Chapter 27 TWENTY-SEVEN

Chapter 27: Chapter TWENTY-SEVEN

The institute is in an uproar...no– more like the entire country.

A video has been circulating nonstop. An F-Rank guide killed a D-Rank Pyromancer inside Zhongjing institute.

The video is a result of the onlookers. Some had started recording from the start, right from where the Sentinel kept hounding the guide to break his pairing. He kept talking about some secret that shouldn’t be shared.

In the video, it’s clear as day who provoked whom. But half the country is in support and the other half is against him. According to them, guides shouldn’t have that kind of combat power, they’re not trained for that. Not only did Xin Linhua go toe to toe with a Pyromancer, he killed him!

The accused is way more anxious than they are.

Xin Linhua has been ignoring every call from home.

His father, his brothers, even the butler who once dug him out of a swamp. He doesn’t want them to get involved so naturally he should pick their call and tell them. But if he does and they find out he’s not fully at fault, they’ll storm the institution.

Xin Tangzi. A son fanatic as they like to call him.

Unlike the high society who expect perfection and brilliance from their children, he’s the kind of man to kneel before a nine year old Xin Linhua, help him clean his wounds while blaming the entire villa for being the reason his son tripped on his own two feet.

Xin Tangzi does not joke with his sons, especially Xin Linhua. It would be different if Xin Linhua was at fault, but the only wrong thing he did was killing a Sentinel. Maybe to his father, he shouldn’t have done it in public. There are other ways...

Xin Linhua knows how the man thinks. He knows how he operates and how he plans to settle the scores later on. Right now, he’s trying to prevent that. He can’t have the Xin family name dragged through the mud.

____

The tension in the court is thick. Thick enough to choke Xin Linhua who’s standing on the podium at the center of the courtroom.

People he has never seen before, faces he had never once glanced at their ways– they all sit in the court and dare to judge him.

At the judges’ stand, five men sit upright and look down upon the room like some overlords who can decide one’s life and death.

The court proceedings are private. Directors, executives, and a few other people from the Administration Division. A few families are present as well.

Some of the onlookers had been injured during the fight and since Xin Linhua killed the one responsible, they’re trying to hold him accountable for the damages as well.

The more Xin Linhua hears, the more chronic his headache becomes. He just wants to wrap up the proceedings before his father or brothers decide to pay the institute a visit–

"Xin Linhua."

His brain stalls. Even if he hadn’t met the man since his Transmigration, two decades of hearing that voice over and over again is lodged in the deepest part of his brain.

Xin Tangzi.

Xin Linhua does not need to turn around to know that his brothers are with his father. His nails dig into his palm as he forces himself to stay calm.

"Settle down." One of the judges lazily says "The court is in session."

An officer from the Administration Division walks forward and bows slightly.

Slowly and clearly, the man speaks, narrating the incident according to the witnesses’ statements. Since the proceedings are private, a witness can’t be brought in, only their statement.

The more the man speaks, the deeper Xin Linhua frowns. He begins to doubt if there’s something wrong with his ears or if the entire proceeding is rigged.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Xin Linhua breaks his vow of silence.

"Guide Xin Linhua." The first judge frowns in disapproval "You can’t interrupt–"

"Fuck that!" Xin Linhua cuts him off "He’s cutting the story short like some Youtube edit and pinning the whole thing on me!"

"Xin Linhua." Director Chen warns from his spectator stand "Don’t."

"But–"

"Don’t."

Xin Linhua’s gaze darkens. As if it wasn’t enough to be traumatized by a maniac and almost got killed, now the court is trying to make his act of self defense into unjustified killing!

He turns to a corner of the room, where Rong Yizhan stands with his arms folded.

Rong Yizhan stays still for a moment. Then he shakes his head.

Don’t lose your head. Don’t get angry and absolutely do not let them get to you.

Xin Linhua’s anger dies down. He turns back to the judges and listens to the rest of the report with barely contained anger.

The officer finishes his report and returns to his post. The five judges finally turns to him.

"Xin Linhua." The first one folds his hands in front of him "Is it true that after you struck him the first time, he went down?"

"Yes."

"He was already disarmed. Why did you hit him a second time?"

"Disarmed?" Xin Linhua grounds his teeth "You’re trying to gaslight me. A Pyromancer who can fucking summon fire from thin air was after me and I’m supposed to strike him once and expect him to stay down?"

"No cussing allowed in the court."

"That’s just messed up." Xin Linhua’s gaze flickers "Yes, I struck him the first time. He went down but he wasn’t out. I saw fire in between his fingers so I struck him again."

"The officers were there." The second judge narrows his eyes "You should have left him to be dealt with by them."

"Oh, really?" Xin Linhua turns to the officer who had made an account "When were you reporting and making some fancy speeches in your head, you forgot to include some minor details, I see."

Xin Linhua turns back to them.

"From the start of the confrontation to the end, it took them almost an hour to arrive. An hour! The institute is far too lax with security, they believe no one will try to kill each other in the institute. News flash– Sentinels go rogue. Scarce but true. And one almost tried to kill me so I defended myself."

Xin Linhua fumbled around in his pocket. His phone. He had left it in the room in a moment of panic.

"Damnit!" He turns to them once more "A video has been circulating the Internet for days now. Multiple actually. Log in and check, i assure you it’s the first thing you’ll see."

The judges exchange glances.

Just as Xin Linhua had guessed, their feeds are probably filled with cat videos and news. They haven’t seen the video so whatever the institute tells them is what they’ll believe!