Cultivation by Trial and Error

The people approaching from the direction of the small hillside were a man and a woman.

The girl, Lin Lan, was a classmate in class 103 with Chen Hai, and also the class beauty, as recognized by most of the boys.

During the three years of high school, Chen Hai was her deskmate for over half a semester.

Among young men and women, there was naturally an attraction.

While he had been Lin Lan's deskmate, Chen Hai felt that his academic performance seemed to have improved quite a bit.

He had barely managed to score above sixty in several subjects that he had previously failed.

Unfortunately, Chen Hai, who harbored some naïve thoughts, having no money, no looks, and poor academic performace, always felt somewhat ashamed in front of Lin Lan.

In truth, there were more than one or two people in their class 103 who had a crush on Lin Lan, and Chen Hai was simply the one with the least presence.

The person with Lin Lan at this moment was Qian Bing from the next class over.

Back in middle school, he had written an essay that was illogical, yet it unexpectedly won first prize in a town-wide essay competition.

The reason was simple, his essay was titled "My Father, the Mayor."

With such a background, Qian Bing was not just the dominant figure in school, but he also had a lot of clout outside of school and was very influential.

At the moment, Chen Hai was only about six or seven meters away from them.

However, although Chen Hai could see them, they couldn't see him at all.

"Is it them? I haven't heard that those two have any close relationship. What are they doing here at this time?"

"Qian Bing is not a good guy, should I follow them to see?"

With a bit of suspicion in his heart, Chen Hai muttered to himself.

He really had no positive impression of Qian Bing.

Just over a month ago, a guy who hung out with Qian Bing had bullied him, forcibly borrowing a yuan from him.

One should know, Chen Hai's weekly allowance was only a few yuan.

A yuan was at least enough for his food for a day.

Although the incident hadn't been done by Qian Bing, the guy who did it was Qian Bing's lackey, and at the time, Qian Bing had stood by, watching with a grin.

Chen Hai had always kept this incident in mind; it would be odd if he had a good impression of Qian Bing.

In the middle of the night, on this desolate mountain, having encountered Lin Lan and Qian Bing, driven by curiosity, Chen Hai hesitated for a moment and then lightly followed them.

"Lin Lan, we've been walking for a while, you must be tired. Let's rest here!"

Not far along, Qian Bing grabbed Lin Lan's hand and stopped in a grassy area on the hillside.

"Qian Bing, didn't you say there was a place behind the school where we could sneak onto the campus?"

Lin Lan shook off Qian Bing's hand and deliberately kept some distance from him, her face full of confusion as she spoke.

"Lin Lan, you should know very well how I've treated you."

"Your father is seriously ill and needed to be transferred to another hospital. You asked me for help and I agreed without hesitation."

"To help you, I pulled strings and gave gifts, and it really took some effort to transfer him to County People's Hospital."

"Tell me, how have I treated you?"

While speaking, Qian Bing without asking, pulled Lin Lan into his arms.

"Qian Bing, I remember the favor of you pulling strings to transfer my father.

"After the evening self-study, he asked me to come out for a late-night snack, and here I am, right?"

"Please don't be like this, okay? We're not boyfriend and girlfriend, just classmates..."

Lin Lan struggled desperately, but her strength was clearly no match for Qian Bing, who was much bigger and stronger.

Realizing she couldn't break free and had no other choice, she bit down hard on Qian Bing's hand.

"Ah..." A scream escaped him, and indeed, Lin Lan had bitten him quite severely.

A few steps away, Lin Lan had just escaped his grasp and kept backing away. As he looked at his own hand, bearing the clear imprint of her teeth, his expression darkened, turning almost ferocious.

Panicking, Lin Lan kept backing away while Qian Bing followed closely, pressing on step by step.

Frightened by Qian Bing's menacing appearance, Lin Lan turned and ran.

He had put a lot of effort into coaxing Lin Lan, dragging her until the school gates were closed, and making up many excuses to get her to this deserted hillside.

Run? Where could she run? Qian Bing was not about to let her go easily!

With a strange chuckle, he quickly followed her.

"What does Qian Bing want to do? Force her?"

Watching the two struggling nearby, Chen Hai felt rather upset.

If it were a mutual romance, he definitely wouldn't have interfered, and perhaps he would have even enjoyed watching the drama unfold.

But now, with Lin Lan desperately wanting to escape, it was clear that Qian Bing wanted to take her by force!

No matter what, Lin Lan was his classmate and a girl he had once had a crush on. Chen Hai was contemplating whether to help her.

Furthermore, having just entered Tao Cultivation and stepped into the Night Tour Realm, he wanted to test if his Bloodsucker Spirit could manifest using his body as an anchor in reality.

In Chen Hai's view, if his idea could materialize, and his Bloodsucker Spirit could be seen by others, it might not hurt anyone, but it would certainly scare them.

Because Qian Bing was blocking the way down the hill, the frantic Lin Lan had no choice but to run upwards.

Coincidentally, her direction of escape was where Chen Hai's physical body was hiding.

Just seven or eight meters from Chen Hai's location, the girl tripped over a tree root in her panic and fell to the ground.

In the dead of night, Chen Hai sitting behind a bush seemed quite eerie, and he didn't want to be seen.

Initially hesitating about whether to help Lin Lan, he finally made up his mind at this moment.

"Lin Lan, even the heavens are on my side. Stop struggling in vain; tonight, you are destined to be mine..."

With a laugh full of insinuation, Qian Bing quickly reached Lin Lan's side.

Just as he was about to make a further move, suddenly, he felt chilling wind gusts.

Looking around, he saw clearly that to his left, a giant leech, taller than a person, was coiling in the void.

On the leech's forehead, ten U-shaped formidable compound eyes glittering with streaks of Blood Light were fixated on him.

In that moment, Qian Bing froze, his face rapidly changing.

Filled with terror and alarm, it was hard to find the right words to describe his expression at that moment.

Like he was petrified, large beads of sweat streamed down his forehead.

In that instant, his whole body was drenched as if he had just come out of the water.

"Mommy, there's a ghost..." Covered in goosebumps, Qian Bing stood frozen for a while before letting out a shrill scream.

As if gone mad, he scattered his feet and ran wildly toward the bottom of the hill.