novelnext Chapter 108 : Chapter 108
Chapter 108 : Chapter 108
Chapter 108: A Pearl Cast into Dust
In truth, there had been nothing wrong with Song Chuhe’s plan.
Even if there had been no air-raid siren, even if the Elite Tournament had gone on as normal yesterday, whether Zheng Kuan had challenged Li Mu, or Li Mu had challenged Song Yan, whether Li Mu won or lost, he absolutely would not have destroyed the match in such an utterly humiliating fashion.
Even if Li Mu had taken first place, Jinlin High School’s results still would have been dazzling, and it still would have attracted a great deal of capital.
Jinlin High School’s mistake was that it should never have started shouting online.
And it especially should not have done so when Li Mu was already in a terrible mood.
The soldiers in the military district had been fighting for their lives below.
And yet up above, people were playing with public opinion over this scramble for benefits.
Granted, that was simply how the world worked. Wherever there were people, there would always be these vile, disgusting schemes and petty struggles.
But that did not matter.
You scheme your way.
I fight mine.
You stir things up once, and I will beat you down once.
Go ahead and play.
News of Li Mu brutally crushing Jinlin High School quickly spread through the entire city.
A lot of people at the scene had recorded videos. Ordinarily, they should have spread everywhere very quickly.
But the Song Family, to which Song Yan belonged, immediately spent lavishly on damage control.
They tried their utmost to suppress the spread of videos showing Song Yan being beaten down.
Eastern District.
Inside a private room in a KTV.
Zhao Yi, the Saint Dragon Crown Prince, was pouring wine for a young man in designer clothes who was half-reclining on a sofa.
The young man had a beauty in each arm.
After pouring the wine, Zhao Yi returned to his seat, raised his glass, and said, “Come on, Cousin. Let me toast you! Thanks for putting in a good word for me with my uncle!”
This young man was his cousin, Ling Da.
Ling Da’s father, who was also Zhao Yi’s uncle by marriage, was none other than Ling Haidong, the Deputy Minister of Resources for the Eastern District.
The last time Zhao Yi offended Li Mu, he had acted spoiled with his aunt. His aunt had doted on him, so she had forced Ling Haidong to push Blackwater High School that far down the rankings.
But when that matter blew up the way it did, Ling Haidong had been roasted over the fire for quite a while.
Fortunately, Ling Haidong’s foundation was deep enough that he slowly managed to suppress the whole affair.
The Department of Resources was publicly recognized as the department in charge of wealth.
Naturally, Ling Haidong’s entanglements ran very deep.
Even so, Ling Haidong had still cursed Zhao Yi’s father, Zhao Hong, so viciously that he had nearly skinned him alive.
He said that Zhao Hong, as the principal of Saint Dragon Martial Academy, could not even discipline his own son.
Naturally, Zhao Hong went home and took off his belt.
He beat Zhao Yi so badly on the spot that even his own mother would not have recognized him.
After that, Zhao Yi behaved himself for quite a while.
This time, the matter of Li Mu beating Song Yan had spread everywhere.
The organizers had indeed moved Li Mu up to first place in the entire city.
This time, the Department of Resources had not made another foolish mistake.
Based on total points, they had raised Blackwater High School to second place in the entire city.
The free monthly allocation from the Department of Resources—scholarships, Cultivation Arts, Spirit Treasures, pills, and the like—had directly increased by roughly four times.
Blackwater High School was already very satisfied with that result.
Because in terms of total score, Jinlin High School was still first.
Fair and impartial.
If the Department of Resources had broken the rules this time and placed Blackwater High School first, it would probably have triggered another storm of public condemnation.
Ling Da smiled and drank his wine.
Then, in the tone of an elder lecturing a junior, he said to Zhao Yi, “I know you have a grudge against that Li Mu, but this result can’t be shaken by anyone.”
“If you’re planning to keep targeting Blackwater High School, I advise you to kill that thought.”
Zhao Yi gave a quick laugh.
“Don’t worry, Cousin. I know how things stand! I’m not planning to target Blackwater.”
Ling Da relaxed and leaned back, speaking in a lazy voice.
“You really are brainless.”
“You’re the dignified Saint Dragon Crown Prince, yet you still couldn’t beat some abandoned son from a trash family.”
“Now you’ve become a laughingstock in our circle. Even I’m embarrassed because of you.”
Zhao Yi’s mouth twitched.
Inside, he cursed him viciously. You bastard. After I got humiliated, you were the one spreading it around the most enthusiastically!
If he did not still need to rely on this cousin of his, he truly would not have wanted anything to do with him.
Still, he really had become a joke in their circle.
For pampered young masters like them, aside from eating, drinking, fooling around, and chasing women, their greatest pastime was showing off and bullying others.
Those with money used money to crush people. Those with influence used influence to crush people.
Otherwise, how would anyone know they were young masters?
How would anyone know how impressive they were?
There was an old saying:
A gentleman takes revenge ten years later and it is not too late.
A petty man seeks revenge all day long.
Not for a single moment did Zhao Yi stop wanting revenge for the grudge of Li Mu grabbing him by the hair, but unfortunately, just as Li Mu had said, there really was nothing he could do to him.
“Well, there’s nothing much in my head, is there? I’m not like you, Cousin, so wise and full of schemes.”
“If I’d gone to you sooner back then, none of this would have happened.”
Hearing that, Ling Da smiled in clear satisfaction.
In their circle, he was famous precisely for being “underhanded.”
Among people like them, that was not an insult. It was praise.
If you offended him, you had better weigh whether he might stab you in the back at any moment.
“Hmph. At least you understand! Let me tell you, to deal with a person like that, there’s no need to do it yourself!”
Ling Da said with a smile.
“Hm? What do you mean?” Zhao Yi asked, immediately interested.
Ling Da rolled his neck, and a cold gleam flashed through his eyes as he said, “This time, Li Mu beat Song Yan badly. What comes to mind when you think about that?”
Zhao Yi shook his head vaguely.
“I... The only thing I can think of is that Li Mu is really strong, and I absolutely can’t confront him head-on.”
“And after that... nothing.”
Ling Da let out a scornful laugh.
“When dealing with anyone, you have to learn how to borrow force.”
“Do you know that Song Yan has a lot of true fans—no, brain-dead fans?”
Zhao Yi nodded.
“Those brain-dead fans are definitely furious right now.”
“So tell me, if they were gathered together because of some spark and went to Blackwater High School to make trouble, do you think Li Mu would let them off lightly?”
“And if those brain-dead fans lost their minds when they saw Li Mu and started attacking him, and Li Mu accidentally killed a few of them, what do you think the consequences would be?”
After hearing Ling Da out, Zhao Yi’s eyes slowly began to light up.
That was right!
Those brain-dead fans now hated Li Mu so much that they would have liked to devour him alive.
They simply did not dare shout at him face to face. At most, they could only curse him online.
But if those people gathered together, then the feeling of safety in numbers would definitely take effect, and they would no longer be afraid of Li Mu at all!
“So all I need to do is find a few people to take the lead and whip up the crowd, then step aside and watch the dogs tear at each other?”
Zhao Yi said in sudden realization.
With an expression that said he was finally teachable, Ling Da nodded.
“And remember this: the media always chases traffic. Find a few media outlets to follow this matter.”
“If he really makes a move, the media can immediately capture the evidence, livestream it, and spread it everywhere.”
“No matter how powerful his background is, he’ll still be finished...”
At the same time, at Blackwater High School, not long after Li Mu and the others returned to school, someone from another school came looking for Li Mu.
He was a tall boy, and the moment he met Li Mu, he immediately gave him an Abyss-Suppressing Army salute.
“Wolf Guard Li!”
Li Mu smiled at once when he saw him.
“I recognize you. During the monster siege, I even handed the captain’s role over to you.”
The person before him was the very one Li Mu had appointed as captain before leaving the team that day.
At the time, the boy had still stood there in a daze and asked, “Me?”
The boy’s eyes lit up at once, and he straightened in excitement.
“I never thought Wolf Guard Li would still remember me! My name is Xing Yang! I’m currently studying at Jinhua High School!”
Li Mu nodded and asked in return, “Mm. What is it?”
Xing Yang glanced to either side. Only Lin Yuya and the male student who had brought him here were standing near Li Mu.
Those two were tactful enough. They quickly walked away.
Only Xing Yang and Li Mu remained.
Only then did Xing Yang say, “I have a twin younger brother named Xing Guang. He’s at Jinlin High School.”
“The one ranked ninth in the Elite Tournament right now is him.”
“When he came back yesterday, he told me something. I thought it was absolutely necessary to report it to you!”
“Oh?” Li Mu immediately grew interested.
According to military protocol, every reservist had to address him as superior officer.
So it was perfectly normal for Xing Yang to report a situation to him.
“This time, Jinlin High School’s collective ranking-sweep plan was orchestrated by a student in the Student Council named Song Chuhe.”
“According to my brother, Song Chuhe doesn’t have any background, and his strength is only average, but he’s very good at stirring things up.”
“He first convinced Song Yan, then used her influence to unite the students. After that, he used the students to pressure the school leadership into approving the competition arrangements.”
“Then, using the overall plan of the school and student body, he persuaded the Student Council’s existing backers to get them a batch of Explosive Pills.”
“The purpose of the plan was naturally to win more capital investment!”
Li Mu was greatly shocked.
This was something enormous. It was practically manipulating the outcome of the city’s elite tournament.
The profits hidden within it were astronomical.
And all of this had been arranged by a student with no background?
Xing Yang smiled.
“What’s interesting is that yesterday, after the Elite Tournament was halted, Jinlin High School held a Student Council meeting to discuss whether they should continue their crusade against Blackwater High School.”
“And this Song Chuhe was actually firmly opposed to continuing the challenge against Blackwater.”
“He said they had already basically achieved their objective, so there was no need to stir up unnecessary complications.”
“He believed that continuing the challenge might affect the benefits they had already secured.”
“It’s just a pity that Zheng Kuan had already gone mad over personal gain.”
“And in the end, Song Yan also felt that your strength, Wolf Guard Li, ought to be very interesting, and wanted to test you for herself, so she nodded.”
“Song Chuhe held no real status among those people, so he was isolated.”
After hearing all that, Li Mu felt that Jinlin High School truly had brought this disaster upon itself.
This Song Chuhe had clearly already secured enormous benefits for them.
Yet a single sentence from Song Yan—‘interesting’—had wiped it all away.
At Jinlin High School, Song Chuhe truly was a pearl cast into dust.
With approval, Li Mu patted Xing Yang lightly on the arm and said, “Good. I understand. Also, I need to trouble your brother to do something for me.”