“Don’t come any closer. If you do, I’ll start shouting.” William Carter took two steps back, already thinking about making a run for the door. After all, this girl’s martial arts were better than his—he had no idea which master had taught her swordsmanship, but ever since they were young, it was always William Carter on the receiving end of her beatings. Even though William Carter picked up a few moves every time he went out, he still ended up completely outmatched when he got back. Looking at Emily Bennett, William Carter had already doused whatever little desire to win he’d had.

“Go ahead and shout. Scream until you’re hoarse—no one here will help you.” Emily Bennett smiled with an innocent face, but her words made the young scholars watching blush.

William Carter glanced at the crowd, and sure enough, their faces practically spelled out “won’t help you.” His own face fell. Seeing Emily Bennett striding quickly toward him, he gritted his teeth and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Attempted murder of her own husband!”

“Wow!…” As soon as William Carter yelled, the students from the academy who had been watching in confusion erupted into an uproar. Some looked at William Carter with a mix of envy and resentment, while a small number were full of admiration. They immediately began whispering among themselves:

“Could this young Taoist really be junior sister’s husband? No wonder she turned down Senior Brother Wang’s proposal last month. Even Dean 曾 said Senior Brother Wang had a good chance of passing the imperial exams this year—he might even make the top list and compete for the title of Zhuangyuan. How did he lose to this guy?”

“I don’t think so. This Taoist is just a rascal, taking advantage of Senior Sister 曾’s beauty and now looking for a chance to run away. Besides, how could he compare to Senior Brother Wang? It’s like a swan and a toad.”

“Whatever the case, this Taoist sure has guts. No one in the academy dares mess with junior sister, but his behavior is really disgraceful. If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t run.” The academy students whispered among themselves, their expressions a sight to behold.

Hearing this, Emily Bennett’s face flushed with embarrassment. She bit her silver teeth and shouted angrily at William Carter, “William Carter, I’m going to kill you!” With that, she darted forward, her sword aimed straight at William Carter, moving much faster than before.

As soon as William Carter finished shouting, he turned and ran. He caught bits of the students’ conversation and was surprised to learn that Emily Bennett had such a fierce reputation at the academy. What really piqued his interest, though, was the matter of that Young Master Wang’s proposal. He hadn’t expected anyone to dare marry such a fierce girl—he really ought to meet this guy someday. As he ran, William Carter kept shouting, “Wife, calm down! Wife, calm down…” Since he couldn’t win in martial arts, he figured he’d at least try to get some advantage with his words—William Carter was never one to do a losing deal.

Emily Bennett’s lightness skill was clearly much better than William Carter’s self-taught version. With just a few steps, she had already caught up to him, her slender bamboo stick stabbing straight at William Carter’s back. But just as it was about to hit, she shifted slightly to the left, turning it into a smack instead.

At that moment, William Carter’s body bent forward in a strange arc, his right hand snapping straight out, chopping at the bamboo stick. With a loud “smack!” William Carter stumbled forward, the contact between his hand and the bamboo lasting only a split second before he pulled back like lightning, letting the bamboo land on his back. William Carter felt as if his back had suddenly been scorched by fire, followed by a burning pain.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit lucky that the crazy girl had kept some sense, and that he’d learned that body movement technique and hand chop at Qi Huang Palace—otherwise, it would have been much worse than just pain.

Even after whipping William Carter once, Emily Bennett still wasn’t satisfied. She raised the bamboo stick to strike him again. Though she was angry, she’d never really intended to kill William Carter. This wasn’t the first time William Carter had run his mouth, but before, it was always just the two of them, so she could pretend not to hear. Today, though, he’d said such things in front of so many people—she really wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

“All right, Emily, that’s enough. Stop fooling around.” Just then, a somewhat aged yet authoritative voice rang out. An old man in a blue robe, his temples frosted with white, was standing at the doorway—no one knew when he’d arrived. It was he who had spoken.

Chapter Three: The Hunchbacked Gentleman Blocking the Way

Emily Bennett’s hand, gripping the bamboo stick, reluctantly froze in midair. William Carter, on the other hand, looked as if he’d heard the voice of heaven. He turned around and even shot Emily Bennett a triumphant wink.

“Dean, Master…” The students who had been watching the commotion hurried forward to greet the old man with the disciple’s salute. This old man was none other than Charles Bennett, the head of Chongzhou Academy and Emily Bennett’s grandfather.

Emily Bennett glared fiercely at William Carter, then slowly walked up to him, stomped hard on his foot, and said in a low, menacing voice, “Don’t leave after class!” With a snort, she turned and walked away, giving Charles Bennett a secret little tongue-out as she passed.

Charles Bennett smiled helplessly and waved his hand, signaling the students to enter the academy. Only then did he beckon to William Carter.