Volume 1, Chapter 16 – Broadening the Board

With a screech of brakes, Tao Shuohua—dressed head to toe in black, in a tight vintage-style outfit, a long narrow wooden case on her back—strode toward the No. 1 High School gate, rain be damned.

The gate had long since been roped off with a long cordon; Inspectorate police patrolled the perimeter. Seeing her approach, hands went to waists, and several stepped up as if to question her.

“Out of the way!” Tao Shuohua couldn’t be bothered to waste time. She flashed a token.

The token was bronze, with a raised “rousing lion” carved at the center. At the lion’s four cardinal points—up, down, left, right—were hollowed apertures of various shapes, and beneath each aperture you could glimpse an inlaid pale green-white jade disc within.

The Inspectorate officer’s face changed at the sight—Four-Square Rousing-Lion, bronze with jade inlay; she was from the State Chancery?

No one dared block her any further. They obediently stepped aside and let Tao Shuohua through.

Tao Shuohua’s expression didn’t relax in the slightest. Even the sword at her hip felt her agitation, thrumming inside its case.

“Just my luck… How did the news leak???”

As she pushed deeper into the campus, Tao Shuohua ground her teeth.

“Shouldn’t have listened to the grandaunt. The one time I actually step away, something happens!!!”

Night had deepened, and the teaching blocks cut off the outside lights, leaving most of the campus in darkness.

Tao Shuohua was truly rattled. She touched her lips, then her stomach; she could still taste…the springy bite and spice of those street-stall chili baby octopus on the pedestrian strip.

But in a blink it all evaporated, replaced by the image of a stern middle-aged man—his fierce gaze bearing down on her.

“Please be fine… please be fine…”

Muttering nonstop like a prayer, Tao Shuohua followed the brightest-lit, most heavily cordoned area on campus—only to be stopped outside the tape.

“State Chancery business!” She showed the token again. “Move!”

But these Inspectorate officers seemed… different.

They looked taller, each with a distinct presence. Threats didn’t move them; they just measured her with cold eyes.

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Tao Shuohua nearly popped the case and drew her sword, when a chill male voice sounded from ahead.

“Isn’t this Assistant Tao?”

The crowd parted, revealing Zhang Longze and other deans and school officers in front, and in their midst a fair-skinned, long-robed middle-aged man—the question had come from his mouth.

“Zhang Daoming…” Tao Shuohua narrowed her eyes at the fair-skinned man. “Good, you’re here. Tell me—where is my lady now? What’s her condition?”

“Assistant Tao, you’re confused.” The fair-skinned man—Zhang Daoming—grinned, a cold smile. “Since Lord Fang sent you to guard the honored young lady’s path, that’s a question I should be asking you.”

“Look at this~” He turned toward Zhang Longze and the rest, slapping his sleeve with a helpless air.

“I didn’t even know Assistant Tao was in Chilong~ How would I dare claim I know whether Lady Fang is dead or alive…?”

“Zhang Daoming!” The words hit Tao Shuohua right where she feared most; she exploded without another word.

With a crack, the wooden case on her back shattered into four pieces, and a long fine-steel sword gleaming red flew into her hand.

“Bold!”

The black-clad Inspectorate officers roared in unison. Stun batons snapped out, guns came up; every barrel and baton aimed at Tao Shuohua. The air went taut.

Ssssss…

Tao Shuohua raised the sword, the long, narrow tip leveled from afar at Zhang Daoming. A faint reddish flame breathed along the blade’s edge, growing and branching, a pinkish energy sheath wrapping the blade, outlining it like a twig.

Where raindrops had fallen calmly on her before, they now vaporized a hair’s breadth from her skin, wreathing her in a soft haze.

“All right, all right…”

At the sound of a placating voice, another group came up behind Tao Shuohua. At their head was a white-haired elder, smoothing things over with the black-faced, formally dressed strongman beside him for ballast.

“We’re all here for the same purpose—no one wants harm to come to the honored young lady. Look at this, look at this… why let the underlings watch us make a scene?”

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“Watchman Xu.”

Tao Shuohua respected the elder. Seeing the lineup behind him, she stowed the sword, dissolving the pink anomaly along the edge.

“And Commandant Huang.” She nodded to the black-faced strongman; he nodded back in return.

Now the roster really was complete…

Tao Shuohua kept her face steady, but her heart sank.

The white-haired elder was named Xu Zhe, the Roads Directorate “Watchman” for the Chilong Circuit—the highest magistrate over the circuit city and its subordinate townships.

The strongman beside him was named Huang Qian, a Commandant of the Chilong Army—the highest-ranking military officer native to Chilong.

Add to that the one behind… the Inspectorate’s Chief Inspector, Zhang Daoming—and nearly the entire core of power in the Chilong Circuit had gathered. One could imagine how fast the news had moved and how big the repercussions were.

Lord Xu even arrived only a minute or two after me…

At that thought, sweat poured down Tao Shuohua’s back. She didn’t dare imagine answering her master that when Fang Wenya was in danger, she’d been on the pedestrian street eating little octopus…

Crap—would my head still be attached?

Fang Xiaochun wouldn’t care who told her to go out and play. Tao Shuohua’s heart went cold by half; she couldn’t stand here waiting like a fool any longer.

She couldn’t understand—what was the point of all these people clogging the ground floor?

Get in there already, will you?

Go save them!

“Assistant Tao.” Zhang Daoming saw her agitation and chose not to needle her further. He spoke softly: “Steady your heart-aspect… Haven’t you noticed the demonic aura has already dissipated?”

Hm?

Tao Shuohua started, looked up at the lab building, and saw it was true… there was no sign at all of demonic aura coiling.

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“Resolved?” she couldn’t help asking. “And the people? Still inside?”

“Chief Inspector Zhang already sent people in.” Zhang Longze finally seized a chance to speak, murmuring at her side, “They should be out any moment…”

“Did I ask you?”

Tao Shuohua glared. Zhang Longze’s mouth twitched; he shut up at once.

Tao Shuohua knew full well that for this whole mess today, most of the blame would fall on her.

She’d figured the school was full of background-checked students—what could possibly happen? And since Fang Wenya didn’t want her boarding on campus and drawing attention, she’d stayed offsite, meeting Fang Wenya a few times a day under the guise of an aunt.

Today she was supposed to go in and pick Fang Wenya up for dinner, but somehow the experimental class ran late. Fang Wenya texted her to go eat first, and that was the gap those demon-cult types exploited.

If anything truly happened to Fang Wenya, Tao Shuohua would be first in the line of fire.

And Xu Zhe, Zhang Daoming, Huang Qian… this whole crowd would be on the hook as well!

Catching strays at home—why would Zhang Daoming give her a pleasant face?

So he had a grievance with her. She could understand that.

But you, Zhang Longze… the school principal!

You let them bring a Demon Pool in this easily?

He had a grievance with her; she had one with Zhang Longze too!

“They’re out!”

Someone nearby shouted.

“Here they come! They’re really out!”

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That pulled everyone’s attention. The crowd turned toward the lab building’s front steps just in time to see a swarm of Inspectorate police in black stab-resistant suits pouring out.

Some bore students piggyback, some cradled them, some carried them on stretchers—generally several officers shielding a single injured student. Among them was a quiet girl in glasses.

Wenya!

At the sight of the girl, Tao Shuohua felt like she’d flown from the underworld to the heavens; her heart sprang back to life.

But gradually, Tao Shuohua, Zhang Daoming… their eyes all narrowed.

Because there was another “lead” in the rescue column.

A white-haired girl in a stab-resistant suit as well—tall, composed, a short sword on her back with spine and hilt stained red, another sword-student wooden sword in hand—was approaching in the officers’ escort.

Whether by coincidence or not… the rain stopped just as they came out.

The clouds parted, a wash of moonlight fell, lighting the girl’s fine features—and those distinctive yellow eyes.

Drawing every gaze without trying, Bai Xiang showed not a trace of shyness.

She walked straight up to Zhang Longze, slid the sword-student wooden sword into the other latch on her back, then drew the “Dingbo Sword,” scabbard and all, and offered it up in both hands.

“Bai Xiang…”

Zhang Longze’s voice trembled. “What are you…”

“The aberration is slain.”

Bai Xiang glanced at the others, then looked earnestly to Zhang Longze.

“Thank you, Principal Zhang— for the loan of the sword.”