But in this world, people with thick skin would always benefit at another’s expense.
Yu Ze said that the Jade Heart Pendant belonged to him, even though it wasn’t his to own. So long as he covered this shameful act with this figurative loincloth, he would use force to snatch it away. Even in a place with rules, wouldn’t there be times when no one discovered that the rules had been broken?
As a result, these henchmen didn’t care how furious Yu Cheng became. Right away, the leader ridiculed: “Since you aren’t a member of the Yu Family, don’t think about fighting over the second young master’s things. Eldest young master — Ah, that’s not right. It should be Young Master Yu Cheng. You should obediently take out the Jade Heart Pendant now. Otherwise, with the current state of your body, after you suffer a painful beating, you’ll still have to take it out!”
Yu Cheng’s clenched fists suddenly tightened.
Indeed. Right now, his body was weakened.
Previously, battling with the starving wolf on the elevated platform had used up great amounts of energy. This caused his physical body to become aching and weary. It would be very difficult to engage in another high-intensity fight — Or, it should be said that, if it hadn’t been for someone bringing him here, he would’ve been dazed and confused for a long while outside before he could slowly crawl over. Perhaps, at that time, he would’ve been taken away by these henchmen and robbed of the Jade Heart Pendant.
However, because Yu Cheng was poor and didn’t have any medicinal pills to consume, he could only rely on himself. He basically had no way to recover in such a short period of time. These people were all Yu Ze’s attendants. Normally, most of them wouldn’t be his opponents, and only a few could put up a fight against him. But now? He wouldn’t be able to resist even the weakest one among them!
Yu Cheng’s heart sank all of a sudden.
He wasn’t foolish enough to question why the Sect Offering Academy didn’t have anyone coming to prevent this. It was only because, while he had already passed the assessments, he still hadn’t received a student token. He also hadn’t formally registered himself. Someone like himself could be considered an official student, but if Yu Ze used some methods, that fellow could temporarily prevent him from being recognized as a student. This was a gray area, but there was basically nothing he could do about it!
Maybe he had no choice but to resolutely fight to the end — Even if he died, he absolutely wouldn’t hand over the Jade Heart Pendant to Yu Ze!
After making up his mind, Yu Cheng’s eyes narrowed slightly. On the contrary, his entire person didn’t flare up with any of the rage just now. It had become deep and profound. Little by little, he mobilized the true qi inside his body. His fingers flexed and relaxed. While continuously building up energy, he would be able to unleash the strongest attack!
He would rather exhaust his strength and shatter his bone pearls. He would give these people a good show!
Far in the back, Gu Zuo, Gongyi Tianheng, and Teacher Han watched this spectacle. They also perceived Yu Cheng’s subsequent display.
Teacher Han’s facial features were dyed with a furious look.
Although he was aware that there were all kinds of struggles and conflicts inside the academy, so long as there weren’t any major problems, the academy encouraged such behavior to sharpen its students. But the scene before him was clearly of one party taking advantage of another person’s weakened state. They wanted to scheme and rob the other side. This greatly displeased him.
Subconsciously, Teacher Han wanted to step forward. Merely, because Tianheng and Gu Zuo were present, and he didn’t know the opinions of these two people, Teacher Han only turned his head and glanced over. He didn’t rashly intervene, but there was an inquiring look in his eyes.
Gu Zuo said: “Help a man once, then help him to the end. Right?”
Tianheng knew what Gu Zuo meant, and faintly nodded his head: “This child’s aptitudes are impressive, and his willpower is firm. If we truly let him use this attack, he’ll most likely end up crippled. For those small fry, it really isn’t worth it.”
Teacher Han had this thought, too.
He had a heart that valued talent. After watching the confrontation between Yu Cheng and Yu Ze’s henchmen, the moment he saw that Tianheng and Gu Zuo shared the same thinking, he didn’t hesitate any longer. He lifted his foot, and walked over to shout: “Who are you all? Why are you causing trouble in the academy and bullying a new student?”
Once these words were spoken, both sides that were locked in confrontation realized that the person who arrived was protecting Yu Cheng. Otherwise, this individual wouldn’t have appeared just now and mentioned the word “bullying”.
Those bunch of henchmen originally thought that victory was within their grasp. How could they have imagined that someone would show up to disrupt their plans? They immediately looked at Teacher Han, wanting to see through Teacher Han’s identity.
Once they got a clear look at the changpao that Teacher Han wore, they took another glance at Teacher Han’s face. They recognized him right away. This was a teacher of their school district.
The leader reacted swiftly, and restrained his imposing aura. He smiled and said: “This teacher misunderstands. We are members of the Yu Family. We received orders to come and visit the eldest young master, and to ask whether there was anything he needed. It’s just that, because the eldest young master is too tired, he seems like this… Ahem.”
If Teacher Han hadn’t witnessed everything just a while ago, and only relied on this person’s cordial performance, he might’ve felt that this fellow’s words were true, and that the entrapped Yu Cheng was someone who wasn’t able to tell good from bad.
Once Yu Cheng saw Teacher Han, he sighed somewhat in relief. He slowly withdrew the true qi he had roused, and sent it back into his numerous meridians to pacify those sore and swollen bone pearls.
He didn’t intend to refute those claims. It wasn’t because he was too stubborn and blindly wanted to show that he had a backbone. Rather, he knew that, since Teacher Han had been preferential to him from the beginning, that teacher must have noticed something. If Yu Cheng did more than what was required, then he would appear impetuous.
Moreover, Yu Cheng wasn’t prepared to pin all of his hopes on Teacher Han. His only consideration was to get past this hurtle first. Later on, when he confronted Yu Ze’s plots in the academy, he had to rely on himself. He firmly believed that if he hadn’t already been exhausted by the assessments, he wouldn’t have had anything to fear from these henchmen!
After seeing all of this, there was a hint of praise in Tianheng’s eyes.
Gu Zuo couldn’t help saying: “It seems that a person like Yu Cheng should be able to smoothly survive this ordeal?”
Tianheng’s smiling expression was meaningful: “Then, we’ll have to see how his luck fares.”
Gu Zuo understood: “That’s right. Luck is very important.”
There were many things that Gu Zuo wasn’t aware of that Tianheng could see.
Since Yu Ze was so obsessed with the Jade Heart Pendant, it must’ve been an object that could allow one to obtain great benefits. Yu Cheng currently had this item in his possession. If he could safeguard it, then he would have extraordinary luck and success. But if he couldn’t protect it… Then, one could only say that Yu Cheng was just the temporary custodian of the Jade Heart Pendant, and that the Jade Heart Pendant had been waiting for its true owner.
These things would be proven by the passage of time.
The henchmen that Yu Ze sent weren’t so stupid that they didn’t have any sense of propriety. Since they discovered that a teacher had come, they naturally didn’t try to forcefully confront the teacher in the academy. The Yu Family obviously wasn’t powerful enough to strong-arm the academy. As a result, they smiled apologetically and tactfully took their leave.
Upon seeing this, it was natural that Teacher Han didn’t have a good way to punish them. After all, it was just a battle of words before. The situation hadn’t reached the point where punishments could be meted out.
Thus, the henchmen beat a hasty retreat — Of course, in the process of leaving, they also noticed Tianheng and Gu Zuo.
The bearing of these two people was different from ordinary folks. For a moment, it caused the leader to have apprehensions in his heart.
He didn’t know what the identities of these two were, what their purpose was, how much they had seen here, and what their thoughts were regarding that abandoned eldest young master.
He thought of many things. He needed to hurry back and report what he knew to the second young master.
…This matter was unavoidable!
When the henchmen left, much of Yu Cheng’s persevering spirit was used up again. He used a hand to support himself against the doorframe, and struggled to stand firm. Then, he paid his respects to Teacher Han and to Tianheng and Gu Zuo who were walking over: “Many thanks to this teacher for coming to help. Many thanks to these two sirs…for also coming to help.”
Teacher Han saw him like this, and came closer to support him.
Yu Cheng was naturally somewhat shocked, and promptly wanted to express his thanks once more.
Teacher Han said: “There’s no need for that. Previously, I delivered you here, but I didn’t ask those maidservants to come over and look after you. I didn’t think about it thoroughly enough.”
He pondered about it for a moment. In the end, he took pity on Yu Cheng’s plight, and stated: “The ones you should be thanking are those two. Back when you came down from the raised platform, you were already quite disoriented. It was those two noble sirs who sent their subordinate to carry you here.”
Yu Cheng knew earlier that he had been carried by someone, but he didn’t expect that it had been through the assistance of these two people. He immediately conveyed his gratitude to the pair. His expression was truly sincere.
Tianheng saw through Teacher Han’s little thoughts, but he himself was also optimistic about Yu Cheng. Therefore, this had his tacit approval.
As for Gu Zuo, he didn’t think about it that much. He saw that Yu Cheng was so miserable, and considered that they shared a bit of fate. He took out two bottles of medicinal pills from his sleeve, and handed them over: “There’s no need to stand on ceremony. Just take it easy.” Then, he said, “Since we were brought together by fate several times, I’ll give you a little welcoming gift. You mustn’t regard it with disdain.”
Yu Cheng originally wanted to refuse. It wasn’t good to take advantage of one’s benefactor. However, after he finished listening, he didn’t dare to refuse. Otherwise, wouldn’t that be an insult? As a result, he had no alternative but to accept it with gratitude.
After that, Teacher Han helped Yu Cheng into his rooms, and settled him down. Immediately following that, he came back out, and continued to lead Tianheng and Gu Zuo on a tour around the academy.
Yu Cheng, who remained behind, composed himself and sat on the bed.
Too many things had happened today that stirred up the emotions in his heart.
His relatives, who obviously shared the bloodline of the same family, had threatened him in all sorts of ways. As for a couple of people whom he only just met, they talked about being brought together by fate, and gave him a helping hand.
A good while later, Yu Cheng revealed a bitter smile.
Truly, there was nothing about that kind of family that he could recall fondly… He opened the two bottles, and poured out the medicinal pills with the intention of swallowing them.
After that, he was astonished to find that these two bottles had flawless pills that were suitable for his realm!
Yu Cheng: “…”
Those two people — Just who were they?
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