Chapter 1120
(Unedited)
…
Upon entering the academy, Xin Ja could already feel the festive atmosphere of the students. Everyone seems to be expecting something great to see in the upcoming trial War Games.
However, not everyone seems to be excited about the upcoming event.
"Ugh… I hope that our team would still get into the city tournaments…"
"Yeah… Last time we were eliminated and could not even get into the top 10…"
"If we could defeat the Skymountain School, then we have a chance to reach the top then, right?"
"Well… I think there is. But we should remember that there are still stronger towns near the city, so we could only hope for the best…"
"Humph! Those guys are cruel… I hope they get beaten up…" suddenly someone said.
That voice is a bit low, but Xin Ja was able to hear it.
When he shifted his gaze, he saw a frail-looking youth walking with his head down.
Xin Ja could only glance at that figure as he walks towards the runemaster campus.
He then continues walking to the alchemy campus and arrives in his class on time.
"Hey… I heard your house was attacked?" Qing Joming suddenly asked as soon as he saw Xin Ja.
"Ahh… Yeah, but we're fine…" Xin Ja replied with a smile.
"Damn those bastards from the borders… Are they provoking us again?" Qing Joming said with an angry look in his eyes.
"Sigh… this is the reason why the kingdom is doing its best to recruit people."
"If only there is a Shen that is presiding over the whole empire, then the kingdoms would not be fighting this way…" Qing Joming suddenly said.
Xin Ja heaves a deep sigh. He knew why there are no Shens on the continent. It is because they have all tried to break through the barrier that separates the continent from the other side of the planet. But the problem with that is either they could be accepted to the other side or go back to be reincarnated in a never-ending cycle of Samsara.
While the two are talking they immediately stopped upon seeing their beautiful teacher entering the room.
Teacher Hou did not say anything first and just looks at her students.
"You all know that in one month's time the academy is going to have a match against Skymountain School… For the venue... it will be held at Yanzing Town…" she said with a serious expression.
How could she not be serious about this thing? She knew that with the morale of the team right now and the venue advantage of the enemy, they could be facing some trouble if they are not prepared.
When the students heard this, some of them frown as they could not have a chance to see the contest. It should have been nice if they could come, but since Yanzing Town is a bit of a distance from Ogden… then they could only hear the news about the event after it happened.
"Tsk… I was hoping that it would be held in Ogden town… sigh… Well, good luck then…" Qing Joming said while shaking his head.
He wanted to watch but with the distance, it would take some money and time… so he could grumble.
"You're not going, right?" he said while looking at Xin Ja.
"Hmm… I don't know…" Xin Ja said with a smile.
The classes that day proceed, as usual, the news about the event last night are talked about by other students while others seem to not care of anything at all and just concentrate on learning.
Xin Ja, on the other hand, concentrated on learning alchemy especially when it comes to herbs, their properties, and the concoction method. This is the side where he is lacking knowledge of... because most of this knowledge is limited to his own understanding and personal research.
But reading books and listening to the lectures about herbs made him feel that his knowledge is slowly forming and completed.
After the class, Teacher Hou called Xin Ja to stay in the class as she needed to tell him something.
When everyone left the classroom, Teacher Hou packs her stuff and then looks at Xin Ja.
"You are going to come with the team, right?" she asked with a smile.
Xin Ja was a bit taken aback as he did not know what to say. He accepted the token from General Hou… but he is still undecided whether to help them or not. He did not want to leave his back on scoundrels.
Seeing the indecisive expression on the youth, Teacher Hou heaves a deep sigh…
"I know you are worried about something… But I can assure you that what you are thinking will not happen. You can trust your teammates… They… they just acted like that because they wanted to test you out…" Teacher Hou said with a smile.
"Test me out? That would be fine, but they even tried to kill me… is that also a part of their test?" Xin Ja thought to himself but did not voice his thoughts.
He has already offended teacher Hou last time, he would not want his inner thought to offend her again.
"I… I don't know…"
"Hmm… How about this… You come with the team as a consultant or an alchemy assistant and representative…" Teacher Hou said as she suddenly thought of the idea.
Xin Ja did not say anything as if deep in thought. Since Teacher Hou looks sincere and that it seems that she would not take no for an answer, he decided to just say yes with her suggestion. In fact, if he truly goes with them… then that would be his chance to also explore other places.
He wanted to also know how they would travel the long-distance trip to Yanzing Town.
Well, if he attends he would not lose anything at all. So his mind decided to accept the invitation. And his decision made Teacher Hou feel elated.
Although it was a waste to let Xin Ja just be on the sideline, at least he is still going with the team. She knew that if he could get to know the people in the team, the young man would be able to adapt to them.
Upon thinking about it, she left the room with a happy stride.
Xin Ja, on the other hand, just shakes his head and then also leaves.
On the way… he noticed the same young man who said badly about the team that morning. But this time, he is with some people. In one look, Xin Ja already knew that one of the people with that thin young man is actually a member of the War Games team.
The group walks to the back of the building while dragging the reluctant thin young man.
"Tung Jo… It seems that your guts are getting bigger… you dare to embarrass me in front of the class…" a young voice said sounding a bit angry.
Thud!!!
Xin Ja heard the muffled sound of someone falling to the ground.
"Let's beat this bastard!" shouted one of them when another muffled sound could be heard.
Xin Ja stood perpendicular next to the wall while listening to the people beating the young man. He did not want to interfere, but he could not help to just stay there and listen.
"Hey… Don't bruise his face! Just hit his body!" shouted one of the youths.
Xin Ja frowns upon hearing the sound of the beating. Those guys are going overboard as they continuously hit the thin young man and Xin Ja could not such a thing. If he did not know about it or has not seen it, then he would not care, but right now it is different.
He clenches his fist and suddenly flicks a stone to the wall.
Ting! Ting!
The stone ricochet through the walls and then…
Crash!!!
The sound of a window breaking could be heard.
And it startled the students who are beating the thin-looking young man on the ground.
Everyone looks around and before they knew it, a figure has already landed in front of them.
"What are you whelps doing!" shouted an angry voice.
Everyone wanted to run, but it was too late. How could a mere 2nd level fighter, fight against a teacher?
It did not take long before the group was apprehended by the teacher and was taken to runemaster campus.
Xin Ja at this time has already left the place with a big smile on his face. He knew the feeling of being weak. He knew how dark it could turn a person be if this grievance is not solved.
That is the reason why he intervened.
He accidentally heard that someone actually entered the room on the second floor. And because of this, he decided to flick a stone to bounce from the walls and hit the glass window of that room.
He did not want the young man to undergo what he has gone through. He knew the darkness that he is keeping inside his heart. And that darkness is what's keeping him to be cold when it comes to killing others. It is something sinister that if he has a choice… never wanted it in his life.
And because of that, he did not want that kind of thing in the heart of that young man.
He just hopes that with this incident, that young fellow could recover his mindset and be fine in the end.