Chapter 224 - 223: Respect is Earned, Not Given
"Lin Yi, who were you just talking to?"
Chu Zhengxiong and Mo Yanfeng had just left.
Wei Nan, along with Zhou Qi and Sun Tao, emerged from the mission hall.
Apparently, they had overheard some of Lin Yi’s conversation with Chu Zhengxiong.
It was mainly because Chu Zhengxiong’s voice was so loud...
Lin Yi smiled. "I just ran into Brother Chu. He came to the school to take care of some business!"
"Captain Chu? Where is he?"
Wei Nan hurriedly glanced around.
But there was already no sign of him.
Lin Yi chuckled. "He left a while ago. He brought me some local specialties!"
"What kind of local specialties?"
"This stuff, in the box!"
"Quick, let me see what it is... Holy shit, are these compound potions?"
"Yep, Second-Grade Compound Potions!"
"How much is this worth? Captain Chu is really generous, huh?"
"A single bottle of Second-Grade Compound Potion costs about a hundred thousand," Zhou Qi quickly chimed in with the price.
Wei Nan: "..."
After a long moment, his face was filled with envy.
"Damn, people from the New District are really different. They give ’local specialties’ that are worth hundreds of thousands?"
Everyone was envious of the relationship between Lin Yi and Chu Zhengxiong.
They were as close as blood brothers.
Besides, Chu Zhengxiong took great care of Lin Yi.
A casual gift from him was Second-Grade Compound Potions worth hundreds of thousands.
This was especially true since Lin Yi was in the New District, a place where he was a stranger in a strange land.
With Chu Zhengxiong, the captain of a Demon Hunting Squad, looking out for him, who would dare to cause trouble for him at school in the future?
Even Wei Nan and Zhou Qi were a little jealous.
"Where are we headed next?" Lin Yi glanced at them.
They had just turned in their mission and had nothing to do for the time being.
Wei Nan said, "I’m planning to head to the hotel and give that hundred thousand to my mom!"
Zhou Qi and Sun Tao also nodded in agreement.
They had the same idea.
A hundred thousand might not be much for students native to the New District.
But for martial arts candidates like them from the Old District, it was truly a huge sum of money.
Besides, they all knew what life was like back in the Old District.
Now that they had finally made it and could earn their own money,
they naturally wanted their parents and family to live comfortable lives.
Even if they couldn’t make them fabulously wealthy, they at least wanted their parents to live without worry, no longer having to struggle just to make a living.
Fortunately, the school provided free accommodation.
Although it was a hotel, the conditions were much better than any cheap rental apartment.
"When I get rich, the first thing I’ll do is buy a house in the New District.
I’ll have my parents move in, and we’ll finally put down roots in the New District!" Wei Nan said with a light laugh.
Sun Tao glanced at him with a smile. "You want to buy a house in the New District? That’s not cheap!"
"I looked it up online yesterday. A decent house in Songshan City costs nearly ten million, and that’s for one in a bad location that isn’t even very big!"
"As for high-end communities in the city center, a house starts at tens of millions. How are you supposed to afford that?"
Wei Nan shot him a look. "Look at you, so pessimistic. What do you mean, how? With money, of course!"
"I wasn’t sure before, but ever since Wei Shang told us how to make money, I’ve been confident!"
"By killing demon beasts! We’ll sell their corpses. Sooner or later, we’ll earn enough for a house!"
Hearing Wei Nan’s words,
Zhou Qi and Sun Tao looked at him in surprise.
"So you’re not planning to use the money to buy compound potions? You’re not going to improve your cultivation?"
"Of course I’ll buy them! At worst, I’ll just have to kill a few more beasts. Besides, I have a powerful backer!"
After saying that, Wei Nan walked right over and linked arms with Lin Yi.
Seeing this, Lin Yi said with a disgusted look, "Get away from me, that’s gross! Don’t give people the wrong idea!"
"Hahaha... Let them get the wrong idea! We grew up sharing the same pair of pants, anyway!"
Lin Yi: "..."
「The Principal’s Office.」
Tang Baichuan finished reading the list Chu Zhengxiong had given him.
After a long pause, he finally nodded.
"Alright. I’ll have Director Qiao notify them later."
"Then thank you very much, Principal Tang!" Chu Zhengxiong said with a quick, smiling nod.
Tang Baichuan looked at Chu Zhengxiong with a smile.
"Captain Chu, I didn’t expect you to learn to say ’thank you’ after a trip to the Old District. That’s quite an improvement!"
Hearing this, Chu Zhengxiong was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said with a laugh, "Huh? I didn’t say thank you before? Impossible. I’ve always been this polite!"
Mo Yanfeng, who was standing to the side, was at a loss for words.
"Stop flattering yourself. Don’t you know what you used to be like?"
"But Principal Tang is right. This trip to the Old District really did change Old Chu quite a bit!"
"It might have something to do with a student named Lin Yi!"
"Lin Yi?"
When Tang Baichuan heard this name,
he quickly said with a smile, "Right, Lin Yi is this year’s Martial Arts Examination Champion Scholar from the Old District, isn’t he?"
"Yes, the Champion Scholar. He’s at our school right now!" Chu Zhengxiong nodded with a smile.
Tang Baichuan nodded, not letting his expression betray his thoughts.
"Mm... How is he now? Has he gotten used to our school?"
Chu Zhengxiong nodded. "I saw him outside the mission hall just before coming here!"
"He’s doing alright, I guess. But the hostility between the locals and the people from the Old District hasn’t changed at all!"
"Just now, there was a guy named Chen Hao. When I walked over, I heard him threatening Lin Yi!"
"If I hadn’t gotten there in time, Lin Yi would have been in trouble!"
"Principal Tang, the issue of hostility between the locals and the Old District has always been a major concern for both the Bureau and the Alliance.
If it isn’t resolved soon,"
"I’m really afraid a conflict is going to break out between them!"
Chu Zhengxiong said with a grave expression.
However, Tang Baichuan didn’t seem to hear a single word he said.
His mind was stuck on the phrase: ’a student named Chen Hao threatening Lin Yi’.
His expression gradually darkened.
"Chen Hao? The kid from the Chen Family of Shuozhou?"
The smile vanished from Tang Baichuan’s face.
His icy gaze startled Chu Zhengxiong.
He quickly nodded and said, "Yes, that’s him! The son of Chen Qisheng from Shuozhou!"
"Mm, I see."
Tang Baichuan’s sudden change in expression left Chu Zhengxiong completely bewildered.
Just a moment ago, they were chatting pleasantly, and he had a kind, smiling face.
How could his expression change so abruptly?
As Chu Zhengxiong grew more puzzled, he could tell Tang Baichuan was no longer in the mood to let them stay.
"I will have Director Qiao notify the students who are joining the Demon Hunting Bureau to go and report!"
"Captain Chu, if there’s nothing else, you two should head back. I have some things to deal with here!"
This was a clear dismissal.
Chu Zhengxiong and Mo Yanfeng glanced at each other, then nodded and stood up.
"Alright then, Principal Tang, we’ll be leaving."
"Okay. I won’t see you out."
Tang Baichuan nodded, his face grim.
Only then did Chu Zhengxiong and Mo Yanfeng walk out of the office.
The moment the office door had just closed,
Tang Baichuan immediately picked up his phone and dialed a number.
A moment later, the call connected.
Tang Baichuan’s tone was low as he said, "Director Qiao, come to my office at once!"
...
"What the hell is wrong with Tang Baichuan? He was perfectly fine a moment ago. How could his expression change so suddenly?"
After walking out of the office,
Chu Zhengxiong said, completely baffled.
He was still hung up on Tang Baichuan’s sudden shift in demeanor.
Mo Yanfeng glanced at him out of the corner of his eye with a smile.
"You still haven’t figured it out?"
"Figured what out?" Chu Zhengxiong pressed.
"Holy shit, I seriously wonder how you ever became a captain. Don’t you have a brain at all?"
Chu Zhengxiong flared up in anger. "Mo Yanfeng, I’ve been giving you too much face, haven’t I? It’s one thing to mock me all day, but now you’re fucking cursing at me? You must be itching for a beating, is that it?"
Regarding Chu Zhengxiong’s fury,
Mo Yanfeng completely ignored it, instead continuing on his own. "Principal Tang is Tang Qinru’s father. And when Tang Qinru was in the Old District, she took special care of Lin Yi!"
"Furthermore, Tang Qinru is Elder Yi’s maternal granddaughter. You still can’t see the connection?"
"In other words, Principal Tang is basically Lin Yi’s uncle-in-law, get it?"
"You just told him that Chen Hao threatened Lin Yi. Of course he’d be angry!"
"The way I see it, even with the Chen Family backing Chen Hao, Principal Tang is going to do something about him this time!"
"And I’ve noticed that the entire Yi Family places special importance on Lin Yi!"
"From Elder Yi to Tang Qinru, the way they act, they’re just short of spoiling Lin Yi to the heavens.
And just now you were bragging to Lin Yi, saying you could help him solve any problems if he got into a fight!"
"What can you solve? You think the Town Martial Department would give you that kind of face?"
"How shameless can you be? You think they’d even give you the time of day?"
"But now I’m relieved. With Principal Tang’s status, he can handle anything you can’t. The Town Martial Department might not give you face, but they’ll more or less give Principal Tang some!"
After Mo Yanfeng finished speaking,
Chu Zhengxiong’s brow was deeply furrowed as he slowly processed his words.
After a long time, Chu Zhengxiong finally reacted.
"Mo Yanfeng, what do you mean the Town Martial Department wouldn’t give me face?"
"No matter what, I have connections in the Town Martial Department. Old Shang and Old Ye, they’re on good terms with me!"
Hearing this, Mo Yanfeng gave him a light, smiling look.
"One is a Star Tempering Realm Martial Artist, and the other is a 7-star Martial Artist. And you say they’re on good terms with you?
Go ask them if they even know someone named Chu Zhengxiong and see how they answer."
"Stop flattering yourself, Old Chu. I’m not trying to rain on your parade!"
"In a place like the New District, the only thing that gives you the right to speak is your own realm!"
"If your realm is high, people will give you face no matter where you go in the future!"
"If your realm isn’t high enough, even within our Demon Hunting Bureau, there will be people who look down on you!"
"In the battle at Wushan this time, Yin Xiaoyu, Zhan Kai, and Sun Lang all died in combat. Didn’t you notice the attitude of those higher-ups toward you?"
"You walk around all day, carefree as if nothing happened. Can’t you be a little more mindful?"
"Hurry up and break through to 7-star, or even reach the Star Tempering Realm. Forget those old geezers—even the Bureau Chief would have to look at you in a new light!"
Mo Yanfeng’s words
were like a sharp knife,
with every word stabbing into Chu Zhengxiong’s heart.
He might seem carefree on the surface, but he was actually a very perceptive person.
Ever since the battle of Wushan and the loss of his teammates—Yin Xiaoyu, Zhan Kai, and the others—
not a day went by that Chu Zhengxiong didn’t suffer, tormented by self-blame.
So many nights, he was jolted awake by nightmares, only to sit there alone, smoking until dawn.
If it were possible, wouldn’t he have wished to be the one who died in their place?
That would be far better than shamefully clinging to life all alone.
But there are no ’what ifs’ in life. If he wanted to prevent such a thing from happening again,
the only way was to become stronger, to raise his realm.
He had to have enough power to protect his teammates.
He couldn’t just stand by and watch them die tragically before his very eyes again.
The devil-may-care smile on Chu Zhengxiong’s face vanished.
He nodded slightly and murmured, "Let’s go. To the Cultivation Hall!"