Anyone who wanted a private dorm room only needed to apply. Of course, the accommodation fees would be a little higher, but anyone who could study at this academy would hardly care about that little bit of money.
As someone carrying a considerable fortune, Xuan Ming had originally wanted to live on campus. It would make cultivation convenient and spare him the back-and-forth travel, and he also did not want to keep troubling others.
But Dugu Yan said he was only a child, and she would worry about him staying at the academy alone.
Then there was Xue Qinghe's suggestion. The eldest prince hoped to gain the support of Poison Douluo and the future Nine Heart Begonia Soul Master through him, so he could only continue staying with Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling.
"You really are hard to kill, kid. You even survived something like that."
The moment he entered the rear courtyard, Xuan Ming saw a somewhat familiar figure.
Dugu Bo.
"I'll leave you two to talk." Ye Lan stood up and left the rear courtyard with Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, who had no idea what was going on.
"Do you really want me dead that badly?" Xuan Ming asked.
"If I wanted you dead, you'd have died long ago," Dugu Bo said.
"I'm just curious. What happened to you?"
After investigating the Balak Kingdom and discovering that the incident had nothing to do with them, he had begun to suspect Spirit Hall.
However, he had fought a life-and-death battle with Yue Guan and the others not long ago. Going rashly to Spirit City would still be too dangerous, so he had first gone to Aolai City to look for the patrol deacon who had sold Xuan Ming.
After all, if Yue Guan and the others really had been behind it, they would certainly resolve this matter to win him over.
Sure enough, the patrol deacon who had sold Xuan Ming had long since been taken away.
From that, he had confirmed that Xuan Ming had already been taken to Spirit City.
Originally, he had only intended to ask around Spirit City and see how the kid was doing. If Xuan Ming had already joined Spirit Hall, he would leave it at that.
But before he could get a clear picture of the situation in Spirit City, he had intercepted a piece of intelligence from a spy in Heaven Dou City concerning the eldest prince, Xue Qinghe, and a child with an unusual Martial Soul.
Since Yue Guan had abducted Xuan Ming and taken him to Spirit City, why had they let him return to Heaven Dou City?
"Do you want the truth, or a tall tale?" Xuan Ming asked.
Dugu Bo paused. "Start with a tall tale."
"I was lucky. After a Soul Beast carried me off in its jaws, I managed to scrape by in Sunset Forest, then made it back to Heaven Dou City after a thousand hardships," Xuan Ming said.
Dugu Bo raised his eyebrows. "I told you to spin me a tale, not take me for an idiot."
Given the situation that night, even a Soul Saint would have been in grave danger, let alone a lowly Soul Master like Xuan Ming. Besides, he had searched that forest for days without seeing a single trace of him.
"So you want the truth, then?" Xuan Ming said.
"All right, the truth. Yue Guan abducted me. Now I'm a running dog of the Pope's Palace."
The corner of Dugu Bo's eye twitched. "Stop! I never said I wanted the truth."
Unfazed, Xuan Ming walked into the pavilion, sat opposite Dugu Bo, and continued, "The Pope sent me back to lie low beside the eldest prince, Xue Qinghe, and wait for an opportunity. If I need anything during the operation, I can approach Salas, the Platinum Bishop of the Martial Soul Holy Temple in Heaven Dou City."
"Also, if the opportunity arises, I'm to win Dugu Yan over as much as possible. Ideally, I should use Dugu Yan to control you and make you work for Spirit Hall."
Dugu Bo's face darkened. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you, kid?"
"Doing what on purpose?" Xuan Ming looked puzzled.
Dugu Bo drew a deep breath. "I didn't hear a thing."
Anything involving a prince was certainly no small matter. He could tell just by listening that it was a heap of trouble.
"Of course you can pretend you heard nothing," Xuan Ming said.
"I'm not trying to drag you into the water. I'm just laying things out clearly."
"Aren't you afraid I'll ruin this?" Dugu Bo said.
"What the hell does it have to do with you?" Xuan Ming asked, puzzled.
"Does any of this concern you?"
The corner of Dugu Bo's eye twitched slightly. "It really doesn't."
"Then why would you ruin it?" Xuan Ming asked.
"If you ruin this, you'll certainly offend Spirit Hall. You were almost beaten to death last time. Surely you don't want another round?"
"Even if you won't think of yourself, you should at least think of Dugu Yan, shouldn't you?"
"It's not as though you don't know how Spirit Hall does things. Compared with you, they're worse, not better."
Dugu Bo's expression froze. "Do you know how to talk to people, kid?"
Was he praising him or insulting him?
"Sorry, I don't," Xuan Ming said.
"..."
Dugu Bo drew a deep breath. "You'd better talk less from now on. Watch out, or someone will beat you to death."
"The Pope said the same thing. And I really did almost die when I was in Spirit City," Xuan Ming said.
"And you still haven't learned your lesson?" Dugu Bo said, speechless.
"You may be petty, but you wouldn't kill me over a few words," Xuan Ming said.
He really had gotten a little carried away back in the Worship Hall. After all, the psychological pressure on him had truly been close to exploding at the time.
But he had still considered the circumstances before saying those things.
After all, he was only a six-year-old child. Qian Renxue had gone to such lengths to make him obey that she could not possibly kill him over a few words.
Besides, first impressions mattered a great deal. If he gave Qian Renxue the impression that he was obedient and easy to fool from the start, then any hint of opposition or disobedience from him later would amount to rebellion.
Once you had been an obedient dog for long enough, even daring to raise your head for a glance became a grave act of disrespect.
If Qian Renxue wanted to kill him over those few words, there would be no point in enduring anything.
After all, even if he swallowed his anger and survived, he would have to kneel on the ground as a dog every day, and the slightest disobedience would get him beaten to death.
If he was going to die anyway, why spend some time being ordered around like a dog first?
There was a limit to human endurance. If one did not erupt under it, one would be thoroughly tamed by it.
Those who had knelt for too long would no longer think of standing up, because they had long since forgotten they were kneeling. They would even think others should be just like them.
"Besides, if you attack me and ruin Spirit Hall's plans, you'll be asking for trouble," Xuan Ming said.
"My worthless life doesn't matter, but you'd better think it through."
"Even if you've lived long enough, you old fossil, Dugu Yan might not have."
Dugu Bo raised his eyebrows. "Are you threatening me?"
"It's not really a threat. I'm just stating the facts. Of course, you can also take it as a dog throwing its weight around with its master's backing," Xuan Ming said.
"..." Dugu Bo was speechless.
When this kid got ruthless, he even insulted himself?
Chapter 66: The emperor wasn't worried, but the eunuch was
"I don't care what you do for Spirit Hall, and I'll pretend I never heard anything you said today."
Dugu Bo stood up.
"There's just one thing. You're not to hurt Yanyan, or else..."
"Why do you think I'm telling you all this?" Xuan Ming said.
"To make myself look honest?"
Dugu Bo turned back. "What do you mean?"
"Naturally, I can't resist whatever they want me to do. I have to do what I'm supposed to. But if I do it and fail, they can't blame me," Xuan Ming said.
Dugu Bo was taken aback for a moment. "It seems you have no loyalty to Spirit Hall to speak of."
"Loyalty? Why don't you listen to what you're saying?" Xuan Ming asked.
"You expect me to feel any loyalty toward a bunch of people who kept abducting me and nearly killed me?"
"Are you crazy, or am I?"
The corner of Dugu Bo's eye twitched. "Then how could they feel safe letting you return to Heaven Dou City?"
"Do you want the truth, or a tall tale?" Xuan Ming asked.
"Stop!" Dugu Bo's face darkened, and he hurriedly cut him off.
"I don't want to know anything!"
"And you're not allowed to say it!"
"Don't get worked up. I wasn't planning to tell you," Xuan Ming said.
"..."
Dugu Bo drew a deep breath. "I thought my temper was strange enough. Only after meeting you did I learn that there's always someone beyond you."
He could anger someone to death with a perfectly straight face!
"So you're only pretending to submit while waiting for a chance to resist?" Dugu Bo said.
"It doesn't really count as pretending to submit," Xuan Ming said.
"They know I've been forced into this, too. They don't have much trust in me either. Who knows when they might kill me?"
"..." Dugu Bo was speechless.
"With that temper of yours, how did you survive in Spirit City?"
They hadn't won him over, and there was no trust. The kid hadn't even bothered to pretend!
And Spirit Hall had still dared to send this kid to Heaven Dou City?
"Can't help it. I'm too talented. They can't bear to kill me outright," Xuan Ming said.
"People always have more patience for geniuses, just as men are more forgiving toward beautiful women."
"When a genius is proud, everyone thinks it's natural. When a beauty has a temper, people find that easier to accept, too."
"Of course, ugly, mediocre people can't understand that."
Qian Renxue tolerated him because she could not bear to give up his talent. Bibi Dong helped him because his talent was worth investing in, too.
He knew very well that without this talent, he would have died long ago.
"Since you understand that, why did you..." Dugu Bo could not quite understand.
This kid wasn't stupid! So why hadn't he at least pretended for the time being?
"First, I couldn't hold back my anger anymore at the time," Xuan Ming said.
"Second, I was only being defiant, rebellious, and throwing a tantrum. It wasn't some irreconcilable hatred."
After being put through all that, if he had shown no reaction at all, he would have been either spineless or deeply scheming.
He had dared to fight Baers to the death in Heaven Dou City. Qian Renxue would not think him spineless, so it could only be the latter.
That was why his outburst had been necessary. Otherwise, Qian Renxue would have been extremely wary of him and might even have kept testing him.
Compared with someone who bottled everything up, meekly accepted whatever came, and was difficult to read, someone like him, who spoke his mind and merely had a bad temper, was clearly easier to control. He was making things easier for Qian Renxue.
If Qian Renxue felt that she could not possibly control him, or could not even be sure what he was thinking, his time would be up.
He was only a child. When he was not supposed to understand things, it was best not to. Being too clever was not a good thing.
"Then what do you mean by telling me all this?" Dugu Bo asked in confusion.
Before, he had merely thought this kid was rather clever, but now... to be honest, he felt a little uneasy!
"They want to control you through me. I have to make some progress," Xuan Ming said.
"I want you to put on an act. At least let them feel that I'm working hard, rather than doing nothing at all."
"That's not all, is it?" Dugu Bo raised his eyebrows.
"You want to use me as a protective talisman?"