"How could he? How could he actually do this?" Wynton Wu stared in a daze at the ruins of Tianwu House, too shocked and furious for words.
"It's over. Let's go find somewhere to have dinner."
Ian Song smiled at Winnie Shentu and the other three girls.
"That's right, we haven't had dinner yet. Now that Senior Brother Leon mentioned it, I'm actually starting to feel hungry." Winnie Shentu subconsciously touched her stomach.
"Alright, let's go."
In a corner of the crowd, Harriet Gu watched Ian Song and the four girls leave, her expression pained. From the conversations around her, she'd pieced together everything that happened.
Young Master Yan had stolen Winnie Shentu and the girls' private room, then even went so far as to hurt them.
And Ian came to stand up for them, but the problem was, she happened to be in that very room too.
He completely ignored me. Is he blaming me for not stopping Young Master Yan from attacking Winnie Shentu and the others? But I wasn't even there yet when it happened.
Thinking of this, she felt even more aggrieved.
Should I go and explain it to him? But would he even believe me? And before, I misunderstood him and spoke to him so coldly. I must've hurt him, right? Now he misunderstands me too, so he must be even more disappointed.
She couldn't help but give a bitter smile, her heart a tangled mess.
After standing there for a while, Harriet Gu finally trudged back toward the academy, feeling down.
Just as she walked into the courtyard, she noticed her master had arrived.
"Master."
Harriet Gu bowed respectfully to the Melody Empress.
That’s right—while Ian Song was away from the academy, the Melody Empress had taken a liking to Harriet Gu’s talent and accepted her as a disciple.
It was from her master that Harriet learned the real story behind Ian Song’s duel with Lance Xuanyuan. He hadn’t fought out of jealousy over Lynette Ji, but had been forced into the challenge.
But she’d still misunderstood him, and hadn’t even gone to see him off when he left, which made her feel incredibly guilty.
"What’s wrong, Huayu? Is something bothering you?" the Melody Empress asked gently.
"No," Harriet Gu shook her head.
The Melody Empress smiled, her tone caring. "You won't even tell the truth in front of your master? If nothing's bothering you, why do you look like this? Oh, I heard Leon Huang is back—have you seen him yet?"
"I have," Harriet Gu replied, looking downcast.
"So did you clear up last time's misunderstanding with him?" the Melody Empress pressed. She'd taken Harriet as a disciple partly for her talent, and partly because of Ian Song—after some investigation, she'd discovered Ian seemed to have feelings for Harriet.
Ian Song’s future potential was limitless, especially after his stunning performance on the battlefield.
That’s why she really hoped her little disciple could end up together with Ian Song.
"No," Harriet Gu shook her head again.
"If you met him, why didn’t you clear things up?" The Melody Empress grew more curious.
"I..."
Harriet Gu parted her cherry lips but couldn’t find the words, her expression growing even more forlorn.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" The Melody Empress grew even more puzzled and pressed, "Huayu, what’s really going on? Tell your master."
After hesitating for a while, Harriet Gu finally started to explain everything to the Melody Empress.
After hearing her out, the Melody Empress let out a sigh of relief. Even though another misunderstanding had cropped up between them, it wasn’t something that couldn’t be fixed. She comforted her, "It’s fine, it’s just a misunderstanding. Next time you see him, just explain it clearly. You always keep things bottled up, but that’s not good."
"Don’t say I didn’t warn you—men as outstanding as Leon Huang are rare. And from my experience, that kid definitely has feelings for you too. You’d better seize the opportunity, or you’ll regret it if you miss your chance."
"That’s not true." Hearing her master say that, a faint blush crept onto Harriet Gu’s cool cheeks.
Seeing the look on her disciple’s face, the Melody Empress couldn’t help but smile. "Alright, don’t overthink it. Get some rest. Tomorrow, go talk to that kid yourself and clear things up. And if he bullies you, just tell me—I’ll teach him a lesson for you."
"Thank you, Master," Harriet Gu said shyly.
After sending her master off and returning to her room, Harriet Gu thought about her master’s words, feeling strangely nervous. She’d always been quiet and not good at expressing herself. How was she supposed to explain things to him tomorrow?
In one of the courtyards of the intermediate student dorms.
Dressed in a purple robe, Easton Yan watched the physician leave his room and asked in a low voice, "How is it?"
The middle-aged physician replied respectfully, "Young Master Yan’s hands have been completely reattached. Thanks to the Snow Spirit Ointment you provided, there should be no lasting aftereffects once they heal. Just make sure he doesn’t exert too much force for the next three months, or he might damage the not-yet-healed meridians."
"Got it, I’ll remind him!" Easton Yan said as he handed the physician a banknote for a thousand taels of silver. "Thank you, Dr. Wang. Please accept this as a token of my appreciation."
"Young Master Yan, I couldn’t possibly accept this—please, take it back," Dr. Wang protested quickly.
"It’s fine, you’ve earned it!"
After some polite back-and-forth, Dr. Wang finally accepted the thousand taels.
Once Dr. Wang left, Easton Yan beckoned Wynton Wu over.
Wynton Wu hurried over, looking nervous. "Senior, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault that Gavin and Tianwu House..."
Easton Yan waved his hand, cutting him off. "It wasn’t your fault. In fact, forcing Gavin to leave was the right call. These past few years, he’s gotten more and more arrogant because I’ve backed him up. Maybe this incident will finally teach him a lesson."
But then Easton’s tone changed, his face darkening. "Still, he’s my blood brother. No matter how arrogant he gets, it’s not for outsiders to teach him a lesson. So tell me—how should I deal with Leon Huang?"
Wynton Wu thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Leon Huang’s own cultivation isn’t that high, but he’s got a late-Grandmaster Sword Puppet and an early-Grandmaster beast companion. Plus, the academy higher-ups really favor him. So, trying to deal with him by force isn’t realistic."
"Go on," Easton Yan nodded.
Wynton Wu frowned, thought for a moment, then said excitedly, "We can't deal with him ourselves, but someone else can!"
"Who?"
"Lance Xuanyuan," Wynton Wu whispered.
Easton Yan’s eyes lit up at that. He thought this 'borrow someone else's knife' idea was pretty clever, so he patted Wynton Wu on the shoulder. "I’ll think about it. It’s late—go get some rest."
"What about Tianwu House?"
"Don’t worry, if Tianwu House is gone, we’ll just build another one." Easton Yan smiled and waved it off.
"Thank you, Senior. I’ll take my leave then!"
As Wynton Wu walked away, the smile faded from Easton Yan’s face, turning cold. He muttered, "Wynton Wu, you really aren’t a very good dog. Still, you’re useful for now, so I won’t touch you. Once this is over, though... hmph..."