Seeing Alagon's actions, Zuo Tingyi said calmly, "Looks like you want to give it a try."
"Heh, Brother Zuo, your great name certainly thunders in my ears, but I really don't want to visit the Discipline Office. I'll just have to offend you this time." Alagon's smile never reached his eyes.
Zuo Tingyi said nothing. He merely stepped back, his face still calm and unreadable, though an icy gleam flashed through his eyes.
Hong Tao had troubles he could not voice. There was an extremely formidable fellow beside Alagon, someone by no means weaker than him. Their brief exchange had already told Hong Tao that he had encountered an expert. All Card Adepts had to train their Perception, and the more powerful they were, the stronger their Perception became. This also gave them an extraordinary intuition and sensitivity toward others of their kind. Card Adepts from the Bitter Solitude Temple were said to be even more astonishing in this regard: a single glance was enough for them to roughly gauge another person's strength.
The Bitter Solitude Temple had the fewest students among the Six Great Academies, and one rarely encountered them, so it was difficult to tell whether the rumor was true. But the Card Adept beside Alagon gave Hong Tao an intensely powerful sense of danger. Their clash had consisted of only a single exchange, but that was enough for him to make his judgment.
For precisely that reason, however, he had no attention to spare for anyone else. He was not worried about Zuo Tingyi. There was probably no one in this academy who dared leave so much as a scratch on him. Hong Tao believed that, bold as Alagon was, he understood the stakes perfectly well. He would never lay a hand on Zuo Tingyi. The people Hong Tao worried about were the two students in the classroom and Man Siying.
Although he had the strongest Card Adept tied up, the rich young idlers beside Alagon still had strength in numbers. Judging by the builds of those two unfamiliar students, their fighting ability probably did not amount to much.
Chen Mu stepped forward, shielding Man Siying behind him, his other hand already gripping a stool.
Lei Zi caught on immediately. Without betraying anything on his face, he picked up a chair too.
The world of street children was cruel. Anyone who had survived this long without ever getting into a fight would have been a tale from the Arabian Nights. Whether it was a one-on-one fight or a group brawl, the two had long since seen it all. Street thugs and petty hoodlums had all been their opponents before. In this respect, they had plenty of experience.
The instant they picked up their chairs, a fierce, savage air erupted from them.
Lei Zi bit his lip, his face beginning to twist into a vicious expression. Chen Mu's expression barely changed, but coldness spilled from his eyes just the same.
Neither needed to say a word. Their coordination was flawless.
Strike first and seize the advantage!
In a fight between thugs, there was no room for formal challenges or pleasantries. Chen Mu hefted his chair and suddenly struck!
Thud! The blow landed squarely on someone's head with uncanny precision.
The wooden chair shattered in an instant, leaving only a single leg in Chen Mu's hand as countless fragments flew everywhere. The man he struck had never imagined that his opponent would not even give him a chance to spit out a threat. Caught completely off guard by the sudden attack, he took the blow full on.
Blood burst from his head. He screamed, his eyes rolled back, and he toppled backward.
Before anyone could react, Lei Zi, unwilling to be outdone, swung his chair with a whoosh.
Crack! Another dull impact rang out, accompanied by a scream. The face of a slick-haired, powdered young dandy looked as though a sauce shop had exploded across it, all manner of colors splashed together. He clutched his face and writhed on the floor in agony.
Everyone present except Chen Mu and Lei Zi sucked in a cold breath.
Even Zuo Tingyi could not help swallowing hard. Their contests had always been about family backgrounds and the wealth at their disposal. Fighting was something they left to their underlings. When had they ever witnessed anything so bloody and ruthless?
The entire group took a step back in unison.
At the same time, a woman's scream suddenly erupted behind Chen Mu, nearly piercing everyone's eardrums. Man Siying stared in horror at everything unfolding before her.
Chen Mu and Lei Zi, by contrast, remained unmoved. With perfect composure, they threw away the broken chair legs in their hands and each picked up another chair.
Lei Zi felt nothing but contempt. This bunch looked imposing with their numbers, but he had never expected them all to be greenhorns. Had he known that a Card Adept among them could wipe out the two of them with a wave of his hand, he would certainly have gone pale, grabbed Chen Mu, and fled in panic.
Both understood the essentials of fighting. Their expressions grew calmer still, as though they had done something utterly ordinary. This only made Alagon's group feel how ruthless the two were, and fear promptly crept into their hearts.
"What? Nobody else coming?" Lei Zi raised his eyebrows, lifted the wooden chair in his right hand, and slammed it heavily onto a desk. Bang! The blow made the group jump again.
These two are lunatics! Everyone present thought the same thing. Remembering how viciously they had just struck, especially the blow to that young dandy's face, almost everyone felt it as though they had suffered it themselves. Their own faces seemed unbearably itchy, and only when they scratched did they discover that they were covered in sweat.
Chen Mu said nothing. He simply took a step forward.
With a rustle, Alagon's entire group stepped back in unison. The only one who did not retreat was the Card Adept. He did not so much as glance at Chen Mu or Lei Zi. All his attention was fixed on Hong Tao. In his eyes, these two were clearly using nothing more than the tricks of petty street thugs. The truly dangerous one was Hong Tao!
He was the one who deserved the most attention!
The Card Adept was beginning to regret his decision. Unable to gauge the depths of Hong Tao's strength, he had held back in their earlier exchange, only to leave his own side at a disadvantage. As he saw it, Hong Tao was the other side's only real strength, and with him keeping Hong Tao in check, Hong Tao would never dare attack lightly. That should have left their side holding every advantage through sheer numbers.
Yet he had never imagined that such a large group would end up completely on the losing side against two petty thugs.
What a bunch of spineless sacks of pus!
He could do nothing now either. Like Hong Tao, he did not dare make a move rashly. Their earlier exchange had already told him that his opponent was by no means weaker than he was. If they began fighting, he would not be able to contain the energy within a small area. The shock waves created by their colliding energies could harm neither him nor Hong Tao, but his young master would not escape unscathed.
All his attention was focused on Hong Tao, leaving him unable to deal with anyone else.
The ruthlessness of Chen Mu and Lei Zi's attacks had astonished him as well. He had been protecting the young master for quite some time and knew East Guard Academy like the back of his hand. He also knew its students very well. Whenever he watched them spar, they were always timid and restrained, afraid of hurting their classmates and afraid of being hurt themselves. He had long sneered inwardly at that. As someone who had experienced real combat, he knew that such flowery fists and embroidered kicks would be utterly useless in the face of genuine danger.
This was the first time he had seen students at East Guard Academy strike so ruthlessly. What moved him most, however, was the fierce air between their brows. That could only have been forged through many battles.
Chen Mu had already begun dismantling the wooden chair in his hands. During his earlier attack, he had felt that it was not particularly handy.
He planted his left foot on the seat and wrenched hard with both hands. Crack! The backrest broke free of the chair. Chen Mu tested it, then nodded in satisfaction. He could clearly feel that the strength in his hands had increased considerably.
This made the already nervous group pale even further. Quite a few of the young dandies had begun trembling at the knees.
(End of chapter)