Chapter 41: Chu Yang, Can You Be Quieter?
Lin Xiao patiently broke down his movements, slowing them to a crawl as he demonstrated the basic blocks and footwork over and over again. “Keep your feet steady, lower your center of gravity… Yes, just like that. Keep your eyes on my blade. Don’t panic…”
Gradually, although Su Mubai’s movements still appeared a bit stiff, he finally managed to keep up with Lin Xiao’s intentionally slowed pace, stringing together a few simple back-and-forth exchanges. His eyes were focused, and his blocks grew steadier with each attempt, finally shedding his initial panic.
Up on the second floor, Chu Yang leaned against the corridor railing. After standing for a while, his lower back began to ache, so he fished a bag of roasted sunflower seeds out of his spatial storage and began munching on them lazily. Unable to keep his mouth shut, he provided a steady stream of unsolicited real-time commentary:
“Old Lin, your teaching method is terrible; you’re going way too soft on him! Su Mubai, you need to be more aggressive! Just imagine Old Lin is that jerk who owes you money and flaunts it in your face every day—hack him! Don’t hold back!”
“Oh, come on, Su Mubai, watch your footwork… dodge to the left! Duck, quickly! Old Lin’s blade is about to clip your shoulder!… Sigh, you were a beat too slow. You got hit again, didn’t you?”
“Su Mubai, you have to be more agile! Don’t just stand there like a wooden post waiting for him to strike! You have to anticipate! Dodge to the side, pivot your body! Yes, ah… still just a little off.”
Su Mubai had been pouring all his concentration into fending off Lin Xiao’s attacks and memorizing the key forms. With Chu Yang making such a racket from the peanut gallery, his focus inevitably slipped. In a moment of carelessness, the flat of Lin Xiao’s blade lightly tapped against his chest.
He paused, lowering his weapon, and looked up at the guy on the second-floor balcony who was happily snacking on seeds and laughing without a care in the world. Su Mubai’s tone was gentle, but laced with undeniable helplessness: “Chu Yang… can you please be quiet for just a little while? With you chattering non-stop up there, I keep getting distracted. I’m getting completely tangled up in my own feet.”
Lin Xiao sheathed his blade, turned around, and looked up to scold Chu Yang with an exasperated laugh. “Exactly! You’re the one making the most noise! Blabbering on and on! If you’re so tough, come down here and train! Don’t just stand up there running your mouth!”
Catching a glimpse of Jiang Jue standing silently behind Chu Yang, Lin Xiao immediately shifted targets. “Brother Jiang! Aren’t you going to rein him in? He’s making such a racket that Little Bai can’t focus on his training, and I can’t even teach my class properly!”
Hearing this, Jiang Jue lowered his gaze to look at Chu Yang, who was still casually stuffing seeds into his mouth. The corners of Jiang Jue’s lips quirked upward. When he spoke, his deep voice carried clearly down to the courtyard: “He has a point. Su Mubai does need to be quicker on his feet. You are teaching him too softly.”
Lin Xiao’s eyes widened in disbelief, nearly dropping his sword. The utter speechlessness on his face instantly melted into a mix of laughter and frustration as he protested, “Brother Jiang! You’re playing favorites way too much, aren’t you?! So, him causing trouble is totally justified? I’m down here putting my heart and soul into teaching Little Bai, and he’s just lounging up there acting like an armchair coach!”
He deliberately tilted his chin at Chu Yang, his tone taking on a defiant edge. “Fine, fine, you two are in cahoots! If Little Bai’s training goes poorly later, don’t blame me for being a bad teacher!”
With Jiang Jue backing him up, Chu Yang grew even more smug. He spat out a sunflower seed shell and pulled a face at Lin Xiao. “Did you hear that, Old Lin? Brother Jiang is on my side! Hurry up and show us some real skill; don’t give me a reason to laugh at you!”
Lin Xiao rolled his eyes in fond annoyance. He turned, patted Su Mubai on the shoulder, and grumbled in a lowered voice, “See that? Those two are ganging up on us. Come on, just ignore him and let’s keep training. We have to show him what we’re made of!”
Su Mubai couldn’t help but smile. He nodded, gripping his weapon tightly once more, his eyes shining with renewed focus.
Just then, the winter wind, which had briefly died down, began to howl again. Tiny, icy grains of snow started to drift sparsely from the gray sky, quickly thickening into a heavy flurry.
Jiang Jue looked up, feeling the sharp plunge in temperature. His voice was low but left no room for argument: “It’s snowing, and it’s getting freezing out here. Let them practice on their own. Go inside before you catch a cold.”
A sudden gust of wind bit through Chu Yang’s clothes, making him shiver. He realized the temperature really had dropped significantly.
He had wanted to keep watching Lin Xiao “guide” Su Mubai and toss out a few more pearls of wisdom, but meeting Jiang Jue’s uncompromising gaze, he obediently nodded. “Oh, alright.”
Naturally accepting the hand Jiang Jue offered for support, Chu Yang slowly shuffled back indoors.
Inside the room, the portable heater he had pulled from his storage earlier was humming quietly, casting a warm, cozy orange glow across the walls. The moment he crossed the threshold, a wave of heat enveloped him. It felt like stepping into an entirely different season compared to the freezing world outside; the temperature difference was easily twenty or thirty degrees.
“Phew—I’m alive again! It’s so much better in here.” Chu Yang sighed in absolute comfort. He stripped off his heavy winter coat, tossed it onto a nearby chair, and flopped onto the mattress without a care for his image, a look of pure contentment on his face.
Looking up, he watched Jiang Jue close the door securely behind them, completely shutting out the wind, snow, and bitter cold. Seeing Jiang Jue’s face, Chu Yang suddenly remembered something, and his eyes lit up.
“Brother Jiang, come here for a second,” he called out.
Focusing his mind, he began pulling items from his spatial storage. With a few soft clinks, several small leather pouches appeared on the previously empty table. Counting them carefully, there were three in total.
These were the crystal cores Jiang Jue had gathered by quietly slipping out to hunt zombies alone at night while Chu Yang had been bedridden and recovering over the past few days.
When Chu Yang had first found out, he had scolded Jiang Jue repeatedly, telling him not to go out alone in the dark because it was too dangerous—if something went wrong, he wouldn’t even have anyone to watch his back. But Jiang Jue was a stubborn, silent mule.
Every time Chu Yang brought it up, Jiang Jue would simply reach out, ruffle his hair, give a faint “Mm,” and then go right back out the next night to harvest more cores. It left Chu Yang feeling deeply touched but incredibly frustrated, completely unable to stop him.
Thinking about it, Chu Yang realized he had been so busy recovering and watching the courtyard entertainment these past few days that he hadn’t absorbed a single one of these crystals yet. Now that his wound was mostly closed, even though he couldn’t do strenuous physical activity, a “static” task like absorbing crystal cores should be perfectly fine.
The urge to try was impossible to suppress any longer. His gaze landed on the Tier 1 cores, which were the most plentiful and relatively small. He grabbed a handful—about seven or eight of them—spread them out on his palm, and held them out to Jiang Jue, his eyes sparkling. “Here, Brother Jiang! Let’s absorb them together! There are way too many for me to use all by myself, and it’s a total waste to just let them sit here.”
Jiang Jue glanced at the shimmering stones resting in Chu Yang’s hand. He shook his head, his tone calm but absolutely resolute: “You use them first. You need to upgrade your space. I’ll wait until you’re finished.”
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