Ch. 241 - Listen to Your Teacher and Turn Yourself In

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"Based on the current evidence, the arsonist can only be you."

Wang Qing's eyes held scrutiny. His Gold-rank aura spread outward, the pressure crashing down in an instant.

He didn't have time to mess around anymore.

"No way, officer!"

Chen Shu's gaze was perfectly calm, not a trace of panic in it. He explained:

"I saw that battle. Even the Nancang Governor couldn't seal those flames — you think that was ordinary fire? Besides, my Slime is all-element."

All-element was functionally the same as no-element — it had no damage bonus for elemental skills, so it naturally couldn't produce flames that powerful.

Wang Qing rubbed his chin, sized Chen Shu up from head to toe, then patted his shoulder.

"Good luck in the competition."

With that, he turned and walked away.

In truth, the Dragon Guard hadn't uncovered any leads. Wang Qing had only been trying to use basic psychological tactics to read something off him.

Unfortunately for him, this was Chen Shu — the Nanjiang Bandit! When it came to psychological fortitude, he'd never met his match.

Chen Shu shrugged. He didn't dwell on it.

By now, because of Liu Wuji's involvement, the government had officially classified the Dingsheng Building as a Dark Night Organization hideout.

Even if Chen Shu admitted to burning it down, the worst he'd get was a couple of verbal reprimands.

Wang Qing had simply wanted an answer — nothing more.

Since he hadn't been exposed, Chen Shu didn't hand over the photos taken by the Winged Caterpillar. He also kept Lu Pingfan's USB drive.

He didn't return to the hotel. Instead, he went to a Beast Taming Arena, rented a private practice field, and specifically disabled every camera inside.

Chen Shu summoned the Slime — now over four meters tall — his eyes brimming with anticipation.

Defeating Nancang Fourth High meant they'd made the Final Four.

The System's highest option reward was the Final Four, so it settled immediately.

If they hadn't made it, the System would have settled post-competition.

"Bloodline evolution... could it jump straight to SSS-rank?"

Chen Shu swallowed. Scientifically speaking, there was a probability of jumping directly to SSS-rank.

What would that even be? Slime Emperor? Ancient Slime?

Or maybe... Cosmic Super Invincible Poop Monster?

His eyes full of hope, he activated the System reward opportunity.

In that instant, the Slime's eyes shut tight, and it promptly fell into deep slumber.

Its body began to glow with brilliant golden light — dazzling, suffused with a sacred aura.

"By Lord Laozi's decree, let it be done![1] If it truly becomes S-rank or above, I shall cleanse my heart and change my ways — I'll quit being the Nanjiang Bandit!"

Chen Shu pressed his palms together, his whole body trembling and twitching — the very picture of a charlatan medium.

Five minutes passed. No extraordinary phenomenon appeared in the practice field.

Zzzzzzzzz~

Only the Slime's snoring grew louder and louder.

Chen Shu covered his eyes with his hand, then slowly parted his fingers. The golden light on the Slime's body had already dissipated.

The bloodline evolution had clearly finished!

He took a close look, examining it from every angle, and couldn't help saying:

"Huh? That's it? No heavenly tribulation or anything?"

The Slime's appearance hadn't changed. Its height had merely increased to four and a half meters. No other significant differences.

He opened the Slime's status panel:

Name: Large Golden Slime.

Personality: Lazy, kindhearted, honest!

Attribute: All-Round Type.

Species Category: Special Category.

Talents: 【Sleepy】【Thick Armor】【Resistance】

Skills: 【Charge Lv9】【Violent Sitting Kill Lv5】【Wind's Breath Lv2】【Rebound Force Lv3】【Wind Force Lv1】【Deterrent Roar Lv2】【Tyrant Body Lv2】【Gigantification Lv4】

Exclusive Skills: 【Invincible Press Press Press】【Sleep-Kill】

Potential Rating: E.

Bonded Beast Tamer: Chen Shu (Level 9 Beast Tamer, Beast Taming Talent: Ordinary)

Resistance: Elemental resistance increased by 10%. While in a sleeping state, the effect is tripled!

Chen Shu's mouth twitched. So it had only gone up by ONE fucking potential rating?!

His face a mask of melancholy, he tilted his head at a forty-five-degree angle and gazed at the ceiling, unable to suppress a sigh:

"I gave myself a chance to cleanse my heart and start anew. But alas... Heaven did not permit it!"[2]

Looked like he'd just have to keep being the Nanjiang Bandit...

In truth, ninety-nine percent of contract spirits only gained one potential rating from bloodline evolution.

"Still, the base stats improved, and it gained a new talent. Combat power probably rose about fifteen percent."

Chen Shu wasn't disheartened. Bloodline evolution upgraded base attributes.

That meant the System and potion bonuses would all scale higher.

This was a permanent boost, not a short-term power spike.

The reason Black Iron rank meant a huge power jump was that the contract spirit's level rose to Black Iron Rank.

Plus, newly awakened contract spirits started at Black Iron rank, which naturally let them crush basic-tier Beast Tamers.

"I should be able to handle two S-rank contract spirits now, right?"

Chen Shu rubbed his chin. This year, the three Nancang schools had gotten lucky — they hadn't run into each other early.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Final Four would be Nanjiang City, Nancang First High, Nancang Second High, and Nancang Third High.

Aside from Chen Shu's team, the three remaining teams all had at least two S-rank contract spirits.

"The real battles are about to begin."

Chen Shu shook his head, though a flicker of excitement showed in his eyes.

Even if he lost, he'd lose nothing — he'd already collected every reward there was to collect.

Glory didn't matter to him. Only profit did!

Chen Shu left the Beast Taming Arena and returned to the hotel.

"Hm? Something's off!"

The moment he stepped into the hotel, every hair on his body stood on end.

His bandit's intuition told him: danger!

His gaze flicked sideways — and there, on the sofa by the hotel front desk, sat a man. The man was watching him with perfectly calm eyes.

"Holy shit?!"

A jolt shot through Chen Shu. Had Shen Wushuang really come all this way to bury him?!

He spun on his heel and bolted for the exit.

Two steps later, he was caught.

"Sh-Shen... Teacher Shen..."

Chen Shu forced out a dry laugh. "What wind blows you here?"

Shen Wushuang's voice was perfectly level as he answered: "Not the wind. Fire."

"......"

Chen Shu understood instantly what he meant.

"Chen Pi. Listen to your teacher's advice: turn yourself in."

Shen Wushuang sighed, then continued in a deeply earnest, heartfelt tone:

"I checked. You caused no casualties. You only disrupted public order — plus burned down someone's building. At most, twenty, thirty years."

"By then, you'd only be in your forties. We could start fresh from scratch, all right?"

"......"

Chen Shu's mouth twitched. He said nothing.

"Really. I'll get you the best lawyer."

"Teacher Shen, stop. I was eliminating a scourge for the people, all right?"

Chen Shu could only explain. He'd wiped out a Dark Night Organization cell — what was one building compared to that?

And there'd been no major impact, no casualties. It was basically a huge stroke of luck.

Shen Wushuang spoke bluntly. "I think YOU are the biggest scourge."

Chen Shu spoke up. "If I turned myself in, the government might just give me a commendation flag."

"Don't talk crap!"

Shen Wushuang grew serious and asked, "Promise me one thing, all right?"

"What?"

Shen Wushuang wiped the corner of his eye and said:

"If the day ever comes when you do get caught... don't say I taught you. Your teacher would rather not have his legacy ruined in his old age."[3]

[1] 太上老君，急急如律令 (By Lord Laozi's Decree): A traditional Taoist exorcism invocation — "By the Supreme Lord Laozi's decree, it shall be executed as law!" — used by Taoist priests when commanding spirits or banishing evil. Chen Shu mashes this together with the Buddhist prayer gesture (palms pressed together), creating a deliberately fraudulent "charlatan medium" (神棍) performance. The comedy is the sacred-religious mashup used to bargain for a video-game-style stat upgrade.

[2] 四十五度角仰望 (Forty-Five-Degree Angle Gaze): A classic Chinese internet meme pose for melodramatic, emo sadness — gazing upward at a forty-five-degree angle. Popularized by author Guo Jingming's novels, where protagonists would gaze at the sky at this angle during moments of tragic reflection. Chen Shu deploys it here to frame his bandit lifestyle as a "tragic fate forced upon him" rather than a choice.

[3] 晚节不保 (Legacy Ruined in Old Age): A deeply Confucian concept — spending a lifetime building a good reputation, only to have it destroyed by one late mistake. Shen Wushuang's "teacherly concern" throughout the chapter was never actually about Chen Shu's welfare — it was about his own reputation. The fake tear-wipe and the instant pivot from sentimentality to self-preservation are the core character beat.