A Misunderstanding?

"That won't do."

"Luo Zhe is suspected of murdering a martial artist. He's a prime suspect and must be held under close guard!" Wang Ji objected on the spot. "Wan Dong from our Dojo was nearly hacked to death by him! That's a plain fact, right in front of us! Old Yan, you can't show favoritism toward Zhuge. If you ask me, we should just execute him!"

"Wang Ji!"

Zhuge Tao pointed at Wang Ji's head and snapped, "I'm not asking you, and I don't have time to argue with you here. If you really get me angry, I'll have my brother come sit at the entrance to your Thunder Martial Arts Hall!"

Wang Ji's expression changed. His mouth fell open, but he quickly wilted.

In Jiangnan Base City, the Thunder Martial Arts Hall had always been a notch below the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in prestige. The main reason was that it had significantly fewer War God Level martial artists.

That was also why Wang Ji was so eager to make a fuss over this matter. He and Luo Zhe had no personal grudge, but whenever something could damage the Extreme Martial Arts Hall's reputation, he spared no effort.

However, faced with an enraged Zhuge Tao and his undisguised threat, Wang Ji didn't dare take the chance. Zhuge Tao's older brother, Zhuge Shan, was a bona fide Madman. Wang Ji dared to needle Zhuge Tao a little, but when it came to Zhuge Shan, he chose to back down.

Seeing that Wang Ji had gone quiet, Zhuge Tao turned to Yan He. "Old Yan, what do you think?"

Seeing that the clash between them had produced a winner, a flicker of amusement passed through Yan He's eyes. He met Zhuge Tao's gaze and said calmly, "I've already watched the surveillance footage."

"From what I can see, it wasn't as serious as you made it sound. Two youngsters failed to realize whether the thing in front of them was a monster or a person, got into a fight, and that was it. There's no need to make such a big deal out of it." As he spoke, Yan He turned to Wang Ji. "Especially you, Old Wang. How could you just decide that it was that Luo kid's fault?"

Yan He's expression turned stern. "Even putting aside the fact that Luo Zhe is the most promising rookie among this batch of Quasi-Martial Artists, you haven't even figured out right from wrong, yet you're ready to have him executed. That shows a blatant disregard for a martial artist's life!"

Now it was Wang Ji's turn to look unhappy, but in the end, he said nothing.

Zhuge Tao was a little confused. The officer from the Northern Military Region had been all for punishment a moment ago, making Zhuge Tao think Luo Zhe had been enraged by Wan Dong and gone too far, nearly hacking him to death.

Now it seemed that wasn't what had happened at all.

Zhuge Tao hurriedly asked, "Old Yan, what exactly happened? Explain it clearly."

Yan He raised a hand, gesturing for Zhuge Tao to calm down.

"It's nothing much. Luo Zhe from your Dojo was taking General Wang's son somewhere safe when he ran into Wan Dong from the Thunder Martial Arts Hall on the way. Wan Dong was in a hurry, and with the road dark and slippery, he couldn't stop in time. Luo Zhe mistakenly thought Wan Dong was about to attack them, so he struck first and knocked him down.

"Our people on perimeter duty didn't know what had happened. They saw them fighting and went to arrest them, thinking they were disregarding our rules. So they brought them back in handcuffs, intending to find out what had happened before deciding how to handle it."

As he spoke, Yan He smiled faintly. "That's why I said it was just a scuffle between a few youngsters. No one was killed, so it wasn't a major matter. Besides, you and Zhuge get into real fights with each other every year. Is this really worth making a fuss over?"

"Old Yan, you just said General Wang's son. Which General Wang?" Wang Ji suddenly asked, rubbing his chin.

Now that he knew what had happened, Wang Ji realized the matter was as good as settled. Yan He hadn't openly sided with the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, but by dismissing it as a fight between youngsters, his position was clear enough.

Still, the words "General Wang" had caught Wang Ji's interest, and he asked with keen curiosity. As far as he knew, there wasn't a general surnamed Wang in the Northern Military Region.

Yan He glanced at Wang Ji. He had no intention of hiding it; it wasn't a secret, after all.

"Three people were brought back in total. One of them was Wang Meng, the son of General Wang Luohan, deputy commander of the Southeast Military Region. He happened to be with Luo Zhe at the time."

The moment he heard the name, Wang Ji's expression changed. How had that big shot's son gotten mixed up in this? Wang Ji had entertained a few other ideas, but now he gave up on them completely. He couldn't afford to provoke this man's son.

Zhuge Tao furrowed his brow and asked, "Old Yan, how did General Wang's son end up in your Northern Military Region, and why was he with Luo Zhe from our Dojo?"

Yan He spread his hands helplessly. He was just as puzzled. Wang Meng usually stayed within the Southeast Military Region's jurisdiction and always had a housekeeper with him. No one had expected him to sneak into the Quasi-Martial Artist group taking the Martial Artist Combat Assessment.

And he'd even been injured!

Luckily, his injuries were only superficial and not serious. A couple of days' rest would be enough.

It was fortunate nothing worse had happened. Otherwise, Yan He could already picture General Wang storming into their commander's office, glaring and bristling with fury.

"Anyway, this matter ends here. Wan Dong was partly at fault, too. If he'd accidentally hurt Wang Meng, you'd be in serious trouble, Old Wang. Most importantly, Wang Meng was injured somehow, and Luo Zhe was protecting him the whole time." As he spoke, Yan He winked at Zhuge Tao.

Zhuge Tao smiled in understanding, but then suddenly realized something and slapped the table. "You old fox, you were watching us put on a show this whole time! Since you'd already figured everything out, why didn't you say so sooner?"

Wang Ji caught on, too, and glared at Yan He. "Old Yan, that wasn't right! If you don't hand over a few jars of your twenty-year-old osmanthus wine tonight, you and I are not done!"

"Who told you two to come in here glaring and blustering at each other, leaving me no chance to get a word in?" Yan He spread his hands, looking like an innocent victim. "All right, all right. Even if it was my fault, I'll pay for tonight's late-night meal. Happy now?"

"And the osmanthus wine!" Wang Ji reminded him.

"Fine, fine! I'll arrange the osmanthus wine, too. Satisfied now?"

Yan He's face twisted with pain, his cheeks bunching up. He'd found those few jars of osmanthus wine in a wine cellar in the Wilderness Zone years ago. Their commander had been pestering him for a jar for years, but he'd never given him one. Yet today, Zhuge Tao and Wang Ji had caught him in a bind.

What a loss!

"Oh, right." Yan He remembered that Luo Zhe and Wan Dong were still locked up in the holding cells, so he turned to ask the two department heads what they wanted to do.

"Keep them locked up for now. I'll send someone to pick them up after the assessment ends tomorrow morning. That blockhead is too naive. If he doesn't learn a lesson, someone might take advantage of him someday." As Zhuge Tao spoke, he glanced sidelong at Wang Ji. Clearly, Wang Ji was the someone he meant.

Wang Ji, standing nearby, acted as if he hadn't noticed and said cheerfully, "Then keep Wan Dong locked up, too. Let him learn a lesson as well, so he'll stop causing trouble for me every day."