The intense heat of Lu De’s gaze immediately sent Wei Suo and the others scurrying into the background. Not one of them felt safe remaining by Zu An’s side.

Those disloyal bastards. He calmly returned Lu De’s gaze. “Yang Wei picked on me first. He was the one who proposed this bet in the first place. Why am I the offender for accepting his wager?” 

“Have you forgotten our academy rules? The most important value we embrace is to respect the teachers. No matter how capable you are, if you don’t even have basic respect for your elders, you’ll only become a menace to the world once you’re out of the academy!” Lu De berated him sternly.

“I’m afraid that I don’t concur. A student should respect his teacher only if the teacher is a good role model. However, Yang Wei intentionally picked on his students because of personal reasons. Is such a person worthy of being respected as a teacher?” replied Zu An with a frown.

Lu De was further incensed by Zu An’s temerity to talk back to him. “No matter what, he’s still your teacher! Even if there’s an issue with him, you should leave it to the academy...