Chapter 83: Old Man Shen's Wrath

Cripple Hong was terrified to see that even Fan Tiantiao had no authority over Fang Che, so much so that he didn't even dare to groan in pain anymore.

Holy shit! Even the deputy hall master can't do anything to him! I should count myself lucky that he didn't beat me to death!

All of the female administrators were ecstatic! They had been dying to give Cripple Hong a beating, and beating Cripple Hong vicariously through Fang Che was almost as satisfying.

However, their satisfaction quickly turned to astonishment and concern after watching Fang Che come into direct opposition against the deputy hall master.

We know you feel hard done by, but you can't just lash out at your superiors like that!

However, everyone could tell that at the moment, Administrator Fang had an extremely short fuse, and anyone that bothered him while he was in this frame of mind would be made to regret it.

Tang Zheng had already returned from the merits department with three thousand more merit points for Fang Che.

One hundred of those were for assisting his upperclassmen from White Cloud Warrior Academy, while the remaining 2,900 accounted for the other twenty-nine Lords.

With that, Fang Che's merit point total had risen to 17,470, only just over 2,500 away from a promotion to a first-rank administrator.

He took a glance at the time, then rose to his feet and quickly vanished from the administration hall.

Zhao Ying'er hurriedly stood up to run after him, but he was already gone, leaving her to stand at the entrance by herself in a dejected silence.

***

At the southeastern headquarters, An Ruoxing had finally found Zhao Shanhe in the afternoon after searching for him for an entire day, and he immediately began pummeling the latter in fury.

"Why the fuck did you send me instead of going yourself?! Do you know how embarrassed I felt in front of all of those people?! And just how much of a petty bastard are you to be picking on an administrator when you're the chief supervisor of the southeast?! I didn't believe the rumors, but it seems like I was blind! What the hell did Fang Che do to deserve this? I can't believe I have to serve as a deputy to scum like you! Don't run! Get back here!"

An Ruoxing's face was purple with rage, and in the blink of an eye, he had already run several circles around the building in pursuit of Zhao Shanhe, who could only flee for his life.

His cultivation base was superior to An Ruoxing's but not by much, and besides, fighting over something like this would be far too embarrassing.

"Don't be angry, Brother An. Let me explain. Hey! Don't draw your sword! Listen to me, for heaven's sake!"

"I don't want to hear anything from you!" An Ruoxing snapped as he lashed out with his sword.

Even though he had pinned the blame on Zhao Shanhe the night before, that still didn't change the fact that he was the one standing on that stage, bearing all of the humiliation!

Zhao Shanhe was beginning to grow angry as well.

You think I want to do this?! Master Nine is making me do it! I'm a victim as well! My reputation has been completely dragged through the mud! Why can't you just take an arrow for me one time?! Who am I supposed to complain to? Master Nine?

As long as Fang Che continues to exist, my reputation is only going to be tainted further and further! What am I supposed to do? You feel humiliated? I've suffered ten times your humiliation, and there's still more to come!

With that in mind, Zhao Shanhe flew into an indignant rage as he yelled, "So what if I'm targeting him? He was reported, so I have to investigate him! There are many points of suspicion surrounding him, so why shouldn't I oppress him? Am I wrong for doing my job?"

Before An Ruoxing had a chance to respond, a cold and furious voice rang out from nearby.

"So you really

are

doing this on purpose!"

Immediately thereafter, a streak of almighty swordlight descended out of the sky, aimed directly at Zhao Shanhe!

It was Old Man Shen, and this was an all-out attack, one that was fueled by irrepressible fury!

He had come to pick a fight with Zhao Shanhe, and after hearing a personal admission from the latter that he was indeed intentionally targeting Fang Che, he had been driven mad with rage, lashing out with all his might without a second thought.

Zhao Shanhe felt as if his entire body had been plunged into a glacial pit, and a sense of potent, life-threatening peril instantly welled up in his heart.

His cultivation base was far superior to Old Man Shen's, but he had been caught completely off guard, overwhelmed by Old Man Shen's killing intent before he even had a chance to muster up his cultivation base, and in this situation, there was a very real chance that he could be killed!

Zhao Shanhe hurriedly drew his sword to defend himself while yelling, "Help me, An Ruoxing! Don't just fucking stand there!"

An Ruoxing was also astonished, and it took Zhao Shanhe's desperate pleas to snap him back to his senses.

"Shen Zhixuan! Stop!"

He hurriedly flew onto the scene to intercept Old Man Shen, but the latter refused to stop, completely disregarding his own safety as he came plummeting down with the vengeful fury of a thousand suns.

A thunderous howl of agony rang out as Zhao Shanhe was sent crashing into the main building of the southeastern headquarters with a massive gash sliced into abdomen.

If An Ruoxing hadn't intercepted the attack, his body would've been sliced into two, and for a warrior of his caliber, that wouldn't have been a lethal injury, but it would've certainly required a long and arduous recovery.

Old Man Shen stormed into the main building like a starving tiger pouncing on his prey.

"Zhao Shanhe! I'm going to skin you alive!"

"Calm down, Shen Zhixuan!" An Ruoxing yelled, injecting as much authority into his voice as he could muster.

"Calm down my arse! Where is Zhao Shanhe?!"

Old Man Shen's rationality had been completely overwhelmed by his fury as he followed the trail of blood in search of Zhao Shanhe.

All of the most powerful warriors of the southeastern headquarters instantly arrived on the scene to surround him.

"Calm down, Shen Zhixuan!"

"Get out of my way!" Old Man Shen snapped, making no effort to suppress his killing intent.

"Shen Zhixuan! If you keep this up, we will have no choice but to restrain you by force!"

"Use all the force you want! I'm going to kill Zhao Shanhe, then kill myself to atone for my crimes!"

However, at this point, Old Man Shen knew that this was already the end of the road for him. All of the people around him possessed cultivation bases equal or superior to his, so there was no way he would be able to get away.

"Come with me, Shen Zhixuan. Let's have a chat," An Ruoxing said, taking a deep breath to compose himself.

"I have nothing to chat with you about! I'm going to kill Zhao Shanhe! If I can't kill him today, then I'll kill him tomorrow! If I still can't kill him, then I'll kill him the day after that! As long as I still draw breath, Zhao Shanhe is my sworn enemy! Zhao Shanhe! What are you, a fucking turtle hiding in its shell? Come out and face me!"

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Shen Zhixuan, we're going to have to detain you," one of the warriors around him declared with tightly furrowed brows.

However, An Ruoxing hurriedly stepped in and said, "There's no need for that. I can understand why Old Man Shen is so angry. Let's let him go this one time."

"I don't care! I wasn't planning to leave anyway! Regardless of whether you detain me or not, I'm still going to kill Zhao Shanhe!"

Zhao Shanhe had already fled to the rooftop, and he quickly consumed a few healing pills, his entire body trembling with rage.

I'm the fucking victim here! Why're you all coming after me?!

Unable to bear this torment any longer, Zhao Shanhe decided that he had to report this matter to Master Nine.

With that in mind, he immediately set off from the rooftop.

Down below, Old Man Shen instantly sprang up into the air upon sensing Zhao Shanhe's spirit power fluctuations, only to be intercepted by everyone.

He was forced back down onto the ground, while Zhao Shanhe had already vanished out of sight.

"Fine! If I can't kill him today, then I'll just have to find another chance some other time!"

With that, he stormed away to leave.

"Let's have a chat in my office, Old Man Shen. I haven't seen you in such a long time," An Ruoxing said.

"Piss off!" Old Man Shen snapped, then flew straight back in the direction of the White Cloud Prefecture.

An Ruoxing heaved a long sigh of relief, then flew up onto the rooftop before looking into the distance.

Where did Zhao Shanhe go?

He took a glance at the carnage down below, then sighed, "Let's clean up this mess."

"We should've made Shen Zhixuan pay for damages!" one of the warriors on the scene sneered. "Ungrateful old bastard! My wife even tried to set him up with a partner all those years ago! She set him up with twelve women, and he rejected every single one of them!"

"It's fine, I'll pay for him," An Ruoxing sighed. "It's not like he has any money. Do any of you know which clan it was that reported Fang Che? Somehow, they've got Boss Zhao completely wrapped around their finger!"

"I was wondering the same thing myself! It's like Boss Zhao has a personal vendetta against Fang Che or something!"

Clearly, no one had an answer to An Ruoxing's question, and he began to oversee the clean-up effort in a grumpy manner.

Zhao Shanhe had run away and left the entire mess for him to clean up.

***

Zhao Shanhe rushed straight into the Guardians headquarters, making no effort to hide the massive gash across his abdomen.

"I want to see Master Nine!"

Everyone was astonished by the sight of the terrible state that he was in.

What happened to him? It looks like he was almost cut in half!