Crime Scene!

Xiao Yan walked out through the gates looking somewhat weary. It was getting late, and the setting sun hung over the mountaintops. The path out was lined with so many trees that it was practically a small forest. He had not noticed it much on the way in, but now, with the already dim sunlight barely filtering through gaps in the leaves and no one around, the place felt truly eerie.

Just as Xiao Yan was about to quicken his pace, he suddenly heard leaves rustling overhead. Without a second thought, he pushed off the ground and darted backward.

At the very moment Xiao Yan hurriedly dodged aside, someone dropped from above. The thick wooden club in their hand missed its target and slammed hard into the ground with a deafening crash that shattered the silence.

Xiao Yan looked closely and saw that it was the girl he had met at noon. Seeing the broken club and the regretful look on her face, he was genuinely starting to get angry.

If that blow had really struck his head, it probably would not have killed him, but he would definitely have been bedridden for a month or two.

Xiao Yan had never expected Han Xian to play this viciously. He had not wanted to bother with him, yet he actually dared to send someone to do this to him!

The girl did not notice Xiao Yan's darkened expression. Tossing aside the half-broken stick in her hand, she lunged at him and struck out with her palm!

Xiao Yan was almost angry enough to laugh. One look was enough to tell that she was only at the seventh or eighth stage of Dou Qi. He had spent the whole day avoiding conflict, and that had only made this girl push her luck further?

He had already been full of grievances. That afternoon, Wu Protector had pointed out many of Xiao Yan's shortcomings. Although Xiao Yan knew Wu Protector was right and that he would work hard to correct them...

Still, understanding was one thing. As a child who had grown up surrounded by praise, Xiao Yan naturally had some pride. Learning so suddenly that he still had so many flaws would leave anyone feeling depressed...

Now, the girl's excessive behavior ignited Xiao Yan's anger. Since she was being so shamelessly aggressive, she could not blame him for letting his fists do the talking!

Xiao Yan struck in anger, but even so, he held back most of his Dou Qi. Given the girl's strength, taking a full-force blow from him could easily have cost her life.

"Pfft... Bang!"

The gap in their cultivation was simply too vast. Though Xiao Yan moved later, he struck first, his palm landing on the girl's abdomen and sending her flying several meters through the air. She only fell to the ground after crashing into a tree.

There was nothing surprising about that outcome. What surprised Xiao Yan more was how she had dared to attack him in the first place. He slowly walked toward the girl, intending to drag her to the academy infirmary.

He could have simply left her here, of course. Xiao Yan was quite confident in his control of force; she would not die.

But he wanted to drag this girl through the academy so everyone could see that Xiao Yan was not someone just any stray cat or dog could bully!

As he drew closer, he saw her curled up in agony. Her face was already covered in tears and snot as she groaned through sobs, "I'm not playing anymore... ah... I want to go home, boohoohoo..."

When she saw Xiao Yan approaching, she became even more frightened, and her cries rose several pitches. "Don't come over, ah..." She tried desperately to shrink back and avoid him, but the pain in her abdomen made it impossible for her to move.

Ignoring her increasingly shrill cries, Xiao Yan prepared to grab her by the collar, lift her up, and carry her back. She had brought this entirely upon herself, and Xiao Yan had no excess sympathy to spare.

Just as Xiao Yan grabbed her collar and pulled her up, a voice sounded behind him:

"Xiao Yan... bro... brother?"

Hearing that familiar voice, Xiao Yan slowly turned around in disbelief. It really was Xiao Xun'er!

Someone he had expected to be separated from for at least a year had suddenly appeared before him. Joy surged uncontrollably from the depths of Xiao Yan's heart, and he did not even realize that his voice was trembling with excitement.

"Xun'er! What are you doing here?!"

But Xiao Yan saw that Xun'er's smile had stiffened. Her face held a confusion and shock he had never seen on her before! And Xun'er was not looking into his eyes. She was staring at his hand.

"My hand? What's wrong with my..."

The sun had already set, leaving only a faint afterglow that cast a thin sliver of light. In this dark forest, a pretty girl was covered in tears, crying, "Don't come over," while clutching her stomach with both hands. Her entire body trembled, and she had clearly lost all ability to resist. Meanwhile, their big boy Xiao Yan wore a faint sneer as his hand tightly gripped the collar of the struggling girl...

Xiao Yan immediately realized just how incriminating the scene looked. In panic, he let go, and the girl he had just lifted up fell back to the ground with another bang...

Seeing the light gradually fade from Xun'er's eyes, Xiao Yan hurriedly spoke:

"No! Xun'er, I can explain..."

"...That was roughly what happened."

After listening to Xiao Yan's explanation, Xun'er blinked her beautiful eyes, now bright once more, and chuckled.

"What was that? Xiao Yan, you really are such an idiot. You gave Xun'er such a fright just now. I thought you had gone bad..."

"No matter what, I couldn't possibly go bad that quickly."

"What did you say, Xiao Yan? |･ω･｀)"

"No! I said I would absolutely never go bad~"

"Hehe (^ω^)"

With the misunderstanding finally cleared up, Xiao Yan and Xun'er remembered that there was still someone lying at their feet. Xun'er walked over and slowly supported the girl. "Can you stand?"

The girl silently nodded. Xiao Yan's blow had hurt badly, but it had not injured her internal organs. After resting on the ground for a while, she was already feeling much better.

Thus, Xun'er supported the girl as she and Xiao Yan headed toward the center of the academy. The girl timidly hid at Xun'er's side and did not dare look Xiao Yan in the eye.

"Even if she is much weaker than you, Xiao Yan, she is still a girl. You hit her a little too hard."

Naturally, Xiao Yan did not argue with Xun'er. Though he felt that, considering that swing of her wooden club, she had not been wronged by taking his palm strike—and being laid up for two or three days would already be letting her off lightly...

The two tacitly avoided discussing why Xun'er was at Canaan Academy. There was an outsider right in front of them, after all. They chatted about other things, waiting until they could ditch this burden before talking properly...

Xiao Yan truly had not expected to meet this Elder Hu again under such circumstances;

Nor had he expected him to be the vice dean of the Outer Academy;

And least of all had he expected that the girl he had just beaten into tears was his granddaughter!

From the moment Xiao Yan and Xun'er brought the girl named Hu Jia into the infirmary, to the medical instructor letting out a piercing scream, to the moment they were all seated in the vice dean's office, it had taken no more than the time needed to brew a cup of tea...

"Grandpa, he was the one who bullied me! You have to stand up for me! No one has ever dared to hit me like this in all my life!"

Hu Jia sat in a nearby armchair. Although her grandfather had already healed her minor injuries, her hands still instinctively covered her stomach as she spoke indignantly.

She was full of grievance. After hearing from Hu Gan that the academy had admitted a Super S-rank freshman who was even younger than her, Hu Jia had wanted to see Xiao Yan. After all, her dream was to enter Canaan Academy with a Super S-rank evaluation herself.

So, after obtaining Xiao Yan's appearance and whereabouts from that "information broker," Lu Mu, she had intercepted Xiao Yan in the cafeteria. Then, angered by his indifference, the lawless and spoiled Hu Jia had decided to teach him a lesson. After her sneak attack failed, she had wanted to test him with a direct attack...

Who could have imagined that this brat was such a monster! He was clearly younger than her, yet his cultivation was so much higher!

?!?

Hu Jia had wanted to glare angrily at Xiao Yan, but when she met his emotionless gaze, she shuddered all over like a frightened rabbit and lowered her raised head several inches.

Xiao Yan could look calmly at Hu Jia, but when he turned to Dean Hu Gan, he wore a somewhat awkward yet polite smile:

Dean Hu had once argued with Fire Elder over Xiao Yan's matter and had done him a great favor. No matter how unreasonable Hu Jia had been this time, Xiao Yan had still hit the man's granddaughter, had he not?

Hu Gan sat behind his desk, feeling a headache coming on as he looked at the three little ancestors before him. Even his cultivation as a Nine-Star Dou Emperor was struggling to bear it:

Hu Jia—did he not know his own granddaughter? She must have been fooling around again and wound up kicking an iron plate. But Hu Gan had doted on this precious girl since she was little. No matter how mischievous she was, he could not bear to say a harsh word to her. And now...

Xiao Yan—though he was a freshman, the academy had been secretly watching him all along. He had always behaved himself, and considering Hu Jia's usual conduct, Hu Gan knew what had happened without even asking! What could he possibly say...

Xiao Xun'er—this one was even more formidable! Better not mention it. Better not mention it...

Hu Gan did not respond to Hu Jia. At this moment, Xiao Yan stood and bowed to him.

"Dean Hu, I truly bear responsibility for this matter. I mistakenly believed that Hu Jia was connected to students at the academy who were hostile toward me, so I did not control my strength. I am willing to apologize to Hu Jia and accept any punishment from the academy and from you!"

Xiao Yan spoke sincerely. Out of respect for Hu Gan's past kindness, letting him vent some anger for his granddaughter by punishing Xiao Yan was no big deal. But before Hu Gan could react, Xun'er's cool voice spoke first:

"Xiao Yan is a student of Canaan Academy, but your granddaughter is not. The academy has no reason to punish Xiao Yan..."

Then she looked toward Hu Jia and continued, "Besides, you were the one who launched a sneak attack first, Hu Jia, and then you took the initiative to attack again. Whether Xiao Yan misunderstood the situation or not, you were the one in the wrong."

Though Hu Jia was used to being willful, she was not someone who would stubbornly deny the truth. She knew she was in the wrong, so she said nothing in the face of Xun'er's reproach. She merely stole a glance at Xun'er, and a faint blush rose to her face.

Noticing this, Xiao Yan could not stop frowning as he silently complained, Why are you blushing like a teapot?

Hu Gan no longer remained silent. With a sigh, he gave the matter its final verdict:

"Enough. Consider this old man to be playing favorites. You two children will apologize to each other, and this matter will be over."

"You, Hu Jia! Learn a lesson from this and understand that there is always someone stronger! If you are still unconvinced, find Xiao Yan later and challenge him openly and fairly."

"You, Xiao Yan! You... cultivate well!"

After watching the two offer each other apologies that were perhaps three parts sincere, Hu Gan turned his back to them, signaling that they could leave.

Hu Jia snorted, "Stupid Grandpa!" Then, after taking a deep look at Xiao Yan and Xun'er, she pushed open the door and left.

Xiao Yan and Xun'er exchanged smiles. After bidding Hu Gan farewell, they rose to leave as well. But just as they reached the door, Hu Gan called out to Xiao Yan:

"Xiao Yan, rest assured. Canaan Academy has its rules. Things will proceed as they should, and this will not affect you in any way. This old man guarantees it with his reputation."

"That girl Hu Jia was spoiled by me. She has been used to doing as she pleases since childhood, so she may sometimes act rashly and cross the line. But she never intended to harm you. I hope you will not hold it against her."

Xiao Yan was briefly stunned. Then he gave a deep bow, while Xun'er spoke at just the right moment beside him:

"Rest assured, Dean. Xiao Yan has always been very popular with girls. Now that the misunderstanding between him and Sister Hu Jia has been cleared up, perhaps they might even become good friends someday."

After saying that, she pulled away Xiao Yan, who had wanted to say something as well, and left with him.