Bullying

Wu Youren began to understand why there were all sorts of miscellaneous organizations within the Martial Academy. Wherever there were people, there was a jianghu—especially in a place rife with aggressive brawling, where huddling together for warmth was simply necessary. "This is Miss Sally's business," the male martial artist said, shooting her a glance without elaborating. Then he looked toward Wu Youren with a cold smirk. "You man of Jin, do you only know how to hide behind women?" "Then what should I do?" Wu Youren considered himself to have a decent temper, but even he could no longer stomach this. "Provoke a conflict between the states of Jin and Liang?" "You sure know how to flatter yourself," the male martial artist sneered. "Who do you think you are?" "We won't bully you either. A duel—do you dare?" Wu Youren watched him in silence, not uttering a word. "What, scared?" The male martial artist grew increasingly convinced that the pretty boy before him was all show and no substance. "Then you—" "Hold on," Wu Youren interrupted him. "I want to confirm something: do you have full authority to represent Miss Sally?" "I..." The male martial artist hesitated. He was only eighteen or nineteen, still lacking worldly experience. Then he let out a cold snort. "What kind of status does Miss Sally have? Don't you try to—" Wu Youren cut him off again. "If you can't represent her, does that mean you plan to run me through a gauntlet of challengers?" Wasn't that obvious? The male martial artist was rendered speechless once more. Who didn't want to get into Miss Sally's good graces? Had martial artists from the Mirage Sea League not been present, they probably would have swarmed him all at once. Yet openly admitting that right now would put him at a disadvantage. "Pick one person," Cynthia spoke up again. "One-on-one, and accept the outcome without whining!" "Fine," said the male martial artist who had come along in Sally's group. Astonishingly, this man was a knight. "A knight stepping in?" The look in Cynthia's eyes was somewhat complicated: *Can our people of Liang really afford to be so shameless?* "Wouldn't that be thinking too highly of him?" The knight snorted in disdain. "We'll choose someone. When the time comes, we'll see you on the dueling platform." *An arena duel... what a tired old trope!* Wu Youren sighed inwardly and spoke up. "Why the dueling platform?" "Where else?" The knight glanced sideways at him. "If you don't have the guts, forget it." The earlier male martial artist chimed in, "If you refuse, whatever happens to you in the future will be your own doing." *I doubt this girl from the Mirage Sea League can stay by your side forever.* "I mean, you're the ones issuing the challenge," Wu Youren said leisurely. "Shouldn't I get to decide the format of the duel?" While the younger martial artist was still hesitating, the knight spoke up. "Fair enough. But martial artists only compete in combat. We won't be matching wits with you over academic coursework!" They definitely intended to punish him severely; even if they didn't grievously injure or cripple him, they would at least leave him bedridden for months! If he thought he could pull petty tricks like that, he could forget it. "And no contests of skill either!" the male martial artist added. "Things like target shooting are pointless!" He believed he had covered all the bases, never expecting the youth opposite them to nod promptly. "Fine." Puzzled, the youth simply asked, "What do you want to compete in? So we know who to pick!" "Go hunt Guizu in Suotu," Wu Youren said leisurely. "See who brings back the greater haul!" Hearing this, the other side gaped in unison. "Hunt Guizu?" "Is there any point in martial artists fighting amongst themselves?" Wu Youren ignored him and looked toward the knight. "The Guizu are the true enemy!" "Oh? How interesting," the knight smiled with amusement. "An apprentice knight, hunting Guizu?" "I've hunted them before," Wu Youren replied solemnly. "I suggest you pick someone with experience as well!" This matter... was heading in a strange direction! The visitors exchanged glances. Although they had come looking for trouble, none could deny that slaying Guizu was far more meaningful than human infighting. In the end, the knight grunted, "Once we've chosen someone, we'll come find you again!" He had already realized that their side knew too little about this Jin youth and had overlooked some fairly important details. The group had arrived with immense bluster, but left in subdued silence, their momentum visibly diminished. Leaving only Wu Youren and Cynthia looking at each other. Seeing them leave, Cynthia couldn't help asking out of curiosity, "Why didn't you invoke the name of the Life-and-Death Knot?" *Because I don't want more people to know about my hostage status!* Wu Youren sighed softly. Her Mirage Sea League didn't know the true background of the Life-and-Death Knot, but as for this crowd... it was hard to say. He rubbed his forehead. "Tsk, it's bizarre. There's always some baffling nonsense coming my way." "You should go out less often for now," Cynthia said, shaking her head. "If you want to go to the market again, remember to call me to come along." *Do you think I don't have enough trouble already?* Wu Youren nodded expressionlessly. "Yeah." That evening, the administrator actually dropped by to ask what had happened during the day. Good news truly moved slow, while bad news spread like wildfire. After listening to Wu Youren's account, he let out a sigh. "If at all possible, stay away from that crowd." Though he was a handyman of the Martial Academy, many students were far beyond his ability to cross. "Understood," Wu Youren replied, keeping his head down as he continued pickling his vegetables. The administrator thought about it, then added, "In another two days, go back to supplying vegetables to the cafeteria." What had happened during the day was originally sparked by his decision to cut off the supply, which had triggered this chain of events. However, he couldn't openly admit that, so this was his only way of showing it. Wu Youren said nothing. The feeling of being at the mercy of circumstances was something he had truly... grown accustomed to. *** At the same time, the knight from earlier pushed open a door. Inside sat Miss Sally, scantily clad. "I found out," the knight said, shutting the door behind him and reaching out to wrap his arms around her. His hands wandered freely over her body as he casually remarked, "That fellow really did encounter Guizu, and he went to Suotu with a knight." Rossi's trip to Suotu had been reported to the Martial Academy as soon as he returned. He hadn't carried out an on-site rescue because conditions didn't permit it, which he didn't mind stating openly. But had he concealed his trip to Suotu, that would have been a grave issue. Therefore, within the instructors' information records, there was an entry noting that the Jin youth had accompanied him. As for what had actually happened during that expedition, that could not be casually disclosed. Instructors with sufficiently high clearance could learn about it through other channels. This knight, being involved with Sally, was not an instructor at the academy; he was a student himself, near graduation. However, having stayed at the academy for so long and possessing substantial strength, he maintained good relations with several instructors. Thus, it was only natural that he could dig up some information on Wu Youren. Sally showed no reaction to his caresses, merely asking nonchalantly, "What about news of him fighting Guizu?" "No idea about that," the knight replied offhandedly. "That's classified information." Anything concerning the Guizu was classified at a fairly high level; if mishandled, it could easily cause public panic and unrest. "I didn't probe into it. Are you sure you need it?"