Win and Get a Reward, Lose...

The commotion had ended, and the teachers, students, and staff who had gathered to watch had all been dispersed by the instructors from the training ground.

On the empty Main Training Ground, only Lin Huo and the group of people lying on the ground playing dead remained, quietly staying in a corner.

Standing beneath the sun, Lin Huo carefully examined the little group playing dead on the ground, wondering whether he should take this chance to move out.

As the current jewel of the Fire Clan, Huo Wu would inevitably attract all sorts of pesky admirers if someone stayed too close to her.

Huo Wushuang, that hopeless sister-obsessed fool, was already enough to give him a headache. Not to mention that he and Huo Wu lived in rooms separated by only one floor; he had to stay on guard in case she discovered his secret.

Having so little personal freedom was completely unsuitable for doing all sorts of things. Besides, he had no special feelings toward Huo Wu at the moment, so he was quite tempted by the idea of changing dormitories.

And hadn't a few unlucky fools conveniently run right into the line of fire? With eight of them, they could surely clear out a single room for him, right?

Lin Huo walked over to Huo Yun and nudged his foot with a kick. "Hey, quit playing dead! Everyone's already gone. Keep lying there, and you might actually fall asleep."

As soon as Lin Huo finished speaking, the group opened their eyes and looked around. After confirming that no one was left, they quickly scrambled up from the ground.

The eight of them looked at Lin Huo, fear and reluctant admiration plainly visible in their eyes.

As their leader, Huo Yun braced himself and stepped forward, respectfully cupping his hands. "Sorry. We were acting at someone else's request, and we offended you just now, Lin Huo.

"You defeated all of us as a Soul Warrior. Your strength truly is admirable, and we sincerely accept our defeat. We promise we will never trouble you again.

"We only hope you'll be magnanimous and not hold this matter against us."

Since ganging up to bully a new student really was disgraceful, Huo Yun sincerely admitted his mistake and apologized to Lin Huo.

Yet as he stared sincerely at Lin Huo and waited for his response, Huo Yun suddenly felt an urge to pay out of his own pocket.

And it was not just Huo Yun. Even the others who had been beaten felt the same impulse for no apparent reason.

"They got beaten into crawling all over the ground in public, yet they're still being so polite? Something's definitely off here. Huo Yun must be plotting something else."

Just as Lin Huo was suspecting that Huo Yun and the others had another motive, the crisp clinking of Gold Soul Coins suddenly reached his ears.

Lin Huo glanced over and saw that every one of the eight was holding a small cloth pouch, clearly intending to hand it over.

"What's going on with you guys now?"

Lin Huo was utterly baffled. By all rights, he was the one who had been bullied.

Yet the moment Huo Yun and the others took out their money pouches, it made him look like some arrogant thug extorting protection money from them.

Huo Yun and the others were equally confused as they stared at the money pouches in their hands.

For some reason, they had only been thinking that, after losing, they ought to compensate Lin Huo. By the time they came to their senses, the pouches were already in their hands.

But since they had already taken them out, they felt too embarrassed to put them away again.

In any case, one or two thousand Gold Soul Coins was only a month or two of pocket money to them.

Huo Yun gathered the money pouches, held them out with both hands, and offered them forward. "Lin Huo, since you were willing to accept the challenge of us all as a Soul Warrior, these are naturally the rewards that belong to the victor."

Suspicion filled Lin Huo's face. He did not take the money pouches immediately; the scene before him gave him an oddly familiar feeling.

Right! Back when he played Pokémon games, didn't roadside trainer NPCs give the player money after being defeated?

The rush of memories made Lin Huo smile knowingly, but he did not dwell on it any further.

Reality was reality. It was impossible that after he had beaten Huo Yun and his group until they were crawling on the ground, they would still willingly rush to give him money, right?

No, something was wrong! These people must be trying to hurt him! Were they trying to pull some kind of scam, waiting for him to accept the Gold Soul Coins before turning around and accusing him?

Having experienced the dangers of society, Lin Huo was instinctively wary. His gaze quickly swept the surroundings, only to spot Huo Lie and Huo Tian watching from nearby.

Lin Huo was delighted and was just about to call out to them when he saw the two silently nod.

That finally put Lin Huo completely at ease. He directly swept the money pouches Huo Yun offered into his arms and put them away.

"Since it's a reward, then I'll accept it with a clear conscience. But judging by the way you're acting, you must have something else to say, right?"

Having received a large sum of Gold Soul Coins, Lin Huo was in a great mood, and his attitude toward Huo Yun and the others improved considerably as well.

Seeing that Lin Huo seemed willing to negotiate, Huo Yun was overjoyed and immediately laughed. "Haha, Lin Huo, you truly see right through us. We do indeed have another favor to ask.

"You must have guessed who instructed us brothers to do this. If we fail to settle this matter, things probably won't go well for us either.

"So I'd like to ask you again, Lin Huo—regarding moving dormitories, is there still room for discussion?"

As Huo Yun spoke, he sighed helplessly to himself. Huo Wushuang was a big boss with fists hard enough to back up his words, while Lin Huo before him was also a formidable nightmare.

Neither was someone they could afford to offend, leaving them caught in the middle and pulled both ways.

But comparatively speaking, Huo Wushuang had the stronger backing, so they could only try to persuade Lin Huo instead.

Lin Huo already considered Huo Wu the center of trouble and the source of endless problems, and he had been planning to move anyway.

Now that Huo Yun had brought it up, Lin Huo readily went along with it. "I don't think there's anything left to discuss. Just hurry back and clear out a dorm room for me."

Huo Yun and the others froze at first, then were overjoyed. They had not expected Lin Huo to be so easy to talk to.

If they had known, why had they not come to him peacefully in the first place? That would have saved them a brutal beating and a loss of money.

It seemed their elders had been right in lecturing them. From now on, they had to abandon their arrogant ways and first be courteous before resorting to force, so they could figure out the situation.

"Clearing out a bedroom will take a little time. How about we come find you later this evening?"

Huo Yun was happily asking Lin Huo when one sentence from Lin Huo quickly wiped the smile off his face.

"Clearing out a bedroom? I'm afraid you misunderstood me. I meant for you to clear out an entire single dormitory.

"As for how you arrange your accommodations afterward, that's none of my concern. The academy dorms are big enough; even five, six, seven, or eight people living together would be fine.

"Huo Wushuang and Sister Huo Wu each have a single room. I beat all of you up, so surely that qualifies me for a single room too, right?"

Their smiles froze on their faces for a moment. But on second thought, the academy dorms really were spacious enough. The brothers living together would be lively enough, and it would not be much of a squeeze. They quickly came to terms with it.

"Yes, yes. Please give us one class period to clear out our things, Lin Huo. Then you can move directly into Building Three. Here is the dorm key."

After handing over the key, the overjoyed group left together, leaving Lin Huo staring thoughtfully at their retreating backs.

Meanwhile, Huo Tian and Huo Lie had long since left the spot where they had been standing, so Lin Huo gave up on the idea of going over to greet them.