Chapter 55: Let him go!

"Y…you!"

Li Zhao turned his head, only to see a man wearing a guard's uniform. Li Zhao had a very shock expression on this face. This guard was, after all, very familiar to him.

Guard Leader Bai. He was one of the Guard Leader's that were under his pocket. Paying him whenever he creates trouble in the city with the countless 'whores' he played with. He was confused, why would Guard Leader Bai stab him in the back? Did he hear the conversation between him and the Headmaster that he will never come back to the city?

Was Guard Leader Bai taking this chance to kill him so that he will not be found out as a corrupt official?

Yes, that must be it!

Li Zhao's mind was in shambles. He should not have come here, he thought. If he knew that the entire Azure Fist sect was not enough to sack and invade major city like Taizhou, he would have made up an excuse to stay at the sect. The city was even in shambles. Some of the city still had smoke coming out of them, there were rubble all around the place.

Clearly, they were at a disadvantage. And yet not only were they not winning, they were struggling to even enter the city.

And now this, his shoulder was stabbed by a mere guard, who was trembling and could be said about to pee his pants.

"W-why did you stab me!?", Li Zhao howled as he grabbed part of the spear that passed through his shoulders and broke it apart. Guard Leader Bai gulped as he frantically backed a few feet away from Li Zhao.

"Gah!", Li Zhao shouted as he pulled the shaft that was still pierced through his back. He then stared at Guard Leader Bai, his expression in frenzy and his breathing hard.

"Why!?"

Guard Leader Bai, however, was silent. He slowly backed away from Li Zhao with fear for his life.

Li Zhao was about to approach the terrified guard, but then he heard Headmaster Lu chuckling.

"Now I suddenly feel pity. The mighty star teacher, wounded by a mere foot soldier", the Headmaster continued to mock Li Zhao, "It almost makes me not want to kill you anymore"

Li Zhao gritted his teeth. Was this really the end of him? He looked back and forth between the Headmaster and Guard Leader Bai.

And then, as if realizing something, a smile crept up on his face as he rushed towards Guard Leader Bai. He then quickly held Guard Leader Bai's neck and gripped it tightly, lifting him into the air.

"L-let go…", Guard Leader Bai struggled as he tried to shake himself loose.

"Shut your mouth! You're just the same as the Headmaster. You dispose me when I no longer have a use for you!? No… I am the one who does that!"

Li Zhao shouted. He then faced Guard Leader Bai towards the Headmaster.

"Headmaster Fu, let me go or I kill this guard!"

Hearing this, Headmaster Fu only sighed, "This doesn't make any difference, Li Zhao. You are still dying here.". Once again, the Headmaster slowly approached Li Zhao, "And I don't even know who that man is."

"Stop! I will do it! I will snap this man's neck!", Li Zhao was starting to look disheveled. So far from his previous calm outward demeanor. It seems his luck finally ran out.

But Headmaster Fu did not stop, he just had a disappointed expression on his face as he continued to walk towards Li Zhao.

"Honey!"

And then, like an answer to his prayers, a feminine voice shouted from behind the Headmaster.

Both Li Zhao and Headmaster Fu could not help but look towards the direction of the voice.

It was a woman sitting in a wheelchair.

Li Zhao squinted his eyes. Although the woman looked awfully familiar to her, this was not the time to reminisce.

He was about to say something, but he was interrupted by Headmaster Fu.

"Student Viel, why are you here?"

Viel?

This was a name that Li Zhao would never forget. He quickly turned his head towards the woman again. And there he was, Viel. Li Zhao could not see him at first because he was too small to be seen behind the wheelchair.

When Viel saw Li Zhao staring at him, he waved his hand and smiled.

"Y…you!", Li Zhao was not mistaken. The child's golden hair was abnormally longer now, but he was sure of it. This boy was the one who beat him almost half to death. "Western brat!", Li Zhao said in frustration as his grip tightened, choking Guard Leader Bai even further.

"Let go of my husband!"

"Your husband?", Li Zhao looked at the familiar golden-haired woman as a smile crept on his face once again.

Yes! Li Zhao thought. It seems that his luck has not ran out yet. The heavens have not abandoned him. He looked towards Guard Leader Bai to gauge his expression, and to his fortune, Guard Leader Bai's bewildered expression told him all he needed to know.

"I will let go of your hus-", Li Zhao was about to say something, but then something clicked on his mind as he stared at the golden-haired woman.

Li Zhao's eyes widened. Now he knows why this woman was so familiar, was she not one of his first playthings?

"Y…you are Charlotte!?", Li Zhao furrowed his brows as he dug deep in his mind. He was sure of it, this woman was one of his many victims, he would not mistake that golden hair for anyone else.

But isn't she supposed to be dead? He remembered giving a bag of coins to the Guard Leader to dispose of her.

Wait, a guard leader!?

Li Zhao then turned his attention towards the man he was holding.

"HAHAHAHAHA!", Li Zhao then released a maniacal laugh, "What a revelation! So, it was not enough that you disobeyed my orders, you even used the coin I gave you to marry her?"

Guard Leader Bai struggled as the pressure on his neck became erratic due to Li Zhao's laughter.

"You are even more sly than me, Bai! Hahaha-"

He was about to go on another laughing spree, but then he stopped when he once again delved into his mind.

He then looked at Viel, then towards Charlotte. He did so a couple of times before once again laughing. It all makes sense now, Li Zhao thought.

"Wow! What a twist. So that little brat was your child all along!?", Li Zhao's laughter soon turned into a fit of anger as he stared at Charlotte, "So this was all about revenge!?".

Viel feeling familiar to him. Viel almost killing him, calling him young noble. It all made sense now, Li Zhao thought. Viel was Charlotte's son with Guard Leader Bai. Although there were still bits unexplained, Li Zhao was sure of it.

"A…are you my mother?"

And then, a small voice could be heard. Viel's eyes were wide open as he had an extremely shock expression on his face.

"W-what!? No!", Charlotte could not help but raise her voice and instantly deny, but when he saw Viel's dejected expression, "I'm not… sorry", she quickly apologized.

"Oh, what's this? Was I wrong?", Li Zhao furrowed his brows, "Wait… could it be he is your son with another man? You really are a whore!"

"Just let go of my husband, please!"

"Tell me or I will kill him this instant!", Li Zhao shouted as he once again tightened the grip on Guard Leader Bai's neck. In truth, Li Zhao somewhat considered the fact that Viel might be his son, this was why he was so desperate to find out the truth. He shivered at the thought of having a child with a westerner.

"He is not my child!", Charlotte shouted in despair as she hit the arm of her chair, "I am not able to have children because of my current state!"

Charlotte's desperate shout resounded through the air. Guard Leader Bai, who was struggling to get away from Li Zhao's grip, could not help but stop when he heard this. He had a very shamed expression on his face as he closed his eyes.

"Now let go of my husban-"

*HOOOONK*

Charlotte's shout was interrupted by the sound of a horn coming from the outside, followed by a shout, "Retreat!"

"What!?", Li Zhao's expression returned to panic. He then quickly calmed himself down when he once again gazed at Charlotte's desperate expression.

"I wish I could stay and relish this family reunion", Li Zhao punched Guard Leader Bai's liver with his free hand, "Now let me go or I kill this man right in front of his wife", Li Zhao released a grin as he looked at Headmaster Fu.

"No! P-please, don't let him kill my husband!"

"Tch.", Headmaster Fu could not help but click his tongue. He should have killed him earlier, he had a lot of chance to do so way before the situation turned into this. Sentiment really drives one to make wrong decisions.

Headmaster Fu then sighed as he nodded.

Charlotte's expression brightened as he saw the Headmaster's response. He then looked at Li Zhao, "Now let go of my husband!"

"Well, not yet", Li Zhao said as he jumped to the top of the wall while still gripping Guard Leader Bai's neck. "I and him still have a lot to talk about". Li Zhao said as he quickly slithered his way to freedom.

"N-no! Please, chase him!", Charlotte once again pleaded to the Headmaster.

The Headmaster, however, only shook his head. "I am afraid that's not possible right now. There is a chance that they might have more people waiting for a chance to attack the city somewhere."

"N…no", Charlotte's expression became even more desperate.

"Don't worry, we will send someone after them"

A hoarse voice then came from above them. Charlotte quickly looked on top of the wall, only to see a towering figure standing there.

"We will make sure that no other guards die here today", General Diao had a sorrowful expression on his face. He looked at the corpse of his comrades. Most of the army men died during the flying beast invasion, these guards were just… ordinary guards. Some of them are even volunteers.

General Diao then looked at Xing Cai, who was beside him, "We owe you our thanks, Elder Xing Cai. If not for you, a lot more lives would have been lost today…again"

But Xing Cai only shook her head in response before jumping from the wall into the city.

General Diao could only sigh. He then looked at the surviving guardsmen. "Thank you for all your efforts. You will be deeply compensated…", General Diao proceeded to start a speech.

As soon as Xing Cai landed on the ground, she rolled her shoulders. Her new weapon seemed to be taking its toll on her body. Seeing that Viel was here, she slowly approached towards him.

But when Xing Cai saw the woman sitting on a wheelchair, her steps instantly faltered as she carried a stupefied expression on her face.

"Are… you really not my mother?"

Once again, Viel posed a question towards Charlotte as he tugged her robes. Hearing Viel ask this question, Xing Cai's eyes opened even wider in shock.

"No, I am not!", Charlotte once again instantly denied it, her shout piercing. She then bit her lips, even though she was worried about her husband, that was not a reason for her to lash out on a child, "Sorry… as I said earlier, big sister can't have children… okay?"

"What!?"

Weirdly enough, Xing Cai was the first to react. Everyone present stared at her in curiosity. "N…no, it's nothing", Xing Cai said as she placed her hand on her chin.

"I see…", Viel stuttered. Disappointment can clearly be seen on his face as he looked to the side, trying to avoid Charlotte's eyes.

"I am really sorry, Viel…"

Viel, however, no longer answered as he slowly stepped back.

"Viel?"

Viel then quickly burst into running, leaving a trail of dust along the way.

"Viel!"

Xing Cai was about to rush and follow Viel, but Headmaster Fu stopped her before she could even do so.

"It's time. Give the boy some time to recover. Children are like that", Headmaster Fu said he patted Xing Cai's shoulders.

"You say that as if you have children, Old Fu", General Diao, who had just finished his speech. Could not help but poke at the Headmaster.

"I have 5", Headmaster Fu answered with a stoic face.

"…."

"Since when?"

---

Deep inside a forest, Li Zhao could be seen hitting a tree with his fist, causing the tree to fall.

Guard Leader Bai was currently groveling on the ground, grasping for his neck as he tried to regain his breath. He wheezed and turned as his breathing slowly came back to him.

Li Zhao then slowly walked towards him, causing him to crawl back in fear.

"Now, you will tell me everything I need to know"