Chapter 1016: Overt Plot
After settling Tong Xugao, Sun Mo could be at ease and return to school.
As for that mission the system gave him to cure Zhou Wenbin and let Zhou Xingtong contribute favorable impression points to him, Sun Mo couldn’t be bothered to do so.
Humans should have some persistence.
He shouldn’t lose his style for the sake of some favorable impression points.
If Zhou Xingtong didn’t agree to get Secondary Saint Zhou to apologize, he better not dream about asking for his help.
“Teacher, is it okay for us to poach people from the Black-White Academy?”
Li Ziqi was a little worried.
Right now, the Secondary Saint Shi in their school was also from the Black-White Academy. This was no longer ‘prying’ a corner of the wall; it was collapsing the whole wall instead.
(You are poaching our people again this year? Do you really think the Black-White Academy is made from mud?)
“I’m also very helpless!”
Sun Mo spread his hands wide.
“We can only say that our teacher’s charisma is too strong.”
Lu Zhiruo giggled and hugged Sun Mo’s arms. “The number of high star-ranking great teachers in our school is still considered little. Why don’t we head to the Nine Greats during the recruitment season this year to poach their teachers?”
“Yeah, let’s head to the Skyraise Academy!”
After the papaya girl finished speaking, the others immediately glanced over as though they were looking at a fool.
Tantai Yutang’s lips moved. He really wanted to ask how many bottles of fake wine she had drunk last night, why was she so self-confident?
(Head to the Nine Greats to poach people? Are you not afraid of your head getting crushed?!)
“Zhiruo, Teacher Tong only chose to come because he encountered a bottleneck and just so coincidentally, our teacher could resolve the bottleneck for him.”
Li Ziqi explained.
“If a school wishes to headhunt top-level teachers like this, they have to satisfy two conditions. Firstly, they have to have formidable resources so the great teacher would be able to get the majority of things they need from your school. For example, alchemists would require a vast amount of top-level herbs and prescriptions.
“Secondly, there must be a high-level great teacher circle. In this case, everyone could mutually exchange insights and consult each other, even resulting in friendly competition, which would lead to everyone improving.”
Qin Yaoguang stretched out two fingers and explained to the papaya girl.
“Now, we can only try to hire some wild great teachers.”
Li Ziqi sighed.
What did the word ‘wild’ mean?
It meant that those with stains on their histories, those who had too high a salary requirement or strange preferential treatment requests, those who were unwilling to be bound by a contract and preferred to be something akin to mercenaries…
In the Nine Provinces, all famous schools would cherish their reputations.
Let alone the Nine Greats, even the Central Province Academy wouldn’t dare to randomly hire great teachers they were unfamiliar with. If not, if these teachers stir up trouble, the reputation of their schools would definitely be damaged.
So, those wild great teachers would either join a clan to become a private teacher or Dark Dawn, preferring to walk the path of darkness.
However, Sun Mo felt this was very normal. Because in the normal era, if one had been in prison before, they wouldn’t be qualified to become office-bearers.
If their parents were sentenced to death or were currently serving a sentence, their children would also not be qualified to become office-bearers.
For a profession like great teachers who provided education, the vast majority of people would still care about morals and integrity.
Even if there was a very talented great teacher, if he was someone with a stain in his history, parents basically wouldn’t be willing to allow their kids to learn from him.
“After the Greenhaze Aboriginals agree to cooperate with me, we will be able to change a vast forest into our plantation and use it to attract alchemists, botanists, and herbalists.”
Sun Mo didn’t wish to kill people, but if these aboriginals were still stubborn and refused to cooperate…
(Sorry then, this daddy will offer a high price to employ bounty-hunters to collect heads.)
Sun Mo suddenly recalled the history of the American Indians.
(Ai!)
Sympathy flooded his heart.
(I can only hope the aboriginals are willing to compromise and don’t make me start Thanksgiving Day for them!)
“With the Darkness Illusion Dojo increasing the martial skill of students, the Wind King Divine Hall providing spirit stones, and the Greenhaze Forest producing valuable herbs and wild beasts, our school can be considered to have some capital.”
Sun Mo felt that the future was bright.
…
After Zhou Xingtong returned to the mansion, a group of high star-ranking great teachers immediately rushed over.
“Where’s Teacher Sun?”
Everyone actually wasn’t concerned for Zhou Wenbin. Rather, they wanted to witness the God Hands.
“He didn’t come!”
Zhou Xingtong angrily grumbled.
“It can’t be, right? The face of your Zhou Clan is still insufficient?”
Everyone was shocked.
Given the current situation, regardless of whether Sun Mo could cure Zhou Wenbin or not, as long as he headed over here, the Zhou Clan would owe him a favor. Yet, Sun Mo actually rejected it.
What sort of plot was this?
Liang Hongda suddenly felt like laughing when he saw Zhou Xingtong’s expression, which was akin to him just stepping in dog shit. As a result, Liang Hongda’s depressed mood from being rejected by Sun Mo was now lifted.
This feeling was like he discovered his girlfriend being f***ed by Sun Mo. He felt very unhappy at first. But two days later, he realized that the official wife of a major character had also been f***ed by Sun Mo…
Hence, he would subconsciously feel that he was much luckier compared to that major figure.
Liang Hongda was just a vice sect lord. His fame and status definitely wouldn’t be higher than a secondary saint. So, since he received the same treatment, he would naturally feel that his status had improved.
“Many thanks for everyone lending a helping hand, please feel free to head to the lounge for some tea!”
Zhou Xingtong was preparing to visit his grandson. If his grandson was temporarily safe, he still had to treat these people who came to help for a meal.
For social connections, one must naturally take the initiative to maintain them!
“Let’s go together!”
Everyone wasn’t here to drink the tea after all. If they went together with Zhou Xingtong, it would only take a few steps. It could also exhibit their concern.
(This Sun Mo made me so embarrassed. This matter is not ending yet!)
Zhou Xingtong felt increasingly uncomfortable the more he thought about it, and he felt his crotch area becoming itchier as he had an impulse to scratch it. But before so many people, he was embarrassed to do such a thing.
Before the group of them entered the backyard, the voice of Divine Doctor Feng’s assistant rang out with great urgency.
“Has Master Zhou returned?”
“Not yet? Quickly send people to call him back. Young Master Zhou almost cannot make it anymore.”
“Quickly go and look for him. If he is late, he might not be able to see his grandson alive for the last time.”
When Zhou Xingtong heard this, his face paled as he directly executed a movement art and dashed into the backyard.
Bang!
The door was knocked open as a group of people entered.
“How is my grandson?”
Zhou Xingtong moved toward the bed but with just a single glance, he felt so much heartache that tears filled his face.
The current Zhou Wenbin no longer looked like the high-spirited and imposing youth he knew. There were purple patches on his skin that were rapidly spreading.
And his originally handsome-looking face was now filled with lumps, while his body was also becoming skinnier at a speed visible to the naked eyes.
“Where’s Teacher Sun?”
When Divine Doctor Feng saw Zhou Xingtong, he immediately asked.
“He didn’t come!”
Liang Hongda could tell that Zhou Xingtong didn’t have the mood to answer. Hence, he changed the topic. “How’s Wenbin now?”
“The poison has erupted, I don’t know if we can stabilize his condition.”
Divine Doctor Feng held a three-inch silver needle and rapidly pierced into parts of Zhou Wenbin’s body. He wanted to do his best to seal Zhou Wenbin’s blood vessels to prevent the poison from spreading.
Five minutes later, Divine Doctor Feng was covered in sweat and almost collapsed from exhaustion. Luckily, his assistant reacted quickly enough and caught hold of him.
“Is he fine now?”
Zhou Xingtong asked anxiously.
“I can only alleviate the symptoms and not cure the root. If the poison erupts again, I cannot guarantee that I can continue to extend his life.”
Divine Doctor Feng sighed. After that, he clasped his hands. “Old Zhou, you should look for someone better than me…”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xingtong’s body stiffened as he almost broke down.
Among all the doctors he knew, Divine Doctor Feng’s medical skills could be ranked within the top five. If he looked for other doctors, they might also not be able to cure this. What was troublesome was that the other doctors were too far away.
Given his grandson’s current condition, there was no way he could last until the other divine doctors arrived.
“Xingtong, why don’t you put down your pride and request Sun Mo for his help again? If Wenbin…his talent would be wasted. It would be too much of a pity.”
Liang Hongda persuaded.
“Yeah, how old is Young Master Zhou merely? He hasn’t even tasted the beauty of life.”
The others also all sighed respectively.
“Old Zhou, if you care too much about your face, I will go and invite him!”
Divine Doctor Feng offered to do so himself.
“Do you know what Sun Mo said?”
Zhou Xingtong was enraged. “He said that if he could cure Wenbin, he wants my grandfather to apologize to his eldest disciple.”
Swish~
The room immediately fell silent.
All the high star-ranking great teachers here were people who had been in large-scale situations before and could maintain their calm even if Mount Tai crumbled before their eyes. But at this moment, all of them were completely stunned.
What?
Getting a secondary saint to apologize to a 15-year-old girl?
What kind of joke was this?
Did the person who said this drink too much last night?
Who dared to say something like this?
This was absolutely ridiculous!
“Tell me, can I agree to this condition?”
Zhou Xingtong was sullen. He felt that it was already very benevolent of him not to have slapped Sun Mo to death with a single palm.
Everyone fell silent and could only silently mused at how courageous Sun Mo was.
For his student, he truly didn’t mind becoming enemies with the entire world.
“Old Zhou, come out with me for a while!”
Divine Doctor Feng walked out of the room. After that, he leaned against a pillar in the corridor and took out a tobacco pipe as he lit it.
Zhou Xingtong’s expression was heavy as water.
“We are old friends who have known each other for so many years, so I’ll tell you truthfully. Wenbin’s sickness cannot be delayed. From my experiments, he is in this state due to some darkness organism. Right now, your only solution to save Wenbin is to carry out a full search in the city and apprehend the culprit to press them for details.”
Divine Doctor Feng stared at the sky. “How much do you think the price your Zhou Clan has to pay if you want to get Saint Gate to cooperate with you to do a city-wide search?”
Zhou Xingtong felt his heart trembling violently when he thought of the price.
“Also, it has been three days. The culprit might have escaped.”
Divine Doctor Feng sighed. “And even if they haven’t fled, could Wenbin persist until you guys find the culprit? Hence, it’s still better to invite Sun Mo over and ask him to give this a try.”
“But…”
Zhou Xingtong absolutely wouldn’t permit his grandfather to apologize.
“I understand your thoughts, but can’t you be more flexible?”
Divine Doctor Feng was helpless. “Agree to Sun Mo first and let him do the treatment. If he fails, you don’t need to follow through with the promise. Even if his treatment works, it’s impossible for Zhou Wenbin’s sickness to get better within a few days. Can’t you use this time to play some tricks and say that he only fully recovered due to some divine doctors or some alchemy pills?
“As long as there’s no evidence, who can say that you are in the wrong?”
Zhou Xingtong’s eyes brightened.
“Quickly go!” Divine Doctor Feng urged. “Wenbin is the Zhou Clan’s ‘thousand li horse’. He has to inherit the mantle of your clan. If he dies now, the vitality of your Zhou Clan will be greatly damaged.”
“I’ll go and invite Sun Mo again!”
Zhou Xingtong was very excited. This was an overt plot.
Even if Sun Mo managed to cure Wenbin, he wouldn’t owe him a favor. He could simply deny it. The prerequisite was that he had to find some major characters to endorse his actions as well as quickly capture the culprit.
After Zhou Xingtong thought things through, he no longer delayed and quickly headed to the hotel where Sun Mo was, on a fast horse.
…
Zhou Xingtong was in a rush and kept whipping his horse for speed. As for Sun Mo, he was touring the streets with his students and finally returned to the hotel with many bags of souvenirs. When they finally arrived, Zhou Wenbin had been waiting for over ten minutes.
“Teacher Sun!”
Zhou Xingtong did his best to squeeze out a smile as he walked over. “As long as you can treat Wenbin, I will agree to your request.”