Leo Young arrived at the plaza to find Su He leading the Zhenwu Mountain disciples in their morning practice. Though unreliable from every conceivable angle, as the Sect Master's son and the Third Senior Brother of Zhenwu Mountain, he still shouldered certain obligations.
Su He practiced his swordplay at the front while the disciples below followed his movements. This activity would, to a greater or lesser extent, affect the final experience multiplier they received for this martial technique. Whether it increased or decreased depended on their individual comprehension, dedication, and other factors.
"Third Senior Brother, do you have a moment?" Leo Young asked, walking up after the morning practice concluded.
"I was just about to get breakfast," Su He said as he sheathed his sword. "Do you need something? Is it urgent?"
"No," Leo Young replied. "Let's talk on the way."
"Alright."
The two headed toward the dining hall, and along the way, Leo Young briefly explained the situation to Su He.
Su He's expression remained fairly normal, but his heart was in turmoil.
"...Does he mean to cram and learn it at the last minute, just so he can teach someone else? How can he say something like that in such a casual tone..."
"However, all three copies have been borrowed. So I went to the Scripture Pavilion to see who checked them out. Third Senior Brother, if you know them, I thought it might make things a little more convenient."
"...Right."
Su He had wanted to ask, 'Will that even work?' but he swallowed the words back down. Instead, he said, "So, who are these three people?"
"Shen Ping, Liu Zhen, and Wang Xuedong."
"..." As Leo Young finished, Su He suddenly stopped in his tracks, a wry expression appearing on his face. "Ha..."
"?" Leo Young was confused. "What's wrong?"
"No... I just feel like I've been derelict in my duty. Really, Father entrusted you to me," Su He said, then started walking again. "Wang Xuedong, that's your Fourth Senior Sister... I assumed you would've known something like that without me telling you. Haven't you talked to anyone else these past few days?"
"No, I was just chatting with someone. We had a great time."
"Really..." Su He asked doubtfully. "What's Eldest Senior Brother's name?"
"Haha, I have no idea."
"...Just as I thought."
Su He sighed. "This is my fault, too. I was so focused on telling you about dangerous people like Martial Uncle Jiang... Eldest Senior Brother is named Lu Xin. As for him, well, you'll understand when you meet him. Your Fourth Senior Sister has a personality similar to Martial Uncle Jiang, only she's less aggressive and not as cold. She just doesn't interact much with others and lacks life experience, so every time she goes out on a sect mission, she has to be assigned a senior or junior sister to look after her..."
"It's no use me telling you all this now; you'll have to get to know them yourself. Anyway, since our fourth sister has a copy, this is simple. She's still on a sect mission, so we can just go to her dormitory and get it."
"Hm?" Leo Young said. "Is that okay?"
"Of course we can't go into the female disciples' dormitory," Su He said. "We'll just ask our fourth sister's roommate. I know she's there. Let's go find her after we eat. As for taking it, what's the big deal? It's not like she can read it right now. We'll return it when she gets back. It's not some precious treasure."
"I see... Do you know her roommate, then, Senior Brother?"
"Of course."
Chatting as they went, the two finished their breakfast in the dining hall and headed straight for Cidu Lodge without delay.
Upon entering Cidu Lodge, they were met with the pervasive aroma of Chinese medicine, followed by the sound of faint groans. Zhenwu Mountain had over a thousand disciples, and with hundreds, even thousands, of sparring matches every day, bumps and bruises were inevitable, and some unlucky souls were bound to get injured.
Su He scanned the room and quickly spotted his target in a corner of Cidu Lodge, immediately striding over.
"Junior Sister Mei, do you have a moment?"
The woman Su He called out to was of average height, appeared to be in her early twenties, and had long, pale cyan hair and a tranquil demeanor. On the way over, Su He had briefly told Leo Young about her. Her name was Mei Handai, a disciple of Bai Feng from the Hall of Rules and Regulations—Bai Feng being Su Tianqing's second junior brother.
"Ah, Senior Brother Su." Mei Handai put down the herbs in her hand, turned, and spoke in a soft, pleasant voice. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Just a small thing," Su He said. "Our fourth sister borrowed a copy of the Qi Meridian Connection Method, and my junior brother here needs it urgently for a few reasons. Could I trouble you to go back to the dorm and get it for us?"
"Oh..." Mei Handai looked slightly troubled. "But... I don't feel it's right to go through Senior Sister Wang's things... Are the other copies all checked out too?"
"Of course," Su He said. "And don't worry about whether it's right. You know our junior sister's personality. It'll be fine. Besides, she's the one in the wrong for not returning the manual before leaving for a mission. Now that someone needs it, what's the harm in using it for a bit?"
"Since you put it that way, Senior Brother..." Mei Handai smiled a little helplessly, then turned her gaze to Leo Young with a gentle smile. "You must be the new Junior Brother Young. As expected of a talent from the Qilin Cave Academy, you have an extraordinary scholarly air about you. My surname is Mei, and my given name is Handai. If you ever get injured during a sparring match in the future, you can come find me."
"Haha," Leo Young laughed. "Is it okay if I don't have money? I'm super poor right now."
This strange inversion and completely out-of-place remark left Mei Handai, who had never dealt with a madman before, stunned. Her previous words had been nothing more than polite social pleasantries. How could she have expected Leo Young to take her up on it so brazenly?
"Hehe... Of course, you can." After a moment's stupor, Mei Handai collected herself, her voice still gentle, sounding sweeter than first love. "I am willing to treat Junior Brother Young for free, but... the medicinal herbs belong to Cidu Lodge..."
"...Junior Sister Mei, sometimes you don't need to answer Junior Brother Young's questions so seriously." Su He looked up at the ceiling and finally let out a heavy sigh. "Anyway, if you're free now, let's just go. It's just a matter of grabbing something."
Leo Young smiled without saying a word.
"Mm," Mei Handai nodded lightly, then said softly, "If you two would please wait here, I'll be right back."
With that, she activated her lightness skills and vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Junior Brother Young..." Su He was still unaware of what had just happened in the Scripture Pavilion; otherwise, his reaction would have been far from this gentle. He chose his words carefully and asked, "Do you always talk like this?"
Leo Young smiled. "What do you think, Senior Brother?"
"...Sigh."
Su He wanted to say something more, but when he remembered Leo Young's family background and what he had been through, he swallowed his words.
"Just like Martial Uncle Jiang, extraordinary talent always seems to appear in people with such tragic origins..."
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