102 Chapter 101: The Weight of Victory (2/2)
By this time, most of the students had finished their classes or ranking matches, so the academy was deserted. It seemed that I had dozed off for quite some time – the sky outside was now dark. Night had fallen before I knew it. I was glad I had asked my friends to return to the dormitory ahead of me, or they would be waiting outside the infirmary like fools.
Plodding through the dark, empty corridors, which were still shrouded in shadows despite the fluorescent lights having automatically come on, I made my way back toward the dormitory. Not wanting to spend more time than necessary in the creepy corridor, I hastened my pace.
”!”
The lights at the end of the corridor were flickering for a while, concealing a significant part in shadow. When they came back on, a familiar figure appeared, leaning against the wall with her arms folded.
”…Bai Ning Xue.”
I recognized the silver-haired beauty, the ice princess of Wu Ling Academy. Even though she was the ”ice” queen, she wielded lightning, so it was a bit of a misnomer, but I wasn't one to quibble over trivial details like that. Nonetheless, I was surprised to find her waiting there. I wondered if she was waiting for Zhu Jiao.
That couldn't be right. Zhu Jiao had returned to the dorm long ago, after my match…after I told him to go ahead with the rest before I went into the infirmary to receive medical treatment from Teacher Yi. Bai Ning Xue couldn't possibly be waiting for him.
Well, whatever she planned on doing here was none of my business. I nodded at her politely as a form of greeting, and then made to move past her.
”Why do you fight like that?”
Her question caused me to freeze. I knew she was talking to me. There was no one else present, no one whose presence I can sense anyway. And with my Heaven and Earth qi sense, there was almost nobody who could conceal their presence from me.
”Fight like what?” I asked, scratching my head sheepishly. Bai Ning Xue rose from the wall to stare at me coldly.
”Holding yourself back. Putting on those training gear and weights. Not using those techniques you used…”
”You promised to keep that a secret,” I interrupted. Bai Ning Xue glared at me, but she didn't protest. I sighed. ”And I won't use the training gear for the rest of the tournament matches. If the other opponents are on par with Kuang Hu, I can't afford to weigh myself down.”
”Is this your idea of concealing your strength and deceiving everyone else?” Bai Ning Xue snapped. ”Are you trying to get everyone to underestimate you so that they will lower their guard when fighting against you?”
”Maybe.”
”With your strength, you don't need to resort to cheap tricks!”
”I am not as strong as you think I am.”
”Hmph.” Bai Ning Xue snorted frostily. ”There's no point lying to me. I saw for myself what kind of strength you possessed that night…”
This time the level of frostiness in my glare surpassed hers and she fell silent. Defiant, yes, but at least she didn't continue speaking.
”Neither of us are to speak of that night,” I told her icily and then walked off.
”What if you lose?” Bai Ning Xue demanded as she tried to hurry after me. ”Wouldn't you regret not using all your power?”
”Those techniques are not something I want to use against my schoolmates,” I replied. ”It would be too unfair. I do not want to win in such a manner. Besides, if I use them during a tournament right in front of everyone, then what's the point of asking you to keep them a secret in the first place?”
”That's…” Bai Ning Xue was at a loss for words. Particularly because she realized that she could not fault my logic.
”There will be no further discussion of this,” I told her firmly. ”Now, if there's nothing else, I wish to return to the dormitory.”
”There is one last thing.” Bai Ning Xue paused for a moment. ”Since I owe you a favor, I might as well warn you about this. The student council…they are up to something.”
I raised an eyebrow at that, finding the whole thing odd. ”Aren't you the student council president? Shouldn't you keep them in check?”
Bai Ning Xue lowered her head in frustration. ”I want to, but I don't have proof. They are doing things behind my back, and they are covering their tracks flawlessly. Even though I am aware that they're doing something, I don't know what exactly they are doing. I'm sure even you have heard the rumors, haven't you?”
”No, I have not,” I admitted. Bai Ning Xue sighed exaggeratedly.
”I've told Jiao this, but I'll extend it to you as well, since I owe you.” she narrowed her eyes. ”If any of the student council members approach you, threatening you or attacking you secretly, inform me right away.”
I rolled my eyes. ”Sure…but wouldn't it be too late by the time you arrive?”
”Not if you contact me the moment they start behaving suspiciously.” Bai Ning Xue clenched her fists. ”I won't forgive them if they make a move against Jiao…and since I owe you, please treat this as me repaying the favor.”
”I don't need you to repay me,” I pointed out wearily. Bai Ning Xue shook her head and turned away to leave.
”Perhaps not, but it at least makes me feel better. The women of the Bai Clan will never forget a favor they owe.”
And with that, she was gone, the shadows covering her withdrawal. I stared in the direction she disappeared in, and then shook my head. A smile crept over my face.
”If the student council members want to come threaten me, they're more than welcome to do so.”
Fortunately for them, they had more pressing matters to worry about than me.
*
”Hey, Wu! The arrangement for the quarterfinals are up!”
I was heading to class a few days later when Tong Xue called out to me. Turning around, I caught sight of him hopping toward my position.
”Look!”
He gestured toward the huge crowd of students gathering in front of the gigantic bulletin board in front of the main campus building. I joined him and we made our way to the plaza. Along the way, we ran into Ban Zhang, Lian Rou and Tang Qi Hong.
As usual, Zhu Jiao wasn't there because he was late. He probably overslept again, like always. We had given up on him being punctual.
”Oh…! Our class is putting on a strong performance!”
Ban Zhang sounded impressed as he glanced through the quarterfinals postings. He turned back and beamed proudly.
”Fei Wu, Zhu Jiao, Bai Ning Xue, Feng Tian Yong and Li Chun Long. Out of the eight quarterfinalists, five of them are from our class!”
”That's over half!” Lian Rou murmured, amazed.
”The matchups have been pretty kind to our class,” Tang Qi Hong pointed out. ”But even then, for so many of our classmates to reach the top of their respective groups, and make it to the quarterfinals is still quite a feat.”
”So who will be Wu's next opponent?” Tong Xue asked, and then he stopped. ”Ah, Feng Tian Yong!”
I had caught sight of my assigned opponent just a second before he could, and felt my stomach sink. Looked like I was matched against Feng Tian Yong in the quarterfinals. I hated to fight a classmate, but just like when I fought against Tu Zi Yi and Wu Hei Gui, I had no plans of holding back. I would do my best to defeat them.
”You've got to be careful,” Ban Zhang warned me. ”Feng Tian Yong might not be as ruthless and merciless as Kuang Hu, but he's no pushover. In fact, he might even be stronger than that mad tiger from the White Tiger Sect.”
”He has to be, if he can reach the quarterfinals,” I pointed out dryly.
”That's not all. He's also in the student council.” Tong Xue turned to me with a gulp. ”And you know the student council only accepts the strongest members in the academy.”
”Then why am I not part of it?” Tang Qi Hong snorted.
Everyone turned to stare at her.
”Uh…you are,” Lian Rou pointed out. Tang Qi Hong blinked.
”Huh?!”
”You're officially listed as one of the student council members,” Tong Xue confirmed. Tang Qi Hong's jaw dropped.
”You're kidding?! Why didn't anyone tell me about this!?”
”Because…you didn't ask?”
”What the hell!? That's not right!”
”Who else is in the student council?” I asked. Having been in isolation training for almost two years, and then keeping myself busy in the matters of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, I hadn't kept abreast of the political situation in Wu Ling Academy. As I said, such trivial matters didn't concern me. But I hoped I wasn't in the student council without realizing it, like poor Tang Q Hong.
That would be disastrous.
”Hmm, Zhu Jiao is one of them. So is Feng Tian Yong, as I said earlier, and Li Chun Long and Qing Xin Xia.” Tong Xue counted them off. ”That's all from our class. Six students from our class, out of the eleven student council seat members.”
”Do you know the others?” Tang Qi Hong asked, looking a little perturbed. She was still dismayed that she was part of the student council without knowing. As for me, I could breathe a sigh of relief when I realized I wasn't part of them.
”Gu Chun Song, Yuan Mei, Li Guo Qiang, Xin Lai, and Ding Yan.”
The names were unfamiliar to me, but I was pretty sure I knew them. I met them on that fateful night about a month ago, after all. Well, Gu Chun Song, Yuan Mei, Li Guo Qiang and Xin Lai anyway. But I wasn't aware that they belonged to the student council.
So that was why they were with Bai Ning Xue that night.
All right, the readers would probably be confused, but I would most likely reveal everything in a flashback later. For now, the details of our meeting and that night were not important, and I bet it would bore the hell out of everyone who wanted some tournament action.
Speaking of tournament…
I sighed as I studied the name of my opponent. ”Feng Tian Yong, huh? This is going to be difficult…”