Chapter 69: Blood-tinted Peace

　　Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

　　The next day.

　　May 11th, Sunday.

　　Scenic View Gardens.

　　When they entered the house, everyone aside from Fang Ping showed their joy and surprise.

　　The two floors, the spacious living room, the sun-bathed balcony, and the brand-new upholstery…

　　After living in an old house for years, the Fang couple had already gotten used to the dank and humid single-floored living environment. Upon the sudden entrance to a new house, it looked lavish and extravagant to them even though the upholstery was actually quite ordinary.

　　Fang Yuan was almost driven crazy with excitement. After she walked in the door, she jumped on the sofa and rolled around.

　　Next, she got up and bounded up the stairs.

　　Looking at their daughter’s excited antics, a smile broke out on Fang Mingrong’s face, one that he found hard-pressed to tamp down. He turned to look at Fang Ping. “These furniture…”

　　“They’re all cheap stuff that came along with the upholstery…”

　　Fang Ping did not tell them that he had bought them himself. While he accompanied his parents into the living room, he said with a smile, “You can throw them away and replace them with new ones…”

　　He knew that all he said would be meaningless. He did not expect to successfully ask his parents to move in so shortly after he had bought the house; the newly bought furniture had not been broken in yet.

　　As he had expected, Li Yuying admonished him. “They’re all new. How can we possibly throw them away?

　　“They’re quite good already…”

　　Li Yuying’s gaze swept around the lower floor, muttering all the while, “Really good!”

　　“The lighting is nice. The place is spacious and lights up nicely.”

　　“…”

　　After a while, everyone went up to the upper floor.

　　Fang Yuan had already chosen her room upstairs. Seeing her parents walk upstairs, she said with glee, “Fang Ping, I want this room!”

　　There were two bedrooms, a gymnasium, and a study upstairs. They were all quite spacious.

　　The new bedrooms were all larger than those in the old house. They were currently bare, though.

　　When Fang Ping bought furniture then, he had only randomly bought a small sofa bed for the study.

　　At her words, Li Yuying entered the room for a look. After taking a look, she scolded her daughter. “What room? We’re not moving into the new house…”

　　Fang Yuan was taken aback. Disappointment was clear on her face.

　　Fang Ping froze as well, but then he recovered with a smile. “Mom, you aren’t thinking of saving this for my marriage, are you?

　　“I’m going to martial arts university!

　　“I’ve been rewarded a house even before becoming a martial artist. Do you think that I’ll be short of houses after I’ve become one?

　　“Martial artists in Sun City won’t live in houses like this one no matter how weak they are.

　　“After I graduate from university, I’ll be living in a mansion.

　　“Plus, it’ll be hard to say if I’m even returning here…”

　　Fang Ping had known what his mother was going to say when she opened her mouth.

　　“This spacious house – a new one, at that – must be saved until my son gets married.”

　　Until this moment, Li Yuying still probably had not come to terms that her son was not the ordinary Senior Three student she knew him as, but an aspiring martial artist.

　　Now it was Li Yuying’s turn to be rendered speechless. Fang Yuan started to plead, “Exactly! Fang Ping’s gonna get into martial arts university. Martial artists are all rich!

　　“Mom, let’s move in, pretty please!

　　“This house is so near to our schools, too…”

　　Her daughter was pleading with a pout, while her son told her that he would not be short of houses. Li Yuying had no choice but to look toward Fang Mingrong.

　　He hesitated for a moment. When he wanted to speak, Fang Ping cut in with a smile. “Dad, Mom, don’t think too much about it. Today’s Mother’s Day, coincidentally. I didn’t prepare a gift for Mom, so think of this house as a Mother’s Day gift.

　　“Dad, don’t be jealous. I’ll give you something too when Father’s Day comes.”

　　“This kid!”

　　Fang Mingrong was all smiles. He no longer hesitated. He looked at his wife and said, “Pingping’s already said so. Let us live here for now.

　　“We’re going to buy some furniture and daily necessities when we have the time. After a while, we’ll move here.”

　　“Dad, let’s move in now…”

　　Fang Yuan went into her plaintive whining mode again. She only wanted to live in this big house right now.

　　Fang Ping smiled as well. “While the whole family’s here, we can buy the furniture we need after a while later. After we buy everything today, we can live here starting tomorrow.

　　“There’s nothing in the old house that’s worth salvaging. We only need to take some clothes with us…”

　　“How can we treat this as something so trivial!”

　　Li Yuying stopped him. “We’ll have to choose an auspicious date to move in. We’ll also have to invite our relatives to a housewarming banquet. How can we move in just at a whim…”

　　“Also, we’ll have to tidy up the old house for rental after we move here…”

　　At her admonishment, Fang Ping did not attempt to convince her otherwise.

　　He had already told his parents of the house. The arrangements after that were to their discretion.

　　Fang Yuan looked dead to the world. She wanted to move here now, but her parents wanted to delay for a lot longer. She was in despair.

　　The family reached an agreement, though. They were going to look at furniture today and purchase everything they needed.

　　When they went out, Fang Yuan pulled Fang Ping to the back, and she said to him, with an expectant look on her face, “Bro, today’s Mother’s Day, so you said that the house’s a gift for her.

　　“You’re going to give Dad a gift on Father’s Day too.

　　“During Sister’s Day someday later, what are you gonna give me?”

　　Fang Ping was perplexed. Sister’s Day, her ass!

　　Where did this Sister’s Day come from?

　　As if she knew that Fang Ping would not understand her, Fang Yuan said seriously, “It’s actually Children’s Day, but you can celebrate it as a Sister’s Day too…”

　　Fang Ping did not know whether he should laugh at the joke. He deadpanned, “So there’s also a Brother’s Day, then?”

　　“There is! Youth Day on May 4th. It’s a pity, though, that you weren’t at home on the day of the festival. I prepared a gift for you, but I didn’t give it to you!”

　　“Haha!”

　　Fang Ping rolled his eyes sky-high. This precocious kid was simply annoying!

　　…

　　The family went to the furniture plaza together that morning.

　　Compared to Fang Ping’s flippant purchasing habits, his parents took this more seriously. They gauged the exhibits of store after store and asked after the prices of what thousands of stores had to offer.

　　The family had shopped all over the plaza at least seven times, but they had yet to decide the store they were buying from.

　　Aside from his parents, who were absolutely boggled by the variety of choices, Fang Yuan went along seriously. She was mainly picking out furniture for her own room; she did not tire of it at all.

　　Fang Ping had already heard his parents delegate the rooms in low tones, though. One of the two bedrooms on the upper floor would go to Fang Ping, and the other themselves.

　　Fang Yuan would stay in the small bedroom downstairs.

　　Fang Ping was shaking with mirth after hearing the news. He did not divulge this to an elated Fang Yuan, because he wanted to know how her reaction would be when told the news after she had chosen her furniture.

　　Of course, Fang Ping did not care much about his living arrangements. After getting into university, he would not be at home for extended periods of time.

　　The morning went by quickly.

　　When lunchtime came, Li Yuying intended to return home and cook lunch, but Fang Yuan volunteered to treat everyone to a meal as a gift to Li Yuying.

　　Fang Ping could not help but admire this girl.

　　She had told him the past day that she would treat him to this meal, but now it was suddenly a Mother’s Day gift. It was only that Father’s Day had not arrived yet, or else this meal could be three gifts at once.

　　…

　　After lunch, the girl’s small well of fortune was almost depleted.

　　After paying, she turned to give Fang Ping a beseeching look telling him that she would depend on him in the future. It made Fang Ping want to pinch her cheeks until they were swollen round.

　　The parents wanted to look at furniture some more in the afternoon. Fang Ping did not go along with them. He went to the bank instead, signing up for a debit card and transferring three hundred thousand yuan into it.

　　He had around 2 million left in his own card. He planned to save it as a fund for a business venture.

　　His previous sources of wealth were all untethered, unstable.

　　It was impossible that hapless benefactors like Huang Bin and Jin Keming would appear to give him money every now and then. If he ate at his fortune without replenishing it, his vault of money might not be able to sustain him throughout his attempt to reach Rank-2.

　　Martial artists spent a lot. Fang Ping was sadly intimate with that fact.

　　Even people like Wang Jinyang had no choice but to take up missions to fund his cultivation.

　　Although Fang Ping had Wealth to do the job instead, his Wealth storage had to be funded by money too.

　　…

　　As Fang Ping’s family was busy purchasing things for their new house, Wang Jinyang, the subject of Fang Ping’s thoughts for days, appeared in a military base in Tiannan, dragging his exhausted body forward.

　　Wang Jinyang showed no trace of his former composure and calmness.

　　His hair was a mess, his clothes torn beyond repair, and there were bloodstains all over his body.

　　There were other people alongside him.

　　The team that departed from Nanjiang Martial Arts University that day was led by Rank-5 martial artist Zhang Qingnan. It consisted of 16 teachers and 11 students, 28 people in total including Zhang Qingnan.

　　Now not more than 20 of them were left, either slumped on the floor or standing.

　　The demure and spotless Zhang Qingnan was covered in dirt. His right arm hung downward lifelessly.

　　Zhang Qingnan’s gaze swept the space, his eyes were red-rimmed. He said hoarsely, “Our mission is accomplished. Tonight, the nine Grandmasters will conduct an attack for the last time in order to suppress the revolt in the Tiannan Catacombs once and for all!

　　“Students can return home for a good rest.

　　“Mr. Liu, you’re taking the team back to school right after…”

　　“Qingnan, you’re not leaving?” the mentioned Mr. Liu asked quickly.

　　Zhang Qingnan shook his head minutely. He declared in a low tone, “After the last assault, the entrance to the Catacombs will be closed by force. I’m bringing Shen Quan back home!”

　　“Mentor…”

　　Wang Jinyang said hoarsely, his eyes blood-red, “The President would not wish for you to risk your life in entering the Catacombs for a second time!

　　“I know. I know that you’re blaming yourself, but this is not your fault!

　　“It was us that were too reckless and didn’t listen to your commands, us that ventured into the depths and caused the President to be stuck inside the Catacombs.

　　“The situation’s already fatally dire around the entrance. You’re not a Grandmaster. One more attempt…”

　　Zhang Qingnan interrupted sternly, “You don’t need to stop me. I’m the leader of NMAU’s team for this mission!

　　“It’s my fault that I’ve neglected all of you!

　　“We were 28 when we arrived. Now when we’re departing, I’m taking everyone with us, even after they’ve already sacrificed themselves for the cause!”

　　“Mentor!”

　　“Qingnan…”

　　Zhang Qingnan set his face with determination. He said, “Mr. Liu, you’re bringing the students home now!

　　“I’ll return to school as soon as I find Shen Quan.

　　“As for Mr. Wang and the others…”

　　Zhang Qingnan gritted his teeth and said sadly, “Take care of their funeral proceedings and affairs, and apo… Apologize to their families on my behalf…”

　　Mr. Liu clenched his hands into fists. He gazed at Zhang Qingnan solemnly before declaring, “We’re leaving!”

　　“Mentor…”

　　“Go! We’re going back! Everything is already beyond our control. There’s no point to staying here. We’re taking Mr. Wang and the others home!”

　　Mr. Liu did not hesitate any longer. He turned back and got in the car.

　　At the sight of the others remaining rooted on the spot, he bellowed, “Up! Do you want to stay here, severing the roots of the University?

　　“We’ll be here to take our revenge after we have the ability to do so!

　　“After we become Grandmasters, we’ll be here to open the entrance again and take our revenge. We’ll draw as much blood as they did ours! It’s better than walking blindly into your deaths!”

　　Wang Jinyang gritted his teeth. His body trembled all over. After a while, he snapped cuttingly, “We’re leaving!”

　　This place was no longer a place they could stay. They could only wait till they broke through into Grandmaster-level to have the hope to come back and exact their revenge!

　　As Wang Jinyang marched forward, the other members of the Martial Arts Club trailed after him.

　　Wang Jinyang turned to stare at Zhang Qingnan. He yelled, “Mentor, I’ll be waiting for you at school! If you don’t come back, I’ll marry your daughter!”

　　“You bastard! Nini is only ten! You’d better believe that I’ll break your legs!’

　　Zhang Qingnan retaliated jokingly. He waved his left hand. “Go. I’ll return to school with Shen Quan after I find him.”

　　The others did not speak as the car started up.