Castle of Black Iron

Feeling a slight itch on his shin, Zhang Tie finally woke up. Opening his eyes, the first thing Zhang Tie saw was an aged green stone roof. After thinking for a while, he remembered what had happened to him.

Wolves… black hole… endless rolling inside the hole, and that huge shock that made him lose his consciousness.

“Am I still alive?” Zhang Tie pinched his face and felt pain. He then touched all over his body, from his toes to his head, and had found nothing amiss, even his p*nis was completely fine. With the exception of many bruises and wounds, which were not very severe, he was completely fine.

“Haha...” Sitting on the bed, Zhang Tie burst out into laughter.

Hearing his laughter in the quiet house, the door to the room was pushed open as a man fiercely rushed in. “Bighead, you’re awake! That’s great! Haha!”

The person who rushed in immediately pressed Zhang Tie back onto the bed, causing Zhang Tie to shriek due to feeling a sharp pain on his shin. “Ah! Scumbag, my leg! You’re pressing down on my leg…”

Hearing Zhang Tie’s shriek, Doug hurriedly moved his hand away from Zhang Tie’s leg and stood to the side. Scratching his head like a fool, Doug apologized, “Hey, hey, I’m sorry. I forgot that your shin was injured...”

With just a small amount of effort, Zhang Tie’s forehead was already covered in sweat as his face twitched due to the pain. After taking in two deep breaths, he felt much better. “Where am I? Why am I here?”

“We are in the outer castle of Wild Wolf Castle. That day when you fell into the hole, Captain Kerlin and Mr. Zerom went to get you out of the hole on the same evening. You are really lucky. I heard that 30m deep, there were several long slopes, and there were even some slopes that led people 200m deep in. Only after Captain Kerlin and Zerom went 200m deep were they able to find you. When they found you, you were wounded and in a coma, so they sent you here to receive treatment and to recuperate. Only those who were heavily injured and lost their ability to move could enjoy the treatment you’re receiving right now...” Doug couldn’t help pour out what had happened in the past two days.

Only those heavily injured could enjoy such treatment? Zhang Tie looked around, only to find an extremely large room that had more than 10 beds with clean sheets; it seemed like a ward. There was also the smell of disinfectant in this room. Judging from this, Zhang Tie realized that it truly was a ward, one which was occupied by the wounded people in the outer castle of Wild Wolf Castle.

“How long have I been in a coma for?”

“Including the evening from two days ago and yesterday, you’ve been asleep for two days!”

“I’ve been in a coma for two days?” Zhang Tie was surprised when he heard Doug’s reply. “Oh, who’s that Mr. Zerom guy?”

“Yeah, you’ve been in a coma for two days already. That Zerom fellow is responsible for Second National Male Middle School. You should have an impression of him. He’s skinny, pale, and looks cunning.” As Doug continued to speak, Zhang Tie had already caught sight of a “skinny, pale guy who looks cunning” entering through the door.

Zhang Tie hurriedly signaled Doug with his eyes that someone had entered the room and had even pulled on his clothes in an attempt to signal him; however, as Doug was always stupid in these critical moments, he didn’t understand even a bit of what Zhang Tie was trying to say. Instead, he had even asked:

“Why are you pulling me? I didn’t say anything wrong. I really mean it. That Zerom guy really does look like cunning, and when he smiles, it gives everyone a creepy feeling...”

“If you’re trying to say that I look cunning, then, I can understand that you’re jealous of my handsome face, but if you’re trying to say I’m cunning, then my only understanding is that you’re trying to slander a member of the Temporary Supervision Committee!” As he said this, Zerom entered the room.

Zhang Tie helplessly greeted, “Mr. Zerom!”

Hearing those words, Doug’s face turned pale. After sending Zhang Tie a reprimanding look, he stiffly turned around and staggered, “Mr. Ze… Zerom!”

“You’re Doug, right? Can you tell me… when the Andaman Alliance’s wartime decree is active, how are those who slanders the members of the Wartime Management Committee dealt with?” Zerom showed a very cunning smile.

Hearing Zerom’s question. Doug’s body trembled all over. If he was holding a winnowing fan, he would have already finished screening the wheat bran[1]. His jaw was shaking so much that his teeth would often hit each other. In times when the Andaman Alliance’s wartime decree was active, anyone who slandered a member of the Wartime Management Committee would be punished with at least being sent behind bars, with the worst punishment being the death penalty.

Zhang Tie was also scared to the point where his face turned pale. “Mr Zerom, Doug he…”

As he walked towards them, Zerom stopped by Doug and kicked him on the butt, sending him away. “This is my punishment for you…”

Doug, at this moment, became docile. After being kicked, he immediately ran out the door and turned his head towards Zhang Tie as he grimaced before escaping as fast as he could and soon disappeared.

Zerom was not a bad person; that was Zhang Tie’s first impression of him. In general, those teachers who would kick their student’s butt as a joke were always not a bad person inside.

“Thank you, Mr. Zerom. Doug just told me about what had happened after I fell into a coma. I was just about to go and thank you!” Zhang Tie said as he tried getting off the bed.

“It’s fine, you don’t need to move. You still need to rest your leg for another two days. Also, there’s no need to thank me. If too many students die during the survival training, then we teachers will lose face!” Zerom casually moved his hand towards Zhang Tie to stop him from getting off the bed before taking a seat beside Zhang Tie. “That’s right, that day, how did you decide to jump into that hole to survive? In that scenario, the choice most people would choose would be different than yours. Not to mention that hole was deep. In order to jump into that hole, the amount of courage needed would be no less than facing the seven wolves alone. Since the unknown makes people terrified, that bottomless hole would be terrifying even for people who are stronger than you. Even they would not dare to jump in.”

Hearing Zerom’s question, Zhang Tie felt a little embarrassed and began to scratch his head as he poured out his thought process during the escape. “I also don’t know why either, but that day when I saw the wolves drill out from the grass and charged at me, that’s what I thought. I knew my only hope of survival was that hole. I knew that my life would be determined in the next 20 seconds. At that time, I knew that if I ran to any other direction, I would have been killed. That’s what I thought, and that’s why I did that. Is there a problem, Mr. Zerom?”

“No, you did pretty well and nobody else could do better than you at that moment...” Zerom was at a loss of words. With a smile, he then said, “Earlier, I was just wondering how you were able to think of such an amazing and precise move in such a short period of time. Now I understand. It seems to be one of your talents, one which allows you to remain calm and make precise decisions in face of danger...”

“That’s also considered talent?” Zhang Tie became a little embarrassed, as he assumed that it was related to the marvelous tree. Miss Daina had once said that people’s thoughts also consumed the body’s energy, so in that case, he was able to remain calm and didn’t have any other distracting thoughts because all the distracting thoughts at that moment were routed to that small tree. Zhang Tie was also curious at this moment, as he did not realize that he had this talent before.

Certainly, Zerom didn’t know what Zhang Tie was really thinking at this moment. He simply responded to Zhang Tie’s question in a serious matter, “Of course. More than 99% of people in your situation would not be as calm as you. They wouldn’t be able to make such a precise and sharp decision in face of danger. Earlier, Kerlin had said that you were good at escaping. It seems that you truly are the best at escaping...”

Facing such weird praise, Zhang Tie could only force a smile. Meanwhile, he remembered that guy who was responsible for collecting mining ores. Did all the guys from Second National Male Middle School learn this weird way of talking from Zerom?

“Oh, have you ignited your Shrine burning point yet?”

“Yea, I have ignited it three days ago!”

Since what he had done to the wolves had surpassed the limit of any Lv 0 fighter, who would not be able to kill three wolves at once, it was no longer a secret. If he continued to tell a lie at this point, he would just be too foolish. Many great guys have already stood out during the survival training, and even several girls have ignited their Shrine burning point. For Zhang Tie to release the news that he has also ignited his Shrine burning point, it wouldn’t catch too much attention.

Sure enough, hearing Zhang Tie’s response, Zerom showed an expression that seemed to say it was expected. Without asking too many questions, he only encouraged Zhang Tie to diligently continue to cultivate before moving on to the next subject.

“Wolves are a type of very smart animal. A lone wolf might extend to populated areas to hunt preys or just to wander around, but a pack of wolves would rarely be seen here, as it would be very dangerous for them to do so. It’s also possible for a single wolf to be insane, but it’s impossible for a pack of wolves to be insane. In the past decade or so, after the exterminating operation from the guards of Wild Wolf Castle, packs of wild wolves were rarely seen. In the incident that you encountered, there was no other evidence found, so the Temporary Supervision Committee concluded that it was just an unexpected incident. However, you should understand what I’m trying to tell you!” Although Zerom didn’t explicitly say it and only implied it, Zhang Tie was still able to grasp the meaning behind his words.

“Teacher, are you trying to say someone set me up?” The look on Zhang Tie’s face changed again.

“That’s not what I said. I only said that this attack was very unnatural, and there might be someone behind it. I like smart students and I have a good impression of you, so I wanted to give you a warning. You should take care of yourself and try not to move alone for the remainder of the survival training!” Zerom straightforwardly put it.

“Are there people who could control packs of wolves?” Zhang Tie showed an amazed look.

At the sight of Zhang Tie’s amazed look, Zerom only showed a slight smile. “It’s not difficult to control a pack of wolves. If you can meet an beast tamer or one of the wild guards of the Guardian God School, you will find that it is pretty easy for them to control animals. They could even easily control a pack of wolves and could also determine where they will appear, when they will appear, and which people they will attack. Things like this are not uncommon in this world...”

……

After Zerom left, Zhang Tie began to deeply reflect over their conversation. Although his last words were an implication, Zhang Tie realized that he was obviously telling Zhang Tie to be careful. After thinking for quite a while, with the exception of Glaze’s group, he couldn’t think of anyone else who would set him up. Were they the culprits?

After Zerom left, Doug stealthily returned again. From Doug’s tone, Zhang Tie realized that the three wolves he had killed made him greatly valuable in the eyes of the others...

[1] Winnowing fan was used in processing grains. Specifically, using the winnowing fan, separates the grain from the chaff. More information is available on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnowing