Tutoring

"Mom!... It's not cold at all! There's no need for Little Sister to bring me clothes."

At a barbecue stall on the street in the evening, just after the owner had brought over the skewers, Chen Shouyi received a call from Mother Chen.

"I still have enough money. Food and lodging are covered, so I don't really need much."

"Things are good here. The teacher's been taking great care of me!"

"I've made a lot of progress! I should be able to pass the assessment when it's over."

Chen Shouyi lied through his teeth as he ate the skewers.

For some reason, a commotion suddenly broke out nearby. Chen Shouyi frowned, quickly covered the receiver, and moved aside to continue his call.

By the time he hung up and returned, two groups of people were already fighting.

The table he'd been sitting at had been knocked over, scattering the skewers across the ground. Chen Shouyi's heart clenched, but he soon spotted his briefcase still in its original place, untouched.

Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

He quickly shoved aside the people blocking his way, grabbed his briefcase, and turned to leave this place of trouble.

But often, even if you didn't want trouble, trouble came looking for you.

A young man he'd pushed stumbled back a few steps and immediately flew into a rage. "Fuck your mother! You looking to die?"

As he spoke, he grabbed a beer bottle from a nearby table and hurled it at Chen Shouyi's back.

With Chen Shouyi's back turned, he sensed something flying toward him and instinctively leaned aside. The beer bottle skimmed past him and smashed to pieces on the street.

Chen Shouyi saw this and flew into a rage, too.

A beer bottle full of beer wasn't exactly heavy, but it wasn't light, either. It weighed at least a pound.

If an ordinary person got hit by one, they'd at least be left with a bruise. A bad hit could put them in bed for days.

He spun around and closed in on the young man with the vicious expression in an instant. His left hand clamped straight over the man's face, and with sheer strength, he slammed him to the ground. The man's head struck the concrete with a heavy thud. Before he could even struggle, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out cleanly.

That set off a hornet's nest. Several young men nearby cursed and charged at him.

Chen Shouyi suddenly threw a spinning kick.

A burly young man trying to sneak up on him took a heavy kick to the head. He staggered backward, dazed, then landed hard on his rear, frothing at the mouth and unable to get back up.

The young man had studied martial arts and had fought ferociously in the brawl just moments ago. Even when outnumbered three to one, he'd held the upper hand. Yet now he'd been felled with a single blow.

The people fighting all around them felt a chill at the sight of Chen Shouyi's swift, decisive moves. Both sides instinctively stopped fighting.

Even Chen Shouyi himself probably hadn't noticed that, after killing two barbarians yesterday, a trace of viciousness had crept into his nature without him realizing it.

Fortunately, he still had his wits about him and held back. He hadn't dared use too much force. Otherwise, with strength comparable to a martial artist's, no one could have withstood even one of his blows.

He swept the area with a cold glance. Wherever his eyes passed, the young men retreated, shivering from head to toe.

Chen Shouyi quickly took a few steps and hurried away.

If he didn't leave now, the police would be here soon.

After finishing the dinner that had been interrupted earlier at a noodle shop, Chen Shouyi waited until after six before taking out his phone and calling his tutor.

"Hello, Teacher Wang. This is Chen Shouyi. We arranged this yesterday. Are you free now?"

"Then come over."

Shanshui Community was considered a fairly upscale neighborhood in Dongning City. Its surroundings were lovely, with plenty of greenery.

After getting out of the car, Chen Shouyi searched for a long while before finding Building 12.

A middle-aged woman, still possessing a youthful charm, opened the door. She looked Chen Shouyi over, then immediately smiled. "You must be Xiao Chen. Ruyue's in the training room. Come on in!"

So the beautiful teacher's name was Wang Ruyue.

Chen Shouyi noticed that her features resembled those of the beautiful teacher. This woman was obviously her mother, so he quickly said:

"Hello, ma'am!"

His social skills weren't especially good, but he knew better than to call a stranger "auntie" casually.

These days, the word "auntie" had become a professional title for a certain line of work, just like "miss." Some people didn't mind being called that, while others did.

"What a kid!" The middle-aged woman laughed.

A pair of disposable slippers had already been left by the entrance. He took off his shoes and stepped inside.

Only once he'd gone farther in did he realize how large her home was. The living room alone was thirty or forty square meters, and the decor was trendy and stylish.

Chen Shouyi glanced around, then looked away.

The middle-aged woman had already opened the door to the training room for him.

He walked in. The training room was about fifty or sixty square meters, with a weapon rack and a human-shaped training dummy inside. There was nothing else.

At that moment, the beautiful teacher held a real sword and repeatedly practiced generating force.

Her movements were slow and gentle, the muscles in her body flowing like water. She seemed to be deliberately adjusting the way she exerted her strength.

"Leave your slippers outside, close the door, and come in barefoot!"

"Okay." Chen Shouyi immediately took off his slippers and stepped onto the soft plastic flooring in his socks.

"Go get that wooden sword!" Wang Ruyue glanced at him and said coolly.

Today, the beautiful teacher felt completely different to Chen Shouyi. There was a hint of coldness in her voice, and none of the warmth and approachability she'd shown at the training class.

He had a feeling that this was her true nature, and that the image she'd shown at the class was merely a professional disguise.

Chen Shouyi went over, picked out a hard wooden sword, and waited at the side for her to finish practicing.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. She soon stopped and took a wooden sword from the weapon rack as well.

"Come on. Attack me!"

For a moment, Chen Shouyi thought he'd misheard. He stared in astonishment, his mouth falling open. "With wooden swords? That's too dangerous."

A wooden sword was nothing like the safety swords at the training class. With the terrifying burst of speed martial arts techniques could produce, a thrust into someone's body was hardly any less dangerous than a real sword.

"The first lesson I'm giving you is to teach you what real combat is. Only danger can bring out a person's potential."

"Come on!"

"You're sure?" Chen Shouyi asked again.

"You're so young, yet you've already got so much to say. I told you to attack, so attack! You really think you can hurt me?" Wang Ruyue said impatiently.

"Then I really am going for it!"

Provoked, Chen Shouyi pushed off with one foot. The next instant, his body blurred into motion. Sliding forward, he executed a Sting Sword thrust that shot out like lightning.

Wang Ruyue shifted slightly to evade Chen Shouyi's attack, then swiftly spun around and stabbed downward. Her wooden sword flashed like a bolt of lightning toward Chen Shouyi's calf.

Chen Shouyi lifted his foot and retreated one step, easily dodging it.

He found that fighting with wooden swords felt completely different from wearing a protective suit and wielding a safety sword.

Every move carried a heart-pounding sense of danger. He worried that a moment's carelessness might make him lose control of his strength and injure her, yet he was also afraid of accidentally throwing his life away.

The wooden swords cut through the air with sharp whooshes.

Seeing that Chen Shouyi could handle himself with ease in battle, trading blows with her, Wang Ruyue pressed her lips together. Her expression grew colder and colder as she gradually unleashed more of her strength.

In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged more than a dozen moves.

They grew faster and faster. Ordinary people could barely make out the wooden swords' paths anymore. Every move appeared like a phantom, there and gone in an instant.

By now, Chen Shouyi felt enormous pressure. He was no longer at ease as he'd been earlier. The hairs on his body stood on end, and his mind was entirely free of distractions. He'd long since cast aside the ridiculous idea of holding back and was almost fighting with everything he had.

He realized that compared with these seasoned martial apprentices, he had an edge in physical attributes, but his techniques still had a long way to go.

Even when they used the same Sting Sword and the same Basic Footwork, her thrusts were faster, and her steps more nimble.

At last, the two wooden swords collided with a crack.

The wooden swords exploded, sending countless splinters flying in every direction.