Old Hand Leads the New

"Unable to distinguish right from wrong, disrespectful of his age, muddleheaded and incompetent—any garrison with a team leader like that is doomed sooner or later..."

Mrs. He Yin doted on her son dearly. Even when he was in the wrong, she would defend him threefold; much less when he had reason on his side.

She bluntly spoke her mind and berated Old Man Zeng until he was good for nothing.

"HAHAHA, I'm dying!"

"As expected of our A-Jue! Look at that little aura of his—Old Man Zeng couldn't get a single word in edgewise. He spent the whole time putting on airs, and could only swallow his broken teeth along with his blood..."

Chen Yun was a staunch "Chen Jue fan." Her nephew and nephew-in-law could do no wrong; anyone picking a fight with him had to be a bad person.

"My fists are itching. I want to beat up that old man." Pei Qingying sent a "frozen hands" sticker.

Chen Jue went upstairs, took one look at his wildly vibrating phone, and could not resist sending a "death smile" sticker to the group.

And so, another round of bombardment began in the group chat.

"You can still laugh? You knew that old bastard was playing dirty tricks, yet you boys still fell for it?" Mrs. He Yin was furious, lambasting her son for being rash and reckless.

"Right, A-Jue, will you be in danger if you go to Team Four? How about having your uncle pull some strings and transfer you to a desk job?" Chen Yun proposed a solution.

"Don't worry, honey. The fact that I didn't say a word the whole time tells you this isn't that dangerous."

"If anyone's in danger, it's Team Four."

He Yuanshan hurriedly explained himself in the group chat, lest he end up being condemned by everyone.

"Relax. If I don't go to Team Four, am I supposed to stay in Team Three and stew with that old man?"

"Don't worry. Within half a year, I'll definitely work my way up to becoming Team Four's leader!"

Chen Jue's lofty words soared to the clouds. After sending those last two messages, he put away his phone and strode toward the large office on the fourth floor.

Bang!

One hand on his sword hilt, he did not knock. Instead, he kicked the office door clean inward.

Crash!

The thunderous sound of the iron door smashing into the office startled every Team Four inspector taking roll call into rising from the conference table.

Some overreacted so badly that they instinctively drew their standard-issue longswords from their waists, as though facing a formidable enemy.

"Hey, hey! Everyone, don't be nervous. I'm Chen Jue from Team Three. Old Man Zeng specifically sent me here to support you..."

"You lot over there, don't get too worked up. This is an important garrison facility—don't draw your swords so casually."

"I'm your team leader's good friend. Isn't that right, Captain Zhang?"

As he spoke, Chen Jue stepped over the mess covering the floor and strode in through the office door.

Broken glass crackled beneath his feet, like Team Four's dignity being pinned to the floor and ground into dust.

"You're fucking courting death!"

With Zhang Wei as their team leader, there were hardly any good-tempered people in Team Four.

Zhang Hao was only a distant relative of Zhang Wei's. Ever since Fourth Zhang died, he had long wanted to show his loyalty to Zhang Wei and say, "I want to support you in your old age."

Now that the opportunity had come, how could he possibly let it slip away?

He clenched his fists and was about to rush out when Zhang Lin grabbed his shoulder from behind and forcibly pressed him back into his seat.

Chen Jue's strength during the battle at the Wutong Street restaurant had been far too terrifying.

Though rumors later claimed that he had damaged his foundation and that his "martial path was hopeless,"

"Martial path hopeless" did not mean all his strength had been crippled. Those were entirely different things.

"Zeng You managed to transfer you to Team Four. Looks like you and your uncle had a falling-out."

Zhang Wei still wore that smiling-tiger expression. Without even glancing at the wrecked office, he pointed to the very last seat at the conference table. "You're late, so sit beside the intern."

Seeing how composed Zhang Wei remained, Chen Jue could not help but think a little more highly of him.

Then, beneath the astonished, furious, and hostile gazes of Team Four's inspectors, he calmly took his seat at the very end of the conference table.

"As I was saying, there have recently been large numbers of disappearances on Emerald Lake Street. We need to increase patrol strength..."

"Previously, the team lacked manpower and could not carry this out. Now that Team Three has sent support, this vacancy can be filled nicely."

Standing before the projection screen, Zhang Wei used a laser pointer to mark out the patrol zone for "Emerald Lake Street."

It was a densely populated shantytown, a chaotic mix of all manner of people—members of every trade and walk of life, as well as wandering martial artists.

"This area's patrol hours are divided into three shifts... eight in the morning to four in the afternoon, four in the afternoon to midnight, and midnight to eight in the morning."

"Nephew, since you've just arrived in Team Four, don't say Uncle Zhang isn't looking after you. You can patrol from midnight to eight in the morning. There are the fewest people around during that shift, so it's the easiest to manage."

"Captain Zhang, don't get the form of address wrong." Leaning sideways with a hand on his sword, Chen Jue said arrogantly, "We are not close enough to call each other uncle and nephew."

"Chen Jue, don't be so shameless!"

"Who the hell do you think you are? Boss calling you nephew is showing you respect!"

Chen Jue's arrogance enraged Team Four's inspectors. They glared at him furiously, some even wanting to make a move.

Zhang Wei smiled and waved his hand, signaling his underlings not to get agitated.

The man was already in Team Four. Once they figured out his background, couldn't they deal with him however they pleased? Why rush?

If they made a move now, at most they could beat him half to death.

If he then used that as an excuse to refuse to support Team Four, wouldn't that be letting him off easy?

With vicious calculations tucked away in his heart, Zhang Wei methodically assigned the team's duties, then announced the meeting adjourned.

Only after everyone had left did Chen Jue react.

He looked at Zhang Wei, who remained standing before the projector, and questioned coldly, "Captain Zhang! Something's not right. Where's my partner?"

"Are you expecting me to patrol Emerald Lake Street alone?"

He figured it was not impossible, but letting Zhang Wei get his way was not his style.

Hearing this, Zhang Wei slapped his forehead in "annoyance," looking suddenly enlightened. "Look at my memory. I actually forgot something so important..."

"However, Team Four is severely short-staffed, and everyone has urgent duties to handle..."

"How about this? You happen to be one of the fastest-growing newcomers of this class. Why not work a little harder and take a newcomer under your wing while you're at it?"

Zhang Wei pointed at the young woman beside Chen Jue, who wore a black mask that covered most of her face.

"Wu Nanyuan, a newcomer transferred from the martial vocational college two days ago. Going by seniority, you should probably call her junior sister."

Chen Jue glanced at the young girl beside him.

She had only just finished her second year of vocational college before being transferred to the garrison for an internship. She had to have some ability.

But since she had ended up attending a martial vocational college, no matter how capable she was, how capable could she really be?

"We're merely ordinary schoolmates. What senior-junior relationship is there to speak of?"

Chen Jue saw through it now. He had fallen into a pit this old fox had dug beforehand.

As long as he spoke up about needing a partner, this burden beside him would inevitably be dumped into his lap.

"Tsk! Captain Zhang is truly meticulous. I've learned another lesson from you today."

Chen Jue stood, walked over to Zhang Wei, and extended his hand.

"What are you saying? Since your Team Three has come to support us, Team Four naturally must take good care of you."

Thinking the young man did not know his own limits, Zhang Wei extended his hand with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

Their hands clasped, each testing the other with force.

Crack!!

The cold smile had not yet faded from Zhang Wei's face when a piercing, bone-deep pain shot through his entire hand.

"Ah!"

The young man had no martial virtue.

Veins bulged across Zhang Wei's forehead. He felt as though his hand bones had been run through a steel roller and crushed to pieces.

Yet he did not want to make a fool of himself in the office. Though cold sweat poured down his brow, he only let out an exceedingly faint muffled groan.

"Captain Zhang, people need to learn to accept their age and leave the future to the young."

Chen Jue brushed past Zhang Wei. He lowered his mocking voice so much that he did not broadcast his "victory" for all to know.

He intended to take over Team Four in the future. Naturally, he had to use this chance to first see everyone's true colors.

"Wu Nanyuan, what are you standing there dazed for? Waiting for Captain Zhang to treat you to a meal?"

Chen Jue beckoned to Wu Nanyuan, who was still staring blankly before the conference table.

"..." The girl stood without saying a word, then jogged after Chen Jue.