Chapter 45: The Chirp

Xu Xian is going too?

That's going to be troublesome...

As Luo Zijun walked toward the Academy, he felt worried in his heart.

It is very likely that there are truly monsters at Hanshan Temple.

According to his master, those monsters love to target scholars who possess Literary Qi.

Xu Xian must not meet with any mishap.

If Xu Xian were to die suddenly, then his mission might immediately be declared a failure.

If the mission fails, he naturally won't have a future.

Even if Xu Xian is only injured, it is still very dangerous.

Once Xu Xian is harmed by a monster, Bai Niangzi might appear immediately to treat his illness.

If the two of them interact, they might develop feelings for each other.

That would be even worse.

It seems he has no choice but to follow along and protect Xu Xian well.

But with his meager abilities, how is he to protect him?

"Master seems to have a deep understanding of monsters; after class, I will go to the Pharmacy and ask Master..."

"While I'm at it, I'll buy some things for self-defense."

"I have a Dagger, so I'll buy some things like poison, lime, and the like..."

Thinking this, he soon arrived at the Academy.

Su Bie and Zhang Yitian had already arrived early and were talking with others; upon seeing him, they waved their hands hurriedly.

"Zijun, over here!"

The two were sitting at the very back.

Su Bie asked curiously: "Why did you come with Brother Wang?"

"We met on the way."

Luo Zijun replied, then cupped his hands in greeting to the others.

Su Bie hurriedly introduced them one by one.

Both sides exchanged pleasantries and took their respective seats.

The students nearby all asked Luo Zijun with envious faces about being admitted as an exception.

Luo Zijun answered casually and said modestly: "Just a stroke of luck."

As for the matter of going to the Talent Gem for verification, he naturally did not mention it.

There were over twenty students in the class, all of whom were male.

The youngest was fourteen or fifteen years old, named Luo Yulin; the oldest was already around forty, named Zhang Heng.

Everyone was amiable, and there was no instance of anyone looking down on anyone else.

At least on the surface.

"My brothers, I picked up a piece of jade yesterday—the one I'm wearing on my waist. It's said to be able to ward off evil and drive away ghosts. Guess how much it cost?"

Wang Dafu was bragging again nearby.

Luo Zijun said intentionally: "This jade looks extraordinary; I estimate it must have cost at least five taels of silver."

"Pfft..."

Someone nearby laughed.

Wang Dafu looked disgusted: "People wouldn't even let you look at it for five taels of silver!"

As he spoke, he held out a palm and said triumphantly: "A full five hundred taels! I pestered him for a long time before I managed to lower the price a bit. That old man said this jade was picked up from a certain cave and is very spiritual; wearing it on one's body, even ghosts and monsters are afraid!"

Su Bie smiled and asked: "How much did Brother Wang actually haggle off?"

Wang Dafu chuckled and held up four fingers.

"Forty taels?"

"No, four hundred and fifty taels! That old man saw that I was handsome and dashing, a dragon among men, and that I spoke well, so he waved his hand and gave me a discount of four hundred and fifty taels directly, only charging me fifty taels of silver!"

"Boo—"

Everyone let out jeers.

Wang Dafu immediately said: "Don't look at it as cheap; it's the real deal! I wore it to sleep last night and slept so soundly; I didn't have a single nightmare!"

Su Bie smiled: "I slept in my clothes last night and didn't have a nightmare either."

"I slept under a quilt last night and didn't have a nightmare either!"

"I slept lying on the bed last night and didn't have a nightmare either!"

Everyone laughed out loud as they said this.

Wang Dafu was suddenly anxious and was about to speak when a coughing sound suddenly came from the doorway.

"Teacher Yuan is here!"

The classroom immediately fell silent.

Yuan Mang was wearing a Confucian robe, holding books, and walked into the classroom with a graceful air.

He swept his gaze over the room, nodded upon seeing Luo Zijun, and said in a clear voice: "Today, our Academy has a new student. His name is Luo Zijun, and I presume you have already met him. From now on, you are all fellow students; you must help and love one another, not bully the new student, and help him adapt to life at the Academy as quickly as possible."

Then he gave some further instructions.

Everyone responded very enthusiastically.

Yuan Mang said a few more words, and seeing that the time was right, he began the lecture.

Today, he was explaining an ancient text.

From the topic and the intent to the meaning of every sentence, as well as the neatness of the preceding and following lines, he explained everything in detail.

There were two classes in the morning: Confucian Classics and Etiquette.

After the classes finished, it was already noon.

Su Bie and Wang Dafu disliked the food at the Academy, so after saying a word to Luo Zijun, they went straight home to eat.

Zhang Yitian hesitated for a moment, then invited Luo Zijun to go to the canteen to eat together.

Seeing him with others, Luo Zijun declined: "I ate a lot this morning and am not hungry yet, Brother Zhang should go ahead."

Zhang Yitian did not insist further, smiled, and left with the others.

Luo Zijun was indeed not very hungry.

He thought for a moment, went straight to the Hidden Book Pavilion, and decided to browse some strange tales.

So as not to be unprepared if ghosts and monsters really came.

He entered the Hidden Book Pavilion and went straight to the third floor.

It was currently lunchtime, so there were not many people in the Hidden Book Pavilion.

Arriving at the shelf where the strange tales were kept, he picked up two books at random, went to sit by the window, and began to read. In the future, he might also need to write "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio".

Although the stories in these books were written with novelty, they lacked a bit of interest; if they could be adapted and some romantic plots added, it should be quite good.

He had to keep writing books to earn money.

To prevent Xu Xian and Bai Niangzi from being together, he couldn't do it without money.

Just taking Xu Xian to the Brothel would likely cost quite a bit of money.

And there was his family.

He had to earn some money for his elder sister and brother-in-law.

To raise him, they were already in their late twenties and hadn't even dared to have children.

He had to do something for that home.

Besides that, there was martial arts training, which was likely the most expensive.

!

Hmm?

Just as he was reading intently, he suddenly felt the light beside him dim.

He looked up.

That little girl in the pink dress named Luo Diudiu from yesterday had arrived in front of him, no one knew when, and was widening her big, dark eyes, stealthily peeking at the book in front of him.

"Tsk tsk, reading ghost stories? Aren't you afraid of being too scared to sleep at night?"

Luo Diudiu was wearing a pink dress, a pink hairpin tucked into her hair, and her hair was braided into two small, thin pigtails on both sides, tied with pink hair ties; her face also looked extremely pink and tender.

The whole person was like a flower bud just beginning to bloom, pink and tender, delicate and cute, and at this moment, she was blinking her big, dark eyes at him.

Luo Zijun turned his head and looked at the bookshelf beside him.

Sure enough, that eldest daughter of the Bai Family, who wore a pure white dress, had long, jet-black hair, and looked stunningly beautiful, had also come and was quietly selecting books in front of the shelf.

The sunlight spilled onto her, and that skin as white as glowing jade looked not only beautiful to the extreme but even a bit dazzling.

Seeing her for the second time, he was still incredibly amazed.

"Hey, what are you looking at!"

Luo Diudiu immediately came over to block his view, put her hands on her hips, and said fiercely: "You're not allowed to look!"

Luo Zijun waved his hand to shoo her away: "Go cool off somewhere else."

After saying this, he stood up to put the book back.

Who would have thought that after walking only a few steps, Luo Diudiu suddenly rushed up, raised her foot, and kicked him in the butt, shouting angrily: "I'm calling you out for having no manners!"

After kicking him, she ran!

However, she had only run a few steps before Luo Zijun grabbed her and pulled her back.

Just like yesterday.

He turned his back, lifted his long leg, and kicked with force!

"Bang!"

Luo Diudiu's petite and cute loli body immediately flew forward, limbs flailing, and with a "slap," she fell to the ground, then landed face-first, limbs spread out in a 'big' shape, and after sliding a distance with a "whoosh," she finally stopped.

"You... you jerk, you actually hit a woman!"

"And such a cute little, little, little woman!"

"How could you bring yourself to do it!"

Luo Diudiu covered her face, turned her head, and said angrily.

Luo Zijun ignored her, patted the footprint off his butt, went to the bookshelf to put the books away, took two more books, returned to his seat, and continued reading.

A moment later, Luo Diudiu came to his front again.

Luo Zijun looked up and warned: "If you harass me again, do you believe I'll punch you until you cry? The kind that cries for a long time!"

Luo Diudiu clenched her two small fists and said: "I want to challenge you!"

"Oh? A fight?"

Luo Zijun closed his book and rubbed his own fists.

Ever since he started practicing martial arts, his hands had been feeling a bit itchy.

He decided to beat this little girl into submission.

A long, long time ago, he had wondered what it would feel like if there was a day he could beat up a cute girl without any reservations, beating her until she cried and called him 'daddy'.

He didn't expect it to actually come true now.

"No, a verbal sparring match!"

Suddenly and without warning, Luo Diudiu went "Ptoo!" and spat a mouthful of saliva onto his face!

After spitting, she turned and ran!

As she ran, she shouted, "Help! Help! Wang Dafu is trying to molest me!"

She quickly ran downstairs.

Downstairs, the voices of the men reading books immediately rang out: "Who? Wang Dafu? How outrageous! In broad daylight, someone is actually molesting a girl!"

"Don't be afraid, miss! Let's go, we'll go up and stand up for you!"

"Wang Dafu! You get out here!"

Seeing that no one was chasing her, Luo Diudiu immediately spread her arms to block them: "You are not allowed up! My young miss is upstairs reading!"

"Is this girl sick in the head?"

Luo Zijun raised his sleeve to wipe the saliva off his face, thought for a moment, and walked straight toward Bai Daxiaojie.

Bai Meixue had just taken a book from the shelf and was preparing to leave when he blocked her path.

"You're her young miss, right? She spat on me, and since she ran away, I'll spit on you. Do you want me to spit on your face, or somewhere else?"

Luo Zijun said with a cold face.

Bai Meixue looked at him with calm eyes, standing still without moving or speaking.

"Then I'll spit on your face."

Luo Zijun moved closer to her.

At this moment, Luo Diudiu hurriedly ran up and shouted, "Wang Dafu! Don't! Don't spit!"

Luo Zijun waited for her to run over, then grabbed her, twisted her body around again so her back was facing him, and commanded, "Stick your butt out!"

"Bang!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he kicked out.

Luo Diudiu was kicked flying again, sliding even further away with a "whoosh."

Then she lay on the ground and stopped moving.

"If there is a next time, I will really beat you until you cry!"

Luo Zijun gave another warning, then returned to his seat and continued reading.

"Waa..."

Luo Diudiu lay on the ground, letting out a whimper.

(End of chapter)