"I saw two elderly people fighting as soon as I arrived."
Cha Huan tilted his head to look at the newcomer, loosening his grip. Crane Tears immediately escaped Cha Huan’s control, took a subtle step, and ran ten meters away. His mouth was full of blood, his face cut in several places by stones, his hair matted with dirt, making him look like an impoverished old man!
However, despite his anger and shame, there was unmistakable fear in Crane Tears’ eyes!
A Martial General in white clothes and silver armor lightly jumped down from the wall. The moonlight cast a flawless silver glow upon him, as if he were a celestial messenger. His chest armor, arm protectors, long boots, belt, and skirt armor were forged from individual feather-shaped silver alloys, extremely ornate yet retaining elegance. Coupled with a helmet that revealed only the eyes, mouth, and nose, he exuded an impression of strength, mystery, and dominance.
"Though you see them as two elders, to me, he’s still the freshman with bad habits who doesn’t know the heights of heaven and earth. As a senior, educating juniors is a fine tradition at our Imperial Academy."
"Is that so?" The General chuckled, "When I attended the academy, I never heard of such a tradition; the seniors were very kind to me."
"Perhaps the seniors from your batch couldn’t handle you," Cha Huan thought for a moment and nodded, "Indeed, three batches ahead, three behind, you were the strongest student."
"It’s all thanks to your teaching, Master."
"Aside from beating you up a few times, I don’t recall teaching you anything."
Cha Huan calmly said, "My good junior earlier tested if the senior still has the strength to beat people. Now is it your turn, my good student, to test the teacher’s capacity?"
"Why would I," the General shook his head, "Yu Ke would never raise a hand against a mentor."
The ’Celestial Being’ Wu Zhu, the Commander of the Twelve Imperial Guards, Yu Ke!
Apart from the three camps scattered around the capital, Yu Ke holds the most military power within Yanjing, guarding all directions of the Imperial Court, ensuring the safety of the Imperial Family!
"Watch your words," Cha Huan said coldly, "That was close to the nonsense I despise. You should remember that I taught in class that my three greatest hates are people lying with open eyes in front of me, right?"
"Of course I remember." The General Yu Ke nodded, "I also remember many students wanting to know your first and second hates, but you never told us... Since we’ve gathered tonight, can you answer our questions from back then, Master?"
"My answer is the same: it’s best you don’t know my first and second hates." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novelFirｅ.net
Yu Ke looked at Crane Tears, "Silver Bell Earl has rarely been this quiet."
"That’s normal, he can’t hold back talking nonsense. During school, he spouted too much nonsense and was disciplined quite often before he learned to shut up in front of me," Cha Huan laughed, "I didn’t expect that after decades, he still has such a nature—unable to speak human words from his mouth. Ah, I wasn’t harsh enough back then."
Faced with Cha Huan’s insults, Crane Tears said not a word, pretending to treat himself using Scenic Combat Technique to avoid embarrassment. He can’t even beat the severely injured Cha Huan, what else could he do? As for talking tough to regain face, never do that to Cha Huan—back in the days, someone did that, and their whole family was slaughtered by Cha Huan; the heads of the father and sons hung at the door like lanterns.
Unless you can kill him, you can’t possibly restrain someone as revenge-driven as Cha Huan, willing to risk everything. Back then, Crane Tears celebrated for almost a month when he heard Cha Huan was hunted and fled Yanjing. As pleased as he was, years later, seeing Cha Huan return to the academy as a teacher left him frustrated.
Others might not know, but only contemporaries like Crane Tears understand how ruthless Cha Huan is. Upon graduation, Cha Huan was recommended to serve as a blue-level agent in the departments; with only a few years, he could have become a Governor in the Outer District, and then perhaps return to Yanjing as a purple-level agent. If everything went smoothly, he might have become a purple-clad minister, or even an academic scholar at the Cabinet before forty!
Almost everyone foresaw Cha Huan potentially becoming a Cabinet scholar, or even the Chief Minister, yet he destroyed his own future with his own hands just to vent his anger!
To say Cha Huan’s self-indulgent behavior deeply shocked Crane Tears, whose life’s ambition was to usurp a title from his brother.
Knowing full well Cha Huan was insane, Crane Tears harbored no thoughts of revenge. Given Cha Huan remained insane, Crane Tears dared not speak rashly.
"Do you have water?" Cha Huan suddenly asked.
Yu Ke patted his silver armor and shook his head.
Suddenly, a bottle was tossed to Cha Huan, who caught it with surprise.
"Liquor," Crane Tears tersely said, then paused before adding, "drink if you don’t fear poison."
Cha Huan chuckled and opened the cap, drinking it all, smacking his lips, "It’s decent, ordinary."
Crane Tears held his temper, saying nothing—the liquor was a century-old brew, and Cha Huan drank several gold coins worth in one go, originally to celebrate something he didn’t bother to mention.
The three waited for a while, and soon, another two arrived.
One was a long-haired man in purple-blue uniform, and the other a red-black agent with six short guns hanging from his thighs.
"Good evening, Director Xie, Director Mo," Yu Ke politely greeted, Crane Tears remained silent.
The newcomers were indeed Xie Chenyuan, Director of Yanjing’s Statistical Department, and Mo Yu, Director of the Patrol and Punishment Department. Mo Yu appeared rather young, but his face was full of sorrow. He looked at the ruins and chaos, sighed, and said to Cha Huan, "Principal Cha, if I say I truly knew nothing about this, would you believe me?"
"I believe you." Cha Huan said, "Among the martial pillars still in Yanjing, you’re the least established, using some tricks renders you helpless."
The implication was the other three were well-established, Cha Huan was almost outright saying so. Yet neither Xie Chenyuan, Yu Ke, nor Crane Tears spoke up.
Facing such a worldly, straightforward, yet still formidable elderly, they had no choice but to follow his lead.
Mo Yu looked at Xie Chenyuan with sorrow, Xie Chenyuan smiled slightly, "Since Principal Cha already has thoughts, please feel free to state your requests; we’ll do our best to fulfill them."
"Among these few, only Yu Ke’s aesthetics barely meet my standards, but understanding, it’s you, young Xie, who understands best."
The other three couldn’t help but glance at Yu Ke’s celestial feather armor; Yu Ke’s expression under the silver helmet stiffened: he felt his taste had suffered the greatest blow of his life.
Cha Huan took out a piece of paper, seemingly prepared in advance. He handed it to Mo Yu, who was reluctant to take it but, after looking at the others, felt obliged to accept it.
"Is this... a list?" Mo Yu glanced at it and his expression changed dramatically, "The ones crossed off on this list..."
Cha Huan: "I’ve killed three of them; it happened just a couple of days ago. You would’ve heard about it."
Mo Yu smiled wryly, "Of course, how could I not know? The mess was passed on to us by the Statistical Department..."
He paused, looking almost pitifully at Cha Huan, his voice full of plea, "So, Principal Cha, your intention is..."
Cha Huan pretended not to see, checked his pocket watch, "Estimate five hours until sunrise, you need to hurry."
"Otherwise, these people on the list will see the sun rise tomorrow."