Volume 4: Hidden Battles, Chapter 76: Blaming Others Conveniently

Bai Lei’s wild fists pounded fiercely—the impact of fists on flesh, fists meeting blood—splattering blood and flesh all over the snow-white walls, leather sofas, and cashmere carpets.
Bai Lei was insane. In his mind, there was only one concept: mechanically swinging his fists, striking one after another, then finishing with a downward squeeze, before saying, “Next…”
At this moment, those people in his eyes were no longer the scum who raped Chen Qing’s girlfriend, but rather the thugs who had snatched her from him in middle school—the same thugs who had stabbed her in the chest before leaving. Due to his cowardice and hesitation, though he survived, he carried eternal regret and deep self-reproach.
It was unclear how much time passed before Chu Tianyu finally grabbed Bai Lei’s fists. A surge of vital energy instantly entered Bai Lei’s body, regulating his meridians. Chu Tianyu knew he harbored deep troubles, and letting him vent like this was better; otherwise, he might carry that burden for life.
However, this method was also extremely harmful to the body and nerves. So once Bai Lei had vented, Chu Tianyu promptly came over to restore balance to his energy. Once the vital energy had circulated sufficiently, Chu Tianyu handed Bai Lei over to the men from the martial arts hall, instructing them to carry him out first.
Only Chu Tianyu remained in the room. Looking at the mess everywhere and the piles of flesh on the floor, his eyes showed no pity. Instead, he thought to himself, “It’s fortunate it was Bai Lei who did this. If it were me, in my anger, I’d hardly leave anyone alive! My third master once said the greatest pain in life isn’t death, but the agony of losing the meaning of living. These people are worthless. But I suppose their families won’t bear to let these scum die. They’ll likely spend the rest of their lives in bed, giving them plenty of time to repent for what they’ve done…”
Ignoring those scum, Chu Tianyu casually picked up a piece of clothing from the table, dipped it in some blood from the floor, and used his left hand to write a few rough words on the wall: “Good deeds by mortals lead their souls to heaven; the rewards and punishments of good and evil follow like shadows.” Then, tilting his head, he chuckled darkly, almost to himself, “Interesting. My genuine soul still has to be blamed for fake souls. Heh, it’s time for those ‘pirates’ to take some responsibility! Since they dare to use my soul’s name to steal and exploit, I won’t be polite either. I’ll give them some trouble as well!” He added another line below.

“The matter of Chi Xuan demands blood for blood…”
After everything was taken care of, Chu Tianyu still remembered to call emergency services at 120; otherwise, he was afraid those scummers wouldn’t hold on!
Chu Tianyu had thought of everything thoroughly. By linking the incident to the concept of “souls,” the authorities would surely suppress the news. The real culprits, like Bai Lei and the brothers from Wu Tang, would never hear anything about what happened that day—only that they had beaten someone up, thinking it was no big deal. With a few more strict warnings, it would be impossible to trace back to them.
In this way, who would ever guess that the motive behind the crime was revenge for a girl who had been raped by them? And the additional statement he made later was even better. Not only was the target shifted to those fake soul organizations, but perhaps the state’s power could also be used to eliminate those fake souls, proving they weren’t good people after all.
This way, both sides would suffer in silence without being able to complain, while Chu Tianyu could enjoy himself leisurely and profit quietly!
That night, both Chu Tianyu and Bai Lei slept very well…
…
Chen Qing felt much better these past two days. His girlfriend had stabilized in the hospital. Chu Tianyu and Bai Lei also visited them frequently to comfort them, promising firmly that they wouldn’t let Wang Shengyi get away with it. They would find a way for Chen Qing to take his revenge himself. As for his despicable friends, heaven would punish them. As they spoke, both Chu Tianyu and Bai Lei could see smiles in each other’s eyes.
And the worst of all was Wang Shengyi. Chu Tianyu and Bai Lei immediately shifted their focus to him, concentrating all of Chen Qing’s hatred on him.
“That damned Wang Shengyi! This morning, I saw him coming to class with five or six guys. I went over and pushed him down. But this kid wasn’t as arrogant as before; he actually stepped aside with a sly look!” the tall guy said in relief.
“Isn’t that bad? Bullying him from time to time so he can experience what it’s like to live in constant fear!” Chu Tianyu retorted in an unusually calm tone.
“That’s not good, but I’m puzzled. How did he suddenly become like this? Isn’t his father some vice mayor? Could he be corrupt? Under investigation?” the tall guy asked in confusion.

Bai Lei gave Chu Tianyu a meaningful look. Seeing that Chu Tianyu remained calm, he said, “Whatever happens to him, from now on at Beifu Academy, that bastard Wang Shengyi will have to stay cooped up every day! The rest of us can also act like villains and beat him up from time to time. If we’re not satisfied, we can work overtime on weekends!”
“Okay, haha, I have no problem. But what about the school…” the tall guy said hesitantly.
“Tch, you know perfectly well what kind of atmosphere there is at Beifu Academy. Fighting is no big deal. Besides, it’s great for fighting—hard to tell who hit whom. Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of the school side!” Bai Lei said nonchalantly.
From then on, the Four Heroes of Beifu added another member, becoming the Five Heroes of Beifu. That was Chen Qing, nicknamed “Egg White” because he was so thin that he seemed to consist only of egg white with no yolk.
…
One day, in the principal’s office.
“Student Wang Shengyi, why do you keep fighting? Look at you—after breaking several strands of Bai Lei’s hair last time, this time you even broke Classmate Bao Caida’s little finger nail by 0.1 millimeters. What am I supposed to say? Go back and write a 10,000-word self-criticism. If this continues, you’ll be given a serious punishment!” the principal said sternly to Wang Shengyi, whose face was bruised and swollen, his nose stuffed with cotton still bleeding, and his lips puffed up.
“Princi… Principal, but… but look at me. The injuries… they’re so severe…” Wang Shengyi whined, showing two missing front teeth.
The principal glanced at his battered appearance and said irritably, “I’ve already criticized them too. But you fight with this person today and that person tomorrow. Whenever there’s a fight, you’re always involved. Why do you love causing trouble so much?”
“No… it’s not… it’s… they… they all… ganged up on me…” Wang Shengyi argued.
“Why would they keep bullying you? Those who fight you are either class monitors or study committee members—all good students who usually help others. And today, Bao Caida, such an honest and cute little chubby guy, also bullied you. If that’s the case, why don’t they bully other students? Enough talk. Go back and write your self-criticism, then bring it to me directly!” the principal retorted.
With an innocent look, Wang Shengyi helplessly left the principal’s office. As soon as he reached the stairway, he was tripped by Bao Caida, who had just been scolded by the principal and hadn’t left yet. With a “Ah~~~” cry, he tumbled down the stairs…

One day, Ouyang Ziyi invited her over.
“Hello, you must be Li Rou! Come on in, please!” Ouyang Ziyi said warmly.
“Uh, hello…” Li Rou replied nervously.
Fortunately, before coming, Chu Tianyu had told her that her family was very wealthy and that she studied at Peking University, living alone—so she needn’t worry about safety. Li Rou had also asked Chu Tianyu to accompany her, but he came up with some odd excuse and refused to go with her, which still made her feel annoyed.
Chu Tianyu had mentioned that the fee for one lesson was 500 yuan, five times higher than what professional art tutors charged.
Ouyang Ziyi invited Li Rou inside, greeting her warmly. After having her sit in the living room, she brought over a cup of hot milk tea and said, “Hehe, it’s cold outside with the late spring chill, right? Here, have some hot tea to warm up!”
“Mm, thank you!” Li Rou said, holding her hands over the cup.
The heating in the room quickly warmed Li Rou up, and her nervousness from being in a strange place also faded. Seeing that Ouyang Ziyi was even more graceful than herself, a top student from Peking University’s Law School, and considering her family’s wealth compared to her own situation, Li Rou felt an indescribable mix of emotions.
Fortunately, Li Rou wasn’t the kind to be jealous, so she relaxed and chatted with Ouyang Ziyi, saying, “Miss Ouyang, Tianyu said you live alone. Aren’t you scared?”
Hearing Li Rou call him “Tianyu,” Ouyang Ziyi felt a sudden pang of sadness, but seeing Li Rou’s gentle and lovely appearance, along with her playful question, made her forget that discomfort. She replied with a smile, “Hehe, I’m not scared. Living alone is free and comfortable! Call me Ziyi from now on—‘Miss Ouyang’ sounds so awkward!”
“Mm, okay. Hehe, living alone is great too. But do you clean such a big house by yourself? It’s so clean!” Li Rou praised.
“Yes, I can study while cleaning. Hehe, it’s quite fun—at least it balances work and rest!” Ouyang Ziyi laughed.
Once the girls started chatting, there were many topics—from houses to clothing to shopping to fashion, and so on…
A long time passed before Li Rou seemed to remember something and exclaimed, “Oh no, Ziyi! Look at me—still chatting here instead of teaching you sketching! I’m so sorry!”

“Hehe, it’s okay. Talking with you makes me think that learning sketching must be interesting. Come on, I’ll take you to the study to take a look, and maybe visit around a bit…” With that, Ouyang Ziyi stood up enthusiastically and pulled Li Rou toward the inner room.
After the tour, the two sat down in the study again. The study was elegantly decorated, but Li Rou was puzzled—hadn’t Ouyang Ziyi said she wanted to learn sketching? Why wasn’t there even a drawing board in sight? Though curious, Li Rou didn’t show it, as it wasn’t her concern.
After sitting down, Ouyang Ziyi fell silent, unlike her earlier enthusiasm, as if lost in deep thought. Li Rou felt something was off, the oppressive atmosphere making her uneasy.
After a long while, Ouyang Ziyi seemed to have made a major decision. She raised her head and looked straight at Li Rou, saying, “Li Rou, during our conversation just now, I felt you’re a very intelligent girl. I think it’s better to tell you the truth directly. Actually, I’m not here to learn sketching this time. It’s… how should I put it? Li Rou, Tianyu has already told me everything about your family!”
Ouyang Ziyi mentioned “Tianyu,” which made Li Rou’s heart tighten. Especially after hearing the last part, she already had a very badpremonition.
“What… what exactly do you want to say?” Li Rou asked in a trembling voice.
“Don’t get upset first. Let me explain slowly…” Ouyang Ziyi spoke in a calmer tone.
Then she steadied her own emotions. After all, she couldn’t guarantee the outcome of such a bold move. But from her brief interaction with Li Rou, she felt confident at 80%. The old master had said to gamble on that 20%—it ensured a chance of winning while allowing her to enjoy the thrill of the unknown!
So, Ouyang Ziyi selectively explained key aspects of Chu Tianyu’s situation, family background, and the various events between them, within what an ordinary person could understand.
Li Rou’s mood became increasingly turbulent, her expression growing heavier, until finally, she felt as if she had given up hope.
Ouyang Ziyi watched Li Rou’s expression as she spoke—this was exactly the effect she wanted. As for how to reverse it, she naturally had her ultimate trump card.
After listening, Li Rou’s eyes lost all luster, and she said dejectedly, “Then what’s your purpose in coming to see me today? To show me the gap between me and Chu Tianyu? To make me leave him?”
“Is that really what you think?” Ouyang Ziyi asked.

“What do you want me to do then?” Li Rou asked back, a bit annoyed.
Ouyang Ziyi smiled gently, walked over, sat next to Li Rou, took her hand, and said sincerely, “We have no ill intentions. For Tianyu, you are important to him. Whether it was friendship from the start or because of your sincere words of encouragement, in any case, he doesn’t want you to suffer any more harm. He has also entrusted me to handle matters related to your family. I think your father has already been transferred to the best hospital! He does this because he doesn’t want any interests to get involved between you two!”
At this point, Ouyang Ziyi paused and watched as Li Rou’s expression gradually changed before continuing, “Actually, besides me, Tianyu also has a fiancée he was betrothed to since childhood. She’s in the same class as me and is at Peking University too!”
“What!?” Li Rou was shocked again.