Though there was a bit of displeasure, it was no great matter; Bai Cha could easily resolve this little issue.
This was what Bai Cha had originally thought.
She had assumed that the events of the night would end there, but Bai Cha never expected that upon her return to school, a large crowd would be waiting for her.
It couldn't be said they were waiting, rather they were holding two people captive and confronting her.
The wind was a bit cold nearing dawn, but colder still was the barely suppressed, frigid, and agitated aura emanating from Bai Cha. She had long anticipated that after that big boss assigned her this inexplicable task, someone would grow impatient, and all the accumulated resentment would be directed at her.
However, Bai Cha hadn't expected these people to be so bold.
"Master," Lucifer stepped forward, placing his hands gently on Bai Cha's shoulders, calling out softly.
His elegant, low voice, like a cup of clear tea, slightly soothed Bai Cha's simmering anger. Bai Cha looked at Li Rong, who was unconscious on the ground, and Su Qing, who was almost on the verge of death.
In her eyes, killing intent flickered.
Few of the Shadow faction had gathered; clearly, no one had received the notice and everyone was busy with their own affairs.
Meng Qinghuan was also absent. It made sense; if even their leader had only just discovered this, how could others?
"Bai Cha, it's one thing for your subordinates to kill each other, but they also injured my people. Do you have an explanation for me?" A teacher spoke, grabbing Su Qing by the collar and lifting him up.
With Li Rong unconscious, they had now shifted the blame onto Su Qing.
Su Qing, already severely injured, had been trying to protect Li Rong and sneak to the infirmary, avoiding the crowd. After all, while they fought on the front lines, for ordinary people, this world was still a time of peace and prosperity.
Exposing them to the darker side of the world would only cause unnecessary chaos.
This wasn't the first time they had done this; within hours of treatment, they would be mostly recovered and back to classes the next day. Who knew that as soon as they entered the school, they would be attacked?
Li Rong had already fainted midway, and Su Qing was at the end of his strength, completely unprepared. Even with a timely counterattack, he was sent flying several meters. As soon as he got up, he was apprehended.
Already injured, being lifted like this caused him to involuntarily spit out a mouthful of blood.
The bright crimson blood sprayed from Su Qing's mouth and splattered on the ground, stinging Bai Cha's eyes.
"Snap—"
Bai Cha could clearly hear the sound of the thread of reason in her mind snapping, one by one.
Bai Cha, still draped in Lucifer's jacket, took out a sandalwood box from her embrace. Inside were two rows of cigarette-like objects. Bai Cha took one out, lit it, and placed it between her lips, smiling sinisterly.
Seeing this, Su Qing, who had felt a tightness in his chest and was about to spit out more blood, was so shocked that he swallowed the blood back, his entire body stiffening.
The other members of the Shadow faction who had just arrived and wanted to intervene hadn't even rushed in yet. Seeing Bai Cha's demeanor, they quickly slammed on the brakes and scrambled back.
These were not ordinary cigarettes, but portable incense sticks.
These incense sticks, designed to resemble cigarettes, were composed of twelve types of incense. Ten of these twelve were medicinal herbs that could calm people down; the country had invested considerable effort into calming Bai Cha.
This was one of Bai Cha's most direct means of forcibly suppressing her rage.
"Take the person to the infirmary," Bai Cha commanded coldly, looking at the ground beneath her feet.
She could feel Meng Qinghuan rushing to arrive. She could feel Li Rong's increasingly weak breath. She tried her best to think wildly to distract herself, to calm her anger.
But all sounds seemed to grow distant, and the anger made her ears hum slightly.
The surrounding Shadow faction members subtly glanced at Bai Cha's reaction. Watching Bai Cha hold the cigarette between her fingers and exhale a puff of smoke, she silently mouthed two words, her face ashen, as if cursing.
Judging by her lip movements, she seemed to have gritted her teeth and cursed: "Damn it."
"No, no, no!" Meng Qinghuan finally arrived, his face grim. There were still some water stains on his clothes, indicating he had rushed over as soon as he heard the news.
"Zhou Shengman! Stop it quickly!" Meng Qinghuan flew over at almost light speed. Seeing the cigarette in Bai Cha's mouth, his throat choked, and he retreated in fright.
Hiss...
It's over, it's over, it's over, it's over, it's over.
Meng Qinghuan was breaking out in a cold sweat. He had originally prayed that Bai Cha would be outside so he could resolve the matter and report it afterward, but now, the trouble was clearly immense.
These two were among the few Bai Cha had taken in and trained as successors.
Not to mention how protective Bai Cha was, having two of her successor candidates injured like this was like plucking hairs from a tiger's forehead.
It was like doing so with a razor, shaving the "king" character on its forehead into a "土" character, and then holding up a mirror to let the tiger look.
Zhou Shengman and the others were taken aback by Meng Qinghuan. Meng Qinghuan usually appeared carefree and frivolous, fearless, and fond of running around, capable of making even a husky dog shut up in an argument. Why was he so serious this time?
Meng Qinghuan steadied himself, glanced at Bai Cha, and saw that Bai Cha was lowering her head, lost in thought. He knew Bai Cha was trying to suppress her anger by thinking wildly, so he quickly stepped forward, intending to snatch Su Qing away.
Save the person first; as long as they are out of danger, everything can be discussed.
Meng Qinghuan had good intentions, but some people simply didn't know how to read the room. Seeing Meng Qinghuan reach out, he slapped Meng Qinghuan's hand away with a "snap."
"Old Meng, I'm not trying to say this, but after so many years as colleagues, you've learned to cover up?" Zhou Shengman glared at Meng Qinghuan, thinking that Meng Qinghuan might be trying to impress his leader, making him even more determined not to let go of the two people in his grasp. As he thought this, he dangled Su Qing again.
Meng Qinghuan: "..."
You're amazing, go ahead. May heaven grant you peace.
"Su Qing, it's one thing that you injured your own faction members, but you even injured our patrol... Ah!!"
The noisy crowd suddenly fell silent. Everyone looked at Zhou Shengman, who was rolling on the ground clutching his severed arm, and was stunned into silence.
The moment Zhou Shengman dangled Su Qing, Meng Qinghuan sensed trouble. His mind automatically perceived that Zhou Shengman had even stepped on Li Rong's snow-white clothes.
Meng Qinghuan's legs went weak with fright, and he almost knelt. Beamon behind him reacted faster. Having always been carried, she nimbly jumped off Meng Qinghuan's back and retreated ten meters.
The other members of the Shadow faction had similar reactions to Meng Qinghuan. Lang Mo, who was about to help Li Rong up, recoiled like he had touched a hot potato, pushing away the people behind him and retreating over ten meters.
He couldn't stand Bai Cha, but that didn't mean he wanted to die. He hadn't forgotten how his good-for-nothing traitor brother had died.
Zhou Shengman's hand was severed. Su Qing, who was about to fall face-first onto the ground, instinctively closed his eyes.
There was no pain; he was caught steadily by a pair of hands.
A faint, refreshing scent entered his nose, not the rich smell of perfume, but like the dew drops of early morning falling on flowers, making him want to cry.
"Miss Bai..." Su Qing spoke, sounding a little aggrieved.
Although feeling a bit embarrassed for a grown man to sound so wronged, he truly felt like he could barely hold back at this moment.
"Not calling me boss?" Bai Cha, with the cigarette still in her mouth, smiled somewhat sinisterly. She was always gentle with her own people.
She stood there, holding her dagger, blood dripping from it, yet it gave Su Qing a sense of extreme relief.
They all knew the ironclad rule of the Shadow faction: they would rather see Bai Cha get angry and scold someone than see her smile in extreme anger. But now, this sinister smile was in his defense, which made Su Qing feel a sense of warmth.
Su Qing knew he was an orphan with no background, but Bai Cha was willing to take him in, bring him back, and teach him martial arts.
Where Bai Cha was, there was home.
"B-boss, I..." Su Qing tried to stand up, but almost fell back again. He looked down and saw that the unconscious Li Rong was still tightly gripping his hand, making his face flush with embarrassment.
"Heh, rest," Bai Cha patted Su Qing's shoulder, smiling gently. She then looked up at Lang Mo, who was not far away.
"Why are you hiding so far away?" Bai Cha waved her hand. "Take them to the infirmary."
Zhou Shengman was still rolling on the ground, groaning. He glared resentfully at Bai Cha, surprised that this person could be so arrogant and truly so vicious in front of so many people.
"Oh, and don't move around unnecessarily. If your blood splashes on me, it will be very inconvenient for me," Bai Cha said with a gentle smile and kicked Zhou Shengman's severed hand.
Instantly, blood gushed out. Zhou Shengman's screams quieted considerably, his eyes rolling back as he nearly fainted.
"Coming, coming."
Lang Mo, like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs, scurried over. He picked up Su Qing and Li Rong one in each arm, turned, and left.
He didn't want to stay there for another second.
Zhou Shengman gasped for breath, finding it difficult to even breathe. Only then did he realize that he might have been a bit impulsive, and even now, he felt a lingering sense of fear.
"Don't look at Lang Mo; you should worry about yourself first." Bai Cha took off the jacket from her shoulder, returning it to Lucifer behind her. She bent down and whispered in a voice only Zhou Shengman could hear, "Let me tell you a secret: our hearts are implanted with micro-sensors. Our eyes are surveillance. Our perceptions, including our vision, are recorded and stored in secret files.
So, it's useless even if you hack all the campus surveillance. Why do you have the illusion that you have victory in your grasp?"
"You!" Zhou Shengman's heart turned cold. Before he could finish speaking, Bai Cha raised her foot and stomped on Zhou Shengman's face, shattering his teeth.
Bai Cha clapped her hands forcefully, looked at the stunned onlookers, smiled brilliantly, then her expression turned cold.
"Clear the scene."
With a sharp command, the crowd looked at Bai Cha in a daze, not understanding her meaning.
However, the members of the Shadow faction who had retreated to the sides reacted immediately. Like hungry tigers pouncing, they grabbed a few ringleaders and threw them forward, while the others were driven away.
"Cough, cough, Qi Yue, you take people and leave quickly. I'll explain later!"
"Hurry up and leave, hurry up, or don't blame us for being impolite!"
"Oh dear, never mind! Go quickly, hurry."
The Shadow faction never formed cliques, but they were generally well-liked at school. Moreover, some of them even held some prestige. Driven away like this, and seeing Zhou Shengman lying on the ground, they knew it was best to stay far away to avoid drawing trouble, and their greatest curiosity had to be suppressed.
Bai Cha's voice came from behind those people lying on the ground: "Maliciously slandering and assaulting others, with terrible character, scum, it's better to clear them out."
"Bai Cha! Zhou Shengman is a teacher! How dare you!" someone shouted, "Four of us are top students in the top fifty. What right do you have..."
Before the words were finished, a cold glint flashed, and a flabby piece of flesh fell to the ground. The person clutched their mouth, spitting out blood continuously, and immediately fainted.
"I think you need to understand first that I'm not here to reason with you; I'm here to support them." Bai Cha looked at the indignant person with some mockery. "I don't like the look in your eyes..."
"Xiao Bai, hurry up and stop!"