Book 2: Chapter 9: Senior Brothers and Sisters
Book 2: Chapter 9: Senior Brothers and Sisters
An excellent teacher produces brilliant students. Compared to others who were just starting to learn archery, Lin Xi and Bian Linghan’s rate of improvement was indeed extremely fast.
Under the multicolored sunset glow, within these rainbow-like stepped fields, the two each released ten arrows, six or seven of them now already around the bull’s eye. However, for Windstalkers, there was still a long, long way to go.
Only when they approached the Self Defense Freshman Dormitory, seeing unfamiliar people in groups of threes and fours, did Lin Xi and Bian Linghan, who were completely exhausted, but still had the vibrations of their bowstrings replaying in their minds, suddenly recall that this was the recruiting of different academy associations. Those unfamiliar faces… should be their senior brothers and sisters.
Towards the senior brothers and sisters of his past world’s university, Lin Xi didn’t have too many favorable impressions.
The purpose of those senior brothers holding all types of activities was mainly to chase after junior sisters, while the senior sisters were busy with their own stuff, rarely interacting with their junior brothers.
Moreover, the current coursework and the special Windstalker lessons already left him without much free time, which was why he didn’t hold that great of an interest towards Green Luan Academy’s various associations. After snapping out of his daze, he only slowly continued forward, watching curiously from the side.
As they got closer to these seniors, he could tell that these unfamiliar seniors all looked much more heroic and experienced than themselves. Compared to the university life he was familiar with before, these associations’ recruitment process was also extremely simple, they all only wrote some simple characters on the ground with a tree branch, stating the associations they represented in this manner.
Just as Lin Xi was sizing up these unfamiliar seniors with curiosity. Chen Mu also noticed Lin Xi and Bian Linghan who were approaching under the sunset clouds.
Unlike other new students, Lin Xi and Bian Linghan seemed exceptionally exhausted, their steps unsteady.
When their eyes met, Lin Xi also smiled, nodding in his direction in an extremely courteous manner. He then returned to sizing up the remaining individuals.
Even though they didn’t know who Lin Xi was, from the natural, curious, and extremely pure expression in his eyes, Chen Mu became a bit surprised. He couldn’t help but feel that this new student was a bit different from the other Self Defense Department new students.
“En?” Right at this time, Chen Mu’s brows moved slightly. He saw that not far from him, Zhou Yongxian and two other Poetry Art Club members were already moving towards those two clearly exhausted Self Defense Department new students.
“Are you Lin Xi?”
Zhou Yongxian walked up to Lin Xi, greeting him in a refined and courteous manner.
“So he is Self Defense Department’s heaven’s choice?” When they heard Zhou Yongxian’s words, Chen Mu and the other people in this vacant area who didn’t recognize Lin Xi stared blankly for a moment, and then they began to size up Lin Xi with expressions of shock.
“I am Lin Xi.” Lin Xi examined the three individuals who approached him. The three were all male, a bit taller than himself. They were dressed in green clothes, all of them from the Statecraft Department. The young man who greeted him was a bit older than him, but his square face, despite having a friendly expression, already gave off an imposing feeling.
“I am Zhou Yongxian, the president of Poetry Art Club, a third year statecraft student.” Before Lin Xi could ask anything, this green-clothed youngster already introduced himself in a friendly manner.
Lin Xi gave a polite greeting in return, asking, “Does Senior Zhou have any advice for me?”
“I have already heard of Junior Lin’s great reputation. Those who are able to enter as heaven’s choice, I believe their artistic talents are definitely not low either.” Zhou Yongxian who was half a head taller than Lin Xi looked at Lin Xi with a gentle expression, saying, “That is why I wanted to invite Junior Lin to join our Poetry Art Club.”
“Join Poetry Art Club?” Lin Xi began to rub his fingers together, his voice rather indecisive.
When he saw Lin Xi’s hesitation, the senior brother who was quite a bit taller than even Zhou Yongxian revealed a smile, quietly reminding with good intentions, “President Zhou’s father is the sector head of Government Sector. If you join our club, once we all graduate from Green Luan Academy, we will also be closer, able to take care of each other… I believe Junior Lin also understands this well too. Otherwise, even though we are all Green Luan Academy students, most of the time, we are either busy cultivating or training outside, there aren’t many chances to bond at all.”
Lin Xi released an inward sigh.
The powerful implications these words carried were impossible for him to not recognize. After living here these past few days, he at least understood that as one of the eight sectors, Government Sector presided over the promotion and transfers of government officials. A sector head was naturally one of Yunqin Empire’s giants. There was naturally no need to talk about the benefits following Zhou Family would bring.
In reality, if not for this line, with Zhou Yongxian and the other two senior brothers’ refined and courteous attitudes, he might have just agreed on the spot. It was because this Poetry Art Club wasn’t an association that would exhaust too much physical strength, not like those associations that focused on physical development. With his daily coursework, even if he had the interest, he didn’t have the ability to participate in them.
However, some of the words Teacher Tong spoke today were still lingering by his ears. His ankles were still hurting even now. With this sentence, he instead no longer wanted to agree.
“Senior brothers.” As such, he regretfully said to Zhou Yongxian and the other two, “I do not know much about art… nor do I have much interest. This Poetry Art Club, I must thank seniors for your considerations.”
Stunned expressions immediately appeared on the tall senior’s face. He even began to doubt himself, don’t tell me he still wasn’t clear enough?
Zhou Yongxian gave Lin Xi a look, his voice still gentle as he said, “Junior Lin, you won’t take some more time to reconsider? The number of academy students who end up joining our Poetry Art Club is actually not few.”
Lin Xi also smiled in a friendly manner, shaking his head in apology once more. “Many thanks to senior.”
Zhou Yongxian muttered to himself for a bit, not saying anything for some time. Meanwhile, a handsome senior who had a fair complexion gave him a cold look, saying, “Junior Lin, it’s best that you think things through clearly. Even though you entered as heaven’s choice, your soul force cultivation talent is ordinary. The path of a government official can be a very good choice.”
Lin Xi was a bit speechless, feeling disinclined to say anything, only shaking his head.
“The reason why I stayed here a bit longer was precisely to wait for Junior Lin. Our Poetry Art Club doesn’t have many rigid rules. If Junior Lin has the interest one day and wishes to join, you just need to give me the word.” Zhou Yongxian’s face didn’t have the slightest bit of anger, only giving him a faint smile and saying this. Then, he said his goodbyes and left.
“Zhou Family’s influence is extremely great throughout all levels of society, especially his father, Zhou Youjian, his voice carrying extremely great weight in the senate. Refusing him like this isn’t really giving him much face.” As they watched Zhou Yongxian and the others leave, Bian Linghan looked at Lin Xi with a bit of worry and irritation, saying quietly, “Just now, I was trying to warn you to be a bit more flexible. When I tugged on your clothes, why didn’t you react at all?”
“I never expected you to actually refuse him.” Right at this time, another voice suddenly sounded. Lin Xi, who was just about to respond to Bian Linghan, looked in the direction this voice came from, seeing that it was actually a senior brother with a longsword on his back and a slightly chubbier and shorter senior sister who walked over. These two seniors both wore blue-colored Self Defense Department clothes, and just now, Lin Xi already exchanged a look with these two. Lin Xi and Bian Linghan’s faces immediately froze, and then they gave a respectful greeting. “It is a pleasure to meet senior brother and senior sister.”
“I’m Chen Mu, this is Du Zhanye. We are both Self Defense Department third year students.” Chen Mu sized up both Lin Xi and Bian Linghan who had skinnier and weaker looking figures. He asked Lin Xi seriously, “From my understanding, you are of bumpkin birth, not having much of a background in society. Thus, why would you refuse Zhou Yongxian’s invitation?”
Chen Mu’s appearance was extremely ordinary, but he wasn’t disagreeable, and his way of speaking was more direct, which was why Lin Xi immediately had a good impression of him, smiling innocently and saying, “Because I didn’t want to.”
Chen Mu still looked straight at Lin Xi, saying, “Is it because you don’t want to bend down and fake smiles for power? In the future, if Zhou Yongxian rises up to a position of authority, and your affairs just happen to intersect with his, things might become quite troublesome.”
Lin Xi was still smiling, saying, “Our Yunqin Empire, politics has never been the most decisive part, right?”
“Could it be that Junior Lin has already set your resolution to join the border army?” When he heard Lin Xi speak like this, Chen Mu and the short and stout senior sister named Du Zhanye immediately felt a sense of respect.
“Perhaps.” Lin Xi laughed inwardly. He couldn’t speak his true thoughts… For better or for worse, both Principal Zhang and himself came from the same place, having the same ability. What qualifications did the son of a sector head have to recruit him?
“I am the vice president of the academy’s Sword Club, but just like you, I don’t have much of a background either. That is why if you are interested in the Sword Club, you don’t have to worry about being bound to some family. Moreover, I will graduate from the academy soon, so even if you enter our Sword Club, our chances of meeting will be quite limited.” While looking at Lin Xi who was still smiling naturally, Chen Mu spoke quite a bit of nonsense for whatever reason, in the end summing things up and saying, “You don’t necessarily have to join Sword Club either. However, Sword Club is mostly made up of our Self Defense Department students, so if you have the time, you can also come to just hang out.”
“You can just call me Leaf Sis, this is how all the club members call me.” The short and stout senior sister said with a big smile. “You two are welcome to look for me at any time.”
“With senior brothers and sisters like you two, as long as I have the time, I will definitely ask for some guidance.” Lin Xi seriously and sincerely nodded and said this to these seniors from the same department.
…
The sky gradually darkened. The lights within the buildings situated on various mountaintops were lit one after another, scattered throughout, making this place look like a celestial city.
Chen Mu and Du Zhanye followed a small cobblestone path, heading towards a peak in the depths of the mountains.
The stout Du Zhanye’s expression was still peaceful, from the looks of it someone with a great temperament. However, as they moved quickly along this small path, her face seemed to carry respect for Chen Mu.
When they reached a quiet and unmanned place, Du Zhanye quietly said, “Your majesty, you seem to be quite interested in Lin Xi?”
Chen Mu who was being called ‘your majesty’ didn’t seem to act any different, but he calmly said, “People like him who don’t cling to the powerful and rich are often upright and honorable, as well as lofty and unyielding in character, the type of people our Yunqin Empire needs the most. However, he is merely a new student who has just joined the academy… too young, I do not know if his nature will change… you do not need to get involved, just watch him patiently.”