Chapter 155: Lu Wuji is On His Knees
Lu Wuji was a bit surprised to see Zhou Kai appear with a prevailing thirst for blood. “Vice Director Zhou, what brings you here?”
Zhou Kai itched to slap Lu Wuji to death right now. He didn’t even look at him as he roared, “All of you, drop your weapons and kneel. Otherwise, you’ll be treated as traitors of the Dragonteeth Guard!”
As one of the four directors of the Dragonteeth Guard, Zhou Kai was the first vice director, but he usually only handled financial matters and rarely inquired after affairs of the Dragonteeth Guard. As a result, he did not have too much influence within the Dragonteeth Guard.
Therefore, when this command was given, the team on Lu Wuji’s side all looked at each other with some embarrassment before they all looked unanimously at Lu Wuji.
Who knew that this gesture would thoroughly pierce Zhou Kai’s self esteem as an elder of the Dragonteeth Guard. He was number two of the Guard, but no one moved to execute an order he’d given.
It looked like the tiger had been asleep for so long that not even this group of Dragonteeth Guard paid him proper respect, and instead treated him as a paper tiger!
Lu Wuji had a face full of shock as the vice director drew near, “Vice Director Zhou, just what has happened for you to be so up in arms?”
Lu Wuji had been here all along toying with Jiang Chen and the others, and hadn’t left the Black Dungeons for a good half day. How would he know what had transpired in the outside world?
Besides, although the Southern Palace, Myriad Treasures Palace, and Qingyang Valley were enraged, they only used their connections in private and didn’t widely publicize their actions. Therefore, Lu Wuji hadn’t received any word of this at all.
Lu Wuji would have been better off not asking. His actions became the greatest offense in Zhou Kai’s eyes.
“The Dragontooth emblem is here. Those who don’t kneel will be executed with no exception!”
Zhou Kai had brought the Dragonteeth Guard’s true elites this time, and they were much stronger and more important than Lu Wuji’s men.
Everyone was dumbfounded when they saw the Dragontooth emblem, and Lu Wuji was instantly petrified. Clattering sounds rang out from the back as Lu Wuji’s team all threw down their armor and weapons and crouched on the ground.
Seeing the Dragontooth emblem was like seeing the general director himself arrive.
Within the Dragonteeth Guard, the general director was the supreme one! The general director held the lives of everyone in the Guard in his hands.
The Dragontooth emblem was the totem of the Dragonteeth Guard. It was as if a common mortal had seen a deity or Buddha. Their first thought was to submit, and their second thought was to submit!
“Lu Wuji, how dare you refuse to kneel upon seeing the Dragontooth emblem? Do you really wish to mutiny?”
Zhou Kai turned around and gave a harsh yell. The sound of a sword being unsheathed rang out afterwards.
Lu Wuji was completely dumbfounded, but that remaining bit of reason and logic caused him to involuntarily bend both legs and kneel.
Submitting to the Dragoontooth emblem was the first rule that almost every Dragonteeth Guard had to learn before entering the Guard.
“Who is Tian Shao?” Zhou Kai asked.
Tian Shao stood up from the back. “Your subordinate Tian Shao greets Vice Director Zhou.”
Zhou Kai was quite gratified and nodded his approval. “Tian Shao, the general director already knows of matters here. It is quite good, quite good that you can stay true to yourself and not bow in defeat to evil winds and noxious influences.”
Tian Shao had been completely bewildered in the beginning and hadn’t comprehended just what was going on. He finally understood when he heard Zhou Kai’s words and perceived that this matter had already disturbed the general director.
Vice Director Zhou had come ready to kill because he wanted to bring order out of chaos! He was here to provide backup for Jiang Chen and prevent Lu Wuji from pushing a perverse policy!
Tian Shao’s heart felt bittersweet when he heard Zhou Kai’s compliments. He felt that the humiliation he’d suffered through just now had been worth it.
“Vice Director Zhou, your subordinate was incompetent. I could only complete the matters within my duties. If it wasn’t for your timely arrival, the consequences would’ve been dire without thinking!”
Zhou Kai nodded, “Go, open the door. I want to personally apologize to little brother Jiang Chen.”
Lu Wuji and his accomplices’ hearts all chilled when they heard these words. Zhou Kai was calling Jiang Chen his little brother. What did this mean?
This meant that the winds had changed and that the general director wanted to personally protect Jiang Chen!
As great as Lu Wuji’s power was and as strong as his backer was, could they be more powerful than the general director?
“Jiang Chen, we have caused you suffering. Any sort of apology would be empty talk. I only have one promise — that our Dragonteeth Guard will give you a satisfactory explanation.”
Jiang Chen actually hadn’t suffered at all, to be honest.
“Vice Director Zhou, all sorts of birds can be found when the woods cover a vast expanse. The Dragonteeth Guard control an army a million strong so it’s inevitable that a few bad apples will appear. Since Commander Tian Shao tried his best to mediate, I didn’t actually suffer that much in this matter.”
Zhou Kai was startled. He’d thought that the young man would be unreasonable and make a scene after enduring such suffering. Who would’ve thought Jiang Chen would easily gloss over this with a smile?
Zhou Kai’s impression of Jiang Chen immediately increased to a very high level in the span of a moment.
“You’re right, Tian Shao didn’t throw away the moral integrity of a serviceman. I quite admire him. Little brother Jiang, if you don’t mind, may we have a few words?”
Jiang Chen waved his hands slightly, “Elder Zhou, I’d like ask General Lu a few questions first.”
Zhou Kai nodded. His relationship with Lu Wuji’s backer, Vice Director Yang, had been mediocre to begin with. He naturally wouldn’t object if Jiang Chen wanted to do so.
If they could make use of this opportunity to make this matter a bigger issue and suppress Vice Director Yang’s arrogance, Zhou Kai would be happy about this outcome as well.
“General Lu, I’m unsure how great your position is and how frightening your power is, I only ask you one question. What grudge do you have with me that you treat my justified self defense as a murder case?”
Lu Wuji was woodenly silent. History is written by victors. He was now kneeling on the floor, and a thousand, even ten thousand words would all be empty unconfident fluff.
Gritting his teeth with hatred from the bottom of his heart, his mind was also a chaotic mess. He too, didn’t understand what was going on. Wasn’t Jiang Chen a foreigner? He had some fame in the Eastern Kingdom, but what did that little bit of fame mean in the Skylaurel Kingdom?
Why would such a small matter disturb the general director?
Jiang Chen was just an ant from the Eastern Kingdom. Apart from the king, who else would merit personal inquiry from the general director’s priceless self?
“The fourth prince?” This notion flashed through Lu Wuji’s mind, but he immediately denied it. “The fourth prince is second or third rate amongst all princes. He’s not even fit to carry the first prince’s shoes. He should be in a rush to kiss up to the general director, how could he possibly affect the general director’s decisions?”
Lu Wuji went over this hundreds of times but still couldn’t come to an answer.
“You want to kill me. I can understand that you’ve taken benefits from the Northern Palace or received their threats. But, what mistake did my subordinates commit? You said that you’d sell them to the slave markets after killing me? Are you a Dragonteeth Guard or a robber?”
“Tian Shao, he’s your colleague, but you keep thinking about his wife and daughter. I’d like to ask, are you human or a beast in human skin?”
Tian Shao also clenched his hands into fists when he heard these words as boundless hatred shot out from his tiger eyes.
“You said that nothing in the heavens or earth could save me, and said that there was no way I could make it out alive now that I’ve entered the Black Dungeons. I can leave immediately now, but you must continue to kneel here like a dog. You said heaven was number two, earth number three, and you were the boss here. Then I’d like to ask you, what’s your rank now?”
Lu Wuji had been cast into hell from heaven all of a sudden, and then been continuously scoffed at by Jiang Chen. The humiliation within his heart exploded all of a sudden.
“Jiang Chen you village buffoon, you animal! What are you so proud of? This matter isn’t over!”
Zhou Kai hectored, “Lu Wuji, you have no respect for the law and abused your power. No one will save you this time, even if you have the greatest backer.”
Lu Wuji started laughing loudly. “Vice Director Zhou, don’t frighten me. There are still two possibilities to how this case will be decided.”
“Two possibilities? You’re too naive! The witness for this case is being protected by the general director’s men. Add to that the eyewitness from the scene, and the outcome of this case is a quite clear.”
“So what? At worst, this counts as mishandling a case. What can you do to me? Mishandling a case is at most, considered as a dereliction of duty. This kind of crime can be severe or light. A light punishment would be to demote me, a severe punishment would be to fire me.”
Zhou Kai was at a loss for words. If it was any other general who had done these things and committed this overwhelming disaster, they would possibly even lose their life.
However, Lu Wuji had absolute contempt for the law and consequences because he had a backer.
With the mighty being of Vice Director Yang there, it was very possible that he would only be charged with a dereliction of duty crime in the end and get off lightly.
This kid would surely make it back to the position of vice general after a short while.
After all, Vice Director Yang held certain powers of appointment and removal. This power was something that even the first directory, Zhou Kai, didn’t possess.
Jiang Chen was rather supremely uninterested in how the Dragonteeth Guard would handle Lu Wuji.
Rather, he was more interested in how much he could gain from this matter.
To put it candidly, Lu Wuji was a a pawn. There would be another to replace him if this sort of minor character died. Their numbers wouldn’t decrease by one if one was killed, and wouldn’t increase if he remained.
Jiang Chen had hundreds of ways to kill minor characters like these.
Upon seeing Zhou Kai remain silent, Jiang Chen was a smart man and knew that although Zhou Kai’s position was high, he likely couldn’t make the decision either.
He spread out his hands, “Elder Zhou, I don’t want to inquire into the personal affairs of your Dragonteeth Guard. However, I won’t pretend that nothing has happened after this matter.”
Zhou Kai smiled ruefully. This young man didn’t flaunt his light, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have any. He hadn’t given him, Zhou Kai, a hard time because he had good breeding and self restraint.
However, this matter didn’t mean it would be resolved just like this.
“Tian Shao, the safety of little brother Jiang Chen in the capital will be temporarily handled by you. Remember, our Dragonteeth Guard was at fault first in this matter. You must serve little brother Jiang Chen well.”
“Your subordinate understands.” Tian Shao accepted his orders.
Zhou Kai had no other choice. He couldn’t promise Jiang Chen anything. After all, it was up to the general director how this matter was handled.
What he could do was to humble himself as much as possible and give Jiang Chen a better impression.
Lu Wuji was a dumbfounded to see Jiang Chen leave like this, He hadn’t left behind a single harsh word nor lodged a fierce protest to angrily demand that he, Lu Wuji, be punished.
He almost didn’t believe his eyes. Jiang Chen was leaving like this?
So it turns out that this kid is a just a weakling who talks a big talk? He knows that he can’t afford to enrage me, Lu Wuji, and doesn’t even have the courage to pursue things further? Haha! A village buffoon who’s never seen the world is just a buffoon who won’t amount to much after all!
Although Lu Wuji was kneeling on the ground, there was no longer any pressure in his heart. Since Jiang Chen wasn’t pursuing this matter, this meant that the Dragonteeth Guard had even less of a reason to pursue it!