Three-Day Pact, Ambush Missed

The morning breeze snuck in through the cracks in the window.

Dorm Seven was very quiet.

Wang Sheng and the others were not fully awake yet; the sounds of tossing, turning, and rustling bedding came intermittently.

Xiao Wu sat on the edge of her bed.

She kept her head lowered, clutching that Carrot Wooden Hairpin in her hand, unable to bring herself to put it in her hair for a long while.

Su Chen leaned against the window, holding a cup of warm water.

He glanced at her.

"Not doing your hair today?"

The tips of Xiao Wu's ears grew hot.

She looked up and glared at him.

"I can do it myself."

The words were sharp.

But her voice was soft.

Su Chen didn't call her bluff; he walked to the table and set down a paper parcel.

"Passed by a breakfast stall, bought it on a whim."

Xiao Wu froze for a moment.

She unwrapped the paper.

Inside were steaming hot carrot-filled dumplings, white vapor rising from them, the dough still damp from the steamer.

Xiao Wu blinked.

"For me?"

"Otherwise, for Wang Sheng?"

Wang Sheng had just poked his head out from under his quilt, but he immediately ducked back in.

"Boss, I'm not worthy."

A few muffled laughs echoed through Dorm Seven.

Xiao Wu couldn't help it; she laughed too.

She picked up a dumpling and took a small bite, the broth spreading across her tongue, and her eyes lit up instantly.

"You really have a good memory."

Su Chen picked up his outer robe and draped it over his shoulders in a leisurely manner.

"You mentioned carrots three times yesterday."

Xiao Wu, still chewing, mumbled a reply.

"That just means your hearing is good."

Su Chen gave a hum.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Xiao Wu rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn't suppress the corners of her mouth.

She tucked the wooden hairpin back into her hair and lowered her head to tidy her Scorpion Braid.

"You aren't allowed to bring up what happened yesterday."

"Which thing?"

"Just... anyway, you aren't allowed to."

Su Chen looked at her.

"Fine. I won't."

Xiao Wu looked up and stared at him for two seconds.

"You agreed to that awfully fast?"

"Since you've given the order, I have to give Sister Xiao Wu some face."

Xiao Wu huffed.

"That's more like it."

Suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded from outside the door.

Wang Sheng scrambled up and ran to the door to open it.

As soon as the door was cracked open, a work-study student squeezed in, still struggling to catch his breath.

"Boss, someone is waiting for you at the back mountain."

Su Chen buttoned his cuffs.

"Who is it?"

"Tang San."

The dormitory fell instantly silent.

The steamed dumpling in Xiao Wu's mouth paused.

She furrowed her brows.

"He actually dared to come?"

The work-study student nodded.

"He said, the three days are up."

Su Chen remained expressionless.

He simply finished the water on the table, the bottom of the cup tapping lightly against the wood.

"Let's go."

Xiao Wu stood up immediately.

"I'm going too."

Su Chen looked at her.

"To watch the spectacle?"

"To keep an eye on you, so you don't go overboard."

Su Chen smiled.

"Fine."

The hill behind Nuoding Academy was not particularly high.

A dirt path wound into the woods, the grass still heavy with lingering dew.

As the wind blew, the scent of soil and vegetation mingled, damp and thick.

Tang San stood in the center of a flat clearing.

He wore an old school uniform, his sleeves pulled low.

Though his severed fingers had been reattached, his movements were clearly still stiff and sluggish.

His complexion was poor, with dark circles under his eyes.

He clearly hadn't slept much over these three days.

Hearing footsteps, he slowly turned his head.

His gaze fell first on Su Chen, swept past Xiao Wu at his side, lingered for half a second, and finally returned to Su Chen's face.

"You've come."

Su Chen stopped five paces away.

"You were the one who issued the challenge."

Tang San stared at him.

"You are very confident."

"You only have this one chance; I couldn't let you wait in vain."

Tang San was silent for two seconds.

The woods were very quiet.

Only the sound of leaves rustling remained.

Xiao Wu stood to the side, arms crossed over her chest, her tone sharp.

"Say what you have to say. Stop acting so mysterious."

Tang San did not look at her.

His right hand slowly rose, his sleeve hanging down.

"Su Chen."

"You crippled my hands and severed my path forward."

"This debt must be settled today."

Su Chen looked at him.

"So, what do you intend to settle it with?"

Tang San's Adam's apple bobbed.

He did not answer.

Suddenly, his feet shifted, his entire body sliding half a step to the front-side, his shoulder dipping slightly, and his sleeve flickered at almost the exact same moment.

There was no shout.

There was no warning.

Three points of cold light swept silently from his sleeves.

The angle was vicious.

One aimed for Su Chen's throat, one locked onto his chest, and one pressed toward his lower abdomen.

Xiao Wu's expression shifted.

"Using this trick again?"

She was just about to move.

Su Chen had already raised his hand.

He didn't dodge.

He pressed.

As his palm pushed forward, the air seemed to suddenly sink.

The three short arrows stalled in mid-air, emitting a faint, trembling hum as if they had crashed into an invisible curtain of water.

The next second.

Clack, clack, clack.

The three arrows fell to the ground simultaneously.

They embedded themselves into the mud, leaving only their blackened tail-ends visible.

Tang San's pupils constricted.

"Impossible."

Su Chen didn't look at him.

He merely lowered his head to glance at the arrows on the ground.

"The tips are blue."

"You actually managed to concoct the poison."

Xiao Wu took two steps forward, staring at the three arrows with a cold expression.

"You really are something."

"If you can't win, you resort to poison."

Tang San's face was taut.

"When facing an enemy, one should use any means necessary."

Xiao Wu laughed in anger.

"You certainly know how to make excuses for yourself."

Only then did Su Chen raise his eyes.

"Continue."

Tang San didn't move.

However, the veins on his temples were already bulging.

He had prepared for three days.

Brewing medicine, quenching arrows, practicing angles, and even planning his escape route.

Yet, when he finally struck, it only earned him a light, airy "continue" from his opponent.

The disparity weighing on his chest felt like a stone, sinking heavier and heavier.

Tang San's breathing tightened.

"What exactly did you do?"

Su Chen took a step forward.

The soles of his shoes crushed the grass, stirring up a hint of moisture.

"It's not about what I did."

"It's that from the very beginning, you never understood where the gap lies."

Tang San clenched his fists.

His bandage-wrapped knuckles turned slightly white.

"Hidden weapons rely on the element of surprise. As long as they hit—"

"Hit whom?"

Su Chen cut him off directly.

"Hit someone whose defense you can't even break?"

Tang San's expression darkened.

Su Chen continued, his pace unhurried, yet every word weighed heavily upon him.

"For these past three days, you have staked everything on a few arrows."

"You believed that as long as the poison was lethal enough and the angle precise enough, you could turn the situation around."

"But you were wrong in your most fundamental judgment."

"When the gap in strength is too vast, technique is merely technique, not a trump card."

Tang San stared at Su Chen, his breathing growing heavier.

"You are only relying on Martial Soul Hall."

"If you didn't have these resources, didn't have these guards—"

Su Chen let out a small laugh.

"Then try it now."

As the words fell, Su Chen stomped his foot.

He was already in front of Tang San.

It was so fast it didn't look like a sprint; it looked as if the distance had been compressed out of thin air.

Tang San's expression shifted violently, his body instinctively retreating as he instantly deployed his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track Step.

His figure flickered through the forest, leaving behind several afterimages.

But Su Chen did not chase the shadows.

He simply raised his hand and grabbed at the empty space to his left.

He caught Tang San's wrist perfectly.

Tang San was yanked back by force, his feet stumbling, his shoulder dropping as he nearly collapsed to his knees.

"Your footwork is not bad."

Su Chen's tone was calm.

"Unfortunately, your breathing was erratic before you struck."

Tang San's face turned pale; his other hand shot up, and the sound of a mechanism clicked within his sleeve.

This time, Su Chen did not grant him another chance.

He twisted his wrist.

Crack.

It was not a break.

It was a redirection of force.

Tang San felt his entire arm go numb, and the mechanism in his sleeve slipped from his grip, falling into the grass.

Su Chen raised his foot and stepped down.

The sound of metal shattering rang out crisply beneath his sole.

That sleeve arrow, just finished, was reduced to a pile of parts.

Tang San looked down at the fragments on the ground, his eyes turning red.

"You—"

Su Chen released his grip.

Tang San stumbled back two steps, barely managing to steady himself.

Su Chen did not continue to press the attack.

He simply stood where he was, watching the other.

"I gave you three days."

"Not to wait for you to defeat me."

"But to let you see clearly for yourself."

"The things you have exhausted yourself to protect cannot support the situation you are in now."

Tang San's chest heaved.

"Then what do you want?"

"It's very simple."

Su Chen's voice dropped lower.

"In the future, do not set your sights on the people around me."

"And do not use these things to test me again."

"Otherwise, next time, it won't just be the mechanism that ends up shattered."

Xiao Wu stood to the side; when she heard "the people around me," her rabbit ears twitched slightly, and she averted her gaze, remaining silent.

Tang San looked up, his eyes a swirling mix of resentment, stifled frustration, and fury.

Yet, in the end, he did not strike again.

Because it was meaningless.

His poison arrows were useless.

His footwork was useless.

Even the chance to engage in close-quarters combat had been dismantled by his opponent as easily as taking apart a toy.

That sense of powerlessness was far more agonizing than being defeated head-on.

The woods remained silent for a long time.

In the end, it was Xiao Wu who spoke first.

"Are you done?"

She looked at Tang San, her tone blunt.

"If you're done, move aside."

Tang San's jaw tightened.

Ultimately, he took a step to the side.

Su Chen did not look at him again, turning to walk away.

Xiao Wu followed, but after a few steps, she turned back to add one more thing.

"Try being honorable from now on."

"Constantly resorting to sneak attacks is boring."

Tang San stood where he was.

He did not reply.

The wind brushed through the treetops, and blades of grass gently scraped against his pant legs.

He looked down at the pile of sleeve-arrow fragments on the ground, slowly crouching down to pick them up, piece by piece.

His fingertips were still wrapped in bandages, and his movements were sluggish.

It was as if he were gathering something that had long since shattered.

On the mountain path.

Xiao Wu walked beside Su Chen, tilting her head to look at him.

"Why didn't you just kick him out of the academy earlier?"

Su Chen did not slow his pace.

"If I kick him out, he'll just go into hiding."

"Keeping him under my nose is actually less trouble."

Xiao Wu thought for a moment and nodded.

"True. He's full of schemes; leaving him out there would be more of a headache."

Su Chen turned his head to look at her.

"You're seeing things quite clearly now."

Xiao Wu lifted her chin.

"I'm not stupid."

After saying this, she paused.

"But that line you said earlier... about the people around you."

Su Chen looked at the path ahead.

"What about it?"

Xiao Wu pursed her lips.

"Nothing."

She kicked a small pebble at her feet, her voice softening slightly.

"Anyway, it sounded alright."

Su Chen smiled but didn't respond.

As the two of them stepped out of the woods, Wang Sheng came running over from the direction of the dorms, panting heavily.

"Boss, it's bad."

Su Chen stopped.

"Speak."

Wang Sheng braced his hands on his knees, catching his breath.

"A new teacher has arrived at the academy gate."

"He says he was transferred from Suotuo City."

"The moment he stepped inside, he specifically asked to see you and Xiao Wu."

Xiao Wu frowned.

"Why does he want to see us?"

Wang Sheng wiped away some sweat, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"He said that Nuoding Academy is too small a place to hold a true genius."

"He also said... the Martial Soul Hall Holy Son should not be staying in a place like this."