Chapter 15: Strange Duo
Chapter 15: Strange Duo
.
Since there was little time left, he delivered the mold and gave a quick explanation on how to use it.
Being an experienced blacksmith, Han Tiezhang had already worked with similar tools before, so he quickly understood and said he would test it.
With that done, he returned to the academy and arrived just in time before they closed the gates.
'Tch, those heartless bastards… if I'd been even a minute late, they would've made me sleep outside,' he grumbled inwardly at the rigidity of those rules.
In his past life, it had happened several times that he arrived after curfew and ended up stuck outside.
No matter how much he tried to persuade the guards, they wouldn't give him any face unless it was a matter of life and death.
He'd long since lost count of how many times he'd cursed them in his past life,
in fact, at some point, he did it out of habit, even when he didn't have a good reason for it.
As far as he was concerned, they deserved it for all the future troubles they might one day cause him
He wasted no time and headed straight for the dormitory.
It was a large room he shared with three other students from his same year.
If he remembered correctly, one of them was currently absent for reasons unknown, and wouldn't be back for a few more days,
just enough time for the annual test.
'Speaking of the annual test… the theory part shouldn't be a problem, but the practical test is going to be a bit of a headache.'
He frowned, remembering how his practical exam had gone in his past life.
With almost no cultivation back in his second year, he'd ended up seriously injured and bedridden for several months.
He had no intention of ending up in the same situation again this year, but he also knew it wouldn't be easy, at least, not with his current circumstances.
"Haa, from tomorrow onward, everything should start going better," he thought as he entered the dormitory.
Just as he was about to enter, the voices of two disciples reached his ears from behind the door.
"No way, are you kidding? They found him lying in the trash bin?"
"I swear , last night someone found him there, with his face swollen, and took him to the infirmary. I wonder what happened to him," said another voice.
Zhu Rong stopped when he heard those two voices, and he almost spat blood upon hearing what they were saying.
'Trash can? What bastard dares to spread this rumor?'
He clung to the doorframe, restraining himself from kicking the door open and beating the two of them up.
In the end, he decided to calm down.
He might be young in appearance, but in terms of mental age, he had several centuries of experience.
He wasn't about to lose his composure over petty things like this.
"I even heard he smelled so bad that the person who took him to the infirmary had to tie him up and drag him along the ground to get him there."
Zhu Rong: "…"
"Hahaha, that bastard deserved it. He walks around like he owns the academy.
If I had been the one to find him, I would've..." Just as the voice was about to continue, the door of the room opened slightly, and a head poked out from behind it.
The two of them froze at the creak of the door and turned to see who it was, only to be faced with an expressionless face staring at them in silence.
As if they were two men caught red handed cheating on their wives, their expressions changed instantly, their brains were spinning a hundred times a second, desperately trying to come up with an excuse.
"B-Brother Zhu, what a coincidence! We were just wondering when you'd be back," he said
His name was Pan Hu (Hu=tiger) , he was a boy with a massive build, and although his name, he looked more like a panda.
The other one was Wei Zhi, Pan Hu's complete opposite,
as thin as a twig.
Zhu Rong had always thought this duo was a strange combination and often mocked them for it.
"Oh? And why is that?" he asked, still with a dark expression.
The fatty almost peed himself, thinking he might have heard what they'd been saying.
" hahaha, I recently received some pills from my family, and I was wondering if you might be interested," he said, with a face that screamed innocence.
"…"
'Fatty, do you really think I didn't hear what you just said?'
Before he could open his mouth, Wei Zhi, who had heard his companion, decided to join in as well.
"Exactly, I also received some good materials from my family, and I was wondering if Brother Zhu might want a few.
A man like you, who trains day and night, needs all the resources he can get to cultivate.
I'm sure they'd be of more use to you than to us."
He said it, clearly unwilling to give them up.
Zhu Rong, hearing the two of them, didn't know what to say.
He understood that the two, to save their skin, decided to bribe him, but this made him a little uncomfortable.
In his past life, frustrated by the fact that he couldn't cultivate, he often took it out on those weaker than him, frequently using his status as a member of a prestigious family.
And his two favorite victims had been this very duo of companions.
If it had been the him of the past, he would have given them a hard time, but he was no longer his old self.
He had no intention of continuing with the foolish antics his past self used to pull.
Just thinking about some of the things he had done, and the things he would have done in the future, sent a chill down his spine.
'I really need to fix my reputation as soon as possible,' he thought, shaking his head.
For now, he simply decided to ignore the two of them.
At first, he'd thought about being friendly with them, but that idea had flown right out the window after this awkward situation.
He was far too exhausted to deal with them at the moment.
He'd been out all day running errands left and right,
now, he just wanted to rest and prepare for tomorrow.
By his calculations, with his share of the money from today's work, he should have earned enough to buy all the materials he needed for the medicine.
So he couldn't wait for tomorrow to come.
' It's about time I took care of this problem once and for all, ' he thought, picking a random bed and falling asleep immediately.
Pan Hu, who had been panicking until a moment ago, now had a defeated look on his face as he stared at the person sleeping on his bed.