11 Chapter 10: Relentless Assaul (2/2)
Teacher Jiao approached us, concerned. Tong Xue also showed up, now that the fight was over. In fact, I had an inkling that Tong Xue had slipped away in order to inform a teacher that Qi Fu Ren was up to no good.
”Yeah. Thank you.” I nodded both my thanks to Teacher Jiao and Tong Xue.
”…”
”Zhu Jiao?”
Everyone turned to Zhu Jiao when he remained silent. The spiky-haired protagonist wasn't paying any attention to us, and was instead staring at the end of the corridor.
”?”
I wasn't sure what he was staring at, and followed the direction of his gaze. Then I understood.
Bai Ning Xue was standing there, a cold expression on her beautiful face. She was locking eyes with Zhu Jiao, those sapphire orbs unreadable and void of emotion. It wasn't as if she was staring at Zhu Jiao in contempt or pity…but more of indecision. Like she knew that there was nothing she could do or say that wouldn't make Zhu Jiao feel worse, and therefore she was stuck keeping her distance and staring at him, not knowing how to proceed.
”Damn it.”
Zhu Jiao lowered his head and punched the floor. I could almost hear him seething, what second level of Red Jade Swordsmanship. In the end, I was still unable to do anything against Qi Fu Ren, wasn't I?! Then he rose to his feet.
”Sorry…I am all right. Let's go to class or we'll be late.”
Without looking at any of us properly, Zhu Jiao stalked off.
I was at a loss at what to say, but I knew how frustrated Zhu Jiao must be feeling right now. To show such a vulnerable and pathetic side of himself toward a girl who he had been in love with since they were little children…
He must be cursing his powerlessness from the bottom of his heart right now. I knew that sentiment very well, because I was feeling the same way. But for Zhu Jiao, that terrible sensation was multiplied several times over because the girl he had a crush on since childhood had witnessed his helplessness.
”Ouch…he must really be hurting,” Tong Xue remarked as we watched Zhu Jiao disappear into the classroom.
*
There wasn't much else I could do for Zhu Jiao, so I respectfully and tactfully kept my distance. Hell, I couldn't even take care of myself, so I honestly was in no position to worry about others. I was just as weak and powerless as he was.
Well, that's why we're training. To remedy that.
As usual, once school ended, I resumed my training regimen and began doing my hundred pushups and hundred sit-ups. And by now I could probably lengthen my running to seventeen kilometers. My goal was to hit twenty by the end of this week.
”Huff…huff…”
The moment I passed the seventeen kilometer mark, the number clearly showing itself the moment my shoe took that final step to clear the distance, I paused to catch my breath. Leaning over, I wiped the perspiration off my face and closed my eyes. I stayed in that posture for a bit longer, allowing my body to recover.
”…?”
Pushing my glasses up, I turned around and noticed that there were a few figures shadowing me. They were doing their best to hide behind trees and make themselves look as inconspicuous as possible, but honestly…calling them amateurs would be too bloody kind.
I turned around and glared at them. They quickly shifted or crouched down, seeking cover behind trees or underneath shrubs, but their silhouettes stuck out like sore thumbs. I rubbed my head and sighed.
”Seniors, I can see you, you know.”
”…”
The group that was tailing me exchanged glances and finally emerged. The next thing I knew, the lot of them were surrounding me.
Fast!
I almost didn't notice their movements. One moment they were still hiding around like monkeys, and the next they had already formed a ring around me.
”Who are you guys?”
Even as I asked that question, I could already guess the answer. Just like Tie Shan, Luan Fa and Mohawk from the day before, they were seniors from the middle school section. They were dressed in the same Wu Ling Academy uniform as I was, which was distinct from the high school seniors' uniforms.
One of them stepped forward in an intimidating manner, towering over me. He glared at me with his dark eyes.
The one who stepped forward, a tall, lanky fella, narrowed his eyes in a condescending manner. I met his gaze evenly, not backing down.
”We are the Dark Shadow Sect.”
”Hello, seniors from the Dark Shadow Sect.” That explained their pathetic attempts at being ninjas. I tried not to let sarcasm ooze out of my polite greeting. ”Nice to meet you. Is there anything I can help you with?”
”You can start by handing over the Heaven and Earth techniques.”
I groaned. Not this shit again.
”I don't have the Heaven and Earth techniques.”
”Don't lie!” the leader snarled as he bore down on me. ”We know you defeated three schoolmates from the Iron Mountain Sect yesterday! And we have received indisputable information that you have met with the Absolute One!”
”Oh?” I pushed my glasses up as my voice took on a dangerous tone. ”So did those three from the Iron Mountain Sect tell you all that?”
”Of course not. Why would they tell us anything? But we have a vast information network! Don't underestimate our intelligence!”
Actually, there was a higher chance of me overestimating their intelligence than underestimating them, given how utterly stupid of them. As an aside, it meant I didn't have to hunt down the trio from yesterday and punish them for spreading stuff about me.
”If your intelligence is even partially competent, then they should have confirmed that I didn't inherit any Heaven and Earth techniques from any master. I'm just an ordinary One Star Constitution student.”
”Don't lie! There's no way the Absolute One wouldn't teach you when you saved his life! There's no way he wouldn't have left a successor behind! He must have given you something!”
”The golden dragon medallion. According to our spies, you showed the golden dragon medallion to our schoolmates from the Iron Mountain Sect to prove that you're the new leader of the Heaven and Earth Sect yesterday.”
One of the other Dark Shadow Sect members spoke up. I couldn't help but stare at him, my jaw dropping.
How the fuck did the incident yesterday get distorted into such a weird scenario? I only showed them that to prove that the golden medallion was the only thing I received from the old man, not to establish my claim to the leadership of the Heaven and Earth Sect!
”Yeah!” another senior shouted as he drew a weapon. It was a short dagger with green qi swirling around it. ”Hand over the techniques immediately! Since you're the new leader of the Heaven and Earth Sect, you must possess the Heaven and Earth Formula!”
”I don't have any Heaven and Earth Formula or whatever you're talking about.” I raised both my hands to show my Shadow Steps manual. ”All I have is the Shadow Steps manual. Perhaps you would like to learn that instead? It's only a level 1 technique, so you can borrow a copy from the library.”
”Shut up! There's no use pretending! Our intelligence network has already confirmed that you're the new leader of the Heaven and Earth Sect!”
Someone needed to fire those guys operating in the Dark Shadow Sect's intelligence network and hire people who were actually intelligent.
”Besides, how else did you defeat the three big experts of the Iron Mountain Sect if you don't know the Heaven and Earth techniques?”
With other techniques? Did your stupid spies not tell you that? On the bright side, it seemed that none of them knew that I used the methane that was leaking from the broken Bunsen burners inside the alchemy lab to blow up the Iron Mountain trio. Perhaps I could use that to my advantage.
”Now hand it over, or we'll kill you!” the leader snarled, producing a sword. I watched the obsidian blade warily, noticing the creepy purple qi that wreathed it. I so did not want to get cut by that thing. Most likely it was poison, but I didn't know enough of martial arts and qi color-coding to be sure.
Still, I couldn't help but snort at the guy's threat.
”If you kill me, how do you expect me to hand over the techniques?”
”…”
The members of the Dark Shadow Sect stared at each other, not knowing how to reply. Like I said, they were complete amateurs.
”We'll cut off your hand then,” the leader sneered. ”And cripple your cultivation.”
Did this guy think I was stupid? Then all the more reason I had not to give whatever techniques they thought I had to them. Those threats…I knew for sure that they would still cripple me or kill me after robbing me of my techniques, because they obviously wanted to monopolize the Heaven and Earth techniques or they would be afraid of me mastering those at a later date, and would want to neutralize the threat before it materialized.
There was another thing that also occurred to me and I smiled as an idea formed in my head.
”Let me get this straight. You think that I possess the ultimate techniques that I inherited directly from the strongest martial artist in history…and your plan is to threaten me so that I can hand them over?”
I shrugged and shook my head with a smirk.
”Good luck.”
The Dark Shadow Sect members were now apprehensive and nervous. They were exchanging glances and taking several steps back, unsure of what to do. A few of them actually looked afraid, no doubt bolstered by the rumors that I defeated the trio from the Iron Mountain Sect yesterday. Looked like encountering those three seniors did have its uses.
”D…don't falter!” the leader shouted as he brandished his sword. ”According to our information, he only met the Absolute One about three months ago! It's too short of a time period for him to have any real mastery of the Heaven and Earth techniques! He's most vulnerable and at his weakest right now! We can overpower him!”
So we did have a smart guy here after all. No wonder he was the leader.
Not that it wasn't going to help me much, though. The other members of the Dark Shadow Sect were being rallied when they realized that their leader had a point. They were being a bit bolder now, drawing their weapons and stepping forward.
Seemed like I needed to up the ante.
Flopping down on the ground, I sat in a peaceful, relaxed manner and beckoned for them to come at me.
”If you think so, you're welcome to test me out. Since you want to see the Heaven and Earth techniques so badly, I might as well show them to you.”
Everyone froze. As for me, I could feel cold perspiration dripping down my back. This was a huge gamble – of course I didn't know anything about any Heaven and Earth techniques, but it seemed that these idiots didn't know for sure. So if I kept up the pretense, I might just be able to bluff my way out. Besides, they refused to believe that I didn't possess the techniques, so I might as well play the role of the Heaven and Earth successor and pretend that I had learned some ultimate technique that could kill them in one strike.
”That's…”
”…no way…”
”…be careful,” one of the Dark Shadow Sect members warned, gulping. ”I can hardly feel any qi from him…he must have mastered the ability to conceal his qi almost completely.”
No, the only reason why you could barely feel any qi from me was because I didn't learn any proper qi techniques at all. Despite trying to learn Shadow Steps over the past three months, all I accomplish was strengthening my physical constitution and improving my stamina and fitness tremendously, but I made little progress in terms of accumulating qi.
Not that they needed to know that.
”What are you all waiting for?!” the leader roared. ”He's just one guy! And he has only learned the Heaven and Earth techniques for a month at most! There's so many of us! We should be able to take him down!”
”Seems like you're the leader,” I spoke up before the guy could convince his subordinates to attack.
”So what if I am?”
Good. This guy was clearly the brains of the outfit. If that was the case, the situation was easier for me to handle. Cut off the head, and the rest of the body would die along with it.
”Then why aren't you leading by example? Are you trying to sacrifice your men and get them to die for you so that you alone can reap the benefits later?”
The other members began to step away, staring at the leader. Expressions of suspicion flashed across their faces. I couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. I had succeeded in sowing seeds of discord and distrust in this shadowy group of ninja wannabes. The leader might have noticed that, for he flushed and pointed his sword at me.
”Don't talk nonsense!”
”Then prove it.”
”Huh?!”
I beckoned him with my right hand.
”If you really think you can beat me, then go for it. Why rely on your…pawns to do the dirty work? Good leaders lead by example, do they not? If you want your underlings to attack, then you should lead the charge. Otherwise who's going to be stupid enough to risk their lives for someone cowardly enough to stand in the back to give such audacious orders?”
”Fucker!”
The leader snapped and charged, his sword swinging downward.
His blade never reached me.
Before his sword could cleave my skull in half, I suddenly lunged forward. The sword whistled past where I was sitting earlier, missing me by a hair's breadth. Ignoring the close shave, I spun around and slammed my foot into his chest.
Shadow Kick, one of the kicking techniques in the Shadow Steps.
”Gah!”
The leader was sent hurtling backward, blood spurting from his mouth. He soared across the courtyard and slammed into a tree before sliding down helplessly, his sword clattering next to him.
”What…what just happened?”
”How?!”
”I…It was so fast, I couldn't see anything!”
”I didn't even see him move!”
The other members of the Dark Shadow Sect backed away, their eyes wide in fear.
To be honest, I wasn't stronger than their leader. Actually, I was weaker. But as the description for Shadow Steps in the academy's intranet accurately told me, with a well-timed kick aimed at the opponent's vulnerable area when his guard was down, I would be able to defeat him even though he was superior to me.
Unfortunately, none of the Dark Shadow Sect members recognized the techniques of Shadow Step, so they believed that I was using Heaven and Earth Formula. I had no intention of correcting their misperception.
”So, seniors…” I smiled at the remaining seniors pleasantly. ”Anyone else wants to try?”
Evidently not. The majority of the Dark Shadow Sect members had fled, shrieking or whimpering. A few had stayed behind to haul their wounded leader to his feet and ferry him out of here. I allowed them to.
”Phew…”
I breathed a sigh of relief and watched them disappear, glad that they didn't call my bluff. Good thing my current opponents were all idiots, or I would have a much harder time dealing with them. They were clearly greater than me in terms of strength, and that wasn't even taking their superior numbers into consideration. Rubbing my neck, I relaxed my muscles, which had gone all tense in the encounter, and exhaled.
”I really have to do something about this…I don't want to deal with this shit everyday.”
Grumbling to myself, I shook my head and trudged home wearily while praying hard that I wouldn't run into yet another group wanting to steal whatever Heaven and Earth techniques that I didn't have.