All Right, I Struck First

"She's just pretending!"

Jiang Qingning pointed at Ning Weiyang, clearly growing anxious.

Ning Weiyang kept her eyes lowered. No matter how one looked at her, she did not seem like someone who would strike first or want to kill anyone.

But before Huang Huixin could speak, Ning Weiyang accepted Jiang Qingning's accusation first. "All right, I did strike first, but I didn't want to kill anyone, and I couldn't kill anyone..."

Ning Weiyang twisted her index fingers together, her nervousness plainly showing.

Hearing Ning Weiyang admit the first part but deny the latter, Jiang Qingning pressed on. "You obviously wanted to kill us. Why won't you admit it?!"

Jiang Qingning seemed somewhat aggressive, and Ning Weiyang lowered her head even further.

"I didn't..."

she said weakly.

"You!"

"Shut up!"

Even Huang Huixin, who stood before Ning Weiyang, could not bear to listen any longer.

She turned and glanced at Jiang Qingning, looking somewhat angry.

Jiang Qingning fell silent, unable to say another word.

Huang Huixin was not as gentle as she appeared. Most teachers at Heaven Dou Royal Academy described her as strict.

The students who had studied under Huang Huixin had all been kept in perfect order.

Cause trouble?

Don't even think about it.

Only Jiang Qingning and Xia Qiu's homeroom teacher was not Huang Huixin. Huang Huixin had merely overseen some of their individual training, so her understanding of Jiang Qingning and Xia Qiu remained superficial, and the same was true in reverse.

Yet Huang Huixin needed only one look to make Jiang Qingning shut up. That was the pressure of a Soul Saint.

Xia Qiu was better at reading the room than Jiang Qingning. She said nothing and simply waited for Huang Huixin to question them.

Huang Huixin first comforted Ning Weiyang, then brought her before the carriage she had been riding in and had the three of them stand in a row.

This should have been nothing more than a minor squabble, but Jiang Qingning had raised it to the level of attempted murder. Huang Huixin had no choice but to get to the bottom of what had happened.

The three girls stood obediently before her as Huang Huixin merely watched them in silence.

"These little ones really did overturn the carriage."

After Chen Yulin finished gathering the things inside the carriage, he walked out.

Seeing the carriage on the ground with only a single plank left, he raised an eyebrow.

"Who did this? That's impressive!"

Ning Weiyang and the other two girls instinctively looked at Chen Yulin, each wearing a different expression.

Huang Huixin raised her eyes, her face stern. "..."

Chen Yulin sensed that something was off and gave an awkward smile.

"Huixin."

"..."

He cast Huang Huixin a pleading look, wanting to know what had happened.

Huang Huixin briefly explained the matter to him.

Chen Yulin looked at Ning Weiyang, then Jiang Qingning, and finally Xia Qiu.

Then he said, "Wasn't there one more person? Where's Goreya?"

Only then did Huang Huixin remember the troublemaker, Goreya.

"Teacher, I'm over here..."

Goreya walked over from another direction, raising his hand without the slightest sense of presence.

The clash between the three had sent him flying far away, and only now had he made his way back.

Huang Huixin and Chen Yulin both looked toward Goreya.

"You seem to be all right. That's wonderful."

Chen Yulin narrowed his eyes and smiled faintly.

The moment Goreya saw Chen Yulin's smile, the hairs on his body stood on end.

He was fairly familiar with both Huang Huixin and Chen Yulin.

Huang Huixin's strictness was obvious. She looked hard to provoke, but Chen Yulin was different.

He was a smiling tiger.

He seemed easy to talk to, but that was all an illusion.

Compared to Huang Huixin, whose nature was laid bare, Chen Yulin felt even more terrifying.

Chen Yulin was already middle-aged, but he took good care of himself and looked only to be in his thirties.

He was handsome and refined, wore gold-rimmed glasses, had phoenix eyes and fair skin, and was dressed in a light blue long robe that gave him the air of a scholar.

"Now, both sides are telling different stories. Goreya, you tell us—what happened just now? Did Ning Weiyang strike first because she wanted to kill someone, or did Jiang Qingning and Xia Qiu target Ning Weiyang first?"