Chapter 164: Depart

The first of July marked the first day of the summer holiday for Martial Valor University’s students.

When Chen Chuan woke up, he went outside for some exercise before he started packing up for his trip. Since he had just gone on a trip not too long ago, he packed up the same things as when he went for his unrestricted defense permit test.

The day before, he had gone back home and told his family that his mentor wanted to bring him out to get more experience during the holidays. Yu Wan supported the idea fully. If Chen Chuan’s mentor wanted to bring him out for training, it meant that they had a good relationship, and that made her happy.

As they were having lunch, Nian Fuli said, “The students of Martial Valor University have to start their internship during their sophomore year, don’t they? Have you thought about where you want to go for your internship?”

The elite students of Martial Valor University reached the First Limit after their freshman year and could already be considered great martial artists. Among the few first-class students, the good ones would start interning at the Resolution Department. After they graduated, they would first become lecturers at Martial Valor University, then get promoted and take up important positions at the Resolution Department.

Some of those who didn’t like their freedom being restricted went to agent companies. The other departments also fought to get them to come to them for the internship. There weren’t many who went for an internship at the General Affairs Department.

Setting aside Yangzhi City, the six counties around the city also provided great benefits to their interns. After all, government officials prioritized their personal safety, especially when there was a resistance group lurking in the shadows. It made having security guards around them even more important.

The students could also help with law enforcement. After all, only martial artists could take down robbers who were also martial artists. If such people were allowed to run loose, they would cause great harm to society.

“Are you offering to ask the Constabulary to give me an internship, Uncle?” Chen Chuan asked with a grin.

“I couldn’t guarantee an internship for other people, but I’m sure you’ll be able to get one with no problem. We watched you grow up since you were a child, and we already consider you part of us,” Nian Fuli said with certainty.

Chen Chuan knew that only a handful of students were offered an internship at the Constabulary. The excuse they gave to the public was because the Constabulary was a force-based organization and wasn’t in urgent need of such students. In truth, it was because the government didn’t want Martial Valor University to be too close with the Constabulary.

Chen Chuan had a few guesses as to why that was.

“I’d like to wait a little longer and see whether my mentor has any arrangements for me,” he said.

“That’s fine too. You’re an elite student on a scholarship. Everyone will be fighting to have you as an intern. Your mentor also has a strong background and lots of connections. I’m sure he can recommend you to a good place.”

Unlike him, Chen Chuan was thinking about his upcoming clash with the Mutual Aid Group once Liu Zhan was transferred. If he could withstand the Mutual Aid Group’s attempts to bring him down, he would get recommended to go to Central City. By then, getting an internship would no longer be important to him.

Still, if he really had to pick a place for an internship, he would like to have one at the Cult Investigation Bureau. It would give him more exposure to secret cults, something which greatly interested him due to being shrouded in a heavy layer of mystery.

Yu Wan was wiping Nian Lu’s mouth when she suddenly remembered something. “Didn’t Gao Ming say that he’s going to visit us?”

“I think he’s coming tonight,” Chen Chuan answered.

“My cousin is a competitive and driven person in terms of her career, and her husband is never at home. Xiao Ming never had anyone to take care of him since he was young. Whenever I went over to his house, he was always alone. Such a pitiful boy,” Yu Wan lamented.

“Gao Ming is smart. Among my batch, except for the ones who came from rich families, only a handful of others could compete with him,” Chen Chuan said.

“Gao Ming is a promising young man. He’s smart, but he doesn’t use that intelligence to do bad things. His father taught him well,” Nian Fuli praised him.

Nian Mo looked up. “I’m smart too, Dad!”

Yu Wan huffed. “How exactly are you smart? Whenever you see something good, you fight for it, while when it’s bad, you push it to your sister. That’s a bad habit. I’m not expecting you to be as capable as your brother or cousin when you grow up; I just hope that you’ll stop making me angry one day.”

After lunch, Chen Chuan went back to his room to read. In the evening, Gao Ming finally arrived. Once Chen Chuan got a phone call from his cousin, he left his house and got into Gao Ming’s car.

Gao Ming went straight to the point. “I wasn’t actually surprised by the news about Liu Zhan. Based on what you told me, I did a simple personality analysis on the important people who might affect your chance of going to Central City and came to the conclusion that Liu Zhan was the one most likely to throw a wrench into our plans.

“Since he’s a governmental official with ambitions to further his career, it was only natural for him to ask to be transferred out of the Foreign Affairs Department after the case with the Merkarians. The important point was only in whether he could do it or not.

“The only change that will happen if the fact that you got evaluation points from the Foreign Affairs Department gets leaked is that you won’t be able to reach your target strength. If you think that you’re not strong enough to fight against the Mutual Aid Group, the best course of action is to leave the country as an exchange student or go somewhere as an intern. Drag this out for a while. When you’re confident, come back. Then, you can reduce the impact of this incident to a minimum.”

At this point, he nudged his glasses up a bit. “But if you think that even if you haven’t reached your target strength, it won’t have much of an impact, then all we need to do is to start all of our plans ahead of schedule.

“In other words, when it comes to fighting against the Mutual Aid Group, you have everything ready aside from raw strength. While the situation is bad, it’s not horrible. What are your thoughts? I’ll make adjustments according to them.”

“Mr. Cheng asked me to go on a crash course training session with Mr. He for a while,” Chen Chuan said.

“Are you talking about He Xiaoxing, the one you told me about before?” Gao Ming asked with sparkling eyes.

Chen Chuan nodded. “After you leave, I’m going to take a train and head to where Mr. He is training to meet him. Mr. He is really good at teaching students. I studied under him for one night before, and I learned a lot. If I can learn under him for a while, I should be able to make up for whatever I’m lacking in strength right now.”

Gao Ming smiled. “If that’s the case, then that whole thing with Liu Zhan might not be all that bad. Without it, Mr. Cheng wouldn’t have recommended you to learn under Mr. He, and Mr. He might not have taken the time to teach you.”

Chen Chuan agreed with that, because it was true. If it hadn’t happened, he was likely to have continued training on his own over most of the next semester. Cheng Zitong wouldn’t have been able to find a reason to ask He Xiaoxing to teach him, so sometimes, danger and opportunities appeared side-by-side.

“Alright. Let’s talk about this in detail after you return.”

Gao Ming rummaged through his briefcase and took out a stack of documents before handing it to Chen Chuan. “This is another plan I’ve come up with after compiling all the information. It should be even more refined now. Take a look at it when you’re back, and try to finish reading through everything in three days. I used a certain chemical to write this, so the words will disappear within three days.”

Chen Chuan took the papers. Just then, he remembered something. “By the way, I need to tell you something.”

Before the summer holiday, he had received a call from the Constabulary. Apparently, Zhuo Bao needed a lot of money for medical treatment after Chen Chuan beat him up. So, he was trying to sue him for it.

After failing to kill his target, a ruthless gang member chose to sue him instead. It sounded almost comical, but the truth behind it was chilling.

The Constabulary told him that he didn’t need to be afraid even if it went to court. Aside from getting under his skin, there was nothing about the case that would make things bad for him. Still, he needed a lawyer to handle the case.

Since one should always let professionals do their work, Chen Chuan decided to pass it onto Gao Ming to take care of it. After all, he was right here right now.

Once Gao Ming heard the whole story, he laughed. “This is easy. I’ll get it done. If you decide to see it through to the end, we might even be able to make him pay you.”

“That’s not necessary. I don’t have the time to waste here,” Chen Chuan said with a shake of his head.

“We’ll do as you say, cuz.” Gao Ming nodded.

After their conversation, Chen Chuan and Gao Ming parted ways, and Chen Chuan got ready to head to He Xiaoxing’s place. He spoke to Cheng Zitong about it, and he got the train ticket that day itself.

Since it was the summer holiday, no one was able to take the unrestricted defense permit test during this period of time. Hence, even if he left Yangzhi City for some time, no one would suspect anything.

Cheng Zitong wouldn’t need to hide outside.

Yangzhi City only had one railway leading out, but it hadn’t been repaired for a year now, so Cheng Zitong sent him to Upper Wharf City’s train station. From there, he would take a train to his destination.

“I’ll keep an eye on Liu Zhan, so don’t worry about him. Just focus on learning from Lao He. This is a rare chance. Don’t waste it,” Cheng Zitong said.

“Got it, Mr. Cheng.”

Chen Chuan then said goodbye to Cheng Zitong, got out of the car, and boarded the train.

He had thought that He Xiaoxing was training in some deserted wilderness, but after he got the train ticket, he learned that it was actually quite close to a famous tourist destination.

It was known as the Ancient City of Elegance. The palace and houses were connected to each other like an ant’s nest, and there were maze-like passages and underground tunnels inside the buildings and underneath. Apparently, even up to this date, no one had fully explored the underground tunnels, so only certain parts of it were open to the public. Even so, a large number of people went missing every year.

The city was two days away from Yangzhi City by train. Fortunately, this time, Chen Chuan paid out of his own pocket, so his train ticket came with a bed. After two days, he arrived at his destination at noon.

Since Cheng Zitong had sent a telegram, a driver was already waiting for him the moment he stepped out of the train station. He brought Chen Chuan straight to an old hostel and told him that He Xiaoxing had asked him to wait in the hostel. He would come find him in the afternoon.

Chen Chuan set down his luggage and went to the window to look at the scenery outside.

It wasn’t the peak season for travel, but there were still a lot of tourists in the city. The streets were full of life. Rumors had it that there was a lot of treasure buried in the Ancient City of Elegance. This wasn’t a rumor started to attract tourists, but the truth, since reports of treasure being unearthed have continued even in recent years.

On the way to the city, Chen Chuan had heard quite a number of people boasting that they could guide people into underground tunnels no one had explored before. They provided tour guide services to adrenaline junkies.

Chen Chuan did not care for treasure, but from the description of the city’s history, there was a certain air of mystery about the Ancient City of Elegance, and it piqued his interest. If he had time, he would try to learn more about the city.

Just as the sun was about to start setting, someone knocked on his door. A flicker of shock appeared on Chen Chuan’s face. He hadn’t sensed anyone approaching his door.

He stood up and went to the door. When he placed his hand on the handle to open it, he stopped, turned around, and saw the person sitting on his bed.