Backlash

Returning from the Training Ground, Zhuang Jin went back to the dormitory. A Martial Student heading out to wash up nodded at him, and he returned the greeting.

When he entered, aside from Xiong Lei, who had moved out, nearly everyone else was there. Yet they were merely lying on their beds. Unlike the previous days, no one was chatting; silence filled the room.

Everyone had put in extra training that evening and had only recently returned. Having just washed up, they were so exhausted they did not want to move even a finger. Beyond physical fatigue, there was also psychological pressure. Today was already the seventeenth day, yet many still had not even managed the first step of Grasping Blood Qi. They truly had no mood for idle chatter.

Wang Rui was particularly obvious among them. The gloom on his face seemed like a low-pressure raincloud floating above his head, ready to pour at any moment. There was no need to guess; one look at his expression showed that he likely still had not managed to Grasp Blood Qi by today. He had not been seen asking about anyone else's progress either. Perhaps he had already asked, or perhaps he was in too foul a mood to ask today.

Zhuang Jin did not mention that he had become a Formal Martial Artist either. What, was he supposed to say it just to show off? To slap Wang Rui in the face and get back at Hou Yong for the latter's mockery on the night he had come looking for him?

He was not childish enough to play such games, like children playing house.

Of course, even if Zhuang Jin did not say anything tonight, the Martial Students would learn of it by tomorrow morning anyway. When that time came, they would still feel envy, jealousy, perhaps even... hatred.

But... who cared?

To Zhuang Jin, these Martial Students sharing his dormitory were merely people who had once lived under the same roof as him. After tomorrow, perhaps their paths would never cross again for the rest of their lives.

His attitude toward them was the same as toward roadside weeds. He would not deliberately do anything, nor would he deliberately refrain from doing anything. He simply acted according to his own rhythm and his own interests... that was the mindset of the strong, or rather, of those in high positions.

Zhuang Jin was about to head out to wash up.

Bi Kai entered, his voice raised in excitement as though singing an opera. "Hey, I went out to wash up just now. While I was drawing water to rinse my feet, inspiration suddenly struck. I practiced a round of Stance Training by the well, and hey, guess what happened? As I kept practicing, that Martial Practitioner Bottleneck was just like the paper pasted over a window... it broke! Lord Bi is a Formal Martial Artist now too. So? Impressive, right?"

"When that brat Xiong Lei left yesterday, didn't I say it? He only got one step ahead of me—I'd catch right up to him. Heh, tomorrow morning, I'll tell Master Ping and move in with the Formal Martial Artists too!"

Like Zhuang Jin, he felt that, at such a late hour, there was no need to rush. It would not be too late to tell them tomorrow morning... Besides, there was another benefit that suited his fancy. He could still use tonight to put on a show before the Martial Students in the dormitory and flaunt his glory before others.

The dormitory had originally been completely silent. Upon hearing Bi Kai's words, it seemed to grow even quieter in an instant. Only after someone dryly said, "Brother Bi, congratulations," did the others follow suit and offer their congratulations.

Bi Kai could tell that their congratulations were forced, but he did not care. As long as he got to enjoy flaunting his glory before others, what did it matter whether their congratulations were sincere?

In fact, those reluctant, unwilling congratulations gave him even more of a thrill—this was exactly it. He wanted them to envy him, wanted them to be jealous. But no matter how envious or jealous they were, they could not compare to him, could not catch up to him, and could do nothing about it. Heh!

On the bunk beside them, Wang Rui listened to Bi Kai's boasting. Lying on his side, half his face was bathed in the Oil Lamp's glow, while the other half was buried in untouched shadow. He looked like Buddha and demon alike. Yet that seemed to be only a momentary illusion. It quickly faded, and he turned around and sat up, exaggerated amazement on his face. "Amazing, Brother Bi! Congratulations! You'll have to look after me more in the future!"

"Easy enough! Easy enough!" Wang Rui's congratulations carried a little more sincerity than those of the others in the dormitory, and the smile on Bi Kai's face widened further. Yet while his mouth said, "Easy enough," he felt several degrees of disdain. He rather looked down on Wang Rui; after all, they would be people from entirely different levels in the future.

Zhuang Jin took all of this in. He too offered Bi Kai a word of congratulations, then silently went out to wash up, as inconspicuous as a tiny speck of dust.

In the middle of the night, while Zhuang Jin was sleeping lightly, he suddenly heard a muffled slap, as though a blanket had fallen to the floor. Then came a teeth-grating sound of something scraping. He instantly opened his eyes in alarm, sat upright, and looked toward the sound.

As a Martial Artist, once he circulated and mobilized his Inner Breath, his hearing and sight far surpassed those of ordinary people. By the shaft of moonlight shining through the window, he saw Wang Rui in the dimly lit room. Somehow, Wang Rui had found a thumb-thick rope and looped it around Bi Kai's neck from behind. With one knee braced against Bi Kai's back, he viciously hauled the rope backward. A deranged, sickly smile of madness stretched across his face.

Bi Kai lay half-prone on his side like a toad, his neck strangled from behind. His face was flushed crimson, his eyes bulged wildly, and both hands clutched at his throat. In his struggle, his blanket had fallen away. His instinct to survive made his feet scrape unconsciously against the bed, producing that teeth-grating sound.

Bi Kai had already become a Formal Martial Artist. He should not have ended up in such a state, but he had not been vigilant. Caught off guard in his sleep by Wang Rui's sneak attack, he was strangled by the rope at once. Choking and unable to breathe, and having only broken through to become a Formal Martial Artist tonight, he was still unskilled in using his Inner Breath. In such an abnormal state, he could not gather his mind to mobilize it at all. Forget mobilizing Inner Breath—even gathering strength was difficult. His struggles were purely instinctive, and in this position, he could not reach Wang Rui in the slightest.

Bi Kai and Wang Rui's beds were adjacent. The Martial Students beside them had also been startled awake, but at the sight, they instinctively backed away—human nature was selfish. When faced with danger, one's first reaction was naturally to avoid it, not approach its source.

Then, once they recovered and realized what was happening, they found it difficult to risk themselves for Bi Kai and directly confront the currently crazed Wang Rui, fishing chestnuts from the fire. What was more, after days of buildup—and especially Bi Kai's boastful display after becoming a Formal Martial Artist tonight—their hearts had long been thrown deeply out of balance. Seeing Bi Kai's miserable state now, they even felt a dark, unutterable sense of gratification.

The sole exception was Zhuang Jin!

When Bi Kai boasted about breaking through tonight, I thought there was something off about Wang Rui. Sure enough, something happened.

Zhuang Jin's eyes were deep, seeing everything as clearly as flames: ever since Xiang Qichen had been the first to Grasp Blood Qi on the seventh day, the atmosphere in the Training Ground had grown increasingly restless, even spreading into the dormitories. Over the past few days, people had broken through to become Martial Artists one after another, while more than ninety percent of the dormitory still could not even Grasp Blood Qi. The contrast had pushed that restless atmosphere to its extreme.

Bi Kai's renewed boasting after breaking through as a Martial Artist tonight was undoubtedly the final straw that broke the camel's back...

And tonight, Bi Kai had finally drawn fierce backlash for all his boasting and flaunting his glory before others since the first day.

These thoughts flashed through his mind. The next instant, he rapidly weighed whether to intervene and the gains and losses involved. If I don't intervene, I can avoid facing Wang Rui. But if something really happens to Bi Kai, a Formal Martial Artist, then as someone from the same dormitory, I may also be implicated and bear some responsibility. If I intervene, the cost is facing Wang Rui; the benefit is saving Bi Kai, who is already a Formal Martial Artist and appears quite wealthy, gaining his goodwill and possibly his future repayment.

The gains and losses were obvious at a glance.

There was another point worth mentioning: confronting Wang Rui in his current frenzied, demonic state might be dangerous for the other Martial Students in the dormitory, but for Zhuang Jin as he was now, that danger could be ignored.

As a Formal Martial Artist, Wang Rui was nothing. So long as Zhuang Jin was not caught by a calculated ambush, and even if he were attacked by surprise, as long as he had just a little more vigilance, Wang Rui would be no match for him at all!

At the same time, beyond weighing the gains and losses, something else surfaced in Zhuang Jin's mind: on the night Hou Yong had come looking for him, Wang Rui had mocked and ridiculed him, while Bi Kai had spoken up to defuse the situation for him.

He asked himself and knew he was no good man, but he distinguished clearly between favors and grudges. Bi Kai's words that day had not been some earthshaking kindness; calling it a favor would even be a stretch, since Zhuang Jin could have handled the matter even if Bi Kai had said nothing. Still, it had been a gesture of goodwill, and he acknowledged it!

With that thought, the scales in Zhuang Jin's heart immediately tipped. Having made his decision, he acted at once.

"Move!" he shouted. Passing through the Martial Students before him, he shot forward like a great roc spreading its wings. Reaching Bi Kai and Wang Rui, he pressed one palm against Wang Rui's back.