Finally given a chance to rest, Oscar dove straight into bed and slept in. Tang San cultivated as always. Because Zhu Zhuqing insisted on continuing her physical conditioning, Dai Mubai volunteered to accompany her. Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong were much the same as Oscar, deciding to take advantage of these seven days to get some proper rest. Only Ma Hongjun couldn't sit still. During the grueling training period, he had been the one who complained the most, yet the moment the break came, the fat kid immediately slipped out of the academy and headed into Sotuo City to deal with his problem with the evil fire.
As he listened to Oscar's snoring, Tang San assembled the parts that had been delivered from the blacksmith's shop. He finally had time for it today. The craftsmanship of the Tie brothers at the blacksmith's shop had left him quite satisfied. So far, the component parts for several mechanism-type Hidden Weapons—the Sleeve Arrow, the Sand-Shooting Shadow, the Tight-Back Low-Head Crossbow, and others—had all been completed. Only the Zhuge Divine Crossbow, with its higher requirements, was still being forged. Tang San planned to use this rest period, apart from his cultivation, to assemble the finished Hidden Weapons and distribute them to everyone, as well as teach them how to use them.
Throwing himself into the assembly of Hidden Weapons, time flew by. It wasn't until Oscar woke from his sleep and called him to go eat that Tang San realized the sunlight outside had long since turned to moonlight—an entire day had passed in the blink of an eye.
The two of them left the dormitory and headed to the cafeteria together. While they were walking, they suddenly spotted someone swaying unsteadily toward them.
"Whoa, who the heck is that? Why does he have a pig head?" Oscar let out an exaggerated exclamation.
Tang San looked carefully. The figure staggering toward them, barely able to walk straight, turned out to be none other than Ma Hongjun—though at the moment he looked utterly wretched. Not only were his clothes torn in several places and his whole appearance covered in dust and grime, but his round, chubby face had swollen up an entire size. His eye sockets were ringed with dark purple bruises, and dried blood still hung at the corners of his mouth.
"Fatty, what happened to you?" Tang San hurried forward to support the teetering Ma Hongjun. Oscar skillfully summoned his recovery sausage and handed it over.
Ma Hongjun didn't stand on ceremony. He wolfed down the sausage in two or three bites, and only then did he look somewhat better.
"Damn it, what a humiliating mess." Ma Hongjun's eyes burned with hatred. He had always had a round face and small eyes, and now with his face swollen up like that, his eyes were nearly squeezed shut by the fat.
"Who did this to you?" Tang San's voice carried a distinct edge of cold fury.
Three months of grueling training had seen them all support one another through every hardship. Between them, the bond had long since grown beyond mere classmates. Seeing his brother beaten like this, how could Tang San not be furious?
Ma Hongjun said bitterly, "Some sleazy old man beat me up. Humiliating. Just utterly goddamn humiliating."
Oscar furrowed his brow. "Fatty, you didn't get into some jealous lover's quarrel, did you? That's why you got beat up?"
Ma Hongjun snapped angrily, "What jealous lover's quarrel? I saw that girl first, plain and simple! That sleazy old man was shameless!"
Hearing Ma Hongjun's explanation, Tang San understood the situation immediately. It was just as Oscar had guessed—the fat kid had been beaten up while trying to deal with his evil fire problem.
Tang San patted Ma Hongjun on the shoulder. "Come on, let's head to the cafeteria and get some food first. You can tell us everything while we eat."
With the help of Oscar's recovery sausage, Ma Hongjun's condition improved considerably, and the three of them made their way into the cafeteria.
Inside, Dai Mubai was sitting there eating and drinking his fill, but Zhu Zhuqing was nowhere to be seen beside him.
"Whoa, Fatty, what the hell happened to you?" Seeing Ma Hongjun's sorry state, Dai Mubai was startled as well. His temper was far more explosive than Tang San's—he surged up from his chair, his evil eyes blazing with fury.
Ma Hongjun pulled a long face. "Brother Dai, you've got to stand up for your bro! Look at what they did to me—even my handsome face is all twisted out of shape! How am I supposed to pick up girls now?"
Oscar snorted with laughter. "Handsome face? It's swollen up like a pig's head. Just tell us what happened from the beginning."
Ma Hongjun dragged a chair over and sat down, then began recounting the whole story.