Chapter 532: Out Of Seclusion, Hint (3)
As they talked, more and more people walked past them.
And a lot of people noticed Su Yu and the foreign students.
Su Yu didn't seem to care. When Xia Qing and company saw that, they exhaled in relief. This fellow seemed really sincere in befriending them. He did not care about how others look at him.
After a short while, Xia Qing finally took the initiative to ask, "Brother Su, previously, you told me that you wished to solicit the assistance of our dao protectors. We are family so if you really need our help, don't hesitate to voice it. There are so many of us here today. Some of us must be able to help you."
Su Yu hurriedly said, "Not at all. There is no such thing."
He then looked at Xia Qing with a frown, seemingly trying to hint that she shouldn't be talking about this. Behind her mask, Xia Qing's eyes flickered. Inwardly, she was delighted. She understood what Su Yu was trying to say. He couldn't trust the others. But that was also showing that he trusted her.
Her emotions turned somewhat complicated.
Su Yu was a genius student. He was a super genius who had created the fusion method. Even these foreign students were aware of that. They would be more than happy to befriend a talented individual like this.
Alas...befriending Su Yu would offend the single character faction. Who should they pick between Su Yu and the single character faction?
The Xia Family seemed somewhat biassed toward Su Yu, but it also seemed like Xia Huyou was the only person from the Xia Family who was close to Su Yu. Xia Yuwen, a strong competitor to be the next prefect, was hostile toward Su Yu.
Meanwhile, Xia Huyou was only a member of a branch family. Even Xia Chan, a member of the main branch, was also a member of the single character faction.
Thus, from Xia Qing's point of view, the single character faction enjoyed more support from the Xia Family. They wouldn't have been able to keep the multiple character faction suppressed for so many years otherwise. With complicated emotions, Xia Qing chatted with Su Yu for a while before taking her leave.
Right after separating from Su Yu, the group sank into a short silence before one of them said, "Does Su Yu represent the multiple character faction? If the multiple character faction is supportive of an alliance..."
Xia Qing sighed, "If we receive their support, the single character faction would object to it. And without the single character faction's support, this alliance would be a joke."
Life was too hard for the minor races.
Xia Qing said, "In fact, the support of Su Yu and the multiple character faction isn't a good thing for us. They would only turn some people into our enemies."
They would rather not have Su Yu's support. His support would only make things harder for him. As far as she was concerned, anything Su Yu and the multiple character faction supported would most likely be faced with countless obstructions.
"Principal Wan supports us as well..."
"Principal Wan..." Xia Qing glanced in the Heart Cultivating Pavilion's direction and lowered her voice, "If we really have his support, there won’t be so much hostility toward us in Great Xia. It is more likely that he is using us to ease the tension between the factions in the academy."
Wan Tiansheng might not be sincere in befriending them.
Xia Qing said, "Let's go back first before saying more."
This wasn't a safe place to have a conversation. They needed to be careful lest someone was eavesdropping on them. They rushed back to the Foreign Students Faculty in silence.
Xia Qing's villa.
The two old men had disappeared again. When the students arrived, they all removed their cloaks and revealed their true appearances. The student from the iron-winged bird had a pair of small wings on his back, the student from the minotaur race had a pair of horns, and so on.
As these students had yet to reach the Mountainsea Realm, they still weren't able to turn their bodies completely humanoid. Even their current partial humanoid transformation was being maintained by the use of medicines.
After taking off their cloaks, they felt much more comfortable. Niu Zhen, the student from the minotaur race, complained, "It's too uncomfortable out there. We are all here to ally ourselves with them. But these humans are showing no sincerity whatsoever. We have all been trapped in this small faculty for months. Even when we manage to leave the faculty, we would be under constant supervision..."
In fact, when they were outside earlier, they were still under supervision. They were very unhappy about this. They were here as allies, not hostages!
After complaining for a bit, he asked, "Princess Qing, has the single character faction contacted you?"
"Yeah."
"What did they say?"
Xia Qing frowned and replied, "They were very vague. Basically, they claimed that our friendship with Su Yu, regardless of whether it was an act, is making it difficult for them to give us some benefits."
Niu Zhen furiously said, "What nonsense is that? They were the ones who had hinted at us to befriend Su Yu. And they're now using this as an excuse to not give us anything? Are they toying with us?"
The other students also started complaining.
"What is the meaning of the single character faction? We did as they told, but they're playing this trick on us?"
Xia Qing sighed.
Among the group, a man with some fur on his face also sighed and grudgingly said, "All of you understand what they are really saying, right? They are using our relationship with Su Yu as an excuse. In that case...if Su Yu stops existing, that won't be an issue anymore, right?"
They sank into silence. As the representatives of their respective races in the Human Realm, none of them was a fool. The single character faction had not said anything clearly. They had merely been hinting about what they wanted.
Of course, if something did happen, the single character faction wouldn't take the blame. They had not suggested any such thing. They couldn't be blamed if these foreign students were the ones who had decided to interpret their words that way.
They had only said that Su Yu was their rival. These foreign students' relationship with Su Yu was making it hard for them to help these foreign students. And there was nothing wrong with that.
Niu Zhen, the minotaur, turned somewhat agitated and said, "Why don't we sever our relationship with Su Yu? It's not like we're really close to him. It's easy to end the relationship. Just get in an argument with him, or challenge him in a ring, or something else. There are plenty of ways to do that."
Xia Qing said, "In that case, the single character faction would simply say that we're putting on an act. Using a saying of the human race, this is not a strong enough display of sincerity if we want to work with them."
Niu Zhen clenched his teeth and said, "Princess Qing, we can't allow them to make use of us. This is really not an easy task. Who is Su Yu? He is the treasure of the multiple character faction and a genius of Great Xia. I'm suspecting that the single character faction would turn us into the scapegoat if we really do it."
"We're all from minor races. If anything happens here...we will receive no help. It's fine to make an enemy out of Su Yu. It's not like we would lose anything. But if we need to do that...I...really need to think about it."
This was too dangerous. It was obvious what the single character faction wanted. They wanted Su Yu dead. That was what the foreign students needed to do to prove their sincerity.
But the foreign students did not want to be the scapegoat. They might end up dead. Wasn't killing a human genius in the Human Realm the same as suicide?
They wouldn't even be given the chance to serve at the Vanguard Regiment. They would simply be executed. They would suffer a worse fate than the cultists as their corpses would probably be turned into food after the execution.
Xia Qing sighed, "You're right. We can't do it. This is suicide. Unless...they serve as the main force with our support. It is not possible for us to be the main force in this."
Sure, she coveted the supposed ruin Su Yu had. But she had never thought of killing Su Yu. If she could get the ruin, it could be blamed on fate and destiny.
Su Yu would probably choose to share instead of exposing the ruin to everyone. But killing Su Yu...would result in massive trouble for the cloud tiger race upon discovery. Their race might even end up exterminated.
"So what should we do now?"
They looked at Xia Qing and the person from the fox race. Were they going to give up, stay trapped in this faculty for a few years, and return empty-handed? They had paid such a large price to enter the Human Realm just to learn a few cultivation methods that they couldn't even use?
Xia Qing sank into silence. After a while, she said, "Unless they act as the main force, we can't do anything. If we act independently, it is very likely that they will abandon us. And its not like we even have the chance to pull something like that off for now anyway."
The young man from the fox race asked, "Xia Qing, what do you think about cooperating with Su Yu instead?"
Xia Qing frowned, "I know what you mean. Su Yu represents the multiple character faction. He is friendly toward us. Personally, I am more than willing to befriend him. But I have to think about my race. The divines, devils, and even the humans are unfriendly toward the multiple character faction. I am willing to take a gamble with my own future. But...are you willing to gamble with the future of your race?"
It wasn't that they couldn't see the benefit of investing in Su Yu. But the multiple character faction was not facing only the single character faction. They had external enemies as well. The divines and devils were very hostile toward the multiple character faction.
According to the two races, the fifth principal had killed too many of their experts. This was not something they could forgive. Even with the death of the fifth principal, the matter was not over.
In fact, the divines and devils had played a big role in the deaths of many multiple character faction members over the years. Thus, siding with Su Yu was basically the same as standing against the myriad races. They couldn't afford the consequences of that. They could befriend Su Yu privately, but they definitely couldn't do so for their respective races.
"Bai Ce..."
Xia Qing looked at the fox race youth and said, "Don't ruin everyone."
Bai Ce sighed and said, "I won't. Don't worry. I'm just worried that...the single character faction would damn us. Those people are not trustworthy at all. Xia Qing, you are the one who should be careful lest you damn all of us. The cloud tiger race might face extermination because of what you do here."
Xia Qing said nothing. The cloud tiger race...was in a difficult position. She needed to find them a backer.
The sky tiger race, a hegemon of the tiger race as a whole, was forcing them to join the war in the Allheaven Battlefield. Without a strong backer, the entire cloud tiger race might end up exterminated after a few wars.
Even Mountainseas could easily perish in the Allheaven Battlefield. Why would she have entered the Human Realm to live like a prisoner otherwise?