Tang Si poked her head out and saw Lin Shu and his two companions crouching very sneakily by the corner of the wall.

They had the look of people waiting to watch a good show!

At that moment, Tang Si felt anger rising in her heart. The corners of her mouth curved up in a wicked smile, then she curled her fingers and lightly tapped on the window.

Knock knock!

Hearing the sound, Lin Shu and his classmates looked up.

The instant they raised their heads, Tang Si tipped the bundle in her clothes downward, and the four snakes fell right onto their heads and into their clothing.

“Ahhh!”

The three men screamed in fright, suddenly jumping up and frantically shaking their bodies.

One snake was swept to the ground, while the other three burrowed into the three men’s clothing respectively. Even though they knew the snakes were domesticated, it still frightened them into a cold sweat.

The three men acted as if they’d been electrocuted, stripping off their clothes piece by piece until they were bare-chested. Only then did the three snakes fall out of their garments.

Probably the snakes were also terrified, as their slender, slippery bodies immediately burrowed into the nearby grass.

In a flash, they vanished without a trace!

The three men’s bodies went numb all over!

Standing in place, their lips turned pale.

Tang Si couldn’t help but laugh heartily. “Serves you right! Still want to mess with this young lady? Don’t you know this young lady grew up in the mountains and forests? Thinking a few snakes could scare me—what a joke.”

“Crazy woman!” Lin Shu cursed loudly.

“Who’s the crazy woman? Say that again! You claim to be a scholar, but clearly a dog’s mouth can’t produce ivory. Haven’t I taught you enough of a lesson yet?”

She clenched her fists.

Lin Shu stood there bare-chested, the flesh on his body trembling. He was about to step forward when his two classmates grabbed hold of him.

One person whispered a reminder in his ear, “Lin Shu, she knows martial arts.”

“So knowing martial arts makes her so great? Gives her the right to be so arrogant? To turn our Mingshan Academy completely upside down?”

His anger flared up. “Wild girl, let me tell you, don’t think that just because someone’s backing you up, what happened before didn’t happen.”

“So what? You want revenge?” Tang Si was about to draw the silver whip from her waist. “This young lady has never suffered a loss, and the silver whip in my hand has never missed its mark. Those two lashes earlier—you probably haven’t had enough of a taste. How about…”

Her eyes flashed with murderous intent!

Just as she was about to leap out the window, a figure suddenly appeared from the side, blocking her path through the window.

Jingrong?

Hadn’t he taken Ji Yunshu away to rest? What was he doing running over here out of the blue?

He glanced sideways and said sternly to Tang Si, “Get inside and kneel properly.”

No room for negotiation whatsoever!

Tang Si pointed at those people. “They were the ones…”

Jingrong: “Do you really enjoy looking at half-naked men?”

Pfft!

A mouthful of fresh blood, so to speak.

Indeed, Lin Shu and his classmates were still bare-chested.

No matter how uncouth she was, she still felt somewhat embarrassed. Her eyes glared fiercely in another direction, then she waved her hand and slammed the window in front of her shut with a “bang.”

Jingrong felt as if he’d eaten a mouthful of filth. His face was covered with dust particles that had shaken down from the window. He reached up to wipe his face, then turned to look at the three half-naked men before him.

His gaze pointed to the pile of clothes on the ground. “Aren’t you going to pick those up quickly? Waiting for me to dress you?”

The three men hastily picked up their clothes!

Jingrong, on the contrary, seemed quite interested. Crossing his arms and leaning half his body against the wall, he appreciated the spring-like scene before him.

Then he spoke leisurely, “You all seem to be having quite a pleasant time. It’s almost midnight, yet you’re running over here to play with snakes. What’s the matter? Do you need me to build you a fire and cook a pot of snake soup?”

“Who’s playing with snakes?”

“If not playing with snakes, then you came here to strip? That’s quite a novel hobby.”

His tongue was too poisonous!

It left them speechless.

The three men had already rustled their clothes back on!

He looked Lin Shu over again and teased, “You just got whipped not long ago. The wound on your shoulder hasn’t even healed yet, but you just have to have that masochistic bone in your body and come here to be abused.”

Lin Shu glared at him. “Who came here to be abused? That wild girl committed a wrong herself. It’s only right that we came to teach her a lesson.”

With that, he was about to step forward and pull at the window. The moment his hand reached out, Jingrong twisted it back.

“Make any more trouble and I’ll break your hand off.”

“It hurts!”

Jingrong forcefully pushed him away.

“Good that you know it hurts. Then behave yourself.”

Lin Shu frowned, looking utterly unwilling. His arm hurt, and so did his lower back. He quickly lifted his clothing to take a look and only then discovered that he had been bitten by a snake on his waist.

“Lin Shu, you were bitten by a snake?”

“That’s quite a deep wound.”

The two classmates exclaimed in shock!

He, however, lowered his clothing and said nonchalantly through gritted teeth, “It’s just a bite. It’s not a venomous snake. Just apply some medicine and it’ll be fine.”

Jingrong and Muruo had at least grown up together since they wore split-pants diapers. He couldn’t diagnose major illnesses, but he could still recognize minor ailments. That wound really wasn’t deep, but even though the snake was domesticated, it wasn’t necessarily non-venomous.

He said coldly, “Snake venom is no laughing matter.”

“I don’t need you to care!”

“I never said I’d care about you. Whether you live or die has nothing to do with me. However, I still need to remind you—behave yourself and don’t cause any more trouble. After all, the one who suffers the loss is you.”

Having dropped these words, he left!

Leaving Lin Shu clicking his teeth in pain, supported by his classmate friends as they hurried back to their room to apply medicine.

Jingrong didn’t return to his own room but went to the Confucian Hall to find Muruo.

He saw him still sitting on the stone steps outside the Confucian Hall, with two additional wine jugs by his hand at some unknown time. He was drinking while tilting his head back to gaze at the starlit sky.

“I knew you’d still be here.”

He sat down beside him and, in passing, snatched the wine jug from his hand, reminding him, “This is the academy. You know the rules. Don’t violate them and let Master Yu catch you in the act. You also know that old man is quite cunning.”

“What’s there to fear? That old man isn’t even here.”

So Muruo snatched the wine jug back.

And took a big gulp!

He asked again, “Did you go to the Confucian Hall?”

“Yes, just went to check on her for Yunshu.”

“How is that girl?”

“How could she be? She’s perfectly fine, not a hair missing. It’s Lin Shu and those guys who, instead of staying put properly, had to be stubborn and caught some snakes to take over there. As a result, they ended up getting bitten.” Jingrong added hastily, “Later, prepare some medicine for him.”

After listening to him, Muruo extended his hand. “Hand it over!”

“What?”

“Money! Medicine costs money. I’m a divine physician—when have I ever given people medicine for free?” He had the look of a money-grubber.

Jingrong gave him a heavy look of disdain.

The two of them laughed happily.

After a short while, Jingrong’s expression grew serious, and he suddenly said very earnestly, “Actually, Tang Si is very much like Kong Yu.”

Uh!

Muruo’s hand paused, but immediately resumed his drinking motion. Then he asked in a seemingly casual tone, “What makes you say that?”

What makes him say that!

Yes, what makes him say that?

One is water, the other is fire!

The probability of water dissolving into fire is even lower than the probability of Mars colliding with Earth.

Jingrong’s eyes lowered for a moment, then he said, “The two of them are indeed like people from two different worlds, but Miss Tang is like another version of Kong Yu that she’s always kept hidden in her heart. That version is passionate, lively, willful, even arrogant—the side she doesn’t dare show. They seem completely different, but somehow, I just feel they’re extremely alike.”

The corners of Muruo’s mouth curved in a smile. After a long while—

“Perhaps so.”