Mockery

Xie Xie squatted by the innermost faucet in the washroom, his pant legs rolled up to his knees, exposing his fair yet sturdy calves.

He clutched his beige custom casual pants, the seat of them already rubbed fuzzy from scrubbing.

Not only had the pale blue paint stain refused to come off, but the water had spread it into a large blotch, like an irregular blue patch that stood out glaringly against the beige fabric.

His fingers were covered in laundry soap foam, with pale blue paint smeared even between them. It felt sticky and unpleasant, making his brow furrow tightly enough to crush a mosquito.

"This paint is way too hard to wash off."

Xie Xie complained as he scrubbed the pants with all his strength, his tone full of disgust and irritation.

"Doesn't this school even have washing machines? It's such a huge intermediate academy, yet they're too stingy to install even one fully automatic washer?"

In all his life, he had practically never washed such troublesome clothing himself.

As the young master of the Xie Family, a family of mech pilots in Eastsea City, his clothes had always been specially handled by the household servants.

Most of the time, if something got dirty, he simply changed into something new. His wardrobe was so packed with new clothes that it could barely hold them all, let alone having him squat in cold water and scrub stains by hand.

Even though he had deliberately learned to wash some underclothes these past days to adapt to dormitory life, those had been easy jobs that only required a couple of rinses in clean water.

This was the first time he had encountered pants stained with half-dried paint.

After scrubbing for nearly ten minutes, his hands were sore, yet the paint stain had not faded in the slightest. Instead, the white pants had become patchy blue and white, looking even more miserable than before.

Tang Wulin, beside him, was far more composed.

He too squatted in front of a faucet, washing his bright yellow pants with practiced movements.

Soapberry foam formed and vanished at his fingertips as he gradually scrubbed the pale blue paint stain lighter.

Though it had not been completely removed, it had faded considerably and was almost unnoticeable without close inspection.

He had washed things ten times harder to clean than this.

Back in Aolai City, he often took Na'er to play by the sea.

He would often drag Na'er around the beach, and whenever they chased the waves, he would sometimes plop down on sun-softened asphalt, leaving his pants covered in black, sticky tar stains.

Or when they squatted in the mudflats collecting shells, his legs would get coated in fishy, sticky sea mud that dried as hard as a board.

Those things were far more stubborn than paint.

Every time, he would squat in the yard with hot water and soapberries, scrubbing them clean bit by bit.

After doing it so many times, he had long since gained plenty of experience dealing with stubborn stains like these.

"Just wash it properly. Scrub it a few more times and it'll fade."

Tang Wulin did not even raise his head as he casually replied.

He had just returned from the cafeteria after eating, with more than forty Grade-C Meals in his stomach. His belly was warm, his mood was good, and his tone carried a relaxed nonchalance.

At Eastsea Academy's cafeteria, breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all tiered. The most expensive was a Grade-A Meal at 1,000 Federal Coins, followed by a Grade-B Meal at 100 Federal Coins, while the cheapest Grade-C Meal cost 10 Federal Coins.

Given Tang Wulin's current funds and appetite, he had chosen the cheapest Grade-C Meals. They did not taste great, but they were plentiful and cheap.

"If you hadn't deliberately tricked me into sitting down, would I be here washing my pants now?"

Xie Xie grew angry the moment he heard that, and his hands abruptly stopped moving with a slap.

He raised his head and glared at Tang Wulin, his dark green eyes full of indignation.

So the person who had set him up was now making snide remarks? What kind of sense did that make?

He had never suffered such a silent loss in his life, nor had he ever been this embarrassed.

"What do you want, then?"

Tang Wulin stopped washing and looked up at him.

There was little expression on his face, and his gaze was open and straightforward, as though he were sincerely asking how Xie Xie wanted to resolve this.

"You have to fight me."

Xie Xie threw his wet pants into the plastic washbasin, splashing droplets of water everywhere.

He had been thinking about this for a while.

Ever since he learned that Tang Wulin possessed Twin Martial Souls and could easily pin down his arm, the competitive spirit in his heart had been stirred.

Golden Sacred Dragon Spear—it certainly sounded impressive. He wanted to see whether Tang Wulin's dragon spear was stronger, or whether his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger were faster.

This was the perfect excuse to have a proper match and vent the anger he felt from being tricked into sitting on that chair before the paint had dried.

"No."

Tang Wulin shook his head, refusing cleanly and decisively.

His tone was calm, but his words landed like a stone. "I'm afraid I might accidentally beat you to death."

He was telling the truth.

On the train last time, he had personally killed two Evil Soul Masters at the Soul Elder level, giving him some idea of the limits of his own strength.

Jin Qiu had told him on the way back that Xie Xie's Soul Power Level was only eighteen. He might be fast, but his physical strength was far inferior to Tang Wulin's.

If they really fought, he might fail to hold back. If he injured, crippled, or even killed Xie Xie, he would cause trouble right after school started. Director Long might add further punishment, or he might even be arrested and sentenced.

He truly was afraid that he would misjudge his strength, which was why he did not want to fight.

But when those words reached Xie Xie's ears, their meaning changed completely.

What did he mean, "accidentally beat you to death"?

Wasn't that blatant mockery and ridicule?

Was he saying that Xie Xie was so weak that he could not even withstand one move, and killing him would be easier than crushing an ant?

Xie Xie's anger instantly flared.

"What do you mean? You're looking down on me?!"

He sprang to his feet, making the puddles on the floor ripple.

The veins at his temples throbbed, the tips of his ears turned red with rage, and his dark green eyes widened as he stared fixedly at Tang Wulin.

His chest rose and fell slightly. He was clearly furious—he had never been mocked like this in his life.

"What's wrong?"

Tang Wulin stood up as well, looking at him in confusion.

"I was only stating a fact."

He genuinely had no other intention. He was simply objectively explaining the difference in their strength so that he would not lose control and hurt someone if they fought.

With his emotional intelligence, he could not possibly imagine how deeply his words had hit home, much less understand why Xie Xie had suddenly become so angry.

Xie Xie was about to explode from anger at his matter-of-fact attitude.

Arrogant! Far too arrogant!

He looked so serious, yet how could everything he said be so infuriating?

He cursed him countless times in his heart—though the details would not be repeated, lest the insults be too foul and get censored. Ignoring the water and soap foam on his hands, Xie Xie stepped forward and grabbed Tang Wulin's arm.

He used considerable force, dragging Tang Wulin toward the washroom door.

"What are you doing?"

Tang Wulin stumbled from the pull, still holding half a soapberry in his hand, his face full of bewilderment.

They had been washing clothes perfectly well, so why had Xie Xie suddenly started dragging him away?

He completely failed to understand what was happening. He let Xie Xie pull him outside while still pondering which sentence he had said wrong.

"Right now, I just want to beat you up!"

Xie Xie gritted his teeth, nearly grinding his molars to pieces.

If he did not fight this match, he would never be able to swallow this anger today.

He wanted to see just how much real ability this big-mouthed guy actually had.

[You should just fight him.

Jin Qiu's voice sounded in the Spirit Sea, full of helplessness and carrying the exhausted feeling of someone rubbing his forehead.

Otherwise, sooner or later, you'll anger him to death.]

The corner of his mouth twitched wildly. He could barely stand to watch.

After spending so many years together, he naturally knew that Tang Wulin was not being arrogant, nor was he deliberately mocking Xie Xie.

The boy simply did not know how to speak tactfully. He spoke too directly and had no idea how infuriating his words could be.

A perfectly good warning, coming out of his mouth, could directly make someone's anger boil over.

[What did I do?]

Tang Wulin asked Jin Qiu in a dazed manner.

He was genuinely baffled.

He had spoken properly. He had neither insulted Xie Xie nor provoked him, merely answered his question. How had he angered him this badly?

No matter how hard he thought, he could not figure out where the problem lay.

[Stop asking. Just fight him first.

Jin Qiu could not be bothered to explain. Even if he explained, Tang Wulin might not understand.

Remember, don't use the Golden Sacred Dragon Spear. Just play with him using Blue Silver Grass.

Go easy on him. Don't actually beat him to death or cripple him.]

Jin Qiu had come to understand that, given Tang Wulin's current condition, reasoning with him would get nowhere.

In the original story, Tang Wulin's emotional intelligence had been a little low, but not this low. Jin Qiu felt that his own teaching methods had not been wrong either.

Forget it. There's no point thinking about it. Low emotional intelligence isn't a big deal anyway.

Unable to figure it out, Jin Qiu gave up thinking.