Chapter 190 - LIFE AT THE ACADEMY

" No, unfortunately, my master didn't come to my rescue but I fought with them with my life on the line. I know you might be curious to know how a girl with no martial art skills could fight with about thirteen hungry wild dogs all by herself right but surprisingly I did. At that moment when the wild dogs advanced towards me, I panicked, I didn't know what to do until I closed my eyes and calmed my inner self down did, I miraculously recall all the moves both my seniors and masters used while training us. I have always wondered how I recalled those awesome memories at that dying moment when I never paid attention when they were teaching us. I fought fiercely with the wild dogs for thirty minutes before I killed the last one which almost chopped off my right hand had I not jumped on top of a nearby tree. I was left with deep cuts and injuries after fighting with the hungry wild dogs. I was thirsty and exhausted after the fight with those fierce-looking creatures and I rested for fifteen minutes on top a large branch of the tree before I resumed my journey. I persisted as I walked dragging my injured leg and hand along with my body. Forty minutes into the journey, I felt as though something was following me again, fear crept my pitiful heart as I hurried along the dark paths. I ran but because my legs and hands were injured it didn't do much good as the three tigers finally caught up with me, the first thought that came to my mind was that I would become food to this three fierce-looking tigers if I didn't come up with an idea quickly and just then I noticed a branch of three that was not too high up in the air that I could climb to save myself from being eaten up alive by the hungry-looking tigers but unfortunately the branch was some distance away from me, so I needed to run as fast as possible before the three tigers would catch up with me. Anyone would have thought it would have been impossible for me to climb that branch before the tigers would bounce on me but I believed that it was possible. I was determined to survive no matter what so after closing my eyes for three seconds I quickly opened them again and took to my heels. If you had seen me then you would have thought that I was going for an Olympic. Just when the tigers run with speed to bite my leg, I jumped up with all the strength in me and yeah, I did it. I found myself sitting down on top the tree looking down at the angry tigers who were still waiting for me to come down from the tree. I climbed to the higher branches to keep myself completely safe. After waiting for twenty-five minutes for the tigers to leave, they finally left just when I heard a hissing sound above the branches on top my head and behold, I saw a very big snake with his mouth open to attack me and with shock, I fell from the branch of the tree and landed on the ground. It was such a brutal fall that it took me ten minutes before I could stand up to my feet. Both my legs and hand injuries worsened due to the fall, so I slowly dragged my damaged body into the forest, I didn't take more than thirty steps before I got surrounded by the same tigers who pursue me previously. I guess they were pretending to have left to lure me down from the tree. The expression on their faces looked angrier as they immediately advanced towards, I looked for an escape route but I didn't find any. I gave up all hope as I fell to the ground, I closed my eyes shut as the three tigers all jumped at once to devour me. Hey guess what happened then", Lie Ruge said excitedly as she nudged Yi Lan by his hand.

" You know I keep on guessing the answers wrongly so why do you repeatedly ask me to guess, you know that is not fair right?", Yi Lan said acting as if he was displeased.

" It is not fair to me too that I will be the only one speaking so let's just interact like this Ok? And moreover it is fun this way hmmm", Lie Ruge said cutely as she tickled Yi Lan a little sending electrifying feeling down his spine.

" Alright, no teasing again Ok? If you continue looking this cute, I might just keep on staring at your pretty face without listening to what you are saying so let's behave wifey Ok....", Yi Lan dragged the words playfully to show her that he has given in to her demand.

" Sure, I don't want you bouncing on me like a hungry lion because I know how much magic a mere touch from me can do to your system, so let's continue. As I was saying, after closing my eyes tightly and waiting for my body to be torn into shreds or tossed up violently into the air for five minutes, I slowly opened my eyes and oh yeah, he appeared just in time to save me", Lie Ruge got interrupted again.

" Who came to your rescue? Was it master Jing or the overall master? Or don't tell me you had a boyfriend in the academy back then?", Yi Lan asked as he stared at her suspiciously.

" Does it matter who saved me, shouldn't you be happy that someone at least saved me from those fearsome animals who wouldn't have hesitated to devour me alive?", Lie Ruge asked.

" Of course, it matters, I don't mind if your masters were the ones who saved you but it matters to me if it was a handsome guy who saved the damsel in distress", Yi Lan said acting jealous.

" Are you jealous that a handsome guy may have appeared just in time to save me like how handsome characters from fantasy novels do?", Lie Ruge asked curiously.

" Jealous? Why should I be? Even though he was your boyfriend before, I am the ultimate winner since I will be the last man standing with you in this lifetime, I wish I didn't cut off all ties with you after you got betrothed to that sc.u.mbag, then I would have voluntarily followed you to the academy to protect you", Yi Lan said regretfully.

" What? Did you cut off all ties with me back then because I lost my memory and then got betrothed to Gao Yan? I don't understand you", Lie Ruge said in shock.

" Today is your time to tell your story not mine and I will tell you everything about why I cut off all ties with you after you have regained your memory because it might sound absurd to you if I tell you the reason so come on Ge'er lets continue with your story. I think things will get very exciting after you finally leave the forest", Yi Lan said quickly changing the topic. Lie Ruge did not force him, she knew that he might have a very good reason for not wanting to reveal the secrets to her.

" Ok sure", Lie Ruge said smiling brightly to reduce the tension in the room.

" Just as I opened my eyes, I saw our overall master offering me his hand. I was dumbfounded to see him there, " How did he get here', I thought as I just stared at his outstretched hand. The look in his eyes showed that he was sincerely worried about me. I immediately stood up and hugged him tightly when I regained myself from the monetary shock I underwent earlier. I wept bitterly as I hugged him even tighter to assure myself that I wasn't seeing things. He later gave me a piggyback back to the academy. I was shocked when I saw that everyone was awaiting my arrival at the front gate. I became a popular figure overnight but my happiness did not last long when my envious juniors and seniors continued to bully me for no good reason. Master Mu who was our overall master felt so bad for me when he saw all the pains I was going through. He had been contemplating to take me as his disciple the night I came back from the dreaded forest alive, and he finally made up his mind when he saw a senior tied me to a very tall height with my head dropped downwards and my legs tied to the high height. I thought I was going to die there had Master Mu not passed through that side of the forest on at that particular hour and saw me in that pitiable state. I thought my master had taken pity on me that day when he brought me down from that height to make me his student. I thought I became his student due to a product of pity but I got to know the truth later on. Life in the academy became a battle ground for me after I became the disciple of Master Mu, the post which was every student's dream. I became an enemy to so many people, the academy became a battle field for me as I fought to survive amidst everything that happened. With all the moral motivation my master gave me although those moral motivation were always relayed in a very unpleasant manner, I tried my best to become a disciple that my master would be proud of but I later realized that trying my best wasn't enough to be among the best after I was beaten to a pulp by an envious senior during a friendly duel the academy had organized. Getting beaten up half death didn't just end there, I went through hell in the hands of everyone until I made up my mind one day when one of my senior brutally beats me up till I vomited out a mouthful of blood. I vowed right then that I will do all it takes to be the best student the academy has ever produced in history. It was after six months of undergoing hellish training and immensely improving my martial arts skills I got to know the reason why I became so popular when I came back from the forest then. My friend told me that everyone was watching everything that took place in that forest that day in the school hall and that everyone was awestruck when I defeated the wild dogs all on my own. She said that the skills I used that night in the forest were ones even my seniors never mastered, so they hated me for outshining them. It was almost getting to a year after setting my leg into the academy and Sky-Palace Academy normally holds an annual competition mostly in martial arts and literary work to test how skilled the students has become after their one-year stay in the academy. I wanted to make history by becoming the first year one student to ever win the competition in the history of the academy and I knew that I would have to make a lot of sacrifices to achieve my aim but I didn't care about what I would have to go through since my mind was already made up. Since the day I learned about the competition, I deprived myself of so many things. I trained from morning till day break almost every day. I read till everyone thought that I would eventually go crazy due to studying too much",

" Why did you try so hard when you didn't really have to go through all that torture?", Yi Lan asked curiously.