Hu Xian and Old Wan stared blankly at Chen Chuan's silhouette. Nothing about the scene in the hall matched what they had imagined on their way over. Brilliant sunlight fell across the gore-soaked floor and the flashing gleam of his blade, leaving them momentarily dazed.
As a member of the evaluation team, Hu Xian quickly collected herself and scanned the room with sharp eyes for Fist Lion. It didn't take much effort to find him.
He was right in the most prominent spot. Compared to the others, he was relatively intact, his expression quite natural—the sort where, if pieced back together, one could pose him for a photograph.
Her tense expression eased, and she let out a quiet chuckle at her own anxiety.
Fist Lion was someone of note, and with his crew, he was undeniably formidable. Otherwise, he never would have been designated as the assessment target.
It was just that the assessment she had envisioned involved advance reconnaissance, meticulous planning, and finally a fierce, bloody clash—or perhaps a smoother execution of a scheme—but certainly nothing like this, something one couldn't have imagined in their wildest dreams. She couldn't help but say, "It's... over already?"
Old Wan was silent for a while. After a long moment, he grunted in acknowledgment.
Chen Chuan had sensed the two entering earlier, but he hadn't looked back. He remained standing with his saber drawn, his gaze fixed on the staircase landing above. Just then, footsteps echoed down from above.
Hu Xian and Old Wan noticed as well, raising their guns in unison toward the stairs.
The footsteps were steady and deliberate, each step landing firmly. Soon, a middle-aged man in a fedora walked down from upstairs.
Hu Xian raised an eyebrow and lowered her gun. "Old Feng, you're here?" she grumbled in annoyance. "You were here and didn't even tell me?"
Old Feng felt a bit helpless. He hadn't seen what had happened either; he had still been looking for an observation post when gunshots suddenly rang out, and he had rushed over in a hurry—how could he have had time to notify her? As for coming down from upstairs, wasn't that just to keep up appearances?
Seeing that they knew each other, Chen Chuan smoothed down his fluttering scarf and lowered his saber.
Just then, the sound of approaching cars came from outside. Old Feng's expression turned solemn. "Looks like the other guest has arrived. I'll go handle it."
With that, he walked down the stairs and headed outside, nodding to Chen Chuan as he passed him.
Hu Xian stepped forward and said, "That's our review team's examiner, and a special commissioner from the bureau. He's the one responsible for scoring your performance." She looked Chen Chuan over. "Not bad, little brother. Taking everyone out in just that short span—talk about clean and efficient. Sister Hu was worrying over nothing."
Chen Chuan said earnestly, "Sister Hu, thank you." Then he said to Old Wan, "Thank you, Brother Wan." Regardless of anything else, the two had rushed in to back him up without knowing the situation; he had to acknowledge that favor.
"Thank us for what?"
Hu Xian glanced around, feeling somewhat relieved. "You really opened my eyes, little brother. No wonder Old Feng looks after you so closely—I've never seen him pay this much attention to any examinee."
Meanwhile, outside, blue sedans pulled into the street one after another. Inside the stretch luxury car in their midst sat a handsome man in his thirties, wearing an overcoat and sporting a neat mustache.
The man in the front passenger seat looked ahead. With sharp eyesight, he saw that all the upper-floor windows of the building were shattered, and turned back to report, "Boss, we're here, but it looks like there's trouble ahead."
The handsome man said, "Send someone to check."
By this time, Old Feng had stepped out onto the street and stopped right in front of the motorcade. The cars slowed to a halt before him, and men filed out in groups. Aside from those fanning out to guard both flanks, the rest trained their guns on him.
Feeling the stiff wind outside, Old Feng pressed down on the brim of his fedora with one hand while keeping his eyes fixed on the luxury car, completely ignoring the guns aimed at him.
The handsome man remained seated inside, but a burly guard stepped out and walked up to Old Feng, looking him up and down before lifting his chin. "What do you want?"
Old Feng reached inside his coat. The men around him instantly raised their muzzles, shouting, "Don't move!"
Old Feng stayed completely calm. "Don't be nervous. There's only one of me."
The burly guard kept his eyes on him as Old Feng slowly withdrew a card from his inner pocket and held it up. The guard took one look and was instantly startled. In a hushed voice, he said, "Please wait a moment, sir."
He hurried back to the stretch luxury car and spoke a few words to the interior.
A moment later, the door opened and the handsome man stepped out. He pressed his hand down, signaling his men to lower their weapons, and walked over to Old Feng. He glanced at the card, then looked at Old Feng.
"Great Shun State Administration Bureau? Mr. Feng?" He glanced at the adjacent building thoughtfully, then flashed a charming smile. "Is there anything we can help you with, Mr. Feng?"
Old Feng put the card away and slipped both hands into his coat pockets. "No need. We'll handle it. It's just that Mr. Blue Sparrow might have made this trip in vain."
The handsome man wagged a finger. "Think nothing of it. It's my pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Feng."
Old Feng said, "Is that so? Yet Mr. Blue Sparrow isn't even willing to shake my hand."
The handsome man brought a hand to his lips, cleared his throat, and said, "Then I won't disturb the State Administration Bureau in its duties. Farewell." With a polite nod, he turned and got back into the car.
Before long, the motorcade reversed, turned around, and drove back the way it had come.
Inside the luxury car, an attendant suddenly asked, "Boss, that guy was just an officer from the Administration Bureau. Why show him so much respect?"
"You believe whatever's written on a calling card?"
The handsome man cast him a sidelong glance, then said casually, "Besides, the Administration Bureau gets into everything. Who's to say there isn't an Administration Bureau operative right by my side? I'd rather not wake up one day with a gun pressed to my temple." He addressed the driver in front, "Right, A-Xing?"
Without turning his head, A-Xing replied, "Boss, I don't know anything about that."
"You don't know, huh? Better that you don't." The handsome man gave a chuckle, then sighed with regret. "A pity about that combat spider. That was Tayana's finest portable bioweapon."
Only after the motorcade departed did Old Feng head back toward the building.
By now, Chen Chuan had sheathed the Xuejun Saber and stood near the window with the weapon in his arms. His fluttering reddish-brown scarf remained strikingly vivid even amid the sea of blood across the floor.
Hu Xian was inspecting the surroundings. Apart from a few faintly breathing lackeys and the unconscious Bee Girl, most had been killed with a single stroke—clean and efficient enough to make one's scalp prickle.
Seeing Old Feng return, Chen Chuan asked, "Special Commissioner Feng, Sister Hu mentioned you're the examiner for this evaluation. Might I ask whether I've passed this assessment?"
Old Feng looked at the severed limbs and shattered corpses scattered across the floor, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt about the evaluation remarks he had written yesterday.
He said solemnly, "The specifics still need to be submitted to the review board for confirmation, but in my personal opinion, Student Chen, you have severely wounded or eliminated all the assessment targets, which meets the requirements. Passing this assessment should be no problem. Perhaps I should congratulate you in advance, Student Chen."
Having received his confirmation, Chen Chuan had peace of mind. He glanced around the hall. "Then may I ask, Mr. Feng, what should be done about the things left behind by these people?"
Old Feng smiled. "All spoils obtained during the assessment may be taken by the candidate. No need to feel embarrassed, Student Chen. Although our funding is tight, we are always very generous toward capable students."
Chen Chuan asked, "Does that include the combat spider?"
Old Feng said with absolute certainty, "That includes the combat spider as well. You may take whatever you need; someone will come to collect the bodies."
Chen Chuan nodded. He had already retrieved the gold draft from Fist Lion's body; it didn't belong to him alone, as the other students who had taken part in the operation had a share in it too, so he had to bring it back.
As for the other items—firearms, vehicles—he had no way of dealing with them and couldn't possibly carry them away, but he could hand them over to Hu Xian.
He walked over and shared his thoughts with Hu Xian.
Hu Xian said, "Little Brother Chen, I can turn the rest of this stuff into cash for you, but you'd better take the combat spider back with you. It's too conspicuous to keep at my place—bad for business. As for handing it over to the higher-ups, take my advice and don't even think about it. The people up top won't care about it, and it'll just get intercepted along the way by middlemen. Who knows which bastard will get it for free, or it'll just sit gathering dust in some warehouse. You're better off keeping it."
Chen Chuan considered this. "I've heard this thing needs high-energy nutrients to feed on?"
Hu Xian said dismissively, "Don't worry. When you don't need it, you can put it into dormancy. Even if you only get to use it once in a pinch, it's well worth it. Look around here some more—there should be some left behind for it."
Chen Chuan said, "All right. Then I'll leave the rest in Sister Hu's hands. Sister Hu and your team worked hard, so you should naturally take a cut, and please set aside a share for Mr. Feng as well."
Even though Old Feng had claimed he wanted nothing, Chen Chuan wouldn't take that literally. Besides, whether Old Feng accepted it was Old Feng's choice; offering it was his own duty.
Hu Xian said, "Since you trust Sister Hu this much, little brother, I'll definitely handle it properly for you. I won't forget Old Feng's share." Then she turned around and called out, "Old Wan, go get the crew. Time to work."
She glanced around again. Although this was still body-collecting work, it was the most satisfying cleanup she'd ever done, because this time, everyone who died had it coming.
While things were being handled there, Old Feng had already returned to the hostel alone. Stepping into a secluded room, he shut the door, took out his fountain pen, and immediately began drafting a telegram. But after several attempts, he remained unsatisfied, feeling that nothing quite captured the reality. He crumpled each half-written draft and tossed it aside.
In the end, after thinking it over, he simply recounted the facts plainly, and then added three exclamation marks at the end—something he virtually never used!
Once finished, he crouched down, retrieved a radio transmitter from the cabinet, placed it on the desk, put on the headphones, and began transmitting.
As rhythmic clicking and beeping filled the room, the contents of the telegram were sent out via radio waves, passed along by relay stations across the vast land, until reaching the State Administration Bureau's central station in a secret location, where confidential personnel delivered it directly to the desk of the reviewing official.
Barely half a day later, a reply telegram was sent out from the central station.
Old Feng had remained by the radio without leaving. When the telegraph receiver emitted a specific signal, his spirits lifted, and he quickly transcribed the cipher that followed.
He swiftly took off his headphones and decoded the message from memory.
"Upon verification by relevant departments and personnel: Student Chen Chuan of Yangzhi Wuyi College, Republic of Great Shun, complied with the review board's regulations throughout the assessment process. He is hereby confirmed to have passed the assessment evaluation, and issuance of the Grade B unlimited defense license is approved."
The signature read: "Great Shun National Unlimited Defense License Review Board, Great Shun State Administration Bureau."
For some reason, after receiving this telegram, the examiner felt an inexplicable surge of excitement in his heart.
Sitting in his chair, he took a moment to calm his feelings, then casually burned the original draft of the telegram. Standing up, he walked out of the room and glanced at the wall clock—eleven o'clock at night. Though it was already late, he felt he shouldn't wait until tomorrow; he had to share the news with that young man right away.
Chapter 150