Chapter 671: Shi'an Bureau: Bumping into a Teaching Assistant on Duty
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 671: Shi'an Bureau: Bumping into a Teaching Assistant on Duty
"One... one million!"
At that moment, they were shocked beyond measure. Even their initial terror was drowned out by the sheer weight of such a number.
They pulled out their phones to check the fifty thousand that had just arrived, while I waited quietly for them to process the situation.
After all, one million was an astronomical sum for an ordinary, bottom-layer family.
But... if they actually started spending it, it wouldn't seem like much. One million couldn't support a family in luxury forever, and they knew it.
"One... one million isn't enough!" When they blurted this out, I wasn't sure where their courage came from. Perhaps it was the call they had just placed to the Shi'an Bureau? Or perhaps it was my nonchalant tone?
"One million isn't enough? Just as I thought... I knew your appetite wouldn't be satisfied so easily. How about two million?"
"Two million! Two million is en—mmph!" The woman trembled at the figure and was about to agree immediately, terrified I might retract the offer, but the man beside her clamped his hand over her mouth.
"Dammit, you short-sighted woman! Do you even have a say in this house? Her two million doesn't count! Five million! I want five million!" He hissed at the woman he was pinning down, his voice low and harsh. He looked like a gambler testing my limits, or a scoundrel engaged in a bizarre form of reverse bargaining.
"Sure~"
I replied airily, though five million was indeed a bit higher than I had expected.
I certainly had plenty of money, but most of it was in the form of transcendent materials—mainly Red Copper, Mithril, and Orichalcum. Then there were my assets in the Expansion Realm, though I think I’d left those for Millian to use in developing my fan club.
Liquidating millions in cash on such short notice was actually a bit of a hassle...
However, my casual acceptance seemed to provoke them once more.
"No! What he said doesn't count! Ten million! We want ten million!"
At this point, the woman whose mouth had been covered finally seemed to have an epiphany. Their greedy nature drove them to keep doubling the price. Even the haggling faces seen in a wet market couldn't describe the sheer ambition in their eyes now.
Because what they were thinking about now... was a total transformation of their lives!
Numbers they had never dared to dream of before came tumbling out of their mouths, as if they regretted not paying more attention in primary school math.
Their demands had already escalated into the hundreds of millions.
I tilted my head slightly toward Sister Bai, signaling her to look at these fools.
Tens of billions... Heh. If that amount were converted into paper currency and stuffed under their house, the foundation would rise by a meter.
Once their demands hit the billions... honestly, I just started treating them as a joke.
Initially, I truly intended to use money to buy out the last shred of our relationship, intending it as repayment for the cost of raising me since childhood.
Now, it seemed that wouldn't be necessary. Or rather, the moment I allowed them to keep raising the price without limit, I had already begun to view them as a farce.
Eventually, even the pace of their own shouting slowed down.
"Keep going. Why stop? Did you finally realize how embarrassing you're being?" I asked.
"You... you never intended to pay, did you! I don't want a trillion anymore! One hundred... no, two million! We just want two million!"
In this moment, they performed the greed and cowardice of a gambler to perfection. First, they aimed for the stars; then, realizing the risk, they slowly tried to protect their principal, and once the principal was "safe," they tried to squeeze out a small profit.
That one million was already as good as in their wallets in their minds, becoming a bargaining chip for them to shamelessly continue haggling with me.
"We know you're Yang Yuehan, we don't doubt that... and we know you want to sever ties with us completely... We just want two million. Once the money hits the account, you can do whatever you want. I'll even act like I never had you as a son..." They seemed to feel their leverage was slipping and tried to find a justification for their behavior.
But I had to admit... when it came to money, their IQs seemed to reclaim the high ground. Based solely on my current behavior and the few words I'd said, they understood exactly why I was here.
"Dad! Mom! What are you doing?!"
Just as the conversation reached this stage, Yang Yunhan walked out of the study, looking utterly soul-crushed.
His recovery process hadn't taken long, which meant the time I had spent talking to them—including the escalation from one million to hundreds of billions—had only spanned a few short minutes.
They had proven through their actions that human greed has no bottom. The only thing that could keep them sober was the moment they began to doubt whether I could actually pay the price they quoted.
"You little brat, why are you butting in now?!" They turned to furiously berate their "younger son."
Given the current situation, the choice was obvious: an "elder son" who could actually produce millions to sever family ties, versus a younger son who was becoming an increasing disappointment with no hope in sight. They only cared about who could bring them benefits.
"Get back to your study! You have no right to speak here!"
After that shout, the atmosphere in the room fell into an eerie silence. It was as if something was being suppressed, and that one shout had finally snapped the last thread of reason.
"Xiao Han... don't mind him..."
"Do you... do you two even care about my feelings?!"
Before the man on the sofa could finish, he was interrupted by another high-pitched voice.
That hysterical roar and interrogation, accompanied by a cracking voice and extreme agitation, served as a total release for all the grievances he had suffered during this period.
He had never questioned his "parents" so loudly. His intense emotions triggered an adrenaline rush that made his weak physical body tremble uncontrollably.
For the first time—this was the first time in this house that he had voiced his thoughts regardless of the consequences, to the point where he didn't even seem to notice his voice breaking.
"I've really had enough of you two! I've never seen parents as pathetic as you! You're just—"
Before he could finish, the man stood up and strode over to him. The boy's hysterical posture instantly withered, and even his voice grew uncontrollably weaker.
Slap!
A crisp slap echoed through the house, sending the younger son sprawling to the floor. The force of the blow was far beyond what Yang Yunhan could withstand.
He only knew that he had lost his footing and hit the ground. A buzzing ring started in his left ear, gradually making it impossible to hear out of either side. His mouth felt numb, followed by a slow, rising surge of sharp pain and the spreading taste of rust.
With that, his self-righteous pride was utterly shattered by that single slap. The grievances he felt, the anger he wanted to express, the attention he sought, the resolve he had made, the courage he had mustered, the words he had carefully weighed, everything he had spent to get to this point... all of it was blown away by that slap.
And in the wake of that blow, his heart was shattered into pieces so small that nothing remained...
While the parents were still preoccupied with the thought of the money, the faint sound of Shi'an Bureau sirens could be heard from outside.
They were racing toward the building, the sound growing louder by the second.
I glanced out the window with slight surprise. Was the Shi'an Bureau's efficiency really this high?
Or were they on high alert because the College Entrance Exam was approaching?
It didn't matter. As the saying goes, there's always a way when the carriage reaches the mountain. They had dug a massive hole for themselves.
However, hearing that the Shi'an Bureau had arrived, the two people across from me became the most panicked of all.
In their eyes, if the Shi'an Bureau intervened, they would lose any chance at the money.
They became visibly frantic, jumping up and babbling almost incoherently.
Before long, a squad from the Shi'an Bureau burst into the house. It took no effort at all, as the front door hadn't been closed since I broke in.
"Shi'an Bureau! We received a report of—huh?"
The officers were stunned by the scene before them.
A teenager on the floor spitting blood, a woman with disheveled hair being held by the collar, and a middle-aged couple who rushed forward the moment they entered, frantically trying to obstruct them.
"Officers! Officers... I'm the one who called! It was me! We're fine, really, it's just a family dispute! We're fine!"
"Yes! We're fine! Really!"
"Move aside! Whether you're fine or not isn't for you to decide!" The woman leading the squad frowned and pushed the two aside. She was, after all, someone who had completed her studies at a Transcendent Academy. Her elevated perspective made her look down on these ordinary people, especially those who hindered her work.
In situations like this, they usually used the pressure of their life level to suppress the room. They had lost their transcendent powers, but they still possessed their life level.
However, after losing the mana source that allowed for continuous witchification, their life levels were steadily declining, eventually settling at a point only slightly higher than an ordinary person's.
Such was the path of transcendence: once you stepped onto it, failing to progress meant regressing.
"You! And you! What's going on here? Explain yourselves. And who is this woman you're holding?!"
"I suggest you don't speak to her like that." I stood up. Since the newcomer had immediately pointed her spear at Sister Bai, I couldn't just sit by.
"You! A student from the Witch Academy?!" The woman's face paled with shock the moment she saw me.
Taking in my outfit, my unusual white hair, and my red eyes, they instinctively drew their weapons. If I really was a student from the Witch Academy, they truly couldn't afford to offend me.
The firearms they carried were merely for self-defense. While guns were a threat to students of the Witch Academy, the threat wasn't particularly large.
The presence of firearms was more about encouraging the other party to stay calm and negotiate—and perhaps to provide a bit of psychological comfort to the squad members.
Standard procedure dictated that they report any encounter with a Witch Academy student immediately, followed by communication between the Shi'an Bureau and the academy's Discipline Squad. There was a significant time lag involved, and this was exactly the kind of situation they feared most.
"Guns?"
I saw how they were acting as if facing a formidable foe, but I hadn't expected firearms to be so common in the Shi'an Bureau.
Not that I was afraid. With my Time Sense and my powerful Body Cultivation physique, I could stand there and they wouldn't be able to land a single shot.
"You people from the Shi'an Bureau dare to point guns at me without even understanding the situation... Do you know the consequences of doing that?"
"You! Don't move! I'm warning you, don't come any closer! Or I'll fire!"
"I hate having guns pointed at me." I pulled out the academy-issued phone I hadn't used in a long time.
I dislike trouble, and the fastest way to prove my identity was through my personal data on the phone.
But before showing them that, I needed to display a bit of force. Otherwise, they might think I was a pushover.
Before they could even react, I was standing right in front of her, my right hand clamped over the pistol the leader was gripping tightly.
I wasn't trying to snatch the gun. I simply applied pressure. The firearm in her hand twisted and deformed; the metal alloy casing was no match for my Body Cultivation power.
Bang!
With a sharp crack, a round inside the gun was triggered by the sudden structural failure.
However, the fired bullet couldn't pass through the barrel I had crushed, resulting in an immediate chamber explosion. the blast sent the mangled pistol flying, shattering it into countless fragments.
The entire sequence happened in a split second, so fast they couldn't even process it.
I stood there as if nothing had happened.
The others, however, looked like they were facing a mortal enemy.
But they were currently within my domain. Even a simple action like pulling a trigger was beyond them.
I looked at the little captain. the terror on her face hadn't diminished one bit.
Only she knew... that she hadn't pulled the trigger at all.
She didn't dare to. Because firing meant a total break with a student who wielded transcendent power!
As a former student of a Witch Academy herself, she knew exactly how "broken" a Witch Academy spellbook was.
Even a lower-year student with a single spellbook could cause horrific damage.
But what had she just done? She had "fired"!
Just as she was falling into despair, she felt something smooth being pressed into her hand.
It was my phone. Then, my voice reached her ears.
"A Witch Academy Teaching Assistant is conducting business. Why is the Shi'an Bureau interfering?"
"Wh... what?" She suddenly felt the suffocating pressure around her throat vanish and finally managed to catch her breath.
But when she heard the words "Witch Academy Teaching Assistant," her heart leaped into her throat!
She stared blankly at the phone forced into her hand, ignoring the pain from her crushed gun and the explosion.
This phone was a model unique to the Witch Academy, powered by mana and impossible to forge.
She looked at the page displayed on the screen...
The information, the photo...
And especially that title... the words "Teaching Assistant" were blindingly bright.
They... they had bumped into a Teaching Assistant while on duty!
What... what kind of luck was this?!