Way of Choices: Book II - Youths We Were, Schoolmates, Part 2

by Mao Ni

  He was just this sort of youth. Given his personality, even if he wasn't a genius of the Proclamation of Azure Sky and was only some young beggar taking in the sun at the base of some wall, when he saw some beautiful young lady in her carriage, he would give a couple of whistles, and if he saw some overbearing young master of a wealthy family, he would give a couple of secretive kicks, not caring at all if he was beaten black and blue by the bodyguards.

  Thus, in the capital, he had no friends other than Chen Changsheng. Thus, in the Heavenly Dao Academy, he had offended many of his classmates, including Zhuang Huanyu. Thus, he had long since made it known that if he met that little monster of the Temple Seminary that loved terrorizing the common people, he would definitely cripple him. Thus the story about how he was unable to participate in the last two nights of the Ivy Festival.

  Tang Thirty-Six was just this sort of this person. If he liked something, he truly liked it, and if he didn't like something, he really disliked it. As a result, those that liked him would really like him, such as the Old Master of the Wenshui Tang clan or Vice Principal Zhuang of the Heavenly Dao Academy. The people who didn't like him truly disliked him, like these currently furious youths of the southern diplomatic mission.

  He did not care.

  But someone did care.

  "Impudent! Quickly apologize to your seniors!"

  A voice came from the Heavenly Dao Academy's seating area.

  At the moment, everyone in the hall was standing, so it wasn't clear who the speaker was. After a while, the crowd finally realized that the speaker was Zhuang Huanyu.

  The crowd was somewhat astonished. They didn't understand why he was scolding Tang Thirty-Six, and they even less understood why he was the one speaking.

  Even if Tang Thirty-Six's words were somewhat vulgar and base, his respect toward the seniors of the Mount Li Sword Sect and the Qiushan clan insufficient, there were others better suited to scold the students of the Heavenly Dao Academy. Principal Mao Qiuyu was present, as was Vice Principal Zhuang, so how had it come to be Zhuang Huanyu's turn? Although he was ranked tenth on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, he was still just a student.

  Let alone the fact that in the present situation, Principal Mao Qiuyu had maintained his silence, so what reason did Zhuang Huanyu have to reprimand Tang Thirty-Six?

  Mao Qiuyu turned to glance at Zhuang Huanyu, his expression calm.

  The gazes of many people rested on Zhuang Huanyu.

  Zhuang Huanyu's expression also slightly changed. He also did not know why he had opened his mouth to say those words.

  But the words had already left his mouth and he could not take them back. He tightly shut his mouth, his complexion ashen, yet he still stared at Tang Thirty-Six.

  He thought that he appeared impartial and incorruptible, unaware that in the eyes of others, he already seemed to have lost control.

  The reason for Zhuang Huanyu's loss of control was very complex. Countless important figures had come to tonight's Ivy Festival, and so he could only quietly sit, not daring to speak, but unthinkably, the Tang Thirty-Six who he normally paid no attention to was speaking so bluntly before the crowd, acting with a wanton ferocity. This made him subconsciously feel a great deal of loathing.

  The more important reason was still that Luoluo had revealed her identity.

  The legend of the Heavenly Dao Academy that had come back to reality turned out to still be a legend.

  His future with this junior sister that he had imagined countless times was instantly rendered into dust.

  All along, this junior sister… was the legendary Princess Luoluo!

  Then no matter how he strived, even if he became a genius beyond Qiushan Jun, he still could not be together with her.

  A deep disappointment and despair transformed into anger. However, this sentiment had always been hidden in the bottom of his heart and never spoken of to anyone else. Consequently, tonight's despair and anger naturally had nowhere to go.

  Just then, he saw Tang Thirty-Six, his junior brother that, on normal days, he would casually scold.

  Thus, he had spoken those words.

  The hall became abnormally quiet.

  Everyone stared at Tang Thirty-Six.

  Earlier, the Mount Li Sword Sect's Guan Feibai had rebuked Tang Thirty-Six as impudent, and Tang Thirty-Six had replied with, 'Impudent your mother!'

  Now, Zhuang Huanyu had also scolded his impudence, so how would he reply?

  Some of the people in the southern diplomatic mission seemed to take joy in this misfortune, thinking to themselves, An internal problem has arisen amongst the Zhou people. How will they resolve it?

  Gou Hanshi glanced at Zhuang Huanyu and slightly raised his brow, somewhat surprised.

  Guan Feibai slightly frowned at Zhuang Huanyu, rather displeased.

  Tang Thirty-Six had a rather ugly expression. He turned to the Heavenly Dao Academy's seating area, but not one of his classmates returned his gaze. Mao Qiuyu sighed and prepared to speak. Vice Principal Zhuang's face was somewhat pale, and judging by how he was shaking his head and hesitating to speak, he seemed to be in great difficulty.

  After a moment of silence, Tang Thirty-Six gave a bitter smile and said, "Truly boring."

  "You truly are lacking in strength.”[4]

  A voice came from his side.

  Chen Changsheng looked at him and said, "You're completely unlike your usual self."

  Chapter 71 – The Fourth Person

  "My usual self? And what is that?"

  Seeing that the speaker was Chen Changsheng, Tang Thirty-Six instantly came alive, rolling his eyes as he asked.

  "Just like you did earlier, you would directly curse at their mothers."

  Chen Changsheng thought some more, then continued, "After you got tired of cursing, you would lie down and go straight to sleep."

  Tang Thirty-Six looked at the seating area where all the teachers and students of the Heavenly Dao Academy were. After a brief moment of silence, he said in a somewhat softer voice, "In the end, there are some people who treated me rather well."

  During the entrance exam for the Heavenly Dao Academy, Chen Changsheng had glimpsed a few scenes from the distance and so knew that Vice Principal Zhuang had greatly cared for Tang Thirty-Six. Now, just as expected, he saw Tang Thirty-Six's gaze rest on Vice Principal Zhuang and thought to himself, There must be a story hidden behind this. It's probably precisely because of this person that Tang Thirty-Six would act so differently from usual.

  "But as a person, one truly should work for oneself." Tang Thirty-Six gazed at the Heavenly Dao Academy's seating area and recalled the snow and storms that had been concealed behind these past few months of school life, recalled how he had been targeted by his classmates, recalled his unfortunate encounters in the last two nights of the Ivy Festival. His lips perked up, revealing a mysterious smile.

  Normally, Chen Changsheng would not bring up any suggestion as to what choice Tang Thirty-Six should make—even if he was his only friend—as a consequence of his personality. However, he saw the situation tonight, and he had also suffered a similar situation as Tang Thirty-Six had in the Heavenly Dao Academy. Caught in his opponent's shameless trap, he was only able to escape from the Black Dragon with incredible difficulty. As a result, many matters had already quietly changed.

  He gazed at Tang Thirty-Six, saying nothing, but his calm and assured eyes signified his support.

  "You actually want me to apologize to those southerners?"

  Tang Thirty-Six looked at Zhuang Huanyu and said, "This matter is too boring, and your display is also too boring."

  The hall resounded with comments of astonishment.

  Zhuang Huanyu was tenth on the Proclamation of Azure Sky, the leader of the Ivy Academies' young experts, of equal reputation to the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws of the south who were said to be able to call the wind and summon the rain. Although he had earlier displayed a loss of control, making others grow displeased or find him shameless, he
was still the shining beacon of the Heavenly Dao Academy. For Tang Thirty-Six, as a student of the Heavenly Dao Academy, to so straightforwardly say that he was wrong was inevitably rather disrespectful.

  "Because it's boring, it's not fun, and since it's not fun, what's the use in my continuing to play around here? None of you should think about using the friendship between us as fellow classmates of the Heavenly Dao Academy to bind me, to use your identity as teachers to control me, to use your dignity as senior brother to make me shut my mouth, because I… have decided to withdraw."

  Tang Thirty-Six gazed at those once-peers and teachers of his, his expression calm. "I've decided to leave the Heavenly Dao Academy."

  Even though the crowd within the hall had already experienced far too many shocks tonight, they still flew into an uproar at his words!

  The Heavenly Dao Academy was the number one school of the continent, having raised countless great experts. The current Pope had come from there, and the Grand Examination's first rank of the first banner had also been achieved by its students no small number of times. Even though the young students of the Heavenly Dao Academy had had much of their brilliance snatched away by the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws of the south in the past few years, and the peerless genius that was Xu Yourong had appeared in the Great Zhou, the Heavenly Dao Academy was still the Heavenly Dao Academy. No person would dare to question this school's status. Everyone believed that being able to enter the Heavenly Dao Academy was an honor. Many people took great pains to just step onto the ground of the Heavenly Dao Academy, but tonight, someone voluntarily withdrew from the Heavenly Dao Academy!

  The clamor in the hall continued. The faces of the teachers and students of the Heavenly Dao Academy were all extremely ugly, and Vice Principal Zhuang's complexion was even rather pale.

  What astonished people the most was that the Principal of the Heavenly Dao Academy, Mao Qiuyu, had no reaction. There even seemed to be a sense of relief on his face as if all this had been according to his expectations.

  "I know that many people will ask me why."

  Tang Thirty-Six gazed expressionlessly at the crowd and said, "The Heavenly Dao Academy has the best teachers and the best students, and I have to admit that I also received a lot of care. Even if I've been somewhat wronged, compared to all this, it shouldn't be enough for me to decide to leave. But just like I said a moment ago, the current Heavenly Dao Academy is truly very boring.

  "Boring means it's not fun, and if it's not fun, what need is there for me to continue playing around here?"

  Many people noticed that he had said something similar earlier.

  "All I said was that I was going to cripple Tianhai Ya'er, and then the teachers and a few senior brothers of the academy forbade me from attending the Ivy Festival! Just because I wanted to challenge Zhuang Huanyu, someone sealed me in the library for the entire night! Don't talk to me about the importance of the big picture; when did the Heavenly Dao Academy of the past ever care about some other person's big picture? And the current Heavenly Dao Academy? It's unexpectedly afraid of even the Tianhai clan! Just what's going on here? This simply isn't the Heavenly Dao Academy I read about in the books. This Heavenly Dao Academy is boring through and through, not fun at all!"

  Tang Thirty-Six gazed at the students and teachers of the Heavenly Dao Academy, his words very frivolous but his expression extremely solemn, because these were his sincere words spoken before his farewell.

  Hearing this, the crowd in the hall grew even more restless, because the youth from Wenshui had mentioned the Tianhai clan.

  There was much to digest in these words, but everyone had only heard 'Tianhai clan'.

  It's unexpectedly afraid of even the Tianhai clan!

  He had unexpectedly used the word 'unexpectedly'.

  He unexpectedly believed that the Tianhai clan should not be feared!

  Prince Chen Liu slightly lowered his head. At some point, two wine cups had appeared on the table in front of him, the wine within them reflecting the lights of the Night Pearls. They were very beautiful, and he looked at them like he was in a trance.

  Mo Yu gazed indifferently at Tang Thirty-Six, her right hand gently holding a cup of tea. There was not a single ripple in the tea within the cup.

  'Tianhai' was the surname of the Divine Empress. The Tianhai clan was the Divine Empress's maternal clan. After that cruel struggle over the throne ten-odd years ago, the Tianhai clan replaced the Chen clan as one of the most respected surnames on this continent, together with the Bai clan of the west. In terms of power, however, they were the number one without question.

  In the present Great Zhou, even the Pope living in the Li Palace treated the Tianhai clan with warmth. Even though countless people secretly burned with hate toward the Tianhai clan, not a single one of them dared to publicly speak such words. Who could be like Tang Thirty-Six, directly reprimanding them before a crowd?

  The crowd gazed at Tang Thirty-Six with rather complex looks.

  There was admiration and pity, and of course, there were also gazes that looked at him like he was an idiot—had this youth suddenly gotten addicted to slapping others in the face tonight? He actually didn't even let the Tianhai clan slip by?

  Tang Thirty-Six acted like he didn't even feel these gazes, nor did he even consider what dangers these words of his concealed. He looked at Zhuang Huanyu and coldly said, "I know that you lived a hard life as a child, but that's no excuse for you to criticize anyone you want. Don't always think that everyone in this world has to feel sorry for you, acting all refreshing and pleasant before the world while inwardly full of remorse. You're clearly already in the top ten of the Proclamation of Azure Sky, yet you still feel that fate isn't fair, or else you would be as strong as Qiushan Jun. Just who is this secret grudge for? I absolutely can't stand and absolutely loathe this sort of person. The current Heavenly Dao Academy has precisely too many students like you, so it's becoming more and more like a theater, babbling all day and singing a few sentimental songs. Of course it's boring!"

  The hall gradually turned quiet, the crowd staring at the Heavenly Dao Academy's seating, staring at Zhuang Huanyu.

  Zhuang Huanyu was silent for a very long time, his expression gradually growing calm. Looking back at Tang Thirty-Six, he replied, "Earlier, I truly did somewhat lose control. No matter what you did wrong, no matter if you cared or not about the Heavenly Dao Academy's existence, it's not my place to criticize you. Moreover, although your words are difficult to hear, they are somewhat reasonable… but did you ever think about why, after you entered the Heavenly Dao Academy, the teachers and the rest of us didn't like you? Why you felt as if we were secretly pushing you out? Pride? No, it's only right that a student of the Heavenly Dao Academy be proud. You are the descendant of the Wenshui Tang clan, you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth, and when you entered the academy, you came under the care of an important figure. You didn't need to attend lessons, you didn't need to keep the academy's rule, yet you received everything that was allotted to you. But your classmates? They bitterly cultivated and bitterly studied before seeing any gain, so they naturally wouldn't be able to stand a person like you who only takes shortcuts."

  At the moment, the people currently seated in the scattered tables were mostly students of ordinary families. Of the several dozen young students amongst the southern diplomatic mission, the vast majority had grown up in poverty. The three youths of the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws seemed slightly pacified at Zhuang Huanyu's words, and Gou Hanshi, who everyone knew had grown up in bitter poverty, seemed deep in thought.

  Vice Principal Zhuang had a very ugly expression, because he knew that he was the important figure Zhuang Huanyu had mentioned taking care of Tang Thirty-Six.

  "What you say also makes sense. The Heavenly Dao Academy has the Heavenly Dao Academy's rules, and has grown accustomed to inheriting a lineage of one thousand years. Perhaps the teachers and you lot all believe that only those who have lived a poor and simple life can
truly have any promise, but… my clan just has lots of money, and I can't do anything about it. Could it be that you want me to play the part of a poor person, or do you want my clan's grandfather to completely break up the family property? That would probably make the Divine Empress very happy."

  Tang Thirty-Six shook his head, continuing, "You have your own reasons, I have my own habits, the Heavenly Dao Academy has the Heavenly Dao Academy's rules. Tonight, we aren't speaking about right and wrong, only that since we aren't suited for each other, this matter will never become fun, so I've decided to withdraw from the Heavenly Dao Academy."

  "Shut your mouth for me!" Vice Principal Zhuang yelled out with a nasty look on his face.

  When he was young, he had received the favor of the Tang clan, and he had many stories of old friendship with the Tang clan. Since he had promised the head of the Tang clan that he would watch over Tang Thirty-Six's life in the capital, he couldn't just look on helplessly as he messed around. "You've made enough trouble! Your father placed you in my hands; you really think I won't dare discipline you!"

  Tang Thirty-Six looked at him in thought, then scratched his head and said, "Uncle Zhuang, you always say that it's my father that entrusted you with the duty to watch over me… In truth, on the journey to the capital a while ago, I opened that letter and looked it over. I know that the person who trusted you to watch over me was my mother, so stop using those words to suppress me."

  Vice Principal Zhuang was so angry that his fingers began to tremble. "You little rascal, the letter… how could you open the letter!"

  For some reason, when Zhuang Huanyu on the side heard these words, his face slightly paled.

  Tang Thirty-Six replied, "In short, tonight, I'm leaving the Heavenly Dao Academy."

  Vice Principal Zhuang bitterly replied, "You child, why can't you ever be obedient? The pre-examination has already concluded. If you quit school, what about next year's Grand Examination?"

  Tang Thirty-Six seemed to freeze, realizing that this truly was a problem.