Chapter 39: The Three Heroes of the National Teaching Academy
"What do you mean?"
"Tomorrow, in that match, try to hold out until three strikes... no, if you can last until four strikes before taking him down, that would be best."
Tang Thirty-Six leaned close to his ear and said, "Someone placed a heavy bet at Tianji Pavilion, wagering that if you step into the ring tomorrow, you won't go beyond three strikes."
Chen Changsheng was taken aback and asked, "Tianji Pavilion is that merchant guild with ties to the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, right?"
Tang Thirty-Six nodded.
Chen Changsheng asked, "Doing this... won't the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion get angry?"
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him as if he were an idiot and said, "My family took over Tianxiang Pavilion this year. Tianji Pavilion wants to curry favor, so they secretly tipped us off. Otherwise, how do you think I'd know?"
Chen Changsheng was a bit shocked and asked, "Are you saying the four major pavilions have been colluding in secret all along?"
"No duh, otherwise how would we make money?"
"Isn't this... cheating those people?"
"No duh, those people place bets precisely because they're waiting to be cheated by us."
Chen Changsheng was speechless. After a long pause, he asked somewhat sheepishly, "How many strikes?"
Tang Thirty-Six said, "Four strikes will do."
Chen Changsheng thought it over, still feeling embarrassed, and asked, "Then... what's my cut?"
Tang Thirty-Six stared at him as if discovering a new person and said, "Not bad, you know to negotiate the price beforehand."
Chen Changsheng replied, "When we left Zhou Prison, Zhe Xiu said we needed to add money... I think I should be the one to cover that."
Tang Thirty-Six thought for a moment and said, "Fair enough. You get forty percent of the total profit."
Chen Changsheng thought it was reasonable and agreed.
Xuan Yuan Po chimed in from the side, "I really don't get why Zhe Xiu and you all need so much money. For simple country kids like us, having meat to eat and leather clothes to wear is more than enough."
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him mockingly and said, "Look at you now, shameless as can be, and you still call yourself simple?"
Xuan Yuan Po got a bit angry and said, "How am I like that? My hometown doesn't have sly people like you."
Chen Changsheng didn't want to hear Xuan Yuan Po standing on the big banyan tree shouting about how the capital wasn't his home and his hometown didn't have so many people, so he quickly stepped in to mediate, saying, "You really have changed from before."
Tang Thirty-Six burst out laughing and said, "See, even Chen Changsheng says so."
Xuan Yuan Po looked very wronged.
Chen Changsheng patted him on the waist and comforted him, "But it's not your fault. Anyone who spends too much time with someone like Tang Tang will end up a bit narcissistic, even a little shameless."
Tang Thirty-Six's smile instantly vanished, and he was quite annoyed, while Xuan Yuan Po started laughing heartily.
Just then, from beyond the wall across the lake, faint laughter could be heard.
"Ha ha ha ha, look... those three people in the tree are the Three Heroes of the National Teaching Academy."
"What do you mean by 'Three Heroes'... Little Dean Chen and Young Master Tang are one thing, but how can that bear-like guy count?"
"Is that guy Xuan Yuan Po? Did he pull that willow tree out of the ground? Uproot it or pull it down? That guy's like a mountain, how heavy is he? How does that tree even hold him? Aren't they afraid it'll break?"
"The trees at the National Teaching Academy are naturally not ordinary trees."
Chen Changsheng and the other two were speechless.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
Lately, too many people had come to the National Teaching Academy to gawk, especially tourists from other prefectures who didn't know the capital's rules. They sneaked past the surveillance of the surrounding palace priests and national religion cavalry and slipped into the backyard.
Seeing the wall, they naturally wanted to see what the National Teaching Academy looked like behind it, so they started climbing over.
The laughter and chatter from beyond the wall across the lake abruptly stopped, replaced by the sound of hooves and scolding. It seemed the tourists had been subdued by the national religion cavalry.
The National Teaching Academy fell silent again, but the three of them suddenly lost the desire to talk.
"I don't like this kind of life lately," Chen Changsheng said.
He had cultivated the Dao since childhood, following his heart and seeking the path of longevity, naturally preferring tranquility. Tang Thirty-Six and Xuan Yuan Po, though at an age that craved excitement, were also tired of it, because the past few days had been far too lively, even to the point where they couldn't stand it. Tang Thirty-Six shook his head at him and said, "I told you to go harder, but you never listen."
The first time he fought on behalf of the National Teaching Academy, he severed a hand of that instructor from the palace-affiliated school. But afterward, at Chen Changsheng's request, he held back a lot. Looking at Chen Changsheng, who was silent with his head down, he continued, "If... you really agreed with me, killing a few people would definitely ease the current situation. You won't kill, and you won't let me kill—what do those people have to fear? Naturally, they come one after another. Isn't the Tianhai family just waiting to see us run ourselves ragged?"
Chen Changsheng said, "But don't you think that fighting like this all the time actually helps us grow?"
Tang Thirty-Six said, "If you want to see it that way, it's not wrong... but you yourself said earlier that you don't like this kind of life."
Chen Changsheng looked into his eyes and said, "A few days ago, you said that if you couldn't solve these problems, you'd change your name."
Tang Thirty-Six was a bit annoyed and stopped trying to persuade him. Remembering what Chen Changsheng had said earlier, he fell silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There is indeed a problem. His Holiness the Pope has been ignoring this matter. We should look into it."
Chen Changsheng said, "There's another thing I'd like you to help me look into."
"What is it?"
"Is the armor inside Boss Mu's clothes really the legendary Six Imperial Divine Armor?"
After that battle, Tang Thirty-Six had shared his speculation with him. Now, hearing Chen Changsheng ask, he said, "If nothing unexpected happens, that's what it should be."
Chen Changsheng was silent for a moment, then asked, "How can I get my hands on that Six Imperial Divine Armor?"
When Tang Thirty-Six had mentioned this speculation, he naturally explained the origin of the Six Imperial Divine Armor. It was originally a treasure of the Tianliang Wang family, later forcibly taken by the imperial court into the palace, and now it had fallen into the hands of the Tianhai family.
Tang Thirty-Six looked at him puzzled and asked, "What do you want to do with it?"
"I want to give it back to Wang Po," Chen Changsheng said. "To thank him for his help in Xunyang City."
Tang Thirty-Six was a bit displeased and said, "I've helped you so much, and you never think of giving me anything?"
"Displeasure, anger, resentment, the craving for slaughter... these are the easiest emotions to stir up when you're oppressed or provoked."
Tianhai Chengwu stood by the railing, looking at the misty lake, and said with emotion, "I just want to see Chen Changsheng kill someone. Whether he's forced into it or acts on impulse, as long as he kills, that's fine. If he keeps killing like this, his hands stained with blood, turning into someone like Su Li, then what right would he have to compete with our people? What chance would he have to become the next Pope? Who would have thought that someone so young, with such immense power and fortune, could still perfectly control his mindset? To this day, he hasn't killed a single person."
He turned to look at the person by the table and said, "I'm curious—what do you think of him?"
(The next chapter will be in the evening. Also, starting to release saved drafts. It feels very tense and fresh. I've only done this twice before, and I'm worried I might make a mistake posting...)
...
...
/br