You're my wife, don't doubt it!

Unfortunately, he didn't notice that the ice had already expanded to his feet. When he jumped, his foot slipped, and he fell forward onto the shield. Then, like a turtle whose lid had been flipped over, he crashed headfirst into Yu Luying, who had no time to dodge.

In a dizzying moment, Xiao Yao stretched out his arm and grabbed something tightly. Then he heard two cheers. When he opened his eyes, he found that he had slid out of the iron cage with Yu Luying in his arms.

He hurriedly released Yu Luying, and Yu Bo and Shen Jie also let go and stepped back. The ice seal on the winch immediately collapsed completely, and the push rod spun like a top. After a loud bang, the iron gate slammed heavily onto the ground again, and the entire cantilever structure began to shake.

Xiao Yao intended to help Yu Luying up, but then glanced at Shen Jie. After Shen Jie went over and helped Yu Luying up, Father Yu slapped Xiao Yao on the butt of his rifle and shouted, "Stop talking nonsense! Let's get out of here, or this place will collapse!"

The four of them walked up the winding, narrow "college entrance exam" steel bridge all the way up until they left the scorching furnace and returned to the monastery, without encountering any further disturbances.

However, when they returned to the ground, they no longer heard the brainwashing chants of "Effort, effort, effort, scores, scores, scores," but rather alarm sounds.

"Warning! Warning! Intrusion warning! Intrusion warning! All students, please follow instructions and evacuate to the nearest location."

Then they discovered that all the seminarians in the classrooms and on the playground were leaving the monastery through the main and side gates in an orderly and efficient manner under the direction of the nuns in charge of enforcement.

However, both the nuns and the law enforcement nuns ignored Xiao Yao and his group of four.

The four of them found a secluded corner and began to discuss their next move.

"Could it be that Song Haijian finally discovered our intrusion, but doesn't know that we were the ones who intruded?" Xiao Yao scratched his head, puzzled.

Yu Bo said, "The nun who led the way for us was an intruder herself."

"But we haven't achieved our goal today. We still need to see Teacher Song or find where he keeps the exam papers."

"It's already come to this, so stop being so saintly. If you ask me, find Song Haijian and take care of him."

"We still don't know Zhao Xiaomei's situation, that burning at the stake..."

"Xiaomei, Xiaomei, Xiaomei, you call her so affectionately! She jumps down as fast as she can as she can when she sees her!"

"This isn't the time to be jealous, is it? Besides, it's a matter of life and death..."

"Alright, whatever we decide to do, we need to be quick. I think once these law enforcement nuns are evacuated, they'll start causing trouble for us."

"Let's take this opportunity to strike at the heart of the enemy's lair."

"Straight to the heart of the enemy? Xiao Yao, you really are something else." A man's voice suddenly came from the nearby broadcast that had been playing evacuation notices.

Xiao Yao raised his head and shouted into the loudspeaker, "Song Haijian, don't be a coward there. We've seen everything you've done. Now I also want to give you a piece of advice: Wei Junjie, if you're willing to come out and admit your mistakes and repent, I... I might be able to let you resign with dignity."

"Aren't you yourselves the ones hiding in the shadows like rats? If you want to see me, then come to the playground. I want to hear what makes you think I'm the one who needs to admit my mistakes and repent." Song Haijian's voice rang out over the loudspeaker with an unpleasant laugh.

Xiao Yao and his group returned to the playground they had passed when they entered the gate.

The playground, which used to be bustling with people, is now deserted—Song Haijian is not here.

"Song Haijian, we're at the playground now. How long are you going to hide?"

"I've always been here; you've just been blind to my true nature." This time, Song Haijian's voice wasn't coming from the loudspeaker. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a platform supported by a mechanical arm beneath the huge clock face at the top center of the monastery tower. On the platform sat a simple set of desks and chairs, and behind them sat the silhouette of Song Haijian…

Song Haijian sat quietly behind his desk, dressed in a pristine white robe that revealed his bare feet. A shimmering halo surrounded his head, like a sacred mark. His face was slightly aged, but his eyes shone with a profound "wisdom" and sharp shrewdness. On his white robe were two meaningful Greek letters: α and Ω. Xiao Yao had seen them in the church; Yu Luying had told him they represented beginning and end.

“Father Yu, I have long admired your name. It is an honor to meet you for the first time. Perhaps I should address you as brother…”

“He is the adversary, who exalts himself above all who are called gods or worshiped, so that he will sit in the temple of God and declare himself God.” Yu Bo read a passage of scripture aloud.

“Ah, you’re declaring me a heretic,” Song Haijian calmly pointed out.

Yu Bo sneered, mocking, "Heretic? You dare call yourself that? You're nothing more than a piece of bacon."

"But do your three lackeys know how notorious you are among the old parishioners? As a clergyman, you frequently beat others with violence and have objectively become the... boss of this area? If it weren't for your father, Yu Baolu, your Bishop Jin would have suspended you long ago... Father, no, Italian Father."

Yu Bo opened his mouth to speak, but Song Haijian continued on his own: "Your illegal proselytizing work is indeed very successful, and you are very popular among young people... especially among female believers. In fact, you're too popular, which is why there are rumors about you and your young female believers..."

(Author's note: Dear editors, this is an attack and defamation of the male supporting character by the villain, and has no "negative religious or detrimental to minors" connotation. This is hereby declared.)

"Now our God has gained victory and power and kingdom, and has shown the authority of his Christ, for the accuser who accuses our brothers day and night before our God has been cast down."

"Besides chanting scriptures, you can also—oh dear!" Song Haijian suddenly fell headfirst off the platform.

"He really fell!" Xiao Yao commented in surprise, while Shen Jie burst into laughter.

"Uncle, you're amazing! How did you do that?"

"Throwing mud at me won't work—your guide has been switched, didn't you know?" Yu Bo raised his violin case and pointed it at Song Haijian.

“But she still fulfilled her mission very well. That’s the power of order. Anyone who is embedded in the system of order can play the right role.” Song Haijian raised his head and revealed a mysterious smile.

"You're probably too confident. Even if you tout your oppression and punishment of students as an essential management method, how do you explain burning them at the stake? Who gave you that right? Is completely abandoning students who make mistakes your philosophy as an educator? Your distorted prison of thought has nothing to do with order; it's all about pure power and dictatorship."

"Burning at the stake? You mean the graduation ceremony? That's not about me abandoning students who made mistakes, but rather the reality of society: there are some students who don't have the opportunity to achieve higher life ideals through the college entrance examination and must face a miserable future of staying at the bottom of society and enduring everything. I'm glad to see that you weren't bound by the rules and boldly used cheating to get out of this mess." Song Haijian's face showed a compassionate expression.

"You're talking nonsense! I'll say it again, I didn't cheat!" Xiao Yao drew his sword: "Besides, we got out of your damn traps on our own."

"Xiao Yao, do you think I hate you because you cheated? You're wrong. I hate you because you're so stupid. You got caught cheating, and you still had to be stubborn and drag everyone else down with you."

“Cheating? Isn’t cheating wrong?” Yu Luying asked incredulously.

"What is cheating? Using cheat sheets during an exam is cheating, peeking at a classmate's answers is cheating, stealing an exam paper is cheating—but does a teacher highlighting key points before an exam count as cheating? Does a student cramming at the last minute and staying up all night to memorize questions count as cheating? Furthermore, does your hard work to get good grades count as cheating?"

"Of course not!" Shen Jie shouted, "How can studying properly be considered cheating? You old man, you're full of twisted logic, you're really wicked!"

"Then I'd like to ask you, this young lady born with a silver spoon in her mouth, have you been studying properly?" Song Haijian's eyes shone brightly: "You haven't, because you don't need to. Compared to your little boyfriend, your attitude towards learning is nothing more than the pot calling the kettle black."

"You, I—!"

"What gives you the right to cry and criticize your boyfriend for not studying hard? Isn't it because he embarrassed you? To you, dating him is a condescending favor. You've already suffered enough, so you treat him like an object, hoping that one day he will become a shiny briefcase that you can carry around under your arm..."

"Stop trying to sow discord in front of me," Xiao Yao interrupted Song Haijian. "Shen Jie is very good to me, and I'm willing to work even harder for her."

Song Haijian ignored Xiao Yao and continued speaking to Shen Jie: "Others go through countless trials and tribulations, struggle their whole lives, and still find it hard to have even one ten-thousandth, one millionth, of what you have now. Is that fucking fair?"

“My grandfather and father both became wealthy through hard work, and they didn’t stop others from working hard. So where is this unfair?” Shen Jie said angrily.

"Your father and grandfather worked hard to exploit and accumulate their initial capital; it was indeed hard work," Song Haijian mocked.

Although she was the object of ridicule, the phrase "exploiting with great effort" still struck a chord with Shen Jie, making her burst into laughter.

"Justice resides in the hearts of the people. For ordinary students like Xiao Yao and Yu Luying, the only chance they have to achieve wealth through hard work like your ancestors is to go through the layers of selection in the education system and seek development on a higher platform. Compared to you, the rabbit, they are like the tortoise, who can only carry a heavy shell and keep moving forward without stopping in order to seize a sliver of opportunity while you are slacking off and sleeping."

"You can also bite a rabbit's tail to move forward," Yu Luying, who hadn't spoken for a while, suddenly teased.

"?" Xiao Yao touched the shield he was carrying on his back and stretched his head out.

Chapter 146 Xiao Yao's Final Exam Make-up

2023-03-31

"Isn't educational selection simply about choosing whoever has the best grades? Between a lazy rabbit and a tortoise that runs to the finish line, of course you choose the tortoise. What does that have to do with cheating?"

Song Haijian sneered, "That's what you think educational selection is. Does the race between the hare and the tortoise really need exams and competitions to determine who's faster? As a math teacher, I know better than anyone the difference between talent and lack thereof. In reality, educational selection is about systematically choosing the fast hare and eliminating the lazy hare and all the tortoises who are destined to be slow. If no one cheats, not a single tortoise can get ahead. Some people say that's fair, but I say, that's fucking unfair!"

The shadow grew more and more excited as it spoke, spreading its arms wide: "What I'm doing is using any means necessary to cultivate the best and most outstanding tortoises, so that ordinary people have a chance to change their fate of being trampled underfoot their whole lives. And studying hard is the safest and most effective way for tortoises to 'cheat'—and if any tortoises come up with a cheating method that is both effective and won't be exposed, I won't object."

Looking at Song Haijian's shadow with his compassionate expression, Xiao Yao inexplicably felt somewhat persuaded. He decided to negotiate: "Teacher Song, I will study hard, for my own sake, really. We don't want to kill you, can you please stop thinking about expelling or punishing me and Yu Luying?"

“Of course,” Song Haijian nodded with satisfaction, “as long as… you can pass my final test.”

“I think,” Shen Jie took half a step forward, reminding Song Haijian, “that someone who’s being held at gunpoint has no right to create problems for others. Also, did Zhao Xiaomei actually come here?”

Song Haijian smiled slightly and looked up at the sky.

"Oh no!" Yu Luying shouted.

The office platform that the robotic arm had been holding had silently fallen back down sometime during the night. Song Haijian leaped up and sat back down behind his desk.

Yu Bo raised the "violin case" in his hand, decisively aimed at Song Haijian's calf, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!" The bullet struck Song Haijian squarely in the knee, but he was unharmed.

“Your old hunting rifle is broken and your gun license has expired,” Song Haijian told Yu Bo. “You’re using your cognitive and informational gaps to continue using this weapon in my temple. You can deceive other shadows and the intruder, but you can’t deceive me.”

Before Yu Bo could react, the office platform lifted by the robotic arm rose rapidly and retracted into the clock tower like a turtle's head. Then, the open clock face closed.

Immediately afterwards, the entire monastery began to shake violently, and all the architectural structures began to disintegrate and rotate back together.

Unaware of what was going on, Xiao Yao and the others quickly retreated.

In no time, the monastery in front of them disappeared, replaced by a huge... tank?

The tanks stood majestically on the empty parade ground, presenting a spectacular yet terrifying presence. Their massive bodies were on full display across the boundless plain.

Its shell looks like a masterpiece of futuristic technology, with a smooth surface and a black paint job with a slight metallic sheen, like a mobile fortress.

On both sides of the tank, the massive tracks are clearly visible. Each ring is made of advanced wear-resistant materials, making them look more vibrant and ornate than the tracks on other tanks. These tracks rotate back and forth, emitting a low mechanical noise, like monsters from another dimension.

The enormous muzzle, like a giant black hole, exuded a chilling aura. The entire turret was reinforced, appearing exceptionally sturdy and capable of withstanding attacks from any direction.

Then, the tank's tracks turned forward and backward again, making a creaking sound. The hull turned 15 degrees to one side, revealing five huge road wheels above the tracks, and the dark muzzle of the gun was lowered, pointing directly at Xiao Yao.

"Get ready for your final exams, Xiao Yao!" Song Haijian's voice came from the loudspeaker next to the tank.

No wonder he wanted to evacuate the students; it turns out the monastery was his true identity.

"You call it fairness to pit knights against tanks?" Xiao Yao shouted, raising his shield in front of him.

"You guys who carry shields and wear armor have always called yourselves tanks, haven't you? How is this unfair?" Song Haijian's voice said, "Besides, there are four of you!"

"Everyone scatter!" Yu Bo instructed Yu Luying and Shen Jie to scatter in two different directions, while he himself tried firing at the tank's guide wheels, hoping to temporarily restrict its movement.

Xiao Yao gripped the long sword in his hand tightly.

Relying solely on one's own strength and courage, this battle is undoubtedly... hopeless.

"Xiao Yao, fight with confidence!" Yu Bo's shout came from not too far away.