The Attack of the Wastrel

In the Royal School, after sending Gu Lingzhi to the infirmary, Jiang Xian then handed over Gu Lingzhi’s Recording Crystal to the classroom.

Rong Zhisheng and Mu Yang, who were watching the scene of graduates handing over their Recording Crystals in the classroom, wanted to visit Gu Lingzhi when they heard she had been sent to the infirmary. However, they were stopped by Jiang Xian’s solemn expression.

“Principal, I think you should take a look at the contents of this Recording Crystal first.”

Rong Zhisheng frowned.

“Well, the injuries suffered by the Third Princess Consort were not caused by demon beasts.”

Generally, most candidates who return heavily injured were those who were unable to complete their graduation examination. Many of them had been forced to drop out when attacked by the demon beasts but were unable to retaliate. Based on his intuition, if Gu Lingzhi was not even able to come to the classroom to hand over her Recording Crystal herself, she must have suffered serious injuries during the assessment and was unable to complete it. If so, then there was no point in watching her Recording Crystal anymore.

However, Jiang Xian’s words startled him. He resisted the urge to visit Gu Lingzhi now and took her Recording Crystal, activating it.

A blue light flashed across the Recording Crystal before a scene of Gu Lingzhi going against the first peak grade third-order demon beast appeared. Right after was the scene of Gu Lingzhi’s battle against the Howling Lion Beast that appeared…

As time elapsed, the scenes of Gu Lingzhi fighting against the demon beasts appeared on the Recording Crystal. Rong Zhisheng’s expression also slowly changed from curiosity to surprise. He found that Gu Lingzhi’s fighting tactics were different when battled with different demon beasts, which were targeted to find the weakness of each opponent. Even if she had not understood the opponent and was unable to find a place to attack, she was able to adjust her strategy in a short time to tilt the winning odds to herself.

With such strength and insight, how could a demon beast inflict such injuries on her?

Not before long, Rong Zhisheng found the answer in the images. When he saw ten people chasing after Gu Lingzhi, his face turned ugly. He did not expect that there were still other Martial Artists in the Valley of Beasts even after he had cleared it of people, and these people clearly had malicious intent!

How did they even enter?

Zhisheng’s face turned uglier as the images changed, as he watched Gu Lingzhi charging ahead, based on the mentality that her injuries did not matter as long as she was able to injure more of the opponents, to weaken the effectiveness of their combat skills.

In the past when he did not have enough strength, he was only able to watch his beloved woman, Xiang Xiaoyu, being snatched away by another man. In the end, she perished in a place he was not able to see. Now that he couldn’t even protect her daughter, how could he be considered the principal of the Royal School or have the right to be Rong Yuan’s uncle?

At the corner, Jiang Xian’s expression also turned gloomy after seeing the images on the Recording Crystal.

It had to be the biggest joke in the world, that the Xia Kingdom’s Third Princess Consort was being chased down during the graduation assessment by the Royal School, which was set up by the Royal Palace.

“Wei Shenglan! I should have let the Emperor abolish her a long time ago!” Rong Zhisheng cursed. The Recording Crystal froze at the image of Gu Lingzhi being surrounded by fire.

It was hard for him to imagine what method Gu Lingzhi had used to escape from the blow that was sure to kill her. Not only that, but from the group of capuchin monkeys too. It was even harder for him to imagine how much it would hurt his nephew when he saw the images from the Recording Crystal.

“Do a thorough inspection of all the teachers-in-charge of the assessment. Wei Shenglan’s people have gotten in, and it must have been one of her spies here!” Mu Yang calmly gave the order, seeing that Rong Zhisheng was still fuming with anger.

“Yes, Vice-principal.” After receiving the order, Jiang Xian immediately left to start the investigation. Rong Zhisheng calmed down a little before heading to the infirmary. Regardless of how angry Rong Yuan would be after learning about this incident, it was more important to visit Gu Lingzhi first.

Besides, in this period of time, on Gu Lingzhi’s side, Wen Liao had already roughly diagnosed Gu Lingzhi’s health condition. After confirming that Gu Lingzhi’s injuries were only serious on the outside and her internal injuries were almost fully recovered, he stood at the foot of the bed and glanced at her meaningfully.

“Teacher Wen, how are Lingzhi’s injuries? Are they serious?” As soon as Wen Liao stepped aside, Yan Liang asked anxiously.

Wen Liao raised his eyebrows and gazed with eyes that seem to never have enough sleep. He lazily replied, “Don’t worry, she won’t die.” He then took a bottle of elixir from his Storage Ring and tossed it to Yan Liang. “One pill per day, continuously for fifteen days will do.”

Yan Liang did not think twice as he took the bottle from Wen Liao. Xin Yi, on the other hand, was not happy about what Wen Liao had said. “What did you mean when you said that she wouldn’t die?”

“It means after circling the gates of hell, it’s best not to use any force for a month.” After saying this, he yawned without waiting for a response and walked away. His eyes were drooping, returning back to looking dispirited. However, there was regret in his eyes, covered by his eyelids.

Would that event years ago have occurred if Xiang Xiaoyu was more adaptable like her daughter, Gu Lingzhi?

Gu Lingzhi watched gratefully as Wen Liao walked away. He must have discovered that there were some abnormalities with her body and did not expose her act. He only ambiguously led others to think in the way she had hoped for. Perhaps this teacher was not as mean as she had imagined him to be.

The news of Gu Lingzhi being chased by Wei Shenglan’s men during the graduation assessment which narrowly took her life in the Valley of Beasts had already spread quickly across the entire Royal School. It was spreading at a faster speed beyond the Royal School.

That night, while most of the students of the Royal School were already asleep, Gu Lingzhi’s medical room was still brightly lit. Yan Liang and the other boys had already left while Tianfeng Jin and some others stayed to look after Gu Lingzhi. At this moment, Qin Xinran placed a peeled spiritual fruit into Gu Lingzhi’s hands, smiling and signaling for her to eat it.

“Just spare me, Xinran. I can’t afford to eat anymore.” Gu Lingzhi gave a sad face. When there were only a few of them left, Gu Lingzhi had told them the true condition of her body. This was only met by brutal retaliation.

Qin Xinran handed her the spiritual fruit with a nourishing effect, which tasted sweet, sour and delicious, and was especially popular with girls. However, after eating ten of these delicious things, it started to taste like intestinal poison.

“Spare you?” Qin Xinran tilted her head, as though Gu Lingzhi said something she could not understand. “Did you not hear Teacher Wen say that you’ve just escaped the gates of hell and have to rest? This spiritual fruit is good and helps to nourish your body. How can you make up for the lost blood after eating this little? Don’t worry, Ye Fei is here, so don’t be afraid that we will go broke from you eating them.”

In the corner, Ye Fei nodded her head, “Xinran is right, how can ten of these spiritual fruits replenish all that lost blood? You have to at least eat twenty of them.”

Twenty? She might as well kill her.

“I was wrong…I shouldn’t have kept it from you guys.” Gu Lingzhi begged for mercy. “The next time, before I fake my illness, I will inform you guys first.”

“There’s still a next time?” Ye Fei raised her volume sharply. “Just how much do you want to be hunted down?”

Tianfeng Jin who was sitting on the corner of her bed, quietly observed as Gu Lingzhi was being tormented by Ye Fei and Qin Xinran, with no intention of reaching out to help her. If it were not for her personality, she would have joined the two’s “revenge”, so that Gu Lingzhi would never dare to give them a scare like that anymore. Only the heavens knew how much it would hurt them to see the wounds on Gu Lingzhi again.

Just when Ye Fei and Xinran were still persuading Gu Lingzhi to eat more spiritual fruits, a clear crowing sound rang across the Royal School.

It’s a flying demon beast!

Who would be so bold as to ride the flying demon beast into the center of the school?

The four of them exchanged looks, their gaze filled with curiosity. Right after, they heard numerous loud sounds. The one who rode the flying demon beast into the Royal School had scared the teachers.

Before the curiosity was over, a flurry of footsteps were heard outside the infirmary, as though rushing towards the infirmary’s door.

As soon as Tianfeng Jin took out her Spiritual Sword, getting into a confrontational stance, the infirmary’s door was slammed open, a tall and well-built figure came into view. He watched as the figure moved quickly towards the hospital bed, taking Gu Lingzhi into his arms, spitting out the repressed words, “Lingzhi, I am here…”

“Rong Yuan?” Gu Lingzhi called out in disbelief. Why is he here? Isn’t he supposed to be taking charge of Sangbo Town?

Rong Yuan buried his face into Gu Lingzhi’s neck and took a deep whiff of her, before he felt like his broken heart could calm down while he held onto her arm, trembling. Taking a few deep breaths, he huskily said, “Yes, it’s me.”

He then slowly moved his face away from Gu Lingzhi’s shoulders, his gaze falling onto Gu Lingzhi’s half-burned face that was filled with terror. The heart that just healed a little was starting to break again. His Lingzhi, how can she hurt herself to suffer from injuries like this?

Trembling, he lifted his hand to the scar on Gu Lingzhi’s face. Rong Yuan’s actions were careful, as though he was handling something fragile. His eyes were bloodshot from his aching heart, and said “It must hurt right?” Why was he always not around when Lingzhi needed him most?

Gu Lingzhi's heart shook by how careful Rong Yuan was and she no longer felt the physical pain. Seeing how he was aching, she coyly whispered, “It no longer hurts after seeing you.”

“Silly girl,” Rong Yuan sighed, lowering his head to kiss her scar. “I’m sorry, I’m always late.”

Gu Lingzhi smiled gently, “It’s not too late.” As long as you could come, it’s never too late.

Several teachers who were rushing to the infirmary, wanting to catch the person who dared to break into the Royal School, left quietly after witnessing this scene. Tianfeng Jin, together with Ye Fei and Qin Xinran looked at each other before quietly leaving the infirmary as well. Returning back from such a difficult time, Gu Lingzhi would want to be alone with Rong Yuan for a while.