Confrontation at the Academy

Only after everyone around him had moved away did the fellow Huo Hai had singled out realize what had happened. He had actually been called out just like that. Now everyone else noticed what set him apart, too.

Those who had come to argue with Huo Hai were mercenaries' relatives. Even those who were not had come under the mercenaries' banner. Anyone who became an underground mercenary could hardly have enjoyed a comfortable life. Yet one glance at this fellow's clothes showed that he was either wealthy or highborn, certainly no mere mercenary. While he had been mixed into the crowd, it had not been obvious. Now that he had been picked out, things were different.

"What do you want? This is the Academy. I—I haven't done anything to you," the man stammered.

Two people had already died. The fellow who had claimed to belong to the Liu Lineage certainly had a background no weaker than his own, yet Huo Hai had killed him with a single thrust. He knew that if he could not explain himself clearly, Huo Hai really would strike.

Huo Hai asked mildly, "Can you tell me what's going on? Why have so many people gathered to make trouble for me?" He gestured at the ring of people around him, as though he were facing not a crowd, but a pen of pigs waiting for slaughter.

Remembering the people around him, the young man steadied himself. "Well, I only heard that you seemed to have killed their relatives, so I came along to demand justice. I don't know anything else." Since he could neither speak carelessly nor remain silent, he might as well deny all responsibility. If he stubbornly refused to admit anything, what could Huo Hai do to him?

Seeing this, Huo Hai smiled faintly.