Sneak Attack

Chu Heng froze. Then he remembered what Su Xianling had told him that morning while he was following her.

"Many things look tangled together, but when you deal with them, you have to separate them. The truth is often hidden in the tangle."

Chu Heng understood what she meant. With an encouraging look from Su Xianling, he took two steps forward and interrupted the argument.

"Listen to me! You can keep fighting."

The Work-Study Students and noble students had still been arguing. They both fell silent when they heard him, and once they saw his clothes and the person behind him, neither side said another word.

Seeing how quickly their attitudes changed, Chu Heng couldn't help thinking how convenient it was to have someone powerful behind him. If he hadn't been from Spirit Hall, with Su Xianling standing behind him, even Tang San or Xiao Chenyu might not have been able to quiet them so easily.

Chu Heng glanced at Xiao Chenyu, then turned to Wang Sheng.

"If you want to settle who answers to whom, you can do it with your fists. But that won't settle the matter of the allowances. Who received too little, who received too much, where the missing supplies went, and who took them—we need to find out."

Standing behind him, Su Xianling's lips curved slightly. At least my lesson wasn't wasted.

Xiao Chenyu frowned, but soon nodded.

"I have no objection. I didn't know anything about the allowances in the first place."

At those words, the expression of a senior student behind Xiao Chenyu shifted almost imperceptibly.

Chu Heng noticed and made a mental note of it. But both sides had decided to settle their original dispute through a fight, so they could finish that first.

In the end, they agreed on a best-of-three contest.

Wang Sheng fought first for the Work-Study Students. The noble students sent out a senior student.

There was a gap in their strength. Wang Sheng fought fiercely and held out for a while, but his opponent eventually caught an opening and kicked him to the ground.

"One win!"

The noble students burst into cheers. Wang Sheng gritted his teeth and got up. As unwilling as he was, he could only admit defeat.

Xiao Chenyu stepped out for the second match, and Tang San moved forward for the Work-Study Students. They faced each other from several meters apart.

The fight soon began.

At first, Xiao Chenyu pressed the attack, relying on the physical advantage his Martial Soul gave him. Tang San avoided a direct clash. His footwork shifted as he dodged several attacks in succession, while Blue Silver Grass kept reaching for Xiao Chenyu from tricky angles.

For a time, neither could gain the upper hand.

Chu Heng watched from the sidelines. He knew Tang San wasn't using his full strength. He hadn't used a single Tang Sect technique or hidden weapon. With only Blue Silver Grass and basic fighting skills, he was already holding his own against Xiao Chenyu.

This guy...

Chu Heng marveled at Tang San's fighting skill, but out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught something odd.

The senior student who had kept steering the conversation toward a fight was slowly backing away. Everyone was focused on Tang San and Xiao Chenyu. No one noticed him.

Chu Heng frowned slightly and watched what he did next.

The student slipped his right hand inside his clothes and pulled out a black metal object.

Chu Heng's gaze turned cold.

A sneak attack? I knew something was wrong!

At that same moment, the fight shifted. Xiao Chenyu's attacks missed one after another, and he began to tire. Tang San seized the opening. Blue Silver Grass sprang from the ground and bound Xiao Chenyu, restricting his movements.

"No!"

The senior student's expression changed. Unable to hold back any longer, he raised the black metal object and aimed it at Tang San.

Click!

Chu Heng sensed the danger the instant he heard the mechanism. He released his Martial Soul, and it appeared in his hand as a pistol.

He raised it, fed in a little Soul Power, and pulled the trigger!

Bang!

A bullet condensed from Soul Power shot out. At the same moment, the crossbow in the senior student's hand launched a dark projectile.

They collided in midair.

Clang!

A sharp metallic ring sounded. An arrow was knocked aside and buried itself in the dirt nearby.

The students who had been shouting went silent. Every eye turned to Chu Heng—or, more precisely, to the strange object in his hand.

Chu Heng ignored their reactions. With a slight turn of his wrist, he aimed the black muzzle at the senior student.

"Put it down."

Chu Heng didn't speak loudly, but in the silence, his words were perfectly clear.

The student went pale. He glanced down at the crossbow in his hand, then back at Chu Heng.

"You..."

"You dare shoot me?"

His Soul Power Level was higher than Chu Heng's, and he was older.

Yet for some reason, when that strange object was aimed at him, he felt an instinctive flicker of fear.

That shot just now... had been too fast.

Chu Heng gave no answer. He simply kept the pistol steady.

He wasn't going to fire just because of a remark, but he needed the threat to make the student yield.

After several tense moments, Su Xianling took a small step forward. Her Soul Power bore down on the senior student, forcing him to the ground.

Clatter.

The crossbow fell to the ground.

While all this happened outside the fighting area, the match continued. Bound by Blue Silver Grass, Xiao Chenyu struggled to use his strength. Tang San swiftly closed in and pulled him off balance, sending him crashing to the ground.

"I lost."

Xiao Chenyu conceded at once. Tang San helped him up, and then both of them looked toward Chu Heng and the senior student.

Xiao Chenyu saw the crossbow lying nearby, and his face darkened.

"What's going on?"

The senior student's lips moved, but under Su Xianling's pressure, he couldn't speak.

Chu Heng withdrew his Martial Soul, stepped forward, and picked up the crossbow. As soon as he held it, he noticed a tiny serial number engraved on the bottom of its casing.

The mark at the start of the number belonged to the Spirit Hall Branch Hall in Nott City.

Chu Heng's expression froze.

Something from Spirit Hall?

He gave no outward sign that anything was wrong. Holding the crossbow, he turned and walked over to Su Xianling.

"Big sister."

Su Xianling took it and looked where Chu Heng indicated. She saw the serial number too. Once she made out the numbers on the bottom, her previously calm expression turned cold.

She raised her head and swept her gaze over everyone present.

"Until we get to the bottom of what happened here today, none of you will tell anyone about it. If you do, you'll answer for the consequences..."

Su Xianling's tone was quiet, but it carried a pressure that left no room for argument.

Xiao Chenyu realized the matter was far more serious than he had thought and hurried to explain.

"I didn't know about this either..."

"You don't need to say anything."

Su Xianling's reply was flat. Then she turned to the senior student.

"Your father is in charge of purchasing supplies for the academy, isn't he?"