The Girl Surrounded by Thugs

Chapter 36: A Maiden Surrounded by Thugs

For cultivators in sects, joining at Song Shuhang's age was akin to a ninety-year-old illiterate, half-dead man suddenly enrolling in elementary school. Even if this old man somehow got into the school through various connections, how much could he learn? What achievements could he possibly make? He wouldn't even have a future – who knew if a ninety-year-old man would drop dead tomorrow?

Even if Song Shuhang successfully established his foundation, the time and resources he'd need for future advancements would be more than double that of a youth who established their foundation at four or five.

On one side were genius disciples with rapid future advancements, low resource consumption, and boundless prospects.

On the other side was Song Shuhang, facing difficult advancements, high resource consumption, and a bleak future.

Unless the sect's higher-ups were brain-dead, they wouldn't waste excessive time, teaching resources, or precious cultivation materials on Song Shuhang.

And the fellow cultivators from the Nine Provinces who introduced Song Shuhang to the sect could only look after him for a while, not for his entire life!

Copper Gua Master was speechless. He hadn't thought as deeply as Northern River Loose Cultivator. He had only considered the hardships of being a rogue cultivator and hadn't realized that joining a sect wouldn't be much better for Song Shuhang.

"Therefore, whether it's a sect or being a rogue cultivator, it makes little difference to Song Shuhang. In that case, letting him choose for himself is the best approach. If he chooses, even if it's the wrong path, he can't blame anyone," Northern River Loose Cultivator said calmly.

As senior rogue cultivators, all they could do was offer him a helping hand when Song Shuhang needed it.

Jiangnan University Town, dormitory.

Song Shuhang leaned back in his chair, looking at a small, sealed cup on his desk. It contained the remaining Body Tempering Liquid. This liquid, when taken with the basic meditation techniques and fist arts taught by Pharmacist, would better unleash its medicinal effects.

Just then, a melodious ringtone sounded from his phone.

Song Shuhang pressed the answer button, and Tu Bo's voice came through, "Shuhang, have you finished packing your two big suitcases? If you're done, come over here. Yang De has found a place! Come check it out, and then we guys will go out for a meal."

"Alright, I'm coming right over. Send me the address," Song Shuhang replied.

"Sent via text," Tu Bo hung up.

After ending the call, Song Shuhang put down his phone and looked out the window towards the balcony.

Perhaps he also needed to rent a place off-campus like Yang De.

He didn't have to live there, but he needed a place where he wouldn't be disturbed when he wanted to refine pills or cultivate in the future.

"If I want to rent a place outside, maybe I should get a part-time job?" Song Shuhang was just an ordinary student. Unlike Li Yangde, he didn't have any computer skills. If he wanted to earn money, a part-time job seemed like the only option.

Speaking of which, how did the seniors in the No. 1 Group of the Nine Provinces make money? They weren't hermits; they must need money for daily life, right? At the very least, they had to pay for electricity and internet.

While lost in thought, Tu Bo sent the address via text message.

Daji Street, Building 221, Unit 602.

This was a neighborhood very close to the university town.

"The location is good, and it's close to the school. Yang De found a great place," Song Shuhang said, looking at his phone's map and heading towards the address Tu Bo sent.

Daji Street was an old residential area. Due to the lack of planning during its construction, the buildings varied in style and size, with narrow alleys crisscrossing each other, appearing somewhat chaotic from a distance.

"At this location, I should be able to take a shortcut and save a lot of time." Thinking this, Song Shuhang ducked into an alley, weaving through it like a nimble fish.

These secluded alleys were usually gathering spots for the local thugs.

Speaking of thugs, it reminded him of the group of thugs who were wiped out a couple of days ago.

Those thugs, who were instantly defeated and beaten so badly their own mothers wouldn't recognize them, finally woke up after two days and two nights of unconsciousness.

Afterward, members of the school's news department specifically interviewed them about their period of unconsciousness.

Strangely, no matter how hard these thugs racked their brains, none of them could recall what happened. Their memories had a gap for that day, and they didn't even know why they were in the hospital. In their memories, they were smoking and acting tough in an alley one moment, and the next they woke up in the hospital, all looking confused.

The hospital could not detect any cause and could only assume it was collective amnesia. The matter was dropped.

This incident had become one of the new 'unbelievable events' in Jiangnan University Town.

"Clearly, someone tampered with their memories," Song Shuhang thought to himself.

If it were just one or two people with fuzzy memories, it could be attributed to head injuries causing confusion. But with eighty to ninety people, all with blurry memories, all having lost the memory of being wiped out that day – there was no such coincidence in the world.

Thanks to the incident of the thugs being wiped out, the groups of thugs who used to hang out in the deep alleys near the university town had become much more restrained. These alleys were originally their gathering places, but their numbers had drastically decreased in the past few days.

Consequently, the nearby public security had improved significantly.

There's a saying: "Talk is cheap!"

Oh, wait, that's not right. It's more like, "Action speaks louder than words!"

As soon as the word "thugs" came to Song Shuhang's mind, a group of smoking thugs appeared directly in front of him.

There were seven of them, all with long, dyed hair in various colors. They sported earrings, lip rings, and nose rings. With cigarette butts hanging from their mouths, it was as if they had "I'm in my rebellious youth, I'm a thug" carved onto their foreheads.

The seven thugs' target was naturally not Song Shuhang, a tall and sturdy man. Even thugs rarely bothered students like Song Shuhang, who looked like they could fight.

The thugs, with sinister smiles, were surrounding a young girl. One of them, about 1.72 meters tall, had cornered the girl against the wall in a "wall-slam" pose.

"Hey, beautiful, are you lonely here all by yourself? Want to have some fun with us brothers?"

"It's free, all sorts of fun."

"It'll be very comfortable, you know."

"Brother will play with you!"

"There's a great little shop nearby, not far at all. We'll make sure you have so much fun you'll want to come back for more."

All sorts of teasing, all sorts of provocation.

Song Shuhang looked at the girl being cornered.

She was about 1.5 meters tall, with short hair and a pretty face even without makeup. Due to her petite build, she looked like a high school student, though she might have been a bit older.

A cute and pretty girl, alone in an alleyway – of course, these thugs would be drawn to her. So, girls, don't go to deserted places alone!

At this moment, the girl's brow furrowed, a clear expression of disgust on her face.

Even her disgusted expression looked cute on her small face.

"Hey, you look cute even when you're angry. How about I show you some affection?" The blonde thug, who was cornering the girl, flashed a CEO-like evil grin. He propped one hand against the wall, and the other reached out to caress the girl's face.

Song Shuhang sighed. He really couldn't stand it anymore.

He clenched his fists and strode forward.

Having just been strengthened by the Body Tempering Liquid, Song Shuhang had a bit of trouble controlling his speed. He exerted just a little force, and 'whoosh' – he shot forward.

The thug who was teasing the girl only saw a blur. The next moment, Song Shuhang, who had been seven or eight meters behind them, suddenly appeared beside them.

Song Shuhang's large hand shot out, fingers spread, and his palm grabbed the back of the blonde thug's head.

The blonde thug was about 1.72 meters tall, and Song Shuhang was only slightly taller than him.

"Hey... I'm saying, can't you guys tell the young lady doesn't want to play with you?" Song Shuhang applied a little force, lifting the blonde thug by his head.

Holy crap! Song Shuhang himself was startled. He knew his strength had increased significantly after the Body Tempering Liquid, but he hadn't expected to be able to lift a person weighing over a hundred pounds as easily as lifting a stick.