Chapter 50

That man was very robust, with large hands like basins, making the bowl in his hand look particularly small, which seemed somewhat comical. His right hand appeared somewhat clumsy and seemed to be disabled, trembling slightly as he held the edge of the bowl, which looked somewhat pitiful.

Luoluo walked around the oyster omelet stall and stood behind the man. For some reason, her little face was full of anger. Chen Changsheng followed her and saw the man's profile, noticing how young and innocent he looked, confirming his identity.

The man squatting in the corner washing dishes was the young demon who had been severely injured by Tian Hai Ya'er at the Qingteng Banquet, Xuanyuan Po.

Seeing a shadow on the wall, Xuanyuan Po turned around and saw a young couple. He raised his thick eyebrows in confusion, realizing he didn't know them, and continued washing the dishes. Even such a simple task was difficult for him now, and he had no time to pay attention to others.

"Traversing the Red River, traveling thousands of miles to the human world, enduring countless hardships, and in the end, you end up washing dishes in the streets of the capital. Is this your life goal?"

Xuanyuan Po's hand holding the bowl stiffened slightly. He turned around again and looked at the girl who seemed to be carved from jade, feeling a wave of emotions. He wondered who she was and how she knew he came from the Red River and that he didn't belong to the human world.

Seeing his dazed and foolish expression, Luoluo felt somewhat angry for some reason and said in a cold, low voice, "If the people from your tribe saw you now, would they regret giving you so much money for the journey?"

Xuanyuan Po looked robust and strong, but he was only thirteen years old, with a youthful face and demeanor.

Hearing Luoluo's harsh reprimand, his face turned red with anger, and he said, "Who are you? My business is none of yours."

Luoluo was silent for a moment and then said, "My name is Luoluo, and I am a student at the National Teaching Academy."

Xuanyuan Po was stunned again, this time even more so. His right hand could no longer hold the greasy, slippery bowl.

With a clatter, the bowl fell into the basin of dirty water, splashing water and drawing a loud scolding from the oyster omelet stall owner: "You useless thing! You're so big but can't even wash a bowl?"

The night market was bustling with people, and the oyster omelet business was thriving. The owner was extremely busy, flipping food on the iron plate with a spatula, and had no time to deal with anything else. Even when he scolded, he didn't turn to look at Xuanyuan Po.

Xuanyuan Po showed no reaction, having been scolded by the owner so many times that he was used to it. He just looked at Luoluo with a shocked and eager expression, his clear, young eyes filled with admiration and respect.

After being severely injured by Tian Hai Ya'er at the Qingteng Banquet, he was carried back to the Star Plucking Academy for treatment and didn't see what happened afterward. The next day, he learned from his classmates that Tian Hai Ya'er had been crippled, and the one who crippled him was a little girl.

He heard that the little girl was named Luoluo and was a student at the National Teaching Academy.

This little girl had just said something similar.

Xuanyuan Po had always wanted to meet this little girl, not only because she avenged him and he wanted to say thank you, but also because demons respected the strong, and he wanted to see what she looked like and express his respect.

"So it's you..."

Xuanyuan Po wiped his large hands on his old clothes, looking somewhat nervous, and said, "You can say whatever you want to me; it's all deserved."

Luoluo had intended to reignite this person's fighting spirit but was somewhat helpless at his reaction.

Chen Changsheng, however, was thinking about something else and asked, somewhat puzzled, "You... left the Star Plucking Academy?"

He thought that even if this young demon had been crippled by Tian Hai Ya'er and found it difficult to continue practicing, let alone recover his former strength, he had still participated in the Qingteng Banquet as a student of the Star Plucking Academy. Could the Star Plucking Academy have expelled him just because he was crippled? That seemed unreasonable.

Xuanyuan Po didn't know who this human boy was, but from his expression, he knew there was a misunderstanding. He was flustered, waving his large hands, and explained, "The academy didn't expel me. It's just that... I was so badly injured that I can't practice anymore, and I don't want to stay at the academy and eat for free, so I left."

Seeing Chen Changsheng and Luoluo still seemed skeptical, he became anxious and said, "It's true. The principal and the instructors all tried to persuade me, but I'm a bit stubborn and didn't listen to them. I sneaked out, so you can't blame them."

He is truly honest and adorable—Chen Changsheng and Luoluo thought. Whether it was his reason for leaving the Star Plucking Academy or his concern about others misunderstanding the academy, it showed that this young demon had a very pure heart.

Luoluo's expression softened, and she asked, "So what do you plan to do now?"

Xuanyuan Po smiled and said, "I plan to save some money, and when I have enough for the journey, I'll go home. Since I can't practice anymore, I might as well help my family with more work... By the way, don't blame the boss. He may like to scold people, but he's actually very kind. I've broken many bowls and plates these past few days, and he hasn't made me pay for them."

The boss, who was flipping food on the iron plate, heard this and didn't turn around, just laughed and scolded a bit.

Seeing the young demon's honest smile, Luoluo noticed that there was not a trace of resentment on his youthful face. She felt very sad and asked, "Are you really content to go back like this?"

Xuanyuan Po was silent for a moment and said, "As you said, the people from my tribe raised a lot of money for me to come to the capital to practice. It was very difficult, and I'm not content to go back like this... But the instructors said that our demon bodies are different from humans, and my crippled right arm is really hard to heal. What's the point of staying?"

He added, "The instructor suggested I stay at the Star Plucking Academy and do some manual labor, but seeing my former classmates advancing, I might feel even more discontent."

Luoluo said, "Stay in the capital; there must be a way. Why rush to leave the Star Plucking Academy?"

Xuanyuan Po said, "The elders in my tribe have always taught us not to accept any sympathy, especially from humans."

Luoluo looked into his eyes quietly, feeling more and more admiration for him, and said, "Come with me."

These three simple words were not a command but naturally carried an air of authority that could not be refused.

Xuanyuan Po felt something strange, was stunned, and didn't know how to refuse. After saying something to the boss, he followed her down the street.

It wasn't until they were about to leave the long street and see the well at the entrance of Baihua Alley that Luoluo remembered something and looked at Chen Changsheng, somewhat embarrassed.

Chen Changsheng smiled and said nothing.

He had never opposed anything Luoluo wanted to do, so he wouldn't oppose what she wanted to do either. As for what this young demon might bring, he wasn't too worried, knowing that her people were always following her from a distance, protecting her.

...

...

Under the night sky, the National Teaching Academy was as quiet as usual. Because of the second night of the Qingteng Banquet, there were fewer prying eyes in Baihua Alley, making Chen Changsheng feel more relaxed. However, he didn't expect that the first time Xuanyuan Po came to the National Teaching Academy, he would be even more relaxed than himself.

The young demon, supporting his waist, which was thicker than a tree, looked around, occasionally touching the old statues, his eyes full of curiosity, showing no signs of tension.

Chen Changsheng took out the key and opened the door to the library but didn't go in. Instead, he looked at Luoluo, who seemed hesitant, and asked, "What do you want to say?"

Luoluo tugged at his sleeve, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Sir, can you help him? You know... he is my clansman."

Chen Changsheng said, "Helping is no problem, but I'm curious. The instructors at the Star Plucking Academy thought his injuries were incurable. Why do you think I can definitely cure him?"

"Sir is not like those ordinary people."

Luoluo looked at him with wide eyes and said, "On the first day I became your disciple, you just felt my pulse and knew my problem, and you immediately knew how to solve it. Compared to that, curing his injuries is nothing."

The little girl spoke as if there was nothing in the world he couldn't do. Facing her absolute trust, Chen Changsheng felt a lot of pressure and scratched his head, saying, "Let's see first. I can't guarantee anything."

Luoluo happily said "Mm" and skipped to the lake, not believing his words about not guaranteeing anything.

Chen Changsheng watched her back and couldn't help but shake his head.

Luoluo ran to the lake and said a few words to Xuanyuan Po, who was using his left hand to struggle with a large banyan tree. Xuanyuan Po was very surprised, shaking his head repeatedly, seemingly unable to believe what he heard. Then, after Luoluo said something else, Xuanyuan Po was even more shocked and would have knelt down if Luoluo hadn't stopped him.

When Xuanyuan Po followed her to the library, he was still dazed, clearly shocked by Luoluo's words. Chen Changsheng guessed that Luoluo had revealed some of her identity to this young demon, gestured for the two to follow him into the library, lit the oil lamp, and sat down on the floor.

Xuanyuan Po didn't look at him at all, just stared at Luoluo, very nervous and excited.

Luoluo didn't look at him either and said to Chen Changsheng, "Thank you, sir."

At this moment, in Xuanyuan Po's heart, Luoluo was more important than his family and more worthy of respect than the tribal elders. However, she was showing such respect to a human, which he found absurd and then angry, wishing he could tear that person apart.

Chen Changsheng, seeing the fire in Xuanyuan Po's eyes, was puzzled and gestured for him to extend his right arm.

Xuanyuan Po was confused and asked in a gruff, unfriendly tone, "What are you going to do?"

Chen Changsheng said, "I'm going to examine your injuries."

"You? A human? How old are you?"

Xuanyuan Po felt that Chen Changsheng was definitely a bad person, a fraud, or else why would the princess show him such respect? He angrily shouted, "Don't think people from my tribe are easy to bully. I've seen many frauds!"

Due to the common enemy of the demons, humans and demons were natural allies, and over thousands of years, this alliance had been proven many times. There was a lot of interaction between the two sides, and the appearance of demons in the capital would not cause a commotion.

However, there was still a deep-seated gap between humans and demons, mainly due to differences in temperament and behavior. Humans thought demons were too straightforward and foolish, too similar to beasts, and too violent, while demons thought humans were too cunning and fickle, making them poor friends.

In Xuanyuan Po's view, Chen Changsheng was clearly just an ordinary boy, probably not even having broken through the human bone-marrow stage, yet he dared to claim he could cure injuries that even the instructors had given up on. What else could he be but a fraud?

There was a dull thud.

Luoluo held the teaching rod and shouted at him, "What attitude is this!"

The National Teaching Academy had a teaching rod.

It was a straight branch that Chen Changsheng had stripped of its bark.

The main purpose of this teaching rod was for Chen Changsheng to guide Luoluo's practice.

Now it seemed that the teaching rod might really serve its original purpose.

The teaching rod was hard, and it hurt when it hit the forehead.

Xuanyuan Po held his forehead, his eyes slightly red, because it really hurt, but more importantly, he felt very wronged, thinking that the princess had actually hit him for a human?

"Extend your hand," Chen Changsheng said, trying not to laugh.

Xuanyuan Po stubbornly raised his head and ignored him.

Luoluo raised the teaching rod and said, "Extend your hand."

Xuanyuan Po sadly lowered his head and extended his hand.

Chen Changsheng's smile faded, and his fingers gently touched Xuanyuan Po's pulse, then closed his eyes.

Even without Luoluo's pleading, he would have tried to see if he could cure the young demon's injuries because at the Qingteng Banquet, when Tian Hai Ya'er arrogantly insulted the National Teaching Academy, everyone was silent except for this young demon, who laughed.

That laugh was a protest, a protest against injustice. The young demon had stood up for the National Teaching Academy, so the National Teaching Academy should respond.

Of course, all of this was based on his confidence in being able to cure the young demon's injuries.

His master, Ji Daoren, might be unknown in the cultivation world, but in the field of medicine, he was one of the strongest on the continent. The engagement between Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong was due to Ji Daoren curing the Chancellor, whom even the Pope couldn't heal.

Chen Changsheng had read the Daoist scriptures since childhood and studied medicine with his master. More importantly, he had always been sick.

Although he couldn't cure his own illness, it didn't mean he couldn't cure others.

He really wanted to cure Xuanyuan Po's injuries.

Time slowly passed, and the stars in the night sky flickered as the clouds moved.

The library was quiet.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Changsheng opened his eyes.