Chen Xinjie never expected the root cause to trace back to their side, and it made him feel even more disgraced.
He took a deep breath, looked at Yun Ming, and spoke in a solemn tone: "Yun Ming, this matter is on me. The War God Temple is in the wrong, and I, Chen Xinjie, am in the wrong. Rest assured, I will handle this matter and definitely give you a satisfactory explanation!"
Yun Ming smiled faintly and said nothing. But the expression on his face clearly said: Then we shall see how you perform.
Chen Xinjie turned to look at the chairman, his voice cold: "Mr. Chairman, I hope you will cooperate with me to thoroughly investigate Lieutenant General Li Tian and War God Wang Shi regarding this matter. Arrest those who should be arrested, punish those who should be punished, and do not let a single one slip by!"
The chairman nodded repeatedly, cold sweat continuously streaming down his forehead: "Rest assured, Lord Chen, I will cooperate to the fullest!"
Chen Xinjie snorted coldly and looked back at Yun Ming: "Yun Ming, where is that child right now? I will go and bring him out myself."
Yun Ming shook his head: "No need. Brother Chen, since you are willing to handle this matter, I believe you. However, that child... still, let my people go and fetch him. After all, he is a student of Shrek Academy."
"Since that is the case, let us go together."
"Alright."
Yun Ming stood up and gave Leng Yaozhu a look. Understanding the cue, Leng Yaozhu stood up and walked outside.
Zhen Hua also stood up and stretched lazily: "It is finally over. This old set of bones of mine cannot handle being tossed around like this."
Zhuo Shi said nothing, merely standing up slowly and following behind Leng Yaozhu.
Mu Ye was the last to stand. Walking to the doorway, he suddenly turned back to look at Chen Xinjie: "Lord Chen, you are a sensible man. I hope this time, you can give that child justice."
Chen Xinjie said nothing, merely nodding.
Mu Ye smiled and turned to leave.
Inside the meeting room, the Federal people were soon the only ones left. The chairman slumped in his chair, feeling as though his entire body was soaked through with cold sweat. He looked at Chen Xinjie, his voice dry: "Lord Chen... this time... this time our Federation is likely to suffer a severe blow to its vitality."
Chen Xinjie cast a cold glance at him: "This is what you brought upon yourselves. A hero, locked up by you and branded as an Evil Soul Master. If word gets out, where will the Federation's face go?"
The chairman lowered his head, not daring to speak further.
Chen Xinjie stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the dispersing crowd outside. He remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking:
"That child... what on earth is his background? He is able to make Yun Ming, Zhen Hua, Zhuo Shi, Leng Yaozhu, Mu Ye... so many big figures stand up for him."
No one could answer him.
"Let us go and fetch that child first."
Federal Headquarters, detention room.
Tang Wulin sat in a chair with a table full of food spread out before him. Roast chicken, braised beef, fruit platters, soul beast milk... He was eating with great relish, his cheeks bulging and his mouth still stained with grease.
The guard watching him stood by the door, the corner of his eye twitching as he thought whether this kid was here to serve time or to go on vacation.
Right at that moment, the door was pushed open. Lieutenant General Li Tian walked in briskly, his face bearing anxiety and ingratiating flattery, completely stripped of yesterday's arrogant demeanor.
He rubbed his hands together, squeezing out a smile that looked uglier than crying: "Well... little brother, eating?"
Tang Wulin raised his head to glance at him, then lowered it again to continue gnawing on his chicken leg: "Yeah, something the matter?"
Li Tian took a deep breath, walked up to him, bent over, and spoke in a tone so humble he seemed like a completely different person: "Little brother, what happened before... it was my fault, I apologize to you, truly. Look, can you... step outside first?"
Tang Wulin put down the chicken leg and wiped his mouth: "Outside? Why should I go outside? I am staying quite well right here; there is food and drink, and people to wait on me."
The smile on Li Tian's face froze: "Little brother, do not be like this. I know I was wrong, truly."
Li Tian was genuinely terrified, even though he was a Three-Word Battle Armor Master and a Federation Lieutenant General.
Yet all those big figures outside had arrived: Vice Pagoda Master Leng Yaozhu, Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua, Sea God Pavilion Master Yun Ming... They had all come.
Which one of them was not stronger than him? If this matter blew up, he would completely fail to contain it and could only surrender.
Li Tian was so anxious that cold sweat poured down: "Little brother, I am begging you, alright? What will happen to me if you do not walk out... I really was wrong, and over at War God Wang Shi's side, he has also turned coward and does not dare to speak either. Just consider it giving me some face and go outside first, won't you?"
A Federation Lieutenant General was now completely discarding his dignity to beg Tang Wulin to leave, and it was not that he did not want to force Tang Wulin out.
Yet this kid could tear apart a Black-Grade Mecha with his bare hands and was no pushover; what if he got hurt? That would make things even more troublesome.
Just as Tang Wulin was about to speak, his ears twitched slightly. His Soft-Boned Enchanting Rabbit Martial Soul possessed innate acute hearing, and he faintly caught the sound of footsteps approaching the end of the corridor-there were quite a few people, and their paces were steady and powerful, obviously all experts.
His eyes rolled, and with a sudden sweep of his hand, he knocked all the food on the table crashing down to the ground.
Then he rapidly ruffled his hair into a complete mess, pinched his own thigh hard, and forcefully squeezed out two lines of tears, his eye sockets turning red.
Li Tian was stunned stupid: "You... what are you doing?"
Ignoring him, Tang Wulin threw himself straight to the ground, grabbed a handful of food scraps, and smeared them all over his body, then curled up in a corner and cried out with a tearful choke:
"I should not have resisted... I was wrong... I should have just been beaten to death by the Federation back then... I beg you all, stop abusing me..."
Li Tian: "..."
Before he even had time to react, the door to the detention room was pushed open.
Chen Xinjie, Yun Ming, the Federal Chairman, Zhen Hua, Zhuo Shi, Leng Yaozhu, Mu Ye... The group filed in one after another, packing the small detention room to the brim.
The chairman was still explaining to Chen Xinjie: "Lord Chen, Pavilion Master Yun Ming, Pagoda Master Leng, and everyone else... rest assured, our Federation has always treated prisoners humanely and would absolutely never subject them to abuse. That child is definitely doing well..."
Before his voice faded, he laid eyes on Tang Wulin, who was curled up in the corner, in a wretched state and covered in tear stains, alongside the very words Tang Wulin had just uttered about being abused.
The chairman's words choked in his throat, unable to utter a single syllable, as his face was slapped soundly by reality.
Chen Xinjie's complexion instantly turned as dark as dripping water. He slowly turned his head to look at Lieutenant General Li Tian, who stood dumbstruck to the side, his gaze cold as ice.
"Li... Tian."
Li Tian trembled all over, hurriedly opening his mouth to explain: "Lord Chen, no, I didn't..."
Crack!
Chen Xinjie struck him across the face with a backhand slap. The force was so great that it sent Li Tian flying outright to crash into the wall, two blood-stained teeth spinning out of his mouth.
Clutching his face, Li Tian collapsed onto the floor, not even daring to draw a heavy breath. Who throughout the entire Federation was unaware of the overbearing nature of this War God Temple Master?
Moreover, he himself had always regarded the man as his idol.
Chen Xinjie cast a cold glance at him, said nothing, and turned to look at Tang Wulin.
Leng Yaozhu had already hurried over, pulling Tang Wulin into her embrace with a voice carrying heartache and fury: "Wulin! Are you alright? How did they abuse you? Tell your teacher, and your teacher will make the decisions for you!"
Buried in her embrace, Tang Wulin sniffled and said, "Teacher... I am fine... it is just... it is just that they would not let me eat... and they beat me..."
Lying on the floor, Li Tian felt like crying without tears. When had he ever beaten this kid? This kid had been gnawing on a chicken leg just a moment ago!
Yun Ming gazed expressionlessly at the chairman: "Mr. Chairman, is this what you call 'humane'?"
Cold sweat cascaded down the chairman's forehead in sheets. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, only to find that he could say nothing at all.
Yun Ming's voice turned chilling: "Our Shrek Academy student was slandered by your Federation as an Evil Soul Master, locked up, and subjected to abuse. If this matter gets out, do you believe the Federation will still be able to stand firm in the Soul Master World?"
The chairman swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his voice dry: "Pavilion Master Yun Ming... this matter is the Federation's fault, and we... we are willing to offer compensation."
"Compensation?" Zhen Hua snorted coldly. "How will you compensate?"
The chairman gritted his teeth: "We are willing to give Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda ten billion each as compensation, acting as... acting as mental distress fees."
Buried in Leng Yaozhu's arms, Tang Wulin felt a slight stir in his heart upon hearing this figure, but his face maintained its aggrieved appearance as he continued to sob.
Leng Yaozhu looked coldly at the chairman: "Ten billion? Mr. Chairman, do you take Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda for institutions that lack this mere ten billion?"
The chairman turned pale as paper: "Then... then what do you suggest?"
Yun Ming said nothing, merely watching him quietly.
After a long silence, the chairman finally gritted his teeth and spoke word by word: "Twenty billion, twenty billion for each, plus a three-year tax exemption for you. In addition, we will also individually compensate this child... for mental distress."
He paused, looking as though the financial pain was nearly too much to speak: "Five hundred million."
ps: Thank you to Qingmo, the big shot, for the tip. This three-thousand-word chapter is an extra release.
I will try to stockpile a bit more for future extra releases, and mind you, with National Day approaching, things are busy.
Also... this face-slapping of the Federation is a major plot progression, which is the only way for him to reasonably draw the attention of the Holy Spirit Cult and such.
As for the second soul spirit, does anyone have any ideas?
I actually really like the first soul spirit Snowball, but right now it is too weak. Once it reaches the ten-thousand-year soul spirit stage, there can be more scenes with it.
Before you continue