Ch. 269 - What Kind of Bandit Logic Is This [1]

A day and a night passed.

"Huff... huff..."

The Mutant Thunderbird panted continuously, its tongue lolling out.

All-out sprinting for that long — anyone would've been wrecked...

Behind the three of them, the endless sea of beasts still raged on, though several waves of ferocious beasts had already rotated through by now.

It was basically being run as a relay race...

"Fuck! I finally see the outpost!"

The three of them let out one long, collective sigh of relief. They knew they were safe.

Just then, the Spirit Suppression Army outpost went dead silent.

Because the outpost was built atop a hill, everyone there could see what was happening up ahead.

And what they saw was a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives!

Beneath the silver-white moonlight, a blue Thunderbird beat its wings, flying toward the outpost.

And on its back were three people wearing psychiatric gowns and gas masks, riding the wind as they approached.

That irrational getup nearly made the entire crowd piss themselves on the spot...

But the most terrifying part was the endless horde of ferocious beasts converging together, like a surging ocean spreading across the grasslands.

They howled at the sky, the din deafening, shaking the very soul of anyone who heard it.

What kind of program was this?!Psychiatric Ward vs. Ferocious Beasts?

"Uh... this..."

Countless mouths dropped open. For a long moment, no one could find any words.

At this moment, language felt pale and powerless. It simply couldn't express the shock in their hearts.

"Holy crap! The beasts really were chasing you..."

Shen Wushuang wore an expression of sheer disbelief. The moment he saw the psychiatric gowns, everything clicked.

"The Nanjiang Bandit... it's him again..."

Someone else had recognized him too, mumbling the name over and over as if possessed.

"This kid..."

Ye Qing's mouth twitched. He couldn't comprehend how a single high school senior could draw the pursuit of every beast in the entire alternate dimension.

This defied all logic...

Just as the Spirit Suppression Army outpost had been rendered utterly speechless—

They'd assumed the Mutant Thunderbird would return to the outpost, but at this very moment, it suddenly made a sharp turn and began circling around the outpost instead...

"ROAR! ROAR!"

Countless ferocious beasts roared as they charged. Though they feared the outpost before them, compelled by the King's orders, they could only pursue Chen Shu and the others with everything they had.

And so, the beast horde and Chen Shu's group started playing a merry game of ring-around-the-outpost...

"Are you mentally ill or something..."

Shen Wushuang's expression turned blank, staring at them like they were escaped lunatics. You've got an outpost right there and you're not coming in — what the hell are you playing at?!

Just to show off the countless beast underlings you brought back with you?

Ye Qing and the others finally snapped out of it.

His expression shifted slightly. The enormous Black Bear at his side pushed off the ground and landed just outside the outpost.

"ROAR!"

A roar of unimaginable terror rang out. Large swathes of ferocious beasts bled from the mouth and nose, instantly losing consciousness and dying on the spot.

It was originally just a control skill, but the gap in rank was so massive that it simply exterminated them outright.

"Holy crap! Old Ye, don't interfere!"

Chen Shu's expression jolted with alarm, and he immediately cried out: "It's over, it's over, my gaokao's got no points left..."

He'd originally planned to use the outpost's deterrent presence to force the beasts back — technically, that wouldn't count as a violation.

But now that an examiner had stepped in, wouldn't that mean an instant point deduction...

"..."

Shen Wushuang had never imagined this was why the three of them hadn't come back.

He stepped onto his Ice Phoenix and shouted at the top of his lungs: "The gaokao's already over! Get the hell back here!"

Chen Shu froze for a moment, then immediately led the Mutant Thunderbird back to the outpost.

At this moment, all three Gold-rank Beast Tamers struck simultaneously. In an instant, more than a thousand ferocious beasts were annihilated, and the endless beast horde was immediately driven back.

A while later, the Spirit Suppression Army outpost finally settled into calm.

Chen Shu let out a breath and asked, "How did it end already? Wasn't there still time left?"

"You have the nerve to ask?!"

Shen Wushuang's mouth twitched. You seriously have absolutely no goddamn clue, do you?!

"The alternate dimension went berserk. We had no choice but to end it early."

The three Chief Examiners surrounded him, staring at Chen Shu without blinking.

They had finally found the culprit!

"What're you looking at?! I didn't do anything!"

Chen Shu put on an innocent face as he spoke. He saw thousands of gazes all turning toward him, their expressions utterly stupefied.

A single high school senior had actually caused an entire alternate dimension to go berserk and forced the gaokao to end early.

This was a situation that had never once occurred in the entire history of Huaxia...

"Du Ming. Explain the situation."

Ye Qing didn't press Chen Shu. From what he knew, it was impossible to get a single word of truth out of Chen Shu's mouth.

The three Gold-rank Beast Tamers might even end up getting conned by him.

"Bosses, just watch it yourselves. My brain's still kind of scrambled right now."

Du Ming looked up at the sky and tossed his Proctor Badge over. For a long while, he was utterly speechless.

Just a few short days of proctoring... he was going to need a lifetime to heal from it...

Ye Qing caught the Proctor Badge and tucked it away. Without the equipment, there was naturally no way to watch it on the spot.

Besides, this was an individual's personal exam. It wouldn't be made public.

The three Chief Examiners exchanged a glance and directly announced that the gaokao's practical examination track was officially over!

"Reward acquired: Elemental Beast skill damage +5%!"

"Reward acquired: Both Contract Spirits' all attributes +7%!"

With the gaokao concluded, Chen Shu's two system options settled their rewards simultaneously.

One was the "Escape from Catastrophe" from just moments ago, and the other was hunting Lord-rank beasts.

"What a peaceful gaokao..."

Chen Shu let out a breath. Now that he'd gotten his rewards, his mood was excellent.

Even though he'd lost two vials of Explosion Potion, the Husky's skill damage had gone straight up by 5% — that was even better than a talent boost.

"???"

Everyone else turned to look at him, hearing this. Peaceful?!

Every single beast in the alternate dimension had gone batshit insane, the gaokao had ended early — and he called that peaceful?!

"Too bad I didn't manage to kill that White Lion."

Chen Shu clenched his fists slightly, making a firm resolution: one day, he would hunt a King-rank beast!

Just then, Ye Qing spoke up. "Chen Shu, come with us."

"You're not gonna... settle scores after the fact, right..."

Chen Shu gulped, then said, "Teacher, come with me."

Shen Wushuang performed a backward jump and decisively turned to leave.

Gold-rank Beast Tamers were looking for him, and he was trying to drag me — a Black Iron rank — into the mud?! For what?!

Chen Shu had no choice but to go alone. By all logic, he probably wouldn't come to any harm...

Inside a small wooden cabin, the three gaokao Chief Examiners stood together.

Off to the side, Du Ming had been saying something continuously.

Chen Shu pushed open the wooden door and walked in. All four pairs of eyes immediately swung toward him.

Ye Qing got straight to the point, asking directly: "So you're the one who contaminated Lieyang Hills with feces?"

"?"

Chen Shu's eyes went wide, his expression one of utter bafflement.

What the hell kind of question was that?

"It was the beasts' feces. I only dropped one bottle of laxative, that's all."

"Alright, that's not the main point!"

Another Chief Examiner cut in, asking with extreme solemnity:

"You goddamn robbed a King beast?!"

Wearing his psychiatric gown, Chen Shu spread his hands and muttered, "Hey, whose fault is it that its treasures were so tempting?"

"??"

All four of them froze on the spot.

What kind of bandit logic was this?!

[1] 悍匪逻辑 (hànfěi luóji, "bandit logic"): An original coinage within the novel rather than a known public meme. It crystallizes Chen Shu's recurring personal philosophy: committing audacious, destructive, or criminal acts and rationalizing them as perfectly reasonable — treating "because the treasure was tempting" as self-evidently sound justification. The examiners' baffled silence is the punchline to the entire chapter.