Even If You Cripple Him, I Won't Hold You Responsible!

Everyone was whispering.

They were all looking forward to what would happen that night.

But Qian Renchuan seemed to be the only one left in the dark.

That afternoon, he had come to class.

He hadn't fallen asleep.

Instead, he had pulled a Picture Book from who knew where and sat in the back row, engrossed in it.

Qian Renchuan did his best to stay quiet.

He didn't disrupt the instructor's lesson.

Even so, plenty of students kept turning to glare at him.

His younger sister, Qian Renxue, already knew what was going to happen that night.

As she listened to her classmates' hushed discussions, she frowned deeply.

She couldn't help glancing at Qian Renchuan, who was still reading beside her. The sight left a sour feeling in her chest.

My big brother is hopeless.

The whole class is plotting against him, and he can still sit there reading a Picture Book?

Is he really not worried at all?

Or does he have no idea what's going to happen tonight?

For a moment,

Qian Renxue was torn.

After some inner struggle, though, she looked away and chose not to tell Qian Renchuan.

What good would telling him do?

If Father wants to push him this way, I don't need to interfere.

Maybe a little suffering will stir his ambition. He needs to learn that if he doesn't work hard, he'll get beaten.

As for whether they'll beat him badly...

Huyan Ye and the others might be worked up, but they wouldn't dare seriously injure the Pope's son.

At most, he would suffer a few bruises.

Meanwhile,

word quickly reached the Academy Chiefs.

Inside the Chief's Office, several Chiefs sat together, their faces grave and brows furrowed.

They had known all along that this was a hint from above. The Pope wanted to use it to motivate Qian Renchuan.

But they were still afraid something might go wrong.

Qian Renchuan was the Pope's own son, Spirit Hall's Eldest Young Master.

If he ended up with a broken arm or leg, they would have a hard time answering to the Pope.

One Chief sighed.

"These students have no sense of proportion. A dozen of them ganging up on a six-year-old child? What kind of business is that?"

"Have Instructor Chen keep an eye on things tonight. We can't let anything serious happen. He must step in when necessary and make sure the Eldest Young Master isn't badly hurt."

The others nodded.

Having Instructor Chen watch over them was the best way to keep the risk down.

But one Chief rose with a grim expression.

"That still isn't enough. We need to report this to the Pope."

"He is the Pope's son, after all. What if the Pope only meant to scare the Eldest Young Master a little, not cause a scene this big?"

"If we take it upon ourselves to decide and something goes wrong, who will answer for it?"

After discussing it, the Chiefs immediately sent someone to report to the Pope's Palace.

Before long, the news reached the Pope's Palace.

High on the Papal Throne, Qian Xunji listened to the report and gave a disdainful snort.

"It's just a little scuffle between children. Do you have to report every little thing to me?"

"Do you think I have nothing better to do?"

Qian Xunji gave his order.

"Let them fight!"

"As long as they don't kill him, they can beat him however they like!"

"Even if they cripple him, I won't hold you responsible!"

As Qian Xunji saw it, if Qian Renchuan remained hopeless, doing nothing but lazing around and sleeping all day, he might as well be beaten to death. At least then he would stop disgracing the Angel Family.

Besides, that would never actually happen.

He trusted the Chiefs to know where to draw the line.

The messenger accepted the order and hurried back to Spirit Academy with the Pope's exact words.

The Chiefs exchanged stunned looks after hearing them.

Wasn't the Pope being too ruthless?

How could he say he wouldn't hold anyone responsible for crippling his own son?

Still, they had the Pope's approval, and that finally put their minds at ease.

If the Pope didn't care, why should they worry?

Night fell.

At Spirit Academy,

inside the girls' dormitory,

a Soul Lamp brightly lit the room.

Qian Renxue sat cross-legged on her bed, eyes closed in cultivation.

Her small body was taut, as though she were ready for a fight at any moment.

Then she slowly opened her eyes, stopped cultivating, and stood up.

Several other girls in the dorm immediately crowded around her, whispering excitedly.

"Miss Xue, you heard about it this afternoon, right?"

"The class monitor and the others are going to teach Qian Renchuan a lesson tonight. Should we go watch?"

"Yeah! I heard the class monitor's bringing more than a dozen people. It's bound to be quite a show."

Qian Renxue's small face tightened.

She swept a cold gaze over them.

The girls froze. Their smiles stiffened, and they backed away in fright.

Only then did they remember that no matter how useless or unambitious Qian Renchuan was, Qian Renxue was still his sister.

They had just excitedly suggested watching people beat up her brother right in front of her.

What would Qian Renxue think of that?

If they angered her, they would be in serious trouble.

The thought left the girls shaken, and they lowered their heads without another word.

Fortunately, Qian Renxue said nothing about it.

In truth, she had stopped cultivating because she wanted to go see for herself.

She wanted to see how her big brother would react when more than a dozen people surrounded him.

Would he be so scared that he cried for help?

Would he finally realize how weak he was and start working hard?

Under the girls' nervous gazes, Qian Renxue slowly nodded.

"All right. Let's go see."

The other girls stared at her for a moment.

Then they breathed a sigh of relief and grew excited again.

"Great, let's hurry!"

"We need a good spot outside the Boys' Dormitory. If we're late, we won't be able to see!"

After quickly getting ready, they pushed open the door and left.

Only when they stepped into the corridor did they notice several more girls from the Second-Year Class.

Those girls had the same idea.

They were gathering in twos and threes, preparing to head down and watch.

When they saw Qian Renxue, they hurried to greet her, then naturally fell in behind her.

The girls went downstairs together.

They left the girls' dormitory and jogged to the Boys' Dormitory next door.

They were girls, after all, and couldn't simply go inside.

So they chose a spot below the building with a clear view and waited quietly.

Inside the Boys' Dormitory,

the lights were already out.

The corridor was so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.

Yet beneath that silence, something was stirring.

In Qian Renchuan's room,

Zhao Mang and Li Yan had been on edge ever since confirming at noon that Qian Renchuan wouldn't leave.

They were afraid they might get dragged into what happened that night.

If Huyan Ye and the others got carried away and something really happened to Qian Renchuan, how could the two of them explain their presence when the Pope came looking for someone to blame?

So as soon as classes ended that afternoon,

the two had asked for leave, left Spirit Academy, and hidden themselves away elsewhere.

Whether that made them clever

or cowardly was hard to say.

As a result, only Qian Renchuan and Huo Yuhao remained in the spacious four-person room.

That night,

Qian Renchuan was fast asleep in his bed.

Across from him, Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, steadily cultivating his Soul Power.

Thanks to the Mysterious Heaven Skill,

Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul was still Spirit Eyes, but his Innate Soul Power was high, and his talent was decent.

Cultivation came more easily and smoothly to him than it had in his previous life.

Only Qian Renchuan's soft snores and Huo Yuhao's even breathing could be heard in the room.

Suddenly,

the faint patter of footsteps came from the corridor.

The footsteps were light, but there were many of them, and they were approaching the room.

Sensing the movement, Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes.