Stranger Danger

Chapter 199: All Things In Life Are Decided By Power

White Horse Hill, White Horse Academy.

Wang Luori was standing in front of the entrance and glaring at the inscribed board with a murderous expression on his face. He was accompanied by various elders, attendants and disciples. Everyone was as silent and afraid as an ant.

It was said that the inscribed board hanging at the entrance of White Horse Academy was written by the Chief Libationist of the Jixia Academy himself. It contained a sliver of the dao of Confucianism and so was overflowing with righteousness and power.

Capable of repelling all evils and Strangers within fifty kilometers of the academy, it was the symbol of White Horse Academy and their most prized possession.

However, not even this treasure could wash away the darkness and promise of violence pouring out of Wang Luori right now.

The atmosphere in front of White Horse Academy was solemn and quiet. Anyone could tell that it was the calm before the storm.

Boom!

Suddenly, Wang Luori took an earthshaking step and shone like a golden sun. Then, he threw a punch straight at the inscribed board.

The surrounding space shook violently as the punch force flew toward the board. It was like the sun itself was descending from the sky.

Buzz!

The three words on the board “White Horse Academy” lit up at the same time. The milky white light formed a white horse that raced forth to meet the sun.

The white horse’s aura was pure and unblemished. It was also carrying a ton of ancient scriptures that flipped open to unleash shockwaves, wind, rain, and more books.

“The white horse carries books and the sound of the wind, rain, and reading.”

As the sounds continued, the descending sun grew smaller and fainter. At some point, it began flickering like a candle flame that could extinguish at any moment.

“Hmph!”

Seeing this, Wang Luori took another earthshaking step toward the board, and his eyes shone like a pair of mini suns. His aura skyrocketed, and the wavering sun quickly regained its power. It was like the sun piercing through the dark clouds and illuminating the world after a heavy rainstorm.

The white horse the board created abruptly shattered into pieces. A second later, Wang Luori’s fist force finally struck the board.

There was a loud boom as the board shuddered like a leaf. Its white light grew much dimmer, and cracks spread all across its surface like a spider web.

Wang Luori’s fist force ultimately failed to shatter the board in one hit, but the gate and posts holding it up weren’t so lucky. They crumbled like paper structures and shattered into a million pieces. Not only that, the remnant force of the attack spread deeper into the academy and bathed countless White Horse Academy disciples in uncomfortable heat.

It was at this moment a deep and refined voice spoke up, “What do you think you’re doing destroying our entrance and damaging our priceless treasure, Hill Lord Wang?”

The voice was like the spring wind. It blew away the uncomfortable heat in an instant.

Then, an elegant old man with white hair and beard stepped out of the crowd. He looked to be in his sixties, and he was wearing a confucion robe. His huge, long sleeves flapped in the wind and unleashed invisible ripples that wiped away the remaining energies in the air, preventing Wang Luori from using it to cause more havoc to the academy.

He was the principal of the White Horse Academy, Zhang Lanjiang “The Righteous One”.

“I’m sure you know what I want, Principal Zhang.”

Wang Luori was wary of Zhang Lanjiang, but verbally he didn’t relent at all. In fact, his killing intent was greater than ever.

“Surrender the murderer of my son, Cheng Nuo now, or suffer my wrath!”

He came even sooner than I expected, Zhang Lanjiang sighed on the inside. He knew that there would be trouble from the moment he saw Cheng Nuo returning with Wang Yang’s corpse. He just wasn’t expecting it to be so soon.

“This matter is more complicated than you think, Hill Lord Wang. May we have a careful discussion inside the guest hall?” Zhang Lanjiang beckoned politely.

“There is nothing complicated about this. Just answer me this: did Cheng Nuo kill my son?” Wang Luori clasped his hands behind his back and asked in a murderous tone.

“That is true, but it is not what you—”

Wang Luori interrupted Zhang Lanjiang before he could finish, “That’s all I need to hear. All debts must be repaid, and I must have Cheng Nuo’s blood to make up for my loss. Surrender him now, and I will leave immediately. Refuse me, and it will be your fault that a river of blood runs inside your academy.”

Zhang Lanjiang frowned as helplessness flickered across his wizened face. “Everything in the world happens for a reason, Hill Lord Wang. Will you please allow me to say my piece?”

“My son is dead!” Wang Luori replied coldly.

“Hill Lord Wang, it is true that a member of White Horse Academy has killed your son by accident, but it was your son who murdered one of ours first. Can you please reconsider your actions for the sake of both our sects?” Zhang Lanjiang explained patiently.

“My son is dead!” Wang Luori repeated.

“Hill Lord Wang, both Sunset Hill and White Horse Academy are sects of Luo Shui. We should be looking out for each other, not attacking one another like this. Can you please restrain your anger and come in to have a careful discussion with me?”

“My son is dead!”

“Do you have to be so unreasonable and aggressive, Hill Lord Wang?”

“My son is dead!”

“You…”

A bit of frustration entered Zhang Lanjiang’s eyes as he swallowed his words. He had tried to reason with Wang Luori with logic, unwritten rules, and even emotions, but the Hill Lord had rebuffed it all with a simple, “My son is dead.”

The fact was, Wang Luori’s sentiment was perfectly understandable. To him, what could possibly be bigger than his son’s death?

Seeing that Zhang Lanjiang had fallen silent, Wang Luori continued in a cold tone, “I’m just a brutish man who has never read a single book in my life, so your great Confucianist logic is wasted on me. I won’t understand them, and I don’t want to understand them.”

“I have come to ask for one and one thing only: Cheng Nuo. Surrender him, then this matter is settled. Refuse, and I’ll ruin you and your precious sect even if I have to sacrifice my own sect to do it.”

A moment of silence later, Zhang Lanjiang asked, “Is there truly no other way?”

“My son is dead!” Wang Yang’s eyes grew a little bloodshot. “I only have one son!”

“Show yourself, Cheng Nuo! Show yourself this instant!”

“Are you a man or what? You have the balls to murder my son, but not the balls to face the consequences? What kind of man hides behind another’s back? Are you a woman? No, even a woman has bigger balls than you!”

“Hahaha, vice principal of the White Horse Academy my ass! Disciple of a sage my dick! To call you a turtle would be an insult to turtles, so I’m just going to call you out for what you are, a dickless coward!”

“Now come out and face me, you dickless coward!”

“How uncouth!” Cheng Nuo stepped out of the crowd with a look of ashen anger. “I’m here, Wang Luori. What are you going to do now?”

Wang Luori stared at Cheng Nuo like a wild beast who couldn’t wait to rip and tear him to pieces. “You killed my son. What do you think I’m going to do?”

Wang Luori took one step toward Cheng Nuo and uttered through gritted teeth, “I’m going to eat. You. Alive for what you did to my son!”

“Gulp…”

Wang Luori looked so savage at this moment that Cheng Nuo couldn’t help but stumble two steps away from him. He tried to mask his own fear and threatened, “It is true that I had killed your own son, but it was your son who killed my nephew first! You’re the one who said that all debts must be repaid, so by your logic, it’s only right that I take your son’s life to compensate for my loss, am I right?”

“Of course it’s not right!” Wang Luori’s eyes were completely bloodshot at this point. “Who the fuck do you think your nephew is? He’s just a garbage human being who hasn’t even weaned off his mother’s milk yet! How can his life possibly compare to my son’s? Ten of your nephew isn’t worth a single finger on my son’s body!”

“You!” His callous declaration angered Cheng Nuo. “My nephew is a human being just like your son! Their lives are equal!”

Wang Yang scoffed, “I’m not even going to comment on how stupid your words are, but know that it is an honor that your garbage-of-a-nephew got to die in my son’s hands. Hell, it’s an honor to you as well. My son was saving your White Horse Academy from a lifetime of shame and humiliation by killing a black sleep!”

Cheng Nuo was so angry that he couldn’t speak. So, you’re saying I should thank you for killing my nephew?

Wang Luori continued uncaringly, “Plus, even if it’s true that my son screwed up first, I’m his dad. I’m the one who should get to teach him a lesson first. Who the fuck do you think you are to supersede my authority?”

Cheng Nuo was furious, but what could he possibly say against Wang Luori? He could only grumble, “You… you really are an unreasonable brute!”

Zhang Lanjiang interrupted, “You are wrong, Hill Lord Wang. The sage decreed that there is no such thing as a kindness that is greater than the other, no etiquette that is more superior than the other, and no life that is more noble than the other. Naturally, all lives are equal.”

“Plus, all lives and matters in life are connected to one another. If someone finds something they disagree with, it is perfectly within their right to interfere. Why would the order matter? Why would an order even exist?”

Wang Luori shot Zhang Lanjiang a glance and said, “I don’t understand your Confucianist logic, and I don’t care. All I know is my own jianghu logic and rules.”

“His trash nephew and my son are technically peers. It’s his own fault he’s so weak that he couldn’t even take a hit from my son. But Cheng Nuo is many years older than my son, and he has abused his power to kill him. Do you think this is the jianghu way?”

“Therefore, Cheng Nuo is the one who broke the rules first. Blood must be repaid with blood, so Cheng Nuo must die today!”

“That said, this is between me and Cheng Nuo. It has nothing to do with White Horse Academy. I would advise you not to interfere in our private business, Principal Zhang.”

“There is no such thing as private business when it is a sect matter, just the same as no one’s death is absolutely right or wrong.”

Zhang Lanjiang shook his head. He was hoping to minimize the problem, but alas, it was not meant to be. Besides, neither side was completely right or wrong in this matter. This was humanity. Perfect black and white did not exist when humanity was involved.

A reasonable person could be reasoned with, but an unreasonable one could only be fought.

Ultimately, all things in life are decided by power. To put it simply, the one with the bigger fist would always have the bigger say.

“Hmph! I really don’t get scholars. You could’ve just said that you would defend the murderer until the end, but no, you just have to bring up all the big words and waste everyone’s time,” Wang Luori taunted. However, the fact that he had entertained Zhang Lanjiang and Cheng Nuo for this long was because he hoped that the principal would cave in and turn in Cheng Nuo willingly. He too didn’t wish to fight Zhang Lanjiang if he could help it.

That didn’t mean he was afraid to fight the man though. He, Wang Luori, did not believe that revenge was best served cold. In fact, he preferred to solve everything immediately whenever possible.

“If you have nothing else to say, then let’s get on with it. All Sunset Hill disciples, kill Cheng Nuo now! Don’t hesitate to kill anyone who dares to stand in your way!”

“Yes, my lord!” The Sunset Hill disciples responded and charged toward Cheng Nuo.

“This is a sanctuary of Confucianism! You will not ruin this place!”

A furious Zhang Lanjiang tried to stop the group from entering, but Wang Luori blocked his way first. “Your opponent is me, Principal Zhang!”

Zhang Lanjiang channeled the wind and clouds and swung his sleeves at Wang Luori, hoping to drive the Hill Lord back with a powerful attack and assist his disciples. Martial arts wise, they were the equal of Sunset Hill, but experience wise, they were lacking to say the least. Moreover, Wang Luori had brought only elite disciples with him. He counted many elders and stewards among the group as well. As a result, many White Horse Academy disciples were injured practically since the beginning of the battle.

Unfortunately, his attack failed to push Wang Luori even a step backward. The Hill Lord brought his palm down in a spiral and collapsed the very space around him, creating a black hole. It wiped out Zhang Lanjiang’s force and forced the principal to keep his attention on him.

“Is this a declaration of war, Wang Luori?” Zhang Lanjiang’s normally gentle voice abruptly turned stone cold.

Wang Luori clasped his hands behind his back and summoned a scorching sun behind him.

“I don’t want to go to war with you either. You’re the one who asked for this.”

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