Chapter 126 — The Courtesy That Was Due

" Qu Ting argued: "What is our station? In Jingping, a cast-off is a slave, and a slave is priced the same as a beast of burden. If we are made to study alongside beasts, shall we not become beasts in the eyes of others? A scholar of the Grand Academy is at least a rank-eight official—is a cast-off fit for that? Where then is the Grand Academy's dignity to be placed? And, junior brother, we were beaten by this cast-off—it was not we who beat him, but he who beat us twice running! " Shen Wanyun said in surprise: "You went to beat him, and he knocked you down—that is only to be expected, and you cannot blame him for it.

But when you were beaten and he would not let it rest, and beat you a second time, that was his fault. " The scholars' faces grew more ashamed still, and they mumbled and said nothing. Watching them, Shen Wanyun said suspiciously: "It was not that he deliberately sought you out.

You lost and would not accept it, so you went looking for trouble with him again, and he taught you a lesson once more—is that not it?

" Qu Ting said hurriedly: "This is no longer a private grudge—it is the face of our Scholars' Lodge! How can the scholars of Jingping be outdone by a barbarian from beyond the pale? The whole mountain has heard of this affair!

It was this cast-off who spread the news, leaving us straddling a tiger we dare not dismount! And he robbed us—stripped us of the goods on our persons, and forced us to buy them back, humiliating us! " Shen Wanyun's face darkened: "One should be merciful where mercy is possible. This is too insolent by far. Rest easy, you have me in this matter. And you—you are too incompetent, to be beaten into such a sorry state by a scholar who has only just entered.

Incompetent! " The scholars hung their heads, and Qu Ting mumbled: "If he had not struck by surprise, we would not have. . .

" Shen Wanyun sneered: "Just now, outside, I met a junior brother named Shen Mu, and that one is truly remarkable. I carry the killing aura of a man newly come from the battlefield; before I had even drawn near him he sensed it, and his vital aura locked onto me, forcing me into a stance of defense and counterattack, so that I had to halt, exchange salutes with him, tell our names, and ease the hostility.

That is the state a scholar of the Grand Academy ought to have! " He said in a low voice: "I once traveled with Teacher Bashan, and in a perilous place we met the sect master of the Heaven Banner Sect. Teacher Bashan and the Heaven Banner master drew closer and closer, until at last the two halted, saluted each other, and passed by. I never understood why such a scene should be. Just now, when I met that junior brother Shen Mu, I understood what Teacher Bashan and the Heaven Banner master encountered when they met. In the martial world, the courtesies you meet with may not be at all what you take them for; hidden within them is a silent contest.

You never go out to temper yourselves, you only huddle here—you cannot grasp that feeling at all. If you cannot see that contest, you are doomed to lose, beyond any doubt! " The scholars' faces grew ever more shamefaced, and Qu Ting mumbled: "Junior brother Shen, the cast-off who beat us—his name is Shen Mu. . . " "So it was him!

" Shen Wanyun started slightly, and said thoughtfully: "No wonder. . . You did not lose unjustly.

To defeat you, what need had he of surprise? " Suddenly a delighted voice came from outside: "Senior Sister Qinghong has arrived!

"