Darren and Elsa took the two unconscious disciples of School of Sword Skill back to the Sword Mountain immediately.
"Who's there?" A shaking voice reached their ears the second Darren and Elsa stepped into the lobby. They turned to the direction of the voice.
Most disciples of the School of Sword Skill were inside. When the disciple who had spoken saw their faces, his stance relaxed and his mind felt at ease.
"You're finally back, Elsa!" the one who outranked the rest gushed, crossing the lobby in long strides to get closer to them but not before giving his orders to the other disciples. "Get a message to Elder Thomas and Cody and tell them that Elsa has come back."
Without wasting another second, several disciples ran out to fill Thomas and Cody in on Elsa's return with some secret skill.
"Rick, those guys from the School of Arrow Skill bullied our companions. Why don't you inform my father and Cody and ask them to do something about it?" Elsa asked with furrowed eyebrows, confused.
Rick let out a wry laugh and replied, "Elsa, you know we have been through this because of you. After finding out that Elder Thomas was not around, those disciples from the School of Arrow Skill took that chance and often waited at the foot to attack us. We have experienced all sorts of difficulties. We have been beaten up, while some of us have been taken to Arrow Mountain and tortured.
I informed Elder Thomas of this several times, but even though he was angry about it, he didn't come back because he wanted to get you back at all costs."
The rest of the disciples listening to their conversation sighed, looking frustrated.
"Now that you're back, everything will be fine. Once Elder Thomas comes back, he will give justice to what happened to us. He will avenge us," Rick said, his eyes filled with desire to get back at his enemies.
With all seriousness, Darren stood up and said, "I think this matter is more complicated than you have imagined. The people of the School of Arrow Skill dare to ignore the rules and bully us in public. That's not a school's typical behavior. There must be some reason behind this."
"Shut up!" Rick shouted at Darren as his hands balled into fists.
Everyone present in the room didn't notice Darren until he spoke. They cast unkind glances at him.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Rick thundered, narrowing his eyes at Darren. "How dare you interrupt us?"
The people of the School of Sword Skill already heard rumors about Darren and Elsa. It was said that Darren hooked up with Elsa in the woods and the two eloped.
They didn't believe these rumors because they didn't think Elsa would actually be attracted to a loser like Darren.
"Watch your tone, Rick. You should show Darren some respect,"
Elsa demanded coldly before Darren could say a word.
"Elsa, how could you...? I can't believe you just said that," Rick uttered acidly, his eyes filled with cold anger. He was mad about Elsa defending Darren, but he couldn't afford to say anything else to displease her. After all, her father was Elder Thomas. He didn't want to get on his wrong side. As he sent Darren an icy glare, he thought, 'I don't get it. Why would Elsa speak up for this loser? Did she really meet Darren in the woods just like what the rumors said?'
Other disciples didn't like Elsa's response either. They got angry and felt a little betrayed at how she defended Darren against them, as though they were the ones at fault. It was unfair.
"Humph! He is just a nobody. I don't know why you're standing up for him. Did he cast a spell on you or something?" a strong young man grumbled.
"Ian, watch your tone too. Be nice to Darren," Elsa said again, frowning at the man.
"Be nice to him? No way! If you weren't Elder Thomas's daughter, I wouldn't spare you a look. As the old saying goes, 'Birds of the same feather flock together'. No wonder you two losers got together," Ian retorted.
"Have you lost your mind, Ian? How could you insult Elsa this way? You've gone too far," Rick berated as his face darkened. 'Ian is such an outspoken guy. Even if that's what he thought, he shouldn't have said it out loud, ' he thought, knowing the consequences of such a daring action.
"Did I say anything wrong, Rick?" the bulky youth snapped with a defiant look on his face.
SMACK!
The sound reverberated through the whole place. Ian got slapped hard. His hand flew to his cheek as his eyes landed on the person who slapped him.
"You!" He pointed at Elsa, eyes flashing dangerously and intending to fight back.
But before he could make a move, he was rendered immobile by a terrifying aura coming from Elsa.
His mouth opened in horror.
Gaping at Elsa like a trapped animal, he swallowed his saliva and mumbled, "I-I am sorry, Elsa."
Elsa withdrew her sword intent. Even though she could kill him, she had no intention of doing so in respect to the years they spent cultivating together. She thought teaching him a lesson like this would suffice, and the slap was not cutting it short either.
Upon seeing this, the rest exchanged confused glances. They had no idea why Ian suddenly changed his attitude and apologized. 'Perhaps he realized that he was being too rude to Elsa and Darren, ' they thought as they looked at Ian's slumped shoulders. It didn't matter what really happened, though, because they forgot about the incident soon enough.
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