Chapter Seventy-Eight: Sacrifice

Two deities descended, and the remnants of the insect race fled from Torrent City in defeat.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the city's masters watched as the two deities returned to the temple. The colossal monsters on Lanshe Avenue were swiftly cleared away, the triple barrier vanished, but the once prosperous district of the wealthy was utterly destroyed. The ground was strewn with mutilated corpses and collapsed buildings; reviving its former glory seemed almost impossible.

When all finally settled into calm, Ye Ran found himself strangely lost. His journey into the underground nest had brought him nothing but trouble. After visiting Meng Qi with Sinclair, Ye Ran and Yunmeng walked together down the avenue, Ye Ran’s face gloomy and downcast.

“Yunmeng, I just feel there’s still so much that doesn’t add up...” he began, but hesitated.

Yunmeng laughed softly, “Ye Ran, you’re tired. Don’t think too much—go home and rest first.” Ye Ran nodded, but the furrow in his brow refused to ease.

Looking up, he saw they had reached the gourmet street; ahead lay Yunmeng’s family restaurant. He turned to her, his lips parted as if to speak, but he eventually looked away.

Unable to hold back a smile, Yunmeng pinched his hand and said, “Ye Ran, remember to visit me often.”

“Mm,” he replied.

Even at the door, Yunmeng waved to him, and the two lingered in reluctant farewell, almost like lovers. Ye Ran felt both sweetness and a bitterness he could not voice.

Though the war hadn’t touched the gourmet street or the bricklayers’ lane, the thunderous sounds had long reached these quarters, casting the residents into unease and fear.

As expected, the moment Ye Ran opened the door, Furuiya rushed into his arms, her eyes red with worry. Though she had changed clothes, she could still smell the blood on him. His weary expression told her he had once again braved danger. The sounds from Lanshe Avenue had reached here, and only heaven knew how frightened she had been.

“Furuiya, I’m fine,” Ye Ran managed a weak smile, gently stroking her head.

Obediently, Furuiya nodded and went inside, turning up the stove to heat him some porridge.

After drinking the porridge, Ye Ran retreated to his room to lie down, but for some reason, he found himself restless all night, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

The next day, bad news arrived: Sinclair had been taken away by a divine envoy from the Martial Heroes Hall. Ye Ran felt a twinge of worry, but no matter how he waited, the envoy never came for him. He found it odd; surely his involvement in Yu Bo’s affair was obvious to the authorities.

His doubts were soon answered. Merely a day later, he received notice that classes at Tiding Academy were suspended.

A foreboding sense crept over him; things seemed to be unfolding in precisely the way he most dreaded.

His intuition was not wrong. Three days later, he received a dismissal notice from Tiding Academy.

“We’re sorry, Ye Ran,”

“We know this wasn’t your fault, but the Martial Heroes Hall takes Yu Bo’s case very seriously. The Sixth Day Temple and the Thunder Temple are also involved. If we don’t give them an explanation, Tiding Academy’s graduates may face trouble entering the temples for advanced studies during the graduation season.”

Miaomiao spoke regretfully.

Sun Jiulou sipped his tea in silence beside her.

“Sinclair and Meng Qi were also expelled from Shali Academy...” he added.

He had hoped this might ease Ye Ran’s mind a little, but regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth.

Ye Ran’s reaction was unexpectedly calm. He only asked, “What about Yu Bo? How will he be dealt with?”

Sun Jiulou sighed, “He did make mistakes, but he was harmed as well. The Martial Heroes Hall currently doesn’t plan to punish him.”

Ye Ran tightened his grip on the document. “Senior, is there really a hierarchy among people in places like Tiding and Shali?”

“That question is complicated, but you’ve always known the answer, haven’t you?” Sun Jiulou replied, with a hint of resignation.

Ye Ran said, “This document wasn’t even posted as a public notice. Senior, I thought Tiding was different from Red Leaf.”

A sacrificial pawn.

A complete sacrificial pawn; for the sake of the approaching graduation season, both Tiding and Shali academies had taken the safest path.

The office was deathly quiet. After a long silence, Ye Ran spoke in a low voice, “I will leave, but my tuition must be refunded—that is my only savings. From now on, I have no ties to Tiding.”

“I’ll do my best to help you get it back, but you know there’s a lot of paperwork. It’s complicated, and I can’t guarantee anything.”

“Hmph.”

Ye Ran left quietly, just as he had during the martial exam at Red Leaf Academy. Soon, no one would remember this incident.

He passed building after building, crossed the sports field and lawns, and only stopped at the academy’s gate.

Everything had returned to how it was before. He was no longer an instructor at Tiding, but just an orphan, one step from the slums.

His only twenty gold coins had gone to tuition, and reclaiming them would not be easy. He didn’t know how to return home or how to face Furuiya and Yunmeng.

Suddenly, he recalled Yunmeng’s gentle face. Not long ago, he had dreamed of matching her family’s status, of standing proudly before her. It was only recently that he had hoped to move out of the bricklayers’ lane with Furuiya, to leave that place far behind.

Now, every hope was shattered. The thought filled him with rage; he slammed his fist against the gatepost by the guardroom. With a dull thud, cracks appeared in the post, and blood dripped from his fingers.

“Well, you’re quite angry, aren’t you?” Ronin approached, waving her folding fan, still dressed as the elegant young master. She gestured to the guardroom, and the old man within, wrench in hand and ready to scold, sat back down with a dark expression.

Ye Ran ignored her, face cold as he strode away.

“Ye Ran, don’t you think if someone’s entire life is marked only by failure, he must bear some responsibility himself?”

“What are you trying to say?”

Ronin walked lightly up to him, smiling. “Why not learn to adapt to this world? Whether among people or in nature, the law of the strong devouring the weak is eternal. The human world simply adds other rules: sacrificing pawns to protect the king, currying favor with the powerful. Everything can be flexible. Don’t you feel you’re always constrained, too rigid in everything you do?”

“From the moment you entered Tiding, you had countless ways to establish yourself here. Regarding the underground nest, Yu Bo, and Meng Qi, you could have stayed uninvolved, protected yourself. Yet you chose to get involved. Ye Ran, I’m really curious—why? For gratitude? For loyalty?”

She closed her fan quietly. “This world is unfair. Humanity is full of hierarchies, beauty and ugliness. Those who play tricks gain everything, those who uphold morality live in misery. You know this, yet you stubbornly cling to your rigid ways. Ye Ran, isn’t your current predicament your own doing?”

Her questions were tinged with mockery, but beneath it was genuine curiosity. She truly wanted to know what kind of person this boy was, whose conduct was so utterly unlike hers.