Although he was prepared, Mo Yu still felt a tremor throughout his body upon hearing it. He didn't look at Cha Huan again but instead looked to the other three for help.

Crane Tears lost his cool and quickly moved next to Mo Yu, glanced at the list, and said, "Cha Huan, your demands are too outrageous—"

"Fine, you don't need to bother, though I'm insignificant, weak-bodied, old and frail, five hours is certainly out of reach for me. But if you extend it to a month, I think I can cross off all the names on this list—"

"Teacher, don't get angry, don't get angry," Yu Ke advised. "It's not that we are unwilling, but you have nothing going on right now, and we lack a legitimate reason—"

"Oh? Then if I were dead, how many people would you plan to bury with me?"

The atmosphere instantly became tense and suffocating. Cha Huan slowly stood up, glanced at the four of them, "If I'm dead, you would know to find people to be buried with me. Now that I'm not dead, you want to take back these 'costs' you were supposed to pay? Why, am I harder to deal with alive than dead?"

Being so bluntly exposed by Cha Huan, even though Yu Ke had a remarkable temperament, he still felt so embarrassed that he could rub out a three-bedroom, two-living room with his toes. Xie Chenyuan suddenly picked up the list, looked at it, and said, "It's too much. Killing them all would affect the greater situation. Principal Cha, how about you choose a batch?"

"Those I've remembered on the list are basically villains who deserve death. If I were to pick and choose, then wouldn't those not selected be doing evil deeds for nothing?" Cha Huan complained a bit but still took the list. He intended to open the lion's mouth wide, and now that Xie Chenyuan wanted to agree, he certainly planned to strike while the iron is hot.

Facing the accusatory glances from Mo Yu, Crane Tears, and Yu Ke, Xie Chenyuan shook his head. Just as Cha Huan said, if he were truly dead, tonight many people would have to die with him—thirty years as the principal of the Imperial Academy, Cha Huan's students spread across the world, each achieving successes in various places. If he were to suddenly die abruptly, just the students avenging him would be enough to throw Yanjing into chaos.

Cha Huan now isn't dead, but the result hasn't changed much—an enraged Cha Huan whom they dare not kill nor provoke, so they might as well clear Yanjing under his name, ensuring they aren't targeted themselves.

"Hey, isn't there a pool of blood on the list?" Cha Huan said, "Any name touched by the blood is the unlucky one chosen by fate."

"Okay," Xie Chenyuan replied.

Mo Yu instantly panicked—the pool of blood almost covered half of the paper, and Xie Chenyuan's "okay" meant the heads of over a hundred people who had once stirred the tea storm would roll!

But Crane Tears was even more anxious, as there were many of his nobility allies on the list. He immediately said, "Xie Chenyuan! Killing so many people, you won't be able to contain it!"

"So, to suppress potential unrest, Director Mo, Commander Yu, Baron Silver Bell, please lend me a hand," Xie Chenyuan said calmly. "There's still four hours and fifty minutes until sunrise… If we're fast enough, we can settle everything before dawn, making it easier to suppress when the dust settles."

"Impossible—"

Suddenly, Crane Tears felt a weight on his shoulder and turned to see Yu Ke placing a hand on it, shaking his head.

Xie Chenyuan stood before them with his hands behind his back, calmly saying, "Baron Silver Bell, you must accept the consequences of your wager."

In an instant, Crane Tears understood something, and his figure became hunched, "So that's how it is… Fine! Since you've all made up your minds, my opposition is pointless."

"Thank you, Baron Silver Bell, for understanding," Xie Chenyuan said to Mo Yu, "Director Mo, please gather the Patrol and Punishment Department agents immediately."

Mo Yu sighed bitterly, nodded, and left the place.

Xie Chenyuan turned back to Cha Huan and said, "Principal Cha, are you satisfied with this?"

"Honestly, I'm not too satisfied, but it will have to do," Cha Huan said while sitting down. "Then hurry up and get busy, I'll just walk back myself with these old arms and legs."

"No rush," Xie Chenyuan said. "Can you tell us who attacked you? It's better to record it publicly."

"I'm not entirely sure, since I don't know them all," Cha Huan said. "There was a blue Curse Hunter, but his Spiritual Power was too weak, and the curse had no effect on me; there was a member of the Three-Gun Clan, and I broke all three of his guns; there were also two Weed Slayer emissaries, but they were too weak, and I easily crushed them; there was a Seven Emotions Combat Technique, who, after being half-beaten to death, fled, and I'm not sure how he managed to escape…"

He paused and asked, "Don't you know who attacked me?"

Faced with such a straightforward question, Xie Chenyuan shook his head, "I don't know, otherwise why would I ask you? I don't speak boring nonsense."

Crane Tears' face turned dark, feeling insulted again.

"There were five others, three of whom I knew," Cha Huan said. "One was an old friend, an old classmate… You guys will dig up his body later, don't lose his blade armor."

"What, he was involved too… Ha-ha," Crane Tears laughed somewhat maliciously, moved his legs slightly, prepared to run at any moment.

Unexpectedly, Cha Huan did not become furious and attack him, instead, he looked solemnly at the ruins, as if monsters were buried beneath it.

"The other two I knew, you might know them too," Cha Huan said. "One was the former Director of the Patrol and Punishment Department; the other was the former Deputy Commander of the Twelve Guardians."

Crane Tears blinked several times, feeling a bit baffled. Over the years, there have been many Directors of the Patrol and Punishment Department, and likewise, many Deputy Commanders of the Twelve Guardians. With so many candidates, was Cha Huan playing a guessing game?

However, Yu Ke and Xie Chenyuan showed slight changes in their expressions, and Xie Chenyuan asked, "Principal Cha, are the two you're talking about among the three from that year?"

"That's right, it's them."

Crane Tears thought for a moment and quickly understood.

Twelve Guardians' Deputy Commander, Patrol and Punishment Department Director, the three from that year... These factors linked together can only refer to the three martial pillars who once chased Cha Huan!

But the problem is, Crane Tears remembers—

"They've been dead for a long time."

Cha Huan said hauntingly, "And it was I who killed them myself. I am very sure I broke their necks, verified that they were thoroughly dead, it's impossible to bring them back… However, their strength was a bit questionable, although somewhat troublesome, they only possessed martial pillar techniques, not martial pillar strength, far from their former selves."

Xie Chenyuan's eyes flickered, "Right, I remember there was one—"

"Former president of the Eight-Aspect Martial Arts Society, thirty years ago the 'First of the Eight-Rice Style.' Back then, he harmed me the worst," Cha Huan looked at them, "Do you know something?"

"No, I'm also eager to know the truth," Xie Chenyuan said. "I'll send someone to investigate the attackers' identities, but for now, I have to get busy. Want me to escort you back, Principal Cha?"

Cha Huan replied disdainfully, "I'll fly, don't need your escort."

Xie Chenyuan, Yu Ke, and Crane Tears didn't linger, and vanished into the night, about to stir a storm in Yanjing.

Cha Huan looked at the ruins, waited for a while, and finally said, "You can go now."

"Until we meet again," the White Night Traveler Inn lurking in the shadows bowed slightly in greeting and then disappeared into the darkness.

Cha Huan stretched lazily, pounded his lower back, and stepped towards the Imperial Academy wearing flying boots.

"It's time to go back and wrap up."

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