The Courage to Draw the Sword and Fight

"Let's wrap up in another half hour."

Zuo Yi said to Sun Qiang, "Don't train for too long this afternoon either. Just maintain your current practice frequency."

It had to be said that Sun Qiang's roundabout flattery route through Taike, Bao'er, and Zuo Yi had worked quite well. At the very least, the three boxes of pastries he had offered had made Zuo Yi considerably more pleasant.

Who said bootlickers couldn't get a house? The key was whether the method was right and the tactics effective.

"Got it, Teacher!"

The chubby boy answered especially loudly, even puffing out his chest.

Zuo Yi nodded. "I've spoken with Director Shang. The wooden sword you're using now will be yours from now on. You can take it home and look after it properly. Don't break it."

Diligent and hardworking children deserved a reward.

Sun Qiang was instantly overjoyed and hurriedly bowed. "Thank you, Teacher!"

Given his family circumstances, buying a few standard wooden swords would not have been a problem. But a sword bestowed by Zuo Yi carried a different meaning.

Sun Qiang knew that Zuo Yi had given him this wooden sword so he could use it to protect himself.

A wooden sword was not a restricted weapon, so there was no problem carrying it around anywhere.

Zuo Yi waved his hand and called to Bao'er, "Sweetheart, we're leaving."

"Okay!"

Bao'er called to Taike, "A-Tai, get in the bag."

Taike came scampering over at once and skillfully burrowed into Bao'er's Hello Kitty backpack.

Bao'er had an entire set of Hello Kitty daily necessities, including a suitcase, backpack, little wallet, pencil case, and more.

Su Wanqing had specially bought them for her when she sent Bao'er to Angel Baby Childcare Center.

When they came to Heavenly Vast Martial Arts Hall today, Zuo Yi had originally planned to leave Taike at the old house. But Bao'er was afraid Aguai would bully it, so she brought it along in her backpack and would not even let Zuo Yi help.

She carried Taike herself.

"Goodbye, Teacher! Goodbye, Junior Sister!"

Sun Qiang respectfully saw Zuo Yi and Bao'er out of the sword room, then turned back to continue practicing against the sword dummy.

Even without anyone supervising him, he trained with great focus and effort.

"Hey, fatty!"

A rather arrogant voice suddenly came from the doorway. "There's nobody here. What are you still training for?"

Sun Qiang put away his wooden sword and turned around, only to see Zhao Shaohui standing at the sword room entrance with his arms crossed and a mocking smile on his face. Several other trainees beside him were peeking inside.

Sun Qiang answered good-naturedly, "I'll finish after another half hour."

He was used to not provoking peers like Zhao Shaohui and usually avoided them whenever possible.

Zhao Shaohui swaggered in, putting on the air of a leader inspecting his subordinates.

He looked around and sneered. "What did you learn from that guy surnamed Zuo? How to stupidly hack away at this thing?"

He deliberately said "stupidly hack away" especially loudly, making several of his companions burst into laughter.

At his age, Zhao Shaohui was at the peak of his edgy teenage phase, thinking himself Long Aotian, the chosen son of destiny.

He had already been displeased with Sun Qiang for not fitting in or sucking up to him, so he had come over during the break to bully this chubby boy who looked so easy to push around.

Sun Qiang was not intimidated by his edgy aura. Clenching his wooden sword, he said seriously, "Instructor Zuo is a good teacher!"

"And?"

Zhao Shaohui glanced at him sideways. "You pissed off and want to hit me? Come on, hit me!"

He took two steps forward and closed in on Sun Qiang. "Not going to hit me? Then you're my grand—"

Whoosh!

Before Zhao Shaohui could finish speaking, Sun Qiang suddenly raised his wooden sword and swung it down at his face.

Slash!

The blade tore through the air, its force howling. Caught completely off guard, Zhao Shaohui stared wide-eyed, his mind blank.

He never imagined that Sun Qiang would actually dare attack him, let alone strike directly with a weapon. Terror gripped his body and mind, and he did not even know to dodge!

I'm dead!

Yet Sun Qiang's sword did not strike his head. Its rounded, blunt tip fell straight down three inches in front of his nose, and only the wind from the blow scattered the hair on his forehead.

The sword room fell utterly silent.

After a moment, Zhao Shaohui, whose soul had practically fled his body, finally came back to his senses.

He instinctively staggered backward, and his fair face instantly flushed a dark purplish red.

This was simply the greatest humiliation!

There were several students like Sun Qiang at Zhao Shaohui's school, all of them targets for bullying. He had assumed Sun Qiang would never dare fight him, only to nearly capsize in a gutter.

Although Sun Qiang had not hit him, his performance just now had been seen by all his companions. How could he possibly save face now?

"You're asking to die!"

Zhao Shaohui roared in humiliation and rage, "Today, I'm going to—"

"What are you doing?"

His threat was interrupted once again.

This time, Shang Yulin interrupted Zhao Shaohui. She had just appeared at the entrance to the sword room and said sternly, "Private fighting is forbidden in the martial arts hall!"

Trainees at the martial arts hall could spar and exchange pointers, but only under the supervision of instructors. Private fights were absolutely forbidden because accidents could easily happen.

If private fighting occurred, the martial arts hall could expel the trainees without even refunding their tuition.

Zhao Shaohui really wanted to say that Sun Qiang had attacked first, but he could not take back his own provocative words from earlier.

More importantly, Sun Qiang had not harmed him in the slightest.

There was no way to frame him either. Both the outer training hall and the inner sword room had surveillance cameras, and reviewing the footage would make it perfectly clear who was right and wrong.

"Just you wait!"

Zhao Shaohui might have been edgy, but he was not stupid. He shot Sun Qiang a resentful glare, left behind that threat, then turned and left the sword room.

In the past, Sun Qiang might have felt uneasy because of this. But now, not only was he not afraid in the slightest, he even felt a restless excitement and thrill.

"A sword is a warrior's weapon. If you do not have the courage to draw your sword and fight, then do not study swordsmanship, because a sword will become a coward's burden and weakness!"

The words Zuo Yi had once told him rang through Sun Qiang's mind again.

This time, he had not been a coward.

However, when facing Shang Yulin as she walked toward him, Sun Qiang was still somewhat awed. He put away his wooden sword and lowered his head. "Director."

Shang Yulin said, "Have you forgotten the rules I told you?"

Sun Qiang lowered his head even further. "I'm sorry, Director."

Shang Yulin shook her head. "Let it go this time. Don't make the same mistake again in the future, understand?"

Her attitude remained quite gentle, focused more on guidance than warning.

Although she had not witnessed the entire conflict, she assumed that Zhao Shaohui bore most of the responsibility.

Sun Qiang looked like the honest sort of child.

And he was Zuo Yi's only student at present.

Sun Qiang nodded frantically. "I understand! I definitely won't make the same mistake again!"

He was afraid Shang Yulin would throw him out. If that happened, he would no longer be able to continue learning from Zuo Yi, and that would be a huge loss!

Shang Yulin smiled. "Just remember that."

She asked, "Instructor Zuo isn't here?"

When Zuo Yi and Bao'er had left earlier, Shang Yulin had not been at the martial arts hall. She had only just returned from outside.

Sun Qiang explained, "Teacher and Junior Sister Bao'er just left."

"Mm."

Shang Yulin nodded. "Then continue practicing. If anything comes up, you can speak to me directly."

Sun Qiang replied respectfully, "Thank you, Director."

Watching Shang Yulin's departing figure, Little Qiang felt that something was off, though he could not say exactly what it was.

He scratched his head and stopped thinking about it.

At this moment, Zuo Yi arrived at Hang City Pet Management Office with Bao'er and Taike.

According to municipal regulations, city residents had to register and license their pets. Fierce dogs and beast-type pets were also not allowed in urban areas.

Taike did not have a legal identity yet!

Although it was nearly noon, the pet management office was still bustling. People leading dogs or carrying cats came in everywhere to handle registration, while the cries of all kinds of pets rose and fell around the room.

Bao'er exclaimed, "Daddy, there are so many people here!"

Zuo Yi smiled and patted her head. "Sit here and don't run around. Daddy is going to fill out the forms."

Applying for registration and a license required filling out an application form first, and a clear flowchart of the process was posted by the entrance.

"Okay."

Zuo Yi went to the service window to collect the application form, while Bao'er obediently sat down on a lounge chair in the hall.

She "freed" Taike from her backpack, afraid it would get stuffy inside.

The moment Taike emerged from the bag, it threw back its head and let out a long howl.

Awooo~

Here's the second update. Please keep supporting with votes!

P.S. Due to life commitments, the free-period update schedule will be changed to around 10 a.m. and around 6 p.m. from now on.