Cruel Reality, Conflict, Intervention

Inside the outer courtyard.

A cacophony of noise erupted.

The source of this commotion was none other than—

The young man who had stepped into the courtyard only a short while ago.

The youth was tall and broad-shouldered, his skin a deep, swarthy bronze.

Yet, he seemed to be suffering from some grave injury, his every step a struggle. From time to time, he would cover his mouth and cough, the sound so wretched it felt as if he were trying to hack his own lungs out.

The youth was none other than Li Tiezhu.

Li Tiezhu had joined the Fist Academy nearly two months ago.

He had built quite a reputation in the outer courtyard; he was bold and straightforward, often helping his fellow disciples resolve conflicts or offering pointers on their martial arts, which had earned him a wide network of connections.

Whenever he appeared in the past.

A large crowd of disciples would flock to him, respectfully calling out, "Senior Brother Li."

Yet, this time when Li Tiezhu returned to the Fist Academy, it was as if a plague-bringer had arrived.

The outer courtyard disciples all cast complex and strange looks his way. Whenever they caught his gaze, they would quickly look away, as if terrified of catching some streak of bad luck.

Even those disciples who had once benefited from Li Tiezhu's kindness.

At this moment, they all remained silent.

It was as if they did not recognize Li Tiezhu at all.

A few might offer a perfunctory greeting before finding an excuse to leave, showing no desire to engage with him at all.

Li Tiezhu had come to the Fist Academy hoping to borrow money from the disciples he had helped, intending to pay for the treatment of his injuries. Clearly, the wounds he had sustained over the past two days had drained his savings, yet he had failed to recover.

Driven to a point of desperation.

He had no choice but to come to the academy and try to borrow money.

Regrettably, many of those who had once received his favor simply shook their heads and refused.

Li Tiezhu's expression darkened, but he walked toward a figure sleeping under a tree in the academy, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Junior Brother Zhang, I've suffered an injury to my lungs and am short on funds for treatment. Could you lend me some money?"

Zhang Jing was his junior brother, and the two had been on good terms, always helping each other out whenever trouble arose.

Whenever Zhang Jing had asked to borrow money, Li Tiezhu had handed it over without a second thought.

Over time, he had lent him dozens of strings of cash.

They had always addressed each other as brothers, and Zhang Jing had even vowed that if anything ever happened, he would be the first to rush to his aid!

Who could have expected that upon hearing this, Zhang Jing would shake his head repeatedly. "I'm sorry, Senior Brother Li. It's not that I don't want to help, but I truly have no money. You know how expensive it is to practice martial arts; I'm barely managing to cover my daily expenses as it is. How could I possibly have anything to lend you?"

Li Tiezhu froze, his face turning somewhat grim.

He seemingly had not expected.

That someone with whom he had such a good relationship would refuse him outright without even asking how much he needed!

Li Tiezhu sighed and said, "Then, Junior Brother Zhang, could you perhaps return the money I lent you previously?"

"My own pockets aren't exactly deep right now. Give it some time—I'll pay you back once I have the funds!"

Zhang Jing waved his hand impatiently. "I'll give it to you when I have it, so stop asking. Are you trying to be annoying? It's not like I said I wouldn't pay you back; it's just a little bit of money, isn't it?"

"Fine..."

Li Tiezhu felt utterly dejected and did not argue.

He turned to seek out other acquaintances to borrow money, but his back looked significantly more hunched than before.

"Strange, why won't Zhang Jing and the others lend money to Senior Brother Li?" someone asked, puzzled. "I remember Senior Brother Li being quite a decent fellow. He's a good person, so why aren't those he helped returning the favor?"

"Heh, are you really that naive?"

Another disciple sneered. "Reality is often this cruel, you know? Who says that just because someone helped you, you have to pay it back? Li Tiezhu is a cripple now; if you lend him money, you'll never see it again!"

"He's a dead weight. Who would invest in a cripple?"

"Many people followed Li Tiezhu before because he had a bright future. Everyone knew that was a safe bet with guaranteed returns."

"Now that Li Tiezhu is ruined, helping him is just throwing money into the abyss!!"

"Would you throw your money into an abyss?"

"Ah? But surely they could help at least a little?" the person who asked inquired, confused. The latter merely sneered, "You really are an idiot!"

"Do you think there's such a thing as a free lunch in this world? Li Tiezhu gained quite a few benefits by networking with Senior Sister Zhou; do you think he won't have to cough it all back up later?"

"And what about the people Li Tiezhu offended at the docks? Won't they come looking for revenge later?"

"Have you not thought about any of these things?"

"Those who never helped Li Tiezhu might be unknown to his enemies, but those who did? Do you think they can stay hidden? Do you dare to gamble that you won't get dragged into the trouble surrounding Li Tiezhu..."

The hushed murmurs from the surroundings drifted into the ears of Shi Wen.

Shi Wen watched that bedraggled figure, his heart stirred.

The Senior Brother Li of the past had been high-spirited and full of vigor, a man who could command a hundred responses in the Outer Academy.

He had not expected that after not seeing him for a period of time, he would be reduced to such a state due to an accident.

Just as Shi Wen was about to stand up and walk over, a group of people arrived at the Outer Academy; it was Qin Huan and his party, who had gone out to attend the victory banquet at noon.

The group now included Sun Mingting, an expert ranked among the top ten disciples of the Inner Academy.

Their expressions were unsightly, and a great deal of fury was etched onto their faces.

It was unclear what had happened.

But it was obvious that they hadn't managed to enjoy their victory banquet at noon, and instead had returned with their bellies full of stifled rage!

"We'll go find Senior Sister Zhou to discuss this first. Damn it, those people from the Flying Cloud Pavilion are too arrogant. Do they think they're something special just because they have more people?"

"If it weren't for their numbers, I would have walked over and slapped that guy across the face already. Damn it, looking down on our Li's Fist Academy? Many of their disciples were crippled by our Grand Senior Brother back in the day, so what are they posturing for now!"

"Find the others, get all ten of our Inner Academy disciples together, and go kick down the doors of the Flying Cloud Pavilion!"

"We can't swallow this insult without getting revenge..."

Wei Shan and several other Inner Academy disciples were all cursing and swearing.

When they reached the entrance to the Inner Academy, Sun Mingting stopped Zhou Heling and instructed, "Junior Sister Zhou, Li has tasked you with overseeing the Outer Academy this month, so just stay here and keep watch. We'll call for you if anything comes up!"

His voice carried a hint of coldness; clearly, the previous trouble had something to do with Zhou Heling.

Wei Shan, Qin Huan, and the others also looked at her with unkind eyes.

Zhou Heling froze, her expression turning ugly as she realized she was being sidelined by this small circle.

She breathed heavily, but in the end, she numbly agreed.

Watching Sun Mingting and his group walk into the Inner Academy, Zhou Heling clenched her fists until they cracked, suddenly venting her anger on the surrounding Outer Academy disciples: "What are you looking at? If you aren't sleeping at noon, go practice your skills! What are you staring at, damn it?"

"If you look again, I'll dig your eyes out!!"

Everyone in the Outer Academy knew that Zhou Heling had a fiery temper.

Everyone lowered their heads and hunched their shoulders, pretending to be busy; no one dared to provoke Zhou Heling!

Zhou Heling unhappily chased away the many Outer Academy disciples resting under the trees and lay alone on a grand armchair to cool off, her face dark.

She seemed to grow angrier the more she thought about it, cursing every now and then.

Her eyes swept fiercely over the Outer Academy disciples, clearly looking for trouble to vent the fire in her heart.

Suddenly, she spotted Li Tiezhu and couldn't help but shout, "Li Tiezhu, get over here!"

"Yes, Senior Sister Zhou."

Li Tiezhu hurried over, a glimmer of hope appearing on his face.

If Senior Sister Zhou helped him, not only would his family's troubles be solved, but even recovering from his injuries would be a small matter!

But who would have thought that as soon as he arrived, he would be met with a torrent of abuse from Zhou Heling. She said angrily, "Damn it, I didn't expect you to be such a useless piece of trash. I invested so much money in you and even helped you connect with several gangs and chambers of commerce in the city to secure resources, and you end up crippled?"

"You will compensate me for the resources I've wasted on you these days, as well as the breach-of-contract fees from the three chambers of commerce and the Boat Gang."

"Two thousand guan. If you don't pay me back, you'll see what happens!"

Li Tiezhu looked up in disbelief, shocked: "Senior Sister Zhou, the resources I received from you don't even add up to two hundred guan. How can you ask for two thousand?"

Zhou Heling said crudely, "Damn it, do you think those chambers of commerce and the Boat Gang don't charge penalties for breach of contract?"

"Senior Sister Zhou, I don't have that much money. My family was fired from the restaurant because of the dock incident, and I spent a lot of money on medical treatment. Now I am also..."

"Shut up, damn it, that's your problem!" Zhou Heling had been holding in a belly full of anger, and now she simply vented it all on Li Tiezhu. "Two thousand guan. Just try not paying me back!"

"Senior Sister Zhou, it was you who told me to go hold the line, which is why I was beaten and injured by those outsiders. Can you really be so heartless?"

Li Tiezhu's eyes became deeply sorrowful.

However, upon hearing this, Zhou Heling was so enraged she stood up on the spot and cursed: "Damn it, the Xingshui Gang was wiped out and I couldn't even get my money back, so what are you barking about? Are you the only one who lost out? Do you think you just show up whenever I tell you to?"

"I used to think you were somewhat clever, but now I see you're just a fool!"

"Damn it, trash, get out! Try not bringing me those two thousand guan within five days."

"Wasting all the time I spent cultivating you..."

This scene was witnessed by many Outer Academy disciples.

They were filled with sighs.

Although they all felt sympathy for Li Tiezhu's plight, no one dared to step forward.

Moreover, this world was just that cruel.

When you are useful to others, everyone will smile and welcome you, but once you become useless, you will be subjected to all kinds of cruel treatment!

Li Tiezhu felt deeply aggrieved; his eyes turned red, and his chest heaved as he glared at Zhou Heling, his breathing ragged.

Yet this look only served to infuriate Zhou Heling.

She pointed at Li Tiezhu's nose and cursed, "Get lost immediately! Don't force me to slap you!"

"Damn it, you don't know what's good for you, do you?"

Zhou Heling was so angry that she reached out to slap Li Tiezhu, but was stopped by someone who had walked over at some unknown moment. "Senior Sister Zhou, is there really a need to take things this far?"

When they saw that figure clearly.

The outer court disciples were filled with disbelief, erupting into an uproar.

Shi Wen?

That poor kid?

This brat actually dares to stand up for Li Tiezhu?