The students of the Martial Arts Academy were divided into ten classes. Dean Zhou never interfered with how the professors taught, nor did he inquire about what the students had learned. In his view, how the professors taught was their own business, and had nothing to do with him, the dean. Whether they learned or not, whether they learned well or not, was their own business, and also had nothing to do with him, the dean.
Therefore, Dean Zhou seemed completely unaware that Mo Wanwu had taken a class of students to the mountains north of Chang'an City. By the time he learned of the news, it was already afternoon, and the students who had ridden the Martial Arts Academy's warhorses were almost out of Chang'an City. The reason he learned of this was because Qiu Yu had gone to look for Fang Jie but hadn't found him, and after asking around, she learned that Mo Wanwu had taken the students to conduct some kind of combat exercise.
When Qiu Yu heard the news, she was shocked and immediately went to find Dean Zhou.
When she found this highly respected and truly the number one military figure in the Great Sui Dynasty, the old man was taking a nap. Wearing only a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, he lay on the bed, sleeping soundly. Qiu Yu banged on the door. Dean Zhou got up impatiently and asked, "What is it?"
"Mo Wanwu took Fang Jie's class to Half-Moon Mountain."
"Oh!"
Dean Zhou said "Oh," and lay back down. "So what if they went?"
The door was pushed open roughly by Qiu Yu. She strode in and asked angrily, "But Zhihui is in Half-Moon Mountain. Crane Cry Daoist and Mr. Zhuo went after him. Have you forgotten how dangerous that mountain is now?!"
"Half-Moon Mountain is very big."
Dean Zhou yawned, reluctantly sat up again, rubbed her eyes, and said, "They're not that unlucky to encounter Zhihui as soon as they enter the mountain. If Zhihui were so easy to find, how come Zhuo Buyi and the others haven't found him after searching for so many days?"
"Because Zhuo Buyi and the others are hard to kill, but the students are easy to kill!"
Qiu Yu said forcefully. "What did they go to Half-Moon Mountain for?"
Dean Zhou asked.
"Yesterday, a student disagreed with Mo Wanwu's lecture, and the two had an argument. Today, Mo Wanwu took the students to Half-Moon Mountain. He only took Fang Jie and Zhang Kuang; the others formed another team. The purpose was to demonstrate the importance of scouts. I guess Fang Jie and Zhang Kuang were both recruited by Mo Wanwu to be his scouts."
"Idiot."
Dean Zhou muttered sleepily, "If a student is dissatisfied, does that mean we have to go through all that trouble to bring people there and start a fight to prove we're right? When did the professors at my Martial Arts Academy become so idiotic...? The simplest way to deal with a student's dissatisfaction is to reason with them. If they're still not satisfied, then beat them until they are. Anyway, professors at the Martial Arts Academy never take responsibility for beating students..."
"That's not the point. The point is, what do we do now!"
"What do you mean, what do we do?"
Dean Zhou countered. Qiu Yu, slightly annoyed, said, "I've been asking you, what if Fang Jie and the others encounter Zhi Hui? The Buddhist sect wants to kill Fang Jie, didn't Fang Jie just walk right into their trap and get killed?!"
"Is that so?"
Dean Zhou murmured, then shook his head: "No."
"No what?"
Qiu Yu asked.
Dean Zhou slowly put on his boots, walked to the table, and poured a cup of cold tea: "When you first saw Zhi Hui, what was he doing?"
"On the run."
"And then?"
"He captured Fang Jie on the way."
"And then?"
Qiu Yu paused, seemingly understanding the dean's meaning. Dean Zhou finished his cold tea, smiled, and said, "If you're worried about your precious disciple, go check on him. But I think Zhihui won't kill Fang Jie. If he wanted to… Fang Jie would have died the first time he met Zhihui. Don't tell me it was Fang Jie's sudden stab that forced Zhihui back; even an idiot wouldn't believe that. If Zhihui had the will to kill, a hundred Fang Jies tied together would be dead."
"Why won't Zhihui kill Fang Jie?"
Qiu Yu asked.
Dean Zhou rolled his eyes at her and asked in annoyance, "I'm not a god, how would I know!"
He walked back to the bedside, lay down, and said seriously, "Disturbing an old person's afternoon nap is a very immoral thing to do. As a professor at the Martial Arts Academy, you should be aware of this. So if you don't leave now, I don't mind throwing you out. I'm very, very old, and an afternoon nap is one of the few things I can still enjoy."
Qiu Yu stomped her foot and ran out. Dean Zhou smiled to himself, "Only that stomp of his foot makes him seem like a woman."
...
...
Mo Wanwu glanced at Fang Jie, then quickly looked away. For some reason, Fang Jie saw a hint of apology in his eyes. He assumed the professor felt guilty for having dragged him into his camp, failing to notice the complex meaning in Mo Wanwu's gaze.
"Sir."
Zhang Kuang followed behind Mo Wanwu and asked, "How will this competition be conducted?"
Mo Wanwu was silent for a moment before replying, "Since it's a fight, the only goal is naturally to win. And to win, the most direct method is to defeat all the opponents. It's that simple, why ask?"
"Uh..."
Zhang Kuang was surprised: "Shouldn't we plan before going to war?"
"Plan my ass."
Mo Wanwu snorted coldly: "If playing house with a bunch of kids requires brainpower and planning, then I might as well quit being a professor. Did you really think I dragged you all up Half-Moon Mountain to teach Liu Shuang a lesson and make him realize his mistake? If that was the only simple purpose, wouldn't I just beat him up?"
"Otherwise?"
Fang Jie asked.
Mo Wanwu said, "It's been very hot lately."
This answer seemed incoherent and nonsensical.
But Fang Jie understood, and Zhang Kuang understood as well.
Then, both of them cursed inwardly, "You bastard, you used the guise of a battle to escape the heat at Half-Moon Mountain!"
"You don't know..."
Mo Wanwu chuckled and said, "There's a deep pool in Half-Moon Mountain called Crescent Moon Pool. Its water is icy cold; even in the height of summer, just getting close to the pool's coolness dispels the heat—it's incredibly refreshing. And... Crescent Moon Pool is the only place on Half-Moon Mountain where any living creatures reside. Few people know this secret. There's a six-gilled fish in Crescent Moon Pool, nameless, said to grow to just over a foot long in a hundred years. Its flesh is incomparably delicious. This fish can't be grilled or stewed; it's best eaten raw with a little soy sauce and garlic—absolutely delicious."
Fang Jie realized that having any respect for any professor at the Martial Arts Academy was a very unreliable thing to do.
"Since few people know, and everyone in our class went, doesn't that mean many people know?"
Zhang Kuang asked. Mo Wanwu said, "Of course we can't let them know, so we need to get there before them, catch some fish to eat, and then go fight. That way we'll have the strength."
Fang Jie asked with some emotion, "A hundred miles out of town just to eat fish?"
"What kind of talk is that?"
Mo Wanwu said, slightly annoyed, "Don't you think it's worth it?"
"Uh...worth it, worth it, of course it's worth it."
Fang Jie quickly gave in. Mo Wanwu snorted coldly, "You students who have just entered the Martial Arts Academy are naturally still curious about life there. You think you'll have three wonderful years, perfecting yourselves through fulfilling studies, and leaving the academy as pillars of the Sui Dynasty."
"Bullshit!"
He muttered under his breath, "But have you considered how the professors feel? Every day is monotonous and tedious, having to repeat the same things to different students countless times—it's incredibly boring. For you, every day might be new, but for us, every day is yesterday! So… in order for you to learn more and not waste these three years, we professors must..." We need to constantly improve our mindset. If others don't provide entertainment, we'll find it ourselves. Isn't it good to combine education with entertainment? It achieves the teaching purpose while allowing us to relax—a win-win situation."
Fang Jie nodded, "That's a much better reason than the fish-eating one."
Mo Wanwu smiled smugly, "I think so too."
"The fish I've seen all only have two gills."
Fang Jie asked, puzzled, "Why do the fish in Crescent Lake have six gills?"
"Have you ever seen a three-legged toad? Have you ever seen a two-headed goat? Have you ever seen a tailless pig? Have you ever seen a goose without webbed feet?"
"I haven't seen them, but I've heard of them; they're all freaks."
Fang Jie answered truthfully. "Hmm."
Mo Wanwu said seriously, "You can also interpret the six-gilled fish in Crescent Moon Pool in that way."
"When did you find out about this kind of fish in Crescent Moon Pool?"
"When I was still a student at the Martial Arts Academy, Professor Qiu Yu was my professor. She took us there once. The similarity to this time is that she only brought two students as helpers, but no other group of opponents. That time, we were ordered by Dean Zhou to investigate why there were no animals in Half-Moon Mountain. But clearly, Professor Qiu Yu seemed to have known about the fish in Crescent Moon Pool a long time ago."
"How did she know?"
Fang Jie pressed for details.
"You're annoying. I'm starting to regret choosing you."
Mo Wanwu glared at him, but still gave the answer: "It seems someone took her there when she was a student?"
"Damn it..."
Fang Jie couldn't help but swear: "I always thought Professor Qiu was very young, no more than thirty!"
Mo Wanwu looked at Fang Jie with sympathy, but there was another meaning in his eyes. Fang Jie understood; it meant he was being called an idiot… However, just as he was feeling annoyed, Mo Wanwu's next words restored some of his confidence.
"She's indeed not very old, but the reason she's so senior… is because she's a child prodigy."
"This student understands."
Fang Jie returned Mo Wanwu's look with pity.
"When you were her student, you must have been older than her, right?"
Mo Wanwu: "You can shut up now!"
…
…
On another official road, Liu Shuang was giving a final pep talk before leaving the city.
"We have thirty people!"
He looked at his companions and said, "Even if the master's cultivation is high, even if Fang Jie and that Zhang Kuang are both scouts, so what? This competition is about military strategy, not cultivation. The master can't rely on his higher cultivation to force his way in and beat us all up. Since it's a test of military strategy, and we only need to defend, there's nothing to worry about."
His best friend, and also his idol, calmly said beside him with a cold and arrogant expression, "Once we enter the mountains, we'll travel in groups. Even if we don't scout, what can they do? Fang Jie and Zhang Kuang are scouts. If we spot them, we'll all attack and subdue that person. The master will have lost, because he'll be left with only himself."
This person was Yuan Chengshi, a man of high status. His father was Yuan Chongwu, the Grand Administrator of Hebei Province of the Sui Dynasty, a high-ranking official of the second rank. Liu Shuang, on the other hand, was merely the son of a prefect, far lower in status than Yuan Chengshi. "Whatever you say."
Liu Shuang chuckled coldly, "I've been wanting to find a chance to beat up that Fang Jie for a long time. That arrogant good-for-nothing is disgusting!"
"This is a duel."
Yuan Chengshi said with a smile, "If any of you want to beat up Fang Jie, then today is definitely the best opportunity. Beat him openly, beat him hard. And after you've beaten him, the teacher will never show him any favoritism. You don't need to feel guilty about ganging up on him, because he is the second outstanding genius of the Nine Gates in the Great Sui Dynasty. So thirty against one is very fair. To put it another way, you can think that Fang Jie should be proud. Fighting thirty against one shows his pride and status, doesn't it?"
Many people laughed along, but some disagreed.
In the crowd, a female student frowned slightly, seemingly disgusted by Yuan Chengshi and Liu Shuang's attitude. She had been at the back of the group without speaking to anyone else; she was one of only two female students in the class. The other one was riding alongside Yuan Chengshi, her eyes filled with ambiguity.