Chapter 130: Bribes (4)
Morning dawned.
As soon as Sima Yuli opened her eyes in her bed, she got up carefully.
“…”
When she came out of her room, the living room was quiet.
The room opposite was Shen Shilin’s room, but she had not heard the sound of her door opening since yesterday.
‘She must have spent the night out.’
Shen Shilin had not returned to the dormitory room at all since yesterday.
She often gathered with her friends at night to drink alcohol and play all night, and it seemed she had spent the night out just like that yesterday.
Sima Yuli breathed a sigh of relief.
If Shen Shilin was not there, there was no way she would be bullied.
It felt like she could wash herself at ease for the first time in a while.
‘Should I go to Assistant Instructor Ximen today and get some counseling? Perhaps he might give me a textbook.’
Thinking of this and that in her heart, Sima Yuli shook her head for a moment.
‘…Even if I receive a textbook anyway, I’ll just lose it again.’
She recalled the faces of Shen Shilin, Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi in her heart.
Despise and ridicule never became familiar, no matter how much one receives them.
She could endure having her textbooks burned, her hair seared with a branding iron, insects or filth splashed on her face, or being beaten on her cheeks or chest… but the repeated cursing at her parents and mocking of her origin was truly hard to bear.
Furthermore, they would also harbor immense ill feelings toward Assistant Instructor Ximen Qing, who rejected their bribes.
‘Will the Assistant Instructor… be alright?’
Sima Yuli worried about Ximen Qing even in the midst of that.
Although the four, including Shen Shilin, were troublesome opponents by themselves, in fact, their backings were more troublesome than they were.
Their parents were the owners of famous sects, clans, merchant alliances, and escort agencies respectively, and had tremendous educational zeal and love for their children.
They were the type who would not only scatter bribes to the instructors and assistant instructors of the Ascending Heaven Academy but would also bring pressure using any despicable machinations and schemes if the effect of the bribes didn’t work.
Sima Yuli recalled what Shen Shilin had said while glaring at her yesterday, right after the bribes were burned:
‘Don’t misunderstand. Just because of that, a good day is not coming for you. Both that assistant instructor and you will be fired soon. Prepare yourself from tomorrow.’
As Shen Shilin’s fierce gaze came to mind, Sima Yuli shuddered.
Since she had told her to prepare from tomorrow, it would probably get even worse starting today.
It was certain that venting anger would be added to the usual bullying.
‘…Let’s go to the lecture room early today.’
Sima Yuli resolved to avoid Shen Shilin’s clique as much as possible for today.
First, she just had to leave the room before Shen Shilin returned to the dormitory and arrive at the lecture room first.
Then they would have no time to throw away her chair or smear dog poop on it.
Soon, Sima Yuli came out of the bathroom and wiped the moisture from her body.
Since Shen Shilin was not there, she could wash as much as she wanted.
‘But my hair is still like a tangled mess.’
Sima Yuli pressed her curly hair with a towel to squeeze out the moisture.
Soon, she walked toward the lecture hall building early in the morning.
Lest she run into anyone she knew on her way to school, she moved by hiding in shaded and cornered spots as much as possible.
Because the first class happened to be ‘Mental Cultivation Method and Lightness Art’, she entered the lecture room searching for a cornered seat as early as possible.
‘Whew. The chair is still there.’
Sima Yuli searched for her designated seat.
Fortunately, the chair was neither discarded nor smeared with poop.
Even so, lest food waste or ashes were smeared on it, Sima Yuli sat down only after scanning the surroundings thoroughly before sitting on the chair.
Right at that moment,
Creaaak…
someone opened the door of the lecture room and entered.
‘Huh? Is there anyone coming at this hour?’
Sima Yuli raised her head in surprise at the fact that there was someone coming to the lecture room as early as herself.
But,
“H-Hurry up and pack, let’s leave.”
“I am fine even leaving everything behind…”
“Please wait. I’ll just bring out my luggage quickly.”
The three people who entered the lecture room were faces Sima Yuli also knew well.
Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi.
The three who always hung around with Shen Shilin had sneaked into the lecture room like thieves.
They went toward their designated seats where they always sat, then packed up their belongings like writing instruments and books.
And they stealthily left the lecture room like rats.
“…”
Sima Yuli looked at them with a puzzled expression.
In an instant,
“Hieee?!”
Jin Xizhi, locking eyes with Sima Yuli, let out a shriek that was not quite a scream.
At that, Song Yu and Tai Zhenzhe beside her also got startled.
All of their faces were swollen fat, and their teeth were entirely knocked out.
One of their arms, whether broken or not, was swollen fat and supported by a splint, and the opposite leg was in a similar state, so they leaned on a crutch with their intact hand.
Above all,
“Aaaaah! S-Sima Yuli?!”
“Why, why, why are you waiting even here?! I said I was sorry! Save me, please!”
“I’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorryI’msorry…”
The moment Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi locked eyes with Sima Yuli, they began to scream like people who had witnessed a ghost.
“…”
There was no time for Sima Yuli to react.
The three could not even lock eyes properly with Sima Yuli.
Then they threw away all they held in their hands and fled for their lives with their tails between their legs.
“W-What is this?”
Sima Yuli stood up from her seat, wondering what was going on.
Then she looked down at the items they had dropped simultaneously.
It was a document contained inside a white envelope.
On the surface of the envelope, the following three characters were written:
<Notice of Withdrawal>
* * *
Exactly half a day ago. Dark night.
Bong—
From afar, the tolling of the bell announcing the start of the Hour of the Rat (23:00–01:00) was heard.
On the rooftop of the dormitory building, several first-class cadets were gathered.
Two female and two male cadets. Four in total.
They were Shen Shilin, Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi’s clique.
“Ah, damn, seriously, I’ve seen all kinds of crazy bastards, really.”
Shen Shilin. She spoke, sipping from a gourd containing fire liquor.
Although bringing alcohol into the dormitory was prohibited, they did not care about such things.
Song Yu nodded at Shen Shilin’s words.
“Was his name Ximen Qing? He really seemed like a madman. Burning the bribes was completely crossing the line.”
“Isn’t he protesting that it’s not enough and asking for more? Otherwise, why would he do such a crazy thing?”
Tai Zhenzhe also chimed in.
Jin Xizhi, who was clinging close to Shen Shilin, opened her mouth as if anxious.
“Looking at his eyes, he seemed like a genuine nutcase. Might we have messed with him wrongly in vain?”
“He’s merely a petty assistant instructor at best. If he were a truly capable guy, he would have come as an instructor from the start, not an assistant instructor.”
Shen Shilin spoke, grinding her teeth.
“Wait and see. I already sent a carrier pigeon. Once my mom and dad read my letter, they will charge in here immediately. And they will go to the dean to lodge a formal complaint and cut off that crazy bastard’s head. How much is the donation my mom and dad have offered to this place so far?”
“Ohh, so cool, Shen Shilin!”
Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi admired Shen Shilin.
Soon, Shen Shilin raised her liquor bottle.
“To our pride! To the dismissal of that bastard Ximen Qing!”
“Cheers!”
The four of Shen Shilin’s clique shouted excitedly, raising their bottles to toast.
Right at that moment,
Creaaak—
The iron door of the rooftop slowly opened.
The four, including Shen Shilin, hurriedly hid their liquor bottles behind their backs.
“What? Who came?”
“We locked the door tightly though? Is it the housemaster?”
“No. We already gave bribes to the housemaster. He won’t climb up here.”
“Then who came? No one else comes here besides us.”
All of them offered a word each with expressions full of vigilance.
At that moment, a familiar shadow cast beyond the iron door.
Step—
The one who revealed themselves on the rooftop was someone the four knew very well.
“What? Sima Yuli?”
Shen Shilin snorted as if dumbfounded.
Vigilance disappeared from the faces of the remaining three as well.
“What? How did that crazy bitch get here?”
“What a shock. My heart almost fell. Was I just scared of Sima Yuli?”
“Hey, you fucking bitch! You startled me! Do you want to die?!”
Shen Shilin, Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi suddenly radiated killing intent toward Sima Yuli, who appeared on the rooftop.
However, Sima Yuli’s reaction was somewhat different from until now.
Beckon, beckon—
She stood tall facing Shen Shilin’s clique, then moved her finger.
It was a signal telling them to come here.
Shen Shilin let out a dry laugh.
“Has she gone mad? Where does she think she is, ordering us to come and go?”
Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi also reacted as if it were absurd.
But Sima Yuli was still beckoning with her finger.
The first to react was Song Yu.
He stood up from his seat with a giggling expression and walked straight toward Sima Yuli.
“Crazy bitch, have you lost your fear? Why did you suddenly become so brave? Huh? Is it because the newly arrived assistant instructor seems to side with you? Huh? Do you need to eat poop once more to realize your place?”
Song Yu walked in front of Sima Yuli.
And he extended his finger, attempting to press her forehead hard.
However,
Crack!
Song Yu’s finger, which had tried to press Sima Yuli’s forehead, bent in the exact opposite direction.
“Eh?”
Song Yu did not even realize what had occurred.
He merely stared at his index finger, which was bent in a strange direction.
Soon,
“Aaaaaargh?!”
the pain arising from the broken bone paralyzed Song Yu’s entire arm.
“Th-This crazy bitch broke my finger?!”
The moment Song Yu was about to raise his head toward Sima Yuli,
Crack!
Sima Yuli’s small palm swung from top to bottom.
With that single strike, all twenty-eight of Song Yu’s teeth popped out of his lips.
Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter, roll, roll, roll, roll…
Song Yu tumbled down, slavering saliva and blood from his mouth.
Then, turning over like a frog struck by sudden death, he began to tremble violently.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Shen Shilin, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi wore blank expressions.
They, too, were in a state of not yet realizing how things were returning now.
Under such a situation,
Step, step—
Sima Yuli began to walk toward this side.
Tai Zhenzhe finally realized reality.
“Wh-What? Did you just beat up Song Yu? Even using internal energy? You crazy bitch!”
Fighting using internal energy inside the Ascending Heaven Academy was strictly prohibited.
Excluding official duels with observers, that is.
But the reality was that duels or spars conducted by cadets to evade the rules occurred occasionally.
“Fine! If you use internal energy, I will use it too! You damn bitch!”
Tai Zhenzhe balled his two fists and infused them with internal energy.
Soon, Tai Zhenzhe’s fist extended in a straight trajectory.
It was aimed precisely at Sima Yuli’s chest.
However,
Snap!
By Sima Yuli’s knee that suddenly shot upward, Tai Zhenzhe’s arm bent into an L-shape midway.
“Ack?!”
Before he could even let out a scream, Sima Yuli grabbed the back of Tai Zhenzhe’s neck and slammed his body onto the ground just like that.
On the hard stone floor, Tai Zhenzhe’s body fell back-first.
Bam!
Along with a roar as if a leather drum burst, Tai Zhenzhe’s back bent like a bow.
“Gurgle, gurgle…”
His eyes rolling back and crab-like foam rising from his mouth looked highly unusual.
But Sima Yuli merely stepped over Tai Zhenzhe’s chest and kept walking.
Step, step, step—
In front of her, Shen Shilin and Jin Xizhi were still standing blankly.
“Aaaaah!”
Jin Xizhi screamed, drawing the sword at her waist.
It was a wooden sword crafted by carving the core of solid darkwood.
“D-Die, you crazy bitch!”
The wooden sword swung from top to bottom.
It was a blow that, if hit properly, could easily shatter a human skull.
However,
Thump!
Jin Xizhi’s wooden sword was caught too easily in Sima Yuli’s hand.
“…”
Meeting Sima Yuli’s gaze, Jin Xizhi froze stiff like a frog in front of a snake.
Grab—
Soon, Sima Yuli’s hand firmly grabbed a handful of Jin Xizhi’s hair, and then,
Crack—
kicked and shattered Jin Xizhi’s ankle just like that.
“Aaaaah!”
Jin Xizhi, whose hair was grabbed while her ankle was bent, attempted to swing the wooden sword, but it was already firmly caught in Sima Yuli’s hand.
Crash!
Jin Xizhi slammed her face on the stone floor and rolled over.
She was weeping loudly, pouring blood from her smashed nose, forehead, and lips.
Step, step, step, step-
Soon, Sima Yuli stopped in front of Shen Shilin.
Shen Shilin spoke as if sneering.
“You’ve gone completely mad now, have you?”
Her tone was no different from usual.
However, the corners of her mouth were trembling violently.
The uneven stance she had been standing in earlier was now somehow gathered neatly together.
Sima Yuli did not say any words.
She merely raised her palm high, just like until now, and
Slap!
merely slapped Shen Shilin’s cheek.
The moment she was hit once by Sima Yuli’s palm, Shen Shilin could realize two facts.
First. Sima Yuli had not used internal energy so far.
Second. Nonetheless, this bitch’s palm was as painful as being struck by an iron hammer.
And the moment Shen Shilin raised her swollen face, the third fact immediately struck her brain.
“…”
Sima Yuli’s palm was slowly rising upward once again.
Third. Sima Yuli had no intention of stopping after hitting once.
Shen Shilin, realizing that, hurriedly opened her mouth.
“W-Wait…!”
But she was not given the luxury of speaking.
Crack!
Because Sima Yuli’s palm, dropping down like an axe blade splitting firewood, slammed onto the opposite side of Shen Shilin’s cheek.
Naturally, twice was not the end.
Slap! Crack! Slap! Bam!
The more the palm and cheek met, the more sounds of something breaking, severing, and bursting poured like rain.
Shen Shilin rolled back her eyes, frothing bloody foam.
At that,
Splash!
Sima Yuli shoved the fire liquor contained in the gourd into Shen Shilin’s mouth and woke her up.
“Blech! Hic! Ugh! Hngg…”
“Ah, it hurts… it hurts… aaaaaah…”
“Hic, sob… uwaaaaah!”
Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi, who had fainted, also opened their eyes similarly.
“…”
Sima Yuli was still not saying any words.
Only looking down at the four in front of her with an expressionless face as cold and hard as a corpse’s face.
And before that alien gaze, the four felt an even more chilling dread.
Soon,
Slap!
without any warning, the unconditional beating began once again.
Just as they had bullied Sima Yuli without any reason until now, they also did not know the reason why such a thing was taking place today.
Slap! Crack!
Sima Yuli suppressed the four who rushed using internal energy, without using even a handful of internal energy herself.
And that with a fearsome momentum as if she would beat them to death right then.
“Why on earth are you doing this suddenly…”
Slap! Crack! Crack!
“W-We were wrong. We are sorry for that time. We were all wrong…”
Slap! Crack! Crack! Thump!
“What should we do? What must we do for you to forgive us…”
Slap! Crack! Crack! Thump! Crunch!
“Please stop… I beg you…”
Slap! Crack! Crack! Thump! Crunch! Slap!
Sounds as if firewood were splitting burst out in succession, and the pleading and wailing voices that had been flowing since who knows when were all cut off.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Shen Shilin, Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi, these four curled up like shrimp, only groaning, unable to do anything.
They merely hoped that this hellish time would pass quickly.
But,
Slap! Crack! Crack! Thump! Crunch! Slap! …Crack!
the pain did not stop.
As if absolutely determined not to let them get used to it, the longer time passed, the more harsh and severe it became.
Meanwhile, the appearances of Shen Shilin, Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi had changed a lot.
None of their teeth were intact, and both of their cheeks became so bloated that they exceeded the width of their shoulders.
The size of their faces swelled to over three times their previous size, and one arm and leg of each became unusable.
“P-Please stop…”
“S-Sh-Spare my l-life…”
“I w-was w-w-wrong… I w-was w-w-wrong…”
But,
“…”
Sima Yuli, as if she could not even hear the pleadings of the four, moved her steps with an expressionless face.
And she still, mechanically, raised her palm and began to strike the cheeks of the four alternately.
Slap! Crack! Crack! Thump! Crunch! Slap! …Crack! …Crack! …Crack! …Crack! …Crack! …Crack! Slap!
Only then could Shen Shilin, Song Yu, Tai Zhenzhe, and Jin Xizhi additionally realize one more fact following what they had felt earlier.
Fourth. The night is long.