Even If You Beat Him to a Pulp, I Won't Hold You Responsible!

Everyone was whispering.

They were all looking forward to what would happen tonight.

But it seemed Qian Renchuan was the only one left in the dark.

That afternoon, he arrived in the classroom.

He did not fall asleep.

Instead, he somehow produced a Picture Book and sat in the back row, reading it with relish.

Qian Renchuan did his best to make no noise.

He did not disrupt the Instructor's lesson.

Even so, quite a few students kept turning around to glare at him.

His younger sister, Qian Renxue, had also heard what was going to happen tonight.

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

She could not help glancing at Qian Renchuan, who was still reading beside her. Her feelings were a tangled mess.

My big brother is hopeless.

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

Isn't he worried at all?

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

For a moment,

Qian Renxue was torn.

But after struggling with herself, 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 sting his pride enough to make him work harder. He needs to learn that if he doesn't make an effort, he'll get beaten.

As for whether they beat him too badly...

Huyan Ye and the others might be getting carried away, but surely they would not dare seriously injure the Pope's son.

At worst, he would suffer a few bruises.

Likewise,

word quickly reached the Academy Chiefs.

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

They had long known this was a hint from above: the Pope wanted to use this to motivate Qian Renchuan.

But they were afraid something might go wrong.

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

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 restraint. More than 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 them tonight. He must step in if necessary. We cannot let the Eldest Young Master suffer a serious injury."

The others nodded.

Having Instructor Chen watch them was the best option. It would keep the risk as low as possible.

But another Chief rose with a grim expression.

"That's still not enough. We need to report this to the Pope."

"He is the Pope's own son. What if the Pope only meant to give the Eldest Young Master a small scare, not make such a spectacle of it?"

"If we decide this on our own and something goes wrong, who will take responsibility?"

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 scuffle between a few little brats. Do you need 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 so hopeless that all he did was laze around and sleep, they might as well beat him 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 looks after hearing them.

Was the Pope really that ruthless?

He could say they would not be held responsible even if they crippled his own son?

Still, they had the Pope's approval, and the Chiefs finally relaxed.

If the Pope did not care, why should they worry?

Night fell.

At Spirit Academy,

inside the girls' dormitory,

a Soul Lamp lit the room brightly.

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

Her small body was tense, as though she were ready to fight at any moment.

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

The other girls in the room immediately gathered 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 is bringing more than a dozen people. It's bound to be exciting."

Qian Renxue's face tightened.

She swept them with a cold gaze.

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

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

And here they were, telling her how excited they were to watch people beat up her brother.

What would Qian Renxue think of that?

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

The thought left the girls shaken. They lowered their heads and fell silent.

Fortunately, Qian Renxue said nothing about it.

In truth, she had stopped cultivating because she, too, wanted to go and see.

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

Would he be so frightened that he cried for help?

Would he finally recognize his own weakness and start striving to improve?

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

"All right. Let's go see."

The other girls stared at her.

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 clearly!"

After a quick tidy-up, the girls opened the door and left their room.

Only when they reached the corridor did they notice several other girls from the Second-Year Class.

Those girls had the same idea.

They were gathering in small groups, planning 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.

As girls, they could not go straight 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 even a needle hitting the floor might have been heard.

But beneath that silence, something was brewing.

In Qian Renchuan's room,

Zhao Mang and Li Yan had been on edge ever since confirming at noon that Qian Renchuan would not leave.

They were terrified that tonight's events might drag them in.

If Huyan Ye and the others got carried away and something truly happened to Qian Renchuan, the two of them would have a hard time explaining their presence when the Pope demanded answers.

So as soon as classes ended that afternoon,

the two of them took leave from Spirit Academy and hid away outside.

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, as usual.

Across from him, Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged with his eyes shut, steadily cultivating 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 quite good.

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

The only sounds in the room were Qian Renchuan's soft snores and Huo Yuhao's steady breathing.

Suddenly,

faint footsteps sounded in the corridor.

They were quiet, but there were many of them, and they were approaching the room.

Huo Yuhao sensed the movement and slowly opened his eyes.