: The Mop with an X, Lu Bu Reborn

Because Xia Mo ran away so decisively, no one present reacted in time.

Dude, what happened to the hero saving the damsel in distress?

But everyone quickly came to their senses and realized that Xia Mo wasn't running to the office, but instead turned around and went back to her classroom.

Watanabe paused for a moment. "Aren't we going to tell the teacher?"

That's alright then, let's go after them.

Watanabe grinned maliciously: "Run? You think you can escape?"

He took off after him. Sato and the other two ran after him, and the crowd began to stir, with some people following along to see what was going on.

Xia Mo rushed into the classroom of Class 1, Grade 4. There were still a few students sitting in their seats chatting. When they saw him rush in with blood on his lips, they were all stunned.

Summer's end didn't stop; his gaze swept across the classroom, over the desks, the podium, and the corners—

I swept up the mop in the corner of the sanitation room.

The old mop, its wooden handle blackened by water, its cloth strips grayish, exuded an indescribable odor, a mixture of dampness, mildew, and stale disinfectant.

Xia Mo grabbed the mop, turned around, and rushed out of the classroom.

Watanabe had just run to the classroom door when he saw Natsume rushing out with a mop in her hand.

He instinctively shrank back, but Xia Mo didn't hit him with the mop; instead, she rushed over.

He carried the mop like a long spear, quickly wiping past Watanabe before rushing towards the men's restroom at the end of the corridor.

No one had time to react.

Watanabe was stunned.

Sato was stunned.

The students watching looked at each other, wondering what he was up to.

Xia Mo rushed into the toilet and shoved the mop head into the urinal.

He pressed the flush button.

Water gushed into the toilet bowl, soaking the dry mop cloth.

He waited three seconds—in those three seconds he heard footsteps and cursing coming from the hallway—before pulling the mop out of the water.

The dusty gray cloth strips had turned dark brown, and water dripped onto the ground, along with that smell—

The smell was beyond just being described as "unpleasant".

It was the smell of an atomic bomb explosion: a mixture of musty odor, toilet cleaner, toilet water, and some indescribable, unsettling odor that made you wonder when the toilet had last been flushed.

Xia Mo took a deep breath—and immediately regretted it, because all he inhaled was the smell of the mop—

Then, holding this super weapon, he rushed out of the toilet with a death wish.

In the corridor, Watanabe was walking towards the restroom with a "you little brat, get out here" look on his face.

Sato followed behind, probably already having prepared his lines.

Then they saw the end of summer.

I saw the mop in his hand.

I smelled that odor.

When they were still five meters apart, Watanabe slowed down.

It wasn't because he wanted to slow down, but because the scent had already reached his nasal cavity before the end of summer.

It was a very penetrating smell, like someone had stuffed a stinking ditch up his nose and twisted it twice.

"What—what are you doing—"

Xia Mo didn't speak. He picked up the mop and swung it around in the air.

Water droplets flew off the strip of cloth, like a small, extremely foul-smelling rain. A few drops landed on Watanabe's school uniform.

Watanabe's face changed from red to white to green in 0.3 seconds, like a plant being attacked by chemical weapons.

He covered his nose and took two steps back.

Xia Mo took a step forward.

"What did you just say?" Xia Mo asked.

"You fucking—put that thing down—"

Summer did not end.

He shoved the mop forward, the cloth nearly wiping Watanabe's face. Watanabe let out a strange sound—a combination of a scream and retching—and jumped back a large step, crashing into the corridor wall.

Sato and the others were in a worse situation. The moment that smell wafted over, Sato's face turned green, and Tanaka and Yamamoto simultaneously covered their mouths, their expressions as if they were looking at the most terrifying thing in the world.

"Don't come any closer!!!" Tanaka screamed.

Summer is over.

He carried the mop like a general holding his battle flag, walking step by step toward the three people.

For every step they took forward, they took a step back.

Water droplets continued to splash from the mop, and the corridor was filled with a smell that would make anyone with a nose want to flee the battlefield.

The students who had been watching had retreated more than ten meters away. Some had covered their noses and run back to the classroom, while others were peering out the window with expressions ranging from shock to hysterical laughter.

Watanabe was trying to salvage some dignity.

He took a deep breath.

He failed again, and he felt like he was about to break down after smelling it one more time.

Watanabe shouted viciously, "You're a man, hitting someone with a mop, have you no shame?!"

Xia Mo flicked the mop in his direction.

Watanabe's words were replaced by a scream.

He crouched down, covered his head with his hands, and curled up into a ball, like a large canine that had been doused with boiling water.

There's no way around it; even if you win against such a nuclear weapon, you'll still be ridiculed by everyone until graduation.

Not only that, but his reputation for life might be ruined by this mop!

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, okay?! Don't bring that thing near me!"

Sato had retreated to the top of the stairs, her face as white as a ghost.

Xia Mo turned to her, holding a mop, blood still dripping from the corner of her mouth, her school uniform collar torn askew, looking both disheveled and terrifying, yet strangely funny.

"You—" he gasped, his voice not loud, but everyone in the now quiet corridor could hear him clearly, "Are you coming or not?"

Sato looked at the mop dripping with an unknown liquid, then at Xia Mo's swollen lips and cracked mouth, and opened his mouth.

She wanted to say something harsh—she definitely wanted to—but that smell wafted over again.

Her eyes reddened, her lips trembled, and in the end, she said nothing.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Yamamoto broke down first, covering his mouth and crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we were wrong!" Tanaka also shouted.

Sato bit her lip, looked at Natsume, and then at Asuka, who was standing in the distance, still clutching the dirty rag in her hand.

Her expression contorted for a moment, then she forced out a sentence through gritted teeth: "...I'm sorry."

Xia Du, mop in hand, stood like a war god in the middle of the corridor, watching the four perpetrators tumble and crawl down the stairs.

He didn't put the mop down until their footsteps had completely disappeared.

The corridor was quiet for a moment.

Then, from some unknown direction, came the first barely suppressed laugh.

Immediately afterwards, the entire corridor seemed to be switched on, filled with laughter, chatter, and whistles.

"What the hell is that mop?! Hahahaha—"

"Did he soak it in toilet water? That's too cruel!"

"Did you see Watanabe's expression just now? His face was green! I've never seen a person's face turn that green before!"

Xia Mo stood in the middle of the corridor, still holding the mop in her hand. She had a cut on the corner of her mouth, a small bruise on her left cheekbone, and a button missing from her school uniform.

His eyes were slightly red, perhaps from the smell of the mop or from the exercise he had just done.

But he didn't cry.

He looked at his classmates who were laughing and joking, and finally shifted their focus away from the birds, and let out a deep breath.

"Late summer."

A very soft voice came from behind.

He turned around. Feiniao stood two steps behind him, still clutching the rag in her hand, her eyes red-rimmed and her lips trembling.

She looked at his face—at the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth, at the bruises on his face, at his utterly disheveled appearance.

Tears streamed down her face.

"Don't cry," Xia Mo's voice suddenly became panicked. He hid the mop behind his back, as if afraid that the smell would bother her. "Um... this mop smells a bit, please stay away from it."

The bird didn't move any further. She took a step forward, tears falling to the ground in a steady stream. Her lips trembled several times before she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"Are you an idiot...?"

Xia Mo scratched her head, which aggravated the wound on the corner of her mouth, causing her to hiss in pain.

He smiled sheepishly, a smile that looked both funny and heartbreaking on his cracked lips.

"There's no other way. I can't win, and I can't just take the beating for nothing."

At the end of the corridor, the teacher finally heard the commotion and ran over.

Upon seeing a fourth-grade boy standing in the middle of the corridor with blood at the corner of his mouth and a suspicious-smelling mop in his hand, the teacher's expression went through a cycle of confusion, shock, anger, and confusion again in an instant.

The teacher hesitated for a few steps forward, sniffed the air, her expression changed, and she retreated.

"Summer's End! What are you doing?!"

Xia Mo looked down at the mop in her hand, then at the teacher, her expression as serious as if she were answering a math problem.

"Teacher, I'm mopping the floor."

The corridor was silent for half a second.

Then everyone—including Asuka—

all laughed.