Chapter Ninety: Timely Redress, and the Reward of Saving Face.

The crowd was cursing inwardly. They had truly been blind before, thinking these immortal disciples all came from noble lineages, drifting with an air of transcendence, and that they looked upright and proper, surely the sort of hot-blooded young talents with impeccable morals.

But now everyone understood that no matter where these fellows had learned their craft, they were certainly not good for anything.

Disappointment. Utter disappointment.

Some of the girls were even sobbing softly.

“These people are too disillusioning... spring is over...”

“Ah, those immortal disciples... what a waste that I used to stare at their portraits every night... ah, forget it, forget it...”

Amid the crushing disappointment, everyone suddenly heard the sound of kowtowing.

It was Huang Kuang knocking his head to the ground.

There were flashes of viciousness now and then in his eyes, yet his face was full of pleading, pale to the point of death, with not a trace left of an immortal disciple’s bearing.

He had already begged for mercy and spoken soft words earlier; now he was outright bowing and scraping.

A spineless coward through and through.

“This is the immortal disciple I fought for half the day? He’s such a craven little wreck, and he still has the nerve to call himself a man?”

The more An Miaoyi looked, the angrier she became.

Thud.

She kicked him straight away.

Their strength had not been too far apart to begin with, and with Huang Kuang completely unguarded, her kick sent him sprawling face-first into the ground. With a sharp crack, his teeth slammed into the hard, cured concrete of the playground.

One tooth was knocked right out.

Blood filling his mouth, Huang Kuang turned back to glare furiously at An Miaoyi.

“You dare lay a hand on me... I... today...”

Before he could finish, Lin Yi had already arrived. Smiling faintly at Huang Kuang, he said, “What? And what exactly do you think you’re going to do?”

“I... Brother Lin Yi, I was just joking. That, uh... Brother Lin Yi, please be magnanimous...”

Huang Kuang’s expression changed in an instant as he hurried to explain.

His broken teeth made his speech whistle with the wind, but one could still barely make out what he was saying.

“Of course I’m magnanimous. That’s why I’m giving you a kick.”

Thud.

Before Huang Kuang even finished speaking, his eyes still wide in bewilderment, Lin Yi moved in a blur and kicked him hard at close range.

A whirling haze of afterimages blossomed before Huang Kuang’s face.

Those shadowy kicks overlapped in endless succession, making it impossible for him to dodge, even if he tried.

And that was not the worst of it. Huang Kuang was regretting himself to death. If only he had not threatened An Miaoyi earlier.

He felt Lin Yi was far too ruthless. A mere hint of offense, and he would answer with violence. It was terrifying.

Bang.

Before Huang Kuang could think any further, that kick had already landed on his head. He felt a violent shudder run through his skull, and then everything went black.

This man is ruthless... Lin Yi... I’ll remember you...

That was Huang Kuang’s final thought before he lost consciousness.

Seeing Lin Yi come over, An Miaoyi finally let out a light laugh.

Just moments ago, Lin Yi had completely ignored her, and that had made her very angry.

She had wanted to pinch a piece of flesh from Lin Yi’s body and twist it hard, just to watch him grimace in pain.

But now she was smiling; the anger had gone. Lin Yi had come after all, and he had dealt with Huang Kuang with great severity.

Huang Kuang had infuriated her greatly, and now Lin Yi had avenged her. At last, she felt a little better.

“Sorry I’m a bit late... still, thank you, classmate An. If it weren’t for you, who knows what might have happened.”

Lin Yi thanked her.

An Miaoyi nodded and answered with a cool, composed hum.

Soon after, she looked toward Song Yuyan, who was still dragging Zhang Qiang off in the distance, and asked, “That woman... who exactly is she?”

In the end, she still asked.

She had not wanted to. But just now, the way Lin Yi had looked at Song Yuyan had been more than she could comfortably bear.

One Muyuqing alone was already enough; now there was yet another disciple from an immortal sect.

And the key point was that this disciple from the immortal sect seemed to be connected to Lin Yi in some unusual way, and apparently she was tied to his enemies as well—she was the disciple of Jin Huishan—but the relationship between her and Lin Yi did not seem ordinary at all.

The moment she asked, An Miaoyi regretted it.

She stamped her foot, and a flush rose to her cheeks.

She should not have asked such a thing.

Lin Yi froze for a moment, scratched the back of his head, and let out a quiet sigh inwardly. Looking at An Miaoyi like this, he felt his own charm was simply too great. That was not vanity; it was fact.

Not far away, An Miaoyi’s expression made all the students around Shengjing Academy change color at once.

The boys looked as if their hearts had died with their hopes; the girls’ pretty faces turned deathly pale.

This... why did it suddenly feel so intimate?

Could it be that School Beauty An was together with Lin Yi?

The boys mourned the loss of their goddess, while the girls felt bitter and troubled at the thought of Lin Yi having found a fine match.

Ring ring ring...

Suddenly, the phone rang.

An Miaoyi hurriedly picked it up.

Seeing the caller ID, her eyes filled with confusion.

“Yiyi... how are you? How is the school? Don’t worry, I’ve already sent people over! Damn it, those people from the ten great sects have no idea how to restrain themselves. How dare they cause trouble at a school? Don’t panic, don’t panic...”

It was Lin Tianming, the director of the Shengjing branch of the Paranormal Investigation Bureau.

He did not often call An Miaoyi.

The moment he spoke, she understood why he had called.

News of the disturbance at the school had already reached the bureau.

An Miaoyi glanced around and immediately realized that one of the Shengjing Academy students, worried that their classmates might be in danger, must have called the police, and the report had been passed upward step by step until it finally reached the Paranormal Investigation Bureau.

Lin Tianming sounded extremely anxious, because he believed that when the school trouble broke out, Lin Yi and An Miaoyi had been there. Those immortal disciples were simply too strong; Lin Yi, An Miaoyi, and the others would not have been their match at all.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Grandpa Lin, don’t worry. Nothing happened...”

An Miaoyi looked at the scene and said.

The voice on the phone grew even more urgent.

“How could nothing have happened? This time it’s the immortal disciples of the ten great sects. Especially that Dao heir from Longhu Mountain, Zhang Ruofeng—since entering the world, he’s never known defeat. Aside from a grandmaster, who could possibly handle him? And besides Zhang Ruofeng, there’s Huang Kuang from the Eight-Section Gate, Song Wanjun from the Mount Emei Sect, and Jin Huishan from the Stellar Sect is even stronger, almost at the level of a grandmaster... and also, and also...”

An Miaoyi discovered that Director Lin Tianming knew quite a lot.

“No, Grandpa Lin, actually, those disciples from the ten great sects... they’re all finished. Really, there’s no need to send reinforcements...”

“...”

Lin Tianming.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

Very quickly, however, he came back to his senses and said, “All right, Yiyi, no need to keep forcing yourself there. Don’t worry, the rescue team will arrive soon. I’ll have them speed things up.”

“No, I mean it’s true... Grandpa Lin, that Dao heir Zhang Ruofeng you mentioned has had all four limbs broken and has already passed out. Everything on him has been taken. The Song Wanjun from Mount Emei that you mentioned? That woman even had her jewelry and phone confiscated.”

“Also, that Huang Kuang—I just kicked him a moment ago and knocked out one of his teeth. The remaining one, that black bear from the Evergreen Sword Sect, and those people from the Wind and Thunder Sect... they’re all unconscious too, with either broken arms or broken legs. Their injuries are probably quite severe. Oh, and Jin Huishan, the one from the Stellar Sect you mentioned, he ran off directly—scared out of his wits...”

Inside the office of the Shengjing branch of the Paranormal Investigation Bureau, Lin Tianming sat frozen for a long while, then slapped his thigh hard.

Done for. Done for.

Yiyi had clearly gone dazed and was already talking in her sleep. The scene must be in total chaos.

But very soon, one name that came out of An Miaoyi’s mouth caused Lin Tianming’s brows to relax and his mood to brighten.

On the phone, An Miaoyi said, “All of this was Lin Yi’s doing.”

She also recounted everything that had just happened.

Lin Tianming kept saying “good” over and over on the phone. In the end, he gave An Miaoyi an order.

“The reinforcements will still go, but when they arrive, they are to bring all those people back to the Paranormal Investigation Bureau. Those ten great sects have always acted with arrogance and swagger; this is the perfect time to cut them down to size.”

“Fine. Have Lin Yi leave this matter alone. By the way, since this Lin Yi is actually this strong, there’s a task I can hand over to him. Put him on the phone for me.”

An Miaoyi handed the phone to Lin Yi.

Lin Yi glanced at it and saw that it was the director. Without another word, he said at once, “Director, rest assured. This mission has been completed perfectly. A bunch of scum from the ten great sects actually wanted to harm Shengjing Academy, wanted to hurt our classmates, wanted to make trouble at the school. I’ve already brought them to justice. Director, don’t worry—just give me a modest reward. I don’t need much.”

“Haha, I like hearing you talk. Interesting... Lin Yi, you did very well this time. I’ll definitely reward you, because you represent our Paranormal Investigation Bureau. Now you’ve defeated all those young disciples of the ten great sects. Good work. I certainly won’t shortchange you on the reward...”

“I originally had a mission I wanted to give you, but I was worried your strength wasn’t enough, and afraid something might happen to you there. Now that your power is this strong, I can finally entrust it to you. I’ve got a photograph here; pass the phone over and I’ll show it to you.”

Inside his office, Lin Tianming walked back and forth with his mobile phone in hand.

This time, Lin Yi had really made him proud.

Very soon, Lin Tianming took a faxed photograph from his desk.

If Li Chunfeng were to see that photograph, he would surely cry out in shock, because the corpse in the picture was none other than the female corpse from the abandoned village that Li Chunfeng had kept mentioning, the one that looked so much like his dead sister Zhang Shuang!

Beside that photo was another one.

It showed a cave.

The cave was pitch-black inside. Looking closely, one could vaguely make out a skull deep within the darkness.

“Go take a look at Upper River Village. There’s been some trouble there, and I’ll tell you the details later. In short, things are not peaceful in Upper River Village right now. A great many powerful figures have already gone there. Senior An Yingxiong and Master Mu have both gone too, and there are many grandmasters. You must be careful.”

“But your mission has nothing to do with them. What you need to do is find the several households that disappeared from Upper River Village... There’s a cave there, and it is shrouded in layers of mystery. You need to go and investigate it...”

Lin Yi was startled, because Lin Tianming had actually mentioned Upper River Village.

Upper River Village was precisely the village Li Chunfeng had told him about earlier.

Combining that with what Director Lin Tianming had just said, Lin Yi realized that the matter of the abandoned-village female corpse must have triggered a huge chain reaction. That was why grandmasters had gone to Upper River Village.