Although this Zhou Zheng gentleman seemed strange, his words did have some weight. After leaving that courtyard, no more students from the academy came to bother him. Only Li Kui was waiting for him outside, his expression was originally worried, but he showed a smile when he saw Su Baiyi unharmed. “It’s good that nothing happened, I was afraid you would be bullied.”
Su Baiyi took off the Junyu sword from his waist and handed it to Li Kui. “I don’t trust this sword with anyone else, you can help me keep it for a few days. Also, this academy is not quite the same as what you said, the place where the literary spirit of the world gathers… and these fools?”
“Lower your voice, lower your voice, don’t let anyone hear you.” Li Kui hurriedly pulled Su Baiyi to the side, walking and talking, “The academy is indeed the place where the literary spirit of the world gathers, there is the Confucian sage who is known as the first in learning in the world, there are the nine gentlemen who have both moral character and talent, there are three hundred scholars who have read poetry and books. But because of this, all the factions are eager to send their young masters from their families to this place for a bit of cultivation, to feel the atmosphere of the academy, and when they return to their own families, they will give a different impression to others, those who should inherit the family head position will inherit the family head position, those who should marry the young lady from the opposite door or faction will marry the young lady. So these disciples are often the pride of heaven in their own sects, growing up being pampered since childhood, one more arrogant and rude than the other, the academy is also very troubled by this, especially after that gentleman went down the mountain, sigh…”
“Which gentleman?” Su Baiyi asked.
Li Kui smiled mysteriously, “You will know later. For now, you just need to know that there are currently three gentlemen living in the academy, third gentleman Li Yanqi, fourth gentleman Li Wai, fifth gentleman Zhou Zheng.”
“I’ve seen Zhou Zheng.” Su Baiyi recalled the scene just now and came to a conclusion. “I think his brain is not good.”
“Hahahahaha.” To Su Baiyi’s surprise, Li Kui, who was very respectful and admiring of the academy, was not angry at all about this remark. “Indeed. In fact, none of the gentlemen in the academy have good brains. Take the Third Gentleman, Li Yanxi, for example. His name means ‘peach and plum trees don’t need to speak, a path will form beneath them,’ but people at the Academy call him Li Buyan.”
“He doesn’t like to talk?” Su Baiyi asked.
“On the contrary, on the days when third gentleman Li Yanqi taught, he could speak for six hours without interruption in the hall, without eating, drinking, or going to the toilet. Whenever a student asked him a question, he could answer a hundred sentences for one question, and eventually no one dared to speak in the hall. Later, whenever a student met his eyes, he would take the initiative to ask the student a question, and later no one dared to look up in the hall. The meaning of Li Buyan is… don’t talk to Master Li. But Master Li has so many lessons to teach, mainly because he is very knowledgeable.”
“What about fourth gentleman Li Wai?” Su Baiyi thought, one day he would have to compare with Master Li.
“Fourth gentleman Li Wai, full of righteous spirit, likes to talk about the way of the gentleman, likes to persuade people to do good deeds, is frank and generous, often leads the students of the academy down the mountain to help the old, weak, women and children of Qiantang City, such as helping the elderly repair their dilapidated houses, sending steamed buns to the poor, teaching children, and he is also one of the gentlemen that the academy students are most afraid of.”
“Old, weak and children are all there. What about women?”
“In the Qiantang City, the Thousand Blooms Pavilion, the name of Gentleman Li is widely known.”
“My apologies. My apologies.”
“Whenever fourth gentleman teaches, students can’t make noise in class, can’t chase and fight after class, can’t talk loudly at mealtime, can’t chat after lights out, can’t turn their heads and peek at others when going to the toilet, and can’t whistle.” Li Kui’s tone seemed to reveal some kind of resentment.
“This is the real Li Buyan!” Su Baiyi exclaimed. “What about fifth gentleman Zhou Zheng…”
“Zhou Zheng, the epitome of upright person and gentleman.” Li Kui stretched out a fist and clenched it hard. “He is also the gentleman with the most upright fist.”
“When will Confucian Sage come back? I’ll leave the mountain as soon as I see him.”
“……..”
Night fell, Su Baiyi sat in the small room arranged for him by the academy, lit a candle, took out the notebook from his sleeve, picked up a pen. He felt that what his master said that day made sense. In this academy where there were dangers everywhere, he had to speak less. He might as well write down what he wanted to say…
“Maybe I can write a work like Mr. Shan Xu’s ‘Hot Blood Academy’.” Su Baiyi chewed on his pen, pondering the day’s events. “Xie Yuling, Xie family’s third young master, he must be the one who asked that woman to save his brother that day. But why didn’t he go down the mountain himself, instead he let his rival Feng Zuojun go down? Feng Zuojun, he said today that he will inherit the Heavenly Dawn Cloud Realm in the future, it seems that he is the grandson of the legendary Cloud Realm. The academy is really full of hidden talents. And that Gentleman Zhou Zheng, he actually enjoys reading novels too! I thought the Academy’s gentlemen were all old and rigid, but it turns out they have such leisurely interests. It makes them a bit more likeable.”
Su Baiyi was talking to himself as he wrote in his notebook. Until the third watch he had no sleepiness at all. Instead, his writing became more and more enthusiastic, and he stopped talking to himself, his brush furiously dancing across the pages. Little did he know that on the distant wall of the courtyard, there were three academy students lying down, who had long been so sleepy that their eyelids could barely stay open.
“Is this newcomer made of iron? He doesn’t sleep at this hour? Xu Zhe, why don’t we just forget it?” One of them yawned.
The student named Xu Zhe quickly covered his mouth, “Don’t make noise, don’t make noise, wait a bit more.”
As soon as Xu Zhe’s words fell, Su Baiyi put down the notebook in his hand, then got up and blew out the candle. The three people on the wall waited for another half an hour before quietly climbing into the courtyard and crawling under the window. Xu Zhe slowly stood up and opened a crack in the window. He saw Su Baiyi lying on the bed, his back facing them. He immediately took out a blow dart from his sleeves and blew it lightly at Su Baiyi.
“Got him.” Xu Zhe smiled.
But Su Baiyi suddenly turned over and caught the dart with two fingers.
“You… don’t you sleep?” Xu Zhe exclaimed.
Su Baiyi sat up from the bed, “You’re right. I haven’t slept for many years.”
“Xu Zhe, what do we do now?” The other two asked.
Su Baiyi looked at the person in front of him in the moonlight and recognized him as the one who stood next to Feng Zuojun during the day. He said helplessly, “What are you trying to do?”
Xu Zhe suddenly sneered, “You’ll know soon enough. The boss was right, you do have some skills, but you’re still too young. How dare you catch my Xu family’s hidden weapon with your hand?”
Su Baiyi frowned slightly and found that his hand was slightly numb. He looked closely and saw that his whole hand was already black, “You!”
“Since you haven’t slept for many years, why don’t you have a good sleep today?” Xu Zhe leaped into the room, walked over, and hoisted the paralyzed Su Baiyi onto his back. “This poison is called Sleeping Bone Fragrance, enough for you to sleep soundly for a few hours.”
Thank you.