Nancy Clark saw the bandage on William Carter's hand, nodded in understanding, and said angrily, "How old are you now, and you're still so careless!"

William Carter laughed and said, "Alright, I'll definitely be more careful next time." Looking at William Carter's beaming face, Nancy Clark felt that he really had changed a bit—at least he was much more cheerful.

"What's so funny? William Carter, did you run to the hospital just to avoid me? Haha!" Sarah Thompson walked over to William Carter with a mischievous grin.

Seeing Sarah Thompson picking on William Carter made Nancy Clark angry, and she shouted, "Sarah Thompson, are you crazy? Can't you see William Carter is hurt?"

"Oh, so he's your boyfriend since you're defending him like this? When did you two get together?"

Nancy Clark's face turned bright red with anger. "You... you have no shame." William Carter tugged at Nancy Clark and said, "Forget it, just treat what he says as nonsense! Why bother with him?" Nancy Clark couldn't help but giggle, looking playfully at Sarah Thompson without saying a word.

Sarah Thompson thought he had misheard and stared at William Carter, "What the hell did you just say?"

William Carter stood up, straightened his chest, and walked toward Sarah Thompson. When their faces were only half a foot apart, he stopped and said, word by word, "I just said you're talking nonsense!"

Everyone stared at William Carter in disbelief. Sarah Thompson felt like his head exploded, like a volcanic eruption. With bloodshot eyes, he said, "William Carter, don't think you're so tough just because you spent a few days in the hospital! Who are you trying to impress?" As he spoke, he punched William Carter in the face.

Blood trickled from the corner of William Carter's mouth, but this time he didn't cry—instead, he smiled. Looking at Sarah Thompson, he burst out laughing, shoving his hands into his pockets. When Sarah Thompson and everyone else thought William Carter had lost his mind, the laughter suddenly stopped. William Carter pulled his hand out of his pocket, and Sarah Thompson saw a knife—a brand new utility knife.

William Carter slowly pushed out the blade. The classroom was silent, except for the "click! click!" sound of the utility knife.

Suppressing his fear, Sarah Thompson didn't believe that William Carter, who had been beaten up by him just a week ago, could do anything to him now! "Screw you, you think I'm scared of your stupid knife? A loser like you wants to act tough? Take a look at yourself." Seeing that William Carter didn't move, he was even more convinced that he was just bluffing. Sarah Thompson shoved William Carter's head, "I can't stand the sight of you. Get lost, now."

William Carter waited for him to finish, then sidestepped, and suddenly the hand holding the knife swept past Sarah Thompson's face. Sarah Thompson only felt a cold sensation on his face, followed by the piercing screams of the surrounding classmates. A sweet and salty liquid flowed into Sarah Thompson's mouth. He reached up to touch his face—what was it? So sticky! Looking at his hand, it was covered in fresh blood.

"Ah!~~" Sarah Thompson screamed, clutching his face with both hands. William Carter stepped forward, grabbed his hair, and yanked hard, forcing Sarah Thompson to look him in the eyes: "Do you understand? This is what happens when you bully me!" Looking into William Carter's icy eyes, Sarah Thompson felt, just for a moment, that these weren't human eyes, but the eyes of a beast. Now he was truly afraid—for the first time in his life, he understood what death felt like. It wasn't because of the wound on his face, or the knife in William Carter's hand, but because of the person standing in front of him—someone both familiar and utterly strange.

After all, middle school students are still just kids; they'd never seen anything like this before. The timid girls were so scared they started crying. A male student ran out of the classroom, striding quickly to the homeroom teacher's office, pushed open the door, and rushed in. At that moment, the homeroom teacher was reading some reference materials before class. Seeing his student burst in so flustered, he asked, "Samuel Harris, why did you come in without knocking?"

Samuel Harris caught his breath and said, "Teacher, something's wrong! William Carter cut Sarah Thompson's face—there's so much blood!"

The homeroom teacher was a man who usually liked William Carter a lot. He thought this kid not only studied hard but was also especially smart—no matter how hard the problem, he could solve it after being taught just once, though he was a bit introverted. Hearing what Samuel Harris said, he found it hard to believe. How could a good kid like William Carter cut a classmate's face?! But looking at Samuel Harris, he didn't seem to be lying, so, out of curiosity, he walked with Samuel Harris back to the classroom.

When they reached the classroom door, they heard complete silence inside. The teacher glanced at Samuel Harris, thinking, "You little rascal, you better not be lying to me, or you'll be in trouble." Samuel Harris felt nervous under the teacher's gaze and stood frozen in place. The teacher pushed open the door and walked into the classroom. All the students were sitting at their desks. He first looked at William Carter, who was lying on his desk reading. Then he looked to the back and saw Sarah Thompson holding a handkerchief to his face, but the bright red blood had already soaked through, dripping onto the desk.

The teacher asked loudly, "Sarah Thompson, who cut your face?"

Sarah Thompson looked up, sneaking a glance at William Carter sitting in front of him, and saw that he was looking back at him with that same look—the look of a beast—which made him feel that if he told the truth, he'd be torn to pieces immediately. A chill ran through him, and he couldn't help but shiver. He stood up and shouted, "Teacher, I cut myself by accident, it wasn't anyone else."