Zhu Hai, Deng Jun, and the others were lucky, but at the same time, they were also unlucky.
They were lucky because Fan Xiwen's divine body was shattered and his divine sense damaged. Moreover, when he was reborn, he was at his weakest. Thus, that one glance merely made them feel fear and the arrival of death.
In the more scientific terms used on Unnamed Star, divine sense was mental power. Ordinary people could develop it only to the point of applying it to hypnosis. Mental power could be strengthened continuously through cultivation. It could be used for perception, control, and even killing. However, all of that was merely the most basic level. Divine sense was what one obtained after cultivating mental power to its utmost limit. In the past, with a single glance from Fan Xiwen, Zhu Hai, Deng Jun, and the others would have already suffered soul scattering.
Unfortunately, however, they had encountered Fan Xiwen—the man who had waged war across Xinghe for several thousand years in his previous life and single-handedly established a powerful Divine Dynasty spanning Xinghe. Even at his weakest, killing several mortals as insignificant as ants was still effortless for someone like him.
Thus, Zhu Hai died, while Du Jun and the others went mad.
In his previous life, Zhu Hai, Du Jun, and the others had indirectly killed Fan Xiwen's parents. In this life, Fan Xiwen made them suffer worse than death, forcing them to live in fear for the rest of their lives.
Do not assume that madmen know nothing. The words they shouted were actually merely the most direct expression of the scenes constantly appearing in their minds.
Liu Junxian was the same as Zhu Hai, Du Jun, and the others. His luck and misfortune both came from encountering Fan Xiwen—the cause in his previous life, and the consequence in this one.
Thus, Liu Junxian died.
Liu Junxian died in front of Zhu Gui's house. His manner of death was quite peculiar: he knelt in front of Zhu Gui's house, but he was facing the wrong way.
Zhu Gui's entire family also died alongside Liu Junxian. They had been killed by Liu Junxian, who had simply reached out, gripped their necks, and squeezed.
The driver and bodyguard who had come with Liu Junxian drove out of Zhujiachong. However, when they reached the county-town bridge, they suddenly accelerated and crashed into the bridge's stone railing before plunging into the river. By the time the vehicle was recovered, the bodies were already mangled beyond recognition.
With that vehicle plunging into the river, everything vanished without a trace.
From then on, Zhujiachong got a new Village Chief.
The orchard where a Daoist temple would rise from the ground six months later was still there, but the Daoist temple that would become famous throughout the world many years afterward never appeared.
Because Fan Xiwen had returned.
..
The peaceful Zhujiachong suddenly lost its tranquility because of one strange incident after another. Suona horns blared throughout the village. Some people even invited Daoist priests to perform rituals and paste talismans to ward off evil. Fan Yue and Su Qing were also somewhat frightened, and likewise spent several hundred yuan hiring someone to provide a large number of yellow talismans, which they pasted all over the inside and outside of the house.
Fan Xiwen knew nothing about these matters. At this moment, he was on his way to school.
Zhujiachong was a remote place. One had to walk nearly ten li along a muddy road to reach a small town called Baiyan. From there, a bus to the county town cost six yuan.
There was no need to go all the way to the county town, because Longcheng No. 2 High School, where Fan Xiwen studied, was not in the city proper. When they were still about four or five li from entering the city, Fan Xiwen got off the bus and then walked south along another road leading into the city, also for four or five li.
The weather was extremely hot, yet Fan Xiwen did not break a sweat as he walked.
There were houses and auto shops along the way, and when he looked up, he could even see the high-rises in the direction of the county town.
After walking for some distance, he could see the magnificent high school campus. Second High School was highly renowned in Dragon City. Whenever a family had a child admitted to either First High School or Second High School, everyone would give a thumbs-up and praise the child for making something of themselves.
Second High School had been operating for nearly a century. The campus had been expanded several times and covered an enormous area. Backed by Tiger Mountain, it formed a vast campus beneath the mountain's slopes.
There was also a street in front of the school gate, with restaurants, bookstores, supermarkets, and everything else one could need. A large number of residential developments had been built nearby, all intended for rent because many parents came to accompany their children in their studies.
After crossing the street, he flashed his school badge and entered the campus.
At the very front of the campus was a large basketball court. Only much farther in did the teaching buildings of varying heights come into view, along with the student dormitories, cafeteria, library, electronic classrooms, and gymnasium. Naturally, there were also many Teachers' Dormitories at the very back, but there was no need to look there.
After making a circuit of the familiar grounds, Fan Xiwen followed his memories to the teaching building for Senior year of high school. He then went up to the fifth floor and entered the room at the far right.
Senior year of high school, Class 450.
It was still class time. The teacher was a young woman in her twenties. She looked young, but she was actually a talented graduate from Yanjing City. No one knew what had possessed her to come teach in the remote little city of Dragon City. However, precisely because of her arrival, the textbooks that had once sounded hypnotic when taught by the homeroom teacher suddenly became lively. Even the naughtiest students in class would perk up. What they did whenever they lowered their heads, however, was something only they knew.
Fan Xiwen had stood outside the door for less than five minutes when the young female teacher, Xie Min, frowned and said, “Since you’re here, why aren’t you coming in?”
Fan Xiwen scratched the back of his head. Only then did he respectfully call out “Teacher” from the doorway before walking to an unoccupied desk and sitting down.
His respect came from habit.
When Fan Xiwen had traversed the Xinghe Continent in the past, if not for the painstaking guidance of his Revered Master, Xuan Lingzi, he could never have become the youngest Immortal Emperor on the Xinghe Continent. Likewise, there would never have been the Great Chu God Emperor who swept across the Five Great Sects and Four Great Immortal Palaces, thereby establishing the nation in one decisive stroke.
In Fan Xiwen's eyes, anyone capable of imparting knowledge was worthy of respect.
The young female teacher, Xie Min, had come from a thousand li away. After arriving in this little city, she had also worked earnestly and responsibly, possessing the virtue of spreading the Dao, imparting knowledge, and resolving doubts.
Respect was not determined by a person's status or strength. This was the principle Fan Xiwen, as the Chu Emperor, had personally established after founding the Great Chu Divine Dynasty, with the aim of attracting more talented people.
What was more, Xie Min had another quality that made her worthy of Fan Xiwen's respect.
Although Fan Xiwen had been admitted to Longcheng No. 2 High School, an institution that seemed extraordinarily prestigious in the eyes of many ordinary people, he was by no means the most outstanding student at this elite-filled school. In particular, in his previous life, he had been overwhelmed by the orchard matter and had even begun to give up on his studies. After learning of Fan Xiwen's situation, Xie Min had gone to great lengths to tutor him. Even so, Fan Xiwen still failed the Gaokao in the end. He had felt guilty toward Xie Min ever since. After graduation, he had not even dared to contact her again because he was too ashamed to face her.
Even so, Xie Min would occasionally send him text messages asking about his situation.
“This is also a cause. I just don't know what the consequence will be.”
A strange glint appeared in Xie Min's eyes, but she said nothing. After nodding, she continued with her lecture.
..
Fan Xiwen's seat was in the very middle of the classroom. His deskmate was a boy named Li Siyan. That fellow was a little eccentric, and his grades fluctuated wildly. When he was doing well, he could rank among the top ten in the class; when he was doing poorly, he hovered near the bottom. Whether his grades were good or bad depended on how many pages of pirated novels were hidden inside his textbooks.
He possessed exceptional talent, yet never knew how to cherish it.
Still, that was fine, because Li Siyan was not like those bookworms who did nothing all day but read, memorize, and solve problems. He was lively and got along well with Fan Xiwen. In his previous life, Li Siyan and Fan Xiwen had remained deskmates throughout Senior year of high school. Even when Fan Xiwen's grades plummeted like a roller coaster, that fellow still stayed by his side. Their class assigned seats according to class ranking, which was linked to grades and other factors, and students could freely choose their seats.
Of course, after the Gaokao, the two of them were no longer in the same city. Although they remained in contact online, distance still separated them. When Fan Xiwen underwent transmigration, it was said that this fellow had just gotten a girlfriend. As for what happened afterward, no one knew...
“Are you all right now?”
Li Siyan quietly leaned over and asked. Fan Xiwen nodded, then picked up his book.
Xie Min taught Chinese Language, and Fan Xiwen had also taken out his Chinese Language textbook. However, he did not ask Li Siyan which page they were on and instead began reading directly from the first page.
That was right—he was genuinely reading.
Although only two or three days had passed between his leave of absence and his return to class, in reality, more than three thousand years had passed for Fan Xiwen.
For Fan Xiwen, rather than waste time trying to recall everything, he might as well read it once more. In any case, it was only a minor matter to him.
The pages turned one after another. “Reading ten lines at a glance” was a phrase used to describe ordinary people. For the Chu Emperor, who had once reviewed countless memorials in a single day, he could scan every word on an entire page at a glance even without using his divine sense. That was enough.
Shua!
Shua!
Shua!
The pages turned extremely quickly, and naturally, the sound was somewhat loud.
At first, it was fine, but Xie Min soon noticed it. When she looked over, her eyes immediately widened.
Good heavens, he actually dared to fool around during my class?
“Fan Xiwen.”
Xie Min called out in exasperation.
Xie Min's teaching style was not as strict as that of other teachers. Sometimes, it even felt like a spring rain that moistened everything silently. That said, this spring rain could also be quite cold at times.
Having a good temper did not mean she had no temper.
Fan Xiwen stood up and looked at Xie Min calmly. He did not feel that he had done anything wrong in the slightest, and that look made Xie Min even more annoyed.
“Fan Xiwen, what are you doing?”
Her voice rose several degrees...
“Reading.”
Fan Xiwen's gaze remained calm and open, but Xie Min felt herself growing irritated.
“You call that reading?”
“When I was in college, a lot of boys used this trick in the library to attract beautiful girls.”
The entire class burst into laughter. Only Xie Min and Fan Xiwen did not laugh.
“That was because they were too stupid. I really am reading.”
Fan Xiwen answered patiently.
“Then fine. Tell me what you read.”
“I finished the whole thing.”