"Yang Qian, I finally found you!"
Lin Yi arrived at the cafeteria and spotted Yang Qian among the crowd of students.
Yang Qian, who had just gotten her food, gave Lin Yi a strange look.
"Looking for me? What for?"
"Let me borrow your phone!"
"Huh?"
Yang Qian's expression changed slightly, and she quickly glanced around.
High school students weren't allowed to bring their personal phones to school.
Even though they were already seniors, with the Martial Arts exam or the college entrance exams right around the corner...
"I don't have my phone on me; it's in the classroom. If you need it, just go back and get it yourself.
And keep your voice down next time! Are you trying to get my phone confiscated?" Yang Qian said, slightly annoyed.
Lin Yi scratched his head, embarrassed.
He just then realized that his voice had indeed been a bit too loud.
After quickly thanking her, he ran back toward the classroom.
After finding the phone in Yang Qian's backpack,
he eagerly found an empty spot and called Wei Nan.
The number you have dialed is currently switched off. Please try again later...
A cold, automated voice came from the phone.
Lin Yi tried calling several more times, but the result was the same.
This made Lin Yi grow even more anxious.
Wei Nan was his only friend. If something happened to him...
He recalled the things Wei Nan had said to him after school yesterday.
Clearly, Wei Nan had never gotten over his older brother's death.
He had just buried it deep inside and never told anyone how he truly felt.
And his reason for choosing Demon Hunting was probably not so simple.
'Could he be planning to use the Demon Hunting opportunity to find the beast that killed his brother all those years ago?'
Lin Yi's brow furrowed.
"Lin Yi, what on earth are you doing?"
Just then, Yang Qian hurried over,
completely shattering his train of thought.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. I was just worried about Wei Nan, so I tried calling him."
"Did it go through? What did he say?" Yang Qian asked curiously.
Lin Yi shook his head. "It's off. Thanks for the phone!"
He returned the phone to Yang Qian, left with a smile, and headed for the cafeteria.
...
...
The afternoon was all Martial Arts class.
This meant practicing basic fist and foot techniques over and over again.
These were all fundamentals that would be on the Martial Arts exam.
With only three months until the Martial Arts exam began,
all the registered students were practicing diligently.
"Lin Yi, come over here!"
Suddenly, the Martial Arts coach, Qi Heng, walked over.
With a grave expression, he called Lin Yi away.
Confused, Lin Yi followed him to a corner of the classroom.
"Coach Qi, what's wrong?"
"Lin Yi, have you decided not to register for the Martial Arts exam?" Qi Heng asked, his face grim.
Lin Yi was taken aback and quickly shook his head. "No, I want to register!"
"You want to register? The deadline is next Wednesday. Everyone who's going to has already signed up. You're the only one left.
Besides, you were clearly distracted just now. Are you facing some kind of trouble? You can talk to me about it!" Coach Qi said, sounding concerned.
Like the homeroom teacher, Liu Song,
he believed Lin Yi was a promising talent in Martial Arts.
He had a good aptitude and natural talent.
If he could walk the path of Martial Arts, his future achievements would surely be great.
Getting into a Martial Arts University wouldn't be a problem for him.
However, they were also well aware of Lin Yi's family situation.
But if that reason were to cause a student like Lin Yi to be held back,
it would be a great pity for both Liu Song and Qi Heng.
That was why Liu Song had considered paying Lin Yi's registration fee himself.
And Qi Heng also wanted to help Lin Yi in any way he could...
Lin Yi shook his head with a smile. "Coach Qi, it's nothing. I just zoned out for a moment. Don't worry, I'll definitely scrape together the registration fee before next Wednesday!"
"If there's nothing else, I'll get back to practicing my forms!"
Before Coach Qi could say anything else,
Lin Yi ran back to his spot.
He re-entered the state of [Absolute Focus].
Watching the now-focused Lin Yi, he saw that every one of his punches was powerful and vigorous.
Furthermore, his execution of the basic fist techniques was flawless.
He had even reached at least the Minor Success stage.
As a coach, how could Qi Heng not appreciate a student like this?
If he couldn't participate in the Martial Arts exam and was thus unable to walk the path of Martial Arts,
it would be a real loss.
After a long moment, Qi Heng left the Martial Arts classroom.
He took out his phone and made a call.
"Hello, Teacher Liu? Yes, this is Qi Heng. I think we need to talk about Lin Yi!"
...
...
After school was out,
Lin Yi grabbed his backpack and hurried out of the school.
He boarded a bus and headed straight for Wei Nan's house.
Wei Nan's family was slightly better off.
His mother ran a small-to-medium-sized supermarket. While it didn't make them rich or bring in any windfalls,
it was more than enough to cover their daily expenses.
Wei Nan's father was a member of the Public Security Team.
The Public Security Team was a unit under the jurisdiction of the Martial Arts Police Station.
The team's main duty was to maintain public order.
It was considered a respectable job.
The pay just wasn't very high, only a little over three thousand.
But the upside was the monthly bonus.
All told, it came out to around five thousand.
Most importantly, the job came with a comprehensive insurance policy.
This policy had broad coverage; any injury or death that occurred on the job would be compensated, and all medical expenses were fully covered.
In the event of a death on duty,
the family would receive a substantial payout.
Countless people fought tooth and nail for a job like this.
Not for any other reason, but for that death benefit.
The residents of the Old District had gradually lost their sense of purpose and meaning in life.
Death was their constant companion. You never knew if you might meet a violent end just walking down the street.
Or be attacked by a demon beast in the middle of the night.
Tragedies where entire families were wiped out were also common.
They lived every day on edge.
Therefore, many people believed that rather than living a worthless existence,
it was better to have a life insurance policy so that if they were to meet an unfortunate end,
they could at least leave their family a considerable sum of money...
"Auntie, is Wei Nan home?"
Lin Yi got off the bus and found Wei Nan's family supermarket from memory.
As he arrived outside the store, he saw a middle-aged woman busy moving boxes.
Lin Yi recognized her at a glance—it was Wei Nan's mother, Li Fenglan.
When Li Fenglan turned and looked at Lin Yi,
after a moment, she broke into a smile. "Oh my, you must be Lin Yi, right? I haven't seen you in years! Look how big you've gotten!"