Ranxue's eyes shifted as he caught on. "You want to settle it once and for all?"
Wu Youren answered calmly, "I can't go on... having people like this constantly harassing me."
"Fair point." The discipline inspector nodded, agreeing with the logic. "Smoking out a bigger figure will make it easier to keep a low profile in the long run."
He glanced left and right, then added, "In that case, I won't leave just yet. I'll wait right here for him to bring someone over!"
He didn't consider this acting high-profile. Taking offense at a minor lackey talking back to him and insisting on making an issue of it—was that too much to ask?
Much to his regret, he never did get to see the man return with reinforcements. When dusk began to fall, he had no choice but to head off on his own.
Early the next morning, just as the construction crew arrived, two work trucks rumbled up, five or six men standing on their running boards.
"Out of the way, out of the way!" the men shouted loudly. "Work is starting here!"
The middle-aged woman stepped forward to meet them. "We're currently clearing this land. What are you doing?"
"No need to loosen any more soil. This spot is going to be a landfill," came the self-righteous reply. "For burying battlefield debris. Move aside!"
These newcomers belonged to Red Pine's official logistics team. The fighting out on the battlefield had left a tremendous mess, and much of the debris had to be cleared away.
For example, battered blades could be melted down and reforged, but the slag left over from that process had to go somewhere, didn't it?
In the past, the volume of such refuse had been small, and an established disposal process had sufficed.
Now, however, the volume had skyrocketed, so picking a spot to dig a landfill was only natural.
The newcomers pointed out that while the location wasn't particularly remote and sat right next to the martial training ground, there was a latrine not far away, and almost nobody lived around here anyway.
As the argument grew heated, the elder of the five-person crew walked over to Wu Youren and whispered, "You'd better call the instructor, quickly."
Anyone could see that an operation like this was far beyond what a few words could resolve.
Before long, Instructor Ranxue hurried over and barked at the group to halt, declaring that no landfill would be built here!
Some among the crew recognized him and knew he was a discipline inspector. All they could say was that they were only following orders.
While they dared not step out of line with him, overall campus planning and layout had little to do with a discipline inspector.
Yet Ranxue dug in his heels. "I said no building here. Whoever gave the order, tell him to come see me!"
The crew immediately realized there was more to this matter than met the eye. They halted their work and called for the person in charge.
Before long, a motorcycle roared up, and a pale-faced, plump man dismounted.
The moment he got off, he frowned and snapped, "What are you doing, Ranxue? Stick to inspecting discipline. Academy administration is none of your business!"
"Feeling bold today, aren't you, Karl?" the discipline inspector said with a faint sneer. "Daring to talk to me like that?"
This man was also a knight, but of the subpar sort. He had barely scraped through his breakthrough after downing at least four or five Cloud-Soaring Pills.
Someone like him could never become an instructor, but his family had connections, making him the head of a subsidiary agency under Red Pine's administrative department.
The administrator from yesterday was an assistant to one of his subordinates.
Ranxue and this man had always kept to their own lanes. Ranxue was among the very best fighters among the knights, whereas Karl relied on connections with the upper echelons.
The discipline inspector had only been polite in the past because he didn't care to stir up trouble; being too rigid in his post made it easy to run into unexpected disaster.
Today, however, he was thoroughly annoyed, and his temper naturally flared.
Karl wasn't afraid of him, though a man accustomed to navigating the upper ranks generally spoke with a bit more tact.
"Ranxue, you just got back, so you don't know the situation. The academy planned this long ago. Don't go meddling... just go do whatever you're supposed to be doing."
At that moment, the administrator rushed over as well, whining aggrievedly, "Lord Karl, I explained it yesterday, I really did!"
"Planned?" Ranxue ignored the newly arrived nobody entirely.
With a cold laugh, he thrust an open palm toward the chubby man. "Show me the paperwork!"
"It was verbal!" Karl answered offhandedly. "Anomaly crises are emergencies, don't you know? Plenty of things have to be rushed through!"
This manner of handling business was very characteristic of martial academies and common at Red Pine, which gave him every reason to sound righteous.
"That won't fly," Ranxue countered nastily. He had found this fellow an eyesore for a long time. "This ground needs landscaping."
"You think I'm giving you face out of weakness?" The plump man's expression darkened.
He had been eager to knock the discipline inspector down a peg anyway. So what if his own combat strength fell short? He had plenty of sway at Red Pine!
"Go do your inspections like a good dog. On this plot of land, your word doesn't mean a damn thing! If you have the guts, produce some paperwork of your own!"
"Paperwork..." Seeing that the tension had peaked and not wanting to draw an outside crowd, Ranxue glanced at the boy. "Is it ready?"
"It is," Wu Youren answered with downcast eyes and a meek tone. Reaching into his robes, he produced the document and handed it to the discipline inspector.
"What?" Karl goggled in disbelief. "Where did that paperwork come from? Why didn't I know about it? Don't tell me it's a forgery!"
"Come on, let's step aside and chat." Ranxue grabbed the man by the collar in one swift motion. "We're not done here!"
"Keep your hands to yourself!" The chubby man wriggled and yelled at the top of his lungs. "Talk to me properly!"
*Smack!*
The discipline inspector raised his hand and delivered a slap across his face that rang out as loud as could be.
Then he sneered, "Do you really have a death wish?"
Karl was stunned senseless by the strike. He had always walked the bureaucratic path and rarely dealt with violence.
This time, he had been acting under the banner of academy administration, righteous and unyielding.
A discipline inspector was quite the opposite; their job was to inspect conduct, and that meant scrutinizing instructors just as much as students.
Ranxue rarely took things to heart. When he had previously caught Wu Youren, he had simply turned a blind eye and let it slide.
When he did choose to be serious, however, he was utterly merciless.
With his ears ringing from the slap, Karl instinctively shouted, "Ranxue, let's talk this out!"
*Smack!*
His head was buzzing... twice over!
"I offered to talk to you properly, and you had to go make a fool of yourself?"
Too terrified to speak another word, the chubby man was dragged stumbling into the small grove behind the latrine.
The administrator watched the scene unfold, then turned to look at the boy. It took him a long while before he managed, "You had paperwork... Why did you..."
Wu Youren met his gaze calmly, his clear eyes somewhat chilled. "You didn't ask. I told you, the instructor gave permission."
*Dammit...* The muscles on the administrator's face twitched violently. Gritting his teeth, he forced out three words through his throat: "You played me?"
Caught completely off balance, he couldn't adjust to the shift in roles: *You're nothing more than a foreign hostage, how dare you?*
Wu Youren held his gaze for over a dozen seconds before looking away—not out of fear, but sheer disdain.
He replied casually, "I never played you."
Not if one discounted the strong liquor, at least.
Even then, he had repeatedly warned the man to drink less. Indeed, his conscience was entirely clear!
Just over a minute later, Ranxue and Karl emerged from the grove.
The chubby man first waved toward the work trucks. "Pack it up. It was a misunderstanding."
With both cheeks swollen, his speech was slurred, but the general meaning came through clearly enough.
Then he shot Ranxue a venomous glare—*Humiliating me in front of so many people... just you wait.*
"Carry on with your work, then. I won't disturb you."
The discipline inspector wore a smile. Most people rarely saw him smile, but today was an exception.
He was in a splendid mood. Without moving his lips, he forced a few quiet words through clenched teeth: "Did I say you could leave?"
"We're not done yet!"
At those words, fury flashed through the chubby man's eyes, followed by a sudden shudder. His gaze cleared instantly.
As time passed, his eyes grew clearer and clearer.
*Erecting greenhouses, capped at under ten thousand square meters, no restrictions on area...* The most terrifying part was those last four words.
*Wait, isn't that boy just a hostage from Jin? Could it be that I've stumbled upon something monstrous?*
The work trucks drove off, and the five-person construction crew resumed their labor. Wu Youren sat to the side, quietly observing.
The administrator mumbled a few more things about being short on cash right now and how he would repay his debt as soon as possible.
Seeing that he received no response, he felt rather awkward, yet he didn't dare leave. All he could do was sit down on the other side, well away from the boy.
The two of them sat like a pair of statues.
Ranxue and the chubby man remained inside Wu Youren's room for about ten minutes before walking out, mounting the motorcycle, and riding straight off.
Seven or eight minutes later, the boy's watch buzzed, displaying three characters: "Salim."
"I knew it," Wu Youren sighed softly. Where in this world did hatred ever arise without reason?
Evidently, Life-and-Death Knot had suffered a setback and refused to let matters rest.
However, they had likely caught wind of something, making it inconvenient to show their faces directly. Instead, they had resorted to this petty tactic just to disgust him.
It didn't even count as retaliation—it was like a toad hopping onto your foot: it didn't bite, but it disgusted you all the same!
Still, this style was thoroughly reminiscent of the Hostage Manor guards: reluctant to fall out openly, but endlessly scheming with underhanded tricks behind the scenes.
Precisely because of that, the chubby man hadn't shown the slightest sign of backing down even when confronted by Ranxue.
Salim had been driven away by the discipline inspector that day, so Karl had naturally come prepared!
What the chubby man hadn't anticipated was that Wu Youren actually possessed official paperwork from Red Pine, kept hidden until now.
He who plots against others will inevitably be plotted against in turn. Did this mean he could finally enjoy some peace for a while?
The administrator, still sitting in the distance, noticed the boy looking at his watch and realized he had received a message. He stood up, intending to walk over.
Wu Youren paid him no heed, raising his hand to type a reply: "Understood. You don't need to pay him any mind."
Instructor Ranxue helping him shoulder this trouble was already the limit. It wasn't just about their shared interests; it was also about Instructor Hong Da's face.
If he expected the man to help him deal with Life-and-Death Knot on top of that, he would be overstepping his bounds.
The loose ends of this affair would have to be settled by himself sooner or later. Sending even a single extra word right now would show a lack of self-respect.
By the martial training ground, Instructor Ranxue looked at the line of text, let out a soft grunt, and muttered under his breath, "Sensible enough, at least..."
After a pause, he recalled another evaluation he had made of the boy. *Patient?*
After pondering for a few seconds, he typed out another line: "Karl, adjust the relevant administrator..."
Chapter 167