Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Fight!

Even if you can’t win, you still fight.

Seeing Su Xuan Ming beaten to the brink, the Kind Mother System shrieked in Gu Nan Xi’s head, “Host! Why aren’t you saving him?! You’re just standing there—what kind of mother are you?!”

The coachman was frantic, already stepping forward to rush into the crowd, but Gu Nan Xi stopped him with a sharp motion.

She shoulder-checked the youth blocking the road, shoved past him, and walked straight toward the knot of boys.

Five steps away from Su Xuan Ming, she stopped.

“Su Xuan Ming,” she said, voice like ice, “hit back.”

She tossed the horsewhip onto the dirt in front of him.

Su Xuan Ming’s eyes snapped open.

Someone had struck his face viciously. The bruising around his eyes turned his handsome features into something battered and unrecognizable.

Li Shao Yan, who had been watching from the side, smiled. “Madam, this is just rough play between classmates. You shouldn’t interfere.”

Gu Nan Xi glanced at him once and spoke lightly. “I won’t interfere. But ‘play’ where only one side holds all the advantage is boring. If it’s play, it should go both ways.”

Li Shao Yan’s smile vanished. He snapped his paper fan open, expression turning ugly. “Then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. We all think it’s better like this. Don’t we, Su Xuan Ming?”

Wu Fa Tian stamped his foot down on Su Xuan Ming’s face, grinding it. “Brother Li is talking to you. Are you deaf?”

Su Xuan Ming clenched his jaw, refusing to show that spineless side of himself in front of Gu Nan Xi.

Wu Fa Tian laughed, pressing harder. “Oh? Now you’ve grown a spine? I’m telling you—no matter how hard your bones are, I can break them!”

Gu Nan Xi didn’t look at Wu Fa Tian. She didn’t look at anyone.

Her eyes stayed locked on Su Xuan Ming, steady and merciless.

“Get up,” she said. “Hit back.”

Su Xuan Ming’s voice scraped out, thin with pain. “Mother… I can’t win.”

“Then fight anyway.” Gu Nan Xi’s words rang like iron. “If the whip won’t do it, grab hair. Kick between the legs. Bite. If ten people hurt you, you must drag at least one down with you. As long as that one ends up worse than you, I’ll still recognize you as my son.”

Something broke loose inside Su Xuan Ming.

He reached out, seized the whip, and lashed out wildly.

The boys stumbled back in shock as the whip cracked across arms and shoulders.

“Su Xuan Ming! Are you crazy?! You dare hit us?!”

“Hah! Don’t think your mother being here means she can decide anything!”

“Today we’ll show you what ‘hitting back’ really looks like!”

At first, Su Xuan Ming caught them off guard. A few of them really took several lashes.

Then humiliation flared, and they surged in.

It was ten against one. Su Xuan Ming had never trained. He only flailed the whip with brute instinct, and in moments he was swallowed again.

Clothes tore. Blood welled up in angry stripes along his back and arms.

Wu Fa Tian saw an opening and lifted a flying kick to knock him down—

But a white figure slammed into Wu Fa Tian from the side, knocking him off balance and straight to the ground.

The white figure straddled Wu Fa Tian and clawed at his face with both hands, nails raking hard. “You stupid bug—how dare you hit your grandpa’s brother! Good grandson—take my claw!”

Wu Fa Tian’s face streaked with red. He raised his arms to protect himself and cursed through gritted teeth. “You sickly wretch, Su Yun Ting! Stop scratching like a shrew. If you have guts, fight me one-on-one!”

Su Yun Ting’s eyes flashed. “Is your brain full of manure? You went ten-on-one to bully my brother, and you didn’t mention fairness then!”

When scratching wasn’t enough, Su Yun Ting drove his knee up with vicious precision.

Wu Fa Tian let out a scream so sharp it ripped the air. His whole body went slack, as if he might faint on the spot.

Su Yun Ting sprang up, hunting for the next target, and threw a furious look at Su Xuan Ming. “Blockhead! If you can’t win, you can’t even fight dirty? If they’re ruining your face, make sure they can’t have sons!”

Su Xuan Ming choked out, incredulous even through pain, “You despise me the most—why are you helping me?”

Su Yun Ting looked like he wanted to explode. “I still despise you! You can’t even fight, and you’re worse than me, a sick man. But you, Su Xuan Ming—only I get to bully you!”

He flicked a glance toward Gu Nan Xi and hurriedly added, “And Mother! And Little Sister can bully you too!”

Su Xuan Ming laughed through tears, something warm blooming in his chest despite everything. “Fine. You can all bully me.”

His breath hitched, and then his eyes sharpened. “Second Brother, I can’t fight dirty. I’ll grab them—then you kick.”

Before anyone could stop him, Su Xuan Ming lunged at the nearest boy.

Fists hammered into his back like a storm, but he locked both arms around the boy’s waist and held on like a drowning man to driftwood. “Second Brother—now!”

Su Yun Ting’s eyes were red. He found the opening and snapped a brutal kick upward.

The boy’s scream turned the blood cold. He collapsed, curling in on himself.

Li Shao Yan’s face tightened. He immediately barked orders. “Surround them! Take down Su Xuan Ming first. Su Yun Ting is just a sickly weakling—he only dares fight dirty!”

With Li Shao Yan directing them, the boys moved with sudden coordination. Su Xuan Ming and Su Yun Ting were separated, forced apart, crushed under numbers again.

Su Yun Ting’s lungs burned like fire. Each kick and punch felt like it might shatter bone.

Through the haze of pain, he saw Su Xuan Ming not far away—five boys on him at once, yet he still tried to push forward, dragging himself closer.

“Brother,” Su Yun Ting shouted, voice raw, “don’t bother with the others! Go straight for Li Shao Yan!”

He’d spotted the head snake.

Su Xuan Ming gasped, eyes bloodshot. “Alright!”

Ignoring the blows, the brothers lunged for Li Shao Yan.

Su Xuan Ming wrapped his arms around Li Shao Yan’s waist—hard.

For the first time, Li Shao Yan truly panicked. “You dare! My father is an upper second-rank Dragon Martial Grand General! Touch one hair on my head and I’ll have him impeach Marquis Yong Chang!”

Su Xuan Ming and Su Yun Ting froze.

An upper second-rank Dragon Martial Grand General was a powerful military official. Their own father had a title, but his actual post was only a fourth-rank Loyal Martial General.

Even if no one spoke of impeachment, a man like that could make life miserable with a few “accidents” in official business.

Li Shao Yan saw their hesitation and grew bolder, chin lifting. “My family has only me—this one precious heir. If you hurt me, you’ll pay with your lives!”

The other boys piled on, voices sharp with triumph.

“That’s right! Wu Fa Tian is the nephew of Headmaster Wu. Su Xuan Ming, you dare assault a classmate? Just wait to be expelled!”

“Today’s matter—I’ll go home and tell my father. They’ll report Marquis Yong Chang!”

“And that Marchioness too! She encouraged her son to commit violence. That one-month confinement last time was clearly too light!”

Su Xuan Ming’s face drained.

Su Yun Ting’s stomach dropped.

If they kept going, they wouldn’t just drag Father down—they’d drag Mother down with them.

Both brothers turned, guilt and fear twisting together, and looked toward Gu Nan Xi.