Chapter 393: Chapter 97: The Moon No Longer Shines Upon the Usual Person (Large Chapter)_4
Thus, Hao Yi took Shangguan Xiao’s hand and turned towards the hill ahead, walking up the slope.
Li Fei kept his gaze fixed on the receding figure of Hao Yi.
He knew this was probably the last time he would see his teacher in this lifetime.
As Hao Yi was about to ascend the hill and disappear from view, Li Fei felt a warmth well up in his eyes, knelt down towards the direction Hao Yi had gone, and shouted:
“Disciple Li Fei, bidding farewell to Master!!!”
Li Fei bowed his head heavily to the ground, performing his first and last rite of respect between master and disciple.
Hao Yi’s body trembled slightly, and he slowly turned around.
Looking at the young man kneeling far away, paying respects to him, he showed a contented smile.
Although he and Li Fei had always addressed each other as master and student, the things he had done for Li Fei had long surpassed the role of a teacher.
Heaven and earth, sovereign and kin, teacher.
Master, like a father!
When Hao Yi had handed over all of Sky Gang Sect’s heritage to Li Fei, he had already acknowledged Li Fei as his disciple and the heir to his lineage, in his heart.
It was just that he didn’t explicitly mention it, as he didn’t want Li Fei to carry the burden of the past.
He wished for Li Fei to walk his own path unbound by any constraints.
But hearing Li Fei call him ‘master’, Hao Yi’s heart was filled with great satisfaction and joy.
He wanted to say something, but in the end, he simply nodded at Li Fei, then, taking Shangguan Xiao’s hand, they both turned and left.
Until they disappeared, Li Fei remained kneeling on the ground, not getting up for a long time.
“Do you remember the first time I saw you? You were like a tiny radish, so thin and small.”
In the mountains, Hao Yi walked slowly, holding Shangguan Xiao’s hand.
Usually, when he was with Shangguan Xiao, she was the one to initiate conversation.
Today, it was the other way around.
“At that time, master told me, from now on, you are my younger martial sister. Right then, I thought in my heart, I must protect you well.”
Hao Yi said with a smile.
Shangguan Xiao turned to look at him, tears streaming down her face: “Then why have you never told me?”
“I was too shy when I was young.”
“And you never said it when you grew up, either.”
“As I grew up, you became more and more beautiful, and I became even more afraid to speak.”
“Hmph, you have never complimented me on my looks!”
“I don’t want to hear apologies, I want to hear you praise me.”
The gentle mountain breeze brushed across the land, rustling the leaves on the trees.
The afternoon sunlight poured down, warm and itchingly pleasant.
Hao Yi held Shangguan Xiao’s hand, strolling through the wilds, breathing in the delicate fragrance of wildflowers.
Words of affection never said in a lifetime.
This moment, spoken only for her to hear.
Inside Datong Prefecture City, after Hao Yi’s departure and the arrival of two hundred soldiers from the Imperial Camp Army at Glory Square, Bian Jingru held the strongest power in the area.
He didn’t order the Imperial Camp Army to pursue Hao Yi and the others but instead commanded them to first retrieve the bodies at the scene.
Aside from Shangguan Xiao who had been rescued, the rest of those supposed to be executed today had all perished, dying in the conflagration Hao Yi had created.
Besides, a Tao Foundation Stage expert and over a dozen guards had died as well.
These deaths did not mean much; the real problem was the death of Yan Shijin.
Zhang Zongyang had died less than three months ago, and now another Sitting Official had died in Datong Prefecture!
And this time, it was the head of the investigative team who had arrived from the provincial city, a Deputy Director of Supervision from the Inspection Department.
If blown out of proportion, the incident could even alarm the central Cabinet!
However, Bian Jingru appeared very composed and just instructed his men to properly collect Yan Shijin’s body.
At this point, an official from the investigative team could no longer hold back his outburst.
“You in Datong Prefecture let criminals be publicly abducted from the execution grounds and even caused the death of Sir Yan, don’t you think you owe us an explanation?”
Bian Jingru’s face darkened, and he turned to look at the official with a steely gaze, articulating his words:
“Shouldn’t it be you who owes an explanation?”
The other party was taken aback, “What do you mean by that, Sir Bian?”
“How is Xu Jing’s affair none of my business? Do you think I can’t see what’s going on?!”
Although he was not a Martial Artist himself, he had a certain understanding of Martial Arts.
Today, Xu Jing repeatedly performed Gu Xianfeng’s Cloud Soaring Divine Power, which to someone like Bian Jingru, even without knowledge of Black Water Divine Power, seemed obviously suspicious.
He could almost be certain that everything was a setup by Xu Jing in collusion with those from the provincial city, even possibly orchestrating the death of Zhang Zongyang!
Bian Jingru rudely interrupted the other, “After today, as Garrison Commander, I will certainly report to the court, submitting a memorial, demanding your group give an account to Datong Prefecture!”
In the bureaucratic world, bypassing the immediate superior to report higher up was considered taboo.
Normally, Bian Jingru should have reported to the provincial city rather than going directly over the provincial city to the Cabinet Central Government.
However, Datong Prefecture held a special status with a Wuda, thus, as a Garrison Commander, Bian Jingru possessed the ability to report directly to “Heaven’s Ear.”
Now that he was openly speaking of “reporting to the court” in front of all the provincial city’s investigative officials, it meant he was ready to tear all pretenses.
Upon hearing his words, the officials’ arrogance vanished, and they dared not utter another word.
Their greatest reliance was their official identity, but now that Bian Jingru had explicitly disregarded the provincial city, their identities were worthless to him.
This was Datong Prefecture, his territory.
Should they infuriate Bian Jingru and he ordered the Imperial Camp Army to kill all the investigating officials, reporting afterwards that they perished in today’s battle, what would become of them?