Chapter 79: A Morning Lesson

The Sword Hall was silent.

Ning Changjiu sat down on the chair. The chair remained perfectly still, showing no signs of collapsing.

Lerou was slightly startled. She instinctively exchanged a glance with Yun Ze, and both saw shock in each other's eyes.

Lerou frowned, clenching her small fists, as if assuring herself, "Don't worry, this is just part of our elaborate plan."

Yun Ze silently turned his head, his gaze subtly rising to fix on Ning Changjiu. He watched Ning Changjiu naturally pick up a book, holding his breath in anticipation.

Ning Changjiu opened the book and let out a soft "oh." Seeing him rub his fingers, Lerou's heart leaped with joy. She thought, "The edges of this paper are coated with a strange medicine. If he dares to lick his fingers, he'll be dizzy all day and won't recover until he's slept it off."

Ning Xiaoling had already approached him, concerned, and softly asked, "Are you alright, Senior Brother?"

Ning Changjiu showed her his finger and said, "I'm fine. I just accidentally almost scratched it while turning the page."

Lerou, with her keen eyes, immediately saw there was no blood on his finger. Greatly disappointed, she slightly loosened her excitedly clenched fist.

However, she was convinced that her intricate plan was foolproof, beyond even divine intervention. Even if, for some unknown reason, he had narrowly escaped two or three traps, he was bound to fall into one eventually!

Yun Ze suddenly realized that Junior Sister Lerou's gaze was too intense and obvious, drawing their master's attention. Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Yun Ze quickly lowered his head, pretending to read intently, before their master could notice him. Showing loyalty, he even coughed loudly twice as a warning.

Lerou was slightly startled. She lifted her chin, her gaze meeting Lu Jiajia's cold eyes. Her heart tightened, and she quickly lowered her head, feigning serious reading. Only when Lu Jiajia looked away did she secretly glance back at Ning Changjiu from the corner of her eye.

Ning Changjiu was now explaining the contents of the Sword Scripture to Ning Xiaoling.

The Sword Scripture had also been tampered with; many characters had been altered using strange methods, so Ning Changjiu should theoretically not have recognized them.

But Lerou had no idea that he had already encountered the greatest textual illusion in the world—the three characters "Unobservable." Therefore, these minor tricks were naturally less than a sheer veil in his eyes.

He smoothly explained the book's content to Ning Xiaoling, looking completely at ease. Ning Xiaoling nodded frequently, deep in thought.

Lerou was utterly shocked, wondering what had gone wrong. Could it be that Xu Weiran and Yun Ze were secretly going easy on him?

"That shouldn't be right," she thought. "I clearly watched them do it myself."

The more Lerou thought about it, the more frustrated she became. Clenching her fists, she continued to glance over, thinking, "It's fine, I still have my trump card. As soon as he picks up the pen on the table to write some annotations, he'll press the inscription on the penholder and silently stamp 'I am a pig' onto himself. It will take at least half a month to wash off!"

Sure enough, Ning Changjiu did not disappoint Lerou's expectations. Before long, he reached for the pen.

Lerou held her breath.

Just as Ning Changjiu was about to touch the penholder, he seemed to spot an interesting sentence. He retracted his hand, placed it on the page, and pointed something out to Ning Xiaoling.

Over the next fifteen minutes, this happened three more times, causing Lerou's emotions to rollercoaster.

"You outer disciple really haven't seen the world," Lerou thought indignantly. "It's just a general outline of sword theory, full of vague principles. What witty lines could possibly deserve so much repeated pointing?"

Finally, Ning Changjiu seemed to have talked himself dry and was about to pick up the pen to write something. Lerou's heart settled. "Third time's the charm," she thought. "Surely he'll fall for it this time?"

"Lerou!"

Suddenly, a cold, stern voice rang out. Lerou, whose nerves were already taut, was so startled that she sprang from her chair like a frightened rabbit, frantically calling out, "Here!"

She looked at her master's gaze fixed on her. An aura of authority instantly made her body tense, and she stared straight ahead, no longer daring to look at Ning Changjiu.

In her nervousness, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and her earlobe immediately turned red.

"M-Master, what is it?" she stammered nervously.

"During this morning's lesson, what part were you reading?" Lu Jiajia asked coolly.

Lerou's small frame trembled slightly. Just as she was about to look down at her book, she heard Lu Jiajia sharply command, "Look up!"

Lerou's slender neck tensed up again.

Lu Jiajia asked, "Before you stood up, what was the last sentence you read? No looking at the book."

Lerou hadn't been reading in the first place, and now the sudden fright had made her mind go blank. Low laughter from other disciples around her made her feel so ashamed that she wanted to cry, but no answer to her master's question came to mind.

"Just... just saw, sword... its subtle part... its momentum..."

She tapped her head, unable to form a complete sentence.

Xu Weiran and Yun Ze lowered their heads, sighing softly with expressions almost of mourning.

Lu Jiajia looked at her coldly, an expression of severe disappointment on her face, and spoke in a clear, cold voice: "Lerou, you hardly resemble an inner disciple. Not only do you repeatedly skip classes and cause trouble with your senior brother, but now even during morning lessons, you're so distracted. The Great Dao points directly; do you think you can ascend it with mere cleverness?"

Lerou bowed her head, twisting her hands in front of her, and whispered, "Master, I was wrong..."

Lu Jiajia said coldly, "You always say you know your mistake, but when do I ever see you correct it? Come up and take your punishment!"

"Yes..." Lerou bit her lower lip, replied softly, and reluctantly left her seat. Under everyone's gaze, she took small steps to the dark, lacquered desk, bowed her head, and extended her hand.

Lu Jiajia, with one hand behind her back, picked up the disciplinary ruler and brought it down.

A crisp sound, accompanied by the girl's pained grunt as she gritted her teeth, echoed through the Sword Hall.

After about ten strokes, Lu Jiajia looked at Lerou's reddened palm, feeling a slight pang of reluctance, and withdrew the ruler. She said, "Don't ever do this again."

Lerou's hands trembled slightly, stinging painfully. She kept her head down, her eyes brimming with tears. At that moment, she dared only nod, afraid that if she spoke, she would choke up. She was already so embarrassed; she couldn't afford to be more so...

"Go back," Lu Jiajia sighed softly.

Lerou quickly turned around. As she did, she vaguely caught sight of Ning Changjiu from the corner of her eye. The young man, dressed in the attire of an outer disciple, seemed to have a faint smile on his face.

Lerou felt even more resentment. She had intended to prank someone else, but now she had become the object of his amusement. The girl's cheeks flushed instantly. Not wanting to see anyone, she quickly ran back to her seat, folded her arms on the desk, and buried her head like an ostrich.

Ning Changjiu pointed towards Lerou and quietly admonished Ning Xiaoling, "Junior Sister, always remember not to be like your Senior Sister Lerou. You must diligently cultivate and not cause Master any worries."

Ning Xiaoling looked at the very upset Lerou and nodded obediently.

The morning lesson finally ended, and only then did Lerou dare to use spiritual energy to soothe the stinging pain in her palms.

She lifted her head, wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, which were still somewhat red.

Yun Ze turned around and sighed, "I told you not to do this before. You've overdone it and angered Master, haven't you?"

Lerou quickly made a shushing gesture and whispered, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

"Lerou."

The familiar voice behind her rang out again. Lerou stiffened her back and said, "Master!"

Lu Jiajia had appeared behind her like a ghost. She tapped Lerou's desk and said, "Come out with me for a moment."

Lerou's heart leaped to her throat again. She timidly looked back and secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her master wasn't holding the disciplinary ruler.

Lu Jiajia walked towards the door, and Lerou pitifully hurried after her.

Ning Xiaoling, who had witnessed the scene, said with a hint of fear, "Master is too fierce... Even though those ruler strikes weren't on my palm, they sounded painful."

Ning Changjiu gently comforted her, saying, "Don't be afraid, Junior Sister. Many 'tigresses' are actually just paper tigers."

Ning Xiaoling was shocked. "Senior Brother," she said, "if you're going to say things like that in the future, please say them far away from me. I don't want to get punished because of you."

After the morning lesson, the disciples in the Sword Hall rose one by one. After tidying their desks, they headed towards the sword training grounds.

Ning Changjiu chatted with Ning Xiaoling for a while longer before she bid farewell to her Senior Brother and walked out the door.

Ning Changjiu was the last to leave the Sword Hall.

As he exited, he happened to meet Lerou returning after being admonished by Lu Jiajia. They passed each other.

By this point, Junior Sister Lerou had stopped crying. After Lu Jiajia had called her out, although her words had been mostly admonishments, bringing up her past misdeeds from recent months, her tone had softened considerably. Lerou knew that her master wasn't truly angry, and her mood had slightly improved. She acknowledged all of Lu Jiajia's criticisms.

Just before returning to the Sword Hall, she looked up and saw Ning Changjiu walking out. Anger welled up within her, and she couldn't help but glare at him.

"Stop!" Lerou snapped.

"What is it?" Ning Changjiu stopped.

Lerou had intended to retort rudely, but remembering her master's recent teachings, she suppressed her anger. Instead, she furrowed her delicate brows and said, "You must cultivate diligently and not disappoint our master, understand?"

Ning Changjiu seemed bewildered by her words, pausing for a moment before simply saying, "Alright."

Lerou stared at him, wondering how this seemingly clueless person had managed to escape her traps. Was it truly a case of fools having good fortune, or...?

Lerou suddenly cried out, "Ouch!" Her body leaned forward, and her hands reached for Ning Changjiu. He was directly knocked to the ground by her. As he fell, he braced himself with an arm, letting out a painful groan and gritting his teeth in agony. "Wh-what are you doing?" he hissed.

Lerou clutched her ankle, feigning pain. "I just twisted my ankle, Junior Brother, I'm sorry..."

Ning Changjiu shakily got up from the ground, looking somewhat angry. He glared at her, brushed off some dust, and turned to leave without a word.

Lerou had only pretended to fall to test him, but she hadn't expected him to be too slow to even dodge, getting knocked straight to the ground by her momentum...

She watched Ning Changjiu's somewhat unsteady steps and thought, "It seems this person isn't hiding his true abilities after all. How strange."

Returning to the Sword Hall, Lerou gathered her things, then went to Ning Changjiu's seat, squatted down, and examined the chair legs.

"It was indeed sawed... Did I not saw enough? It didn't break even when he sat on it..."

Lerou tapped the chair, her mind filled with doubt. After a moment of hesitation, she carefully sat down on it.