Heavenly Jewel Change

Chapter 41 Fei Li Military Academy (2)

Shangguan Bing’er said exasperatedly: “Don’t give me that. You want to go look at beauties or to help me clear the rubbish? Do you think us girls are so dirty like you boys? I popped in to have a look just now and my dorm is much cleaner!”

Just as the two were sharing a moment of warm tender feelings, there was a loud commotion from outside. All of a sudden, there was a loud bang as the dorm room was knocked open, and seven youths entered the room. The dorm was meant for eight, and with that, all of them were present. To his surprise, Zhou Weiqing found that he knew one of them, it was that huge fellow Ma Qun who he had knocked down the other day.

As soon as the seven entered the room, they saw Zhou Weiqing and Shangguan Bing’er within, especially the sight of Shangguan Bing’er cleaning the cabinets, the seven of them halted, dumbfounded.

A skinny, short student asked, his jaw agape: “Heavens! I have heard rumours about the terrifying state of the boy’s dorm being messy and dirty, but this looks pretty good! This brother over here, is that your girlfriend?”

Currently, Shangguan Bing’er was standing with her back facing them, as such none of the others saw her unparalleled beauty, and their eyes naturally fell to Zhou Weiqing who was sitting in a chair. Zhou Weiqing nodded his head smugly and said: “Yes! Are you guys also staying in this dorm room?”

The skinny little student nodded and said: “Yes, we all are. Earlier when we reported, we were assigned to the same room. Bro, you sure have good luck, and we have all benefited along with you. Come, let’s introduce ourselves, my name is Kou Rui.”

Since all 7 of them had entered at once, the large room suddenly felt tiny and squeezy. Zhou Weiqing looked to Shangguan Bing'er and said: “Bing’er, why don’t you head back first, we can finish up ourselves.”

This time, Shangguan Bing'er did not insist, nodding lightly to him before turning around. She gave the rest a smile before leaving with the basin.

With that smile, the entire room was instantly silenced. Besides Ma Qun, who had seen her previously and had some measure of preparation, the other six were dazed by her sheer beauty. They had never seen such dazzling beauty in their lives, and instantly they all fell silent. It was only when Zhou Weiqing gave a few coughs when they finally broke out of their reverie. By the time they looked at him once more, their gazes were filled with envy and jealousy.

Zhou Weiqing had chosen one of the lower bunks, and Ma Qun quickly walked over to take the one above him. Just as he was about to place his luggage in the bed above, Zhou Weiqing gave him a light kick and said exasperatedly: “Cheh, go to another bunk. Look at your size and weight, if you stay above me, what if the whole thing collapses on me.”

The other six were once again stunned. Although they had come in with Ma Qun, they had kept their distance, after all his size was just too intimidating, and they had also heard he was a Heavenly Jewel Master. As such, they were a little afraid of Ma Qun. Who knew that as soon as they had entered the room, the fellow within would give him a kick.

Just as the six of them thought a fight would break out, something even more surprising happened.

Ma Qun said with an ingratiating tone. “Boss, I just wanted to be closer to you. I shall just take the lower bed on the bunk beside yours then.”

“En, alright.” Zhou Weiqing stood up and stretched lazily before saying: “Guys, my name is Zhou Weiqing. You all unpack your stuff, I’m heading out for a stroll.”

To be honest, he was not used to having so many people in his room, especially now that they were unpacking and keeping their things, causing the whole place to be in a mess once more.

After Zhou Weiqing left, Kou Rui and the rest looked at Ma Qun with a changed expression, thinking to themselves. So this fellow just looks good but is just a weak fella! Such a coward.

Ma Qun felt their gazes on him, and he glared at them. “What are you all looking at? Looking for a fight? Let me remind you guys, in this dorm, Big Bro Zhou is the boss, and I am the Lao Er[1. Basically he calls Zhou Weiqing 老大 (lao da), or Boss, and himself as 老二 （lao er), or the second in position. The pun here is that Lao Er is also an euphemism for penis.]. Understand?”

There was a moment of silence, and all six of them burst out laughing. “Indeed, you are the Lao Er. Hahaha.”

Only then did Ma Qun realise the mistakes in his words, and he stood up with a gloomy look on his face. The dorm room was a boisterous and noisy scene indeed.

...

As Zhou Weiqing strolled around the main school grounds, he saw an endless stream of freshmen entering the academy to report. His eyes wandered around, looking for beauties to admire. At the same time, he was evaluating them, size, cup etc etc, all the while having a nonchalant look on his face. If not for his rapidly moving eyes, no one would be able to notice anything.

After watching for a while, Zhou Weiqing was rather disappointed. The number of females students admitted to this academy was considerably less, and even fewer were beauties. The best few he saw were above average, but in comparison to his Bing’er, it was tantamount to the difference between heaven and earth.

“What are you looking at?” A voice sounded right beside him, giving him a huge scare. Although he wasn’t particularly paying attention to his surroundings, having someone approach him so closely without him finding out was still a huge surprise to him, and his pupils shrank.

As he turned his head around, he realised it was someone familiar - the Fei Li God General, Ming Yu!

Zhou Weiqing glanced at him, but did not reply.

Ming Yu continued speaking: “This year’s freshmen are indeed lacking in girls, that girlfriend of yours is indeed the cream of the crop.” His observation skills were extremely astute, and he naturally could tell what Zhou Weiqing had been looking out for.

“Your name is Zhou Weiqing right? Do you know why I was surprised when I saw your answer the other day?” Ming Yu did not seem to care about Zhou Weiqing’s attitude towards him, and continued speaking as if talking to himself.

“Why?” Zhou Weiqing couldn’t help but ask, as he was extremely curious about it as well.

A faint light sparked in Ming Yu’s eyes, and an imposing aura surged forth from him as he said: “That’s because it was something that happened to me not long ago. I was in one of the smaller cities at the border on a patrol, and somehow our enemies got wind of my location. A hundred thousand strong army from the Wan Shou Empire somehow snuck past and attacked us there, with about a hundred thousand of our Fei Li Empire citizens forced to the front as the vanguard. At that time, I only had five thousand of my personal troops with me.”

Zhou Weiqing’s interest was sparked and he asked: “So what did you do?”

Ming Yu said: “Pretty much similar to how you answered the question. I immediately gave the order to shoot and kill. Countless of our own civilians died under our own hands… but at that time I had no choice. Just like you said, if I had been softhearted and hesitated a few seconds, it wouldn’t have just been those civilians who died that day. Alas, many of the teachers in the academy are armchair strategists, how would they possibly know the bloodlust and ferocity of the Wan Shou Empire army. Not only did I order them to shoot to kill indiscriminately, I also ordered all the civilians within the city and drafted them to dig large holes within the city near the walls, and line them with sharp spikes. When nightfall came, I led a suicide squad of a thousand men and snuck out of the city, striking the enemy from the side. At that time, I wanted to fight to the death then, but I could not do so or panic would have risen. By the time I managed to fight my way back, only 47 injured men survived together with me. However, we successfully burned most of their rations.”

“Angered by my sneak attack, the Wan Shou Empire Army launched a rather suicidal counterattack on the city walls once again. In the night, it was much more favourable to us, but even then, we only managed to kill over ten thousand of them before they broke through the walls. Luckily, what awaited them was countless of traps and archers sniping them in a fierce city battle. Finally, I gave the order to ignite all the houses and granaries, cutting off our own path of retreat, bringing the remaining troops and civilians to fight together in the city. We fought in the streets for 2 days and nights, delaying them them best we could. Finally, our reinforcements arrived, and the Wan Shou Empire Army, which had been starved for 3 days, were easily destroyed by the reinforcements, with only less than thirty thousand escaping. With just five thousand troops and a city full of civilians, we managed to hold and kill seventy thousand enemies. I felt that I had accomplished a miracle. What do you think?”

While Ming Yu was describing what had happened to him, his voice was passive and dispassionate, but Zhou Weiqing’s heart was set afire, feeling his blood boil as if he were there facing the impossible odds as well. Although Ming Yu did not describe the details, his commands had been very similar on the whole to what Zhou Weiqing’s answer had been, and in that instant, Zhou Weiqing felt as if he was in the midst of the bloody fighting.

“Of course, that’s a miracle. With less than a twentieth of the enemies’ armies in a small city without proper fortifications, being able to hold it for four days and even burning their rations! If that isn’t a miracle, then what is?”

Ming Yu gave a bitter smile: “Alas, one hundred and eighty thousand of our loyal Fei Li Empire Citizens gave up their lives in that four days. Even the remaining 200 soldiers who survived that day called me an executioner. Amongst them, more than a third have gone crazy, and the civilians who actually survived that day hate me to their very bones. My career has also been affected, why do you think I am here instead of the frontlines?” [2. I re-verified my translation in Chapter 40-2, and realised I made an error there. Previously, he was called back to the headquarters, not to the front lines.]

Zhou Weiqing’s keen eyes stared piercingly at Ming Yu. In that instant, the bad blood he had for Ming Yu disappeared. He knew that Ming Yu had forged his reputation in blood and sweat, through his own hard work and countless death defying battles.

Ming Yu sighed and continued saying: “Many of the upper echelons of the military command wanted to punish me, even those who spoke on my behalf only did so because of my previous merits and contributions. How many actually know me? That day, when I saw your answer, and heard your reply… I knew you were the same type of person as I am. Alas, you are not of the Fei Li Empire, if not I would find some way for you to join my command, for us to fight together.”

Zhou Weiqing smiled and said: “Even if I’m not a citizen of the Fei Li Empire, does that mean we can’t fight together? Do not forget that my Heavenly Bow Empire is an ally of your Fei Li Empire. It’s just that I haven’t forged the qualifications to fight together with you yet.”

Ming Yu laughed and said: “Let’s hope that one day you do. The battlefield is the stage for real men in this day and age.”

Zhou Weiqing nodded silently, turning his head back towards the entrance of the Academy.

All of a sudden, his eyes lit up, and he said in surprise: “Ehh? That girl is not bad!”

Ming Yu followed his gaze, only to see a young lady dressed in white walk in…