Nine Star Burden

Chapter 56: Pride and True Justice

At dinner, Jiang Xiao took the lead and climbed over the wall to sneak out with his teammates.

Dinner break would last for two hours and night lessons only began at 6:30 PM. Hence, a single meal was enough.

Moreover, Jiang Xiao felt that it would be better to treat them to a meal before announcing the news.

Hence, he bore with the pain of feeling the pinch and counted the 300 yuan in his pocket, thinking that he could still bear with it.

There were plenty of stores in the alley near the school gate and the smell of smoke was rather strong there. There were plenty of kids shuttling through the place, dressed in green military uniforms. Jiang Xiao reckoned that they were probably sick of the food in the canteen and wanted to try something new.

Jiang Xiao found a self-service hotpot buffet restaurant which did not have any single rooms. Instead, there were more than ten small tables in the main dining hall, making it suitable for couples.

He asked the owner to put together two tables and invited his teammates to have a seat.

The hotpot buffet cost 38 yuan per person. Knowing the price made Jiang Xiao feel rather confident.

300 yuan should be enough for five.

“Hey Brother, what are you going to announce? You even invited us for a hot pot? It’s making us feel bad,” Zhu Wu said while chuckling. He then continued, “Is it Gao Junchen? Count on me to deal with him. We can’t keep being passive. Sometimes, we have to take the initiative to attack and make things hard for him.”

“Don’t, the tournament is starting in three days. We’d better play safe and decide after getting the reward,” Jiang Xiao said while following Zhu Wu to the dinner table.

“Stop looking, cook the food and dig in,” he quickly said to everyone.

Since it’s a buffet, take whatever you want to eat.

Don’t stand on ceremony with the owner...

“Oh? Isn’t this Brother Medic?” asked a voice which made Jiang Xiao rather astonished.

The youths with the crew and the buzz cuts whom he met in the morning walked towards him respectively.

“Have your injuries healed?” Jiang Xiao asked in bewilderment.

“We didn’t have any injuries. You’re amazing at healing us,” said the youth with the buzz cut while limping.

Jiang Xiao was speechless.

Jiang Xiao did go a little hard on the youth with the buzz cut who was his first target.

Reason being, when he sparred with Zhu Wen in the morning, Zhu Wen did abuse him quite a bit. Besides, Zhu Wen was just a member of Class 2.

The students who pushed Jiang Xiao into the utility room were from Class 1, so Jiang Xiao naturally thought that they would be stronger.

Hence, he had been trying to find a chance to launch a sneak attack and go head-to-head against him.

At that moment, the youth with the crew cut was rather far away when the skinny youth left, while the youth with the buzz cut kicked him.

Jiang Xiao punched the knee of the youth with the buzz cut in order to restrict him.

He was even more relentless towards his second target, the skinny youth, by striking him right in the jaw, causing him to faint. Jiang Xiao also did that for the sake of restraining him.

By the time Jiang Xiao proceeded to deal with the youth with the crew cut, he finally realized that these students were not as powerful as he had thought. He realized that he seemed to have used the wrong method.

Potential was not equivalent to combat power.

Jiang Xiao dared to take action because of the Medical Star Techniques. Well, it was evident since the injured youth with the buzz cut could still walk despite limping. It was all because of Jiang Xiao’s treatment.

As for the switchblade, Jiang Xiao was merely planning to threaten and scare him, with no intentions to kill him at all. Jiang Xiao did know his limits.

“You can climb the wall too?” Jiang Xiao asked with a peculiar expression.

“Climb the wall? I applied for leave straight away. I said that I was sparring with two of my friends and we ended up getting too rough and I accidentally hurt my ligaments. Fate allowed us to meet. This meal’s on me,” said the youth with the buzz cut smilingly.

Of course, the other members of Jiang Xiao’s team knew that they were the ones who got beaten up by him in the morning. However, they did not expect the story to unfold in such a manner.

“What for? Stand aside, I don’t accept any bootlicking to clear one’s name,” Jiang Xiao said in disdain as he waved his hands.

“Don’t, Brother Medic. We’re all minors who tend to be insensible at times. Please allow us kids to make mistakes and learn from them. You must allow us to grow and turn over a new leaf!” The youth with the buzz cut pleaded quickly, giving Jiang Xiao a great shock.

What’s up with him?

The mention of underage minors made Jiang Xiao feel a sudden urge to kick him again.

The youth with the crew cut chimed in. “Yeah, yeah, we have a clear idea now. Fighting and getting into scuffles are useless. We might just land ourselves in hot soup and encounter trouble while thinking that we’re all cool and impressive.”

Jiang Xiao questioned, “What do you mean? Am I trouble?”

“Uh...” The youth with the crew cut said, “You’re not trouble, you’re a deity. You’re the only Medical Awakened in the entire Year One cohort, while there are only two in Year Two and one in Year Three. Yet, we ended up offending you. How outrageous of us, don’t you think so?”

Jiang Xiao stared at the youth with the crew cut with a mirthless smirk. Ever since he found out that Han Jiangxue was Jiang Xiao’s sister, he changed drastically.

...

Jiang Xiao still did not allow the two of them to foot the bill in the end. He felt that he had done merit by letting the two of them behave themselves and turn over a new leaf.

“People in big cities are indeed different. Look their glib tongues,” Liu Ke said in Mandarin that was mixed with some Beijiang dialect, making her speech especially expressive.

After the minor hiccup, Jiang Xiao changed the subject again while eating some meat.

“The girl you guys saw this morning is called Han Jiangxue,” said Jiang Xiao.

“Yeah. We were planning to keep mum about it had you not brought it up. I saw your Weibo, you two are very close, aren’t you? Is she your friend?” The eager Liu Ke rushed to ask.

“She’s my sister. I took my mother’s surname,” Jiang Xiao said.

“Huh? You’re her brother?” Liu Ke asked in disbelief as she scrutinized Jiang Xiao. However, she could not see any resemblance between him and Han Jiangxue.

Jiang Xiao did not explain much and continued, “I came here for one purpose. I’m sure you guys know that a Medical Awakened will greatly add value to the team.”

The elder brother Zhu Wen nodded and said, “That’s true.”

“Ever since I awakened during my junior high school graduation ceremony, Han Jiangxue has been training me,” Jiang Xiao said, revealing half the truth. He added, “She wants me to join her team.”

Zhu Wu said blatantly, “You don’t seem... competent enough?”

Jiang Xiao admitted, “Indeed so. The problem is that there is something wrong with her team and there is an irreconcilable conflict between the members. This poses a threat to the lives of each of them.”

“What? There’s such a thing?” Zhu Wen asked with a sullen expression.

Jiang Xiao said, “Well, it’s very complicated, I shall not explain in detail. I’ll get straight to the conclusion. She hopes that I can shine during the tournament and build connections through the other rich and powerful members of her team so that I can advance and join Year Three straight away before joining her team.”

Liu Ke was stunned beyond words. “That...”

“I’m sure you guys know that there is only one Medical Awakened in the Year Three cohort of six classes. Out of all the students in the six classes of Year Two, there are only two Medical Awakened, and in our cohort, there are eight classes but only one Medical Awakened so far. You guys know how rare this profession is,” said Jiang Xiao.

“It definitely is rare, and you do have the qualifications to make the school impressed with you. However, your potential is limited. You can’t be worrying about your sister forever. You have to consider for yourself too. Your power is not enough and you lack potential too. In Year Three, you have to go on missions frequently in other Dimensional Spaces. You...”

“Regarding this, she has her own considerations too. We’re family. I believe she will not harm me.” Jiang Xiao didn’t explain too much nor talk about his internal Star Map. Instead, he said apologetically, “I just wanted to say that if I succeed, I’m afraid I will leave this team.”

Zhu Wen suddenly said, “Brother, don’t say that. If you think it’s correct, go ahead.”

Jiang Xiao looked at Zhu Wen’s eyes that were full of sincerity, and his heart turned soft.

He really didn’t expect to gain Zhu Wen’s support and encouragement, instead of getting blamed.

“Your sister’s team definitely has a higher upper limit. If you think you can, just do it! My brother won’t anything to hinder someone from achieving a brighter future. At this stage, you’re really very strong, especially since you have the Bell Star Technique that will be of great help to our team,” Zhu Wen said while patting Jiang Xiao on the shoulder.

“Help our team get a ranking and achieve rewards, and we’ll help you shine and advance to Year Three,” Zhu Wen said while looking at Zhu Wu.

Zhu Wu nodded without hesitation. “My brother’s right. Without you, we will have to take Liu Ke to the battlefield. We might not know what rank we will get then.”

Liu Ke pouted and said regretfully, “Let’s put aside your potential for now. You guys were really fortunate to have run into such a strong Medical Awakened.”

Yi Lianna smiled and looked at Liu Ke. “You’re just feeling sad because he can no longer replace you after he leaves, so you’ll have to take on the battle again, aren’t you?”

Liu Ke blushed and looked at Yi Lianna in disbelief. “Hey, hush!”

Jiang Xiao picked up the soda and said, “No matter whether I succeed or not, and regardless of the rank we get, my share of the reward will go to Liu Ke.”

“How can that do? What’s yours is yours to keep,” Liu Ke frantically said.

“No, I’ve already gotten my reward.” Jiang Xiao held onto his soda and gestured to them. “Thank you, guys.”

It was indeed a reward for him to have met this group of genuine and enthusiastic kids.

Jiang Xiao looked up and chugged the soda.

Zhu Wu glanced at Jiang Xiao with a peculiar expression. “We’re not drinking, why do you have to pretend to be so emotional?”

Jiang Xiao muttered, “Psht... Ahem... ahem...”