Zhou Shixiong is really overdoing it. His talent isn’t bad, so there’s no need to start training so early and so hard…’
The girl couldn’t help thinking this as she carried a lantern to the outer courtyard.
‘After all, the human body has limits when it comes to training; pushing too hard might cause an accident!’
Even though she was worried, the closer she got to the outer courtyard, the more Zhou Shixiong’s fair, handsome face appeared in her mind. Her cheeks flushed even redder, and her heart strangely felt nervous.
‘What should I say to start…’
‘What words can show my concern without seeming too deliberate…’
‘Maybe like this… yes, that should work…’
The girl took a deep breath, stepped into the outer courtyard, and mustered her courage.
“Zhou Shixiong—”
But her voice froze the moment she saw the figure inside the courtyard.
“You… who are you?”
The girl stood still with her lantern, her mind running through all the familiar faces in the Martial Hall—common ones, uncommon ones—but none matched the person in front of her.
The problem was, she felt she had some impression of him, but not much. She just couldn’t remember who he was right now.
Hearing the commotion behind him, Su Yu, who was standing crookedly in front of the outer courtyard wall practicing his stance, couldn’t help turning around.
He stared at the girl for a long time. He had some impression of her too, but not much. He also couldn’t remember who she was right away.
‘No, am I stupid? Who else would be at the Martial Hall this late besides a lunatic like me? Only the Lin family. Isn’t that Lin Qiaogiao, the hall master’s daughter?’
[Detected: Executor slacking during schedule plan. Electric Shock Punishment countdown initiated.]
But before even a moment of distraction passed, the cold, merciless countdown sounded in his mind again.
Su Yu immediately didn’t dare look or think any longer, refocusing on his stance.
“You… you’re Xiao Rou’s brother, Su Yu… right?”
After a long pause, Lin Qiaogiao finally recognized this infamous street loafer from the village, who had been registered at her Lin’s Martial Hall for years but had never come.
Not a chance. Was the sun rising from the west?
And… his stance was completely amateur, even worse than the thirteen- or fourteen-year-old new disciples in the hall!
“Why aren’t you talking? What are you doing at the Martial Hall in the dead of night before dawn?” Lin Qiaogiao was very confused.
But Su Yu ignored her. In fact, he didn’t have the time to listen to Lin Qiaogiao ramble there. He had to focus entirely on sensing the so-called “Nine Orifices”—the first one, the Eye Orifice. Even though his eyes were bloodshot from the night wind and he hadn’t sensed anything.
But whether he sensed it or not, as long as the schedule thought he was sensing it, then he was sensing it!
“You don’t stand like that. You’re off.” Lin Qiaogiao couldn’t help frowning.
But Su Yu still didn’t speak, just stood there motionless. Lin Qiaogiao let out a muffled snort. What was he playing at?
His stance was crooked, clearly not focused on training. He must have heard her speak but purposely ignored her. Did he think he was Zhou Shixiong, acting all aloof?
Seeing Su Yu refuse to respond, Lin Qiaogiao didn’t want to embarrass herself further. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the inner courtyard.
Standing like that—what could he possibly train?
In her eyes, it was a complete waste of effort. Could martial arts really be mastered with such fake, half-hearted effort?
“…”
‘Great, I pissed off the Lin family heiress. What if she makes things hard for me later?’
‘I can’t even afford the tuition as it is. She won’t charge me extra silver, will she?’
In the quiet night, Su Yu naturally heard that muffled snort. It sounded exactly like his ex-girlfriend when she was angry.
But he really couldn’t do anything about it. If he got distracted, he’d get electrocuted!
[Detected: Executor slacking during schedule plan. Electric Shock Punishment countdown initiated.]
See? This schedule really has no mercy!
Hearing that damn schedule start up again, Su Yu could only force himself to refocus on training.
Time unknowingly passed.
Without Su Yu noticing, the number on the “progress bar” in the corner of his vision jumped.
[《Standing Stake Skill》 Training Progress: 1/100 (First Stage · Left Eye Orifice)]
With the change in training progress, Su Yu’s stance subtly shifted. Compared to before, his posture now seemed much closer to the stance carved on the courtyard wall.
After a while, a faint blue light slowly appeared on the horizon.
Dawn was breaking. Outside the Martial Hall, a fit, well-built figure carrying a small bundle walked over.
“Heh, I came just as day broke. Zhou Yuan’s definitely not earlier than me today. Lin Junior Sister will see me first today.”
He confidently whistled a little tune as he arrived at the main entrance of the Martial Hall’s outer courtyard.
Then his smile froze.
Seeing that the Martial Hall door had clearly been pushed open, his expression stiffened.
“Damn, that lucky bastard Zhou Yuan got here already? I left home when it was still dark. How could he be earlier than me?”
Instantly, his face turned cold. He gritted his teeth and stormed into the outer courtyard.
“Zhou Yuan, are you freaking crazy? Do you have to work this hard…”
“Huh…”
But when he saw who was actually training in the courtyard, his voice trailed off, and his expression turned incredulous.
He couldn’t recognize the person at first.
When he finally did, he pinched himself hard to make sure he wasn’t still lying in bed, dreaming about surpassing Zhou Yuan.
“What am I seeing…”
“…That Su family thug is training? At this damn hour?!”
—
—
Soon, the sky grew brighter. Close to noon, at the Su family’s door.
“Su Yu went to the Martial Hall.”
Su Rou spoke calmly as she looked at Qian Ergou, who was loitering near her door.
“Oh, oh, he went to the Martial Hall, thanks…”
Qian Ergou felt a bit embarrassed when he saw Su Rou come out, as if he was hiding from the light. After all, proper families in the village didn’t really like these idle street loafers like him.
He turned to leave, but immediately spun back around, his eyes widening.
“Wait—Su Yu went to the Martial Hall? Really?!”
“He said so himself when he left this morning.”
“…”
Qian Ergou was speechless, looking like he’d seen a ghost. But seeing Su Rou staring coldly at him, he didn’t dare stay any longer. He quickly jogged off to tell the others.
Su Rou watched Qian Ergou’s sneaky, thief-like figure disappear, then suddenly smiled slightly and shook her head.
“What am I worried about? A guy who spends all his time with people like that—learning martial arts? I’m overthinking. I’m definitely overthinking.”
Her expression gradually calmed, and she walked slowly toward the other Mo’s Martial Hall in the village.
Meanwhile, Qian Ergou hadn’t run far before he met up with his other companions.
A slim, somewhat handsome boy dressed in coarse cloth, and a girl with a pretty face but covered in freckles, saw Qian Ergou and didn’t wait for him to come over—they hurriedly ran up to him, asking anxiously.
“So? Did you find out where Old Su went?”
“He… he…”
“What’s with him? Just spit it out!”
“Old Ye, Qiqi, listen…”
Qian Ergou finally caught his breath and was about to share the shocking news, but his gaze froze on the figure that had appeared behind Ye Liang and Tong Qiqi.
“Ergou, damn it, just say it! What are you looking at—”
As Ye Liang and Tong Qiqi followed Qian Ergou’s stunned gaze and turned around, their expressions also froze.
Standing there like a ghost was a quiet girl with black hair and red eyes, dressed in a black, fitted brocade outfit, a long sword at her waist. Her face was cold and expressionless.
“Where did Su Yu go?” she asked.
Tong Qiqi swallowed hard and turned to the other two, lowering her voice. “Damn, this is Old Su’s lover, right?”
Ye Liang nodded. “Yeah.”
Qian Ergou swallowed. “Maybe we wait until she leaves to talk…”
“Where did Su Yu go?” she asked again, and the blade at her waist slightly unsheathed.
“He went to the Martial Hall! He went to the Martial Hall! Female Xia, spare us! Old Su wronged you—go kill him, don’t kill us!” Qian Ergou was so scared he didn’t dare hold back any longer and blurted out.
“What?!”
“Ergou, where did you say Old Su went?!”
Ye Liang and Tong Qiqi’s eyes widened as they stared at Qian Ergou, as if they’d heard something unbelievable.
Even the quiet, ghostlike girl showed a momentarily stunned expression, her gaze blank.