It’s barely been a few days since we left… Vice-Captain is going to let every single one of you have it once she’s back.
Su Xiao nearly passed out again, although for a different reason this time. “How is the situation now?”
Ouyang Xiong didn’t know what the catalysts behind the big fight were, so he could only relay the events. Hence, he wrinkled his nose and squinted. “Why are you asking me when you’re the one who’s a part of Liu Shan Men?”
Evidently, Su Xiao was too worried to think straight.
Ouyang Xiong suddenly smiled. “Looks like you have enough of a headache, so I’ll be nice. I have a piece of advice I suggest you heed. M-, Brother Su, come over here.”
Ouyang Xiong didn’t approach Su Xiao with good intentions to begin with, and Ye Luo could see through the fake smile and sudden friendly tone. However, before she could intervene, Ouyang Xiong had already extended a hand toward Su Xiao’s small neck violently.
“Mm?” Su Xiao casually reached out, catching Ouyang Xiong’s elbow despite it purely being an instinctive reaction without any martial intent.
Struggle as he may, Ouyang Xiong couldn’t muster any strength to break free. To say Su Xiao used a joint lock would be wrong since he wasn’t even holding Ouyang Xiong’s elbow in a way conducive to joint locking. Any expert the art of joint locking would know that the second step after controlling a joint was to snap it. Ouyang Xiong didn’t feel anything break, but he was as weak as if he was heavily intoxicated.
“Eh? Y-you tried to attack me?”
Ouyang Xiong lowered his head in shame, prompting Ye Luo to snap, “Feeling ashamed again, scumbag?!” She then launched a push kick straight into his chest, knocking the wind out of him.
“I need to return to Liu Shan Men. Regardless of how bad Captain Song is, he is still one of us. Plus, I need to see if anyone else is hurt,” voiced Su Xiao.
Ye Luo nodded. “I’ll go with you. Bai Yeshuang is my friend, so I’d like to check on her.”
Suffice to say, Su Xiao was happy to hear Ye Luo would be joining him, so he bid his classmates farewell and left. On their way out, Su Xiao subconsciously reached for his weapon, only to remember he had misplaced it.
“Ah, my Ancient Cold…”
“I’ll find it for you. Maybe you misplaced it on the side of the road. You know who I work for. As long as it’s still in the capital, I guarantee it can be found.” Ye Luo’s assurance didn’t help, evident from Su Xiao’s frown. “Is something the matter?”
“Sister Ye… I recall you saying you found me by your home entrance.”
“That’s right. I, too, am puzzled how you managed to recognise my house when you were hurt so severely,” bashfully responded Ye Luo. While she was certainly worried about Su Xiao’s condition, she was also glad that he was her first choice for aid when he was in trouble.
“But I remember training on Qixia Mountain before I passed out.”
Ye Luo suddenly found herself unsure how to respond. The mountain in the northeast part of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province wasn’t close to Ye Mansion by any standard. While it was reaching to say that Su Xiao could stumble from Daren Academy to Ye Mansion in his injured state, it was still within the realms of reality. To travel from Mount Qixia to her home in that condition, though, was easily suspending reality.
“I’ve been puzzled ever since I woke up in the clinic. Now that I think about it, if somebody didn’t bring me back to the capital and to your door, it’s impossible for me to have made it back.”
The only reason Ye Luo’s assessment was wrong was due to the fact that she didn’t know the whole story.
“If somebody just happened to come across you, they wouldn’t have brought you specifically to my place. If they were someone you knew, they should’ve taken you to Liu Shan Men. Whoever it was knows you and even about our friendship. Your weapon is most likely in their possession now.”
“My Ancient Cold… Who would they be?”
“Hehe, don’t you worry about that. As I said, as long as it’s still in the capital, I guarantee it can be found. Head back to Liu Shan Men for now, and leave the search to me.”
“Thank you so much!”
***
Emperor Yuansheng was furious once he heard what happened at Liu Shan Men a few days ago. Ming Feizhen and Huang Yuzao were missing. The Seven Champion White Princes were being thorns in his side. Fiends’ Genesis were causing panic among the people, and now the three offices overseeing the martial world, three descendants of reputable families and a Prince fought each other at a government office, and they even vandalised Liu Shan Men.
When summoned, Yi Ya recounted how he captured the group sent to break Xiang Baxian out of prison, then didn’t say another word. Long Zaitian and Lei Bao kowtowed, opining His Majesty worry about the people and not their reward because capturing criminals was their duty; they made it sound as though the only thing they did was good.
On the other hand, Liu Shan Men couldn’t offer any explanation as both of their leaders couldn’t make it to the summoning. Song Ou was bedridden due to the three beatings he suffered, while Shen Yiren wasn’t in the capital.
Didn’t His Majesty have good reasons to be mad?
If Shen Yiren was still around, there was no way she’d have let anyone wreck her family’s generations of work.
Although His Majesty mercilessly blasted the three Qilin Guards in public, he issued an edict to have Shen Yiren summoned back for her penance, as well.
Yi Ya did capture the Northern Wondrous Warrior Estate’s group and did quell the turmoil in the capital, so his merits cancelled out his faults. Long Zaitian and Lei Bao were demoted three ranks. Lei Bao was assigned to guarding the city doors, while Long Zaitian was sent to an army camp to work as an instructor for new blood. Red Prince had his income for the next twelve months taken from him and was grounded until His Majesty allowed him out. Red Prince never cared for wealth, but being grounded meant that his wonton date with Chu Yinghua was delayed until His-Majesty-knew when.
One of the three culprits who vandalised Liu Shan Men’s roofs returned to Daren Academy, specifically Flower Plucking Palace.
With his hands in salute, Song Chi expressed, “Please forgive this one for underestimating you.”
