Chapter 18: The Strongest One Who Possesses “Heaven and Curse Binding”!

“It was me behind the scenes, directing Linlin.”

Xiran’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it struck the frozen air like a block of ice. 

The impact left Lin Zhizhi’s head ringing and made the suspended Bai Linlin momentarily forget the pain on her face.

“Huh?!”

Bai Linlin let out a short cry of shock, her eyes widening into perfect circles.

Xiran… she actually just exposed herself like that?

“Hahaha… Hahahahahaha!”

After a brief, dead silence, Lin Zhizhi suddenly exploded into loud laughter.

She clutched her still-bleeding palm, laughing so hard her shoulders shook and tears nearly spilled from her eyes. 

Yet there was little joy in that laughter. It sounded more like an eruption of pure rage mixed with extreme excitement.

“Heh…”

After laughing her fill, she took a heavy breath. Raising her uninjured left hand, she wiped away the tears with her thumb. 

Her eyes, however, remained locked firmly on Xiran’s nearly expressionless face.

“So you really want to get beaten up that badly… Fine!”

Before she even finished speaking, her left foot slammed against the ground. 

Her body shot forward like a cannonball as her uninjured left fist, carrying the whistle of wind, flew straight toward Xiran’s face!

“Then take this punch!”

This fist was more than twice as vicious as the one she had used on Bai Linlin earlier. 

Its speed was so fast it left faint afterimages in the air.

However, when her fist was less than half a foot away from Xiran’s face, an intangible yet bone-chillingly cold aura suddenly erupted from Xiran’s body.

It wasn’t wind, yet it made the surrounding air feel as if it had frozen solid.

Lin Zhizhi’s fist came to an abrupt stop in midair. Her heart felt gripped by an icy hand. 

A primal fear toward a higher predator surged through her body for no logical reason, causing her to shiver violently as her momentum died instantly.

Xiran didn’t even twitch an eyelash. 

She simply watched her with those deep, dark eyes, as if regarding a clawing, tooth-baring insect that posed no actual threat.

“Also, I forgot to mention one thing.”

Xiran’s voice remained flat.

She took a small step forward. 

Although she was smaller and more delicate than Lin Zhizhi, she now carried an overwhelming, domineering pressure.

“Lin Zhizhi.”

She spoke the name, each syllable falling like a drop of ice.

“I have not given you permission,”

She paused, her gaze sweeping across Lin Zhizhi’s fist frozen in midair and then her bleeding hand.

“to continue bullying me.”

“‘Bullying’ me,”

Xiran tilted her head slightly, as if stating the simplest, most obvious fact.

“Is a ‘task’ and ‘privilege’ that belongs solely to Linlin. You are not worthy.”

Looking at Lin Zhizhi’s face, which had instantly turned iron-gray, she delivered her final ultimatum.

“Stop now, and I can reluctantly overlook this rudeness of yours this once.”

“Otherwise,”

Xiran’s pupils appeared like unfathomably deep, icy pools under the moonlight.

“I will make your body remember exactly how the word ‘death’ is written.”

Lin Zhizhi’s breathing grew heavy.

It wasn’t due to exhaustion, but because of rage, humiliation, and… a sliver of fear she refused to acknowledge—the fear of being utterly overpowered by the other girl’s presence.

Her body began trembling uncontrollably. Her teeth ground together audibly.

“Don’t…”

Her voice was hoarse as she tried to mask her shaking with ferocity.

“Don’t joke around like that, Xiran!”

She shook her head violently, as if trying to fling away that inexplicable fear. 

Her eyes regained their fierce, stubborn glare as she stared at Xiran.

“Beating you up… something that feels this good—how could I possibly give it up!”

“Last time was an accident. This time I definitely will…”

“Is that so.”

Xiran cut off her baseless bravado. For the first time, something that could be called an actual expression appeared on her face.

A very faint look of boredom mixed with disdain.

“You won’t give up?”

That gaze was like looking at a stupid child throwing a tantrum for candy, completely unaware of what kind of existence they were reaching toward.

“I see… You won’t give up.”

Xiran repeated once more. Her tone barely fluctuated, yet it nearly made Lin Zhizhi’s blood flow in reverse.

“You look down on me?!”

Lin Zhizhi’s last thread of sanity finally snapped under the complete disregard and contempt.

She retreated two steps, as if creating space to unleash something. 

Her injured right hand hung limply at her side, blood dripping onto the grass, while her left hand clenched tightly into a fist and positioned in front of her.

“Xiran!”

She practically roared, her voice distorted by excitement and the power about to be released.

“You probably still don’t know who I really am!”

“I don’t care who you are.”

Xiran couldn’t even be bothered to show a speechless expression. 

Only pure indifference remained, as if Lin Zhizhi’s grand declaration was worth less attention than the rustling of leaves in the night wind.

This attitude completely ignited Lin Zhizhi.

“Good! Good! Very good!”

She said the word three times in succession. In her extreme fury, she laughed instead. Her smile was savage and twisted.

“Perk up your ears and listen carefully!”

She took a deep breath and straightened her spine. The aura around her body began to change.

It was no longer simple anger or ferocity. Something more primitive, more violent, was brewing and churning within her.

The grass at her feet stirred without any wind, bending outward slightly with her at the center.

“I, Lin Zhizhi!”

She spoke each word deliberately, her voice rumbling like muffled thunder.

“Am the strongest bully!”

Her eyes began to turn bloodshot. 

The muscles beneath her uniform bulged and writhed unnaturally. 

Faint, ominous dark red patterns surfaced on her skin, as if some kind of power was being forcibly awakened and drawn out from deep within her body.