I was almost at the door when the demoralized disciples recovered their wits and tried to grab me. However, the barracks were too small for them all to fight comfortably, so they stumbled over each other, and only two disciples actually got close.
I ducked under one and punched another in the stomach. He fell under the feet of another one, and I stepped past them to the porch.
"AAAGH, you bitch!"
I glanced back at the shout. A disciple was curling on the ground, clutching his dragon orbs. Fu Zhou, the little destroyer of family values, dashed past him and after me. She easily weaved under feet of other disciples, agile like a newt.
Slowing down to let her keep up with me, I ran toward the main part of Lin Tan's compound, where inner disciples of the sect trained under his supervision. Only lowborn ones like myself—disciples born in clan trained elsewhere, with their own teachers.
There were many clan-born disciples, since cultivation aptitude ran in a bloodline. Peasants with a talent like myself were just a fluke.
I actually had a theory that the sect gathered them in order to prevent them from cultivating on their own and creating their own cultivation clans.
However, this was just a theory.
I had no confirmation, and cultivating on your own is extremely hard for an average dirt-digger. Without a natural source of Qi, like Qi stones, it was impossible to move to the middle stage of Qi shaping, because until then, you couldn't see ambient Qi.
Fen Chun and his cohorts were so eager to follow me and Fu Zhou that for a moment they got stuck in the door. Then Fen Chun restored some order by shoving people out of his way and led his cohorts on a chase.
They were fast, but we were almost there. In the distance, I spotted an inner disciple overseeing a group of youths carrying kitchen supplies.
I ran toward him, and he soon noticed our crowd.
"What's going on?! Why are you running around like drunk monkeys, disciples?!" the man shouted at us. "Hey, don't you dare to run off! Get here and tell me your names so I can order you three lashes for laziness and misbehavior! Run away, and you will get ten!"
Our entire crowd stopped next to the overseer. I stepped forward first.
"I'm Ru Yujin. Me, Junior Sister Fu Zhou and Brother Fen Chun were simply training in our allowed free time. I have no idea why the others decided to drop their work and join!"
"That's not true! Ru Yujin attacked us!" Fen Chun shouted.
I grinned at him.
"Yes, of course I did! That's what spars are all about! Mock fights so we can become stronger, martial brother!"
Fu Zhou nodded vigorously.
"Yes. We fight to get stronger and weed out the weak, as Master Lin teaches."
"Training?" The overseer looked us over with palpable skepticism. "Here? Fine, it's your free time. You can do whatever you want as long as it's within the compound. But the rest—your names!"
After the youths gave their names one by one, the overseer waved his hand at them.
"Now, get back to your duties. And you three—don't run around the place like that. Have some shame and at least don't misbehave where I can see you!"
Fen Chun glared venomous daggers at me.
"Don't think that this is over, Ru Yujin!"
"I really wish I could think that," I muttered under my breath, but Fen Chun was already leaving.
"Let's get back to cultivation, Little Zhou. I want to become an inner disciple before Fen Chun can come up with a new plan to fuck with us."
Too bad he was protected by Fen Kuang. I couldn't come up with a plan of attacking Fen Chun first that didn't break upon that obstacle.
This evening, Fen Chun didn't appear at a lecture, with one of his barracks neighbors claiming that Fen Chun was sick. Maybe he was—if a healer didn't confirm Fen Chun's words, he'd get lashes for missing a lesson.
However, I felt this was timed too conveniently to not be suspicious. Fen Chun wouldn't be his own stubbornly malicious self if he left me alone even for two days.
And what do you know? I was right.
***
I and Fu Zhou were meditating again, focusing on rotating our Qi, when the door to my barracks opened.
Oh, in the name of Divine Dragon's tail scales!
I stood up to greet the person entering the door. I expected Fen Chun and was shocked when instead his cousin stepped inside.
Fen Kuang looked angry like a thunderstorm.
"Ru Yujin! Come here."
"Senior Brother Fen, what happened?"
"No questions. You know what you did!"
"I don't, actually," I muttered.
Clearly, there was no reasoning with him, though. I walked to meet my fate, with Fu Zhou silently following again.
My fate had the shape of a beaten-up Fen Chun. There were bruises all over his face, and his left arm was hanging in a sling.
"Ru Yujin! You thought you could assault and beat up my cousin and escape without punishment? You even broke his arm! Several people witnessed this, so don't even try to avoid your guilt."
Fen Chun stepped forward with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.
"Kowtow before me, pathetic worm, and maybe I will forgive you. When I break YOUR arm!"
My eyes grew wide with shock and outrage. The guts of this kid! Did he beat himself up just so he could complain to his cousin? This would've been almost admirable if I wasn't his target.
And from what Fen Kuang said, Fen Chun already convinced enough people to be his "witnesses" that my word would be against his and everybody else's.
"Senior Brother Fen Kuang, this is untrue! Fen Chun attacked Brother Yujin first, and Brother Yujin didn't punch him even once!"
Fen Chun's expression became even darker.
"Junior Sister Fu Zhou, you dare to defend the criminal with your lies? Everybody knows you will bark whatever he says!"
I frowned.
"Senior Brother Fen Kuang! Little Zhou didn't lie. Actually…"
"Actually?"
I opened my mouth. Some healer out there had to testify that Fen Chun had a broken arm. Maybe if I convinced Fen Kuang to talk with him, reason will—
Fu Zhou snarled like an animal and lunged at Fen Chun. Fen Kuang tried to step in her way, but he was too focused on me and slow to react.
The girl's little fist hit Fen Chun right in his broken arm.