Chapter 784: Xu Wuyi's Justice

Zheng Jingxuan’s face instantly turned pale. His lips trembled slightly; he wanted to speak but couldn’t utter a word. The student sparring with him froze. The surrounding students also stopped their movements, looking over in surprise.

A middle-aged coach hurried over, frowning as he asked, “What’s going on? Who are you people?”

Zhou Bin flashed his badge. The coach took one look, and his expression drastically changed. He opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but ultimately said nothing, simply stepping aside in silence. The Inspection Department was handling a case. A lowly academy coach like him had no right to interfere.

Zheng Jingxuan stood rooted to the spot, feeling as though the entire world was spinning. He looked at Zhou Bin, then at the plainclothes officers behind him, taking in those faces both familiar and strange. Only one thought echoed in his mind: “It’s over. It’s all over.”

He wanted to run, but he knew he couldn’t escape. Since these people dared to come directly to the academy to arrest him, they had definitely made all the necessary preparations. As a level thirty-five Martial Artist, he was utterly insignificant before them.

Zhou Bin looked at him and said no more, simply making an inviting gesture. “Let’s go. Don’t make this difficult for us.”

Zheng Jingxuan took a deep breath and slowly stepped forward. His legs felt weak, but he could still walk. Following Zhou Bin, he walked step by step out of the Training Ground, out the door, leaving behind the astonished gazes of the students. Outside, the sun was as bright as ever. It shone upon him, but he couldn’t feel a sliver of warmth.

The Inspection Department officers escorted him into a black commercial vehicle. The moment the doors slid shut, he peered through the window, taking one last look at the academy where he had spent the past two years. The friends he had made, the corners he had grown familiar with, the days he thought he could hide away in forever—they were all leaving him for good, sealed away by the closing of the car door.

The car started, driving out of the academy and onto the highway leading to the airport. Zheng Jingxuan sat in the backseat, flanked on both sides by Inspection Department operatives. He lowered his head, staring at his hands resting on his knees. They were trembling slightly. He tried to clench his fists to stop the shaking, but he couldn’t.

Sitting in the front, Zhou Bin glanced at him through the rearview mirror but said nothing. He had seen this kind of scene plenty of times. Among those arrested, some would weep bitterly, some would struggle desperately, and others would remain dead silent. But regardless of their initial reaction, they would all eventually talk. Very few could withstand the Inspection Department’s interrogation. Let alone someone this young.

The car sped along the highway, the scenery outside blurring past. Zheng Jingxuan kept his head down the entire time, as motionless as a statue. He didn’t know how much time had passed. He only knew that by the time the car finally stopped, they had arrived at a small airport.

A military transport plane was waiting on the tarmac. Its cabin doors were open, revealing the spartan seating inside. Zheng Jingxuan was led out of the car and escorted onto the plane. He took a window seat. Looking through the porthole, he watched the tarmac outside and the mountains in the distance. Tianchi, the city he had hidden in for two years, was slowly shrinking, gradually blurring, until it finally disappeared entirely beneath the clouds.

The plane flew smoothly above the cloud layer. Outside the window stretched a vast, white sea of clouds. Zheng Jingxuan leaned back against his seat and closed his eyes, his mind a chaotic mess.

He remembered many things. He remembered his childhood. His father rarely visited him, but every time he did, he would bring plenty of delicious food, pat him on the head, and ask how his Cultivation was progressing. He remembered the year his mother died. His father had cried like a child at the funeral. That was the first time he had ever seen his father shed a tear.

He remembered Lin Wan’er. That girl with the beautiful smile. That girl he had pursued for so long, who had continually refused him. That girl he had accidentally killed with his own hands.

He remembered every single detail of that night. He had drunk a lot of alcohol. Head heavy and dizzy, he went looking for her. He didn’t even know what he wanted to do; he just wanted to see her, wanted to talk to her. But she wouldn’t open the door. Through the wood, she told him to leave.

He refused to leave, shouting outside instead—shouting her name, shouting that he liked her. Eventually, the door opened. She stood in the doorway, an expression of sheer disgust on her face, and told him to get lost.

Since he was a child, there had never been anything he couldn’t have. A sudden, inexplicable surge of fury flared within him. He shoved her aside and forced his way inside. She cursed at him, calling him a lunatic. The more he listened, the angrier he became, until he grabbed her by the shoulders, just wanting her to shut up.

The back of her head slammed against the wall with a dull thud. Then she collapsed, falling into a pool of blood. Her eyes remained open, but all the light had already vanished from them.

He froze there, staring at her on the ground, watching the blood that continued to pool outward, feeling as if his entire soul had been siphoned away. He finally realized that he was a Martial Artist; an ordinary person in his hands was as fragile as a piece of paper.

How he managed to flee back home afterward, he could no longer remember. He only recalled that upon seeing his state, his father’s expression had turned terribly grim before asking what had happened. He told him. He confessed everything. His father remained silent for a long time before speaking a single sentence.

“It’s fine. Dad will handle it.”

He didn’t know how his father handled it, only that the whole incident truly just blew over. No one came looking for him. No one came to arrest him. The case was officially closed as a home invasion resulting in murder.

He was sent to Tianchi, given a new identity, and began his life anew. Over the past two years, he had tried hard not to think about those things. He tried to convince himself that it was merely an accident. He tried to believe that as long as he worked hard enough, he could leave the past entirely behind him.