Chapter 44: Embarrassed? Eat Food or Graze on Grass?
At his shout, the Chang Mok Academy students froze for a moment. Confirming Jorip's condition, they charged toward Yeop Hyeon all at once.
Yeop Hyeon fixed them with eyes laced with cold fury, and they all halted in their tracks. It wasn't fear of Yeop Hyeon himself. They dreaded that he might finish off Jorip.
At that moment, Bai Ze and Mu Yun Qi approached Yeop Hyeon's side. Fresh blood trickled ceaselessly from Mu Yun Qi's mouth. Bai Ze was covered in wounds as well.
The Chang Mok Academy students were at least all in the Control Qi Realm, and each one an extraordinary prodigy. For Yeop Hyeon and the other two to hold out against twenty of them was truly terrifying.
Then, Jorip slowly rose to his feet. Glancing around, he shouted once more.
"Get out of here—now!"
Jorip couldn't deny that they had underestimated these three. They were far superior warriors to what he'd imagined.
If the fight dragged on, Chang Mok Academy might lose even their chance to flee. Jorip had resolved to save his comrades, at least.
Despite his order, not a single Chang Mok Academy student budged.
Yeop Hyeon gave Jorip a chilling glare. Without a word, he turned and began walking away.
Bai Ze and Mu Yun Qi glanced once at the gravely wounded Jorip, then followed behind Yeop Hyeon.
At that instant, Jorip burst into mad laughter toward their backs.
"Hahaha! What is this farce? Do you dare humiliate me, Jorip!? Chang Mok Academy disciples would sooner die than live with scorn from Canglan Academy scum! Chang Mok Academy will avenge me!"
In a flash, before anyone could stop him, Jorip smashed his own fist into his throat.
Crack!
"Jorip!"
The surrounding Chang Mok Academy students rushed to save him, but Jorip's body had already gone rigid. They collapsed before his corpse, wailing in grief.
Their cries reached the ears of the three walking away into the distance.
Mu Yun Qi wiped the blood from his mouth with his hand and grumbled.
"Damn it, that guy's set on painting us as the villains. Who's scorning who here?"
Bai Ze, walking beside him, rubbed the area near his scars. In an instant, they vanished without a trace. He turned to Yeop Hyeon.
"Tough body you've got."
Bai Ze had witnessed firsthand how unbreakable Yeop Hyeon's physique was in battle. It likely rivaled his own demonic beast bloodline.
Yeop Hyeon shot back.
"Yours too!"
This was no empty flattery. Among all his opponents so far, none matched his own physical prowess—except Bai Ze.
Right then, a middle-aged man suddenly blocked their path. He wore a golden robe emblazoned with Chang Mok Academy's emblem on the chest.
Yeop Hyeon recognized him immediately: Yeo Su, the vice dean of Chang Mok Academy!
'This is a headache.'
It wasn't entirely unexpected. With a death involved, hoping for a quiet end was naive.
Yeo Su glared at Yeop Hyeon with murderous intent.
"You kill a man and just walk away?"
"Ha! Hilarious! So Chang Mok Academy students can kill, but Canglan Academy ones can't? Oh, I see—your students weren't enough, so the vice dean steps in personally!"
"Hahaha, trying to provoke me? Relax. I don't dirty my hands with small fry like you."
As Yeo Su spoke, he whipped his head around. There, on a flat rock, lay an old man who had appeared out of nowhere, lounging casually. It was Dean Ji Yuan Zhang.
Yeo Su's face twisted as he addressed the dean.
"Dean Ji, hear this. As of now, Chang Mok Academy formally declares war on Canglan Academy—"
In that instant, Dean Ji rose, plucked a weed, and flung it at Yeo Su.
Yeo Su's expression changed drastically. He thrust both hands forward, layering them. Invisible qi surged around him, drawn into his palms like an ebbing tide, coalescing into a massive mass of energy.
The shockwave hurled Yeop Hyeon and the others back several zhang.
Amid their stunned gazes, the flung weed sliced through the concentrated qi like a honed blade.
Shlick!
A chilling sound echoed as Yeo Su's right arm hit the ground.
The area fell into utter silence.
Gulp.
Mu Yun Qi swallowed dryly and whispered.
"That old geezer... he's that strong? Gotta watch my mouth around him from now on..."
Yeop Hyeon was equally shocked inwardly. The dean, always drowning in booze—his skills were at this level? Yeop Hyeon knew he was skilled, but this was terrifyingly beyond expectation. Dean Ji seemed twice—no, three times stronger than the three Chwiseonru lords he'd seen before.
Dean Ji's piercing gaze landed on the wretched Yeo Su.
"Declaration of war, right? You sure?"
Yeo Su glared back with killing intent, his face ashen.
Dean Ji took a swig from his bottle.
"Do you know why Canglan Academy hasn't collapsed yet?"
He pointed at himself with a grin, answering his own question.
"Me. As long as I'm alive, it stands. Want war? Fine, try it. Go ahead, kill those three. But here's a warning: if you do, I guarantee not a single Chang Mok Academy student under thirty will see tomorrow's sun. Don't believe me? Test it. Those three are strays I picked up anyway—no loss to me!"
Yeop Hyeon, Mu Yun Qi, and Bai Ze bristled with anger at his words.
'Picked up!?'
'Damn that old bastard!'
Mu Yun Qi glared daggers at Dean Ji and yelled.
"Wanna hit him?"
Yeop Hyeon retorted.
"You first?"
"Hell no! You'd just smack my head from behind like last time!"
As Mu Yun Qi fumed, Yeop Hyeon replied seriously.
"Buddy, pick your fights. You charge when you've got a shot—not when you know you'll lose. That's not fighting; that's just getting beat!"
"..."
From afar, Dean Ji shouted at them.
"What're you idiots standing around for? Get back here!"
As Mu Yun Qi and Bai Ze moved to obey, Yeop Hyeon called out.
"Hold up!"
He turned back toward the corpses of the Chang Mok Academy students. Reaching them, he rifled through their pouches, pocketing money and valuable weapons.
But he left Jorip's body untouched—a minimal respect for the man who chose honorable suicide to preserve his dignity.
Everyone stared in disbelief at Yeop Hyeon's actions.
From afar, Dean Ji clutched his neck and retched.
Mu Yun Qi rushed to Yeop Hyeon's side, tugging his sleeve and whispering urgently.
"Hey, hey! Don't be so damn embarrassing! Everyone's watching!"
"What? Embarrassed? You wanna eat food or graze on grass?"
Mu Yun Qi grinned sheepishly and clung to Yeop Hyeon's side.
"Food, please!"
Soon after, he covered his face with both hands and muttered.
"Still embarrassing! Can't help it!"
Under the crowd's piercing stares, Yeop Hyeon began inspecting the spoils.
Eight money pouches and half a dozen weapons that screamed value at a glance!
Yeop Hyeon nodded in satisfaction, then yelled at Bai Ze and Mu Yun Qi in the distance.
"Quit gawking! Load 'em on the cart!"
They hesitated, so he shouted again.
"Playing hard to get? Fine—graze for dinner tonight!"
Mu Yun Qi bolted over, snatching a weapon from Yeop Hyeon's hand. Bai Ze paused briefly before dutifully carrying the loot to the cart.
Moments later, having stripped the Chang Mok Academy warriors down to their souls, the three loaded up and departed under the survivors' baleful glares, slowly driving the cart away.
Dean Ji had dozed off atop the rock, showing no sign of stirring.
Yeo Su glared at him with fury.
"This isn't the end—it's the beginning!"
With that, Yeo Su led the remaining Chang Mok Academy warriors away.
Only Dean Ji remained, now snoring loudly.
The clash between Chang Mok and Canglan Academies spread through Imperial City like wildfire.
The capital buzzed once more.
A Canglan Academy student killed a Chang Mok Academy student!
When was the last time something like this happened!?
Is Canglan Academy rising again!?
The city heated up like a stoked furnace.
* * *
In Jiang Kingdom's imperial palace, Yangsim Hall. A middle-aged man in splendid robes peered at a secret missive in his hand. After a long moment, he burst into laughter.
He looked up at the sky beyond the window.
"According to Ninth's report, the boy who single-handedly held off thousands of Black Armored Cavalry at Yangjie City has come to the capital. And that's none other than the Yeop Hyeon making waves now."
A woman's voice came from the corner.
"I've looked into him. From Qingcheng, raised his little sister alone after losing his parents young, became Ye family crown prince. Then cast out by the family, came to the capital for her treatment."
The middle-aged man smiled faintly, eyes on the corner.
"On the surface, sure."
A wheelchair slid out from the shadows. A beautiful young woman in a black skirt sat there, her hair strikingly white.
Her eyes had been closed the whole time.
She spoke softly.
"He has National Scholar An's favor and once killed a Chwiseonru elder at Unseon."
"Heh, surviving after killing a Chwiseonru elder? No ordinary kid."
The man moved to his study, pulling out a golden round plaque. He brushed a single character onto it.
Yeop (엽).
Flipping it, he wrote another.
Guoshi (National Scholar).
He asked the woman.
"Objections?"
"Why would there be?"
He laughed heartily.
"Today's youths care only for themselves. Sect and academy prodigies think solely of their own glory and houses. The nation? Too troublesome.
Yet in this era, he sacrificed himself without motive to defend the realm. That's qualification enough for Guoshi."
His gaze sharpened on her.
"Lu Guoshi, go to Canglan Academy in my stead."