Rising Phoenix

The group of brats hiding in the distance suddenly stood and yelled excitedly: “Disturbing the academy, hitting students! Since Qing Ming Academy’s first day, no one has dared! This must be reported to the imperial court! Only a severe punishment is fitting! Severe!”

 “Punish your grandma!” Chunyu Meng scolded loudly, and lead his friends over in an attack.

 “Disturbing the academy, hitting a dormitory head. Good, good, you guys are too good!” Dormitory Head Li was helped up out of the pile of broken bowls and shattered tables, his complexion pale with anger, and with a swing of his hand, threw out the metal ball in his grip.

Yan Huaishi quietly picked up the two silver pieces on the ground. The dormitory head’s servant had dropped it in the chaos, but now that the matter was out of his hands, Yan Huaishi retrieved his money and held onto it.

Bribing was all fine and well, but it would be criminal to waste.

Lin Shao was also helped up, and he locked his disheveled gaze on Gu Nanyi, crying out and cursing as he jabbed his finger forward. “Kill that brat, castrate him! Cook him! Fry him! Burn him!”

He turned his finger to Feng Zhiwei. “Slaughter him as well…” but halfway through his sentence paused and whirled his finger back to Gu Nanyi. “Castrate him! Cook him! Fry him! Burn him!”

 “Ready yourself for death, kid!” The broken fingered young man laughed with malice. “Headmaster Xin will show you!”

Gu Nanyi suddenly slipped over, and although a crowd of people stood between him and his objective, he weaved through them like a silk ribbon floating in the wind. It was almost as if he could feel the palpable hostility in the room, his aura reacted as the air around him almost froze and the temperature dropped; the people near him shivered in the sudden cold as if they had been thrown into a storm of frost and snow. As he moved forward, his fingers blurred in the reflected glitter of snow light, and he reached the man grabbing Feng Zhiwei.

 “Shua!”

A thin and light sound broke the tension, as if a strained thread had broken under the light touch of a finger. A light filled the room and flashed in a subdued but somehow magnificent fashion, like lightning on a clear day, dazzling the eye.

Gu Nanyi’s fingers silently bounced back from his target.

Surprise filled Feng Zhiwei. It was the first time she’d seen anyone block Gu Nanyi’s strike.

A cold voice called out: “Stop fighting.”

The seemingly powerless voice casually called out, but everyone immediately froze.

But everyone stunned.

They all turned. A small group stood at the entrance to the hall, calmly looking in on the wrecked dining room. The man in the lead wore a moon-white-striped apricot robe and held a fan even on this cool day. A pair of beautiful eyes and a half-exposed collar finished the beautiful and provocative face.

It was the beautiful uncle that Feng Zhiwei had bumped into that day when the penniless middle-aged man had climbed the brothel walls to meet the third-rate prostitute, and then fallen off his perch as he was hunted by the Seven Golden Flowers.

Xiao Xin. Xin Ziyan.

But today, this Xiao Xin was not harried and disheveled. He’d cleaned up and was well dressed, and a faint smile never left his face as he looked over the chaotic scene. His glance drifted over to Feng Zhiwei and he spoke lazily. “Fighting again?”

Feng Zhiwei felt that this “again” comment was very confusing.

A pile of people rushed over, each complaining about how Feng Zhiwei was domineering, or how her servant was a trouble making, ferocious, limb breaking bully… their adjectives grew more and more bloody as they grew more and more excited. As Feng Zhiwei listened to their litany of grievances and their ever more terrible descriptions, she almost believed that she really had been evil.

Gu Nanyi was still, and had not turned in Xin Ziyan’s direction even once. Ever since his fingers had been reflected, his attention had been locked on the man behind Xin Ziyan.

The object of his focus wore a dark red robe and a black cloak. His face was set in an expressionless mask, and he was clearly not paying any attention to what occurred inside the dining hall, and was completely ignoring Gu Nanyi, as if he had not been the one who had sent the flying sword light to stop Gu Nanyi’s fingers.

Xin Ziyan smiled and listened to the clamoring complaints, and something flickered through his eyes as he turned to look at the heavily guarded Lin Shao and Lin Ji.

After they’d all finished filing their complaints, the group rested, confident that the charges were enough to put Feng Zhiwei on death row 18 times over. They turned to look at her in satisfied silence, waiting to watch Feng Zhiwei suffer.

In the ensuing silence, Xin Ziyan lifted his fan and pointed at Feng Zhiwei.

Feng Zhiwei sighed, and thought to herself that it would really be great if Xin Ziyan’s domineering wife were here, or if that was too much, how any of the other Golden Flower would do.

The eyes of the accusers gleamed as they looked at Feng Zhiwei as if she were already dead.

Yan Huaishi was busy speedily counting his silver pieces, wondering how he could bring about the most effect with the least amount of spending.

Lin Shao pursed his lips in hesitation.

Chunyu Meng rolled his sleeves up as a killing aura gathered around him, and he signaled his Military Hall buddies with his eyes.

…

But under their astonished gazes, Xin Ziyan’s folding fan suddenly swept over Feng Zhiwei and fluidly whipped around to point at others gathered around.

 “You! You! You! You! You!” He called out without pause, pointing to the injured Yan Gong Zi, Lin Shao, Lin Ji, Chunyu Meng, and Yan Huaishi. “As students of the academy, you dare to cause a disturbance in this pure and noble place, and under the eyes of so many witnesses! Fighting chaotically like peddlers and peasants! Where has all your reading gotten you? Hm?”

This nasally “Hm” shot out of Headmaster Xin’s mouth with speed and weight, and everyone was stunned. Both observers and the singled out victims looked at him numbly, utterly confused by Head Xin’s actions. What was he trying to sell here?

It was obvious that Feng Zhiwei’s side had thrown the first blow, and had moved with great viciousness. What was in his brain that he pointed to the others?

Fine, Young Master Yao was the source of the provocation, and Chunyu Meng had joined in the brawl, but what did the Lin Brothers or Yan Huaishi do?

 “You all!” Headmaster Xin’s roar sounded more like a cat’s shriek than anything else. “Confinement for seven days! Think about your faults in the isolation rooms! Anyone who dares to step a foot out of their cells will be crippled and expelled!”

Young Master Yao’s eyes rolled back as he fainted from anger.

 “You!” Lin Shao lifted his chin and called out angrily. “You dare to confound white and black! I’m going to tell! I’m! I!”

As he struggled to finish his sentence, Xin Ziyan glanced at him, his cold, peach-blossom eyes not holding any hint of pressure. He called out calmly, “Who would you tell? Let me inform you, anyone who comes to my academy, no matter their identity, must obey my decisions!”

As he finished, he waved his hand and a team of men stepped forward to escort their prisoners. Lin Shao choked, and was halfway through signaling his bodyguard to fight when his brother Lin Jin moved. Lin Jin signaled the bodyguard to stay still, and bowed to Xin Ziyan before speaking. “This one and the other students did not reconcile and mediate this matter when the accident occurred, but instead added to the trouble. We are to blame, and will take Headmaster’s punishment.”

Xin Ziyan only let out a “Wu” sound in reply, and turned to look at Lin Ji.