Enrollment Day

The torrential rain showed no sign of stopping.

Several cars were parked at the entrance to the residential complex. One black vehicle resembled a nanny van, exceptionally spacious.

Led by Huang Qingyi, Li Ye approached the nanny van, and the rear door was pulled open.

As Huang Qingyi gestured for Li Ye to get in, the look in his eyes was full of astonishment.

And a trace of fear.

Wu Yongnian had died from a bullet through the head. Two shots to the legs had taken away his ability to flee, but several gashes, as though torn open by iron hooks, marked the left side of his ribs.

That Senior Brother of his was a genuine Seven Dragon Gate. Both his swordsmanship and realm had surpassed Huang Qingyi's by a level, yet he had died so absurdly that it seemed laughable.

Anyone above Six Dragon Gate with martial arts skills could dodge bullets without much trouble, yet there were no signs of a fight nearby. He had died far too cleanly.

All of this had been done by the person before him, who had still been an ordinary student a little over a month ago.

Li Ye took off his raincoat, smiled at Huang Qingyi, handed the raincoat to him, and stepped into the nanny van.

The back of the vehicle was like a small private compartment, with a table in the middle. As soon as Li Ye entered and sat down, Pan Zhengyang, seated in the center, handed him a cigarette.

Li Ye accepted it, lit it naturally, and exhaled a mouthful of smoke.

Pan Zhengyang stared at him and smiled. "How did it feel?"

"What was there to feel when dealing with enemies? At first it was a little disgusting, but later I got used to it," Li Ye said.

"Not bad. You didn't come down with any delicate little ailment like dizziness or nausea."

Pan Zhengyang nodded. "This really had nothing to do with the Ren Family. Their family's... what was his name again? Old Sun."

"His name is Ren Xu. He finished the paperwork and left the country last week."

The person in the driver's seat up front turned around and said, "Wu Yongnian must have acted on his own."

"Section Chief."

Seeing that the person in the driver's seat was Sun Shun, Li Ye called out to him, then frowned. "Director Pan, twice now."

"Yeah, twice now."

Pan Zhengyang clicked his tongue. "But they're clever. They don't leave handles behind when they act, so they wouldn't possibly do something so stupid. That old undead thing from the Ren Family couldn't do something this brainless, and you're not worth him going this far for."

That was the real reason.

Even if Li Ye had taken a part-time job at the Pest Control Bureau, he was only a Data Clerk, still a student, and had only broken through Dragon Gate not long ago. How could the Ren Family, so cunning that Pan Zhengyang had yet to find even a trace of evidence against them, possibly target a student with nothing to his name?

Sun Shun added, "Wu Yongnian was just fired by us. Maybe he held a grudge. He was the one who leaked information about your Magic Treasure, which led to Ren Xu leaving the country afterward."

Li Ye had previously heard from Sun Shun about Ren Xu being punished. He had heard Ren Xu had been whipped into a spinning top. Li Ye had thought the matter was over, yet Ren Xu had directly left the country.

Li Ye asked in surprise, "Wasn't that overly cautious?"

"It's exactly that caution that makes me certain they've got something fishy going on!"

Pan Zhengyang forcefully exhaled smoke. "Noble Families, capital, the strong. Anyone in this world with even a little power stands high above everyone else. No matter how much trouble they cause, they think they can smooth it over. If they can beat someone, they bully them even harder. If they can't, they lay out a banquet, offer gifts, and apologize."

"But that's nothing, because the truly unbridled and arrogant ones mostly died thirty years ago. The Ren Family had no reason to be this cautious over such a trivial matter. Damn it, they're cautious to the point of excess!"

Cursing, he waved a hand. "All right, we'll clean this up for you. School is starting soon, so don't overthink it."

Li Ye nodded, said goodbye to the two men, and pulled open the car door to get out.

Whether this had anything to do with the Ren Family or not, this was all that could be done for now.

As a Three Dragon Gate, there was nothing he could do. The Ren Family's affairs were not something he could meddle in yet.

Only after watching Li Ye leave did Sun Shun say, "Director, Li Ye was a little ruthless."

Pan Zhengyang took a drag from his cigarette. "Ruthless is right. They wanted his life, and he wasn't allowed to fight back? That makes no sense."

"What about Wu Yongnian's family..."

"Are they ordinary people?"

"They used to be. Now they run a small business."

"Handle it as a death in the line of duty. Give them some money as a token gesture. After all, it had nothing to do with his family. Consider it the Pest Control Bureau failing to handle things properly."

Pan Zhengyang said, "That's already doing everything humanly possible. Damn it, if I'd known, I wouldn't have shown him any mercy. Why bother firing him? Better if he'd died on some demon's head. If he'd truly died in the line of duty, he would at least have retained some dignity. What was this supposed to be?"

Sun Shun chuckled. "Li Ye was discovered by you. That shows your guidance was excellent."

Pan Zhengyang gave two smug chuckles, leaned back, closed his eyes, and said nothing more.

After a while, the several cars at the entrance to the residential complex drove away. As for the corpse, shell casings, and everything else that should have been inside the complex, they had vanished completely, as though nothing had ever happened.

Li Ye's life settled down. After all, accidents did not happen every day, and school was about to start. He rested at home and did not wander around.

Over the next few days, all he came across were reports on television and his phone about some great demon appearing somewhere, some top expert wiping out demons, or whatever capital was stirring up trouble, which his father constantly cursed about.

It was as though there was no Pest Control Bureau, no Noble Families, and life went on as usual.

Of course, he still collected his salary for nothing.

Over two months, he received more than thirty thousand yuan.

He gave ten thousand of it to his parents, saying it was money earned from his part-time job, leaving them astonished for quite a while.

What kind of part-time job paid five thousand a month?

Then they praised Li Ye for having promise and felt that their decision to grit their teeth and insist that he practice martial arts back then had been the right one.

Without breaking through Dragon Gate, how could anyone look at you differently?

Not until August 25 did Li Ye go to school to report to his homeroom teacher.

Liberal arts students did not need to do this, nor did Martial Arts Students. Only Preparatory Students had to report early and complete the procedures for either transferring to liberal arts or remaining in the preparatory program.

Of course, students like them who had broken through Dragon Gate also had to transfer early into the martial arts track.

When Li Ye arrived at the entrance of No. 14 Middle School, he immediately heard two voices speaking in unison.

"Brother Ye!"

Deng Hao and Jia Dong had already been waiting there.

After two months apart, Deng Hao had become even more muscular, every movement brimming with a sense of strength.

Jia Dong's body had also become much more solid, and his finger joints had developed another thick layer of calluses.

Li Ye smiled faintly. "You broke through?"

The two men shuddered all over and stimulated their qi and blood. Its rhythm pulsed exactly once.

First Dragon Gate.

Then they looked expectantly at Li Ye. Li Ye had said long ago that he had broken through, but seeing was believing. Only after witnessing it themselves could they feel at ease.

Li Ye also stimulated his qi and blood. The three pulses of its rhythm made both of them widen their eyes.

"No way!"

Deng Hao cried out, "Why are you at Three Dragon Gate?!"

They had seen it, all right, but it was a little terrifying.

"I ate some good stuff."

Li Ye said, "Come on. Don't keep Demon Yan waiting. Let's transfer into the martial arts track early."

"Ate what? Even eating people wouldn't be this fast!"

Deng Hao shouted, "This is too outrageous. How did you get to Three Dragon Gate? I could accept it if you were at Second Dragon Gate, but Three Dragon Gate... What did you even spend a year in preparatory school for?"

It counted as his system never arriving.

"All right, let's report in first. We can find somewhere to eat at noon and talk then."

Li Ye laughed and took the lead through the school gates.

"Brother Ye, practicing martial arts is too hard."

Along the way, Deng Hao began complaining. "I get up before dawn, train until the middle of the night, and apart from eating, all I do is train. I don't even have time to drain my pipes."

Jia Dong rolled his eyes. "One drop of essence is worth ten drops of blood. Leaking your primordial yang means all your training was for nothing, and you still want to drain your pipes? You don't even dare get hard in the morning! Forget being tired, the money burns away like flowing water. After one summer, my family was almost ready to sell the house. Good thing I broke through Dragon Gate."

"How much did you spend?" Li Ye asked curiously.

"Two million. Deng Hao spent even more."

"I spent three million."

Deng Hao said, "Brother Ye, getting to Three Dragon Gate must have cost you even more, right?"

Li Ye estimated it and nodded.

"More or less. Mainly because I had a relative who practiced martial arts before. He was very experienced and taught me quite a few things. On top of that, the food supply was good, so I broke through quickly."

The ingredients Pan Zhengyang bought every day added up to more than three million as well.

Poor scholars, rich warriors. That really was not an empty phrase.

"What kind of relative is that amazing? Does he still teach people? Could he teach us?" Deng Hao asked.

"He can't anymore. He left last month to roam the world."

Li Ye shook his head. Without waiting for the two men to ask further questions, he headed toward the offices of the preparatory classes.