113: Yan Ruyu, the truth behind being disliked

The next day, at noon.

Xie Ning and Su Qin were having lunch in the cafeteria when Fei Shanqiu walked over with a large tray of food and sat down opposite him.

As soon as that big butt sat down, he directly squeezed away the people on his left and right.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Su Qin glared at Fei Shanqiu.

"Fatty isn't here to see you, rookie."

After saying that, Fei Shanqiu didn't even give him a glance. He directly forked a large piece of Fatty meat into his mouth, eating until his mouth was covered in grease, and said indistinctly, "Fatty is here to fulfill his promise. What do you want to know?"

"Do you need to finish eating first?" Xie Ning frowned.

Fei Shanqiu waved his hand: "No need, eating doesn't affect my speaking."

"Alright, I want to know about Yan Ruyu."

As soon as Xie Ning finished speaking, Fei Shanqiu suddenly froze, his eyes bulging. He then pounded his chest hard, struggling to swallow the meat before letting out a long breath: "Phew... I almost choked to death. Of all the things to ask, you ask such a terrifying question! Don't you know that when Fat— er, when eating, one shouldn't say such scary things? Also, can you put your sword away?"

Xie Ning retracted his sword and glanced at him: "Continue."

Fei Shanqiu rubbed his neck. The scorching temperature of the sword made him gulp as he said, "Fine. Anyway, quite a few people know about her situation; it's just that they've all left the school, so only the freshmen don't know. What do you want to know about her?"

"Why do so many people hate her?" Xie Ning asked.

Fei Shanqiu seemed to have expected this question. He nodded slightly and said, "Actually, you really can't blame those people. They have a reason for hating your mentor."

"What reason?"

Fei Shanqiu swallowed nervously, looked around, and whispered, "Anti-humanity!"

As those words fell, Xie Ning's eyes widened in shock, while Su Qin, who was beside him, was completely petrified.

"Actually, it's not that she's anti-human; that charge was pinned on her by others."

Xie Ning lowered his brow but raised his gaze, staring intently at Fei Shanqiu: "What exactly happened?"

"This kid Su Qin looked into it before. Your mentor once scouted a Genius student. Ever since that student disappeared, she has been reviled by countless people. In fact, this so-called 'disappearance' was the anti-humanity incident."

Fei Shanqiu tilted his head up slightly, no longer in a hurry to eat, as if he were reminiscing. He then slowly continued:

"Four years ago, she began training students. At that time, there was a student who, although from an ordinary background and whose Demon Tamers Beast was nothing special, had great perseverance. He caught her attention, and under her guidance, his strength advanced by leaps and bounds in just one year."

"At that time, as the National Competition drew closer, the entire Lingnan Academy regarded that student as their hope for winning the champion title. Resources were tilted toward him, Breeders helped evolve his Demon Tamers Beast for free, and Materials were provided at no cost. He did not disappoint, reaching Silver Peak from a Black Iron Rank Demon Tamer in just one year. No student of the same level was his match."

Su Qin cried out in surprise, "From Black Iron to Silver Peak in one year! How is that possible?"

"If it weren't for that, why would the academy have gone all out to train him?" Fei Shanqiu sneered.

Xie Ning thought for a moment and added, "I remember Lingnan Academy didn't participate in the Global Competition that year. Does the incident have something to do with that?"

"Spot on!"

Taking advantage of the gap, Fei Shanqiu ate two bites of meat. "Just when everyone thought the champion title was in the bag, that beast actually defected! If he had defected to another academy, that would have been fine, but this guy directly betrayed humanity and joined the Fallen Demon Tamers!"

*Crack.* In his shock, the bowl in Xie Ning's hand was crushed. Soup spilled over his hand and dripped onto the stainless steel tray with a 'drip-drop' sound.

"Yes! That's the reaction! It was even more intense than that! Dammit! Nearly a year of resource tilting, nearly a year of wholehearted cultivation! To put it bluntly, if you used one-ten-millionth of that to raise a dog, the dog would wag its tail! But that old schemer was simply an ungrateful white-eyed wolf!" The more Fei Shanqiu spoke, the angrier he became. He slammed the table and roared with indignation, attracting many people's attention.

He also noticed the surrounding stares and glared back unceremoniously: "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen someone going through a breakup?!"

Hearing it was a breakup, the people around burst into laughter and didn't bother with him anymore.

Xie Ning wiped the soup from his hand and said in a low voice, "Continue. What happened afterward?"

"That old schemer not only defected to the Fallen Demon Tamer camp but also killed the other contestants who were supposed to participate in the competition." Fei Shanqiu chewed on the beef, speaking through gritted teeth. He paused and looked at Xie Ning: "Although the matter was quickly suppressed, Yan Ruyu's reputation completely collapsed."

Fei Shanqiu went quiet for another two seconds before slowly saying, "Actually, speaking of which, this might not necessarily be Yan Ruyu's fault. The incident back then was too suspicious. Many people suspect that old schemer was a member of the Fallen Demon Tamers from the very beginning. His so-called poor background and mediocre Demon Tamers Beast might have all been a disguise aimed at infiltrating Lingnan Academy. Yan Ruyu was just unlucky to have been stuck with that old schemer."

After listening, Xie Ning let out a long breath and muttered to himself, "So that's where the heart knot lies. The difficulty really isn't small."

"What heart knot?" Su Qin asked.

"It's nothing." Xie Ning shook his head without explaining. Instead, he looked at Fei Shanqiu. "Then why doesn't she leave the academy and stay away from Lingnan?"

"That has to do with her Family."

Xie Ning was puzzled when he heard Su Qin's shocked voice from the side: "Could it be the Imperial Capital Yan Family?!"

"Oh, Little Brother even knows about that? You have the potential to be an intelligence officer." Fei Shanqiu teased first, then said with a serious face, "Yan Ruyu is indeed a member of the Imperial Capital Yan Family."

Xie Ning shook his head again and voiced his confusion: "I haven't heard of them, but I assume it's some kind of behemoth Family. But if she really has such a massive power supporting her, why is her situation so bad?"

"Simple, they had a falling out." Fei Shanqiu shrugged.

"Specifically?"

"It's simple, it's just... Whoa! Here they come again!" Fei Shanqiu was about to explain when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He immediately picked up his large plate and bolted.

"Hey! You haven't finished! And what's the deal with the master tablet?"

"Let's chat tonight. I'm running for my life first!"

Fei Shanqiu's voice drifted back from a distance.

Xie Ning looked in the direction Fei Shanqiu had just glanced. There were four boys wearing academy volunteer uniforms, chasing after Fei Shanqiu with gritted teeth.

"What on earth is going on?" Xie Ning smiled helplessly. "We're mostly done eating; let's head out too."

Afterward, Xie Ning and Su Qin left the cafeteria and headed toward the dormitory.

That night, Fei Shanqiu came to Xie Ning's courtyard and stayed for an hour.

Half an hour after he left, Xie Ning also went out under the cover of night, leaving the academy.

No one knew what they talked about, but undoubtedly, Xie Ning was doing something.

In fact, it wasn't just him. As the time for the Houtu Secret Realm's opening drew closer, all the forces in Lingnan City were quietly gathering their strength.