Early the next morning, Chen Fan changed into an ordinary blue-green student uniform, tucked away his provisional token and protective jade talisman, and headed straight for Mysterious Spirit Academy.
Mysterious Spirit Academy stood in Liuhe District of Jingzhou City. It was fairly large, with grand, imposing gates and a stone tablet at the entrance bearing the academy's name in large gilded characters. It looked like an institution with some depth to it.
Unfortunately, beneath its gold-and-jade exterior lay rotten stuffing.
With his provisional law enforcement token, Chen Fan easily slipped into the academy.
The token came with a presence-disguising function, allowing him to temporarily pass as an ordinary Qi Refining Realm student with a legitimate identity. No one would pay him much attention.
He followed the main road inside. Students came and went, most hurrying along while discussing their coursework and cultivation. Looking at the peaceful campus, it was hard to imagine so much filth hidden within.
Chen Fan knew where Su Wan usually spent her time, so he did not rush to find her. Instead, he toured the campus first, locating the cafeteria, teaching buildings, dormitories, and the vice principal's office building.
By the time he finished scouting, it was lunchtime. He headed straight for the cafeteria.
Mysterious Spirit Academy's cafeteria had three floors. The first had ordinary serving counters, the second offered made-to-order dishes, and the third was reserved for faculty and international students.
Su Wan was an ordinary student, so she probably ate on the first floor.
Chen Fan bought a set meal and sat near a corner, eating while watching the students coming and going.
He had already seen Su Wan's photograph in the case file: a delicate, quiet-looking girl with a hint of timidity in her eyes.
After roughly ten or fifteen minutes, a girl in a pale blue student dress walked in carrying a tray.
She kept her head down, her long hair hanging over half her face. Walking quickly, she headed straight for the farthest corner without daring to look up at anyone.
It was Su Wan.
She looked more haggard than in her photograph. Her face was pale, with dark bruiselike shadows beneath her eyes, and she was like a bird startled by the twang of a bowstring.
Chen Fan picked up his tray, walked straight over, and sat opposite her.
"Is anyone sitting here?"
Su Wan jumped and jerked her head up. Seeing an unfamiliar male student, wariness immediately flashed through her eyes. She shook her head, lowered it again, and picked at the rice in her bowl without a word.
"My name's Chen Fan. Let's get acquainted," Chen Fan said, keeping his voice very low. "I heard a little about your situation at the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall."
Su Wan's grip on her chopsticks abruptly tightened. She raised her head, her eyes filled with panic and unease. "You... what are you talking about? I don't understand."
"Don't pretend." Chen Fan looked at her, softening his tone. "Leon and Vice Principal Hu. Am I right?"
Su Wan's face instantly drained of color, and even her lips trembled. "Who... who are you? What do you want?"
She feared Vice Principal Hu had joined forces with the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall to arrest her. After all, it had taken so long for anyone to come about the case that she had no choice but to imagine the worst.
Chen Fan said nothing. He discreetly revealed half a bronze-colored token from his sleeve, flashed it at her, then quickly put it away.
"A provisional Yellow-rank envoy of the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall," he said quietly. "I've taken over the case you reported."
Su Wan froze. A provisional Yellow-rank envoy taking a case like this either had no one backing him or had something wrong with his head. But she had no choice now. She could not let even the faintest glimmer of hope slip away.
Her eyes widened as she stared fixedly at Chen Fan's sleeve. Without warning, tears welled up and brimmed in her eyes.
"R-really?" Her voice trembled with disbelief.
"Really." Chen Fan nodded. "There are too many people here to talk. Once we've finished eating, take me to the grove behind the academy. I have some questions for you. Don't worry, I won't reveal your identity."
Su Wan bit her lip and nodded hard. Her tears finally fell, splashing onto her tray.
She hurriedly lowered her head, wiped them away with her sleeve, and shoveled down a few mouthfuls of rice without tasting any of it.
Chen Fan said nothing more either, quietly keeping her company until she finished.
Setting down her chopsticks, Su Wan rose first and walked out with her head lowered.
Chen Fan followed a few paces behind, looking like a student who had nothing to do with her.
Only after they reached the deserted grove behind the academy did Su Wan stop and turn to Chen Fan. Unable to hold back any longer, her tears poured down like a breached dam.
"Sir... you've finally come..." she choked out. "I... I really can't hold on much longer..."
"Don't rush. Take your time," Chen Fan said gently. "Tell me what happened, along with every detail. With the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall standing up for you, no one will be able to bully you again."
Wiping her tears, Su Wan began to recount the story in fits and starts.
It had begun six months earlier.
When that group of exchange students from the Freedom Divine Domain and the Holy See first enrolled, the academy gave them the very best treatment: private apartments, full scholarships, dedicated teachers to tutor them in their classes, and even separate examination cutoffs.
Their ringleader, Leon, was the nephew of a cardinal of the Holy See. Relying on his connections, he ran roughshod over the academy, and no one dared intervene.
Three months earlier, Leon had met Su Wan in the library. Seeing that she was pretty, he approached her and struck up a conversation.
Su Wan ignored him, turned, and left.
Unexpectedly, this only aroused Leon's possessiveness.
He began relentlessly harassing Su Wan, lying in wait outside her dormitory and classrooms, sending flowers and gifts, and trying every possible means.
Unable to endure the harassment, Su Wan reported him to her counselor. But the counselor said he was an international friend and told her to be more tolerant and stop making a mountain out of a molehill.
Later, Leon became increasingly outrageous, openly blocking her path on campus and putting his hands on her.
Su Wan resisted and shoved him away. That very afternoon, Vice Principal Hu summoned her to his office.
Hu Zhongyuan's face darkened on the spot. He accused her of damaging interschool friendship and disgracing the academy. If she dared offend Leon, he would expel her outright and put it in her Immortal Palace student record, ensuring she could never take postgraduate entrance examinations to enter a higher institution for the rest of her life.
Su Wan was just a girl from an ordinary family who had fought with everything she had to get into Mysterious Spirit Academy. How could she withstand such a threat?
She grew afraid and gave in.
That night, Leon summoned her to the international students' apartments. She was unable to get away.
By this point, Su Wan was sobbing too hard to speak, her entire body trembling.
Chen Fan's face turned livid as he listened, his clenched fists creaking.
Animals.
"What happened after that?" Chen Fan asked heavily, suppressing his fury.
"After that... he became even more brazen." Su Wan covered her face, her voice filled with despair. "He thought I was easy to bully. He didn't just come himself; he brought two other exchange students along... They even took pictures and said that if I dared tell anyone, they would spread them throughout the academy so I could never show my face again."
"It wasn't just me... There were other girls, at least a dozen. Some were lured with money, and some were threatened. Two senior girls couldn't take it and dropped out. Another... attempted suicide. Although she was saved, the rest of her life was ruined."
"The academy knew everything, but they did nothing... Vice Principal Hu said this little sacrifice was nothing compared to the academy's ranking and reputation. He even said we were willing, that we were the ones seducing the international students..."
The more Su Wan spoke, the more she broke down. Finally, she crouched on the ground, crying as though her heart and lungs were being torn apart.
Chen Fan stood where he was, coldness pouring from his entire body.
He had originally thought it was merely a few arrogant international students. He had never imagined the academy administration was rotten to the bone.
For the sake of their so-called ranking and reputation, they pushed their own students out as sacrificial offerings?
Did someone like that deserve to be a vice principal? Did he deserve to be a teacher and role model?
"I understand." Chen Fan drew a deep breath, suppressed his surging anger, and reached out to pat Su Wan's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll settle this debt with them, every last entry. Hu Zhongyuan and those animals-none of them will get away."
"R-really?" Su Wan lifted her tear-filled eyes. "But Vice Principal Hu is a mighty Body Integration Realm cultivator, and forces from beyond our domain are backing them... We..."
"So what if he's in the Body Integration Realm?" Chen Fan sneered. "When the Law Enforcement Immortal Hall investigates a case, never mind a mere vice principal-even the principal must be investigated if the case calls for it. And if outside forces dare interfere? On the Immortal Palace's territory, outsiders don't get to run wild."
His tone was certain, his gaze resolute, carrying an inexplicable persuasiveness.
As Su Wan looked at him, her panicked heart actually began to settle.
It seemed... there really was hope.
"Go back for now and attend classes as usual. Don't let them notice anything amiss," Chen Fan instructed. "I'll send someone to take your statement later. Help me contact the other girls who were victimized, too. Remember, protect yourself. Leave the rest to me."
"Yes!" Su Wan nodded hard, light rekindling in her eyes.
Chen Fan offered a few more words of reassurance before letting her go back first.
Watching the girl's frail figure disappear at the edge of the grove, the smile vanished completely from Chen Fan's face, and his gaze grew as still as water.
He turned and headed out of the grove. Just as he reached the junction, he ran straight into three people.
Three blond, blue-eyed foreign cultivators in Holy See attire sauntered toward him, laughing and joking in broken Nine Provinces speech about which girls were pretty.
The tall, arrogant-looking man in the lead was none other than Leon.
Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrived.
Leon saw Chen Fan too but thought nothing of him. He was about to brush past when his gaze suddenly caught the entrance to the grove behind Chen Fan.
He had just seen Su Wan leaving this place from a distance. Now an unfamiliar male student had emerged as well, immediately arousing his suspicion.
"Stop." Leon reached out to block Chen Fan, sizing him up condescendingly. "Who are you? What were you doing in there with Su Wan?"
Chen Fan raised his eyes to the swaggering men before him, and a cold smile slowly curled his lips.
Coming right to my door to pick a fight?
Fine.