435 The Stick of the Orthodox Academy

Name:Way of Choices Author:Mao Ni
Although Tang Thirty-Six currently possessed a completely disgustingappearance and was dressed very shabbily, totally unlike his rumoredappearance, his sharp and unkind words and that free and uncaring energy abouthis appearance let Tianhai Ya'er recognize who he was very quickly. His facequickly became extremely ugly. Back then, he had gone to the Heavenly Dao Academy to take part in the IvyFestival precisely because Tang Thirty-Six had announced to the entire capitalthat he was going to cripple Tianhai Ya'er. The final outcome of this affair was that because of the restriction of theteachers of the Heavenly Dao Academy, Tang Thirty-Six was unable to participatein the Ivy Festival. Tianhai Ya'er, looking for an excuse to act violently,crippled one of Xuanyuan Po's arms, but then was soon after crippled by Luoluo. The two individuals had never been able to formally meet, but did this nothinder Tianhai Ya'er from placing the blame for his crippled status on TangThirty-Six. He stared at Tang Thirty-Six, his face pale and his eyes chock-full of bitterresentment, wishing that he could just destroy him. But he did nothing. On thecontrary, hearing Tang Thirty-Six's words and associating them with this guy'srumored temperament, an inauspicious omen appeared in his heart. With his sharpvoice, he rushed to say, "I was talking to Chen Changsheng! It has nothing todo with you!" There was a sort of 'just come and hit me' feeling to it as well. Tianhai Ya'er was a scoundrel, shameless and sinister. He was daring enough tosay these words to anyone, including Chen Changsheng, but Tang Thirty-Six wasthe sole exception. Because he knew Tang Thirty-Six really could discard any sense of shame andstrike him. Tang Thirty-Six was a little surprised, finding it a little hard to believethat this guy could respond so quickly. He couldn't think of a better method,so he decided to just be unreasonable. "I don't care. In any case, I want tofight with you." Saying this, he turned to Chen Changsheng and said, "Help me roll up mysleeves." Right now, his left hand was holding a bowl of soy milk and his right hand washolding half of a youtiao. It really was impossible for him to roll up hissleeves on his own. Rolling up the sleeves was an action that everyone understood the significanceof. It was a signal to begin something. Tianhai Ya'er's complexion was a little pale. "I definitely won't fight withyou. In any case, I'm a cripple. If you're not afraid of losing face, then youcan do it yourself." Chen Changsheng was precisely pondering whether to roll up Tang Thirty-Six'ssleeves or not, but when he heard the words 'not afraid of losing face', hethought to himself,it's fine, I don't need to think about it anymore. Just as expected, when Tang Thirty-Six heard these words, not only did he lackany hesitation, his eyes shone. He asked, "What is face?" Tianhai Ya'er looked at him uneasily and said, "What are you thinking ofdoing? Don't tell me you plan to bully a cripple like me in front of so manypeople?" The misty rain shrouded Hundred Flowers Lane. The force of the rain was notvery great and was even gradually weakening. The priests and guards responsiblefor keeping the peace had already blockaded the lane against the manyspectators. Tianhai Ya'er's reputation in the capital was extremely awful, but he wasstill only a youth that hadn't even reached the age of fourteen. Moreover, hehad already been a cripple for almost a year, his two legs now so thin thatthey looked like two beanpoles. He looked very pitiful. If someone were toattack him, wheelchair-bound as he was, they might provoke many criticisms. Buthow could Tang Thirty-Six fear any criticisms or censure? He looked at Tianhai Ya'er and smiled. "Did you know, when I was very small,there was one thing that I loved to do the most." Tianhai Ya'er stared into his eyes, his voice slightly shaky. "What thing?" Tang Thirty-Six answered, "My favorite thing to do was take up a staff andchase around dogs that had fallen into the river, hitting them nonstop." Tianhai Ya'er understood his meaning and a cold shiver ran through him. In hisshaky voice, he shouted, "Someone come quickly! The sole grandson of theWenshui Tangs is beating someone up! He wants to use some underhanded method ona cripple like me!" Tang Thirty-Six was also in no hurry, allowing him to yell. Only after TianhaiYa'er's voice had finally come to a stop did he turn to the crowd outside thestreet and declare, "Everyone has clearly seen that I haven't hit him with myhands." He truly hadn't hit Tianhai Ya'er, not even brushed his clothes. As he spoke, he even raised up his the soy milk and youtiao in his two hands,indicating to the crowd that even if he wanted to, he couldn't hit TianhaiYa'er. Then his expression suddenly turned cold, and his foot delivered a ruthlesskick to Tianhai Ya'er's chest! Thud! Tianhai Ya'er was kicked with his wheelchair into the rainwater, and his headbegan to bleed from the fall. Tang Thirty-Six had kicked too ruthlessly. The crippled youth was curled uplike a shrimp, his face extremely pale and in so much pain that he couldn'teven speak. The area in front of the Orthodox Academy's gate and the outside of theHundred Flowers Lane were both deathly still. Nobody said anything. Nobody had thought that this youth who had been smiling at them while holdingup the soy milk and youtiao, chuckling like an idiot, would in the next momentdeliver such a fierce blow to the crippled youth in the wheelchair! The Tianhai clan bodyguards and Zhou Ziheng also had not imagined this, sothey were far too late to stop it. With the whistling of the wind, the Tianhai clan's bodyguards quickly rushedonto the scene and placed Tianhai Ya'er under their protection. Zhou Ziheng had tossed away that paper umbrella a while ago, his right handalready gripping the hilt of his sword. With an expression of fury, he glaredat Tang Thirty-Six, apparently ready to attack in the next moment. Tang Thirty-Six continued to ignore this Star Condensation expert. Lookingaround at the crowd, he raised the soy milk and the youtiao in his hands evenhigher and declared, "Everyone can clearly see, I really didn't use my hands,much less attack with them. I used a kick." It really was like this. He hadn't used any underhanded methods againstTianhai Ya'er. He had used his foot. With an angry roar, Zhou Ziheng pulled his sword out of its sheath. His swordintent abruptly soared, reverberating in that space in front of the OrthodoxAcademy. The target of this powerful sword intent was obviously Tang Thirty-Six. In viewing the monoliths and comprehending the Dao in the Mausoleum of Booksand through diligent cultivation, Tang Thirty-Six's level had advanced rapidly.At his age, he performed the unimaginable feat of cultivating to the upperlevel of Ethereal Opening. But he was still not an opponent for someone at theStar Condensation Realm. And yet, he still continued to ignore Zhou Ziheng, entering through the gateof the Orthodox Academy without even looking at him. From the moment he walked into Hundred Flowers Lane and set eyes on ZhouZiheng, he understood that this person desperately wanted to be seen by theworld. Thereby, from that moment on, he didn't even glance at him. Of course, this was a humiliation. Zhou Ziheng was a priest of the Hall of Subjugation, an honored guest of theTianhai clan, and also a teacher of the Temple Seminary. He had the right to bearrogant about any one of these identities. How could an arrogant man possibly endure such humiliation? So even though healready knew of Tang Thirty-Six's identity, he still took out his sword. He could not take out his sword. There was only the sound of many bowstrings being drawn taut. Several dozen guards stood in front of Tang Thirty-Six's back, the divinecrossbows in their hands held level, the crossbow darts sharp and carrying thefluctuations of Qi. They were extremely frightening. A deputy general stood behind, his face austere. His hand gripped the hilt ofhis sword as he stared into Zhou Ziheng's eyes. The warning was exceptionallyclear: if he moved, he would die. Tang Thirty-Six and Chen Changsheng entered the Orthodox Academy. As the gatesclosed, they clapped. Just like the sound of a crisp slap. Tianhai Ya'er was helped up by the bodyguards. His face was pale and hissuffering unbearable. Zhou Ziheng stood in the fine rain, his face pale. He coldly asked that deputygeneral, "I would like to know, does Divine General Xue know of this matter?" As everyone knew, the guards responsible for the safety of the capital wereall under the command of the second-ranked Divine General, Xue Xingchuan, andthat Divine General had always been loyal to the Divine Empress. Today, the attitude the guards had displayed before the gate of the OrthodoxAcademy was clearly hostile to the Tianhai clan. The deputy general looked at Zhou Ziheng like he was an idiot. "The family ofmy maternal grandfather only has this single child. If I don't block you, doesthat mean you want your entire family to be killed?" Saying this, he waved his hand, indicating that his subordinates shoulddisperse. He then walked over to the inn across the road from the OrthodoxAcademy to continue drinking tea and gazing off into the distance. Inside the Orthodox Academy, Xuanyuan Po and Chen Changsheng enthusiasticallysandwiched Tang Thirty-Six as they walked into the library. "All this enthusiasm from you guys really makes me feel uncomfortable." TangThirty-Six looked at the expressions on their faces and thought it somewhatstrange. Chen Changsheng's face was one of complete relief and Xuanyuan Po also lookedas if a great burden had been lifted. "You don't know, these past few days, that crippled little monster was outthere in front of the gate every day yelling abuse and profanity. We reallyalmost couldn't take it, so we just looked forward to your return." Chen Changsheng said to him in gratitude, "As expected, the moment you cameback, you completely settled the matter, or else I really wouldn't know what todo." Tang Thirty-Six was somewhat proud and also somewhat irritated. "You just lethim sit in front of the gate and curse? Grow up!" Chen Changsheng said awkwardly, "I really don't have any experience dealingwith this sort of thing." Beside him, Xuanyuan Po added, "Tianhai Ya'er wielded his crippled status toblindly curse at us. He doesn't even care about his pride, what could we do?Are you saying we really should have just beaten him up?" Tang Thirty-Six thought to himself, didn't I just give him a good kick? Ikicked very happily, so why can't you? Chen Changsheng said helplessly, "That guy right now is just like a pile offeces. No matter how you handle it, you can't avoid getting your hands dirty,so we were forced to wait for your return." Tang Thirty-Six asked, "Why did you need to wait for me to come back?" Chen Changsheng turned around and looked out the window at the scenery. Xuanyuan Po was more honest. "You have more experience in this aspect. Inaddition, we also know that you care even less about your pride than he does." Tang Thirty-Six was a little astonished when hearing this, and then becamefurious. "What does that mean? You two both better tell me clearly what thismeans! Could it be that in your view, I'm also just a pile of shit?" Xuanyuan Po was momentarily speechless, not knowing how to explain. He wantedto say a few words to clarify, but then he realized he didn't know how to sayit. Chen Changsheng said consolingly, "Our meaning is that your ability to pesterendlessly and be unafraid of filth just happens to be of use against this sortof person." Tang Thirty-Six reconstructed this sentence in his mind and got even angrier."Isn't that just a stick that you use to move around shit? How is that anybetter!" Of course, he wasn't really angry, just playing around. Chen Changsheng andXuanyuan Po truly could only wait for Tang Thirty-Six's return. Neither of themwas good with words, much less scheming. Luoluo naturally had that ability, buther status was far too sensitive. Thus, if they wanted to solve the problemcurrently confronting the Orthodox Academy, they could only place their hopeson Tang Thirty-Six. In fact, there were very few people that noticed that TangThirty-Six had been responsible for solving many of the problems the OrthodoxAcademy had faced. Hearing Chen Changsheng explain the new rule of the Orthodoxy, Tang Thirty-Sixpondered it, then dunked the youtiao in his hands into the bowl of soy milk anddeclared, "Drown them to death."