Today Nine, Tomorrow Thirteen?

He had just come out of Na'er's dormitory when he ran into the melancholy god of men, Wu Zhangkong, who was out looking for food.

After sensing his strength, Su Jiu furrowed his brow.

A 75th-level Soul Saint? He remembered that, in the original story, Kong Zi seemed to have been a Soul Emperor at this point.

But when he thought of Wu Zhangkong's fate in the original story—freezing himself completely to trade his life for the Abyssal Emperor, Emperor Hua—he figured Wu Zhangkong's talent had already reached the limits of what was possible.

This minor change was still within a controllable range and wasn't worth worrying about.

"Hello, Teacher Wu. My name is Su Jiu. We'll be colleagues from now on, so please look after me!"

Su Jiu took the initiative to greet him. After all, they'd be working together for the next three years. They'd see each other every day.

Besides, he wasn't Leng Wuduan, who had a grudge against him for humiliating his teacher. He was just an ordinary Soul Saint named Su Jiu, who taught students and had never met Wu Zhangkong before.

Wu Zhangkong's brows furrowed slightly, but his expression immediately returned to its usual placid calm.

Director Long had informed him earlier that his teaching position had been demoted to assistant teacher.

Although it felt awful to have his position snatched away, he'd been reluctant to teach Class 5, with its students' abysmal aptitude, anyway. And now here was the very sucker who'd secured him some precious cultivation time.

Even though Wu Zhangkong had once been one of Shrek Inner Court's privileged elite, he still had to show the proper courtesy now. After all, in his eyes, Su Jiu was very much the aggrieved party.

"Wu Zhangkong. Pleased to meet you."

After those few words, silence settled over them again.

Unapproachable, taciturn, and sparing with words—Wu Zhangkong truly lived up to his reputation.

"Haha..."

"Teacher Wu, you won't exactly endear yourself to our students acting like that. We're teachers, after all. Communicating with people is part of the job~"

"..."

"..."

The air around Wu Zhangkong suddenly turned cold. He remained silent, ignored Su Jiu, and quickened his pace noticeably, taking longer strides.

"See you in class tomorrow, Teacher Wu..."

Watching Wu Zhangkong's retreating figure, Su Jiu shook his head helplessly. Then a sly smile tugged at his lips.

Since you hate talking and want to play mute, just watch helplessly as I herd all of Eastsea F4 into the Spirit Pagoda!

(Tang Wulin's place here is still undecided.)

Heh heh heh~

"Smack!"

"Old Su, what are you thinking about? You look so happy."

Gu Yue followed Su Jiu's gaze. When she saw the man he was looking at, she suddenly felt uncomfortable all over. She instinctively stepped back, putting two meters between herself and Su Jiu.

"Old Su, I was wrong about you. You're into men? How could you do this to my teacher!"

"Smack!"

Su Jiu's face darkened, and he raised a hand and smacked Gu Yue on her little bottom.

It felt soft and springy, quite pleasant to the touch. Now he finally understood why Gu Yue and Gu Yuena were always smacking him.

"Little girl, what are you thinking? I, Su, have normal tastes. Tell me, what do you need?"

Gu Yue rubbed her sore bottom. Gu Yuena's usual manner came to mind: awkward and haughty. She knew perfectly well that this was only natural, yet her cheeks still turned a little bashful as she slowly held out her hand to Su Jiu.

"Money. Where's my allowance for this month? You gave Na'er hers, but you haven't given me mine! You can't play favorites!"

"Old Su, you promised my teacher you'd take good care of me. Don't go back on your word!"

Su Jiu had nearly forgotten about that. But with Star Dou behind her, was Gu Yue really short of money?

Didn't she have more assets than the Leng Family?

Still, he deftly pulled out a stack of Federation Banknotes. It was exactly the amount he'd previously given Gu Yuena for a month's pocket money.

By the time Su Jiu realized his mistake, it was too late. Gu Yue had already taken the money. He couldn't ask for it back now, could he?

Gu Yue probably hasn't noticed... right?

"Little Gu Yue, be good at the academy from now on. Especially when you're in my class: don't call me Old Su. Call me Teacher Su, understand?"

"Mm! Ol—Teacher Su."

Gu Yue gave Su Jiu a sweet smile, then ran toward the school gates without looking back.

Su Jiu couldn't help smiling at her retreating figure. She really was just like that girl Gu Yuena. This was probably Gu Yuena, that greedy little glutton, egging her on to go blow all her money.

As for Gu Yue's safety, Su Jiu wasn't worried.

With his own avatar, A-Jiu, around, a single Needle-Bee Sentry clone had 70% of his strength—most likely about the level of a 98th-rank Super Douluo.

Even if Old Gu was unlucky, in a place like Eastsea City, where Titled Douluos were rare, she couldn't possibly run into one Emperor, two Sovereigns, and a Heavenly King from the Holy Spirit Cult, could she?

After walking a few dozen steps farther, Su Jiu suddenly stopped and called out to the little tail hiding behind a parasol tree:

"You're Tang Wulin, right? Come on out. If there's something you want to talk about, we can sit down and take our time. Teacher Su has all the time in the world today."

Realizing he'd been spotted, Tang Wulin poked his head out and scratched it with an awkward smile.

"Teacher Su, I really do have something I'd like to ask you about."

"It's crowded here. Not a good place to talk. Let's go over there."

The two walked side by side to a pavilion beneath a wisteria arbor. Layers of lush purple flowers and green leaves screened them from the midsummer sun, making it a perfect place to cool off.

"Go ahead. What do you need? I'll help if I can."

Tang Wulin took several deep breaths, gathering what little courage he had and doing his best to suppress the inferiority he felt upon first arriving in a big city.

A moment later, he seemed to have finally made up his mind. His expression solemn and respectful, he spoke up.

"Teacher Su, I'd like to borrow 34,000 Federation Currency from you. I can write you an IOU. I'll work hard at blacksmithing to earn money and pay you back as soon as I can!"

So this was about paying for the repairs to the black-hearted public facilities he'd wrecked in the students' dormitory.

Tang Wulin had come to Su Jiu for help of his own accord. The two of them were making a fair deal, with both parties willing.

He had to lend him the money—or give it to him—and there was no way he couldn't!

Today nine, tomorrow thirteen?

He, Su Jiu, was a good person. How could he charge usurious interest?

Tang San was a staunch supporter of feudal ideology, so he must have held fast to the idea that "a drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring." As the only sapling of the Old Tang family, Tang Wulin ought to have inherited that fine traditional virtue perfectly.

And as a steadfast practitioner of bringing people together, Su Jiu was bound to receive Tang Wulin's repayment in a gushing spring!

The Golden Dragon King's essence was fated to be his. Su Jiu would gladly accept it.

"Teacher Su, is my request too..."

34,000 Federation Currency was undoubtedly a huge sum for Tang Wulin.

Back then, he'd worked as a blacksmith for three years just to save up 100,000. Besides, he didn't dare tell his family about this.

"No, no. Money's a small matter, and I don't need an IOU either."

As he spoke, Su Jiu immediately took a large stack of Federation Currency from his soul tool storage ring and placed it neatly on the stone table. There seemed to be more than 34,000.

"Huh? You're just lending it to me like that? Aren't you going to ask why I need it?"

"No need. I trust you, Tang Wulin. That's enough."

Tang Wulin's heart warmed. Meeting such a 'kind and understanding' teacher in this unfamiliar city was no different from the Gangsan Friendship between Sea God Tang San and Prison Xiao Gang two thousand years ago. Maybe he really was lucky.

"You don't even have to pay it back."

Su Jiu paused and raised a finger toward Tang Wulin's forehead. His eyes grew profound. The Golden Dragon King's essence lay within Tang Wulin's Sea of Consciousness.

"There's something you have that I need. I need it. You'll understand later."

Tang Wulin was already so touched by Su Jiu that he was completely dazed. His reason had long since gone offline, and he agreed without hesitation.

The Needle-Bee Sentry hidden in the shadows recorded this irrefutable evidence.

"Mm, I promise, Teacher Su!"