Chapter 53

## Chapter 53. First Day at Work (2)

"Father?"

"Yes. It's been thirty years already."

Then I remembered that Bei Yingke, Gao Zhuyue, once said something similar when he visited Bai Wuguan.

-None of the boys in your age group could match Bai Wu in Qinglong Academy. Do you think that's all? At the Longfeng Tournament held at Tianwu Academy, your father made it to the semi-finals!

Father... I thought you just wandered around causing trouble in your school days.

"Qinglong Academy was at its peak then. Talented young martial artists lined up to enroll, and many experts were produced. We always ranked high in the Tianwu Competition."

Mai Jilian's expression, as he reminisced about the glorious past, looked proud.

But his expression quickly hardened.

"As you know, it's not like that now. After that, Qinglong Academy's performance began to decline slowly, and for the past ten years, we've always been at the bottom in the Tianwu Competition."

"Is there any special reason for that?"

"Hmm..."

In response to my question, Mai Jilian seemed to think deeply, then suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked at me.

"Come to think of it, it started from then. After that bastard stole my daughter and ran away in the middle of the night."

"…What?"

Mai Jilian's eyes gradually turned red, and his robe swelled up even though there was no wind.

"…Ever since that day, a curse has befallen Qinglong Academy. The gods of heaven and earth must have been angry at the improper relationship and have punished us."

"Grandfather?"

"Bai Wuxun…! It's all your fault…!"

To calm down Mai Jilian, who was seeing Bai Wuxun in my face, I willingly changed my surname.

"Please calm down, Grandfather! I'm not Bai Wuxun! I'm Mai Suolong, the son of Mai Yaobing! Please don't channel your sword qi into the chopsticks!"

"Mai Suolong…?"

Why does it always end up like this?

After a moment, Mai Jilian, who had finally calmed down, took a deep breath and said,

"Phew. That's better. What I want to say is that Qinglong Academy is not what it used to be. Your talk of winning was quite reckless."

"…."

The Tianwu Festival is a grand event held once a year where students from the five major martial arts academies gather to compete in martial arts.

Initially, it was a good idea to foster camaraderie among students from the five academies and to promote mutual development to protect the peace of the martial world from the threat of the evil sects.

"At some point, it became corrupted. They started scoring and ranking the academies based on those scores, and everyone began to stake their lives on it."

At the Tianwu Festival, various competitions are held, including sword techniques, saber techniques, fist techniques, hidden weapons, light body techniques, and team matches.

Only the winners in each category receive points, and these points determine the overall ranking of the academy.

And the event with the highest points, the crown jewel of the Tianwu Festival, is the Longfeng Tournament.

'The real sword competition to select the strongest young martial artist among all students of the five academies.'

Every year, over a hundred students participate in this tournament, and the final eight are called 'Longfeng (Dragon and Phoenix).'

"Over the past ten years, Qinglong Academy hasn't produced a single Longfeng."

"I know."

"Don't say you know so easily."

Mai Jilian, who had witnessed all the changes in Qinglong Academy over the past few decades, looked at me straight in the eye.

"What you need to change is the deep-seated defeatist attitude. Can you do it?"

"I wouldn't have said it if I couldn't."

"Hmph."

Mai Jilian snorted at my answer, as if it was impossible.

But his expression didn't look bad.

"You're as arrogant as your father."

"…Father?"

"I mean my daughter."

"…."

What kind of tune am I supposed to follow?

"Let's get up if you're done eating."

As we got up after finishing our meal, I could feel many eyes following us.

Since we didn't use telepathy to converse, anyone who paid a little attention could have heard our conversation.

I smiled as I looked at Mai Jilian's back, which was leading the way.

'So that's why he deliberately brought me to the student cafeteria.'

The reason Mai Jilian deliberately chose the student cafeteria, and even sat in the middle where the most attention would be drawn, was undoubtedly to let the students overhear our conversation.

I felt deeply grateful for his silent consideration, but since he didn't seem to like showing it, I pretended not to notice and followed him.

"…No one expects you to win. If you can just help us beat Baihu Academy this year, you'll be recognized by everyone."

There's no need to even give me such insurance.

Just before leaving the cafeteria, I spoke clearly enough for everyone to hear.

"No. I intend to make Qinglong Academy win the Tianwu Festival."

"You…"

Mai Jilian, who looked surprised, turned to me with a puzzled expression.

I smiled and said,

"Who do I resemble in this?"

"…Stop talking."

* * *

After leaving the student cafeteria, we headed to Mai Jilian's quarters, which were right between the boys' and girls' dormitories.

"Sit down."

Mai Jilian's room was small and simple, fitting his personality.

After work, he meditates here, practices his sword in the backyard, or keeps an eye on the cats trying to jump over the dormitory walls for improper relationships.

…He really is a scary man.

"Since it's the summer term, there are only about a third of the usual number of students. There's not much to do."

We sat facing each other with a tea table in between.

Mai Jilian poured me a cup of tea he had brewed himself and continued.

"But soon we'll have to accept new students, and when the vacation ends, the students who went home will return. That's when things will get really busy. Drink up."

A rich aroma seeped from the deeply brewed tea leaves.

I don't know much about tea, but I could tell that Mai Jilian was quite knowledgeable about it.

"For the next month, get familiar with the academy's geography and try to build relationships with the various instructors."

"Yes."

"Don't cause any trouble. Especially if you get involved in any scandal with a female student…"

Swoosh.

For a moment, the room was filled with the killing intent raised by Mai Jilian.

I broke out in a cold sweat and replied,

"I won't. I don't even have the slightest intention to."

"…I'll believe you this time, just to see. Do you have any other questions?"

Fortunately, I had something I wanted to ask.

"Grandfather, do you know much about the remedial class?"

"Remedial class…"

After stroking his beard and thinking for a moment, Mai Jilian sighed and said,

"A collection of troublemakers. They don't even listen to me."

"Really…"

I was genuinely surprised.

There are people who defy even the student supervisor of the academy, Mai Jilian.

Do they have multiple lives?

"Why have you kept them alive so far?"

"…Are you picking a fight?"

"Of course not."

Mai Jilian's eyebrows twitched violently, then he sighed and answered,

"They are the problem because they are failing students in each grade. But I only handle their daily guidance; I don't care about their grades. They rarely cause trouble in that area."

"…."

"Xian Yuanqiang occasionally causes trouble… but at that age, boys fighting each other is inevitable, isn't it?"

In the academy, drinking, burning incense, and improper relationships are not allowed, but fighting among the students is not a big deal.

Perhaps because it's an academy for learning martial arts, Mai Jilian is strangely lenient in this regard.

"It's a pity for the academy. They all have outstanding talent, but they just don't try hard…"

After saying that, Mai Jilian finally remembered and asked me,

"That's right. You're taking charge of the remedial class this time, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. Just gathering those three in one place won't be easy."

Mai Jilian informed me that there were currently only three students in the remedial class.

Fourth-year Jushang Xiong.

Third-year Xian Yuanqiang.

Second-year Yu Min.

These three were the failing students of Qinglong Academy and the students I would be responsible for in the remedial class.

"Jushang Xiong and Yu Min went home for the vacation, so they won't be back for a month, but Xian Yuanqiang stays in the dormitory."

"Do you happen to remember where all the students live?"

"Not all of them, but… I remember these three because they are particularly troublesome."

Though he said it that way, I was sure that Mai Jilian knew where almost all the students lived.

"Can you tell me what you know about these three?"

"I don't know much, but…"

What he said wasn't much, but it took more than an hour, and I managed to gather a lot of information about the three troublemakers in the remedial class.

"…From what I hear, none of them are easy to handle."

Mai Jilian nodded with a dark expression.

"Many instructors have tried to teach them and given up. Nan Gong Shu didn't assign you the remedial class lightly."

However, the more Mai Jilian said this, the more my enthusiasm burned.

'Troublemakers with talent are better than mediocre ones.'

I can't create talent where there is none, but I can make those who don't listen start to listen.

"Do you have any plans in mind?"

"A few ideas are floating around in my head… but I need to meet them in person to decide."

I decided to meet each of the three troublemakers in the remedial class one by one.

'First, I should start with someone I know a bit.'

After quickly deciding on my first target, I asked Mai Jilian,

"Grandfather, do you know which room Xian Yuanqiang lives in?"

* * *

"Ninety-nine…"

Xian Yuanqiang was doing push-ups with just one finger, sweating profusely. His arms were trembling.

"One hundred…"

The floor of the dormitory room was already drenched in sweat.

He was doing push-ups with his upper body bare, and his bronze-colored, muscular body glistened with sweat.

"One hundred and one… Damn it!"

After completing a hundred push-ups, Xian Yuanqiang immediately switched arms and continued.

After doing two hundred push-ups in total, Xian Yuanqiang slumped against the wall.

"Huff… Huff…"

His body was steaming.

Xian Yuanqiang wiped the sweat off his body with a towel hanging on the bed and threw it aside.

Since no one wanted to share a room with a dirty and unruly troublemaker, the dormitory room, originally designed for four people, became his private room as soon as the vacation started.

'Thanks to this, I can train without any interference.'

Xian Yuanqiang replayed the external martial arts competition with Bai Suolong a few days ago in his mind.

'Fucking bastard!'

This was the reason why Xian Yuanqiang had been locked in his room, focusing on external martial arts training.

-All you have to do is use external martial arts to make me take a step out of this circle.

That smug, annoying face of his, who looked like a playboy.

I didn't like him from the first time I met him.

So I decided to give him a good beating.

I thought it would be easy to push him out of the circle.

But.

-Yeah, I thought you'd be the first.

Bai Suolong smirked as if he could read my mind, and before I knew it, he slammed me to the ground.

Bang!

The pain was so intense that my mind went blank.

But compared to the one-sided humiliation that followed, the pain was nothing.

No matter how many times I tried, I couldn't push Bai Suolong out of the circle.

I didn't even try alone; I teamed up with that rude Pang Shixie, but we still failed.

Grinding his teeth, Xian Yuanqiang got up from his seat. He drew an imaginary circle on the floor of the training area, took a stance, and muttered,

"Like this…?"

Xian Yuanqiang awkwardly tried to mimic the stance Bai Suolong had taken in the circle.

He could usually follow any technique after seeing it once since he was young.

'No, this isn't it.'

But the movements he was imitating didn't feel right.

No matter how many times he adjusted his stance, it felt awkward and uncomfortable.

But Xian Yuanqiang didn't give up easily.

He showed a level of concentration that would shock the instructors who had taught him before.

'I'll give that bastard a good beating someday.'

Xian Yuanqiang closed his eyes.

Then the movements of Bai Suolong, which were in his mind, became clearer.

Slowly, slowly…

He moved his body, trying to recreate how Bai Suolong had dodged, blocked, and counterattacked the students' attacks that day.

After about an hour…

Xian Yuanqiang suddenly opened his eyes and shouted irritably,

"Damn it! Why can't I do it properly!"

He wasn't asking anyone; he was just venting his frustration.

I never imagined that someone would answer from behind.

"Want me to tell you?"

"Who said I need help… What the hell!"

Startled by the sudden voice from behind, Xian Yuanqiang screamed and turned around.

Bai Suolong was hanging upside down from the dormitory window, grinning at him.