Chapter 356: Liu Wenyan's Return (1)
At the gate.
Looking at the old friends that he nearly couldn't recognize anymore, Liu Wenyan smiled. It was a bitter smile.
"I...have returned..."
"Good."
The middle-aged man who had helped Wu Yuehua stop Elder Sun earlier grinned. He was behaving just like how he was in the past.
"It's good that you're back. You should have returned long ago..."
Wu Yuehua stood loftily and looked at the old man before him. He had changed. He had changed a lot. He no longer resembled him from the past.
When she met him previously, she had not thought too much about it. But when she looked at him again and recalled the scene 50 years ago where she had bid him farewell at the same spot, her emotions turned complicated.
"So you still know your way back?"
Her words sounded like a complaint. At the same time, she also sounded like her heart was aching for him. A few people around her sniggered. Slowly, the sorrow in the air receded. It was good that he was back! He had returned alive. That was the only thing that mattered!
Liu Wenyan looked around. He saw Elder Sun and the others. He saw the people from the Talent Fostering Bureau. He also saw those from the Martial Dragon Guards. He even saw the distant Marquis Xia and Administrator Hu. The bitterness from his face faded. He smiled and nodded at everyone in greeting.
"Let's go to Ruoling's place. I wish to...visit him."
He then started walking in a certain direction. He did not waste any time catching up with these people. He walked through the crowd and entered the city before heading toward the Eighteenth Secondary School where Zhang Ruoling's grave was. There, someone who used to be a freak was buried. How many people were aware of that?
Wu Yuehua and the rest instinctively followed behind him. Not one person walked beside or in front of him. Just like how it was in the past. Even today, when so many of them were already at the Mountainsea Realm and that man was only a Skysoar, that had not changed.
Silently, the group walked.
Those around them remained silent as well.
After some time, someone finally spoke. The voice resounded in the air, "Liu Wenyan, back when you were expelled by the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, you promised to not step into the Great Xia City anymore. Why are you breaking your promise today?"
"You're too noisy."
Wu Yuehua's eyes turned frosty. A massive cauldron appeared in the sky. With a rumble, a distant hill collapsed. Out of the crumbling hill, a Mountainsea cultivator stepped on thin air and walked forward.
With one hand, the cultivator blocked the cauldron and said, "Wu Yuehua, don't attack for no reason. Your temper is still as bad as ever."
Wu Yuehua looked at the newcomer with an unsightly expression. In the crowd, a few other Mountainsea cultivators looked eager to fight as well.
Liu Wenyan smiled and looked at the newcomer. He waved his hand at Wu Yuehua and said, "So it's you? I thought you were dead long ago."
The old man in the air said, "I'm still alive. I can still live for a while longer. Liu Wenyan, are you breaking your own promise?"
Liu Wenyan smiled, "I don't intend to break my promise. Don't worry. I'm not stepping into the main city. I'm only visiting an old friend at the Eighteenth Secondary School. Of course, if you want to say that I am not even allowed to visit an old friend, then I'll have to break my promise. What...can you do about it?"
He was completely calm and indifferent. He was basically saying that he would go where he wanted. What could this person do?
The old man ignored Liu Wenyan. Instead, he looked at those from the Talent Fostering Bureau and Elder Sun's group before saying, "What does Great Xia have to say about this?"
A middle-aged man from the Talent Fostering Bureau stepped forth and said, "This is your personal grudge. Do not drag Great Xia into it. Do not try to drag anyone else into it either. Since Liu Wenyan is a citizen of Great Xia, he naturally has the freedom to travel within Great Xia. We won't stop him."
They wouldn't stop him. Because they had the confidence to handle any disturbances that might arise.
"Personal grudge?" The old man's tone changed as he said, "That year, Liu Wenyan and the others weren't expelled because of personal grudge. They were expelled because they nearly ruined the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. Back then, the Talent Fostering Bureau had a hand in expelling them as well, declaring that they are not allowed to return for life."
The middle-aged man frowned, "Are you sure? You must have remembered wrongly. We said that before paying back their debts, they can't return. Since someone had recently paid Liu Wenyan's debt for him, the Talent Fostering Bureau has no issue with his return."
"Settled his debt?" The old man furrowed his brow, "Who did it? How much was paid?"
He had barely finished his words when a massive seal descended from the sky. A massive rumble resounded as the old man was smashed into the ground. With a wave of her hand, Wu Yuehua recalled her cauldron. She glanced at the direction the seal had come from while cursing inwardly that the seal had nearly damaged her cauldron as well.
"You sure talk a lot." Someone appeared in the sky and chided, "Since this is a personal grudge, deal with it yourself. Shan Tianhao, who gave you the qualification to question the Talent Fostering Bureau? Get Zhou Polong to personally come if you want to question us. If you dare to question the Talent Fostering Bureau again, I'll kill you right where you stand."
The old man climbed out of the ground with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Instead of raging, he looked at the empty air and said, "Director Ji, I will accept this lesson from you. Since the Talent Fostering Bureau is saying that his debt has been settled, I will accept that. But that is not the only debt Liu Wenyan has. I want to see if he can repay his other debt as well."
The old man glanced at Liu Wenyan before stepping away.
Liu Wenyan smiled indifferently and cupped his hands at the thin air and said, "Thank you, Director Ji."
Nobody replied.
Liu Wenyan did not mind that. He looked at the departing old man and sighed, "Even Shan Tianhao is already a ninth-stage Mountainsea. I used to look down on this fellow. When I was at the Mental Tempering Stage, I was able to defeat him with only three moves even though he was already a Skysoar..."
He shook his head. Things still seemed the same, but the people had changed completely. Even a defeated foe from back then was already a ninth-stage Mountainsea.
He then looked at Wu Yuehua and the others before sighing, "Why...have none of you reach the ninth-stage Mountainsea Realm?"
Even Wu Yuehua was only a fresh eighth-stage Mountainsea. Wu Yuehua merely rolled her eyes. Were they slow? Their cultivation speed was actually quite fast!
Nearby, the middle-aged man from before grinned, "Big Brother Liu, we're still young!"
"Young..."
Liu Wenyan sighed. No. They were no longer young. Fifty years had passed.
He looked at the middle-aged man and asked, "He Ji, what is your strength now?"
The middle-aged man awkwardly replied, "Seventh-stage Mountainsea."
"Not bad."
Wu Yuehua finally ran out of patience. She said, "Are you done? You're only a Skysoar. Why are you criticizing our cultivation?"
A few people in the crowd laughed.
Liu Wenyan also laughed. He continued walking while saying, "I think I have forgotten something...whatever. It doesn't matter."
He knew what he had forgotten. He had forgotten about Old Wang. Whatever. This was good as well. Old Wang should take this chance and leave as quickly as he could. Old Wang would not be able to get involved in this matter. Old Wang should return to Nanyuan, become principal for a few years before retiring. That was a beautiful life that should not be ruined.
Behind them, Principal Wang gazed at the departing group and smiled before getting back on his shabby truck before going back where he came from. He did not look displeased or unhappy. He only felt somewhat regretful. He could only wish Liu Wenyan the best.
What a pity. After today, there would be nobody complaining about him being a stingy principal. There would also be nobody making him a scapegoat for a trouble someone else had courted anymore. He could only wish Liu Wenyan the best for his subsequent journey.
The shabby truck slowly departed. The young-looking Liu Chuan that had appeared earlier reappeared and slowly followed the truck, escorting the old principal back to Nanyuan. Meanwhile, the group of people slowly walked further away from the gate.
...
Not far away.
Marquis Xia also decided to leave. While leaving, he tossed the watermelon skin in his hand away. This had been a boring show. There wasn't even a fight. Only Shan Tianhao had arrived. That was only the vice principal of the Great Zhou Cultural Research Academy and the faculty head of their Character Faculty. Not even Zhou Mingren was present. How regretful. There was no great show today.
He walked while thinking. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to look at Administrator Hu. He asked in astonishment, "Why are you following me?"
"..."
Old Hu was really tired of Marquis Xia. Was this fellow not aware that they were returning through the same path? If they didn't walk together, how was he supposed to return? Could this fatty stop making trouble for him?
"Prefect..."
"I'm only an acting prefect. Just call me marquis."
"Marquis!" Old Hu said tiringly, "Has Old Ji broken through into the Sunmoon Realm?"
"How am I supposed to know that?"
"Shan Tianhao had actually failed to stop that seal. Old Ji is getting stronger and stronger."
"Yeah. He's quite strong." Marquis Xia gave a perfunctory reply as he walked, "What a pity. I was expecting a big show today. Did Wan Tiansheng put Zhou Mingren in house arrest or something? I thought that Zhou Mingren was going to dig out the grave. Why is nothing happening?"
He then laughed, "The moment he starts digging, a fight will break out. And I'll get to enjoy a big show."
"Marquis!" Old Hu said, "Even as the acting prefect, you're still a prefect. You shouldn't be enjoying the show here. You should advise Faculty Head Zhou to give up on his plan. Otherwise, things will get very messy."
Marquis Xia said, "Why should I? Would he even listen to me? He has the backing of Zhou Polong. He's not afraid of me. Let me tell you something. They claimed that they wanted to dig out the grave yet nothing has happened until now. Why is that? Because they are waiting for Liu Wenyan! As long as Liu Wenyan remains hiding, he won't be digging anything."
Old Hu frowned, "So this is just bait?"
"Not really. He is merely hitting two birds with one stone. His student is seriously injured and he needs to dig out the grave. At the same time, he can try to use the matter to lure Liu Wenyan out of hiding. And look, it is a success. Liu Wenyan is here."
Marquis Xia smiled, "Zhang Ruoling? Nah. His main goal is Liu Wenyan."
Old Hu nodded, "I have always thought that it isn't right to dig the grave of the dead. Looks like he's actually waiting for Liu Wenyan. But why? Is he really going to start a war with them? Marquis, we can't just do nothing."
"Who says we're doing nothing?" Marquis Xia said, "They have been fighting each other from the shadows for so many years. It's time for their fight to be brought to light. They are to be fined 1,000 merit points for every square meter they damage in the capital. Right, get Shan Tianhao to pay up for the previous fight. There's also Wu Yuehua and Old Ji. All of them need to pay up. They need to be fined for any damage in the city.
"Also, those from the other prefectures are free to visit. But they are going to be charged 100 merit points each day they stay. That is the price for a Skysoar. A Cloudbreach will be charged 500 merit points per day. A Mountainsea will be charged 1,000 merit points per day. As for the Sunmoons...they are rich so we're charging them 5,000 merit points per day."
Marquis Xia started thinking again. After a while, he said, "Remind them to not injure any unrelated individual. They will be fined 10,000 merit points for any citizen injured. If they caused the death of one citizen, we will execute someone three realms above."
The so-called execution of someone three realms above was one of the strictest punishments of Great Xia. Essentially, for each Skysoar dead, they would kill someone three realms above. Thus, the enemy would lose a Sunmoon for each Skysoar they killed. Great Xia would not let the matter rest until the debt was paid.
And Marquis Xia had decided to utilize that punishment without any worry whatsoever. For every unrelated Skysoar they killed, those from the killer's side would compensate with the life of a Sunmoon. As for whether Great Xia had the strength to enforce this punishment, one would be wise to not doubt them.
Old Hu's face changed as he asked, "Are we going to let them fight?"
"What else can we do?" Marquis Xia asked in astonishment, "Don't you understand that it's even worse letting them fight in the shadows? Everyone would be busy stabbing each other in the back. That's even more annoying. Isn't it great that we can make them solve their conflict with one fight? Those dying from this conflict can only blame themselves for being unlucky. As for those alive, we will punish them according to how many humans they kill during the conflict. We will capture all the victors and have them compensate one life with ten lives. For each human Skysoar they kill, they will have to kill ten Skysoar enemies in the Allheaven Battlefield. Isn't that the convention? This is our house. What are you afraid of?"
Marquis Xia smiled, "The Vanguard Regiment will be able to welcome a lot of new members soon. Those old fossils over there will probably be overjoyed with all these new suicide soldiers they are going to get soon. These soldiers that are sent there as punishment don't even need to be paid. All their spoils of war have to be submitted to the army as well. These are basically free labor!
"For the purpose of our punishment, Liu Wenyan will be considered a Mountainsea. The one to kill him will need to kill 10 Mountainsea enemies as compensation. This fellow is worth that much."
"..."
Old Hu was completely speechless. He walked in silence for a while before asking, "Are we really letting them fight?"
He was still quite worried. If those people were allowed to fight, the issue might escalate beyond control.
Marquis Xia impatiently said, "What can we do? Suppress their conflict? Or send them all to the Allheaven Battlefield? Since they don't get along well with each other, they will only bring their conflict to the battlefield. That will create more trouble. They might as well die here while fighting each other. We can punish the survivors and they will naturally give up from fear. There are too many of them. Are we going to spend all our time suppressing their conflict? We have been doing so for the past 50 years. How is that working?"
This wasn't the first time those people were at each other's throats. Their grudge had persisted for 50 years. Instead of settling down, the conflict had only grown more intense. In that case, they might as well let those people fight it out.