Chapter 30 : Chapter 30
Chapter 30. The Relationship Shatters
After that day, several more days passed.
Time reached December 14.
On the training ground in the early morning, shouts rose and fell one after another. Each circulation of vitality sent up a broad white mist.
Xu Yuan was immersed in pondering the force-release techniques of the Benlei Fist when a graceful figure approached.
“Brother Xu, it has been a long time.” Sun Rong wore a perfectly measured smile. “I wonder whether Brother Xu has gained any insights from practicing the Benlei Fist these past few days?”
Xu Yuan raised his eyes to look at her, his movements never stopping, and replied flatly, “Your talent is better than mine. Why would you need to ask me?”
“It is about drawing parallels,” Sun Rong said with a smile. “Just like back in the outer courtyard, everyone’s understanding and experience are different.”
So now she was trying to play the sentiment card.
Xu Yuan laughed inwardly. Still, seeing the earnest look in her eyes, he could not very well refuse outright. Saying a few words to compare views would not hurt.
After a brief pause, he explained some of his shallow understanding of how to coordinate one’s force and use it to guide vitality into nurturing force.
“I think that before force has fully formed, you should not focus too much on making the techniques fierce and swift. Instead, you need to calm down and feel the patterns of vitality circulation…”
But before he could finish, a sharp voice suddenly cut in. “That is wrong. What you said has problems!”
The slightly sharp-chinned woman from before had come over at some point, anger on her face.
“That is not what the big sister in our dorm said.”
“And who is this big sister of yours?” Xu Yuan asked, raising a brow.
“Our big sister came from the ranks of the martial trainees. Back then, she only needed half a month to become a Formal Martial Artist. Even the martial instructors admitted that her talent was outstanding.” The woman’s face was filled with pride, as though basking in reflected glory.
“So?”
“So the Benlei Fist is about momentum. When you first practice it, you should use the stance of the fist technique to drive your vitality. That way, you can nurture force more quickly. If you train the way you do, all slow and lukewarm, when will you ever master it?”
Then she paused and looked Xu Yuan up and down with faint contempt. “And I heard from Rongrong that you only broke through to become a martial artist at the end of the month, right? With aptitude that… ordinary, do not go confusing yourself and wasting other people’s time!”
Those words were extremely rude, and the scene froze at once.
Sun Rong could not quite keep her face composed. She had only come to rebuild some familiarity with the two of them. In terms of understanding the Benlei Fist, the other woman probably was not even as good as she was, but those words truly had gone too far.
“A-Li, do not say it like that…”
She had just started trying to smooth things over when Li Shan, unable to bear it any longer, said indignantly,
“How do you even talk to people? I know better than you what Brother Xu’s comprehension is like. He practices harder than anyone else. How is his experience supposed to mislead others?”
The woman gave a cold laugh and lifted her chin proudly. “If hard work were useful, then everyone would be a martial instructor. Naturally, whoever has the highest talent speaks the truth—”
Before she could finish, Xu Yuan cut her off. “Enough. Go find your sense of superiority somewhere else. Lift your chin any higher and I will be worried it will stab someone.”
With that, he ignored them and walked to one side to continue practicing alone.
Li Shan let out a derisive laugh as well, then ignored them too and focused on his own movements.
“You…” The woman’s face turned alternately pale and flushed. She clearly wanted to say more, but Sun Rong, wearing a helpless expression, pulled her away.
Once the two had gone farther away, Li Shan came over and said irritably, “What kind of people does Sun Rong keep hanging around with every day?”
“She barely said two sentences before she started belittling others. She should take a look at herself first.”
Xu Yuan shook his head, indicating that there was no need to bother with such noise.
To him, outside disturbances were nothing more than wind passing by his ears.
Still, after this incident, the boundary between him and Sun Rong had become even clearer.
…
That evening.
When everyone returned from martial practice, they once again found Qin Yang and Chen Sanli sitting together and chatting with smiles. There was half a bag of leftover peanuts on the table, with shells scattered everywhere.
Chen Sanli had talked himself dry, so he casually picked up a gray earthenware water jug from the table and tilted his head back to drink from it.
Xu Yuan recognized it. It was Gao Yuan’s water jug, something he usually treasured carefully. Xu Yuan instinctively looked toward Gao Yuan.
Sure enough, Gao Yuan’s expression changed immediately.
Living under the same roof, everyone knew that Gao Yuan was the cleanest of them all. His bedding was always spotless and neatly arranged. Some even felt he might be a little obsessive about cleanliness.
Chen Sanli gulped down several mouthfuls before noticing that everyone had returned. He grinned and said, “Brother Gao, I was dying of thirst, so I borrowed a sip of your water. I will refill it for you in a bit!”
Seeing this, Wang Huan frowned and stepped in with the air of the dorm’s leader. “Sanli, you are always so careless. Do you not know Gao Yuan likes things clean? Remember to wash the jug properly later.”
Chen Sanli set the jug down and replied with a smile, “Got it, got it. I will wash it until it is spotless…”
“No need.”
Gao Yuan suddenly stepped forward, snatched the jug away, and without even looking at it, hurled it hard out the door.
Bang!
The clay jug shattered on the stone steps, splashing water everywhere.
The entire dormitory fell silent in an instant.
Gao Yuan turned around and said coldly, “Wash it? Who knows what he has touched or what he has been exposed to. Even if it is washed, I would still think it is filthy!”
Chen Sanli’s smile froze at once. Thick-skinned as he was, even he now felt burning humiliation. “You… what do you mean by that?!”
Qin Yang stood up as well, his face darkening.
“Yuanz, those words went too far, did they not? Sanli should not have taken your things without asking, but he can just compensate you with a new one. Was there any need to insult him like this?”
Gao Yuan raised his eyes toward him, a mocking curve touching the corner of his mouth. “Insult him? You spend every day together, watching performances and drinking, then come back and climb onto your bed without even washing your shoes… and you think you are clean?”
Qin Yang was left speechless, his face shifting between pale and flushed.
Originally, the two had both come from the martial trainee ranks, and their relationship had been fairly good. But after this incident, once Qin Yang spoke up in defense of Chen Sanli, no matter how good their relationship had been, a rift was bound to form.
Li Shan quickly tried to mediate. “Enough, all of you. Sanli, go buy a new jug for Gao Yuan tomorrow. Gao Yuan, calm down. You really did go too far with your words…”
“Too far?” Gao Yuan interrupted him, his gaze slowly sweeping across everyone in the room. “Then let me ask all of you this. If today he had used your bedding to wipe his feet, would you also laugh and say, ‘He can just compensate you with another one’?”
No one spoke for a moment.
Humiliated and furious, Chen Sanli blurted out, “You just think our backgrounds are not as refined as yours, do you? Stop pretending to be so lofty! Everyone in the martial compound has clawed their way up from the dirt. What makes you so precious?!”
“I am precious?” Gao Yuan suddenly laughed, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Yes, I am. At the very least, I know that you cannot casually touch other people’s belongings, unlike you, treating shamelessness as if it were casualness.”
“You mother—” Chen Sanli swung his fist and was just about to charge forward when Wang Huan grabbed him.
“Enough!”
Wang Huan was angry as well. Pointing at Gao Yuan, he snapped, “So you are the only clean and refined one here? We are all living under the same roof. Did you really have to say it to this extent?”
“Oh, so now my words are the problem?” Gao Yuan refused to back down in the slightest and sneered. “When he touched my things, why did you not think what he did looked ugly?”
Wang Huan was choked speechless. After a long pause, he flung his hand aside. “Fine, fine. I cannot manage this. Do whatever you all want.”
The atmosphere in the dormitory stiffened once more.
Xu Yuan watched all of this coldly without speaking.
This dormitory had always been a collection of unfamiliar people thrown together. A bit of friction was perfectly normal.
And Chen Sanli really had been asking for it. He knew full well that Gao Yuan was obsessive about cleanliness, yet he still went out of his way to touch the other man’s taboo.
Tian Yang watched quietly and also said nothing. He was not particularly close to any of them, and if he stepped in now, he might only get scolded instead.
Xiao Sheng looked at his nose, and his nose looked at his heart. Faced with such complicated interpersonal conflict, he chose to keep his distance.
Before long, Chen Sanli stormed out, slamming the door behind him, and Qin Yang followed after him.
Gao Yuan silently went forward to clean up the shattered pieces by the doorway, then went alone to fetch water and wash up.
In the end, everyone could only return to their own beds in silence. The former warmth of the dormitory was gone for good.
…