When Song Qingyi was passing by the academy gate, she faintly heard a commotion from outside.
The beautiful female tutor walked out to see a group of students gathered not far from the gate, crowding around something. From the throng came sounds of a fight and cries of pain.
Song Qingyi quickly stiffened her expression and hurried forward, parting the students as she asked, "Who is fighting? What happened?"
However, the crowd was so thick it took her a while to push through them.
"Ms. Song!" The students around the perimeter turned to see her and immediately stepped aside respectfully. Someone answered, "It's Yan Xiaohu and a new student we don't recognize..."
"Yan Xiaohu…" Hearing the reply, Song Qingyi immediately yelled, "Yan Xiaohu, stop fighting immediately! You're not allowed to bully and beat up classmates!"
Despite her words, the sounds of fighting and screams from the center of the crowd did not cease. The closer she got, the louder the cries of pain became.
Listening to the heavy sounds of the blows, Song Qingyi's brow furrowed, "I'm giving you one last warning, Yan Xiaohu, stop fighting now! Otherwise, I'll have the dean expel you!"
Upon hearing her loud voice, the students in front of her recognized her and quickly made way for her to pass through.
Then...
Song Qingyi saw Yan Xiaohu, his face covered in blood, pathetically sprawled out on the ground. He could only open one eye halfway, it was hard to tell whether it was blood or tears. He was whimpering pitifully.
"Ms. Song, I stopped fighting a while ago! I didn't even try to fight back! I've been beaten up like this, and you're still going to expel me…"
"Hmm?" Song Qingyi was a bit taken aback, looking puzzled.
In her memory, Yan Xiaohu was a local tyrant of Nanshan Academy who bullied his classmates all the time. So, when she heard he was fighting, she instinctively assumed he must have been the one throwing punches. But since he inherited martial arts cultivation from his family and always has his two henchmen with him, who could have beaten him up like this?
Hold on a second...
Were the two kneeling figures with their ears clutched in pain his henchmen?
But where was the attacker?
She scanned the crowd and noticed it was only made up of spectators. She didn't see anyone else present who could be the attacker.
Song Qingyi then said, "Whoever was fighting just now, step forward!"
No one came forward.
However, all the bystanders took a step back in unison, leaving only two people standing in the same spot. In an instant, they stood out from the crowd.
One was a handsome young man with a radiant smile on his face, presumably a new student named Chu Liang. The other was his broad-browed attendant student. They were both pretending to be spectators, pointing and chatting amongst themselves.
Song Qingyi furrowed her brows and looked towards Chu Liang, "Was it you?"
"Ah." Chu Liang shook his head. He didn't expect the students of Nanshan Academy to be so in tune with each other. Left with no other choice, he quickly apologized, "Ms. Song, I'm sorry! I just arrived today. Yan Xiaohu was demanding ten taels of silver as protection money, and I had no choice but to fight back. I admit I broke academy rules. Please punish me."
"…" Song Qingyi remained silent for a moment.
She was preparing a lecture but suddenly found herself at a loss for words.
"Regardless, you should never resort to violence…" After a moment's hesitated, she finally said softly.
Chu Liang added, "I initially wanted to pay him off to avoid trouble. But my attendant student was too indignant and ended up fighting his three guys. I'll go back and punish him harshly."
With that, he looked towards Lin Bei.
Lin Bei understood the cue and immediately began to howl, "Ah, young master, my hand hurts so much from hitting his face! It might be broken; I need to go see a doctor right away."
"Is it that serious?" Chu Liang looked slightly anxious, then turned to Song Qingyi, "Ms. Song, I have to take my attendant student for treatment right away, if we're late…"
"Alright, go get yourselves treated." Song Qingyi said, looking somewhat displeased as she turned to Yan Xiaohu and his colleagues on the ground. "Come to the academy tomorrow, and the dean will deal with you."
With that, Chu Liang left with the "injured" Lin Bei, while the two henchmen carried the battered Yan Xiaohu under their arms, each heading their separate ways to seek medical attention.
However, the two henchmen had not carried Yan Xiaohu far before they heard a shout from behind, "Halt!"
The two looked back to find that the threatening duo was again behind them! Scared to death, they immediately dropped Yan Xiaohu to the ground, clutching their ears and dropping to their knees.
"No need to be so nervous." Chu Liang smiled at them, "I just wanted to say, although you guys are completely to blame for today's incident, we are reasonable people."
With that, he stretched his hand out to Lin Bei, "Give me a sword coin."
Lin Bei, not entirely grasping the situation, took a sword coin from his pocket and handed it to Chu Liang.
Chu Liang then handed it over to one of the henchmen, "Give this to your gang leader and tell him this is compensation for his son's medical expenses. Remember, you must personally hand it over."
"Yes, yes, yes." The two henchmen nodded like pecking chickens before scurrying away like they were flying.
"Hey! You left your young master behind," Lin Bei shouted.
"Thank you, thank you." The two henchmen ran back, picked up Yan Xiaohu again, and once again fled.
Watching them disappear in the distance, Lin Bei asked, "Why did you give them the sword coin?"
"To avoid any future trouble." Chu Liang explained, "After hitting the kid, unavoidably the adults would show up. Once Yan Xiaohu's father sees the sword coin, he should not cause us any more trouble."
"Then why give my sword coin?" Lin Bei asked again.
"I need to use my money." Chu Liang replied seriously.
Lin Bei: "?"
...
When night fell...
Chu Liang visited Li Jue's room and found him sitting in a daze, lost in his thoughts.
From what he'd heard throughout the day, Li Jue used to be a diligent student. But recently, he had looked rather distracted and absent-minded.
Seeing Chu Liang enter, Li Jue snapped back to reality and asked, "Yes, what is it?"
Chu Liang placed five taels of silver on the table, "This is the money I got back from Yan Xiaohu for you. You don't have to pay it today...and you shouldn't have to pay it ever again."
Li Jue was silent for a moment before saying, "I saw you guys putting him in his place today…Thank you."
"Performing acts of chivalry and upholding justice is an inherent duty of those who cultivate martial arts," Chu Liang said with a smile.
"Hmm…" Li Jue seemed to drift back into his thoughts.
Chu Liang suddenly asked, "Why did you say he won't live long?"
"Huh?" Li Jue was startled by the question. His gaze flickered but he did not answer.
"Is it because of Situ Yan?" Chu Liang pressed further.
"I don't know…" Li Jue shook his head.
"You do know, was it because he once bullied Situ Yan and that's why you know?" Chu Liang asked again.
Li Jue seemed a little annoyed, he looked at Chu Liang and said, "Stop asking!"
"Your dad paid a hefty sum to Shu Mountain to hire us to protect you. The longer we stay, the more money you guys have to spend. It's better for you if we solve this issue sooner." Chu Liang's voice was calm and assertive, "I ask you, the resentful spirit who killed Yan Xiaohu, was it Situ Yan?"
"…" Li Jue frowned in deep thought for a while before finally speaking up, "It should be her."
"And you're so afraid… did you also bully her?" Chu Liang continued.
"I didn't!" Li Jue emphatically shook his head, "I never did."
"Then… who are the ones who did?" Chu Liang asked.
Li Jue clutched his head, as if he was finding it difficult to revisit the past, but he still answered, "Zhang Cong, Wu Shaoan, Yan Xiaohu, Chen Da... they often bullied Situ Yan…"