuan would absolutely do it!'
Cao Han instantly lost his nerve.
He wanted to take Zhao Yuan down, but not at the cost of getting dragged down himself.
'What kind of madman have I provoked?!' Cao Han couldn't stop himself from trembling. In his eyes, the smile on Zhao Yuan's face had morphed into the malicious grin of a Demon. He was overwhelmed with regret, but unfortunately, there's no medicine in the world that can cure regret.
"Coward," Zhao Yuan sneered.
"He's so MANLY!" Many of the nearby girls were watching, their eyes turning into little hearts.
Zhao Yuan's actions had been so decisive and masculine. His timing—swooping in to save the girls and standing in front of them—led a whole group of female students to equate him with heroes and Prince Charmings. Many were even jealous. 'Why aren't I the one he's protecting?' Meanwhile, the girls who were under his protection looked blissful.
DRING-DRING-DRING.
At that moment, the bell signaling the end of class rang.
Zhao Yuan relaxed his grip and gave a push. Cao Han felt a massive force slam into him, knocking the wind out of him and sending him stumbling backward. His feet tangled, and he fell flat on his rear.
Picking up his pen, Zhao Yuan beckoned to Liu Zhu and the others. "Let's go, guys. Next up is Basic Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine. We need to get to Room 213 in the next building."
"Let's go!" Liu Zhu and the others strode after Zhao Yuan. As they passed by the fallen Cao Han, they didn't forget to spit in his direction.
The girls Cao Han had nearly hit followed their lead. As for the other students, they already disliked Cao Han for being a harsh and arrogant person. His actions against Zhao Yuan today had been particularly outrageous, so not a single person was on his side. In fact, many followed the example of Liu Zhu and the girls, spitting at him in contempt.
In that moment, Cao Han truly understood what it felt like to be utterly abandoned.
Soon, the classroom emptied out. Only then did Cao Han manage to crawl up from the floor. He didn't dare go to the Basic Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine class; Zhao Yuan's threat to "beat you every single time I see you" was still ringing in his ears.
'I have to transfer departments. I have to! Otherwise, I'm going to die at Zhao Yuan's hands!' Forgetting about going to the school infirmary to treat his bruised and swollen face, Cao Han ran off to figure out how to transfer. On the way, he ran into a few classmates. The moment they saw what he looked like, they jumped back in shock.
"Holy shit, what's going on? Did somebody's pig get loose?"
"And why is this pig walking on two legs? Has it become a spirit?"
Hearing his classmates' comments, Cao Han was both humiliated and furious. He quickly took off his jacket, wrapped it around his swollen face, and ran even faster.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yuan was already seated in the classroom for Basic Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine. However, he wasn't listening to the lecture. Instead, he summoned the Information Leaf and began to study on his own. Many other students in the class weren't listening either. They were secretly using their phones to post about Zhao Yuan's spectacular performance from the earlier Medical Ancient Texts class on the school's online forum.