Chapter 26: Return Virtue with Virtue, Repay Grievance Directly

At this moment, numerous disciples waiting to watch the excitement were observing from nearby.

Even though Fairy Meng had appeared, and the spectacle of Shen Shiming getting a beating probably wouldn’t happen, there was an even bigger scene instead. One was the Academy’s famously dull, rigid, and stubborn disciple whom everyone feared more than the Instructors. The other was Willow Lake City’s infamous rogue, possessing extraordinary talent but a bizarre temperament, a wild character who dared to clash with an Instructor head-on on his very first day at the Academy. Now, these two had encountered each other…

Someone thought excitedly: “Could they get into a fight?”

…

“Second Young Master Fang certainly wouldn’t let himself be bullied…”

Seeing the smile on Fang Yu’s face, Meng Zhixue was momentarily stunned before she responded. She said softly, “But when counterattacking, there should still be limits. Otherwise, one might originally be in the right but end up seeming unreasonable. It would be best if both sides could take a step back, then…”

“What do you mean ‘unreasonable’?”

Fang Cun smiled and looked at Meng Zhixue. “Fairy Meng, have you heard the principle, ‘The one who provokes first deserves scorn’?”

“No!”

Meng Zhixue thought seriously for a moment. “I don’t know which story that comes from. Please enlighten me, Second Young Master Fang…”

“Don’t bother with its origin. What matters is whether it makes sense!”

Fang Cun said, “I just heard Fairy Meng speak of rules, so I wanted to discuss these rules with you. In this world, it’s always the honest folks who follow the rules, while others might not. Take Shen Shiming bullying me, for instance. He didn’t think about your rules then. Now that I’m bullying him back, suddenly he invokes Fairy Meng. If rules can be exploited so easily, what’s the point of adhering to them?”

These words left Meng Zhixue completely dumbfounded. She was silent for a long while before saying, “But your elder brother once said…”

“No he didn’t!”

Fang Cun said gravely. “My brother never said that!”

Meng Zhixue was frozen, thinking: You haven’t even heard what I was going to say, and you already guessed?

Truly the brother of Immortal Master Fang Chi…

“Actually, it was what I said earlier that my brother did say!”

Fang Cun said to Meng Zhixue with an extremely serious face: “Evil people who bully others must expect to be bullied in return. Demonic Evil that does wrong must pay the price. If you return good for evil, how will you repay good? Return virtue with virtue, and repay grievance straightforwardly – that is the true way! If everyone behaved like me, Fang Cun, and bullied the bully when they see injustice, and praised… praised the good person they see, then this world could truly become a place where good people are safe.”

“Return virtue with virtue, repay grievance straightforwardly…”

Meng Zhixue listened to these words, pondered them for a moment, and her eyes gradually brightened. Her expression seemed to grow emotional.

“Second Young Master Fang, you…”

Fang Cun looked up and saw more and more disciples gathering around. Feeling a bit uneasy inside, he clasped his fists towards Meng Zhixue. “Just some simple thoughts, I wish to reflect on them with you, Fairy Meng. I have urgent matters to attend to today. Another day, when I have time, we can discuss them more deeply!”

Meng Zhixue seemed to have more to say, but upon hearing Fang Cun’s words, she could only respond: “As the Young Master says.”

Fang Cun was greatly pleased and prepared to spur his horse onward. Unfortunately, his driving skills truly weren’t up to par. The horse, feeling the tug on the reins, only lazily shuffled its hooves. The carriage, stuck in the muddy ground around, had its wheels sunk deep. Since it didn’t budge, the horse leisurely turned its head and glanced at Fang Cun, then calmly went back to enjoying the scenery instead. For some inexplicable reason, this utterly infuriated Second Young Master Fang.

“Let me help the Young Master!”

Meng Zhixue on the side gave a light laugh and gave a slight beckoning gesture with her slender hand.

The carriage suddenly shivered slightly. Before either Fang Cun or the horse could react, they saw the entire carriage lift off the ground. It was as if an invisible giant hand had grabbed it, gently lifting it into the air and setting it down safely right in the middle of the main road.

“What in the world?”

Fang Cun couldn’t help but be surprised. He stuck his head out to look, utterly astonished.

“Just a small trick. Far less remarkable than the Young Master of the Fang Family’s natural talent. Excuse my poor skill.”

Meng Zhixue looked at Fang Cun, smiled, and gave a slight bow. “Is Second Young Master Fang in a hurry to find Disciple Shen?”

Fang Cun was slightly stunned, looking at Meng Zhixue with surprise.

“Second Young Master Fang should judge for yourself. If you push Disciple Shen too hard, even the Instructors might intervene…”

She smiled softly as she spoke. “Rules might cause unfairness for the honest, but they still have their necessity. Otherwise, if everyone acted only by their own strength, the strong would bully, the weak would endure, and the world would descend into chaos. By then, it wouldn’t just mean unfairness for the honest, it would mean they couldn’t even survive…”

Hearing this, Fang Cun was genuinely taken aback.

“I know people often say I seem like a dullard, but no one ever calls me stupid!”

Seeing Fang Cun’s expression, Meng Zhixue actually showed the beginnings of a smile, like melting ice. She lowered her voice. “Repaying grievance straightforwardly is certainly satisfying, but there should always be a measure… Yet, I will remember these eight words. The principles you spoke of, Second Young Master Fang, I will ponder them deeply…”

As she spoke, she patted the head of her cloud-patterned giant deer and slowly began to walk away. But after a few steps, she remembered something else. Turning back, she said, “I’ve also heard about what happened after Second Young Master Fang entered the Academy. Three days hence, the Elder Mentor gives a lecture; please be sure to attend!”

Finishing her words, she gave a light laugh, pressed her palms together in a farewell salute, and her cloud deer swiftly carried her towards the Academy.

“She’s not that dull after all…”

Fang Cun inside the carriage also wore a peculiar expression on his face. Muttering to himself, he got down from the carriage.

He circled the carriage once, and his expression grew even stranger.

Thinking of the carriage’s weight, he felt inwardly heavy. The methods of Qi Refiners were truly astounding. That Meng Zhixue, a seemingly frail-looking girl, could effortlessly lift an entire carriage silently?

Fighting someone like that would probably mean being immobilized with a mere thought before he could even react.

Seeing Meng Zhixue leave, the crowd of Academy disciples who had been watching from afar also began discussing hurriedly as they departed.

“Fairy Meng is truly worthy of her name. Her object manipulation is truly astonishing…”

Others were disappointed: “I thought Fairy Meng would teach him a lesson, but she just gave a slight warning…”

Someone said: “Fairy Meng respects Immortal Master Fang Chi deeply; perhaps she showed a little extra consideration?”

…

“Tsk tsk tsk…”

From behind a large tree nearby, Xiao Qingliu appeared, scurrying back, shaking his head with feeling.

Fang Cun glared at him. “What are you ‘tsk’ing about?”

“That’s the famous young fairy of White Xiang Academy! Powerful indeed…”

Xiao Qingliu grinned. “Young Master, you may not know, but the servants back home used to talk privately about it before. They wondered which girl in all of Willow Lake City would qualify to be the second wife of Fang Manor. And you know what? Whether it was the young ladies of noble families or hidden beauties, all either fell short in status or lacked sufficient talent. Only in recent years did they settle on it. They ultimately decided that only Fairy Meng, widely called the most outstanding at White Xiang Academy, just barely qualified. Just barely worthy of becoming the wife of the second young master of the Willow Lake Fang Family…”

Fang Cun laughed upon hearing this. “People said that?”

“But now it seems better to forget it…”

Xiao Qingliu sighed. “If Young Master really cohabited with her, you’d definitely argue. And if the quarrel turned fierce… you couldn’t beat her anyway…”

Fang Cun’s face darkened. “Later, you can run back to the manor on your own legs!”

Xiao Qingliu grinned cheekily. “I don’t mind either way. Where are we going now?”

Fang Cun glanced at him with a half-smile. “Find out where Shen Shiming is hiding right now?”

Xiao Qingliu immediately widened his eyes: “We’re going again?”

“Why not?”

Fang Cun said. “He’s the only one in the whole Academy I can actually beat…”

Xiao Qingliu was speechless for a long moment before replying, “As you say, Young Master…”

…

“He should have left by now, right?”

At this moment, Shen Shiming was still waiting within the Academy. He had sent someone to inquire and learned that Fairy Meng hadn’t deceived him. She had truly gone to find that little demon of the Fang Family. Though everyone usually mocked the Nanshan Alliance as a joke, when trouble struck, it was indeed only the Nanshan Alliance willing to help him. Presumably, that Fang guy ought to pipe down now…

Even so, he didn’t dare leave immediately. Only when night fell did he sneak out of the Academy.

Mounting his horse, he glanced nervously in every direction with every step. He reached the Academy gate – quiet and still, not a single soul in sight.

On the road, he turned his head constantly, peering left and right. The moonlight bathed everything in silence; the spectators had dispersed, and still, not a single shadow appeared.

The journey back seemed endless. Only when the towering city wall finally came into view did Shen Shiming finally relax slightly.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and prepared to spur his horse through the city gate. Suddenly, from the darkness beside him, the unmistakable sound of wheels and hooves emerged as a carriage pulled out.

Shen Shiming’s entire body instantly stiffened.

The carriage moved to block the path in front of the city gate. The curtain lifted, revealing that utterly infuriating face.

“Shen, my dear acquaintance… The night is long and sleepless. Fancy a little ‘exchange’?”

…

“How can he still be here?!”

Hearing that terrifyingly familiar line, Shen Shiming felt utterly, completely hopeless.

“Even Fairy Meng stepping in didn’t work?”

“Are you planning to ambush me for life?!”

No one could fathom the depth of despair filling Shen Shiming’s heart at that moment. No one could grasp the overwhelming sense of powerlessness and bitter regret crashing over him. He wanted nothing more than to pound his own head, to slap his own face fiercely. Yet, as this avalanche of regret surged past its peak, it coalesced within him into a peculiar and formidable power.

He sat motionless on his horse for a long time. Then, suddenly, he dismounted. Step by step, he walked towards Fang Cun’s carriage.

Fang Cun narrowed his eyes, watching Shen Shiming approach expressionlessly.

Shen Shiming stopped in front of the carriage, stood ramrod straight for a second, and then abruptly bowed deeply at the waist.

“Senior Disciple Fang… I was wrong…”

“It is true I deliberately sought trouble with you. I apologize…”

“If you want to hit me… then go ahead…”

His voice, humble and earnest, carried a distinct choke. “But… I will absolutely never… never ‘exchange pointers’ with you again…”

…

“Huh?”

Fang Cun, who had only come to have a “heart-to-heart” with Shen Shiming, was completely dumbfounded.

Staring at Shen Shiming bowing before the carriage, he seemed to hear a “cha-ching!” sound ring in his ears – the sound of a digital payment going through.

Before his eyes, the Celestial Merit Record materialized: “The Turnaround of a Prodigal Son: Edification Achieved!”

“Merit Bestowed: Three Thousand!”

…

Since when did I fucking manage to edify him?!