Chapter 22: Five Spirit Parasite

The two instructors continued to drink and made no further mention of the incident. Neither of them blamed anyone for what happened.

Ximen Xuri was the only one at fault, yet he was already dead.

Fang Che had only acted in justified self defense, so he certainly couldn't be blamed.

What was he supposed to do? Stand there and allow himself to be killed?

The incident most likely couldn't have been prevented even if the dean had been personally serving as referee.

Of course, Gao Yunqi and Zhou Yi weren't to blame either. Who could've anticipated that Ximen Xuri would've hidden a live demon beast up his sleeve?

However, a student had died, and someone had to be held culpable. The academy's all-important reputation was at stake, so a statement had to be made.

The two of them had decided to take accountability in order to make things easy for the academy.

All of a sudden, a voice rang out from nearby.

"I didn't expect to see you here, teachers."

The two of them turned to discover Fang Che standing at the entrance of the booth with a polite smile on his face.

"Can I come in?"

"Fang Che? What are you doing here?"

"I just so happen to have two jars of fine wine, so I thought I'd find some place to enjoy them," Fang Che replied with a smile as he set the two jars of wine in question onto the table.

That's fifty-year-old Iron Will Wine!

The two instructors' eyes immediately lit up.

Iron Will Wine was the best wine in the world, and fifty-year-old jars were extremely hard to find.

However, neither of them took the bait.

"As expected of the honorable Young Master Fang to be able to afford such fine wine."

Fang Che merely smiled in response.

He had never intended to hide his actions from the world.

Perhaps other people cared about things like reputation and legacy, but Fang Che had chosen a unique path from the very beginning of this second life, so he had no regard for such trivial things.

"I'm sorry that the two of you were implicated by my actions. Of course, my apology isn't worth anything, and as for my character, I know myself better than anyone else, and others think whatever they please."

He sat down across from the two instructors as he continued, "I came here because I have something to say to the two of you, and I'll leave right after I'm done, so I hope you'll show me the courtesy of lending your ears."

At the same time, they were a little touched by this gesture, particularly by Fang Che's apology.

Even though he was technically the perpetrator, he was not to blame, and the fact that he had come here to apologize was a reflection of his attitude.

"On the battlefield, death is nothing out of the ordinary, but a new student dying in an academy tournament is obviously a major incident. Regardless of who was right or wrong, the fact of the matter is that someone died. Hence, scapegoats are required, and the two of you are the obvious choice.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

“I'm sure both of you already have future plans in mind, and I won't speak on those, but what I've come here to say is that the battlefield doesn't need two washed-up warriors well past their prime. However, the academy is in desperate need of experienced and upstanding teachers.

“If you go to the front lines, you can maybe slay a few enemies before you perish, and you'll perhaps leave behind positive legacies, but as teachers at the academy, you can play a hand in nurturing the future for year after year, generation after generation.

“Prodigies will be able to fulfill their full potential under your guidance, and even for those with mediocre aptitude, you can impart the right values upon them. The war against the Church of the Self-Righteous won't be won in a single generation. Only with a reliable and plentiful supply of future talent for generations to come will we have any chance of winning this war.

“The academy has been around for over a thousand years, and this incident will ultimately only be a tiny blemish in its extensive history, and it will quickly be forgotten and overshadowed by the glory wrought by the academy.

“Perhaps you'll argue that the academy has plenty of capable teachers, and that once you leave, you'll be replaced by even more capable successors, but let me ask you this: are you certain that everyone in the academy is to be trusted? Are you certain that there aren't any undercover agents from the Church of the Self-Righteous?

“Are you certain that after you leave, one of those undercover agents won't take your place? Is that not something that weighs on your conscience? Of course, you'll be regarded as heroes for accepting accountability and dedicating the rest of your lives to the battlefield, but a true hero would weather the storm and continue to perform their duties, to maximize their usefulness, even if such a decision seems more difficult or shameful.

“For the sake of the generations of future students to come, is a little shame really so difficult to bear?"

Fang Che opened the clay seals on the two jars of Iron Will Wine, filling the entire booth with a delectable aroma, following which he rose to his feet with a smile and concluded, "That's all I have to say. I'll leave you to enjoy your meal now."

With that, he extended a parting bow toward the pair of stunned instructors, then left the booth, closing the door behind him.

After a long silence, Gao Yunqi sighed, "Looks like the stories I heard about him may have clouded my judgment."

A wry smile appeared on Zhou Yi's face as he chuckled, "I've been teaching for half my life, but I've become the student today. What a strange feeling."

The two of them exchanged a smile, and their outlook on life had suddenly changed.

"So... You still leaving or what?"

"Nah, I'll stay and tough it out. How about you?"

"I'll be fine! I have thicker skin than you!"

The two of them burst into laughter before turning their attention to the two open jars of Iron Will Wine.

"What a thoughtful kid. He's worried that we wouldn't drink them, so he's forced our hand by opening them."

"Should we drink them then?"

"Why not? We've already pledged ourselves to be shameless, where's the harm in accepting a bribe from a student?"

"After I'm finished, I'm going back to the academy to breathe right onto Assistant Dean Huang's face, then test him to see if he can tell how old this Iron Will Wine is!"

"While you're at it, tell him we're not going anywhere, and that he'll have to handle this mess!"

"Ha! I can't wait to see the look on his face!"

***

Fang Che was in deep thought the entire way back to his manor.

As usual, Sun Yuan was waiting for him.

"How did it go?"

"I beat Ding Jieran, but I didn't kill or disable him. I just killed Ximen Xuri yesterday, and if I do it again, I'll most likely be expelled."

"Of course. If you kill all three of them, there's no way you'd be able to stay at the academy. Beating them is already a great outcome."

Sun Yuan was naturally firmly on his disciple's side.

"Remember to place yourself above all else at all times. What do you think of the final seed?"

"I can take care of him easily!" Fang Che declared with a smile.

Sun Yuan was ecstatic to hear this. "Great! I'll send a report to Pope Yin tonight. I'm sure he'll be very pleased."

"Master, there's something I want to ask you, but I'm not sure if it's appropriate."

"Spit it out! Are you worried I'll sell you out? If it really is an inappropriate question, I'll just pretend I never heard it," Sun Yuan scoffed.

Fang Che flashed him a sheepish smile, then asked, "How are you communicating with Pope Yin, Master? It seems like you can reach him very easily."

This had one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of Fang Che in his past life.

The members of the Church of the Self-Righteous were able to communicate extremely quickly with one another.

They had been communicating with a ridiculous degree of speed and efficiency for countless years, and even after the Guardians invented soul jade pendants for communication, that was still completely outmatched by whatever communication method the enemy was using.

At the very least, one had to possess an Emperor-tier cultivation base to use a soul jade pendant, but that was clearly no such restriction for the members of the Church of the Self-Righteous.

"Oh, you had me worried for a second. That's an easy question to answer: we use communication jade," Sun Yuan replied.

"What's that?"

"Communication jade is distributed by the headquarters, and there's a virtually limitless supply of them. I don't know how they're made, but they're certainly very convenient and simple to use," Sun Yuan replied. "All members of our church have something called a Five Spirit Parasite in their body. You also have one, and it was planted in you by the pills given to you by Su Yue."

So that's the key!

Fang Che had always known that Five Spirit Parasites harbored many secrets, but never had he imagined that they could be used for communication.

How does that work?

To keep up his act of naivete, he exclaimed in an ecstatic manner, "I knew Brother Su always had my best interest in mind! He gave me something so precious!"

Sun Yuan's expression stiffened slightly upon hearing this.

How am I supposed to explain this to him?

After some thought, he decided there was no point in giving an explanation.

In any case, Su Yue was already dead, so it hardly mattered what Fang Che thought of him.