Repaying Kindness with Enmity

The tranquil moonlight cast a silver net over the ground, covering it in a layer of silver frost.

Treading over the silver frost with a torch in hand, Xian Wu hurried toward Xiao Ning'er's camp.

She must have screamed because a demon beast had attacked her. They were classmates; he had to save her.

"What's wrong? What happened, Ning—" Xian Wu stopped halfway through his sentence.

Xiao Ning'er clutched her chest, her face flushed and her skin glistening with sweat.

Xian Wu gulped, then asked in confusion, "What happened? Say something!"

Had some thug harassed her? Or had some pervert been spying on her? It was hard to know what to do when she wouldn't say a word.

Come to think of it, why was Xiao Ning'er barefoot? Wouldn't her feet be freezing in the middle of the night?

Honestly, Xiao Ning'er's skin was so smooth, like white jade. The moonlight cast a silvery sheen over it.

She looked like a pure angel who had fallen to earth. Well, a fallen angel.

"Get lost..." After a long moment, Xiao Ning'er slowly let the words slip from her lips.

Xian Wu didn't react at first.

"What did you say?"

"I said get lost! Didn't you hear me? And you're still staring? Keep looking and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

Xiao Ning'er drew the Azure Moon Short Sword again, glaring fiercely at Xian Wu like a tigress about to pounce.

"Don't attack me! I'm leaving, okay?" Xian Wu held both hands high and turned to leave, feeling baffled.

What was with all the shouting in the middle of the night? Was she crazy?

She wasn't some cat in heat.

"Here I am, offering kindness, and she shoves it back in my face..." Xian Wu grumbled as he walked away.

Could Xiao Ning'er be on her period? Yeah, she was about the right age. Probably.

But why would she need to clutch her chest just because she was on her period?

Could it be... that her breasts were engorged?

As he thought about it, Xian Wu swallowed. Xiao Ning'er was certainly well-proportioned, with curves in all the right places.

"I haven't had milk in ages. I wonder if they sell any in the City of Brilliance?" Xian Wu muttered to himself as he returned to his camp.

After fastening her clothes, Xiao Ning'er gripped the Azure Moon Short Sword tightly and cautiously searched the area around the camp.

Only after making sure Xian Wu wasn't hiding nearby with bad intentions did she finally relax.

Sitting on the blanket, which still held a little warmth, Xiao Ning'er hugged her knees and gazed at the blazing fire.

Ever since obtaining the Winged Dragon Family's sixth-ranked Soul Force cultivation technique, she had been cultivating day and night.

She wanted to change her fate through her own efforts and avoid marrying Shen Fei, the wastrel of the Sacred Family.

But for some reason, as her Soul Force grew, her body began to act strangely.

Every night at midnight, her whole body felt as if it had been plunged into an icy pit, while her feet burned as if they were on fire.

She tried to endure the pain and continue cultivating her Soul Force, but she could barely manage it. The more she cultivated, the worse she felt.

Bruises had also appeared inexplicably on the tops of her feet and beneath her ribs. The one beneath her ribs was especially bad; it had already turned from blue to purple.

She had only been rubbing it to try to disperse the bruise, but the instant she pressed down, a piercing pain tore through her.

That was why she couldn't help screaming.

She hadn't expected to draw Xian Wu over from nearby.

Although Xian Wu had come out of concern, worried she might be in danger, staring at her so brazenly had been terribly rude.

She had worried that if he kept looking, Xian Wu might lose control and develop some filthy thoughts about her, so she had sent him away before that could happen.

She was grateful that Xian Wu had come to save her, but one could never know what was in another person's heart, so she had to be careful.

Dawn gradually emerged from the darkness. The bright moon vanished, replaced by the dazzling morning star.

Xian Wu yawned, stopped practicing his stance, and staggered toward the exit of the Trial Grounds.

As he passed Xiao Ning'er's camp, he saw that she had already left, though some embers still glowed in the campfire.

Thinking of how she had treated his kindness like the kindness of a dog to Lu Dongbin the night before, Xian Wu seethed with anger.

"Whether she leaves or not is none of my business. Get lost, you stupid woman!"

"If my heart is free of women, my sword will be divine. Even if a hundred men gang up on her, I won't lift a finger to help. Hmph."

Grumbling as he went, Xian Wu used his left hand to draw on a nearby boulder.

First he drew a dog, then wrote the three characters "Lu Dongbin" to its right.

He dusted off his hands and left, satisfied.

If Hu Yan Lan Ruo had been there, she would have dropped the dried fish from her mouth in shock. Xian Wu had inherited her artistic talent.

The dog looked just like a tortoise.

To give credit where it was due, Xian Wu's handwriting was quite good, with bold, sweeping strokes.

Xian Wu left the Trial Grounds through a side gate and returned the signal flare to the guards.

"Hey, kid, what did you get up to all night? Any gains?" the armored guard asked with interest as he put away the flare.

Xian Wu waved a hand. "Nothing. And I got chewed out for my trouble."

Chewed out? Since when could the demon beasts in the Trial Grounds talk? The armored guard was thoroughly confused.

Ignoring the guard, Xian Wu wiped his face with his left hand and headed for the cafeteria.

Although the burn on his left hand still stung faintly, it had mostly healed after a night of recovering in clean surroundings.

It was perfectly fine to wash his face with it.

While serving food, Xian Wu yawned repeatedly and accidentally ladled leftover dishes into the soup bowls several times.

"Are you fucking blind? Where are you serving that? Am I supposed to drink soup or not?"

"Go drink piss, then! Get lost. Next!" Xian Wu snapped back as usual, tossing last night's resolve aside.

He was groggy and only wanted to sleep. He couldn't remember what he had thought, said, or done the night before, and couldn't be bothered to try.

After finishing his cafeteria shift, Xian Wu hurried to the classroom.

He was running much faster now, though he didn't notice. He slumped onto his desk and fell asleep.

It wasn't until Instructor Tie Kuang smacked him on the back of the head that Xian Wu woke with a start.

"Class rep, what's wrong with you? Still half asleep? Were you sneaking a peek at some girl last night?" Instructor Tie Kuang teased him, making the whole class burst into laughter.

At the front of the room, Xiao Ning'er's heart raced and her face burned as she lowered her head in embarrassment.

Zhang Ming and Zhu Jun Xiang were curious too. Xian Wu hadn't come back all night, and they wondered what he had been doing.

Had he spent the night at a girl's house?

Sacred Orchid Academy was a boarding school. Only privileged students from Prominent Families and Peak Families were allowed to commute.

Wait... Prominent Families?

Could Xian Wu have gone to see Hu Yan Lan Ruo last night?

Zhang Ming and Zhu Jun Xiang exchanged a glance, deciding it seemed quite possible.

Xian Wu wasn't annoyed by the instructor's teasing. He patted his cheeks, shook his head, and sat up straight.

Seeing his class representative finally wake up, Instructor Tie Kuang cleared his throat and returned to the lectern. In a booming voice, he addressed the class:

"Yesterday, we had a brief discussion about the profession of a martial artist. Today, we'll talk about martial skills."

"What are martial skills?"

"Martial skills are the abilities of martial artists..."