Chapter 115

Chapter 115

“Master, there’s no need for this.” Xie Qingling hurriedly bent down and helped Tang Yuanxiao up.

Though she did not know why he was doing this, since she wanted something from him, she certainly needed to be respectful. At the very least, she could never allow a teacher who was going to instruct her to kneel before her. Even if it had already happened, she had to stop it quickly.

Unexpectedly, she had only just helped Tang Yuanxiao up. He had not even straightened when she let go, and with another thud, he dropped firmly to his knees before her.

This time, both knees hit the ground.

“…” Xie Qingling said, “If you really don’t want to teach me, you still don’t have to do this.”

Tang Yuanxiao trembled with anger. He truly wanted to close his eyes and faint.

If he fainted, he would not have to face this agonizing embarrassment!

Only after holding back for a long while did Tang Yuanxiao speak. “I’m not kneeling. I’m badly wounded. Take me to the Medical Department for treatment.”

Badly wounded?

Only after his reminder did Xie Qingling notice the bruises on his face and his tattered clothes. These were clearly not marks left by Li Yuan’s Tongbei Boxing.

“Did the Eleventh Realm have another ambush?”

“Uh… yes. But I’ve already dealt with it.” Tang Yuanxiao would die before telling Xie Qingling he had fallen into his own traps.

“All right. Wait a moment.” Xie Qingling nodded and contacted the Logistics Department through her earpiece to clean the battlefield. Then she helped Tang Yuanxiao up. They mounted Bifang and returned to headquarters.

Stumbling along, they finally reached the Medical Department. The moment they entered, Xie Qingling could clearly feel that there were more people here than before.

More wounded.

The Eleventh Realm must have organized another counterattack.

The fighting seemed to have grown tense again.

Xie Qingling withdrew her gaze and asked Tang Yuanxiao, “There are so many people. What do we do?”

“What do we do? Queue, of course.” Tang Yuanxiao motioned for her to take him to the waiting room, where he found an empty seat. “All right. You can go back now.”

That would not do.

The matter of becoming his disciple had not been settled yet.

Xie Qingling had no doubt that if she left now and brought it up again tomorrow, Tang Yuanxiao would absolutely turn his back on it.

“No. You’re so badly hurt. How could I leave you here alone?” Xie Qingling sat beside him.

Seeing his face contort with pain, Xie Qingling said gently, “A person’s mood can affect hormone secretion. Some hormones have pain-relieving effects and can make you feel better. Why not think about something happy? For example…”

“For example, you’re about to take a final disciple,” Xie Qingling suggested. “Someone like me would be perfect. Wouldn’t she, Master?”

Tang Yuanxiao laughed in anger. Then, as he laughed, he burst into hearty laughter. “So shameless. I really don’t know how Ling Fang puts up with you.”

“I’m only telling the truth,” Xie Qingling said calmly.

“Wouldn’t you be better off going straight to Ling Fang? Why come to me? The sight of you annoys me.”

“Hm? What do you mean? Does the Director know this too?” Xie Qingling asked, ignoring his final sentence outright.

Tang Yuanxiao gave her a strange look. “Don’t you know… never mind.”

“It was many years ago. It’s normal that you don’t know.” Tang Yuanxiao’s tone was difficult to read. “Anyone who’s been at headquarters for some years knows that, when it comes to traditional martial arts, Ling Fang is the true master of them all. He came from a renowned orthodox school.”

“A young prodigy. Brilliant beyond belief.” Tang Yuanxiao sighed. “He knew every martial discipline. He could use every kind of weapon.”

“The Director… was that good?” Xie Qingling was stunned.

The news had truly startled her.

“Of course!” Seeing her bewildered surprise, Tang Yuanxiao became animated too, speaking eagerly. “Back then, I was twenty, and so was he. We joined headquarters as rookies in the same year, both working under the current Director of the Operations Department.”

“I was an Innate Spirit, but only an Awakened then. Ling Fang was already an Acquired Spirit.”

Tang Yuanxiao’s voice softened considerably, nostalgia appearing on his face. “Back then, the Director wasn’t the Director yet. He was only the leader of the Second Operations Squad.”

“We were both rookies the Director had brought back. I was very young then, and stupid. I always messed things up. On missions, I kept holding everyone else back. After it happened too often, members of other squads complained about the Second Squad.”

Tang Yuanxiao lowered his head. “Then Ling Fang set up a challenge at the training ground and announced that if anyone could beat him, he’d drag me along to their door and apologize. If they couldn’t, they were all to shut up from then on.”

“What happened afterward?” Xie Qingling asked. “Did the Director win?”

“Of course he won.” Tang Yuanxiao snorted coldly. Wounded people and doctors came and went in the waiting room, but as he narrowed his eyes, he seemed to see the scene from that year. “Ling Fang held a guandao.[^guandao] His blows were heavy and powerful. One man held the pass, and ten thousand couldn’t break through. He swept through the members of the other five Operations Squads and beat every last one down, silencing their wagging tongues. After that, nobody complained about our squad again.”

That sounded… very arrogant too!

Xie Qingling simply could not imagine the meticulous, mature Ling Fang, who so often holed up and played it safe, ever being so young and brash…

Setting up a challenge alone and declaring he would take on the other squads. He really had nerve.

And the thing was, he had won.

Xie Qingling had very mixed feelings. She frowned at Tang Yuanxiao. From the history he had described, he and Ling Fang should have been close comrades. How had they later become so hostile?

[^guandao]: A Chinese polearm with a broad blade mounted on a long shaft.
Xie Qingling stared at Tang Yuanxiao suspiciously. She thought the problem very likely lay with him.

Though Tang Yuanxiao said he had been young, foolish, and ignorant, with every implication that he had matured now, from an observer’s perspective, he did not seem to have grown much…

Xie Qingling’s silent stare made Tang Yuanxiao’s scalp prickle. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he demanded angrily. “Everything I said is true! I just learned a couple of moves from him in my spare time, and after practicing, this is where I ended up!”

“All right, all right. I didn’t say I don’t believe you.”

Xie Qingling soothed him quite perfunctorily. She was about to say something when she suddenly realized what was wrong and asked in astonishment, “The Director was an Acquired Spirit?!”

Wasn’t he a sorcerer?

Ling Fang had only an ordinary person’s body. Because of the particular nature of being a sorcerer, his constitution was even weaker than an ordinary person’s.

“At first, he was…” At this, Tang Yuanxiao’s expression instantly darkened, his face covered in gloom. “Later, he wasn’t.”

Then he fell silent and said no more.

Xie Qingling was waiting to hear the rest. Tang Yuanxiao’s clear unwillingness to continue left her desperate to know. “Why wasn’t he anymore?” she pressed.

“Looks like Ling Fang hasn’t told you anything.” Tang Yuanxiao pursed his lips, seeming reluctant, but still said, “Back then, Ling Fang was famous in the department for his courage and skill in battle. In his third year on the job, his outstanding performance earned him the position of leader of the Sixth Operations Squad.”

“A young hero, full of spirit…” Tang Yuanxiao covered his face, his voice growing muffled. “But once, when he led his squad out on a mission, they encountered people from the Eleventh Realm.”

“They encountered a Divine Envoy of the Eleventh Realm.”

“It was the first time the Special Incident Response Department had faced one of the Eleventh Realm’s Divine Envoys directly.” Tang Yuanxiao looked up. His eyes had turned bloodshot. He had completely forgotten his physical pain, but had fallen into a far more agonizing memory.

Watching him, Xie Qingling moved her lips. “Don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying.” Tang Yuanxiao’s tone grew fierce. “That Divine Envoy specifically countered Spirit Wielders. He had a needle that could dissolve the Spirit inside them. After that battle, Ling Fang became an ordinary person. He could never use Spirit again.”

“The Sixth Operations Squad was surrounded. Seven people. Apart from Ling Fang, every one of them died. Including…” His body shook with anger. “Including my little sister!”

“I know… I shouldn’t take it out on him. I shouldn’t blame Ling Fang. But what am I supposed to do!”

“My sister was only twenty then. She was still so little, so young…” His furious roars gradually turned to silent sobbing. “I should have been the one to die! Why, why, why!!!”

“Before my parents died, they entrusted my sister to me. But I… I failed to protect her.”

“If only I’d gone on duty in her place that day.”

“Waaah…” Tang Yuanxiao began to weep aloud.

Doctors and wounded people passing by turned to look, casting frightened glances toward them.

A grown man crying like this – how badly was he injured?

Someone had already gone to fetch Medical Department staff, lest Tang Yuanxiao die from pain or crying.

Xie Qingling’s heart was heavy. She was not very good at comforting people, but at this moment, doing nothing did not seem right.

After thinking for a moment, she patted Tang Yuanxiao’s shoulder and said softly, “I’m sorry. My condolences.”

Tang Yuanxiao still covered his face. His crying became more restrained, but he was still weeping; the constant movement of his shoulders made that clear.

After a while, a Medical Department member in a black uniform with green trim hurried over. “Where? Where’s the man crying from pain?”

“Bullshit! I’m… I’m not crying. Waaah…”

“…”

–

Xie Qingling also had a slight fracture in her arm. Once she relaxed, little twinges of pain began to pulse through it, terribly hard to bear.

She and Tang Yuanxiao had their wounds, large and small, treated at the Medical Department. By the time they left, it was late.

Xie Qingling checked the time. Almost eleven.

By now, Tang Yuanxiao had composed himself and looked cold and merciless.

Only the redness around his eyes still gave him away to some extent.

Realizing Xie Qingling was studying him, Tang Yuanxiao threatened her coldly. “Don’t tell anyone what happened tonight. Especially Ling Fang. Or I’ll kill you!”

Xie Qingling hesitated, then asked, “Do you mean the kneeling, or -”

“All of it!” Tang Yuanxiao cut her off quickly and said angrily, “I’m leaving!”

He left the Medical Department entrance at speed, as though a ghost were chasing him.

Xie Qingling thought silently for a while, then left the Medical Department too and returned to the dormitory area.

Outside her room, she saw someone leaning against the wall. His tall figure looked a little shorter.

Seeing Xie Qingling return, he straightened somewhat and blocked her way.

They faced each other silently for a while. Xie Qingling was about to ask what he wanted when she heard Shen Huaizhou’s questioning voice.

“When I got off work today, you weren’t there.”

Before Xie Qingling could say anything, he continued, “Do you…”

After hesitating, Shen Huaizhou finally asked, “Really not want to be friends with me anymore?”

Xie Qingling: “…”