Don't Try to See Through Me

In the blink of an eye, afternoon arrived.

In the afternoon, the Outer Court disciples had to attend literary classes, which primarily taught them literacy and martial arts knowledge.

Zhuang Xun was already literate.

The writing of this world was extremely similar to that of his previous life. Although he could not write it when he first arrived, he could recognize the characters just like reading traditional characters from his past life. It had only taken him about a month of effort to master the writing of this world.

Zhuang Xun looked at the old scholar teaching in a rigid, formulaic manner at the front of the lecture hall, then at the dozing Zhang Tie and An Dafu beside him, and finally at Li Zigeng, who was listening intently. For a moment, he felt as if he had returned to a classroom from his previous life.

Well, it's been a long time since I've attended class... Zhuang Xun began to listen attentively.

Half an incense stick's time later, his attention was drawn to the chirping of birds outside the window.

An incense stick's time later, he began to fantasize about a zombie apocalypse breaking out in the martial academy and how he should escape.

After enduring half an hour of agony, the literacy class finally ended. Zhuang Xun and his roommates went to the latrine together, and upon returning, he began to look forward to the next class: Martial Arts Knowledge.

The teacher who taught martial arts knowledge was a bronze-skinned young man surnamed Zhang, whose lectures were witty and humorous.

This time, Zhuang Xun maintained full focus throughout the entire class. Relying on Bai Yujing's photographic memory, he committed all the martial arts knowledge he had long desired to learn to memory.

He learned that the realms of a martial artist were divided into Nine Ranks, and above the First Rank was the Zenith.

To become a martial artist, one had to practice martial arts.

However, the threshold for practicing martial arts was extremely high, requiring the practitioner to possess nine stone of strength, with some profound martial arts even requiring ten stone of strength.

“Then my body as Bai Yujing already meets the requirements. When will the martial academy teach me martial arts?”

After thinking it over, Zhuang Xun decided to wait a week or two. If the Principal, who was rumored to want to take him as a disciple, still hadn't made a move by then, he would go ask Huang Wei.

After the literary classes ended, there was still some time before dinner.

Zhuang Xun practiced the Wanxing Body-Tempering Technique on the martial arts field for nearly half an hour. Afterward, he left Bai Yujing to continue practicing on the field while he controlled the exhausted Yan Pingsheng to head to the dining hall for dinner with his roommates.

Prices in the dining hall were much cheaper than outside.

While cooked beef cost a hundred wen per catty outside, the dining hall sold it for only eighty wen, and rice, noodles, and steamed buns were offered in unlimited quantities for five wen.

Zhuang Xun ordered two catties of cooked beef, a tub of rice, and three steamed buns, eating while listening to Zhang Tie and An Dafu brag and chat.

“Hey, I'm going to get a bowl of medicinal soup to drink. Anyone want to go?” An Dafu stood up and said.

“How much is a bowl?” Zhang Tie hesitated.

An Dafu's tone carried a hint of superiority. “It's not expensive, just one tael of silver. The effect is pretty good. My dad got me a bowl before. After drinking it, my whole body felt refreshed the next day, and I didn't even feel tired when practicing my punches.”

Hearing this, Zhuang Xun thought of how Yan Pingsheng had exhausted his strength after practicing for just a short while today.

“One tael of silver isn't expensive?!” Zhang Tie's eyes widened. “Ah, forget it, forget it. If I drink that a few times, I'll have to live on the wind for the next few months... Pingsheng, where are you going?”

“Oh, I'm going to get a bowl too.”

Zhang Tie was both surprised and envious. “Whoa, I couldn't tell, but you're actually a rich young master too!”

An Dafu looked surprised, his eyes filled with curiosity. He smiled and said, “Pingsheng, where is your family from? I haven't heard you mention them yet. Maybe our elders know each other.”

“What rich young master? I just saved up by pinching pennies,” Zhuang Xun said with a smile. “I'm from outside the city, so we probably don't know each other.”

“Where outside the city? My granduncle has a wide network of contacts, maybe he knows them.”

“You can save up a tael of silver to spend every day, and you call that not rich?”

Zhuang Xun smiled and did not answer, but his image had already been shrouded in a veil of mystery in the eyes of An Dafu and Zhang Tie. For a time, their attitudes toward him became much warmer.

Yet only Zhuang Xun himself knew that he was purely playing the swell. With barely over twenty taels of silver left in his pocket, he still dared to copy those wealthy young masters and ladies by drinking medicinal soup that cost one tael a bowl.

Bai Yujing didn't need to spend money, while Yan Pingsheng's minimum daily expense was one tael and four hundred wen. If he spent frugally, it would last him barely half a month.

Unfortunately, Bai Yujing's all-you-can-eat privilege could only be used under that identity, and takeout was not allowed.

Having made his plan, Zhuang Xun carried the steaming bowl of medicinal soup back to his seat.

He picked it up and took a small sip. It was astringent and very bitter, tasting somewhat like the herbal tea from his previous life.

Selling it so expensive and they won't even add sugar, let alone dried tangerine peel... he grumbled in his heart, holding his breath as he gulped down several large mouthfuls.

Zhang Tie looked at An Dafu's and Yan Pingsheng's medicinal soup and wanted to taste it too. After some thought, he felt that An Dafu was easier to talk to, and they had a better relationship.

“Dafu, give me a sip. Let me taste it.”

“Huh? It's just bitter, it doesn't taste that good.”

“Come on, just one sip, just one sip...”

In the end, An Dafu couldn't win against Zhang Tie and reluctantly let him have a sip. As a result, Zhang Tie gulped down half the bowl in one go, then frowned and said, “Tastes awful. Good thing I didn't buy it,” leaving An Dafu so angry he cursed him up and down in his heart.

...

At night, the four roommates lay in bed and chatted.

Perhaps because they had exercised too much during the day, the voices gradually died down before they had chatted for long. As usual, Zhuang Xun's soul slipped into Bai Yujing's body to sleep.

In the dead of night, Li Zigeng stared blankly at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes, a loud, buffalo-like snoring echoing in his ears.

After a while, Zhang Tie's snoring died down.

Li Zigeng breathed a sigh of relief and slowly closed his eyes, about to fall asleep. Just as his consciousness drifted, a harsh, wood-sawing snore startled him awake.

It turned out that An Dafu had taken over the relay.

After only a moment, the buffalo-like snoring returned, and Zhang Tie and An Dafu performed a duet.

Li Zigeng stared blankly at the ceiling, his eyes gradually welling with tears.

At this moment, his homesickness reached its peak.

...

“Ouch, my whole body aches!”

Zhang Tie woke up, stretched, and glanced around, only to see Yan Pingsheng sitting on his bed reading a storybook. “Yo, Pingsheng, up so early?”

“Yeah.”

The sleep quality of Bai Yujing's body was simply too good. Having slept his fill, Zhuang Xun had risen early.

“Let's go wash up.”

“I've already washed up.”

“Alright then.” Zhang Tie looked at the still-sleeping An Dafu and Li Zigeng, walking over to drag them up. “Stop sleeping, stop sleeping! Let's go wash up. We still have morning practice in a bit.”

“Let Zigeng sleep a bit longer,” Zhuang Xun called out to stop Zhang Tie.

When he got up, Li Zigeng still hadn't slept, having been kept awake by the snoring of those two.

However, he was too late. Li Zigeng had already been woken up by Zhang Tie. Sporting a pair of panda-like dark circles under his eyes, he stared ahead, completely devoid of any desire to live.

How tragic. Good thing I don't sleep on this side... Zhuang Xun rejoiced that he had another clone to stay in.