Chapter 560: Chapter 46 Settling Dust (Part 1)_3

Qin An sighed, softening his tone considerably.

“These last few days, I have been reflecting. The Qin family is a clan with deep roots in martial arts, and while martial arts matter, so does family. I inadvertently neglected the latter myself, so how could I fault you? Ultimately, these mistakes boil down to my failure to educate properly.”

“Now that you are all grown up, you have the ability to think independently. The minds of the young are delicate, with deeper feelings. Think about how to properly raise children, how to guide them if they stray from the path, and whether you should support and encourage them if they wish to follow their own hearts… That’s all I have to say. Go back and think it over.”

The elders all showed shameful expressions, unanimously responding, “Yes!”

The younger members of the Qin family all left. Qin Wu sat down on the sofa, speaking in a gruff voice, “Big brother, don’t get too worked up! It’s one thing for you to criticize the young ones, but to praise Qin Ming?”

“Second brother, use your head.” The third brother, Qin Wen, couldn’t hold back, “After all, isn’t Qin Ming still a member of our old Qin family? Wherever he goes, wherever he wins, it reflects well on us, showing that we taught him well!”

“Pah! He’s now called the Ming Guest, still Qin family? Besides, don’t the troubles that this damn kid has caused also fall on our heads?”

“Small-minded, you just can’t get over the fact that Qin Ming beat you down back in the day…”

“Nonsense!”

The old brothers got into a heated argument, which Qin An ignored, as it always happened whenever Qin Ming’s name came up. He turned his head and asked, “Where is Mr. Onowell now?”

Qin Wu pointed outside, “He’s been very busy these past couple of days!”

Qin An looked out the window across the devastated cityscape, nodding in understanding.

“He must be working hard! I will have a walk around as well.”

The city of Cangshou lay in ruins waiting to be rebuilt.

This wasn’t an exaggeration, but a plain description. The battles among the superpower users had left the entire city in tatters, originating in the Thorn District, cutting through the center, extending to the Two Wings District, and concluding at Dragon Head. Everywhere they struck, devastation followed. Students emerging from shelters began a new gamble: seeing whose house had survived.

Those lucky enough to have intact buildings typically lived behind the Thorn District. The Two Wings District suffered moderate damage, and the unluckiest were those in the center: many high-rises were uprooted by the Demon and used as weapons. Fortunately, the students, now accustomed to making the best of a bad situation, didn’t fret about the cost of rebuilding as the government would take care of it. Life would go on as usual.

In this chaos, Principal Onowell was run off his feet. He rushed to meet with the leaders from Cangshou District first, then strong-armed Reena Cecil into involving the scientists in the reconstruction of the city with the promise of research funds. Afterwards, he coordinated with Mo Yuankai to manage intelligence control, and tonight he was even scheduled to deliver a speech on behalf of the school regarding the previous night’s events…

His schedule was full, but there was something he had to do. The veteran principal scrapped his morning arrangements and personally headed to the site of last night’s meeting – the ruins of what had once been a cathedral.

After one night, the site had tents set up as temporary shelters. Members of the minor organizations that were routed during the battle at the cathedral, as well as some defectors from the larger organizations, were all gathered here, engaged in endless bickering.

“Where’s Aorus?!” “What should we do now…” “The Supreme Crown has failed, where are his promises?!” “Stop arguing, Aorus will…” “The Supreme Crown has already lost!!”

Onowell moved silently toward the crowd and noticed a punk youth he somewhat recognized, who was breaking down and yelling amidst the throng, “The Demon… the Demon will come for our lives! What shall we do?!”

Onowell couldn’t help but find it amusing. Young people were always like that, acting as if the sky was falling at the slightest obstacle, as if they had nowhere to turn.

He made his way to the center of the crowd and raised his voice, shouting, “Please be quiet!”

The noisy argument abruptly stopped, and everyone recognized the bald man. He was the former acting leader who had been opposed to Aorus. Now that the Supreme Crown had failed, it meant…

“Now, the turmoil is over! I hear you’re debating what to do next, so I’m here to tell you the answer.”

Many young faces turned pale. Onowell scanned them with an authoritative gaze and announced loudly, “You can go to school!”

Nobody spoke. The exhausted youths and street toughs stared at him blankly until finally, one voice broke the silence. The punk blinked in disbelief, “Huh?”

“Are you surprised?” Onowell asked.

“You this… Mr. Onowell…” he stuttered, “It’s impractical, we’ve offended the Demon, we… we picked the wrong side…”

“Firstly, Gongsun Ce doesn’t have the time to go after each and every one of you kids unless you continue to commit wrongdoing,” Onowell said, stepping in front of the young man and straightening his collar, “Secondly, indeed you made the wrong choice. Even though you were incited by those with ulterior motives, you indeed went astray—so what?”

He patted the youth’s shoulder, addressing everyone.

“You are still young! A single failure won’t ruin your lives; you have plenty of chances to return to the right path. As I said before, you can leave these so-called ‘organizations’, go to school, participate in work in society, and find new life opportunities. That is a right you inherently possess, a privilege uniquely for the youth!”

“But…” the punk mumbled incoherently, “no school will… no school would want to…”

“I am Principal Onowell,” Onowell said calmly, “One-third of the educational institutions in the central district were established with my investment. The opportunity to learn is always there, even in the city of Cangshou in the heavens.”

Tears began to emerge among the young people. The punk covered his face with his hands, overwhelmed with both shame and gratitude.

“Thank you… Thank you, teacher…”

Onowell felt a load lift off his shoulders. There was so much more to be done, but it was only at this moment that he truly felt a chapter of his “mission” come to an end.

Aorus Otimis’s whereabouts were unknown, but Onowell no longer felt the urge to pursue it further. In the end, whether they were the “Supreme Crown,” “Dragon Head,” “Plunderers,” or the “heroes” and “Demon” standing with him, they were all children in his eyes.

Adults don’t hold grudges against children.