"Ding~dong——"
As the campus bell rang, the elderly teacher in his sixties paused and said, "Let me just finish this part before I let you go, you won't miss your lunch."
"Tsk." Li Ying, who sat next to Qian Yuya, muttered, "Great, great, now more than half of our lunch break is gone."
Qian Yuya nodded in agreement, since after a whole morning of classes, she felt a bit worn out too. After all, junior high wasn't just about liberal arts; every student had to do Combat Technique drills early in the morning—quite a few kids here aspired to get into military school, so it made sense to get familiar with Combat Technique ahead of time.
The last class of the morning was history, and the history teacher was an old pedant who'd been at it for decades. His lectures weren't just boring—he loved running late, driving students' bodily urges to the brink—plenty of kids liked to risk taking a dump right after history class.
More importantly, neither the Cultural College nor the Military Academy cared about history scores, so everyone just sort of went through the motions with this class, half-listening at best.
Qian Yuya was no different, her mind already floating off to the clouds, already thinking about what to eat for dinner that night. Whenever she thought about dinner, she remembered how weird Qian Yuliu had acted last night, and Qian Yuliu had started feeling a bit unfamiliar to her, like the whole person had become... become...
Become kind of dumb...
In the midst of overthinking, Qian Yuya suddenly noticed Fang Wenhua looking at her from across the classroom. The two made eye contact and Fang Wenhua pulled a funny face and raised his eyebrows. Qian Yuya covered her mouth, eyebrows arching as she grinned, and Fang Wenhua chuckled right back at her.
"Fang Wenhua, is the three rises of the Lie Sect really that funny?" The history teacher noticed Fang Wenhua's little antics and suddenly raised his voice.
Fang Wenhua jumped in his seat, quickly sitting up straight and shaking his head, "Not funny, not funny."
The history teacher looked down at the group of young students, sighed, and poked at the blackboard with a piece of chalk, "History may not get you kids into the college of your dreams, but it can make you see the bigger picture. In the 422nd year of the Radiance Era, the traitor Wei Zhi seized two-thirds of the nation, staged a coup, and announced the official end of the Second Radiant Dynasty. That same year, the Lie Sect proclaimed an emperor in Jingguan County and over the next ten years swept through warlords like Wei Zhi and Wu Meng—this revitalized Radiance, what we call the Third Radiant Dynasty. In more than two millennia of the Radiance Era, disasters and wars have been countless, but every time the world fell apart, heroes and warriors stepped forward to save Radiance's unity. This is what the people want, and what the Celestial Mandate dictates..."
Suddenly, panicked shouting could be heard in the hallway outside, "The Statistical Department's in the college!"
"The Statistical Department is here to arrest people!"
"What?" Students in the classroom couldn't sit still anymore, and they all rushed noisily out into the hallway. The history teacher didn't try to stop them; he only sighed, hunched over, and jabbed at the blackboard, "Remember, unity is the Celestial Mandate, the Celestial Mandate..."
"The Statistical Department came to our school to arrest someone?" Li Ying grabbed Qian Yuya's arm, looking both scared and curious, "Are there rebel Backlit Party members inside our school? I heard the whole Statistical Department is a bunch of psychos who kill without blinking and love torturing suspects. What if they just... oh my god, let's go see!"
Despite how panicked she sounded, Qian Yuya noticed Li Ying looked downright excited, and couldn't help feeling speechless—Li Ying's dad was the Chief Secretary of Star Engraving County, basically the Governor's right-hand man. She'd been spoiled since childhood and never known any real hardship, so it made sense she wasn't afraid of the Statistical Department.
Qian Yuya really wasn't interested in any of this, but Li Ying dragged her along to check things out in the hallway anyway. But before she could even get a good look, Qian Yuya heard a loud shout from far away, "Qian Yuliu, you actually dare to show yourself in front of me!?"
Bro!?
Qian Yuya squeezed through the crowd for a better look, spotting a whole group of people on the field. Her usually tall and dashing Combat Technique teacher Fang Chuanliu suddenly seemed like a different man—face twisted in rage, hair bristling, rushing at a Statistical Department officer in a black vest, attacking with dazzling Combat Technique palm strikes, power slicing through the air!
Qian Yuya still remembered the first time she saw Fang Chuanliu—that was when they'd all just started school, and he was their Combat Technique instructor. He'd shown off the destructive power of Combat Technique for them.
With just the lightest palm strike, Fang Chuanliu had left a deep imprint in solid stone!
After that, no matter how much of a troublemaker a student was, everyone acted as tame as a quail in Combat Technique class!
Later they found out that Fang Chuanliu was a top graduate of Star Engraving Military Academy, strong as hell, no less than some actual officers, and ranked as one of the best fighters in all Star Engraving County!
But even with Fang Chuanliu going all-out in a strike filled with hatred, the middle school kids watched as that Statistical Department officer simply traced out a light arc with both hands—
Clang!
The sound of an explosion of light, like steel grinding steel!
Fang Chuanliu's attack was not only perfectly neutralized; even his right hand was grabbed and twisted into submission, and Fang Chuanliu sweated buckets and dropped to one knee in pain!
"Qian... Yuliu! You damned traitor who murdered your own teacher! If you've got any guts, then kill me! Kill me!"
"I'm a Statistical Department agent, not some criminal thug." The officer pinned Fang Chuanliu down and calmly took out handcuffs, saying, "I'm just following orders, arresting Backlit Party suspects. If you're innocent, the Statistical Department will clear your name."
"Then why did you kill Mr. Lin, why!" Fang Chuanliu's face pressed to the ground, glaring up at him, furious enough to bite through his own lip.
The officer didn't answer, just signaled the other agents to drag Fang Chuanliu back to the car. As they pulled him away, Fang Chuanliu suddenly burst into wild laughter, "You murder your mentor and arrest your classmates, Qian Yuliu, you'll end up a hundred times, a thousand times worse than us. I'll live, I'll live long enough to see the day you die without a grave!"
The students in the teaching building erupted into chatter, while the principal and other teachers didn't try to stop the agents, nor did they even try to talk to them. They just stood off to the side, faces clouded with gloom.
This was when the officer turned back to glance at the students inside the teaching building, and the building immediately fell silent. Even from dozens of yards away, a lot of students didn't dare meet his eyes, looking away rather than risk eye contact.
Only Qian Yuya stared at him unflinching, holding his gaze until their eyes met. Once their eyes locked, the officer turned and got into the car, driving off from Star Engraving National Junior High.
"I can't believe the Statistical Department actually came to school to arrest someone..."
"Did you guys hear that? That guy killed a teacher and now he's back arresting classmates—he's got no shame, attacking his own!"
"My neighbor got taken by the Statistical Department too; never came back. I heard he died. Looks like Mr. Fang is finished as well."
The students buzzed about, as Qian Yuya drifted dazedly back to the classroom. Just then, Fang Wenhua quietly approached her, whispering, "Yuya, Yuya."
"Hm?"
"How about I walk you home after school? You saw what those Statistical Department freaks are like. Now they're even arresting students on campus—who knows what they'll do next. It'll be safer if we head out together..."
Qian Yuya stopped, shot Fang Wenhua a sideways look, and spat out a single word, "Scram."
"Huh?" Fang Wenhua froze, thinking he must have misheard.
"Get lost!" Qian Yuya shouted furiously, shoving the bewildered Fang Wenhua aside and going back to her seat. Li Ying, trailing after Qian Yuya, gave Fang Wenhua a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, "Next time, think before you open your mouth."
Fang Wenhua still couldn't figure it out, "What did I say wrong?"
Li Ying ignored him, and headed back to her seat—only to notice that Qian Yuya was staring out of the window, face turned away so Li Ying couldn't see her expression. Li Ying tiptoed around it and asked gently, "Hey, that Statistical Department guy... is he related to you?"
It wasn't exactly a tough guess—Qian wasn't a common surname or anything.
Qian Yuya turned toward her, taking out a handkerchief to wipe her right hand. Li Ying noticed there were deep bite marks on the knuckle of Qian Yuya's right thumb—obviously fresh.
"He's my brother." Qian Yuya said calmly, "Do you know anything about him?"