CHAPTER 35: THANK YOU SO MUCH

A major contribution like this one warranted a reward, and the prospect of having to reward Fang Che immediately gave Fan Tiantiao a headache.

He took a glance at Chen Ruhai, only to discover that the latter was massaging his glabella again. With the same hand that he had used to rub his feet.

Fan Tiantiao hurriedly turned away before he could throw up.

"Didn't Su Yue die?"

"No. Where did you hear that from? Brother Su is alive and well!"

"Then where is he?"

"He left. He still has to carry out a secret mission, so he couldn't stay here."

"What secret mission? What's his identity?"

"I can't tell you that. Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. I can't sell out Brother Su after everything that he's done for me!"

Chen Ruhai and Fan Tiantiao exchanged another glance with each other.

"You've put us in a rather difficult situation..."

"There's sufficient evidence to prove that these people are members of the Divine Heavenly Church. Is that not enough?" Fang Che asked in a puzzled manner.

It is, but that's not the problem! This entire affair is highly suspicious! And you're a member of the One Heart Church! What are you doing eradicating Divine Heavenly Church bases?! Do you not feel guilty killing your own allies like this? These church members really are something else...

"So what're you doing right now?" Chen Ruhai asked as he glanced at the carriages.

"I'm taking their bodies and objects of identification back to the academy for a reward. I can't let these merit points go to waste! Of course, my main priority was to kill these members of the Divine Heavenly Church, but I'm certainly not going to pass up an opportunity to reap some benefits in the process. I put my life on the line here!"

Chen Ruhai and Fan Tiantiao had no response to this.

Everything he says is so logically sound! What are we supposed to say?

It was a very clear-cut case.

The Ximen Clan had contacted members of the Divine Heavenly Church at this secret base to target Fang Che.

The news had been leaked, and Su Yue had swooped in to save the day.

He had left the bodies and evidence behind for his close friend to claim the reward, while he himself vanished into the night without a trace.

"Who are Su Yue's master and uncle-master?"

"I don't know. Their faces were concealed the entire time."

"Where did they go?"

"I don't know."

"Did they say anything to you?"

"They relayed a message of gratitude from Brother Su to me."

It was clear that this line of questioning was going nowhere, so they began questioning the people in the area.

Such a loud commotion had naturally woken up everyone in the nearby vicinity, and Sun Yuan had intentionally relayed "Su Yue's" message to Fang Che loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Hence, all of the witnesses corroborated Fang Che's story.

The story was completely watertight.

Fang Che was a hero!

By inadvertently killing Ximen Xuri, he had already spoiled the Divine Heavenly Church's plans. Otherwise, Ximen Xuri was a prodigy that would've surely been invested heavily into by the White Cloud Academy.

Hence, Fang Che was a hero as far as the academy was concerned as well.

Additionally, he had plucked out a Divine Heavenly Church secret base and wiped out everyone inside, making a major contribution to both the Hall of Protectionists and White Cloud Warrior Academy!

On top of that, he had also exposed the Ximen Clan, so the entirety of Divine Cloud City, which was home to the Ximen Clan, was also indebted to him!

Countless people had been saved thanks to Fang Che's actions here, yet Chen Ruhai and Fan Tiantiao were very reluctant to admit his heroic deeds.

Somehow, Fang Che never failed to put them in a bad mood.

"Rest assured, I'll cooperate fully with the Hall of Protectionists in this process, and I'll answer any questions asked of me to the best of my abilities. Also, I don't know if the details of what transpired here should be revealed to the public. I'll leave that to your better judgment. I'm still very young and inexperienced. I'm just very glad that I was able to play a role at all," Fang Che said in a humble manner.

Of course this matter has to be kept secret! We could take advantage of this situation to potentially lure out some really big fish!

With that in mind, Chen Ruhai and Fan Tiantiao immediately sprang into action, putting confidentiality measures into place to ensure secrecy.

As for Fang Che, the Hall of Protectionists sent out two people to escort him and the bodies back to White Cloud Warrior Academy, and the two Protectionists would also be responsible for correspondence with the academy over this matter.

The Hall of Protectionists had already gotten involved, so they had to reap some benefits as well.

***

An hour later, they arrived at the entrance of the academy, and it was still very early in the morning.

The academy had already been notified, and there was staff waiting at the entrance.

Everyone was rather dismayed at the sight of the carriages full of bloody bodies.

Given how early it was, the veil of night still hadn't been lifted, and the sight of those bodies in the darkness was quite a harrowing one for everyone.

The academy staff examined the bodies and their corresponding objects of identification one by one, confirming their identities and their cultivation bases.

The bodies were then taken away to be disposed of, while records were made and the objects of identification were retained.

From there, it was time to determine Fang Che's reward, which was ascertained at around first light.

"All of the merit points are to go to you?"

"Yes."

The instructor from the evaluation office took a long glance at Fang Che, then declared, "The two Great Grandmasters amount to sixteen points, the two Lesser Grandmasters amount to six points, and the four Warrior Masters amount to four points, adding up to a total of twenty-six points."

"There were no Generals among them?"

Fang Che was a little taken aback to hear this. According to Qian Sanjiang, there was supposed to have been a General in the base.

"No."

"A Great Grandmaster is only worth eight points?"

"If you have any objections, you can take them to the dean. I'm only responsible for issuing rewards and punishments, and I don't have to explain myself to you," the instructor replied in a stoic fashion.

You want me to go to the dean over such a trivial matter?

"You can go and get ready for your lessons for the day now."

"I was out the entire night..."

"So? Does that give you an excuse to skip your lessons?"

"What I was saying is that I was out the entire night eradicating threats to society, so right now, I feel fully invigorated and can't wait for my lessons!"

The instructor from the evaluation office departed to report this matter to his higher-ups.

In his mind, it was a major revelation that the Ximen Clan was a subsidiary clan to the Divine Heavenly Church, but unbeknownst to him, the academy's top brass was already aware of this.

In the morning, countless people gathered around Lü Bank, howling in despair. These were all people who had money deposited in the bank.

Their financial loss was certainly regrettable collateral damage, but there was nothing that Fang Che could do about that. It wasn't like he could've stopped Qian Sanjiang and Sun Yuan from looting the bank at the time.

Only time would tell whether the Hall of Protectionists and the local authorities would be able to provide these victims with some compensation.

***

That afternoon.

Yin Shengong sent an emergency message to the pope of the Divine Heavenly Church.

"Old Man Kou, I've received an important piece of information pertaining to your Divine Heavenly Church."

Pope Kou Yifang was in a rather foul mood, and his response reflected as much. "What is it?"

The seed that the Divine Heavenly Church had planted into White Cloud Warrior Academy had been killed during the new student tournament, much to Kou Yifang's dismay, and speaking with Yin Shengong at a time like this was one of the last things he wanted to do.

"I hear Ximen Xuri is your church's seed, is that right?"

"Have you contacted me to gloat?!"

"No. I heard that the Ximen Clan is also a subsidiary clan to your church, right?"

"What the hell are you trying to say, Yin Shengong? Hurry up and spit it out!"

Kou Yifang could feel his own blood pressure rising.

"Don't be like that, Old Man Kou. I've contacted you with an urgent piece of information, and I assure you that you'll be thanking me once I reveal to you what it is."

"So what is it then?"

Yin Shengong began guffawing like a hyena.

"You actually don't know? You need to step up your game and be more alert, Old Man Kou! Honestly, you would've been in massive trouble had I not found it in the kindness of my heart to contact you!"

Kou Yifang took a deep breath to compose himself, and the tone of his messages immediately changed.

"Please forgive me for my rudeness earlier, Brother Yin. What exactly is it that's happened?"

"Well, seeing as you asked so nicely..."

Hurry up and spit it out! If you don't actually have anything important to say, I'm going to come over right now and beat the shit out of you!

"The Ximen Clan has already been exposed. As for how, I'm sure you'll be able to find that out yourself fairly easily. I was tipped off by my connections in White Cloud Warrior Academy, and the incident only just took place today."

Kou Yifang was astonished to hear this.

"Right now, White Cloud Warrior Academy and the Hall of Protectionists are scheming to try and use the Ximen Clan to lure out some big fish, so you better watch out."

"Thank you, Brother Yin! I owe you one!"

Before he could end the correspondence, Yin Shengong sent one final message: "Don't mention it. It's only right that we help one another out where we can."

"Indeed. Thank you so much!"