As Song Qingyi passed by the school gate of the academy, she faintly heard some commotion outside.
A beautiful female teacher gracefully walked out and saw a group of students gathered not far from the gate, watching something. There seemed to be the sound of punches and screams coming from inside the group.
Song Qingyi quickly tightened her expression, stepped forward, and asked while separating the students, "Who's fighting? What happened?"
But the crowd was tightly packed, and she was making slow progress pushing through.
"Mr. Song!" A student at the edge of the crowd turned around and immediately respectfully gave way. Someone replied, "It's Yan Xiaohu and a new student we don't know."
"Yan Xiaohu..." Song Qingyi exclaimed, "Yan Xiaohu, stop immediately! Don't bully or beat up your classmates!"
However, the fighting and screaming inside did not stop. In fact, as she got closer, the cries became even more intense.
As she heard the heavy thudding sounds, Song Qingyi furrowed her brow. "This is my final warning, Yan Xiaohu. If you don't stop now, I'll have the Dean expel you!"
Her loud shout made the students in front also recognize her voice, and they quickly made way for her.
Then...
Song Qingyi saw Yan Xiaohu, his face covered in blood, pitifully lying on the ground. His eyes were only half-open, unable to distinguish whether it was blood or tears inside them, and he was murmuring miserably.
"Mr. Song, I already stopped a long time ago! I didn't dare to fight back at all! I've been beaten like this, and you still want to expel me..."
"Hmm?" Song Qingyi was taken aback, looking puzzled.
Because in her mind, Yan Xiaohu was the little hegemon of Nanshan Academy, constantly bullying his classmates. So, upon hearing he was in a fight with someone, she instinctively believed he was the one doing the fighting. But he had inherited martial arts skills, and always had two gang members with him. Who could have beaten him like this?
Wait...
Were those two burly men, who were currently kneeling and holding their ears?
Then where is the person who was fighting?
She swept her eyes around and found that the surrounding students were all watching, and she didn't see anyone else in the scene.
Song Qingyi said, "Who was fighting just now, come forward!"
No one stepped forward.
However, all the onlookers took a step back in unison, leaving only two people standing, which instantly drew attention.
One is a smiling and handsome young man, as if he is a newcomer today, named Chu Liang. The other is a studious young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. The two of them are pointing and pretending to be onlookers.
Song Qingyi frowned and looked at Chu Liang, "Was it you who did this?"
"Ah," Chu Liang shook his head. He didn't expect the students of Nanshan Academy to be so tacit. He could only immediately apologize, "Mr. Song, I'm sorry! I just arrived today, and Yan Xiaohu asked me for ten taels of silver as protection money. I had to resist, which violated the rules of the academy. Please punish me, Mr. Song."
"..." Song Qingyi remained silent for a moment.
She felt that she hadn't even spoken reprimanding words, so why couldn't she say anything?
"Anyway, you can't just hit people..." After a pause, she whispered the words.
Chu Liang added, "I also wanted to pay the money to settle the matter, but it was my young attendant's excessive indignation that led to the fight with the other three. When I get back, I will definitely punish him severely."
Saying that, he looked at Linbei.
Linbei understood and immediately wailed, "Oh, young master, hitting his face has made my hand so painful... as if it's broken, I need to quickly seek medical treatment."
"Is it that serious?" Chu Liang looked a little nervous and turned to Song Qingyi, "Mr. Song, I need to take my young attendant for treatment immediately. If we go later..."
"Alright, you all go for treatment separately," Song Qingyi glared at him with a slightly angry expression, and also said to Yan Xiaohu and the others on the ground, "I will have the dean punish you when you come to the academy tomorrow."
Immediately, Li Chu took the "injured" Linbei, two thugs carrying the barely conscious Yan Xiaohu, and went on the road to seek medical treatment separately.
However, the two Black Tiger gang thugs, carrying Yan Xiaohu, had not gone far when they heard a shout from behind, "Stop!"
They turned around and found that it was the two troublemakers from earlier! They dared not to continue walking, immediately threw Yan Xiaohu on the ground, and knelt down, hands on their ears.
"No need to be so nervous," Chu Liang smiled at them, "I just want to say that although everything today is your fault, we are not unreasonable people."
As he spoke, he reached out to Linbei, "Give me a token."
Linbei, confused, took out a token from his pocket and handed it to Chu Liang.
Chu Liang handed it to one of the thugs, "Take this back to your leader and tell him it's the medical expenses for injuring his son. Remember, you must personally hand it over to your leader."
"Yes, yes," the two thugs nodded like little chickens pecking at rice, and quickly fled.
"Hey! You've left the young master here," Linbei called out.
"Thank you, thank you," the two thugs turned back to pick up Yan Xiaohu and then flew away again.
Watching their figures disappear into the distance, Linbei asked, "Why did you give them a token?"
"Just to avoid future troubles," Chu Liang explained, "If we beat the young one, the old one may come looking for trouble again. If Yan Xiaohu's father sees the token, he probably won't come to bother us again."
"Then why give them my token?" Linbei asked again.
"My money is useful," Chu Liang said in all seriousness.
Lin Bei: "?"
...
Night falls.
Chu Liang found Li Jue's room and saw him sitting there in a daze, lost in thought.
According to some of the news he heard today, Li Jue used to be a hardworking student, but recently he seemed lost and aimless.
When he saw Li Jue come in, he came to his senses and asked, "What's wrong?"
Chu Liang placed the five taels of silver on the table, "This is the money I got back for you from Yan Xiaohu, you don't need to pay today... and you probably won't need to in the future."
Li Jue fell silent for a moment, then said, "I saw you teach him a lesson today... thank you."
"A practitioner should uphold justice, it's the right thing to do," Chu Liang smiled.
"Um..." Li Jue seemed lost in thought again.
Suddenly Chu Liang asked, "Why did you say he won't live long?"
"Hmm?" Li Jue was startled by the question, his eyes flashed, but he did not answer.
"Is it because of Situ Yan?" Chu Liang asked again.
"I don't know..." Li Jue shook his head.
"Do you know if it's because they once bullied Situ Yan, is that why you know?" Chu Liang asked.
Li Jue seemed a bit impatient, looking at Chu Liang, "Stop asking!"
"Your father paid a high price to have us come and protect you. The longer we stay, the more money you will spend. It's definitely better for you to resolve this matter sooner rather than later," Chu Liang's voice was calm yet powerful, "I ask you, is the vengeful spirit, the one who kills, Situ Yan?"
"..." Li Jue furrowed his brows, pondered for a long while, then raised his head and said, "It should be her."
"Are you so afraid... because you also bullied her?" Chu Liang continued to ask.
"I didn't!" Li Jue firmly shook his head, "I never did."
"Then... who are those people?" Chu Liang asked.
Li Jue held his head, seemingly reluctant to bring up many things, but still answered, "Zhang Cong, Wu Shaoan, Yan Xiaohu, Chen Da... they are the ones who used to bully Situ Yan..."