Long Xiuyuan's Reunion

"Yehui, can you help me go to the principal's office and ask Dean Yang and Vice Dean Peng to come over?"

His voice was calm and low, like a husband asking his wife to do something very simple.

Yuanen Yehui nodded and rose from her chair. Her movements were very light, and the chair made no sound at all. She walked to the door, looked back at Situ Xuan, then stepped out. Her pace was steady, each step landing solidly, as if she were walking a road she had taken countless times.

Situ Xuan stood where he was, looking toward the door, silent for a moment. Then he walked to the window and pushed it open. The afternoon sunlight poured in from outside, carrying warmth and a gentle breeze. In the distant training field, students were training, their battle cries drifting over faintly. Farther away in the teaching building, teachers were giving lessons, the sound of reading scattering with the wind. Farther still, Mingdu City stood beneath the sunlight, with high-rises everywhere and traffic flowing endlessly.

This was a prosperous city, a powerful nation, an era full of hope and vitality. But in the deepest part of this city, at the very core of this nation, at the lowest layer of this era, there were far too many parasites, far too much rot, far too much injustice.

Those who occupied high offices and enjoyed generous salaries, those who controlled the lifeblood of the nation, those who manipulated everything in the dark—they had not climbed up through their own ability, but had seized those positions through bloodlines, connections, and exchanges of interest.

This nation clearly could be better. This nation clearly should be better. This nation clearly deserved better!

Of course, none of this had anything to do with Situ Xuan.