Xiao Chenyu

Moved, Tang Hao rubbed his hands together and strode to the kitchen doorway, smiling with fatherly affection.

"Sanmei, thanks for the effort. That chicken soup smells wonderful. Hurry and serve your dad a bowl. I'm starving."

Tang Sanmei turned back, looked at her expectant father, then at the chicken soup bubbling in the pot. An awkward, troubled look crossed her little face.

Silently, she took two rock-hard cornbread buns from the steamer beside her and handed them to Tang Hao.

"Dad, this is your breakfast."

Tang Sanmei spoke with perfect seriousness.

"I bought this old hen yesterday and simmered it for four hours. The soup is for Cousin to build up his strength. His injuries haven't healed, and his Innate Soul Power is low, so he needs proper nourishment. You're so strong that the buns will be enough for you."

The loving smile froze on Tang Hao's face.

He looked at the two buns in his hands, hard enough to bludgeon someone to death, then at the tempting golden chicken soup in the pot.

A draft swept through the kitchen. Tang Hao felt a chill sink straight into his heart.

"I... get the buns? And he gets old-hen soup?"

Tang Hao's voice trembled.

"Sanmei, which one of us is your father—me or him?"

"Don't be angry, Uncle."

Just then, Xiao Wu came out of the main room in her little pink outfit, yawning as she munched on a washed carrot.

She grinned.

"Sanmei said Cousin is the most important person in our family. We have to wait on him like an ancestor. You're so strong, Uncle. Two buns won't be any trouble for you."

"Pfft!"

Tang Hao tasted something sweet in his throat and hurriedly clutched his chest.

Afraid he would smash the pot if he stayed another moment, he grabbed the two buns and headed out to start work at the Blacksmith Shop, his face dark.

Each hammer blow rang against the anvil with enough resentment for half the street to hear.

A little while later.

Huo Yuhao emerged from his room with a yawn and settled comfortably into the seat at the head of the table.

Before him sat a bowl of rich chicken soup at just the right temperature and a peeled boiled egg.

Tang Sanmei and Xiao Wu sat on either side of him, one eagerly handing him a spoon, the other studying him with curiosity.

"Sect Master, it's just the right temperature. Please drink it while it's hot."

Tang Sanmei's eyes shone with anticipation.

"Mm. Your cooking has improved."

Huo Yuhao accepted the treatment as though it were only natural.

After breakfast, the three put on their new academy uniforms and walked through the gates of Notting Academy.

Although they were not living in Dorm Seven, they had still been assigned to the work-study students' class.

Along the way, Tang Sanmei and Xiao Wu, both as lovely as carved jade, naturally drew the eyes of countless boys.

Tang Sanmei's gentle, delicate air and Xiao Wu's lively charm made them a pair of dazzling sights.

But what made jaws drop was that the two little girls stayed at the side of a frail-looking boy like a pair of personal guards, never leaving him for a step!

The girl called Tang Sanmei even carried his textbooks and water bottle with painstaking care, just like a devoted little maid!

"Who's that kid? Why's he so full of himself?"

"I heard he's a new work-study student called Huo Yuhao. They tested him—his Martial Soul is his eyes, and his Innate Soul Power is only rank one. He's a complete good-for-nothing!"

"Damn it! Why does a good-for-nothing get two pretty work-study girls waiting on him? I won't stand for it!"

The murmurs rose and fell around them, but Huo Yuhao turned a deaf ear.

So what if I'm a good-for-nothing?

It's not as if I'm eating your rice.

At noon, in the cafeteria.

Notting Academy's cafeteria had two floors. The first served cheap, ordinary meals and was where the work-study students usually ate;

the second offered cooked-to-order dishes for the children of nobles and wealthy families.

Huo Yuhao and the girls had just carried their trays to a table on the first floor and sat down.

Several lavishly dressed older boys suddenly came down the stairs from the second floor.

At their head was a tall, blond boy of eleven or twelve.

He was Xiao Chenyu, the son of Nuoding City's lord and the academy's resident bully.

Xiao Chenyu spotted Xiao Wu and Tang Sanmei sitting in the corner, and his eyes lit up.

But when he saw the two girls fussing over a frail boy, his expression darkened at once.

"Hey! You, the penniless work-study brat!"

Xiao Chenyu swaggered over with his lackeys, planted one foot on the stool beside Huo Yuhao, and sneered down at him.

"I hear you're Huo Yuhao, the worthless kid with only rank-one Innate Soul Power. What makes trash like you think you deserve to eat at the same table as these two pretty girls? Take your leftovers and squat outside to eat. This young master wants your seat!"

At those words, the entire first floor fell silent.

The work-study students all lowered their heads. They were furious, but none dared speak.

Xiao Chenyu looked at Huo Yuhao smugly, then raised his eyebrows at Tang Sanmei and Xiao Wu.

Huo Yuhao kept drinking the soup Tang Sanmei had served him without even lifting his head. He spoke evenly.

"Sanmei, slap him."

"Yes, Sect Master!"

Tang Sanmei had been holding back her anger. At his command, she sprang up like an enraged leopardess!

What a joke!

Insult me if you want, but you dared insult the Tang Sect's only male heir!

You've given me reason to kill you!

"You're asking for it!"

Tang Sanmei's clear cry rang out. Innate Full Soul Power erupted from her small body, and with a step of the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, she became a blur!

"What?!"

Xiao Chenyu's face changed in alarm. He was just about to release his Martial Soul.

But he had no idea that, the instant Huo Yuhao gave the order, a faint golden light had already flashed in his eyes.

An invisible [Soul Impact] struck Xiao Chenyu's brain with unerring precision!

"Argh!"

A sharp pain suddenly stabbed through Xiao Chenyu's head. The Soul Power he had just begun to circulate scattered, and he froze where he stood.

To everyone else, it looked as if Tang Sanmei's ferocity had frightened him senseless.

The next instant.

Smack! Smack!

Two ringing slaps cracked through the silent cafeteria, loud enough to echo!

Tang Sanmei was not only astonishingly fast; her hands also gleamed with the lustrous sheen of white jade.

Under those two blows, Xiao Chenyu's fairly handsome face swelled visibly into a pair of red, piggish cheeks, and two bloody molars flew from his mouth!

Bang!

A six-year-old girl had slapped Xiao Chenyu clean off his feet. He crashed onto a dining table several meters away, drenching himself in soup and food.

"Boss!"

His lackeys were scared out of their wits and rushed over to help him up.

The whole room went deathly still.

Everyone stared, slack-jawed, at Tang Sanmei. She stood where she was with her hands behind her back, like a tiny god of slaughter.

She had taken down Xiao Chenyu, the older students' bully, in one strike! Just what kind of monster was this new work-study girl?