"Ding~dong——"
As the school bell rang, the elderly teacher in his sixties paused and said, "Let me finish this part before dismissing the class; it won't make you late for lunch."
"Ugh." Li Ying, beside Qian Yuya, softly complained, "It's over, it's over, half of our lunch break is gone."
Qian Yuya nodded in agreement, feeling a bit tired after a morning of classes. After all, middle school didn't only have cultural courses; every student had to practice combat techniques early in the morning — many students aspired to enter the military academy, so naturally, they needed to get familiar with combat knowledge ahead of time.
The last class in the morning was history. The history teacher was an old scholar who'd been teaching for decades. Not only was his lecture boring, but he also loved to drag on, causing increased physical needs among the students — many of them preferred to relieve themselves during history class.
Most importantly, neither the Cultural College nor the Military Academy required a history score, so everyone just casually listened to the class.
Qian Yuya was no different, her thoughts already flying to what she would have for dinner tonight. Thinking about dinner made her recall Qian Yuliu's strange behavior last night, and Qian Yuliu made her feel a bit strange, like he had become... become...
A bit silly...
While she was letting her imagination run wild, Qian Yuya suddenly saw Fang Wenhua across the classroom looking at her. When their eyes met, Fang Wenhua made a funny face and raised his eyebrows. Qian Yuya covered her mouth and smiled with curved eyebrows, and Fang Wenhua also grinned.
"Fang Wenhua, is the resurgence of the Lie Sect so funny?" The history teacher suddenly raised his voice upon seeing Fang Wenhua's antics.
Fang Wenhua was startled and quickly sat up straight, shaking his head, "Not funny, not funny."
The history teacher looked at the young students seated below, sighed, and tapped the blackboard with chalk, "History may not get you into your desired colleges, but it can help you understand the development of world events. In Glorious Year 422, the traitor Wei Zhi occupied two-thirds of the world, scheming to usurp the throne, declaring the end of the Second Glorious Dynasty. That same year, the Lie Sect proclaimed its emperor in Jingguan County, sweeping through warlords like Wei Zhi and Wu Meng over the next decade, known in history as the Third Glorious Dynasty. Over the two thousand years of the Glorious calendar, countless calamities have occurred, but whenever chaos ensues, there have always been heroes to turn the tide and protect the Glorious unity. This is desired by the people and is the Celestial Mandate..."
Suddenly, a panicked commotion arose in the hallway outside, "The Statistical Department has entered the school!"
"The Statistical Department is here to arrest someone!"
"What?" The students in the classroom could no longer stay seated, all bustling to the hallway. The history teacher did not stop them, merely sighed and hunched over, tapping the blackboard, "Remember, Glorious is the Celestial Mandate, the Mandate..."
"The Statistical Department is here to arrest someone?" Li Ying clung to Qian Yuya's arm, feeling both scared and curious, "Are there insurgent rebels in the school? I've heard the Statistical Department is full of ruthless people who especially love to torture prisoners, could they start right here at school... Wow, wow, wow, let's go see!"
Though her tone was quite panicked, Qian Yuya noticed Li Ying seemed rather excited, feeling a bit helpless — Li Ying's father was the head clerk of the Star Engraving governor, equivalent to the Governor's steward, pampered since childhood and unaware of worldly suffering, so it made sense she wasn't afraid of the Statistical Department.
Qian Yuya wasn't interested in these dealings, but with Li Ying pulling her, she could only accompany her to the hallway to watch. However, before she could see clearly, she heard a loud shout from afar, "Qian Yuliu, how dare you show up in front of me!?"
Brother!?
Qian Yuya squeezed through the crowd and looked over, seeing many people standing on the playground. The usually tall and handsome combat technique teacher, Feng Chuanliu, now looked like a different person, with a fierce expression, angrily charging towards a Statistical Department youth in a black vest, striking with a light-and-shadow-changing combat technique palm strike, the force breaking through the air with a tremor!
Qian Yuya still remembered the first time she saw Feng Chuanliu — back when they first enrolled, Feng Chuanliu, as the combat technique instructor, demonstrated the destructive power of combat techniques to them.
Feng Chuanliu had merely tapped lightly, leaving a deep mark on the stone!
Since then, even the naughtiest student behaved well during the combat technique class! Like a quail!
Later, they found out that Feng Chuanliu was an excellent graduate of the Star Engraving Military Academy, highly skilled, no less than active-duty officers, ranking among the top fighters in the Star Engraving territory!
However, facing Feng Chuanliu's full-powered spiteful strike, the middle school students saw the Statistical Department youth casually trace an arc with both hands——
Clang!
The sound of a light explosion, like metal tearing!
Feng Chuanliu's attack was not only perfectly neutralized, but even his right hand was caught by the opponent, twisted with great force, causing Feng Chuanliu to sweat profusely and kneel partially over!
"Qian... Yuliu! You vile beast who murdered your mentor! If you have the guts, kill me! Kill me!"
"I am an agent of the Statistical Department, not a criminal thug." The youth, suppressing Feng Chuanliu, calmly said while pulling out a pair of handcuffs, "I'm just following orders to arrest insurgent suspects. If you are innocent, the Statistical Department will prove it to you."
"Then why did you kill Mr. Lin, why!" Feng Chuanliu, face pressed against the ground, glared at the youth, biting his lip in hate.
The youth did not answer, instead directing other agents to put Feng Chuanliu into a vehicle. Dragged away by the agents, Feng Chuanliu suddenly burst into wild laughter, "Murdering a mentor, arresting a comrade, Qian Yuliu, your end will be a hundred, a thousand times more tragic than ours. I will live on, I will live to see the day you die without a burial place!"
The students in the teaching building were abuzz with discussion, while the principal and teachers neither stepped forward to stop the Statistical Department nor engaged with its agents, simply standing nearby with grim expressions.
At this time, the youth turned back, glancing at the students in the teaching building. The entire building fell silent. Even from dozens of meters away, many students dared not look at the youth, turning their eyes away to avoid eye contact.
Only Qian Yuya stared directly at the youth until their eyes met. After a look, the youth turned and got into the car, leaving Star Engraving National Middle School.
"The Statistical Department actually came to the school to arrest people..."
"Did you hear? That person killed a teacher and still came to arrest a classmate, like a rabbit eating the grass around its burrow."
"My neighbor was also taken by the Statistical Department, never came back, heard they died, looks like Mr. Feng is done too."
The students were buzzing with discussion as Qian Yuya returned to the classroom, somewhat disoriented. At this point, Fang Wenhua suddenly approached, whispering, "Yuya, Yuya."
"Hmm?"
"How about I walk you home after school? Look, the Statistical Department is a bunch of perverts; now they even dare arrest people at school. Who knows if they'll arrest students— we'd be safer going together..."
Qian Yuya stopped, glancing sidelong at Fang Wenhua, lightly uttering one word, "Scram."
"What?" Fang Wenhua was stunned, thinking he had misheard.
"Get lost!" Qian Yuya shouted angrily, pushing away the bewildered Fang Wenhua, and returned to her seat. Following behind Qian Yuya, Li Ying glanced at Fang Wenhua, sympathetically patting his shoulder, "Think a little before you speak next time."
Fang Wenhua still hadn't processed it, "What did I say wrong?"
Li Ying didn't respond further, returning to her seat to find Qian Yuya facing the window, unable to see her expression, and cautiously asked, "That agent from the Statistical Department, is he related to you?"
This wasn't hard to guess — the surname Qian wasn't that common.
Qian Yuya turned around, took out a handkerchief, and wiped her right hand. Li Ying noticed deep bite marks at the base of Qian Yuya's right thumb, evidently just bitten into.
"He's my brother," Qian Yuya replied calmly, "Do you know anything about him?"