Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy, main gate.
The sun blazed overhead. The gatekeeper, Zhang Fugui, lounged in the gatehouse with his legs crossed, cracking sunflower seeds as he squinted at passersby.
This job was a dream.
No wind or rain to deal with. Every day, he just sat here, threw his weight around, and chewed out those clueless country bumpkins. At the end of the month, he even got paid.
Couldn't get much better.
As he cracked seeds, a middle-aged man in silk robes emerged from the academy.
Zhang Fugui hurried to his feet and bowed obsequiously. "Cousin! What brings you here?"
The man was Zhang Fugui's cousin, Zhang Guiren, the academy's logistics manager.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Zhang Guiren ambled over to the gatehouse and gave Zhang Fugui a once-over. "How's the job going?"
Zhang Fugui thumped his chest. "Don't worry, Cousin. I'm keeping watch here. The academy's safe as houses!"
Zhang Guiren nodded and lowered his voice. "Fugui, you got this job because I called in favors and cashed in my connections. Plenty of people had their eyes on it, so don't make me look bad."
"Of course, of course." Zhang Fugui nodded repeatedly. "I haven't forgotten what you've done for me."
Zhang Guiren leaned closer and dropped his voice further. "Gatekeeping looks simple, but there's a lot to it. The most important thing is knowing how to read people."
Zhang Fugui pricked up his ears.
Zhang Guiren pointed at the people coming and going outside the gate. "See those people in silk, riding in carriages, or wearing Spirit Hall badges at their waists? They're people of standing. When they show up, you bend over backward and greet them with a smile. If they fart, you tell them it smells sweet. Understand?"
Zhang Fugui nodded eagerly. "Got it, got it!"
Zhang Guiren then pointed at the people in rough clothes, carrying tattered bundles. "Those country bumpkins clearly came from the countryside to handle some business at the academy. You have to judge each case. If they're here to see someone on legitimate business, you can let them in, but first you need to ask what they want, and maybe..."
He rubbed his fingers together.
Zhang Fugui's eyes lit up. "I get it! Squeeze a little extra out of them!"
Zhang Guiren nodded in satisfaction. "Clever. But remember, you have to give me half of whatever you squeeze out of them. After all, I'm the one who got you this position."
Zhang Fugui thumped his chest. "Don't worry, Cousin. You'll get your share!"
Zhang Guiren patted him on the shoulder. "Work hard. If you do well, I'll make you a team leader in a couple of years and put you in charge of the whole gatekeeping crew."
Zhang Fugui's eyes shone. "Thank you, Cousin!"
With his hands clasped behind his back, Zhang Guiren ambled off.
Zhang Fugui watched him go, then sat back down in the gatehouse, crossed his legs, and went back to cracking sunflower seeds.
His cousin was right. This job had a bright future.
The sun climbed higher.
A battered carriage rolled up from the distance and stopped at the academy gate.
An old man with graying hair and beard climbed down, along with a child whose forehead was still swollen with three bumps. The child looked around excitedly.
Last came a fair-skinned child, who climbed down from the carriage with a helpless expression.
He knew how brain-dead the plot ahead would be. He wanted to avoid it, but unfortunately, Notting Academy only had one gate. He could only hope Tang San would wrap things up quickly.
Behind the carriage, Big Black Ox ambled along and yawned.
Zhang Fugui narrowed his eyes.
Their clothes were coarse, washed until faded, and patched at the edges.
Their gear consisted of a battered carriage, a big black ox, and a few tattered bundles.
Their air practically screamed country bumpkin.
Verdict: peasants from the countryside.
Zhang Fugui spat out a sunflower seed shell, planted himself in the gate, folded his arms, and lifted his chin. "Stop! What are you here for?"
Old Jack hurried forward with a fawning smile. "Young man, we've brought a child to enroll. This is Su Mo, a Work-Study Student. We have the papers."
He pulled out the Work-Study Student certificate and held it out with both hands.
Zhang Fugui took it, glanced at it, then looked at Su Mo.
A Work-Study Student?
One of those dirt-poor kids who paid tuition by cleaning?
He curled his lip, stuffed the certificate into his robe, and kept it.
"Enroll? You people?"
Old Jack froze. "Young man, is... is there something wrong with the papers?"
Zhang Fugui waved a hand. "The papers are fine. But you came at a bad time. The academy's busy today and isn't taking new students. Come back another day."
Old Jack grew anxious. "B-but how can that be? We came all the way from Holy Soul Village. We've been on the road for a day and a night..."
Zhang Fugui rubbed his fingers together. "What, can't wait? Then let's see how sincere you are."
Old Jack took the hint and held out a small cloth pouch.
Zhang Fugui took it and weighed it in his hand, nodding in satisfaction.
Then he opened it, and his face instantly darkened. He flung it to the ground, scattering twenty Copper Soul Coins.
"Damn it, you think you can fob off a beggar with Copper Soul Coins?"
Old Jack was about to say something, but Tang San couldn't hold back any longer.
He stepped forward and glared at Zhang Fugui. "What gives you the right to keep us out? We have proof. We're officially enrolled!"
Zhang Fugui looked down at the little runt and burst out laughing.
Oh, so the kid had some nerve.
He poked Tang San in the head. "What gives me the right? I'm the gatekeeper. I make the rules. You little brat—you haven't even grown hair, and you're talking back to me?"
Tang San's face flushed red.
Xiao Yan's lines from Battle Through the Heavens flashed through his mind. He took a deep breath and shouted:
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river! Never bully a poor young man!"
Zhang Fugui froze.
Then he threw his head back and laughed.
"Hahahaha! Thirty years east of the river? Never bully a poor young man?" He pointed at Tang San, laughing so hard that tears nearly streamed from his eyes. "You? A six-year-old brat, talking about thirty years? Let's see if you even live to thirty!"
Tang San's eyes blazed with fury. He clenched his fists and charged forward.
And then—
Zhang Fugui gave him a casual shove.
Tang San stumbled back a few steps and landed on his butt.
The three bumps on his forehead gleamed in the sunlight.
Zhang Fugui put his hands on his hips and roared with laughter. "That all you've got? Thirty years east of the river? Try standing up first!"
Several other gatekeepers joined in.
Su Mo stood to one side, covering his face. He wished he could dig a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.
Tang San, do you even know what a Hidden Weapon is? Where's your Sleeve Arrow? Where's your "seeking death" technique? Why are you charging straight at him?
Did the Protagonist Will make him into an upstanding person?
It made no sense.
Su Mo took a deep breath and was about to step forward and reason with him.
Zhang Fugui glanced at him and sneered. "What? You want to spout that 'thirty years east of the river' nonsense too?"
Su Mo said nothing.
Zhang Fugui kept sneering. "Look at you country bumpkins, all putting on airs. Work-Study Students? You're just poor beggars who came here to clean. Enroll? Do you think you're worthy?"
He pointed at Su Mo's clothes. "Look at those patches. Three layers, right? Your family's so poor they can't even buy you new clothes, and you still want to go to school? Go back to farming!"
Su Mo's gaze turned cold.
Zhang Fugui kept going. "And your mother—she's a poor beggar too, right? She stays home weaving cloth and sewing patches to keep you alive? Tsk, what a shame. She gave birth to a good-for-nothing son and still expects him to bring glory to the family? Keep dreaming!"
Su Mo's expression turned utterly dark.
This brain-dead lackey was damn annoying!
He stepped forward.
"What did you just say?"
Zhang Fugui was taken aback, then grew even more brazen. "I said your mother's a poor beggar! What are you gonna do about it? Hit me? You little brat, I'm a seventeenth-level Soul Master. You dare—"
He didn't finish.
A terrifying aura erupted from Su Mo!
Golden light surged!
His bones cracked!
His clothes burst apart!
One meter twenty, one meter fifty, one meter eighty, two meters, two meters twenty!
In the blink of an eye, a giant with bulging muscles and the character "Virtue" carved across his back towered over Zhang Fugui.
Zhang Fugui craned his neck and gaped, a sunflower seed slipping from the corner of his mouth.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down from his head.