The flames on the Blazing Wolf burned even brighter. It tossed a scrap of cloth from its mouth onto the ground. The Ice Feather Eagle landed nearby. A little dust clung to its feathers, but its eyes gleamed with a fierce, vicious light.
Luo Chen crouched down and patted each of their heads.
"Thanks for your hard work."
The Blazing Wolf whimpered and rubbed its head against his palm, looking as if to say, Master, you finally let me blow off some steam.
Luo Chen recalled the other Soul Beasts into the Gulu Ball, leaving the Blazing Wolf behind, then turned and walked back to the carriage.
Lin Xiaomei had already carried Luo An'an onto the carriage. Luo Dashan sat on the driver's bench, checking the reins the Blazing Wolf had left behind. Fortunately, they were still quite sturdy. Luo Chen harnessed the Blazing Wolf, and the family continued on their way.
"Dad, let me drive." Luo Chen took the reins.
Luo Dashan glanced at him and, without refusing, nodded before climbing into the carriage.
The carriage set off again. Luo An'an poked her head out the window and looked back. "Brother, where did those bad men go?"
"They... went away."
"Will they come back?"
"No. They'll never come back..."
Satisfied, Luo An'an drew her head back and snuggled against Lin Xiaomei. She soon fell asleep.
Luo Chen sat on the driver's bench, holding the reins in his left hand. With his right, he took out his Pocket Watch and glanced at it.
The second notch still glowed faintly. Nothing had changed.
Then he closed the Pocket Watch and drove on in silence.
"Evil Emperor."
"What is it, kid?"
"I just killed someone..." Luo Chen said expressionlessly.
The Evil Emperor scoffed. "So you killed them. What's the big deal? Don't tell me you've gone soft, kid?"
"It's not that." Luo Chen's gaze settled on the road ahead. "I was afraid An'an would see."
"Didn't you tell her to close her eyes?"
"She didn't see anything, but I still feel uneasy." Luo Chen paused. "Those people deserved to die. They crossed my bottom line."
The Evil Emperor fell silent for a moment, his tone unusually serious. "The fact that you can think that way means power hasn't gone to your head. If it were me, not even ashes would be left of those people. But I wouldn't care whether a child saw it or not. You're better than me."
Luo Chen said nothing, but his expression grew resolute, and a trace of killing intent entered his eyes.
The carriage rolled unhurriedly along the main road, its wheels crunching over gravel.
He could almost see the outline of Heaven Dou City...
Two days later, they arrived in Heaven Dou City.
Looking at the familiar yet vastly changed scenery, he couldn't help feeling deeply moved.
Though less than a month seemed to have passed for him, in truth, ten full years had gone by.
Ten years... Enough time for a little brat to become a refined gentleman, and for a young man to turn middle-aged.
"Brother, that gate is huge!" Luo An'an leaned against the carriage window, craning her neck to look up at the city gate, her mouth open wide enough to fit an egg.
"Big, huh? Once we're inside, you'll see even bigger things." Luo Chen handed the reins to Luo Dashan, jumped down from the carriage, and took out the token Meng Shenji had given him. He showed it to the guards outside the city gate, and at once, their expressions turned deferential.
"My lord, please, go right in!"
Luo Chen and his family entered Heaven Dou City without a hitch. But after they had gone through the gate, one of the guards suddenly realized what that token had been...
Heaven Dou City was even more prosperous than it had been ten years ago. The streets had been widened considerably, and the shops on either side had new signs. Crowds bustled through the streets, the clamor of vendors' calls mixing together in a lively, almost noisy din.
Luo Chen followed the route he remembered toward Heaven Dou Royal Academy. He passed the stall where he had bought candied hawthorns years ago. The vendor was now a young man. He wondered if he was the former vendor's son.
He stopped at the academy entrance.
The gate was still the same one, with the six characters "Heaven Dou Royal Academy" carved into its pillars. The paint had been redone, and it looked much brighter than it had ten years ago.
Two uniformed students were on guard at the entrance. When they saw a silver-haired young man approaching, one of them raised a hand to stop Luo Chen and his family.
"Stop! This is Heaven Dou Royal Academy! All you riffraff, clear off at once!"
Arrogant. Outrageously arrogant!
Luo Chen frowned.
He hadn't wanted to take issue with two students guarding the gate. Ten years had passed, and the academy had cycled through several batches of newcomers. It was only natural that they didn't recognize him.
But his parents and younger sister were behind him. Luo Dashan and Lin Xiaomei were getting down from the carriage, while Luo An'an poked half her head out, curiously sizing up the two uniformed students.
Seeing that Luo Chen hadn't moved, the tall student stepped closer, his finger nearly poking Luo Chen in the chest. "Are you deaf? Can't you understand plain speech? This is Heaven Dou Royal Academy, not some marketplace for commoners like you to wander around!"
The other student, a short, stout fellow, crossed his arms and chimed in sarcastically. "Look at him—silver hair and purple eyes. He must be some foreign barbarian. A barbarian dares to barge into Heaven Dou Royal Academy? What bad luck!"
Luo Chen said nothing. He merely narrowed his left eye slightly. A cold glint flashed through his purple, vertical pupil.
"Say that again."
His voice wasn't loud, but every word struck the ground like a shard of ice, hard and cold.
The tall student's back turned clammy under his stare, but he still forced himself to puff out his chest. "So what if I say it? Take a look around and see what kind of place this is—ah!"
He hadn't finished speaking. Luo Chen didn't lay a finger on him. He simply focused the mental power of the Spirit Abyss Realm precisely on that one student. The tall student felt as though a mountain had come crashing down on him. His knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground, face deathly pale and body trembling.
The short, stout student jumped in fright and stumbled back two steps. He shouted with more bluster than confidence, "Y-you... What are you doing? How dare you use force at the gates of Heaven Dou Royal Academy! Do you even know who we are?"
"I don't," Luo Chen said as he withdrew his mental power. The tall student collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. "And I don't want to."
He took the deep purple token from his ring and waved it in front of the two students.
The short, stout student froze. He recognized the token—it was the personal token of Meng Shenji, the Education Committee's chief.
Almost everyone in the academy had to treat its bearer with respect, let alone them.
"Th-this...?"
Luo Chen put the token away. "Go tell my teacher that Luo Chen is back!"
The short, stout student's face flushed red. His lips trembled for a long moment before he suddenly pointed at Luo Chen and cursed, "Stop trying to scare people with that token! Who knows if you stole it! Chief Meng doesn't have any disciples! How dare you impersonate one!"
Luo Chen slapped him across the face. He controlled his strength just right: enough to leave him dazed, but not brain-damaged. The crisp sound echoed through the academy gates for a long time.
Clutching his face, the short, stout student spun around from the blow and fell to the ground. His eyes widened with shock and fury, tears already welling in them.
"How dare you hit me? Do you know my dad is—"
"I don't care who your father is," Luo Chen cut him off. "You called us 'foreign barbarians,' and what was that about a marketplace for commoners? You've disgraced Heaven Dou Royal Academy!"
Before you continue