Chapter 113: 108 Classmates

"I was wondering, how did my remote little shop end up with several groups of distinguished guests? Last night, a female guest brought a child and stayed alone in the backyard. She didn't set off this morning, and I thought she was just waiting out the wind and snow. This morning, more distinguished guests arrived; a group of guards escorted a young master and young miss. As soon as they arrived, they sat in the private room next door watching the snow, and they've been at it all morning. I wanted to serve them well, but they wouldn't eat the food or drink the wine. They only ate what they brought themselves. The two children held their heads high and kept straight faces. I couldn't be bothered to wait on them, so I went downstairs to slack off."

When he mentioned they wouldn't eat or drink, only eating what they brought, Tang Zhao immediately thought of Pei Shoujing; he figured the sons and daughters of wealthy families all had similar temperaments.

Xing Ji said, "So that's how it is. This is indeed a path to Zhuoyu Villa. There are no other sects on the mountain, so they are likely sending their children up the mountain. Azhao, do you want to go meet your fellow students?"

Before Tang Zhao could speak, Liu Qiguang waved his hand and said, "If you ask me, we shouldn't go now. They have five or six guards following them, guarding against us like we're thieves. Even though our great benefactor is an expert, why bother getting tangled up with these people? Those two children aren't easy to approach either; one look and you can tell they're used to being a young master and young miss, and they don't even know how to speak like normal people yet."

Xing Ji asked Tang Zhao with a smile, "Do you want to go? Bumping into a wall is also a part of life."

If this were any other elder giving instructions, Tang Zhao might think there was a deeper meaning or some benefit to himself, but coming from Xing Ji, Tang Zhao felt it was purely to mess with him. He chuckled, "If you're going, then I'll go."

Xing Ji said, "Let's go together." He stood up immediately and picked up his wine cup to pour himself a drink. Seeing this, Liu Qiguang had no choice but to pick up the wine pot and follow.

The group had just stepped out of the private room when they saw two people walking up from below.

These two were also one tall and one short. The tall one was a middle-aged beauty in a blue-gray dress, covered by a stone-cyan vest. Her entire outfit was very drab, and she wore no jewelry or head ornaments. The short one was a girl, slightly shorter than Tang Zhao, dressed quite lively. She wore her hair in hanging braids tied with bright silk flowers, a tender yellow dress, small leather boots, and a fluffy scarf around her neck.

The two parties met face-to-face, exchanged a glance, and both felt a stir in their hearts.

The beautiful woman hesitated and said, "Are... are you also..."

Xing Ji smiled and said, "Is the Madam also sending her child to study?"

The beautiful woman's expression relaxed, and she said, "Yes. Is the young master also being sent to Zhuoyu Villa?"

Xing Ji smiled and said, "Exactly. Azhao, say hello to your classmate."

Tang Zhao:...

He felt that as a Warrior who had killed his way in and out of the Demon Cave several times and was now even on the imperial payroll, he was finally self-reliant; he shouldn't be relegated to the treatment of a school-age child.

Xing Ji's tone of coaxing a child was definitely intentional.

But since the situation had crashed into this point, Tang Zhao still cupped his hands and said, "Student Tang Zhao, greetings, Madam. Hello, classmate."

The little girl smiled and said, "Hello, Tang Zhao. My name is Hua Xifu. I'm twelve years old, how old are you?"

Tang Zhao said, "I'm twelve as well."

The girl smiled and said, "Ah, that's great. We're the same age, but I was born at the beginning of the year, so I'm definitely older than you. You should call me Sister Hua."

Tang Zhao's expression was awkward. Ever since he left home, he had felt he was standing tall and independent, but on this small staircase, he had been kicked back into the world of children.

Xing Ji's eyes were filled with a mischievous glint as he said, "Ah, your daughter is truly lively and cute. I've always worried that this child Tang Zhao is too mature, not like a child at all, and that he most needs friends to play with him. It seems he and your daughter can play together."

... Which eye of yours saw us playing together?

No matter how awkward Tang Zhao felt, the girl was indeed someone who got familiar quickly; she pulled Tang Zhao and wanted to run downstairs to play.

The beautiful woman hurriedly stopped her and said to Xing Ji, "I heard there were some future classmates of Xifu's upstairs, so I wanted to bring her to meet them so they could look out for each other at Zhuoyu Villa. Could it be the two of you?"

Xing Ji shook his head and said, "We just arrived. The people you heard about aren't us; it should be the people in that room. We also heard about them and were planning to pay a visit, so we've arrived at the same conclusion."

Liu Qiguang had been watching this scene and also felt a bit confused. He stepped forward and said, "Two guests, the people inside are distinguished guests from high-ranking families; I'm afraid they won't be easy to meet. Otherwise..."

Xing Ji continued, "Exactly. For us adults to go directly to visit when we are complete strangers would be too rash. Let the two children go and ask; if they can meet, they meet, and if not, it's just a matter between children. We'll watch from behind, and it won't cause a big scene."

The beautiful woman nodded and said, "Fine. Xifu, you two go knock on the door and say you want to meet your classmates."

Hua Xifu was truly cheerful; she immediately went up to knock on the door, and Tang Zhao had no choice but to follow.

"Knock, knock—"

The door opened a crack, and someone inside said, "Who is it?"

Hua Xifu said with a smile, "We are also students going to study at Zhuoyu Villa. We heard that the young brother and sister inside are also going to the villa, so let's play together?"

There was some whispering inside, and finally, the door opened halfway. A young girl's voice said, "Please come in."

Entering the private room, they saw only two people sitting at a large table, while seven or eight others—men, women, old, and young—stood around with solemn expressions, not even a cough to be heard. Sitting in the center was a youth of thirteen or fourteen, and sitting to the side was a young girl of fourteen or fifteen.

Even though Hua Xifu had a generous personality, she had never seen such a scene. She said softly, "Hello, you two. I'm Hua Xifu, and he is Tang Zhao."

The youth didn't make a sound, his eyes unfocused as if his soul had flown away. The young girl nodded in greeting and said, "Hello. My surname is Cui, and this is YoungMaster Zheng."

Tang Zhao saw the girl's aloofness. Unlike the reserved sensitivity of Pei Shoujing who had been raised in a deep boudoir, this girl's aloofness had a touch of arrogance. She was looking at them, but they weren't in her eyes. As for YoungMaster Zheng, there was no need to say; his gaze was drifting, and he wasn't in the same world as them at all.

Not our kind of people; better leave quickly.

The social butterfly Hua Xifu still wanted to make an effort, so she smiled and said, "Um, Sister Cui, Brother Zheng. It's great that we can meet. Let's get along well in the future and work hard together to become Rune Sword Masters."

It would have been fine if she hadn't said that, but as soon as she did, YoungMaster Zheng's eyes suddenly turned red, and two lines of tears fell.

"Rune Sword Master... I don't want to be a Rune Sword Master..." he muttered.

Miss Cui said indifferently, "Third YoungMaster, there are outsiders here."

"I don't want to be a Rune Sword Master!" YoungMaster Zheng suddenly jumped up and roared, "I want to be a Sword Guest! Why! Why can Zheng Guan be a Sword Guest, and I can only be kicked out to be a Rune Sword Master? Where am I worse than him? Just because I didn't test as well as him for a moment, they exiled me to a godforsaken deep mountain..."

Miss Cui said calmly, "Stop talking."

"This is all their conspiracy! They look down on me, they look down on my mother, and they found an excuse to throw me out like trash! They all say I'm a loser, and my father's eyes only have room for Zheng Guan, never for me..."

"Don't say any more..."

"I don't want to stay here, I don't want to go to that whatever-it-is Zhuoyu Villa, I want to kill my way back, I want to let them know they are blind—"

"Clatter—"

A teacup was thrown to the ground and shattered into pieces.

Fragments splashed to Hua Xifu's feet, and she jumped back.

"Zheng Shou, stop making a fool of yourself here!" the young girl shouted, her voice sharp and piercing to the eardrums.

The youth was stunned by the shout and stammered, "You're yelling at me? As my wife, you're actually yelling at me?"

Tang Zhao was stunned. He had always thought the two were siblings, or companions from a family friendship, or at most childhood sweethearts; he hadn't expected them to be husband and wife. How old were they? Were they even fourteen yet?

The young girl sneered, "That's right, I am your wife. Do you know why I married you? Because I failed!"

"Only daughters who can't compare to others get married off at a young age; true geniuses stay at home and become Sword Guests! I lost completely to my younger sister and was stuffed off to you. By the time you became a loser and were kicked to Zhuoyu Villa, I had already been a loser for two years!"

"Do you know why I don't cry and wail and shout like you every day? Because I know the truth: no one likes to listen to the wailing of a loser! Once you've failed, if you don't give yourself some dignity, no one will give it to you!"

"So I advise you to save some face for yourself. Especially when you get to Zhuoyu Villa, don't go shouting to the world that you're a loser, and definitely don't let people know that I've followed you, this fellow, and failed twice in a row!"

After her shout, she sat down as if she had used up all her strength. Zheng Shou sat there like he had been struck by lightning, dumbfounded, with only the two lines of tears in his eyes flowing incessantly.

Tang Zhao was within arm's reach, feeling his toes curl into the ground, thinking only of how to retreat without drawing attention.

The young woman roared for a while, feeling some regret in her heart. Just as Zheng Shou would be surprised by her unusually savage attitude this time, she was not like this on ordinary days. Since marrying, she had always swallowed the bitter water of failure, acting as if nothing were wrong, yet today she had actually lost her composure. Especially in front of an outsider.

How could this be? How could she have exposed such an ugly side? She swept a glance at the two children opposite: if only they hadn't seen it.

At this moment, an old man lowered his head and said, "Young Mistress, should we kill them?"

The young woman's eyes widened, her mouth opening as if to speak but stopping.

The old man continued, "What you just said, it wouldn't be good if it leaked out."

Thoughts raced through the young woman's mind, and she said, "There are still people outside..."

"Kill them all too."

"This..."

"The envoy from Zhuoyu Villa will be here to pick you up in a moment; if he hears any rumors, it will be detrimental to YoungMaster's future."

"Kill them." Before the young woman could commit, Zheng Shou rubbed his nose and muttered, "Kill them all. Kill everyone who is detrimental to me!"

"As you command!"

"Clang—"

The sound of a sword being drawn.

It was Tang Zhao who drew his sword.

Firelight coiled around the Dharma Artifact, and the youth stood holding his sword, shielding the girl behind him, looking completely different from before.

Having gone through the tempering of the Demon Cave, he looked unchanged, but in the end, he had changed a great deal.