Su Ping exited the emergency area, then he saw where Dong Mingsong was seated and headed there.
“Mr. Su!”
“Hello, Professor Su Ping.”
Several teachers who were watching the stage from nearby greeted him. Most of them looked surprised at his arrival, because they had never seen him in person until that day. Though it couldn’t be helped since Su Ping only had a total of two public lessons in the academy, after which he went straight away on his bicycle without giving anyone a chance to meet with him.
Su Ping nodded to them just to show his courtesy
Beside Dong Mingsong, he also found Zhou Yunchan, Fei Yanbo and two other teachers of the Phoenix Peak Academy-Luo Guxue and Lan He. Further aside were seats reserved for students who would fight on that day’s matches.
Su Ping didn’t need to tell his schoolmates from his rivals because the former had glum faces after their defeats, and weren’t paying attention to the current match.
Either that, or, what was going on up on the stage was more of a humiliating beat-up than an actual match.
Ye Hao was commonly believed to be the best student Phoenix Peak Academy had to offer. Yet no one was expecting Ye Hao to lose so miserably against Luo Fengtian. There was completely nothing he could do to put up a fight. His pet was getting thrashed like a sitting duck.
The judge had not blown the whistle yet just because Ye Hao had not admitted defeat, even though everybody could see that he was a lost cause.
“Is that… Mister Su?” Luo Guxue looked away from the stage with a frustrated look. “You don’t have any lessons today, right?” It was clear to her that Su Ping was there to watch the contest. Too bad, he came too late. The result was not pretty.
Lan He heard her words and also looked Su Ping’s way with a surprised face, while silently complimenting Su Ping’s youthful image. He checked the new roster of the academy and didn’t believe the “18” part when looking at Su Ping’s info. Now he changed his mind.
Man… people at such an age are usually students yet to achieve anything. So this is why they’re calling him a true genius? Lan He thought while trying not to show it on his face.
Dong Mingsong also heard about Su Ping’s coming and sighed.
Meanwhile, the students from the rivaling academy such as Dai Yan and Xiong Lei visibly tensed up upon seeing Su Ping’s face. A moment before, they were still talking about how the “weaklings” from Phoenix Peak were squishy punching bags. But as soon as they saw Su Ping, they all stopped talking without being told so.
When they remembered the Inferno Dragon’s terrible advent the other day, they quickly sat farther out of instinct.
Zhou Yunchan and Fei Yanbo found it to be strange that so many people were giving another student so much attention for some reason. But they quickly realized something and both gazed at Su Ping with a serious look.
“Come, Professor Su. Have a seat here.” Luo Guxue’s words helped them prove their suspicion.
“I’m just checking things out.” Su Ping nodded to Luo Guxue without joining her. He went to see the vice principal first. Dong Mingsong also invited Su Ping to take a seat nearby, but someone stopped them. It was Zhou Yunchan, who just interrupted Dong Mingsong with a mocking look.
“This man is the young teacher who wounded our students, is he not? How about giving us the apology we’ve been waiting for, before doing anything else?”.
“He wounded… what?” Both Lu Guxue and Lan He looked at Su Ping again, shocked this time.
Their conversation also drew the attention of several sulking students nearby, who all began inspecting Su Ping with a look of doubt. As the senior members of the academy, they weren’t attending Su Ping’s lessons, though they still heard about the rumors of an Inferno Dragon. Without seeing any solid proof that supported the claims, they weren’t going to trust Su Ping’s rumors too soon.
Luo Guxue spoke to Zhou Yunchan, “What do you mean wounded students, Mister Zhou? Are we mistaking something here?”
“Mistake?” Zhou Yunchan gave her an unfriendly stare. “Mistakes do not end so badly for us. Mister Dong, your vice principal, invited our students here for a contest. What did this young man do? He fought my students in front of your doorstep and injured two of them, including Xiong Lei and his main pet. Should his bear join the games today, we would have won even faster!”
es
The members of Phoenix Peak all looked displeased to hear those words.
Unfortunately, the worst part mentioned by Zhou Yunchan was true. That day, the contestants of Phoenix Peak Academy were all met with evident defeats. They should admit it; unless they wanted to further embarrass themselves for being sore losers.
Yet… it just didn’t feel right when the vice principal of the rivaling academy verbally abused them in the open.
Zhou Yunchan’s speech angered a lot of people, especially Luo Guxue and the student who had lost against Xiong Lei’s “sub pet.” Although, there was not much they could do right then. Asking for a rematch? That would be laughable.
However, this didn’t mean they would see Su Ping getting accused without helping.
Lu Guoxue said, “Mister Zhou, we should talk based on facts, don’t you agree? Professor Su doesn’t usually come here. Perhaps you saw someone else attacking your students—”
Dong Mingsong lifted a hand to stop her. He did wish to back Su Ping up as the vice principal, yet he couldn’t allow this matter to escalate further. If someone careless got the wrong message and claimed that Phoenix Peak Academy had ambushed their rivals before the contest just to have the upper hand, the consequences would be worse than losing the matches.
Dong Mingsong shook his head at Luo Guxue and addressed the other vice principal using the best attitude he could manage. “Zhou… I know Professor Su hurt your students, we admit that. But wasn’t it started by one of your students who provoked Mister Su first? As an advanced teacher, it’s just right for Su Ping to teach some manners to… the unruly young generation. I asked Mister Su to come today just because that ‘lesson’ was unfortunately prior to the contest. But you shouldn’t overstep the line.”
Zhou Yunchan saw Dong Mingsong getting angry for real and decided not to further fuel up the situation. They had obtained a complete victory that day. As long as they received an apology, there was nothing else to ask for.
“Right. Since you said so, we’ll end this matter with the apology you owe us.” Zhou Yunchan sat back. Dong Mingsong nodded and looked at Su Ping with a look mixed with different sentiments.
Su Ping sighed, took out an object from his pocket, and tossed it to Zhou Yunchan.
“Here, your ‘tape’.”[1]
Zhou Yunchan gazed at the tape roll on his lap with an opened jaw. So did Fei Yanbo, and everyone else watching.
Ta-tape. As in, real tape.
“Come on, I had to stop midway to get it from a shop,” said Su Ping. “It cost me three coins. Do I need it to seal your mouth or something?”
Zhou Yunchan bounced up from his seat. His beard stood stiff due to great rage. “This disgraceful, disrespectful rascal!”
Fei Yanbo also stood up. “What an outrageous joke!”
“Su Ping!” Dong Mingsong lost his calm. He expected Su Ping to smooth things out, not to make them worse!
Su Ping didn’t look concerned. “That’s the only ‘explanation’ you’re getting from me today. Take it or leave it. I dunno, is this how the Berserking Blade Academy usually acts? You sent your students to bug me, they got beaten up big time, and they asked some old men for help, who want me to give them some tape. Man, the shame.”
“WHY YOU—” Zhou Yunchan and Fei Yanbo were so infuriated that they started trembling.
Su Ping continued with a smirk, “Don’t give me that ‘accident before the contest’ sh*t. These guys knew there was a contest coming, shouldn’t they have stayed somewhere safe instead of sticking their stupid noses at me? Okay, now they got into trouble for their foolishness, and you expect others to answer for them?
“I mean, what were they thinking? Just imagine what will happen to them once they graduate. Say, they’re gonna get sent to an expedition mission on the next day. Before that happens, they go to some illegal underground arena, inflame someone they can’t handle, and get their teeth beaten out. What are they, a suicide squad? “They should feel lucky that it was me who dealt with them. Why isn’t anyone thanking me?”
Luo Guxue and Lan He listened with widened eyes. They had never seen and would never have believed this side of Su Ping.
Zhou Yunchan felt his heart aching in rage. It had been decades since somebody had talked to him in such a manner. Not even Dong Mingsong could insult him like this.
Fei Yanbo bellowed out, “As a teacher, you unethically assaulted our students and failed to see the injustice of it! Fine. Let’s fight it out and see which part of you deserves that lousy attitude! Your Inferno Dragon, or your pathetic tongue?”
“Hmph. A fight? Are you serious?”
Fei Yanbo’s eyes almost gleamed in extreme anger. “I DO NOT care who you are or who’s your advocate. You either take back those words right this instant, or you’re going to leave inside an ambulance! I’ll make sure of it!”
While speaking, Fei Yanbo glared at Luo Guxue and Lan He to warn them not to make any sudden moves.
[1] “duct tape” in Chinese is pronounced in the same way as “an explanation.”