Why did you provoke that old man? He's a reincarnation of a deity!

Xiao Nian did not eat for seven whole days.

For seven days, he secluded himself in his dormitory, using the Spirit Nourishing Pill in conjunction with the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Refining Immortal Technique to advance to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

The dantian finally condensed the rudimentary form of liquid spiritual power. Even with the use of the Abstinence Technique, this eighty-year-old frail body was protesting and simply could not withstand it.

He walked into the academy cafeteria with his cane, ordered three days' worth of food for an average young body trainer, and sat in a corner to wolf down his food.

The young students at the next table secretly glanced at them.

An old man with white hair, so thin he was just skin and bones, ate more and faster than them. His chopsticks were almost never stopped, he slurped the noodles loudly, and ate the buns one bite at a time.

"Eat slowly, sir, don't choke."

A kind-hearted boy brought a bowl of water to the boy.

"Thank you." Xiao didn't even look up, just grunted and continued eating.

"Oh, isn't this Old Man Meng?" At this moment, a person brought over the food and sat down opposite Xiao Nian.

The man was in his forties, tall and burly, wearing a gray-black uniform as a goalkeeper for the military academy, with an iron rod at his waist and a bronze badge on his chest to identify him as a staff member.

He is a body-training martial artist.

His name is Sun Tiezhu. He is a distant cousin of Vice Dean Chen Daoming. He got into the academy as a goalkeeper through this relationship.

He usually acts arrogantly in the academy, treating the instructors fairly politely, but he starts to bully and intimidate visitors or servants.

Sun Tiezhu got his food and was about to find a seat when his gaze fell on the white-haired old man wolfing down his meal in the corner, and he paused in his tracks.

Isn't that Old Meng, the literature and history teacher he used to bully? This old man dares to come here and freeload? Well, I'm in for some fun today.

He walked over with his food tray, sat down directly opposite Xiao Nian, crossed his legs, and had a toothpick in his mouth.

"Eat slowly, don't choke. At your age, eating too fast can cause your eyes to roll back, and it would look terrible if you were carried out like that."

Xiao Nian ignored him and continued eating her fourth bowl of noodles.

Seeing that he didn't respond, Sun Tiezhu became even more enthusiastic.

He leaned forward and chuckled in a low voice:

"I heard you took the martial arts instructor exam a few days ago? And you passed? Tsk tsk, where did you find those connections? With your physique, you'd be out of breath after just a few steps."

"Then you've become your students' toy, and you're even teaching others?"

Several students at the next table couldn't help but laugh so hard they spat out their food.

Xiao Nian stuffed a steamed bun into her mouth, chewed it, swallowed it, and glanced at Sun Tiezhu: "What's up?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to chat with you." Sun Tiezhu leaned back in his chair, looking like he had Sun Tiezhu completely under his thumb.

"Oh, right, speaking of which, it's true. A couple of days ago, a fat guy came looking for you, saying his name was something like Lin Mumu. He was acting all anxious, jumping and hopping around at the door, saying he wanted to see you."

Xiao Nian stopped eating: It hasn't even been half a month, why is this fat guy here already?

"As a goalkeeper, I certainly can't let random people in, especially trash and useless people."

Sun Tiezhu sucked on a toothpick and spoke casually.

"What happens next?"

Xiao Nian put down her chopsticks and looked at Sun Tiezhu.

Sun Tiezhu spat out the toothpick, thinking that the real show was about to begin. The old man was indeed interested, and it was time for the humiliation segment again.

He chuckled, "Want me to call you 'Grandpa Sun' twice? If you do, I'll tell you what happens next."

Xiao Nian stood up and looked down at him.

That look sent a chill down Sun Tiezhu's spine. He wondered if Old Meng was being unusually tough today. He quickly straightened his back again.

What is he afraid of? He is Dean Chen's distant cousin. Who in the hospital doesn't give him some face? What can an eighty-year-old man do to him?

"What? You want to fight? Come on, let's go outside and have a go?" Sun Tiezhu pulled the iron rod from his waist and slammed it on the table.

"Old Meng, let me tell you, I'm in charge of everyone coming and going in this academy. I can let them in or get them out! Anyone who dares to barge in is going against the academy and the imperial court."

After he finished speaking, he picked up the iron rod again, weighed it in his hand, and tried to encourage himself.

"I'll say it again, call me Grandpa Sun and I'll tell you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Nian's withered hand reached out.

Before Sun Tiezhu could react, they grabbed his wrist, which was holding the iron rod.

Sun Tiezhu felt a numbness in his wrist, and his entire arm instantly lost sensation.

Then an irresistible force propelled him forward, and Xiao Nian pressed his head down, slamming it onto the table with a loud "bang."

The iron rod slipped from Xiao Nian's hand, but was caught by his left hand. With a gentle squeeze, the pure iron rod bent into an arc shape under the astonished gazes of the crowd.

"You have truly taken the worst of human nature to the extreme, using the least amount of power to make things extremely difficult for others."

Xiao Nian uttered a few words.

The cafeteria fell silent for a moment; it all happened so suddenly.

An eighty-year-old man subdued a martial artist in an instant.

Sun Tiezhu's face was half-pressed onto the table, blood flowing from his mouth, yet he still managed to utter mumbled curses:

"Let me go, you son of a bitch! I'm Dean Chen's nephew!"

"And then?" Xiao Nian's voice was calm as he slowly lifted Sun Tiezhu up with his right hand.

Sun Tiezhu wanted to throw a punch in retaliation.

"Bang." Xiao Nian punched him in the stomach.

Sun Tiezhu's pupils contracted sharply, and the sudden pain made him swallow back the threat that was on the tip of his tongue.

"And then?" Xiao Nian asked coldly again.

"He left a letter, begging me to make sure it gets delivered to you. In the drawer of the goalkeeper's room, at the very bottom." Sun Tiezhu's voice trembled.

Xiao Nian shook his head. He needed to break through the later levels of Qi Refining as soon as possible. Without divine sense, he was even afraid of accidentally killing someone during interrogation.

Xiao Nian tossed Sun Tiezhu to the ground like a dead dog, turned and walked towards the cafeteria exit, then stopped after a few steps. Without turning back, he said, "If I don't see him, I'll have your uncle collect your corpse. I said it."

Sun Tiezhu slumped to the ground, not daring to look at Xiao Nian even once, for fear that he might have murderous intent. At the same time, he regretted how he had provoked such a killer so early in the morning.

Xiao Nian entered the gatekeeper's room, leaning on his cane.

Sure enough, there was a stack of letters in the bottom drawer. The top one was stained with blood and had "To be opened by Uncle Meng" written on the cover, signed Lin Mumu.

He opened it, and the words inside were crooked and distorted:

"Uncle Meng, I didn't want to trouble you anymore, but I have no other choice but to ask for your help. The money I needed to buy medicine was actually borrowed from the Zha Jiang Gang's loan sharks. In just a few days, the interest has ballooned to the point that I can't repay it at all. They've threatened to sell my sister if they don't pay back the money. My sister is everything to me. I beg you, Uncle Meng, to save me one more time."

The date of the signature is five days ago.

Xiao Nian's gaze lingered on the paper for a moment. She thought of her younger sister, Xiao Lingyi. Where was she now? Once she became strong, she would definitely go find her sister and father.

Xiao Nian then continued scrolling down.

The second letter was in Ye Jingtang's handwriting, and the envelope was clean and tidy.

The letter read "To Mr. Meng Chenhai," and below the eight-character code phrase "Dragon's Palm Reflects the Milky Way, Xiao Family Accompanies Ye He" was a line of smaller text: "Upon receiving this letter, meet at the usual place on the Autumn Equinox to discuss matters."

Date: Seven days ago.

There are still half a month until the autumnal equinox, so there's plenty of time. As for the usual place, Xiao Nian hasn't thought of a location yet.

Perhaps it was a place only he and Uncle Ye knew about; this was a riddle Ye Jingtang had set up to verify Xiao Nian's identity.