Under Ye Lingling's treatment, Tai Tan's injuries had been brought under control. However, he still lay on the ground like a corpse, his eyes vacant, utterly lifeless.
"This is too brutal!"
Xiao Wu tightly covered her cherry lips, her pink eyes wide with a hint of instinctive fear deep within her pupils.
Tang San, standing to the side, remained unfazed.
In his view, his master was absolutely right; reasoning with these brutes was futile. Only fists could bridge the gap.
Lin Mu looked at Tai Tan on the ground and said coldly, "Don't play dead, or... I won't hesitate to give you a few more punches."
Hearing this, Tai Tan's pupils widened. He quickly scrambled to his feet, trembling as he said, "Lord Lin, according to the agreement, the minute has passed. You can't go back on your word."
After this beating, in his mind, Lin Mu's intimidating power surpassed even that of his master, Tang Hao.
Without the continuous treatment from the Nine Heart Begonia Soul Master, he would have been pulverized long ago.
Seeing that the old gorilla had completely submitted, Lin Mu deactivated his armor and calmly said, "In that case, we should talk about serious matters."
"Serious matters?"
Tai Tan's eyes were full of doubt. Why would someone as monstrous as Lin Mu need his help?
With his Soul Saint cultivation, he had defeated two Titled Douluos, one of whom was an Elder of Spirit Hall. Even his former master was far inferior to Lin Mu.
Tai Tan even wanted his son and grandson to acknowledge Lin Mu as their master. If they could latch onto such a powerful figure, their Strength Clan would prosper.
At this moment, Tang San walked to Lin Mu's side, saying with longing, "Master, my background..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Mu waved his hand to interrupt him.
He turned to Qian Renxue and said without room for argument, "There's still more than half a month until the next stage of training. During this time, you don't need to stay by my side. You can leave."
Hearing this, Qian Renxue was stunned, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.
She had finally made up her mind to change back into women's clothing to win over Lin Mu, but she never expected this guy to want to send her away!
'Does this guy not like women?'
After a moment, she suppressed her displeasure and said firmly, "Since I've become your teaching assistant, I can't leave halfway."
If she just left, wouldn't it make her seem unserious? She would never give up until she had won him over.
Lin Mu frowned slightly. This woman didn't play by the rules. She wouldn't even accept a day off. But then he thought: 'She came here to win me over, so why would she leave so easily?'
The problem was, Tang San's father was Tang Hao, who was also the supposed killer of Qian Renxue's father, at least on the surface.
Could Lin Mu tell her that her own mother killed her father? Leaving aside the credibility, even if she believed it, Qian Renxue would collapse on the spot.
From this perspective, Qian Renxue was quite pitiful. She lost her father at a young age, her mother didn't care about her at all, and her only grandfather later died as a sacrifice.
It had to be said that the Secret Chamber Douluo (Qian Xunji) was not only a beast but also a complete failure.
Someone like Bibi Dong, a naive and innocent girl, couldn't be properly groomed and was instead stolen away by Yu Xiaogang. In the end, Qian Xunji could only resort to forcing her into submission; he was practically worse than trash. Of course, it was also possible that Bibi Dong was simply ungrateful.
After some thought, Lin Mu quickly came up with a strategy and said, "Since you insist, I'll give you a task."
"I told you about the teaching assistant's chores before. My room hasn't been cleaned in a long time, so go and clean it for me now."
Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned.
Why did he suddenly think of cleaning his room? And as a senior teacher, there should definitely be dedicated staff assigned to clean the senior teachers' dormitory.
So why specifically ask this teaching assistant to clean it? Could it be that Lin Mu did this on purpose, just to humble her?
Faced with this almost insulting arrangement, Qian Renxue was furious. Her eyes seemed to burn with fire, and her ample bosom heaved.
'This guy is a complete bastard; he actually dares to treat me like a maid!'
As the Young Master of Spirit Hall, the future Angel God, and the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, she would never do something so humiliating!
However, before she could erupt in anger, Lin Mu added, "By the way, while it's still early... after you finish cleaning the room, warm the bed for me."
"What?!"
Qian Renxue looked at Lin Mu in disbelief. Had she misheard? This guy actually wanted her to warm his bed?
He had acted completely indifferent to her just now; was it all an act?
That made sense. After all, no man could resist her charm, and this guy was no exception.
With her unparalleled beauty, this guy would eventually become her devoted follower, completely at her mercy.
But cleaning the room and warming the bed were not what she wanted at all. She needed to control Lin Mu, not be controlled by him.
If she really did these things, wouldn't she truly become this guy's maid?
Absolutely not!
Just as she was struggling with her decision, Ye Lingling had already walked to Lin Mu's side. She hugged his arm and said sweetly, "Brother Lin Mu, if Teacher Xue doesn't want to... I can do it too."
Seeing Ye Lingling's shy expression, Lin Mu felt somewhat helpless.
The reason he arranged all this was simply to get rid of Qian Renxue; at least for now, it was better not to let Spirit Hall know Tang San's identity.
Lin Mu patted Ye Lingling's head, looked at Qian Renxue, and said calmly, "If you don't want to, then I won't force you. You can leave on your own."
Hearing this, Qian Renxue frowned slightly. Although she was unwilling in her heart, the more Lin Mu pushed her away, the less she wanted to admit defeat.
As long as she could eventually control this guy, it was worth swallowing her anger for the time being.
Immediately, Qian Renxue looked up at Lin Mu, a hint of arrogance in her eyes. "Who said I'm unwilling? I just needed to think about it."
"So, what have you decided?"
"I can clean your room, but I can't warm your bed unless—"
"Stop there. As long as you're willing to clean the room, that's fine."
Lin Mu didn't think much of it; he just wanted to get rid of Qian Renxue first and deal with other things later.
Seeing his attitude, Qian Renxue was furious. 'Does this guy really think I'm a maid? I was even planning to seduce him!'
"Here, take this dormitory key."
Lin Mu took the key from his storage bracelet and tossed it to Qian Renxue.
After catching the key, Qian Renxue glared at him fiercely, then left without looking back, not even bothering to ask where the dormitory was.
As Xue Qinghe, she used to frequently visit Lin Mu's dormitory, so she knew the location very well.
However, she was blinded by anger and forgot that she wasn't Xue Qinghe right now.
Even so, Lin Mu didn't offer any clarification. Playing along with Qian Renxue was quite troublesome.
But Ye Lingling, standing to the side, was unhappy. She pouted and said, "Brother Lin Mu, do you like this Teacher Xue?"
"How did you figure that out?"
Lin Mu raised an eyebrow. To be honest, he didn't have much affection for Qian Renxue; at most, he felt a little physical attraction.
After all, Qian Renxue had only shed her disguise and revealed her true colors yesterday.
"Then why did you make her a teaching assistant?"
"It was an arrangement by the Three Education Board Members. It wouldn't do me any harm, so I naturally agreed."
Lin Mu ruffled Ye Lingling's hair, calming her down slightly.