Grotesqueries of the Old Domain

Chapter 44: Homework

“Bang, bang, bang.” Zhang Wenda watched as the manifestation of the Period pinned Song Jianguo against the wall and delivered frenzied elbow strikes, and he started feeling pain in his own stomach just from watching.

“Seriously, is this really necessary?” Zhang Wenda looked speechlessly at the physical form of the Period in front of him.

Even though he now knew this was Song Jianguo’s Period, seeing her act so violently still stirred some guilt in him.

After all, they had suffered together before, and continuing like this would just slow down the pest extermination process.

Song Jianguo clutched at the Period’s hand in pain and slowly slid down the wall.

“Sigh... It’s fine, the first day is always the worst, the following days will be a bit better.”

“Have you considered bribing the Period to stop her from hitting you?” the ever-helpful Zhang Wenda started offering ideas.

The Period turned her head and glared at Song Jianguo. “This is Lin Bei’s job! You little brat, stop interrupting, okay?”

“What if you don’t hit him? Do you get punished or something? Do you have any kind of enforced rules? Some kind of Period Rule Creepy Tale?” Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but ask.

“Don’t you need a beating? Asking all these questions here! Kid, one more word out of you and I’ll let you experience what it’s like to bleed like a woman!”

The bearded Period cracked her knuckles threateningly and walked toward Zhang Wenda with a fierce look.

Zhang Wenda didn’t back down, tilting his head up and curiously looking at her.

“You don’t have a name? Or is your name literally ‘Period’? That’s not even a proper name—by cultivation naming conventions, you’ve turned into a spirit, so shouldn’t you be called ‘Period Spirit’?”

“Damn you!” The furious Period swung a punch at him.

Just as another fight was about to break out, the pale-faced Song Jianguo clutched his stomach and said in pain, “Rat, you still have time to chat? Don’t you have school?”

Hearing this, Zhang Wenda immediately reined in his curiosity, grabbed his school uniform, and rushed out.

“Crap, I almost forgot. What time is it now? Don’t tell me I’m going to be late again?”

Just as he reached the treehouse door, he saw Song Jianguo staggering along with a spear in hand. “Where are you going?”

Biting his lip, Song Jianguo glared at him viciously and said in a weird tone, “Aren’t you the one who said we had to exterminate the pests?”

Watching him wobble, Zhang Wenda shook his head. “Forget it, forget it. Look at you—what kind of job can you even do in this state? How about this: out of the kindness of my heart, I’ll move our Saturday off-day to today. Just rest up today.”

“Well, how kind of you...” Seeing Song Jianguo collapse onto the ground like a deflated balloon, Zhang Wenda jumped down with his school uniform in hand.

He glanced at the square clock in the center of the town and saw it was almost 8 o’clock. Without a second thought, he sprinted toward the school.

Rushing all the way, he even had to use some of the red cores he had recently recovered.

In the end, he made it to his seat and sat down panting heavily, just before the school bell rang.

“That was way too intense. I need to figure out a way to get a watch. I can’t keep running like this every day.”

“Mouse, what were you doing last night? I went to your house to call you but you weren’t there.” Little Fatty mumbled with a full mouth, eyeing Zhang Wenda curiously.

“Ugh, don’t even mention it.” Sweating from the run, Zhang Wenda pulled at his collar and couldn’t be bothered to explain—it wasn’t like the other would understand anyway.

Glasses leaned in curiously and asked, “Hey, did you finish the weekend homework? Teacher Ouyang is collecting it today.”

Hearing this, Zhang Wenda felt his whole body go numb. After all that effort just to make it in time, now this?

“Damn, I almost forgot about that.” Reminded, Zhang Wenda hurriedly pulled out his homework and started writing like mad.

With his ABCD-marked eraser flying through the air, Zhang Wenda’s pen flew across the paper.

As the bell rang, Zhang Wenda’s hand moved even faster, practically leaving afterimages, stunning nearby classmates.

Finally, just as the teacher arrived at the lectern, Zhang Wenda finished all his homework. Never mind if it was right—just look at that speed.

But what made Zhang Wenda both laugh and cry was that the teacher on the podium had no intention of checking the homework at all.

Maybe Ouyang never cared whether he did it—maybe she just wanted to scare him.

“I already have to deal with so much weird crap, and now I have to rush homework too? Who am I supposed to complain to?” Zhang Wenda silently grumbled, clutching his sore wrist.

But no matter how tired he was, he didn’t dare skip it. Until he completely dealt with that scythe monster, he had to play by the rules—because the pain was real.

Still, Zhang Wenda had secretly made up his mind: the day he fully defeated that scythe monster would be the day he finally broke free from homework.

“How old am I already, and I’m still writing this stuff? Isn’t that just ridiculous?”

Zhang Wenda casually flipped through his math textbook and found that elementary school math had once again gotten harder.

Having finished everything, the sleep-deprived Zhang Wenda started feeling drowsy.

He glanced at the male teacher at the lectern, pulled out a textbook to stand it up, and quietly dozed off behind it.

That nap was incredibly comfy—far better than Song Jianguo’s bird nest.

Maybe it was because the teacher’s voice sounded like a lullaby.

Zhang Wenda woke up from hunger—he hadn’t eaten anything in the morning, and by now his stomach ached with hunger.

He clutched his belly as he woke up, glanced at the lectern, and saw an old man he didn’t recognize.

Then he tore off a bit of eraser and tossed it at Little Fatty’s head nearby.

“Hey~ Fatty, what period is this? What time is it?” Zhang Wenda whispered to Pan Dongzi.

“Last period. Ten minutes till class ends.” Pan Dongzi proudly showed off his digital watch.

“Did Teacher Ouyang come?” Zhang Wenda asked again.

He hadn’t forgotten about his mission to get stronger—he still didn’t understand this world well, and needed to ask others.

Aside from Rabbit, the only trustworthy adult left was Ouyang.

Maybe he could learn more about the adult world from her.

“Nope, there’s no Ouyang class today.”

“Huh? Really?! Then do you know where she lives?”

Whiz whiz—two pieces of chalk hit Zhang Wenda and Pan Dongzi’s heads dead-on.

“Still whispering? Go stand in the back and listen to the lesson!”