And so, every morning Duan Jia would bring Xiao Shun to the Eighth Path courtyard to heal himself, then send him back to Pearl International in the evening.
After a week, Xiao Shun could finally barely get out of bed, though he still needed the wheelchair to move around.
A heavy rain had just passed and the fresh air was filled with the scent of earth and grass.
Xiao Shun sat under the eaves of the small courtyard with eyes closed to nourish his spirit. Duan Jia sat beside him, boredly drinking can after can of beer.
Suddenly a car honk sounded from outside the gates and the two looked toward the entrance simultaneously.
Shortly after, before Song Linger had arrived, her clear melodious voice already floated over, full of excitement.
“Master, Duan, I’m back!”
Soon Song Linger came into view, sitting in a wheelchair with one leg in a cast and one arm wrapped in bandages, looking especially miserable as she was pushed in by Song Qingzhou.
“Not fully recovered yet you’re discharged already?” Duan Jia stood up and asked. He and Song Qingzhou were already acquainted so he was not restrained at all.
“Oh dear, I felt so awful being in bed at the hospital every day. So I had Dad process my discharge. I came straight here when I knew you guys were here,” Song Linger said with a grin.
As she spoke, Song Qingzhou had already pushed her under the eaves where Xiao Shun was. Looking at Xiao Shun he said, “Linger’s injuries have mostly healed. Just go for regular changes of medicine.”
“That’s good then,” Xiao Shun said, somewhat embarrassed. “I didn’t look after Linger well and caused Mr. Song to worry.”
“It’s fine since nothing major happened to my daughter. Otherwise I’d teach you a lesson,” Song Qingzhou said half joking and half serious.
“Dad~”, Song Linger pouted. “It’s not Master’s fault. I went off secretly myself, he didn’t even know!”
“You girl, always covering for him. I’m your dad but you keep helping outsiders, huh?” Song Qingzhou said helplessly. Then to Xiao Shun he added, “Boy, if you ever wrong our Linger, I certainly won’t let you off easy.”
Xiao Shun just smiled without responding, not knowing how to take his words. He couldn’t discern what Song Qingzhou meant by wronging Linger – not letting her get hurt again? If that was it, he would certainly agree.
“Come on, let’s head in first, it’s raining again,” Song Linger said.
The June rain was like a child’s face, the sun had just peeked out earlier but now a fine drizzle floated down again.
Song Qingzhou pushed Song Linger while Duan Jia pushed Xiao Shun as the four returned indoors and settled down.
Song Qingzhou then put away his earlier casual manner and asked Xiao Shun solemnly, “I heard you were expelled from the Old School Society. What are your plans going forward?”
Xiao Shun contemplated for a moment before seeming to casually ask, “How much does Mr. Song know about the Old School Society?”
“The one who injured you is called Gu Baiyi. He’s ranked top ten in the Old School Society, so it’s normal you two lost to him.”
“I know what you’re thinking, but dealing with him isn’t that simple. He’s the adopted son of Nie Jiuchong, head of the southeast Old School Society headquarters. Going against him is the same as going against Nie Jiuchong and the entire southeast Old School Society.”
“With Gu Baiyi’s strength already so formidable, not to mention Nie Jiuchong, this is absolutely not something you can accomplish alone.” Song Qingzhou said gravely.
Xiao Shun naturally knew this. Perhaps he could beat Gu Baiyi at his peak state, but with just Gu Baiyi’s prowess already so strong, it was undoubtedly an egg striking a rock to go at it alone, just as Song Qingzhou said.
But he still wanted to learn more about the Old School Society from Song Qingzhou – to at least know what kind of enemy he faced, in order to figure out how to defeat them, right?
“I’m not rash enough to challenge the entire Old School Society alone. But I should find out more about this enemy of mine. Please inform me if Mr. Song has any information in this area,” Xiao Shun said with a faint smile.
Song Qingzhou hesitated for a moment before speaking, “To deal with the Old School Society you must handle it from two sides at once. On one hand, as you’ve seen, they possess formidable power. Old School Society members nationwide exceed 100, 000, definitely more rather than less. Such a powerful organization poses a constant threat to national security.”
“On the other hand, they hold massive wealth. As a branch head of Oakland Old School Society you should know how many Oakland businesses are under the Old School Society. Looking nationwide, the wealth they hold is in the trillions, immeasurable.”
“So for such a colossal behemoth, it’s absolutely not easy to deal with them. It needs to be done step-by-step to weaken it.”
“Why can’t the national authorities take action? No matter how strong they are, there’s still the military!” Song Linger had grasped some key points from this and spoke up to ask.
This was exactly what Xiao Shun and Duan Jia wanted to know too. No matter how powerful the Old School Society was, it couldn’t possibly oppose the entire nation right?
“Pull one hair and the whole body moves. Without hugely destructive actions from them, the state has no grounds to act against them. Not to mention their membership could be up to hundreds of thousands. How to take action?”
“Recklessly making a move against them would be a calamity. And with their grasp on such massive wealth, one misstep could not just stir social turmoil, it might even trigger a financial tsunami. The entire society might have to bear unbearable consequences. These all need considering.” Song Qingzhou said gravely.
“The enemy is so strong we can’t beat them. Why don’t we just join them then?” Song Linger said, looking serious.
Song Qingzhou was speechless and glared at her.
Duan Jia: “…”
“Kidding, kidding,” Song Linger shrugged.
“Why did they grow so unchecked?” Xiao Shun asked curiously.
“It’s a long story. The Old School Society’s origins were the martial arts associations. You know most of the existing martial arts focus mainly on fitness, basically useless for actual combat. But somehow so many powerful cultivators appeared over time. By the time we noticed, it was too late.” Song Qingzhou explained concisely.
“I can have the details compiled into documents and send them to you later if you’re interested.”
“Thank you, Mr. Song,” Xiao Shun nodded, a sharp light flashing in his eyes.
“No matter how strong they are, I will overturn them.”
“Mr. Song mentioned a school previously, how is the planning for it going?”
Hearing this, Song Qingzhou was delighted inside. If Xiao Shun could help them fully cultivate a force to contend with the Old School Society, nothing could be better.
“The documents were approved already. It won’t be long before construction can start.”
This was probably the crux of why you can’t overcome the Old School Society – one document approved back and forth, too cautious, far inferior in efficiency to the Old School Society.
Xiao Shun naturally wouldn’t say this out loud. And saying it wouldn’t help anyway, since it was a long-standing malady that he, an ordinary person, couldn’t change.