Chapter 197: The Path Of Offense (1)
A short while later, Chen Yong walked out.
He had a slightly wrinkled face.
Su Yu had an excellent first impression of this martial uncle. This was a refined person who also looked genial and kind. He was around 40 years old with a scholarly and easy-going look.
"Head Manager!"
The guards greeted Chen Yong.
Chen Yong smiled. He did not make any remarks about the guards' actions nor did he lash out at them. He softly said, "Let Su Yu up. I'll issue a permission slip later. I forgot that the multiple character faction has been canceled."
The guards said nothing else and stepped aside.
Chen Yong smiled and looked at Su Yu. He nodded and said, "Su Yu, not bad. Bai Feng mentioned you a lot. Come on up."
Su Yu hurriedly greeted, "Hello, Martial Uncle!"
"Don't be a stranger. Come on. We'll talk upstairs."
Behind him, Bai Feng said, "Senior Brother, when was our faction shut down? Why am I not aware of that?"
"You..." Chen Yong helplessly said, "When have you ever paid any attention to things like this? It happened not long ago. We have failed to attract more than 10 students for 10 consecutive years. If they want to shut us down, so be it."
"Senior Brother." Bai Feng was indignant, "How can they do this to us? Are they going to erase the very last proof of our existence? Have they forgotten that the first principal and the founder of the academy was also from the multiple character faction? The third and the fifth principals were all from the multiple character faction as well. Have they gone mad? They're shutting down the faction that has produced three principals. Why don't they shut down the entire academy while they're at it?"
Chen Yong calmly said, "Why are you getting all agitated? When we can finally recruit more than 10 students for 3 consecutive years, we can reinstate our faction. For now, this does not affect us as it's not like we're doing much with the official status anyway."
Bai Feng was still dissatisfied, but after thinking about it, he decided to shut up.
It was pointless to keep complaining right now.
While they were walking, an individual walked out from deeper inside the building. That person looked slightly older than Chen Yong. When he saw Chen Yong and the others, he nodded and smiled, "Head Manager Chen, Teaching Assistant Bai."
After greeting the two, the newcomer looked at Su Yu and smiled, "Head Manager, is this Assistant Bai's new student?"
"Yes."
Chen Yong smiled, "Are you going out, Manager Zhou?"
"Yes. I need to take care of something."
With a friendly smile on his face, Manager Zhou had a short chat with Chen Yong. After a short while, he mentioned something while pretending like it was a random topic he had just recalled, "By the way, the books depository has been losing a lot more resources than it has been able to obtain. Because of that, I opened the sealed First Fusion Hall you sealed previously. There are some people in there right now. We're running out of space so I have no choice but to make the First Fusion Hall available as well..."
Chen Yong gazed at Manager Zhou, the smile on his face vanishing.
With a perfectly calm tone, Chen Yong said, "For the past several hundred years, only those from the multiple character faction can enter the First Fusion Hall. Have you forgotten about this, Manager Zhou?"
Manager Zhou smiled, "No, but the multiple character faction no longer exists, right?"
With a calm and soft voice, Chen Yong said, "Get those people out of the room immediately and restore the room to how it was. Half an hour later, I'll be there with Su Yu. If there is still someone there or if even one item is missing, Zhou Pingsheng, I'll kill you right where you stand for the offense of theft of important ancient text."
Zhou Pingsheng's expression changed.
He wanted to say something, but Chen Yong was smiling again. Looking at Su Yu, Chen Yong said, "Come on. Let's have a chat with your martial uncle. This is our first meeting. Your teacher has never bothered taking you here to visit me..."
Chen Yong led the group away, completely ignoring Zhou Pingsheng.
Su Yu was greatly alarmed by what he had just witnessed, but he did not say anything and followed silently behind his martial uncle.
Beside him, Bai Feng sneered at Zhou Pingsheng.
With a mocking tone, he said, "They have the guts to occupy even the First Fusion Hall? Tsk, tsk. How incredibly foolish. My teacher is not dead yet. And my senior brother is still the head manager. For your sake, I really hope that everything in the room will return to how it was after half an hour. Hahaha!"
Bai Feng's voice was laced with derision. As he walked away, his laughter resounded in the corridor. After they left, Zhou Pingsheng's expression changed a few more times before he snorted and went back upstairs. He was going to deal with the matter concerning the First Fusion Hall. He had to restore it to how it was in half an hour.
...
While climbing the stairs, Chen Yong saw that Su Yu was being really silent. He smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, Su Yu. Your martial uncle was merely joking with that person earlier. That is the Deputy Head Manager Zhou Pingsheng of the books depository. He is a seventh-stage Cloudbreach cultivator. When you see him in the future, be sure to greet him politely. Scholars like us should always be well-mannered."
"I understand, Martial Uncle."
That was a joke? Was that true?
It didn't feel like one.
When his martial uncle stopped smiling and said those words, Su Yu felt a chill creeping up his spine. It was as though Zhou Pingsheng would really be killed in the books depository after half an hour had he dared to say no.
...
Before long, Su Yu and company reached the top floor.
Tenth floor.
There was only a large office on the tenth floor. That was the head manager's office. It also acted as Chen Yong's home. He stayed and had all his meals there. He would rarely leave the building.
Su Yu had just arrived when he heard a series of coughs.
While Su Yu was looking around curiously, Chen Yong's face fell for a split second before his smile returned, "That's your senior sister. She's feeling unwell right now so she's recuperating from it. You can get to know her in the future. For now, we'll let her rest."
Su Yu's curiosity was answered. However, Bai Feng's expression changed as he asked, "I thought she's recovering? Why does it sound like her injuries are worsening?"
It sounded like she was going to cough her lungs out. Bai Feng couldn't help but to worry about her.
"It's fine. That girl..." Chen Yong was feeling both helplessness and guilt as he said, "I didn't notice it but two days ago, she insisted on cultivating despite her injuries. She ended up harming herself more. Because of that, I brought her here to rest and recover. With me here, I won't allow her to act recklessly."
"That's too rash!" Bai Feng said, "Does that stinky lass not know that this is the time for recovery?"
"Jia...sigh. That's my fault too," Chen Yong sighed. "That girl found out that I would be subjected to a second audit at the end of year after she dropped off the top 100. That's why..."
Realization dawned on Bai Feng. To not implicate Chen Yong, Wu Jia was trying to get back into the top 100 again. That was why she had forcefully cultivated even before recovering from her injuries. In the end, her injuries got worse.
Bai Feng gloomily said, "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have challenged Hu Wensheng. I'll try to find some good stuff to help her recover faster. We can't allow her injuries to worsen."
Su Yu, who was listening silently, couldn't help but to feel gloomy. This was a terrible feeling. In fact, he had been feeling the repressive mood since entering the books depository. That feeling hadn't been too strong previously.
After all, there weren't really that many people targeting Bai Feng. Or to be precise, there really wasn't much people could do to Bai Feng. He was not holding any positions in the academy and he spent all his time living as a shut-in in his research center.
And he didn't even have any money people could try to take. Neither did he have any entries into any of the grottos. A Bai Feng that had only strength and nothing else to lose was basically an unrivaled existence in the academy.
Meanwhile, Chen Yong was in a precarious position. His position as the head manager of the books depository was coveted by many people. He was having difficulties maintaining his position. Even if he was still the head manager, it was obvious that he was slowly losing control of the books depository.
Su Yu took a deep breath and said, "Martial Uncle, I still have quite a lot of merit points with me. If Senior Sister needs money for medicine, I can buy some for her..."
"Kid..." Chen Yong smiled, "Things aren't that bad yet. Your teacher and I are not in such a terrible position that we have to start taking from our juniors. I'll thank you for the thought, but you're at a stage where you need a lot of merit points as well. Sigh. You have actually joined us at a bad time. There are a lot of things we wish to do but couldn't, especially in terms of support for our students."
Chen Yong spoke apologetically, "With your talent, you can definitely gain a lot more support in any other faction. What a pity. I'm really sorry about this."
"Martial Uncle!" Su Yu hurriedly said, "It's not that serious! I am honored to join the multiple character faction. There are benefits to being in a smaller faction. At the very least, I don't have to worry about internal conflicts. Just look at the single character faction. They are busy stabbing each other in the back."
Chen Yong smiled, "That's normal when there are too many people. They won't have enough resources to satisfy everyone so they naturally have to start competing among themselves."
Bai Feng coughed and said, "Senior Brother, why are you saying all that? We have not done this brat any wrong. He has only joined the academy for a short while yet we have already spent thousands of merit points on him. He should be happy."
Su Yu nodded in agreement with an honest smile on his face. Yes, he naturally had to agree to protect his teacher from losing face. But then again, he had indeed gained quite a lot from their faction.
Cultivation methods and martial techniques, mountainbreak bull blood essence, unlimited access to the fragment and filter rooms, and also the mythic destruction beast skull. If a value was attached to all those things, it wouldn't be low. He definitely wouldn't be able to get that much if he had joined any other faction. There were too many geniuses and people in the other factions. There weren't enough resources for everybody.
Chen Yong smiled and moved on from the topic. He invited the two to sit down on the couch.