"Hello, is this Eastsea Academy?"
Long Tianwu spotted Wu Zhangkong just as he stepped out of the school gates. He hurried over and asked politely.
Wu Zhangkong stopped and looked him up and down. The young man before him was handsome, with an extraordinary bearing, and an unusual presence faintly surrounded him. He was certainly no ordinary person. Wu Zhangkong nodded slightly. "Yes. What can I help you with?"
"Nothing, nothing." Long Tianwu quickly waved his hands and picked an excuse at random. "I'm just here to visit a relative."
"Then call your relative and ask him to come out and meet you." Wu Zhangkong asked no further questions. Leaving those words behind, he hurried away.
Long Tianwu rubbed his chin, thought that sounded like a good idea, and took out his soul communicator to dial the number he had only recently saved.
Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Lu Chen was happily munching on a large meat bun when his phone suddenly began to vibrate. With the bun between his teeth, he answered indistinctly, "Who's this? I'm busy chowing down."
"This is Long Tianwu. Your adoptive father asked me to come see you. Come out after you finish eating. Meet me at the school gates." Long Tianwu's voice was calm and even, revealing no particular emotion.
"Sure, sure, no problem!" Lu Chen promptly agreed. After hanging up, he rushed over to the meal C serving window, picked up another bowl of meat broth, and gulped it down.
In the time it took to exchange those few words, he had choked on his bun again until his eyes rolled back. Only after downing half a bowl of broth did he catch his breath.
On the other end, Long Tianwu heard his reply and briskly hung up.
Lu Chen stared helplessly at the communicator's darkened screen. Well, so much for taking my time with dinner. He turned into an eating machine, his cheeks bulging like a hamster's as he frantically stuffed buns into his mouth.
There was no helping it. He was too hungry! He had to at least put something in his stomach before he had the strength to run to the school gates, didn't he?
Only after wolfing down food for quite a while did Lu Chen wipe his mouth. With a swipe across his lips, he took off toward the school gates.
Meanwhile, ever since hanging up, Long Tianwu had stood by the roadside, alternately raising his wrist to check the time and peering into the campus. His feet kept pacing lightly, betraying an anxiety he could not conceal.
At last, he saw a figure racing toward him in a whirlwind. It was Lu Chen.
"Lu Chen?" Long Tianwu called tentatively.
Lu Chen stopped, panting, and looked up at him with a nod. "Yes, that's me."
Long Tianwu bent down and raised a hand to pat his head, his tone serious. "Starting today, I'll be responsible for keeping you safe, and I'll also be your guardian."
Lu Chen froze for a moment, then caught on. After considering it briefly, he asked, "Okay. Uncle, is there anything I need to do for the War God Hall?"
"No." Long Tianwu shook his head, his gaze solemn. "Your biggest goals at this stage are to grow up safe and sound and do everything you can to improve your forging skills. You don't need to worry about anything else."
"Okay! I'll work hard!" Lu Chen nodded firmly, then asked curiously, "Then where will you usually be staying, Uncle?"
"Well... I have my own arrangements." Long Tianwu rubbed his nose, a trace of embarrassment crossing his face.
No way. No way! They can't really expect me to live in a tree, can they?
On the surface, Long Tianwu remained perfectly calm, but inside, he had already started roaring furiously and wanted nothing more than to claw at a wall right there.
"Oh, right, Uncle, I'd better head back. I still have Teacher Wu's special training tonight." Lu Chen glanced at the sky and spoke hastily.
"All right, go ahead." Long Tianwu nodded expressionlessly.
Lu Chen answered, turned around, and dashed toward the cafeteria.
He still wasn't full!
Slipping back into the cafeteria, Lu Chen quickly grabbed another two buns and a bowl of congee. He looked furtively around, and only after making sure there were no teachers in sight did he pull a folding chair out of his Storage Soul Guidance Device. He snapped it open and sat down with his legs planted wide.
A bun in his left hand and soup in his right, he alternated bites of bun with mouthfuls of soup, eating with tremendous relish.
If anyone had had the easiest time after today's laps, it was definitely Lu Chen.
He had finished his twenty laps early and even run several extra laps with Tang Wulin and the others. By the end, everyone else was swaying with exhaustion, while he was still full of vigor, neither flushed nor out of breath, as though nothing had happened.
The moment Lu Chen left, Long Tianwu dropped his composed demeanor and began pacing miserably back and forth outside Eastsea Academy's gates.
He took out his soul communicator and scrolled through it for ages, but could not find a single acquaintance he could stay with temporarily.
That fellow Zhang Huanyun had it easy. He had tossed this hot potato to him, then dusted off his backside and gone away on a mission without even arranging somewhere for him to stay.
Forget it. I won't hold it against someone braving life and death.
Long Tianwu looked up at the sky, then at the lush, leafy trees outside the academy wall. The corner of his mouth twitched.
Am I really going to live in a tree? Wouldn't that disgrace the War God Hall?
Unwilling to give up, he walked farther along the roadside. Before he had gone far, he spotted a small inn with a sign reading "Short-term student apartment rentals."
Long Tianwu's eyes lit up, and he rushed inside as though he had spotted his savior.
"Boss, do you have any vacant rooms?"
The innkeeper was a plump, middle-aged man. He glanced at Long Tianwu's fitted combat outfit, then at his excessively handsome face, and asked with a smile, "We do, but we only rent to students and parents staying with their children while they study. And you are?"
Long Tianwu's mind worked swiftly, and he said with a perfectly straight face, "I'm the guardian of Lu Chen, a new student at Eastsea Academy. I'm staying here while he studies."
The innkeeper gave an "oh" and asked no more questions. He pointed at a small single room in the corner. "There's only one left. It faces north and is a little small. Want it?"
Without even asking the price, Long Tianwu nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, yes! Any price is fine!"
Only when he pushed open the door with the key in hand did Long Tianwu understand what the innkeeper had meant by "a little small."
The room had just enough space for a bed and a desk. Even turning around was difficult, and the window faced a wall, letting in not so much as a hint of sunshine.
He slumped onto the hard wooden bed and stared at the ceiling, once again roaring furiously inside.
Zhang Huanyun!
Just you wait!
When you get back, I'll skin you alive!
Wait, I don't think I can beat him.
Toward evening, Xie Xie was dragged to the field by Tang Wulin and Lu Chen together. Gu Yue had clearly arrived long before them.
"You four, come with me." Wearing a cold expression and having changed into a black tracksuit, Wu Zhangkong told them to follow him.
The five of them walked to an indoor training ground behind the school.
The training ground was circular, with soul-guidance barriers protecting its interior. It was intended for students with higher cultivation and greater destructive capabilities.
Otherwise, the field would probably have long since been plowed up by the students until it looked as though dogs had gnawed through it, or been left with no recognizable shape at all.
After the five of them reached the center and stopped, Wu Zhangkong turned his head and said, "Starting today, you'll train with me every evening, working toward the class promotion tournament in three months."