The crowd on the sports field soon dispersed.
Xiao Chenyu and his gang had to be helped away, each crying for their fathers and mothers. Before leaving, they looked at Chen Mo as though he were a god of slaughter.
Xiao Chenyu himself was carried on Zhou Hu's back, his legs too weak to walk at all and his crotch soaked. The onlookers wanted to laugh but dared not, their faces turning red from holding it in.
The work-study students held their heads high, as jubilant as if it were New Year.
These noble children usually rode roughshod over them, throwing their weight around. Today, someone had finally dealt with them-and dealt with them so brutally.
The looks they gave Chen Mo had gone beyond admiration. They were practically looking at a god.
Wang Sheng sidled over, rubbing his hands with a flattering expression.
"Big brother, from now on, you're the big brother of all us work-study students! If anyone dares mess with us, we'll drop your name!"
Chen Mo waved him off. "Don't. I don't attend your academy. Dropping my name won't help."
"You're still our big brother!" Wang Sheng insisted, stiffening his neck.
Chen Mo had no time to banter with him and turned toward Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu was still standing where she had been, a few more bruises on her arms from when they had surrounded her.
But she didn't care at all. She simply tilted her head up at Chen Mo, the stars in her eyes practically spilling out.
"Come on," Chen Mo said. "Let's find somewhere to put the medicine on."
"Oh," Xiao Wu answered, following obediently behind him, so docile it was almost absurd.
Wang Sheng, walking beside them, stared in bewilderment.
Was this really the Xiao Wu who would throw hands at the slightest disagreement and even dared slam Xiao Chenyu into the ground with deadly force?
She was as meek as a rabbit...
Oh, she was a rabbit to begin with.
Chen Mo took Xiao Wu to the academy infirmary.
No one was inside. Who knew where the school doctor had gone off to drink tea?
Chen Mo had Xiao Wu sit on a stool, then unscrewed the medicine bottle and poured a little ointment onto his finger.
"Give me your arm."
Blushing, Xiao Wu held out her arm.
The instant Chen Mo's finger touched her skin, Xiao Wu went rigid, the tips of her ears turning scarlet.
The ointment was cool and stung a little on her wounds, but Chen Mo's finger was warm. His movements were gentle as he slowly spread it.
Xiao Wu lowered her head and watched his focused profile, her heart beating like a drum.
"Tell me if it hurts." Chen Mo didn't look up.
"It... it doesn't." Xiao Wu's voice was tiny, like a mosquito's whine.
Xiao Wu hesitated, then leaned her face toward him.
Chen Mo gently dabbed his finger against her cheek. The instant the ointment touched her skin, Xiao Wu's eyelashes trembled, and her face reddened further.
They were very close. Xiao Wu could smell the faint, fresh scent of grass and trees on him. It was an indescribable smell, one that made her feel very much at ease.
"Um..." Xiao Wu spoke softly. "Brother Chen Mo."
"Hmm?"
"Today... why did you help me?" Xiao Wu looked up at him with her limpid eyes.
Chen Mo capped the medicine bottle and answered casually, "I can't stand a whole group bullying one person."
Xiao Wu pressed her lips together, warmth filling her heart.
Of course she knew it wasn't that simple.
But she was willing to believe it.
Just then, the infirmary door was flung open with a bang.
Tang San rushed in, pale-faced and panting.
Yu Xiaogang followed behind him.
The two had heard someone say there had been a fight on the sports field. Tang San's heart had lurched, and he had dropped his research and run over.
"Xiao Wu! Are you all right?" Tang San rushed in, and the first thing he saw was the slap mark on Xiao Wu's face.
His expression changed. "Who hit you?!"
Xiao Wu glanced at him without speaking, her gaze indifferent.
In the past, she would definitely have thrown herself at him and complained.
But now, whenever she recalled what the diary had said-sacrifice, Soul Rings, Soul Bones, and her two poor little brothers, Da Ming and Er Ming-a chill swept through her heart.
Tang San saw the injuries on her arms, then looked at Chen Mo standing nearby and froze for a moment.
"Big brother? What are you doing here?"
Before Chen Mo could speak, Yu Xiaogang squeezed his way in, his face eager.
He wasn't concerned about Xiao Wu. He had heard from the crowd that a boy who hadn't activated his Martial Soul had knocked down seven or eight Soul Scholars in ten seconds, including a rank-nine Soul Scholar.
Then he had heard what the boy looked like: 1.6 meters tall, dressed in old clothes, and extraordinarily handsome-
Yu Xiaogang's heart had lurched as he guessed who it was.
It was Chen Mo!
That rank-46 Soul Ancestor!
He had hurried over after Tang San precisely because he wanted to cozy up to Chen Mo again.
"My young friend Chen Mo!" Yu Xiaogang's face was wreathed in smiles, looking like an entirely different person from the one left thoroughly humiliated by Chen Mo on the sports field last time. "I heard some scoundrels were causing trouble on the sports field just now, and you stepped in to help. What a chivalrous heart!"
Chen Mo glanced at him with a half-smile.
"Weren't you researching Martial Soul Theory, Grandmaster Yu? How did you find the time to come here?"
Yu Xiaogang choked on his words. His smile stiffened before he plastered it back on.
"Uh... theoretical matters can wait, they can wait. Your affairs are my affairs, my young friend."
Chen Mo sneered inwardly.
This old bastard keeps calling me his "young friend" now, more affectionately than he would his own father.
Isn't he just coveting that rank-50 Soul Bone clone I mentioned?
Chen Mo didn't expose him and brushed the ointment residue off his hands.
"All right, the medicine's on." Chen Mo looked at Xiao Wu. "Get some proper rest today. Don't go fighting anyone again."
Xiao Wu nodded emphatically.
Watching from the side, Tang San kept feeling that something was off.
Why was the way Xiao Wu looked at his big brother different from usual?
That sparkling gaze, tinged with admiration and shyness...
Tang San felt an inexplicable discomfort, but his mind was full of divine artifacts and cultivation right now, and that discomfort vanished in a flash.
Chen Mo didn't linger. After exchanging a couple of perfunctory remarks with Yu Xiaogang, he turned and left the infirmary.
Only after his retreating figure disappeared through the doorway did Xiao Wu look away.
Beside her, Tang San said,
"Xiao Wu, stay away from Xiao Chenyu from now on. Those people aren't easy to mess with."
Yet after saying that, Tang San suddenly felt as though he had lost something.
"Mm," Xiao Wu answered, showing little expression.
Not easy to mess with? Didn't Brother Chen Mo knock every last one of them down in a single move?
She muttered this inwardly without saying it aloud.
That evening, in Chen Mo's courtyard.
This was a small courtyard he had rented in Nuoding City, a separate residence with its own entrance, two rooms, and plenty of peace and quiet.
After dinner, Chen Mo sat on a stone stool in the courtyard and took out his diary.
The Blue Silver Emperor extended a tender green sprig from the Wishful Hundred Treasure Purse and wound it around his wrist, her leaves brushing his palm as though seeking affection.
"Don't rush. I still have something to do." Chen Mo stroked her leaves.
The Blue Silver Emperor swayed her sprig and withdrew a little in satisfaction, leaving only one leaf resting on his wrist.
Chen Mo opened the diary, picked up his pen, and began to write.
[Today, on the Nuoding Academy sports field, I saw Xiao Wu being bullied.]
[A sixth-year noble kid named Xiao Chenyu, rank eleven, with a white ten-year Soul Ring, wanted to take Xiao Wu as his "pet rabbit."]