Zhuang Xun and Li Zigeng walked out of the dormitory together.
Zhuang Xun had originally planned to control Bai Yujing to come out and collect his practice robes and identification token as well. However, just as he was about to head out, one of the academy disciples who had escorted him yesterday delivered the robes and token directly to him.
It was honestly quite embarrassing.
After queuing for more than half an hour, Zhuang Xun finally received his identification token and two sets of practice robes.
“Identification tokens and practice robes must be collected in person,” the deacon responsible for distributing them said in a flat voice, casting a glance at Li Zigeng.
Standing nearby and waiting for Li Zigeng, Zhuang Xun winced inwardly.
Li Zigeng was a bit at a loss and asked, “Um, can't I collect them on their behalf?”
“No. Tell them to come themselves.” The deacon was completely unyielding.
“Oh.” Li Zigeng stepped out of the queue, looked at Zhuang Xun, and whispered, “That deacon won't let me collect them. What should we do?”
“Then they'll just have to come and get them themselves.” Zhuang Xun shook his head with feigned regret. “Let's go, time to head back.”
When the two returned to the dormitory, An Dafu and Zhang Tie immediately got up from their beds, greeting them with beaming smiles.
An Dafu offered to help take their things, smiling. “Ah, thanks for the hard work! Pingsheng, Zigeng, sit down, sit down.”
Zhang Tie looked at Yan Pingsheng's hands, then at Li Zigeng's, and asked, “Which one is mine?”
Li Zigeng lowered his head guiltily. “I wanted to get them for you, but the deacon said they must be collected in person...”
“Huh?!” Zhang Tie cried out. “So you didn't get mine?”
Li Zigeng explained, “I asked, but the deacon refused. You have to go in person to collect them.”
“Damn it, that deacon is way too strict! Dafu, what do we do now?” Zhang Tie asked anxiously.
“Let's go, hurry!” An Dafu frantically changed his clothes and put on his shoes. “We can't be too late, or we won't get them. Is it crowded over there right now?”
Zhuang Xun said, “The crowd keeps growing. When we left, the queue stretched all the way outside the martial arts field. The academy also seems to have a curfew, so you might want to hurry.”
“Bloody hell!” Zhang Tie gritted his teeth, quickened his pace, and rushed out the door with An Dafu.
Meanwhile, Zhuang Xun leisurely grabbed his wooden basin and went out to fetch some water. After returning and washing his feet, he lay on his bed, found a comfortable position, and began reading a storybook.
Ah, how comfortable.
About an hour or so later, Zhang Tie and An Dafu returned, utterly exhausted.
Zhuang Xun closed his storybook and greeted them with a smile, “You're back?”
“Yeah.” Zhang Tie nodded weakly. Looking at Yan Pingsheng and Li Zigeng lying on their beds, he said enviously, “Must be nice. The two of us were exhausted like dogs out there.”
Zhuang Xun smiled but said nothing.
“If I'd known, I would have gone out with you guys earlier,” Zhang Tie complained. “That deacon is a real bastard. Making us collect them in person... what a load of rubbish rules.”
The two of them tried on their practice robes.
Because Zhang Tie and An Dafu had gone too late, and one was too tall while the other was too fat, the practice robes they received did not fit well.
Looking at his short sleeves and pant legs, Zhang Tie grumbled irritably, “I've really had enough. What kind of trash academy is this? They don't even have uniforms that fit the disciples!”
An Dafu looked at his pant legs dragging on the floor and said speechlessly, “Sigh, I'll have to find a tailor tomorrow to see if they can alter them.”
Zhuang Xun stroked his chin and offered a suggestion, “Why don't you try swapping with each other?”
“No use, his set is the same size as mine.” With that, Zhang Tie began complaining again, “Damn it, this trash academy has a mountain of bullshit rules. It's bad enough the clothes don't fit, but there's a fucking curfew too! It was getting late, and we were chased back by the Law Enforcement disciples. They even warned us not to do it again! I curse their ancestors...”
Seeing Zhang Tie getting louder and louder, An Dafu quickly stopped him, “Keep your voice down! Don't let the dorm next door hear you.”
“So what if they hear?” Zhang Tie's voice softened a bit, but he still stubbornly insisted, “I'm just speaking the truth. This academy is trash, those Law Enforcement disciples are bastards, and that deacon is a beast.”
Zhuang Xun found it highly amusing and said casually, “The walls in these dorms don't seem to be very soundproof. I could hear the people next door talking earlier.”
Zhang Tie suddenly fell silent. After a brief quiet moment, he asked in a slightly fearful, quiet voice, “They didn't actually hear me, did they?”
Zhuang Xun comforted him, “Probably not. You can't hear unless you're listening closely.”
“That's good.” Zhang Tie breathed a sigh of relief. He took off his outer coat and lay down on his bed, exhausted.
The others prepared to sleep as well.
However, after a short while, the four of them started chatting again. As they talked, the conversation drifted to the entrance exam of the Wanxing Martial Academy.
An Dafu spoke with growing excitement, suddenly lowering his voice mysteriously, “Hey, do you guys know how heavy the stone lock was that the most impressive candidate lifted during this year's exam?”
Zhuang Xun, who had been feeling a bit sleepy, immediately perked up upon hearing this. He deliberately lowballed his guess, “Seven Stones? In previous years, it was mostly Seven Stones.”
“Too small! Your imagination is too limited, Pingsheng. Guess bigger!” An Dafu shook his head.
“Could it be Eight Stones?” Zhang Tie asked curiously.
He had only taken his entrance exam today and was completely unaware of the sensation Bai Yujing had caused throughout the academy yesterday.
“Nine Stones,” Li Zigeng, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly chimed in.
“Zigeng, how did you know?” An Dafu looked in Li Zigeng's direction.
Zhuang Xun and Zhang Tie did the same.
However, the lights in the dormitory had already been put out, and it was pitch black, making it hard to see anything clearly.
Li Zigeng explained, “I was there at the time. After that person lifted the nine-stone stone lock, the entire place descended into chaos. I had to wait a long time before I could continue my exam.”
“Is it really as exaggerated as you say?” Zhang Tie was somewhat skeptical. “While Nine Stones is impressive, it's not like it hasn't happened before. I've never heard of an exam venue turning into complete chaos because of it.”
An Dafu laughed and said, “Zhang Tie, that's where you're wrong. That person causing chaos at the exam venue didn't just rely on his strength...”
At this point, he suddenly stopped.
Zhang Tie felt an itch of curiosity burning inside him. “If not strength, then what? It couldn't possibly be his face, right?”
An Dafu did not answer. He ignored Zhang Tie's repeated promptings, waiting for the reactions of Yan Pingsheng and Li Zigeng.
Zhuang Xun smiled and played along, asking, “What was it?”
An Dafu said triumphantly, “Heh, Zhang Tie actually hit the nail on the head. It was indeed his face! Word has it that he looks like an immortal descended to earth. He drove all the young girls and noblewomen crazy, and they kept squeezing forward just to catch a glimpse of him!”
“Wow! That's insane! Is he really like an immortal descended to earth?!” Zhang Tie was shocked.
Oh, come on, it wasn't that exaggerated... Zhuang Xun played along, acting shocked. “To think... such an extraordinary thing could happen in this world?!”
Their reactions fueled An Dafu's excitement even more, and he continued, “That's not all. Quite a few big figures in our academy are highly interested in him and want to take him as a disciple!”
Zhuang Xun: “?”
How come I didn't know about this?!
Rate on N.U.
