"What a pity."
Zhang Hongji stepped out of the darkness, soaked to the skin.
Duan Ming turned to look at him, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. "When did you get here?"
"I got here when they first started fighting. I just never came out." Zhang Hongji glanced at the Ghost Samurai's body on the ground and said gravely, "In a fight on that level, if I'd come out, that guy might have chopped my head off before I could get a word out."
It wasn't fear.
He could simply see the situation clearly.
Only a fool would have rushed in to die.
"I knew someone like him wouldn't disappear for no reason."
Having watched his idol die right before his eyes, Zhang Hongji was torn by a jumble of emotions.
A hero's passing was accompanied by tears.
But these tears
were in his heart.
He didn't hate himself for being useless. After all, he had only been cultivating Qi for a little over three years. It was far too early for him to be of any help.
He only hated that he hadn't realized sooner that the security guard at the gate, with several teeth missing, was the idol he had admired all his life.
But when he thought about it, that made sense.
It would have been strange if he had realized it.
An old man with a slightly hunched back and several missing teeth, who spent all day watching videos and playing games in the security booth-no one could possibly have connected him with Huang Shanya, the Human Weapon who had shaken the world decades ago.
It wasn't his fault.
A faint glimmer of light fell on Duan Ming.
He saw
in the direction of the southern part of the city
a huge fireball soaring high into the air.
It was taller than a ten-story building, just like a sun.
Perfectly round.
Just looking at it, he could feel its intense heat.
The fireball fell.
A dazzling light flared.
Boom, bang-!
One second later,
the tremendous sound followed.
A wave of scorching heat swept over them.
"That's..."
Duan Ming felt a gust of hot wind blowing toward him.
But after a brief moment, his body was once again enveloped in cold.
"It's the principal." Zhang Hongji looked toward the place that had briefly lit up before going dark again. "Looks like none of the people the Church of the Dark Night sent this time will get away."
"Wasn't the principal supposed to be at a meeting at the provincial education department?" Duan Ming murmured.
Zhang Hongji walked over to Duan Ming and held out his hands. "Here, give him to me."
Duan Ming hesitated for a moment, then let go of Huang Shanya and handed him to Zhang Hongji.
Seeing Duan Ming look at the black katana, Zhang Hongji warned him, "Don't touch that sword. It's a forbidden object. If you want to use it, you'll have to pay a very heavy price."
The two didn't know where to go next.
Or rather, they didn't know where to take Huang Shanya.
So they could only wait there.
More than ten minutes later, an aged yet enduring figure appeared at the school gate, standing as straight as a towering pine.
Du Qinggang appeared alongside him, now sporting a black eye.
Li Zhengming glanced at the Ghost Samurai's body on the ground, then looked at Huang Shanya, whom Zhang Hongji was supporting. "No wonder the Ghost Samurai never showed up. So that's what happened..." he murmured.
"Lure the tiger away from the mountain?"
It wasn't that Du Qinggang hadn't checked Duan Ming's message. His phone had been smashed beyond repair right at the start.
The people the Church of the Dark Night had sent this time were powerful, far stronger than the intelligence had indicated.
Between the southern and northern parts of the city,
there were fifteen Divine Power Masters with four Divine Marks alone.
Including the Ghost Samurai, there were four Divine Power Masters with five Divine Marks.
The City Protection Bureau had suffered heavy casualties!
If the principal hadn't skipped the meeting and returned early,
the fighting probably still wouldn't have ended.
No wonder the Ghost Samurai hadn't appeared in either the south or the north of the city.
His target had actually been Huang Shanya.
It could be said that the Church of the Dark Night's plan this time had been perfect.
It wasn't just about getting rid of Huang Shanya. Sabotaging the power grid had also been part of their plan.
But they hadn't expected the principal to return early, causing their plan to sabotage the power grid to fail.
Their plan to kill Huang Shanya, however, had succeeded.
Of course, they had also paid a heavy price...
There was no winner in this battle. Both sides had lost.
"What are you standing there for? Go on!"
Li Zhengming kicked Du Qinggang hard in the backside.
Du Qinggang didn't dare let out so much as a fart after being kicked. He went over to Zhang Hongji and took Huang Shanya's body.
With his new black eye, he looked quite comical.
"This old man's pretty heavy. What did he eat when he was alive?"
He hoisted Huang Shanya onto his back, picked up his severed leg, and left.
"That guy likes to use the nastiest words to hide the sorrow in his heart."
Worried that Duan Ming and Zhang Hongji wouldn't understand, Li Zhengming explained.
"Which of you two can lend me a phone?"
Zhang Hongji took out his phone, unlocked it, and handed it to Li Zhengming.
He dialed a number-
"It's me, Li Zhengming."
"Jiang City is safe now. The invading enemies have all been wiped out."
"You mean him?"
"Yes, he worked as a security guard at our school for several years."
"Now? He's dead. He took care of the Ghost Samurai before he died."
"Yes, the Church of the Dark Night's Ghost Samurai. He really did come."
"All right, I understand. Once I'm done with what I'm dealing with here, I'll apologize to the principals of the other schools."
"Oh, and Elder Zhao-please tell him for me that I was indeed in the wrong today. My tone was a bit too harsh."
"I understand. Don't worry, I definitely won't hit him again."
No one knew who was on the other end of the line.
But presumably, it had to be someone important.
After hanging up, Li Zhengming returned the phone to Zhang Hongji. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Li Zhengming headed into the school.
"Principal, what should we do with this sword?" Zhang Hongji pointed at the Ghost Samurai's katana.
Li Zhengming looked over and said, "I don't know. There's no telling what might happen if someone touches it recklessly. I'm certainly not touching it. We'll call the City Protection Bureau in a bit and tell them to come deal with it. Let them try it first to see whether anything happens."
The teachers' building.
After finding a place to lay Huang Shanya's body for the time being, Du Qinggang returned to his dormitory to wash his wounds.
He rubbed his injured spots, baring his teeth in pain.
Early the next morning, the news of Huang Shanya's death in the Battle for the Defense of Jiang City topped news reports large and small across the country.
In less than an hour, it shot to the top of the national search rankings.
The Divine Mark Association could never let a hero like him die in obscurity.
He was dead.
But the faith he inspired in many people's hearts had not crumbled.
It was as though only a body had died, while the true Huang Shanya lived on in everyone's hearts.
Or rather, Huang Shanya hadn't gone away. He had come back!
Heroes lived forever!
A few days later.
"Dong Kai, buy a few oranges when you come back from the supermarket later. If you see any watermelons for sale, buy one."
Ten minutes later,
the three people in the dormitory stared at the single orange on the table, lost in thought.
"They did have watermelons for sale at the supermarket."
Dong Kai looked at the three of them and answered with a perfectly serious expression.
"Is there any hope for this dumbass?"
"Where's my knife?"