Castle of Black Iron

On the last week of school, not only were all the undergraduates preparing for their first survival training, but the school officials were as well. The undergraduates felt anxious about their safety, as there has been casualties every year during the survival training. This was not simply a trip in the wild but a test of their abilities to survive in the cruelty of this age. The world within the city walls was utterly different from outside the city walls.

On Monday morning, all the horny undergraduates stayed in an amphitheater as they waited for the teacher. However, the person that arrived this time wasn’t their usual teacher; it was a fellow student who had graduated the year before and was now a soldier serving the City Guard Army of Blackhot City.

He told them of his past experiences on the trip and how he had witnessed the death of two peers because of carelessness in the last year’s survival training. They were killed by a seemingly harmless White-Bone Mushroom. When they boiled the mushroom and consumed it along with the soup, they were unfortunately unable to get up the next morning, as they had already been poisoned to death when they were found. Only when the White-Bone Mushroom was found inside the soup was the cause of death discovered…

Nothing particularly stood out in the story, and the reason for the tragedy was also simple. From its looks alone, the poisonous White-Bone Mushroom looked almost identical to the common, edible umbrella-shaped mushroom. The only difference between them were the gray circular grains over the rootstalk of the White-Bone Mushroom. Since the person responsible for scavenging for food wasn’t able to distinguish between the two mushrooms, he lost his life. Although it was a simple story, it was because of the simplicity of the events that caused everyone to feel a chill. At this moment, they realized the cruelty of the survival training. Knowledge regarding the White-Bone Mushroom and the umbrella-shaped mushroom was something that was taught in school; however, if one doesn’t remember it firmly, they would solely be responsible for the mistakes in the future at the cost of their own or even another person’s life…

All the horny students were shocked when they heard what the fellow student said. That class was ten thousand times more effective than what the other teachers had taught. The school probably knew about the difference as well; hence, why they arranged the class on their last Monday at school, so as to warn them.

The moment the morning class was over, all the members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood surrounded Sharwin.

"Sharwin, have you kept your biology notes for the past two years with you?" Fatty Barley pressed down on Sharwin’s shoulders and asked him nervously while the other members were nervously waiting for Sharwin’s response to the side. The story was really terrifying. Nobody would know whether they had forgotten any crucial knowledge during the past three years, as the world outside the city walls was much more dangerous than they could imagine. It was unfortunate to be eaten while fighting a magical beast with full preparations; however, if you lost your life because of your carelessness, you would fully deserve it.

"Yea, what’s wrong?" Sharwin asked in a confused way.

"What’s wrong? Of course, you should lend them to us, so that we can have a good review…"

"Alright, no problem!" Sharwin answered without any hesitation. "I have preserved those notes well. There are two more notebooks at home. I will bring them if you need them!"

Hearing this, Fatty Barley rolled his eyes. Something seemed to come to his mind as he said, "Bros, maybe we can make some money with Sharwin’s notes!"

All the other members also realized it at the same time. Even Zhang Tie was admiring Barley’s intelligence. However, their plan to make money by Sharwin’s notes failed in the same afternoon. When Fatty Barley was planning the price of a copy of Sharwin’s notes, Burwick made all the horny students boisterous once again.

...

"Hurry up, let’s go find Burwick. He has already made a copy of the notes from the biology classes over the past couple of years and turned them into a brochure called <Identification Brochure of Dangerous Living Beings in the Survival Training >. He’s giving it out for free. Come on, let’s go get one!"

One guy shouted during the break. Hearing his words, almost all the horny students in the classroom ran out of the classroom, leaving the members of the brotherhood blankly staring at each other. After a while, Barley opened his mouth widely and finally cursed—Damn...

At that moment, Zhang Tie suddenly felt an uncomfortable feeling in his heart…

The speed and preparation of the guy named Burwick really shocked Zhang Tie.

Starting from the <Identification Brochure of Dangerous Living Beings in the Wild Training Survival>, all the horny students nervously began to prepare for their survival training during the last few days of the week, which included preparing the necessary equipment and living materials. Each one of them could only take five days worth of food at most for the survival training. As for weapons, luggage, medicine, or something else, they could bring as many as they wanted…

In these days, Glaze’s group was never seen in the school cafeteria again. It was impossible for them to show off in the school cafeteria anymore. Actually, they would feel reluctant gazes, so they directly ate in hotels outside the school.

"Guess what Glaze’s group ate this noon?" There would always be someone shouting this when queuing up in the cafeteria. Hearing his words, all the other horny students started to laugh out loudly.

In contrast, Burwick became increasingly more popular at school, resulting in a great number of people standing by his side.

Zhang Tie didn’t know why, but ever since Monday, his heart always pounded and his hands sweated more than usual. These days, he felt weak for no reason. On Tuesday when Zhang Tie arrived at the Railway Station once again, he found more magistrates patrolling the area than usual. Out of curiosity, he asked a person nearby about what had happened. It turned out that many people were burnt to death in that fire accident near the Railway Station a couple of days ago. That’s why those magistrates nearby the railway station became more alert, though they seemed to have found no clues regarding that fire accident.

Zhang Tie arrived at the grocery store as usual. While settling the accounts, a heart pounding feeling was felt again, causing him to make two consecutive mistakes. Zhang Tie smiled bitterly and pushed all the beads back to their original places before he started to calculate again.

"What’s wrong?" Donder asked to Zhang Tie when he realized something was off about him.

"Nothing serious, just a little bit distracted. These days, my heart has been speeding up for no reason!"

"Heart speeding up for no reason?" Hearing this, Donder gradually frowned. "Does anyone from your family have a heart disease?"

"No!"

"Did you have such a feeling before?" Donder continued.

"Also no. I started to feel it this Monday!" Zhang Tie answered honestly.

"Are you a virgin?"

"Shit!" Zhang Tie cursed inside. However, he didn’t say anything when he saw the serious face of Fatty Donder.

"Answer me, I’m not kidding!" Donder looked more serious than he has ever looked, which almost frightened Zhang Tie.

"I am a virgin!" Zhang Tie could only admit. Feeling like he lost face, he then added, "But I won’t soon!"

After a while, Donder muttered while rubbing his sparse mustache, "Have you heard about Blood Tide Sense?"

"Blood Tide Sense?" Zhang Tie was puzzled. Then, he seemed to realize something immediately and nodded. "I have heard about it from those horny students…"

"How could someone from your school know about this Oriental mysterious knowledge?" Donder was startled.

"That is an Oriental secret?" Zhang Tie was curious. "Many people know about it. I heard females would bleed so much every month, yet they wouldn’t be hurt. They are truly strong…"

"Bastard!" the boss cursed as the corners of his eyes twitched. At the same time, he flicked Zhang Tie’s forehead with a finger, causing Zhang Tie to feel so much pain that he jumped up. "I mean Blood Sense. Have you heard about it? No crap! I have played with more women than you have seen, you scumbag!"

Zhang Tie innocently rubbed his forehead. He truly didn’t know where he was wrong. He really thought that women were stubborn beings, as they bleed but feel no pain.

Sucking in deep breaths, Donder recovered his composure. Staring at Zhang Tie, he said, "The so-called Blood Tide Sense means that some lucky dogs might be able to feel impending danger or a fruitful opportunity. They would feel like how you feel these days; with Blood Tide Sense, you would always feel your heart pounding and would also feel excited. People who had a sharp sixth sense or virgin males might have the same feeling as you. I suspect that you have Blood Tide Sense and an unpredictable danger is coming to you!"

Zhang Tie turned pale. "I’m in danger?"

"Tell me, have you provoked some important figure?" Donder asked genuinely.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Tie recalled nobody but Glaze. "As for Mary, in the worst case scenario, she might fetch someone to beat me; however, it shouldn’t make my heart pound."

"Could it be Glaze? It seems that I have not provoked anyone else other than Glaze’s group!"

"I’m not sure. Sometimes you don’t know whom you have provoked; however, they still want to kill you. There are powerful diviners in the East who can figure out the origin of the unknown danger based on the time your Blood Sense or other relevant trivial symptoms that appeared. As a result, the danger could be avoided. Unfortunately, I can’t!" Donder shook his head. "Since you know it’s coming, you can only prepare for what’s about to come!"

Saying this, Donder searched the drawers in the counter and took out two goods, giving them to Zhang Tie. "I know you’re going to take part in the survival training, so I’ve prepared two gifts for you. They can help you deal with danger!"

Zhang Tie realized that they were both "elite" goods—a vial of the purest "powerful rat poison" and a sheathed dagger. The blade of the dagger was very sharp; however, the most threatening part on it was not the sharp blade; instead, it was the handle which could send needles covered with snake poison towards the opponent. As a result, the person hit would be paralyzed and unable to move. The needle being sent out was so powerful that it could even penetrate through glass that was 1cm thick…

The two gifts were something that Zhang Tie definitely could not afford, but in the end, Zhang Tie did not reject them and finally accepted them.

Seeing Zhang Tie receive them without any hesitation, Donder nodded…

While Zhang Tie stood in Donder’s grocery store as he thought over the possible sources of the unknown dangers, Huck and Snade were standing in an alley near the railway station. Standing in front of them were more than twenty young beggars and wandering kids. Lining up, they each stared at the coins in Snade’s hands. Each of them would take 10 coppers before tossing them into their pockets and quickly scatter in all directions. 10 copper coins might be a small amount of money for commoners; however, it was enough for these people at the bottom of society in Blackhot City to do many things. As these poor people were willing to do many things for just a piece of bread, they would naturally be pleased to search for people near the railway station since they would each receive 10 copper coins at least. Once they found their target, they would receive another 2 copper coins, totaling to 12 copper coins…

When they weren’t able to find Zhang Tie after two days, Huck and Snade thought up this method. It was really hard for them to locate a person who’s on the move in these streets that numbered around ten near the railway station of Blackhot City. Thus, from that Monday onwards, the two of them changed their strategy with the one suggested by Snade. They stopped searching around alone by themselves. Instead, they fetched a few young beggars and wandering kids to help them. They thought that Zhang Tie would easily be recognized by his black hair and eyes, which were common features among the members of the Chinese clan.

Seeing those young beggars and wandering kids disappearing in the alley like a spreading fishing net, Snade showed a wisp of a smile.

"Would this method actually work?" Huck panted. To the side, Snade impatiently pinched the joints of his fingers, causing sounds akin to exploding crackers. "In the past two days, they have found three wrong people…"

"I can feel that we will get that kid soon…"

"Once he gives back it to us, I swear I’ll pull out his heart and crush his head with my foot…" Huck said furiously.

"As you will…" Snade narrowed his eyes as he stretched out his long tongue and licked his lips. A cold and cruel air could be felt in the alley…