Chapter 96 – Fighting a Capital (III)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

"Senior, what need is there to interact with these children?"

Xue Xingchuan said expressionlessly to Jin Yulu.

These words surpa.s.sed everyone's expectations. The crowd in front of the Orthodox Academy's gate instantly became silent.

Everyone could see that although Xue Xingchuan seemed expressionless and cold, he spoke the word 'Senior' with a calm air and without the slightest hesitation. Those who knew of Jin Yulu's background did not find it strange. Even Fei Dian, the most senior of the current thirty-eight Divine Generals of the continent, could not hold his seniority over Jin Yulu, so no matter how famous a general of the Great Zhou Xue Xingchuan was, it was only right that he address him as 'Senior'. However, those youths gathered outside the gate of the Orthodox Academy did not know of this fact, so they were incredibly shocked.

Jin Yulu laughed, then said, "Some people wanted to charge, so I could only stop them."

Xue Xingchuan turned around and looked those blood-drenched young men of the capital. Slightly creasing his brow, he said, "Your methods were a bit too heavy-handed."

Jin Yulu shook his head. "In the past, I was a soldier with the duty of protecting the country. When demons dared to take a single step over the border, I would beat them back with any method at my disposal. Now, I am the gatekeeper of the Orthodox Academy with the duty to watch the gate. If someone wants to intrude upon the Orthodox Academy, I have to beat them back without regard for the consequences."

Xue Xingchuan fell silent. He knew the weight of Jin Yulu's words.

Just then, a young deputy general came up to his side and whispered a few words.

Xue Xingchuan slightly raised his brows. "This matter has caused too much trouble. It's rather unsightly."

Jin Yulu pointed at the crowd, which was beginning to once more show signs of unrest, an occasional filthy phrase issuing forth from it. "Sir, what can we do? They've already been making a racket for quite some time. It's fine if the Imperial Court doesn't come to preserve order, but do they want to stop us from preserving order as well?"

Xue Xingchuan creased his brow even more. Today, incident after incident had occurred at the Orthodox Academy, and it was especially because of this matter, completely because of these rotten matters, that he had to appear. If the palace had not ordered him to come and control the situation to prevent the effects from being too nasty, there was no way he would have come.

The young deputy general said, "Sir, we can just keep watch on the sidelines. If someone violates the laws again, it will not be too late to punish them."

Xue Xingchuan was greatly gratified at these words, thinking, no wonder I've regarded you with such importance; this advice is very proper.

Without the slightest delay, he walked to a nearby restaurant, truly intending to act as a spectator. After looking around in puzzlement, the Red Cloud Qilin followed. The squad of Imperial Guards arrayed themselves by the Orthodox Academy's gate, clearly showing that they would not come to the aid of either side, but that no one should act too excessively.

Xue Xingchuan was very satisfied by this sort of situation, but the two groups of people parted by the Orthodox Academy's gate were extremely dissatisfied.

The people who had come to make trouble felt that since members of their side had already been severely injured, it was truly too unreasonable that Xue Xingchuan and the Imperial Guard were not even showing interest in the matter, much less seizing the murderer. Tang Thirty-Six, on the other hand, felt that it was completely unreasonable for the Imperial Guard to not stop these people after they had made a racket in front of the academy for such a long time.

In any case, it was all unreasonable.

Xue Xingchuan felt that it was even more unreasonable for him to be compelled to take care of this matter, so he didn't want to talk about reason. In any case, with the Imperial Guard present, presumably no one else would dare to charge at the Orthodox Academy, and the people of the Orthodox Academy would not disrespect him so much as to continue injuring people. It was good enough as long as he could give an explanation.

The only places that would require a powerful personage like him to give an explanation were the two palaces: the Imperial Palace and the Li Palace.

But it never occurred to him that although the three youths of the Orthodox Academy might give him his due respect, they cared even more about giving themselves an explanation.

Seeing the Imperial Guard just sternly interposing themselves between the crowd and the academy gate, the troublemakers guessed that as long as they did not continue to charge at the Orthodox Academy, the Imperial Court would not care. The bolder amongst them very quickly continued their cursing.

The curses were much clearer at the gate than at the library. Upon hearing those words like 'toad' and 'hick', hearing those people who unreasonably declared that the marriage contract was fake and wanted to bite him to death, Chen Changsheng felt rather gloomy. Tang Thirty-Six's face seemed to be covered in a sheet of ice as he tightened the grip on his sword.

"Are you deaf? Can you not even hear a noise this loud?"

Tang Thirty-Six called out to the young deputy general from the Imperial Guard.

The deputy general turned around and gave him an emotionless glance. "I can hear it very clearly. What about it?"

Tang Thirty-Six said, "Since you can hear them cursing, shouldn't you stop them?"

The young deputy general paused for a few moments as if very seriously considering the notion, then asked, "Why should I stop them?"

Tang Thirty-Six's expression grew colder as he said, "Then if I say 'I'll f**k your sister', is that also okay?"

The Imperial Guards were infuriated at these words and began to move towards them. Right now, their Divine General was taking a rest in the restaurant. With a word from their commander, they would charge forward and knock this filthy-mouthed youth to the ground, properly sorting him out.

Very strangely, the deputy general was not angry. On the contrary, he seriously replied, "You are sure you are going to do that?"

Tang Thirty-Six recalled that girl's barbaric appearance when she was a child and s.h.i.+vered. Forcing himself to be calm, he said, "I was just saying it, but I didn't intend to seriously do it."

"You don't dare do what you want to do, you don't dare say what you want to say. At this time, a thousand people are cursing you in front of your face, but you won't return them. Truly lacking in potential."

The young deputy general jeered, "Quickly run back to Wenshui and cry in front of the Old Master."

Tang Thirty-Six was infuriated at these words. Pointing at the vast crowd beyond the gate, he said, "One person cursing at one thousand? Do you think I'm a fool?"

The deputy general sternly said, "I can't do anything about that. Their mouths are their own, but their voices are being heard in the academy. Who can do anything about it?"

Chen Changsheng felt that there was something off about this conversation. Walking forward, he whispered, "You know each other."

"Send off these people first and then I'll tell you," Tang Thirty-Six said.

Someone saw Chen Changsheng and felt that he was very similar to the person of rumors, truly ordinary to the extreme. As for Tang Thirty-Six, with his resplendent clothes and handsome face, he was probably not the one. Whispers began to rise from the crowd and it was very quickly confirmed that the ordinary fellow was Chen Changsheng. This information was like spraying oil on a raging fire as the curses and abuse instantly surged as if they wanted to tear open the sky above the capital.

Tang Thirty-Six's expression was growing more and more unsightly. He made a secretive gesture with his left hand.

The remnants of the gate that had been shattered in the early morning had been placed in the back. At some point, Xuanyuan Po had already left the gate. According to Tang Thirty-Six's commands, he followed the academy wall west for a very long distance. Then, he put a ladder on the wall and went over, squeezing himself into the crowd within Hundred Flowers Lane.

Although the crowd was very dense, very few could stand up to the strength of a demi-human youth. While Tang Thirty-Six had been carrying on his conversations, Xuanyuan Po had come to a distance some twenty zhang from the gate. By his side were youths boiling with rage, so no one noticed his strange appearance.

A stone was in his hands.

When he saw Tang Thirty-Six's gesture, he knew that it was time. However, he was still hesitating until he saw Tang Thirty-Six's extremely cold gaze. He thought, if I don't do this, what sort of life will the future have in store for me at the Orthodox Academy? Thus, he finally gritted his teeth and resolved himself.

He raised the stone and threw it at the gate, simultaneously yelling, "Crush this scoundrel to death!"

The crowd br.i.m.m.i.n.g with curses and obscenities fell silent for a very short instant. Everyone clearly heard that call and also saw the rock fly towards the gate of the Orthodox Academy. They could even clearly make out the path of the stone. Some people were prepared to cheer, while others paled.

Was this matter truly about to become very troublesome?

Thump!

With a m.u.f.fled boom, the stone crashed against the stone steps in front of the gate and split into several pieces that flew off before finally landing.

At the time, the stone had only been a few inches from Chen Changsheng's feet. That the stone shards did not strike his legs could only be attributed to his luck.

Tang Thirty-Six inwardly sighed in praise. As expected of a demi-human, his control over his strength was truly higher than that of a human. He was actually able to throw it with such precision!

In the crowd, Xuanyuan Po fearfully thought, did I use a little too much strength?

Regardless, a stone fell on the ground.

The matter taking place in front of the Orthodox Academy instantly turned from a battle of cursing to an actual battlefield.

"You actually dare to use ranged weapons!"

Tang Thirty-Six angrily cursed. Taking up a stone from the ground, he tossed it at the crowd!

There was a whistle, followed by a yelp of pain.

A man dressed as a scholar gripped his forehead and collapsed backwards, blood flowing from between his fingers.

Soon after, Tang Thirty-Six's second stone arrived. With a thump, several of a man's teeth were dislodged and his mouth filled with blood.

The crowd outside the academy finally came to their senses. Some cried out in panic for a doctor while others angrily called for a counterattack. Others charged up to the Imperial Guard, pointed at their two companions covered in blood, and made accusations, demanding that the Imperial Guard quickly arrest the attacker. Thus, the entire scene fell into chaos.

Finally, someone began to counterattack. They began to pick things off the floor and hurl them at the Orthodox Academy's gate.

A chaotic battle began to take place and so the Imperial Guards arrayed at the academy were naturally unable to appear and put a stop to anything.

When the crowd was beginning to pick up rocks, Tang Thirty-Six had already led Chen Changsheng away from the gate. Climbing a long-prepared ladder, he indicated that Chen Changsheng should hand him stones from the bottom. A plum blossom was planted below this wall, its base formed of a shallow layer of stone, providing plentiful ammunition.

The situation outside the Orthodox Academy was completely different. Hundred Flowers Lane had always been meticulously cleaned, so how could it be so easy to find throwable stones on the gray flagstones? Lift up the gray flagstones? It would be faster to go home and bring back kitchen knives.

Some people looked over at the shambles of the Orthodox Academy's gate and realized that there were quite a few pieces of stone and wood lying around, ready to use. They were about to go over and get some ammo for their companions when they realized that Jin Yulu was still sitting on his chair, so how could anyone get in?

To pit those with intention against the masterless, to pit those prepared for battle against the unprepared, the side who had the momentum in this chaotic battle was far too clear.

Tang Thirty-Six stood guard atop the wall. With every stone he threw, one person would fall.

With a series of groans, several dozen people were struck by stones!

In the early morning, the Orthodox Academy's gate had been broken by the Tianhai clan's carriage, and now it was being besieged by a city's worth of abuse. He had already felt suffocated for a very long time, and now he had finally found a path to vent his anger, so he did not strike softly. Stones howled through the wind and the area below the wall was a field of anguished howls and cries of pain!

One person was standing a little farther away and thought that Tang Thirty-Six's rocks couldn't reach him. Opening his eyes wide, the person began to curse and yell with all his might, utterly unaware that a rock would come whistling through the sky right after and smash against his forehead, flipping him right over!

…When Tang Thirty-Six used strength powered by true essence to throw these stones, what was he thinking?

"This is great!"

He stood on the wall and happily yelled. With a casual wave of his arm, a stone would whistle through the air and knock someone over. This could truly be called acting as one wished.

A young genius of the Proclamation of Azure Sky was using true essence to deal with ordinary people who had come to make trouble. If this was not the strong bullying the weak, what was?

At the present, he was already at the upper level of Meditation, a peak expert of the younger generation. Even if he did not use true essence to throw stones, they would still have the strength of an arrow. How could the people in the lane possibly endure them?

The filthy curses outside the Orthodox Academy had long since been replaced by cries of pain, the scoldings and reprimands supplanted by wails that reached to the heavens.

In front of the wall, the crowd had already scattered, escaping every which way. Blood freely flowed and plumes of dust rose into the air.

As was often said in casual banter, a powerful enemy had vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Too much! Too much!"

The young deputy general of the Imperial Guard looked at the miserable state of the crowd and finally could not endure, turning around and calling out to Tang Thirty-Six on the wall.

When it came to it, Tang Thirty-Six had truly done things with extreme carelessness. He could stand at any other place, but the place he chose to stand was the wall right above the Imperial Guards. Earlier, the crowd had finally managed to find some stones to throw, but when counterattacking, at least half had not thrown for fear of hitting others from lack of accuracy.

Tang Thirty-Six continued to hurl stones as he asked, "How is it too much?"

The deputy general helplessly said, "You've already struck people into this state and you still don't think it's too much?"

"Earlier, you said that their mouths were their own, but their voices could be heard in the academy, so there was nothing you could do…now, these stones are mine, and the hand is also mine, but they just so happened to fly outside of the school. What's the difference? Anyway, the first stone was thrown by them!"

As he spoke, Tang Thirty-Six swept his gaze through the crowd. Confirming that Xuanyuan Po had long since taken advantage of the chaos to escape, he completely relaxed and continued to throw stones.

Dust continued to rise from the lane, the weeping shocking the heavens. The crowd supported each other and retreated. It was a horrifying sight, like an army that had been defeated in battle.

The crowd had already fled in all directions, but Tang Thirty-Six still felt somewhat dissatisfied. Narrowing his eyes, he took up a piece of stone and aimed at the person at the very back…he remembered very clearly that this person had earlier abused Chen Changsheng as living off a woman. How could he just let him get away with his head scratched by a stone?

Because of the marriage contract, the entire capital had displayed its collective ill will towards the Orthodox Academy and Chen Changsheng.

Tang Thirty-Six had taken this ill will and depression and used these stones to hurl it all out.

Chen Changsheng didn't do much other than hand stones up from the base of the wall. Usually, he might think this was messing around, wasting his time and life. Today, however, he was very happy, not even noticing that the plum branches had torn through his clothes.

Originally, there had been so many ways of living, or playing.

Perhaps there was no meaning behind it, but it was truly very interesting.

Moreover, it was truly very easy to cheer up like this.