Chapter 190 So Outstanding That It Makes One Despair
In the headmaster’s office…… “An Xinhui, during these few days, teachers and students are complaining to me that Sun Mo only draws spirit gathering runes during his classes. This is basically skimping. Some people even mention that you are using your position for personal gain. How are you preparing to explain this?” questioned Zhang Hanfu.
He was preparing to endure this for a while. After all, after Sun Mo headed to the Darkness Continent, there was an 80%-90% chance that he wouldn’t come back. But today when he was patrolling the school, he would occasionally hear people discussing Sun Mo, and their comments were all positive ones. In fact, quite a lot of people were saying that Zhou Yong hadn’t been expelled even after such a long time was due to him, Zhang Hanfu, protecting Zhou Yong. After hearing all these nasty words cursing at him, how could Zhang Hanfu continue to endure it? He immediately came to find An Xinhui. No matter what, he had to teach Sun Mo a lesson first.
If not, that brat would really assume that he was a vegetarian.*
In truth, this matter wasn’t done by Sun Mo. It was done privately by Li Gong after trying to fathom Sun Mo’s attitude. Li Gong specially found a few people to spread these words around.
Li Gong was very lucky. After he had reported Yang Cai, before Yang Cai could expose him, that unlucky person was already finished off by Zhang Hanfu. So, Li Gong was still working as the supervisor in the logistics department. When he knew that a new department head had arrived, he was very disappointed. Why wasn’t the department head Sun Mo?
He knew that Sun Mo was too young, and it was impossible for him to take such an important position. But a few days later, the school issued an announcement saying that Sun Mo would become the new vice department head of the logistics department.
Since the department head had been transferred away, in the future, Sun Mo’s words were the sole source of authority in the logistics department.
Sun Mo had become his direct supervisor, and this filled the lackey Li Gong with joy. He naturally took the chance to ‘bootlick’ Sun Mo.
Li Gong felt that Sun Mo must have convinced An Xinhui through ‘sleeping’ with her. If not, how would he be able to take on this important role?
In any case, Li Gong’s tricks ensured that Zhang Hanfu’s reputation fell by half.
Given An Xinhui and Wang Su’s characters, they absolutely wouldn’t do something like this. Hence, Zhang Hanfu felt that this whole thing must be masterminded by Sun Mo.
“Has the number of students attending Sun Mo’s classes fallen below 10? If it is so, I will cancel his lessons!’
An Xinhui counter-asked.
“I want to bring up this point precisely. Sun Mo publicly gifts students who attended his class spirit gathering runes. Isn’t this the same as using material benefits to attract more people to his lessons? This isn’t a fair competition!”
Zhang Hanfu angrily spoke, “There are already many teachers complaining to me about this.”
“Are those spirit gathering runes he gifted out not drawn by him?”
An Xinhui interrupted Zhang Hanfu.
“Eh!”
He had no way to refute that because the gifts were truly drawn by Sun Mo. It was even said that the grade of the spirit gathering runes wasn’t low.
“There’s no problem then. That’s something personally drawn by a teacher. Gifting them to students would only encourage them to work harder in learning. How can there be any problem?”
An Xinhui’s eloquence was also pretty good.
“Alright, let’s temporarily shelve this. You said that Sun Mo has resolved the school’s financial problem? How did he do that?”
Zhang Hanfu was very curious. Sun Mo couldn’t have sold his ass, right?
“Vice-headmaster Zhang has a host of problems to deal with every day. There’s no need for you to worry about this.”
An Xinhui would never tell him in case he planned something bad.
“You also know that I’m a vice-headmaster? I didn’t sign Sun Mo’s letter of appointment for the logistics department!”
Zhang Hanfu was very angry.
“Teacher Wang signed it!”
An Xinhui strongly rebutted, causing Zhang Hanfu to almost explode.
Zhang Hanfu was cursing in his heart. (That crazy Wang Su, why does he admire Sun Mo that much?)
Wang Su was treating him so well to the extent where others would truly feel jealous.
“I still have a lot of work to do. If you have nothing else to say, please go out!”
An Xinhui issued the guest expulsion order.
Zhang Hanfu’s face turned black. Upon seeing An Xinhui ignoring him, he felt a surge of anger, but he had nowhere to vent it. He could only snort coldly and push the door open to leave.
No way, he couldn’t allow things to be settled like this!
Zhang Hanfu decided to find a few teachers and students to complain about Sun Mo. Even if he couldn’t cancel Sun Mo’s classes, he had to disgust Sun Mo to death.
In the campus, as Zhang Hanfu walked past a bed of flowers, he saw his son sitting on a bench nearby.
“Qianlin, why are you in a daze?”
Upon seeing the son whom he regarded heavily, Zhang Hanfu involuntarily smiled. But his smile vanished and was soon replaced by a frown after that.
What was going on with the depressed look on his son’s face?
“Did you go to see An Xinhui?”
From Zhang Hanfu’s point of view, his son must have asked An Xinhui out for dinner and got rejected. (Sigh, I’ve already told you that it’s impossible between the two of you.)
“No!”
Zhang Qianlin shook his head.
“Eh? What’s wrong with you?”
Zhang Hanfu felt a little taken aback.
“Nothing.”
Zhang Qianlin furrowed his brows and stood up with impatience, preparing to leave. However, after he took a few steps, he stopped and asked, “Father, is my talent considered high in the study of spirit runes?”
“That’s definite. If not, why would I go all-out to beg for favors and send you abroad for higher education? It’s naturally because He Yuanjin isn’t worthy enough to guide
you!”
Zhang Hanfu walked over with a smile on his face as he patted his son’s shoulder. “Don’t indulge in nonsensical thoughts, you are the very best. That Sun Mo who only knows how to draw spirit gathering runes is trash when compared to you.” After saying this, Zhang Hanfu’s face was filled with disdain. He felt that Sun Mo was only proficient in drawing spirit gathering runes. If not, why didn’t he talk about other runes during his classes?
One couldn’t help but say that Zhang Hanfu’s judgment was tempered through his long years of experience in society. It was quite accurate. If he had launched ‘attacks’ earlier based on this ‘weakness’, Sun Mo’s class might have been canceled long ago.
“Alright, go and relax, don’t feel too nervous. You have just returned to school, and everyone is not familiar with you, right? After a month or two, all the teachers and students in the school would know that my son is the most impressive spirit rune master here.” Zhang Hanfu consoled. “Mn!”
Zhang Qianlin picked himself up. “Oh, what are you planning to do? Do you need my help?”
“I need to find people to deal with Sun Mo!”
Zhang Hanfu spoke bluntly.
IL11
When Zhang Qianlin heard that, his expression turned unnatural. He hesitated, appearing as though he wanted to say something but was unsure how he should say it.
“What’s wrong?” Zhang Hanfu frowned. “Just speak your mind.” “Father, it’s better not to do so.” “Why?”
Zhang Hanfu didn’t understand. (Why has the heart of my son grown so soft? Also, isn’t Sun Mo your love rival? By rights, you shouldn’t give up any chance to disgust him.) Zhang Qianlin didn’t really want to say it. But when he thought that his father would surely suffer a disadvantage if he made trouble for Sun Mo in his class, he decided to grit his teeth and tell the truth. “He’s really very impressive!”
“Who? What are you talking about?”
Zhang Hanfu felt a little unhappy. “As a true man, stop acting so wishy-washy. Even your demeanor would become shameless.”
“It’s Sun Mo. He’s very impressive in the field of spirit runes. We should not start trouble with him in this field.”
Zhang Qianlin said everything in a breath and actually felt more relaxed now. “What?”
Zhang Hanfu thought he heard it wrongly. This son of his had extremely high talent in the study of spirit runes. Since he was young up until now, his son was extremely confident and proud of his own ability. His son was never willing to concede to others. But now, he actually said that Sun Mo was very impressive?
“You best abolish this thought in your mind, or it would surely end in a case of self-humiliation,” said Zhang Qianlin.
Zhang Qianlin was preparing to head to the library. He definitely wanted to find the origin of that mysterious rune.
“Wait a minute, you were sitting here with a depressed look on your face earlier. Did you suffer a psychological impact after attending Sun Mo’s class?”
Zhang Hanfu was badly shocked. (How could this be possible? That Sun Mo is actually more talented than my genius son?)
“Sigh, I’ll tell you honestly. In our Central Province Academy, Sun Mo’s achievement in the field of spirit runes is probably ranked within the top five.”
After that, he clenched his fists. (But I won’t admit defeat!)
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Zhang Hanfu’s lips twitched. He knew in his heart that his son didn’t praise people easily. But once someone was praised by him, that person was definitely someone with true capabilities. Zhang Qianlin didn’t reply, he simply turned and departed. After standing for a while, Zhang Hanfu cursed, “DAMN IT!”.
He then launched a fierce kick at a tree next to him.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Many leaves fell because of the impact.
After that, he started to envy An Xinhui’s good luck. (Your judgment in selecting a fiance is so good. With just a Sun Mo, you actually managed to turn the situation around!)
(Wait a minute, this has nothing to do with An Xinhui. The one with good judgment was the old headmaster!) “Sigh, what a pity. If the old headmaster had succeeded in breaking through to the saint realm, there was an 80% to 90% chance that the school could return to the ranks of the Nine greats.”
Zhang Hanfu sighed. After that, a depressed look appeared on his face. (How good would it be if I was a 4-star great teacher!)
Since Zhang Qianlin had said that Sun Mo was outstanding, one could see how good Wang Su was at assessing people. As a 2-star great teacher, Zhang Hanfu’s judgment ability was truly much inferior compared to Wang Su’s. “Should I give up on seizing the headmaster position and focus on research and teaching students? No, I can’t do that. If I did so, Prince Li would definitely kill me.”
When this thought appeared in his mind, Zhang Hanfu hurriedly cast it out. He was in no position to make a decision.
“Elder Zheng, why are you here?”
When Sun Mo saw Zheng Qingfang, he immediately hurried over to welcome him. He had a very favorable impression of this old man whose interests aligned with him.
“I can’t wait any longer. Where is the second part of (Journey to the West)? It’s almost two months now. You should have finished writing it, right?” Zheng Qingfang looked straight at Sun Mo as though he was a pet waiting for Sun Mo to give him food.
“Eh?!”
Sun Mo scratched his hair. “I didn’t write it!”
“What?”
Zheng Qingfang clutched his heart. It felt so painful that he almost suffocated. This answer was actually the worst-case scenario. If Sun Mo had written even a little, he could at least read a bit to ease his itch.
Now, he couldn’t even ‘quench his thirst by thinking of plums’. “Elder Zheng!”
Sun Mo wanted to explain. “Call me uncle!” Zheng Qingfang interrupted Sun Mo. “Uncle Zheng, I’ve been very busy recently!”
In the past, Sun Mo wrote a novel because he needed to earn some living expenses. But now, there was no longer a need for him to do
so.
Even if he randomly drew a few spirit runes, he would be able to earn a few thousand taels easily. Why would he need to work so hard and write a novel?
II
Zheng Qingfang’s lips moved. He wanted to say, ‘As an intern teacher, what can you possibly be busy about? At most, you could only run errands or assist a teacher, right?’.
(Hmph, he must have been busy chasing girls. I heard that the campus queen of the Myriad Daos Academy has joined the Central Province Academy.)
Sun Mo immediately knew what Zheng Qingfang was thinking of just by looking at his expression. Hence, he hurriedly sought to clear things up.
“About a month ago, I officially joined the school. I’m currently a teacher in the Central Province Academy.”
Sun Mo explained. “Ah? Are you Zhang Hanfu’s godson?”
Zheng Qingfang was taken aback.
[1] In chinese culture, the term ‘being a vegetarian’, can also be used to refer to someone that’s weak. An example: If I don’t teach him a lesson, would he think that I’m a vegetarian?
Chapter 191 If You Don’t Wish for Him to Die, Then Shut Up!
Zheng Qingfang knew that there were three headmasters in Central Province Academy. An Xinhui, for one, was too famous. There wasn’t anyone in Jinling City who didn’t know of her. She had high morals like her grandfather, never being impartial to others.
Wang Su was a 4-star great teacher and a well-known perfectionist. If someone wasn’t a perfect talent, he wouldn’t care for them.
To speak the truth, Sun Mo had graduated from Songyang Academy.
Thus, no matter how Zheng Qingfang looked at it, he didn’t think that Wang Su would admire Sun Mo. Therefore, it was impossible for Wang Su to help Sun Mo get a position in the school.
Then there was only Zhang Hanfu left.
“Uncle Zheng, what rubbish are you talking about?”
Sun Mo was speechless. (How can that potato Zhang be able to give birth to a handsome guy like me? It’d be impossible even if he were to wed a goddess!)
“I’m sorry, it was a slip of tongue.” Zheng Qingfang apologized and smiled, feeling bad about it. “Your drawing skill is very good and your calligraphy isn’t bad either. An Xinhui must admire you a lot, right?”
In Zheng Qingfang’s opinion, Sun Mo was a famous artist who had reached the level of being able to create great masterpieces. It wouldn’t be surprising for An Xinhui to hold him in high regard.
“No, she doesn’t know that I can draw!”
Sun Mo shook his head. Ever since he started drawing character illustrations for Journey to the West the other day, he didn’t draw anymore. He’d just be drawing spirit-gathering runes every day.
“Uhh!”
Zheng Qingfang was speechless. (Brother, you weren’t this bad at chatting in the past. How am I supposed to carry on the conversation with you giving me these replies? And it’s really a great waste of talent for you not to be drawing.)
“I’ll be heading to the Darkness Continent in half a month, so I won’t be free to write (Journey to the West] now.”
Sun Mo said honestly to save Zheng Qingfang from constantly thinking about it.
“What? Are you crazy?”
Zheng Qingfang frowned. “Did someone plot against you?”
“No!”
Sun Mo was perplexed.
“Then why would you be assigned to go to the Darkness Continent when you’re new on the job? Do you know what kind of place that is?”
Zheng Qingfang looked at Sun Mo. He was very disappointed when he heard that Sun Mo wasn’t going to write (Journey to the West] anymore. But when he heard the word ‘Darkness Continent’, he was instantly shocked.
“I know!”
Sun Mo nodded. The original owner of this body had been there before, but he had only been to the second level.
That was right. Given all the known information for now, there was a total of five levels in the Darkness Continent. Each level had different natural laws.
For example, the spirit qi in the first level wasn’t as stable as that in Middle-Earth Nine Provinces. They were like tidal waves, seething non-stop.
Such a phenomenon resulted in varying spirit pressure in various regions.
It wasn’t an issue to move around in areas with low spirit pressure, but they had to be careful when they were to enter high spirit pressure areas. When it exceeded a certain value, one’s organs would be compressed and damaged.
Therefore, if one wished to explore the relics and excavate mysterious treasures in the Darkness Continent, the first thing they had to learn was to distinguish the spirit pressure. This would allow them to survive.
“You’re going despite knowing about it? You don’t want your life anymore?”
Zheng Qingfang frowned. As someone who had experience in this, he persuaded Sun Mo, “What you need to do right now is to raise your teaching capabilities, then take in disciples, conduct lessons, and stabilize your standing in the Central Province Academy. It’s not to take risks and head to the Darkness Continent.”
“But my students want to go. So I have to go along.”
Sun Mo shrugged.
“What?”
Zheng Qingfang thought that he had heard wrongly. “Was it that girl who was with you the other day? If I didn’t remember wrongly, she hasn’t reached the body-refinement realm successfully, right? Is she going to the Darkness Continent to court death?”
“She’s not the only one.” Sun Mo smiled. “It’s good to go to the Darkness Continent earlier to get some experience. I’ll protect her.”
“Wait a minute. This might be presumptuous of me, but how many students do you have?”
Zheng Qingfang asked.
“Six!”
Sun Mo answered honestly.
“How many?”
Zheng Qingfang was someone who had been through many things in life. In the imperial court, he had seen his political opponents having their positions removed by the king and being beaten to death by rods. He hadn’t even blinked his eyes then. But now, he was a little surprised!
“Six!”
Sun Mo put out his hand and gestured six.
Zheng Qingfang raised his hand and waved it in front of Sun Mo. “Have you become delusional because things haven’t been going well lately?”
It was no wonder that Zheng Qingfang didn’t believe him. Acknowledging a teacher was a great matter in a student’s lifetime. It was because after a person had acknowledged a teacher, their reputations would be gone if they were to acknowledge another teacher later on.
Therefore, who wouldn’t exercise great care in such a matter? It wasn’t that Zheng Qingfang looked down on Sun Mo.
(You’re only an intern teacher, right? Alright, even if you’ve been employed, how can you possibly have taken in six students? Wait a minute, this isn’t the important thing.)
“Brother, I understand your pressing urge to become a teacher. But you shouldn’t be anxious about taking in disciples. Once you do, you’ll have to take care of your students like they are your children. You mustn’t slack at all.”
Zheng Qingfang hesitated for a moment before saying, “You shouldn’t take them in if their aptitude and character are bad. Therefore, you should take more time to observe them!”
“I know. I’m quite satisfied with my six students.”
Sun Mo was very thankful toward Zheng Qingfang. After all, he was an influential character and would need to pay attention to his image. However, he still said these things for Sun Mo’s sake.
“You……”
Zheng Qingfang shook his head, feeling very disappointed. However, everyone had their own aspirations. “I have a student who has been by my side for too long. I wish to let him go to the Darkness Continent to gain some experience. Sun Mo, can you help me to take care of him for a while?”
Sun Mo was stunned for a moment then he felt a little warm inside. He cupped his fists together toward Zheng Qingfang. The latter was planning to send an expert to protect Sun Mo and his students.
Old Zheng was worried that if he were to say this outright, Sun Mo might lose face. That was why he had said something of a completely different meaning.
“It doesn’t matter if you were to die, but that (Journey to the West) would be lost in history.”
Zheng Qingfang wanted to make a joke, but after he said this, he quickly spat out. Why was he bringing up dying? It was really inauspicious.
“Why don’t I tell you about it verbally? I really don’t want to write it anymore.”
Sun Mo couldn’t find the time to write.
“Think about it a little more. This book is extremely popular and has become a precious item in Jinling. In another two months, it wouldn’t be a problem for it to take the entire Tang Country by storm.” Zheng Qingfang sighed. Sun Mo’s book could really leave a name in history. “Hehe!”
Sun Mo wasn’t interested.
“You’re really wasting such a precious thing. An incomplete (Journey to the West) can be said to be the greatest regret in the history of Tang Country’s literature.”
Zheng Qingfang was extremely disappointed.
“I’m sorry, my aspiration is to teach and educate people, nurturing a few good and successful students. It brings me greater satisfaction than to write a popular novel.”
Sun Mo apologized.
Hearing this, Zheng Qingfang immediately felt great respect for Sun Mo. Wearing an embarrassed expression, he cupped his hands toward Sun Mo. “I should be the one to apologize. My view is too narrow.”
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Zheng Qingfang +50. Neutral (90/100).
As a learned person and an important official in the imperial court, Zheng Qingfang knew the importance of talent. It could be said that Sun Mo’s aspiration was extremely noble.
“Uncle Zheng!” Sun Mo quickly dodged. He couldn’t accept such a solemn greeting.
“Since I won’t be able to read the second half of the story, then how about you tell me verbally to satisfy my craving?”
Zheng Qingfang immediately turned into a giraffe that was waiting to be fed, looking at Sun Mo with a pleading gaze.
“Alright!”
Sun Mo started to dictate the story.
Zheng Qingfang was infatuated with it. The stories of the 81 tribulations were truly fascinating. At the part where the quartet mistakenly drank from the Spring of Pregnancy and became pregnant, he was completely stunned.
Then, the story went on to Tang Sanzang’s love entanglement in the Women’s Kingdom. Tang Sanzang was moved by the queen of the Women’s Kingdom, while she was infatuated and decided to remain single for life. Hearing that, Zheng Qingfang moaned and gasped. Ding!
loa
“Congratulations, you’ve finished massaging ten people, completing the mission. Rewarded with one black-iron treasure chest.”
The system’s notification suddenly rang out.
ILII
Sun Mo was speechless. (Isn’t this delay too long?) He reckoned that he’d have to spend the day with Old Zheng here. Therefore, he decided to go ahead and open the treasure chest.
After the light flashed past, there was nothing.
“Very sorry, your luck isn’t good. Please try again next time!”
After the system said that, it couldn’t hold it in anymore and broke out laughing. “I’ve seen many people with bad luck, but people with abysmal luck like this are really rare!”
II
Sun Mo had the urge to beat someone up. (I know that I’m unlucky, but does it have to be so thorough? You can at least give me a small lump of dark soil, right?)
Hearing the system’s teasing, Sun Mo was about to retort when Old Zheng suddenly fell to the ground with a thud. “Uncle Zheng?”
Sun Mo was given a shock and quickly put out his hand to take his pulse.
“Old Master!”
At the instant Zheng Qingfang fell, seven burly men immediately darted out of the forest, wearing anxious expressions.
“Quick, clear the path!”
The leader of the pack ran the fastest. He extended out his hands and wanted to carry Zheng Qingfang on his back.
“Don’t!”
Sun Mo grabbed onto the man’s hand.
“Let go. If you were to cause a delay to Old Master’s treatment, the heads of everyone in your family will have to be chopped off in apology.”
The man bellowed furiously.
“A blood vessel in his head had burst. If you were to carry him on your back, the jolting from just one minute of running will be sufficient to kill him.”
As Sun Mo said this, he put both of his hands on Zheng Qingfang’s head, performing the living blood technique. “Ahh!”
Zheng Qingfang, who had sunk into a coma, suddenly let out an agonizing cry. He was in so much pain that his countenance was distorted.
“What are you doing?” The men were overwhelmed by shock and fury, and they drew out their blades at him.
“If you don’t wish for him to die, then shut up!” Sun Mo bellowed.
When the students passing by saw this scene, they immediately came running over. By the time they noticed that Sun Mo had been surrounded, they immediately shouted out.
“Teacher Sun is in danger!”
The students weren’t scared of the ferocious men and stood in front of Sun Mo instead.
“Scram! Are you courting death?”
Sun Mo bellowed furiously toward the students. He was really worried that these guards would be too nervous and start killing people.
“Our Old Master’s old ailment has acted up. Don’t act recklessly, or he’d lose his life!”
“Where’s your school’s doctor? Quickly call them over!”
“Go call your headmaster here!”
The guards shouted loudly.
“I told you to shut up! Do you f*cking not understand human language?” Sun Mo was enraged. “Don’t distract me!”
If the treatment wasn’t done in time, cerebral hemorrhage, even in modern society, would result in dementia or paralysis even if the patient’s life could be saved.
Sun Mo’s living blood technique was only at the expert-grade. Without the genie’s help, he could only try his best. “Go inform Headmaster An!”
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