Chapter 2899 — I'll Break It For You

"Uh... I see..." Zhao Qibing sounded rather disappointed. "Has Wei Zhao been in touch with you, then?"

"If there's something you need, go ask Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. I really don't know anything." For one thing, Wang Xinyan did not dare to speak carelessly; for another, she genuinely had no idea how Wei Zhao was doing.

"Go find them, huh..." The corners of Zhao Qibing's mouth twitched twice. Gu Mengyao was one thing, but the mere thought of Shen Yushu brought his own skyscraper to mind—the girl had wanted to watch the building collapse, and collapse it did. Ever since then, Zhao Qibing had been left with a psychological scar.

"I'm going to read now. Suit yourself." Wang Xinyan had no wish to talk with Zhao Qibing any further; she picked up a book and lowered her head.

Zhao Qibing had no choice but to head for the Economics Department in search of Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu.

But Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were nowhere near as easy to find as Wang Xinyan. For one thing, Zhao Qibing had no idea where their classes were held; university classrooms had no fixed class plaques, unlike the Biomedical and Pharmaceutical program, which had only a single cohort and always met in the same room.

So Zhao Qibing first went to the Economics Department's faculty building and obtained the course schedule, then matched it against the timetable to locate the class in session. By the time he found it, the period was nearly over.

Still, that was just as well—once class let out, he would have more time to ask his questions.

Watching Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu walk out of the classroom hand in hand, Zhao Qibing hurried over. "Miss Gu, Miss Chen, it's been ages!"

"Zhao Qibing?" Gu Mengyao was quite surprised to see him there, and had no idea what he had come for. "What are you doing here?"

"Miss Gu, it's like this—I have a bit of business with Wei Zhao. Do you know how to get in touch with him?" Zhao Qibing came straight to the point.

"What do you want with Chewing Gum Bro?" Shen Yushu answered on Gu Mengyao's behalf, turning the question back on him.

The last person Zhao Qibing wanted to talk to was Shen Yushu. He had deliberately addressed Gu Mengyao earlier precisely to avoid conversing with Shen Yushu—and now, sure enough, Shen Yushu had picked up the thread.

"It's like this: I asked Wei Zhao to break my leg for me, and he agreed," Zhao Qibing said. "But it's been so long, and he still hasn't made good on it!"

"Oh?" Shen Yushu gave a little snort, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"You don't believe me? It's true. Before he went off to the trials, he made a special trip to our Hidden Zhao family, but I wasn't home at the time and missed him. So the moment I got back, I came looking for him first thing." Zhao Qibing was making it all up.

"When did I ever say I didn't believe you?" Shen Yushu countered.

"Uh... then what you mean is..." Zhao Qibing eyed Shen Yushu hesitantly.

"Before Chewing Gum Bro left, he actually made all the arrangements. He said if you came looking to have your leg broken, I should do it in his place." Shen Yushu spoke with the utmost seriousness.

"You?" Zhao Qibing did not quite believe it. He was no fool—he wasn't about to take every word out of Shen Yushu's mouth at face value. So he asked, "Really?"

"You don't believe me?" Shen Yushu narrowed her eyes and tossed his own words right back at him.

"It's not that I don't believe you—what I mean is, Wei Zhao may well have instructed you, but... do you actually know how to do it?" Zhao Qibing did not dare offend Shen Yushu, so he could only answer with a bitter smile.

"Damn, of course I do!" Shen Yushu planted her hands on her hips. "Chewing Gum Bro taught me all his techniques. I'm a professional leg-breaker now!"

"Uh... never mind, I won't trouble you after all. Let's wait a few days until Wei Zhao gets back..." Zhao Qibing did not dare trust Shen Yushu's skill—this was no joking matter.

"Oh? You won't do it?" Shen Yushu narrowed her eyes and looked at Zhao Qibing with a half-smile. "Don't you go regretting this. I spent days learning from Chewing Gum Bro specially so I could break your leg for you—I've already broken several big trees. If you don't want it done, fine, but when Chewing Gum Bro gets back, I'll tell him you changed your mind, and he'll never break your leg for you after that. Chewing Gum Bro always listens to little Shu!"

"Uh... this..." Cold sweat broke out on Zhao Qibing's forehead, and he silently cursed his own loose tongue—why on earth had he struck up a conversation with Shen Yushu? Now he was caught between a rock and a hard place. If he refused to let Shen Yushu break it, the girl would surely badmouth him to Wei Zhao, and if Wei Zhao took her word for it, his hopes of having his leg broken would be dashed for good.

But if he let her do it, Zhao Qibing was not exactly at ease either. What if she failed to break it?

"Hey, are you doing this or not? If not, Yaoyao and I are going home to play. Out of the way!" Seeing Zhao Qibing dithering, Shen Yushu grew impatient.

"Do it, do it! Right here?" Zhao Qibing gritted his teeth and made up his mind. Even if she failed to break it, it wouldn't kill him—giving it a try wouldn't be the death of him. And if by some chance she really did break it, then he'd have gotten himself a bargain!

"Go down to the open ground below. Find yourself an iron rod." Shen Yushu said.

"Fine... then you'd better do it properly. Try your best to break it!" Zhao Qibing reminded her.

"Oh, don't you worry. Why don't you trust me? Haven't you heard I go by the name Professional Leg-Breaker Shu?" Shen Yushu waved her hand impatiently. "Hurry up and go find that rod!"

"There's a rod right here, as it happens!" Once downstairs, Zhao Qibing beckoned. "Uncle Zhu, bring the rod over!"

Uncle Zhu had been waiting downstairs for Zhao Qibing all along. He carried an iron rod on his person at all times, kept specifically for the day he laid eyes on Wei Zhao, so he could break Wei Zhao's leg for him. True, Wei Zhao had no need of an iron rod most of the time, but better safe than sorry!

"Yes, Young Master Bing!" Uncle Zhu handed the iron rod to Zhao Qibing.

"All right, see if this rod will do?" Zhao Qibing passed the iron rod to Shen Yushu.

"Sure. Then get ready—I'm going to hit you now!" Shen Yushu raised the iron rod, eyed Zhao Qibing's leg, and considered how best to go about it.

"I say, Miss Chen, could you hurry it up a bit? I'm waiting here..." Zhao Qibing had waited a good while and Shen Yushu still hadn't swung, so he grew a little anxious. He had been holding his true qi gathered in protection of his body the whole time, but this was a state he could not control as he pleased; though he had made some progress lately, he still wasn't quite up to it—otherwise he could have found just about anyone to break his leg for him.

"Oh, here it comes!" Shen Yushu swung the iron rod up and brought it down on Zhao Qibing's right leg with a crisp "thwack."

"Ouch!" Zhao Qibing let out a miserable yelp and hopped about on the ground clutching his right leg. His leg was not broken at all—Shen Yushu had merely given it a rather painful blow. Without his true qi shielding him, taking a direct hit like that had left him black and blue, and even for a cultivator like Zhao Qibing, the pain was considerable. "My god, do you even know how to hit?"