It was a silent scene, yet one heavy with complex emotion. Some in the crowd were furious, some were heartbroken, and others still hadn't fully wrapped their minds around what had happened.
Li Sen seemed to have finished speaking; he offered no explanation whatsoever. Up on the third-floor walkway, Chen Buer had not spoken either.
The footfalls that broke the quiet came from the direction of the conference hall. Han Qingyu's figure appeared once more.
Seeing him, the Azure soldiers present felt a twinge of shame. Han Qingyu had fought with everything he had to create the conditions to keep Ye Jian here, yet Ye Jian had slipped away like this. Given Master Longchi's circumstances, Ye Jian might well escape completely.
Then Wu Xu and Rusty Sister slipped out from behind a window of the office building, quietly walking over to stand beside Wen Jifei and Yang Qingbai.
The four of them lined up against the wall, turning their heads along with everyone else to watch Han Qingyu stride toward the center of the square, carrying the blue starlight column sword wrapped in curtain fabric on his shoulder.
Indeed, Han Qingyu had somehow scavenged a tattered piece of curtain fabric, bundled his precious column sword tight inside it, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and was now strolling unhurriedly toward the crowd.
His expression was blank and placid, looking for all the world as though nothing had happened.
*What is he doing?!* people couldn't help thinking. *Because it's too good an item, he doesn't want to show it off?*
*But it was already exposed! Can doing this erase everyone's memories? Just because it's wrapped up, does that mean the thousands of people here didn't just see that incredible blue starlight column sword?!*
The crowd was dumbfounded. Everyone clearly knew that this shouldn't be the focus right now, yet their attention was helplessly drawn right back to him.
"So... should we play along with him?"
"Let's play along. If it weren't for everyone just now, he probably wouldn't have pulled out that awesome greatsword in the first place."
"Then nobody ask, and nobody pry."
"Yeah."
Upstairs, Chen Buer shifted his gaze for the first time since the battle ended, glancing over at Han Qingyu. That single glance... left the old man with quite mixed feelings.
*What in the world is he pulling? Afraid I'll look into that column sword, so he hid it?! Tsk, look at you, thinking so small...*
*You're going to be the death of me, sigh...*
*As an Azure genius, can't you care even a little bit about serious business? Right now, down there...*
The old man's temper flared, until he ended up caught between tears and laughter. Yet when he turned back, his mood had inexplicably lightened a little.
Not a single person in the square spoke.
Han Qingyu walked straight to the center of the square and found the rectangular black wooden case he had dropped earlier.
Squatting down, Han Qingyu unhurriedly popped open the case, then placed the blue starlight column sword, together with the curtain fabric wrapped around it, back inside the black case.
*There's a traitor. Yeah, but if even the Azure high command can't resolve something like this, what can a peon like me do about it? Ye Jian got away... If he's gone, so be it. Plague Chicken and I will just have to be more careful from now on and try not to run into him.*
As Han Qingyu thought this, he covertly sneaked a glance up at Chen Buer on the third floor with his peripheral vision.
*The atmosphere right now is so awkward, and there's such a massive matter right in front of them. The old man shouldn't have the spare attention to ask me about the column sword, right?*
This was the reason Han Qingyu had chosen this moment to come out, and why he had wrapped the column sword up.
As long as Chen Buer displayed a turn-a-blind-eye attitude right now and didn't question it, everyone else present would automatically assume after the fact that the Legion Commander knew, approved, or at least tacitly consented... He could simply muddle his way through like this.
In the future, nobody would question why he was allowed to keep the blue starlight column sword either. After all, the Legion Commander had seen it right there on the scene and hadn't questioned it or said a single word. By that time, the fact that the starlight column sword belonged to him would be set in stone.
*Clack!* The lid of the black wooden case shut.
The latch flipped down.
*Rattle, rattle.* Han Qingyu flicked it twice with his fingers, but the latch wouldn't fasten properly. Inspecting it, he saw that the upper piece seemed loose; he would need to put in a screw and tighten it when he got back.
*What should I do? Just hold it shut under my arm? That'll make it awkward to carry.* Han Qingyu had a flash of inspiration. He slid the hair tie Xin Yaoqiao had just given him off his left wrist, threaded one end through a hole on the side, and tied the upper and lower halves of the latch together with a knot.
Xin Yaoqiao saw this from not far away and wrinkled her nose. "...My Qingzi really is obedient, isn't he? Doing just as I said... using it to tie things up."
Han Qingyu stood up and lifted the black wooden case into his arms.
The case had actually been designed so it could be strapped onto one's back, like someone carrying a large musical instrument. But right now, he didn't strap it on; he just held it in his arms and walked over toward Wen Jifei and the others.
"Brother Qingzi," Tu Zi greeted from the side.
"Hey." Han Qingyu turned his head to look at him...
"To pay you back. I brought them—saved up enough this time." Tu Zi hurried over and fell into step with him, walking over to Wen Jifei and the others before leaning against the wall.
Then, right then and there, Tu Zi slid off his backpack, unzipped it, and prepared to dig out the source energy blocks.
"Don't bother taking them out. Keep them for yourself for now," Han Qingyu's voice came. "Hurry up and build your strength. If an all-out war breaks out, you'll have a bit more capital to stay alive."
He spoke casually, but Tu Zi froze as he dug through his bag.
He remembered the "Han Qingyu's Second Law" he had just told his colleague... *So my friendship with Brother Qingzi has finally surpassed seven source energy blocks?!*
*What immense loyalty this is.*
Then again, amidst his touched feelings, Tu Zi suddenly thought of another question: *How in the world did I end up owing these seven source energy blocks in the first place? I forgot... but there's no way I borrowed them from Brother Qingzi.*
"If I'm short on them in the future, I'll ask you again. I have plenty right now," Han Qingyu added.
Tu Zi: "...All right."
Beside them, Han Qingyu turned and whispered a few words to Wen Jifei. Tu Zi's mind was in a swirl, and he didn't catch them.
At the same time, on the third-floor walkway, Chen Buer finally spoke.
"You know where the Military Law Department is?"
Li Sen: "I do."
"Go on yourself, then." The old man waved a hand gently.
"Yes, sir." Li Sen reflexively started to salute, but stopped halfway, turning it into a nod instead.
Offering no further struggle, Li Sen lowered his head and walked over to several Military Law officers he recognized. Just like that, he left with them.
It was over? Just like that? Aside from whether Master Longchi had lost his quarry, it seemed everything truly had settled down for the time being... The square murmured with chaotic chatter for a moment before quieting down.
"Looks like it's about time. Good thing we weren't delayed." Chen Buer glanced down at his wristwatch, then looked up, his gaze sweeping over his soldiers in the square as he said in his usual tone, "Head inside. Meeting time."
The crowd blinked. *Right, the meeting...* They began streaming toward the hall.
"Suddenly feels a lot like opening a martial arts hall in the old days," Wen Jifei said with a laugh as they walked. "Someone comes to kick down the doors on a big occasion, and by rights we ought to beat him to death on the spot. While we didn't kill him, at least we drove him out... A few tables got smashed, but the hall is still the hall."
"Yeah, and there are also those two... top-grade dead iron weapons," Wu Xu suddenly chimed in from the side, a rare sight for him.
Han Qingyu stopped dead in his tracks. His mind had been entirely on the blue starlight column sword earlier, so he had forgotten about that. Now that he was reminded, he immediately recalled that the dual blades he used most often were still ordinary dead iron—just crafted with better workmanship.
*I was the one who chopped those damn things in half.* During that second clash earlier, Han Qingyu had focused solely on breaking Ye Jian's blades. He knew his own strength couldn't harm Ye Jian, so he had poured every ounce of his attack onto the weapons. *Besides, in that whole fight just now, I only managed to keep the blue column sword and didn't harvest a single thing... How does that make any sense?!*
"Where are the broken blades? Did any of you see them?" Han Qingyu asked anxiously, turning the thought over.
"Didn't notice. It was too chaotic then."
"We were worried something would happen to you, so we weren't looking."
"Probably flew off somewhere?"
"Someone might have picked them up, too."
Wen Jifei and the other three spoke up one after another.
*So... should I pull out the broken blade and give it to Brother Qingzi?! But he already has the blue column sword and so much other good stuff, while I even had to borrow the twin blades on my back from someone else... Nope, not giving it to him this time.*
*Then I absolutely can't let him find out, or I definitely won't be able to keep it.*
With that decided, Tu Zi focused his gaze inward, completely silent. Nor was he afraid that Jiang Chou would blab, because Jiang Chou had picked some up too.
Chapter 298