Chapter 5: A Visit Back Home

Chapter 5: A Visit Back Home

However, before he could refute Huang Yifan's fraudulent declaration, everyone was already thanking him for his generosity, setting things into stone.

Gao Qingyu turned to Lü Jiaoshan with a dark expression as he said, "You go and order the food and drinks. Don't invite anyone else, just keep it to the people that are here right now. I'll go back home to ask my wife for some money."

"You can just buy everything on credit," Lü Jiaoshan suggested.

"I'm not that shameless!" Gao Qingyu snapped.

He then noticed that Zhao Shanhe was also staying for the banquet, and he immediately declared in a cold voice, "I don't recall inviting you, Master Zhao."

Zhao Shanhe's expression instantly stiffened.

You're really going to do me like that in front of so many people?!

"Don't be so stingy, Dean Gao. It's just a matter of an extra pair of chopsticks," everyone urged, but Gao Qingyu refused to budge.

"Fine! I wasn't hungry anyway!" Zhao Shanhe snapped in a furious manner before flying away, and only then did Gao Qingyu return home to secure funds from his wife and overlord.

He had no money to spend, and he didn't know if his wife would grant him any funds. If she refused, he would have to borrow money, and that would already be a huge pain in the backside. If, on top of that, Zhao Shanhe were here freeloading off him, he felt like he would drop dead from a heart attack!

***

Yin Shengong was informed of Fang Che's official assignment by both Fang Che himself and the mole in White Cloud Warrior Academy.

"Master, I'm going to start working in the Hall of Protectionists soon."

"Pope Yin, Night Demon has been ordered to begin working in the Hall of Protectionists, something that's unprecedented for a first-year student."

The mole in White Cloud Warrior Academy gave Yin Shengong a detailed rundown of the events that led up to Night Demon's official assignment, and he expressed in no uncertain terms that such an arrangement would be sure to have a detrimental impact on Night Demon's development as a warrior.

Yin Shengong instantly smashed his desk to bits.

"Zhao Shanhe! Don't you have anything better to do than target my disciple all day?! Just how corrupt and incompetent are you?!"

However, his fury was severely outweighed by his sympathy for Night Demon.

How can they subject such a good child to such terribly unfair treatment?!

Yin Shengong was so enraged that he felt like he could explode!

In the past, he would've been ecstatic over such a development.

Night Demon had been planted into White Cloud Warrior Academy precisely so that he could infiltrate the Hall of Protectionists someday, and this only accelerated the implementation of that plan.

However, things were much different now. Night Demon was his pride and joy, and his journey as a warrior had only just begun!

He had only been attending the academy for half a year, yet he was now being made to join the work force! They were clearly trying to ruin him!

Once the lockdown order is lifted, I'm going to pay a personal visit to the southeast and massacre a few cities to stick it to Zhao Shanhe! You wanna pick on my disciple? You better be prepared to pay the price!

After spending some time smashing his study to bits, he picked up his communication jade to send a message to Fang Che.

"I know you must be really angry right now. Don't worry, I'll get these people back for what they've done to you!"

"I'm not angry, Master. On the contrary, I'm really happy with the way things have gone. Was I not planted in White Cloud Warrior Academy so I could enter the Hall of Protectionists someday? Is it not great news that our plans have been accelerated by over four years?

“I can't do anything for you in the academy, but I can be of much more use to you in the Hall of Protectionists! I understand that I'm being targeted, but this is exactly what I want. It's been a huge pain in the backside having to attend lessons every day, but I can finally make myself useful now. I'll be sure to do my best and climb up the ranks as quickly as possible."

Yin Shengong couldn't help but heave a forlorn sigh after seeing Fang Che's response.

He could tell that Fang Che was being genuine, and that only made him feel even worse.

You foolish boy... You're only going to realize what you've been deprived of today when you're grown up...

"Tell me right away once you've gone to the Hall of Protectionists."

With that final message sent, Yin Shengong tossed his communication jade aside, then began pacing back and forth while sighing to himself.

"Pope Yin, Master Mei says..."

"I don't care what he says! Piss off!" Yin Shengong snapped in a furious manner.

***

Fang Che had already returned to Green Wave City, and he was going to spend some time with his mother before heading to the Hall of Protectionists.

He bragged to his mother about the progress that he had made in the so-called secret area that he had been granted entry into, smugly informing her that his cultivation base had already surpassed hers.

Fang Qianyi was both ecstatic, yet also displeased at being outstripped by her son, and she was determined to get back to at least even footing with him.

Unbeknownst to Fang Che, he had also surpassed Ye Meng's true cultivation base.

She had also been progressing very quickly, having reached the seventh-rank General tier, but she was already a General when she first arrived by Fang Che's side, at which point he was still only a Warrior!

Compared with Fang Che, she may as well have been a snail racing against a gazelle.

She didn't have access to spirit qi gravity cultivation chambers like Fang Che did, nor could she blatantly cultivate whenever she pleased, but even then, surely she shouldn't have been surpassed so quickly!

It didn't take long before Fang Che began directing his usual hostility toward Ye Meng.

"Ye Meng, what's your cultivation base right now?"

"Seventh-rank Grandmaster tier," Ye Meng pouted.

"Are you even trying at all?! I'm going to sell you to the..."

Ye Meng had already stormed out of the room in a disgruntled fit before Fang Che had a chance to finish his threat.

"Look at her! You've spoiled her rotten, Mother!" Fang Che accused.

"Why are you so mean to her?" Fang Qianyi reprimanded. "She's so good to you, and she's so kind and pretty. You're lucky to have a maidservant like her!"

"Back home, I make sure to beat her at least eight times a day so she knows her place!" Fang Che harrumphed.

Fang Qianyi burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"That reminds me, your cousin was strung up like a hog and beaten by your uncle again. He figured out afterward that it was because you screwed him, and he was furious!"

"It's too bad I wasn't around to see it," Fang Che said in a disappointed manner, eliciting another chorus of laughter from Fang Qianyi.

Not long after Fang Che departed for the Parasite Ascension Project, Fang Qingyun returned for winter holidays, and he was met with a furious Fang Zhenghang.

Before he even had any idea what was happening, he was hung upside-down from a tree and given a vicious beating.

Only after the beating did he learn that Fang Che had fed his father a bunch of false information, and he was livid!

He was already a Great Grandmaster, so he hardly even felt the beating from his father, but he was furious at Fang Che's betrayal.

In an attempt to get back at him, he revealed, "Fang Che is currently known as Academy Idol Fang, and he's constantly surrounded by women, leaving him with no time to cultivate!"

Fang Zhenghang couldn't care less.

"So what? He's still the top prodigy in his year level. If you can do the same, I wouldn't beat you even if you did nothing but slack off all day!"

Fang Qingyun could only shed tears in silence.

After enduring a depressing holiday at home, he returned to the academy with a vengeance, deciding that he also wanted to begin using the spirit qi gravity cultivation chambers.

"You've been home for quite a few days now. Is there something going on?" Fang Qianyi asked after dinner.

"I'm glad you asked!" Fang Che said with a wide smile. "The Hall of Protectionists had a tradition of choosing the brightest prospects in the academy to join their ranks early, and I was among those selected. I'm going to be working in the Hall of Protectionists!"

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Really?" Fang Qianyi exclaimed in elation. "That's amazing! Make sure you don't squander this opportunity!"

For a ninth-tier clan like theirs, the Hall of Protectionists was an extremely prestigious organization, and it was considered a high honor and privilege to be able to work there.

Hence, Fang Qianyi was ecstatic for her son, and her only concern was that his official post could be rescinded if he put up a lackluster performance on the job.

With that in mind, she cautioned her son over and over again to put his best foot forward at all times while on the job.

On the fifth day, Fang Che and Ye Meng set off back to the White Cloud Prefecture.

That day, it began to snow, and the two of them left Green Wave City on horseback.

The falling snow severely limited visibility, so it didn't take long before they lost sight of the Fang Clan's residence, but Fang Che knew that his mother and uncle were definitely still watching from the entrance, even though they would've also already lost sight of him at this point.

A sour feeling welled up in his heart, and only now did he allow it to show as he turned around to stare in the direction of his home.

He truly didn't know when he would return or whether he would even be able to at all.

From here, he would have to face the collective wrath of all of the clans of the deceased Generals from the Parasite Ascension Project.

It was going to be kill or be killed, and the odds were firmly against him.

Ye Meng remained silently by his side, and the forlorn look in his eyes had her feeling a sense of melancholy as well.