For the next five minutes, Song Yutang subjected them to a brutal, one-sided beating.
The room rang with nothing but screams, curses, and a barrage of cracks and thuds.
Only once her anger had subsided did she speak again, perfectly unruffled. "Turn on the lights. Open the curtains."
The lights suddenly came on, painfully bright.
When the curtains were opened, daylight streamed in, illuminating the wreckage of the room.
The principal's glasses sat crooked on his face as he clutched his arm and hissed in pain.
The boys had swollen, bruised faces and blood at the corners of their mouths, looking even worse than Jiang Boyan.
The parents had lost all their composure.
Some sat slumped on the floor rubbing their legs, while others leaned against the wall, sucking in sharp breaths, their hair disheveled and their faces still stricken with shock.
Song Yutang casually propped the baseball bat back against the wall and dusted nonexistent dirt from her hands, her voice carrying just the right amount of surprise and concern. "What happened to you all? Did you fall that badly? This storeroom is cluttered with teaching equipment, and the lighting is poor. You really must watch your step."
One wealthy woman trembled with rage, pointing a shaking finger at her. "You... you're lying! You're the one who hit us!"
The principal's face was livid too. "How dare you assault the principal and parents on school grounds... this is a crime!"
As though frightened, Song Yutang covered her mouth and took two steps back in alarm. "You can't just say things like that. Principal, ladies, who saw me hit anyone? Do you have evidence? There are more than a dozen of you, and you all brought bodyguards. I'm alone, with elderly people and a child in tow. Could I possibly beat you into this state? Who would believe that? If you ask me, you've done too many things that weigh on your conscience. Walk in the dark, and you're bound to take a fall. Or perhaps your guilty consciences made you lose your footing and crash into each other."
Her words reminded one of the wealthy women of something.
A vicious look entered her eyes, and she lowered her voice. "That's right. No cameras, no evidence. Dead men tell no tales."
This woman could beat them because there were no cameras and no evidence.
Naturally, they could use that same lack of cameras and evidence to teach this family a brutal lesson.
The other parents exchanged glances, instantly reaching an understanding.
The bodyguards caught on and advanced toward Song Yutang, step by step.
Hearing the commotion, the people outside rammed the door even harder.
Jiang Guoqiang and Li Xiulan could no longer hold them back and were driven several steps backward along with the door.
Song Yutang swiftly moved forward to shield all three behind her, picking up an old, rust-covered javelin from the corner and hefting it in her hand. "I'm not very good with a spear. My thrusts often go wide. Just last month, I killed more than a dozen people. Want to try me?"
The advancing bodyguards paused.
They all felt a little apprehensive.
The young woman before them stood casually, but her stance was as solid as a rock, and she held the spear with proper form.
Her bearing as a trained fighter did not look like an act.
A wealthy woman with a bleeding head laughed in fury. "Who still trains with spears these days? Get her! Even if someone dies, we'll just pay compensation!"
One of the boys jumped up and down too. "Kill this family of lowlifes for me! Whoever strikes first gets a hundred thousand!"
At the promise of a hefty reward, a vicious gleam flashed in the bodyguards' eyes, and they lunged forward without hesitation.
Song Yutang's gaze turned icy.
With a flick of her wrist, the spear swept across like a gray python. Two sharp cracks rang out as it struck the first man's wrist bone and the hollow of his knee with precision.
"Argh!" The burly man screamed and dropped to his knees.
Her spear never stopped, whirling, thrusting, sweeping, and pressing down.
The moves were simple, but every one targeted joints and pressure points.
Although her blows were not particularly heavy, she used the spear's length and the room's narrow confines to force the seven or eight burly men charging her one after another into stumbling retreats. For the moment, none of them could get close.
It was just like that night of the palace coup.
The rebels had been like wolves and tigers.
Wielding a red-tasseled spear and holding her young son's hand, Song Yutang had fought her way to the imperial throne hall.
Even now, she could not count how many elite soldiers and powerful generals had died at her hands.
Song Yutang had held to just one conviction: everyone who blocked her path had to die.
It was the same now that she had come to the modern world.
She would never allow anyone to trample on her.
Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at her army-sweeping might.
That included Jiang Guoqiang and his family.
They had known Song Yutang had some ability, but they had never expected her to be such a formidable fighter.
In the blink of an eye, bodyguards lay strewn across the floor, their howls rising one after another.
Song Yutang planted the javelin on the floor, still looking utterly unruffled. "I told you. If you've done too many things that weigh on your conscience, don't go poking around secluded places. You're liable to run into ghosts."
The principal and the parents were deathly pale, both shocked and furious.
But for the moment, none of them dared make another sound.
"Call... call the police! I'm calling the police! Assault in broad daylight..." The principal fumbled out his phone with trembling hands.
"Yes, call the police..." the parents echoed, though their voices were weak and wavering.
Song Yutang gave a soft laugh. "The police? Sure. Where's your evidence?"
The principal choked. "The security footage in my office can prove that you were the one who suggested coming here. You bore a grudge. This was premeditated, intentional assault!"
As though she had heard a joke, Song Yutang raised her eyebrows slightly. "Witnesses? You mean yourselves? Physical evidence? Are you referring to your injuries? As an educator and role model, you should really back up what you say with reason and evidence. Shooting arrows without a target will only make people question your character and professional ethics."
The principal spluttered in fury. "You... in my office, Jiang Boyan already admitted he struck first. Yet you insisted on coming here to investigate. What is that if not premeditation?"
"Principal, Jiang Boyan bullied all six of them by himself? And ended up in this state himself? You can keep that confession beaten out of him to fool yourselves. If outsiders hear it, they'll question not only your character and professional ethics, but your intelligence too."
With complete assurance, Song Yutang delivered the final verdict. "The truth is clearly that these boys bullied Jiang Boyan, and he acted in self-defense. Even if you took your complaint to the heavenly court, it would count as a mutual fight at most. And since it was a mutual fight, what does it have to do with me if you all took a tumble while gathering evidence?"
"..." Left speechless, the principal's face turned the color of pig liver.
There were no cameras. In the darkness and confusion earlier, nobody had seen exactly what happened, much less had a chance to record a video.
With Song Yutang flatly refusing to admit anything and turning the accusations back on them, there truly was nothing they could do to her.
Unable to swallow her anger, one parent pointed at her furiously. "I don't need any evidence! A lowlife like you dares offend me? I'll make your whole family wish they were dead!"
Song Yutang's gaze abruptly sharpened. She slammed the javelin against the floor with a clang that made their hearts tremble. "Go ahead. I'm ready whenever you are."
An invisible pressure spread with her words, and the air seemed to freeze.
The wealthy woman opened her mouth, but it was as though something had clamped tightly around her throat. She could not squeeze out a single syllable.
Song Yutang slowly swept her gaze over everyone, a polite smile still on her lips, though her eyes were as cold as if tempered in ice. "If any of you have conclusive evidence proving I attacked you, you're welcome to contact my lawyer at any time. If you insist that my Boyan bullied the six of you, please provide conclusive evidence of that too. If you have none... then please refrain from spreading rumors and slander. I really will sue you."
The pressure seemed to grow even stronger.
The parents who had been so aggressive just moments before lowered their heads one by one despite themselves.
None dared look her in the eye.
Their guilty consciences also left them with nothing to say.
The principal's scalp prickled too, and he forced out a smile uglier than a crying face. "...Since there's no evidence on either side, perhaps... it really was a misunderstanding. Just a little friction between the children... the school will strengthen its supervision..."