Chapter 52 0054: Isn’t This a Bit Too Showy?

Fifteen minutes before midnight.

Elsewhere, in the camp of Lan Feng Academy, as the clock edged closer to twelve, everyone had gathered, discussing where they should hide. It was then that someone noticed—

“Where’s Chu Yun?” Zhang Yang was taken aback.

Hou Manman replied, “He won’t hide.”

Zhang Yang sneered, “Right, I forgot he said he’d never chicken out. Fine, let’s just ignore him. Once he gets beaten to a pulp, he’ll come begging us to team up and figure out how to hide.”

He glanced at the time—midnight was almost upon them—and addressed the group: “Let’s go. Just as we planned, everyone split up and find a place to hide.”

Then he turned to Hou Manman, saying, “Manman, let’s stick together. You’re at level seven, and so am I. Their team only has that class monitor at level nine—the rest are eights and even a few sevens. If any of them get separated and we catch them, taking down one or two should be no problem. What do you think?”

At that, all their classmates shot Zhang Yang looks of utter contempt.

Hou Manman shook her head. “No, I’m not going to hide, either.”

“You’ll get beaten up if you don’t,” Zhang Yang said urgently. “They won’t go easy on you just because you’re a girl.”

Hou Manman answered with quiet confidence, “Actually, you don’t need to hide at all. With Chu Yun holding the line in front, they won’t get past him.”

No sooner had she spoken than the rest burst out laughing. Zhang Yang coughed and said slowly, “It would’ve been better if you hadn’t brought that up, but since you did, I wanted to mention something too. They say Chu Yun defeated Duanmu Ci, but I looked into it—that never happened. My buddy told me it’s just a rumor, and I shouldn’t spread nonsense. I don’t think the Duanmu family would refuse to admit defeat, so it’s definitely not true. Maybe Chu Yun’s got some PR team hyping him up, but, Manman, you shouldn’t fall for fake news like this. Duanmu Ci is the gold standard—he’s the one all geniuses try to emulate, but no one has ever beat him.”

Hou Manman asked, “What’s your point?”

Zhang Yang replied, “I’m skeptical about Chu Yun’s real strength. If he’s really as tough as you say, after all the scorn we’ve heaped on him, would any young man really stay so calm and not even get angry with me?”

Hou Manman responded, “That’s exactly what sets him apart from the rest of you, and why I admire him. If he had to argue with every single person who taunted or insulted him, wouldn’t he be exhausted? Frankly, none of you are worth his time.”

The others’ faces turned sour at her words.

“He’s just bluffing because he can’t back it up,” Wang Biao muttered. “Who knows how he got the money to bribe his way into our team? We’re all drawing academy stipends, so there’s no need to pick a fight with him. And, Miss Manman, since you seem to like him so much, we’ve been giving him a pass for your sake. But look at it from our side—he acts so arrogant, even saints would want to teach him a lesson. You should talk to him.”

Hou Manman frowned. “Talk to him about what?”

Wang Biao said, “Tell him to stop pretending. We’ve met plenty like him—just last year, some rich kid paid his way onto the team, and the academy let us ‘tutor the prince’ just so he could spruce up his resume. But the guy got too cocky and insisted on showing off in a tournament match, and now he’s still lying in a hospital bed.”

Hou Manman smiled faintly. “You don’t really think I’m the one helping with Chu Yun’s publicity, do you?”

Zhao Hu spoke up, “It’s obvious, Miss Manman. The moment you arrived, you announced to everyone that Chu Yun was your guy. Lots of people wouldn’t touch him out of respect for you. Then you kept defending him, saying how impressive he is. With your status, of course we believe what you say. But honestly, if he really were a genius, he wouldn’t even be at Lan Feng. He could stroll into any of the six top martial academies in Guanshan. We don’t want to make things ugly and force anyone into a corner. Chu Yun’s had his fun, and yesterday he even cursed us out, called us trash. Maybe we are, but it matters who says it. If Chu Yun calls us trash, that’s not acceptable! We’re letting it go this time for your sake, Manman, but if he pulls that again, sorry—I’m direct, and I’ll just throw hands.”

Hou Manman nodded. “Fine. Next time, do as you please. You don’t need to worry about my feelings—I certainly won’t help him.”

“You said it!” Zhang Yang perked up. “If I hit him, you won’t hold it against me or plot behind my back?”

“I won’t,” Hou Manman replied. “No one is born to be called trash. If you’re angry, settle it directly—I won’t intervene.”

Everyone’s eyes lit up. “That’s all we needed to hear!”

Hou Manman added, “By the way, didn’t you all want to see him show off and get beaten by the Longjiang team? Chu Yun told me he wouldn’t hide tonight, so chances are he’s really gone to flaunt himself.”

Wang Biao and the others exchanged glances.

After a moment’s thought, Zhao Hu said, “Old Zhang, let’s go watch. We can stay at a distance, and if we run into the Longjiang guys, we can just turn and run—we know this terrain better than them. That arrogant Chu Yun said he’d never back down, right? Let’s see how he gets beaten!”

Zhang Yang pondered a moment, then said, “Alright, let’s go check it out. I’ve honestly had enough of that guy these past days, acting so smug I still can’t get over it.”

“Let’s go see him get pounded. And if they go easy on him, we’ll finish the job!” Wang Biao declared, taking the lead and marching out of camp.

When they reached the Longjiang Academy base, they crouched down, hiding behind leaves, and watched from afar.

Around the campfire, the Longjiang group sat eating barbecue.

With less than five minutes until midnight, Wang Biao was fuming. “Those bastards, calmly eating barbecue while our nerves are stretched to the breaking point! It’s infuriating.”

“Huh?” Zhao Hu wondered. “Why do they have eleven people?”

“Damn!” Zhang Yang exclaimed as he saw someone in the circle by the fire, eating heartily—Chu Yun himself. He was stunned. “Isn’t that Chu Yun? He’s really showing off now!”

The group squinted for a proper look, and sure enough, there was Chu Yun, sitting with the Longjiang team around the fire, eating barbecue. The way the Longjiang people looked at him was fiercer than the flames themselves—pure blazing anger.

Now, there was less than a minute until midnight.