“Wo-Workshop Master Xu?”
At the ward gate, the guard spotted him from afar and froze for a moment before hurrying up in delight. “You’re back!”
Xu Yuan nodded and stepped through the gate.
At this time, Changlin Ward had already temporarily withdrawn from the front lines to recuperate, but after only a single day, they would have to rush back without pause to replace another ward.
Quite a few people had thought that once they reached the battlefield, they would be able to kill enemies and earn battle merits. But after arriving, they discovered that they were merely being used as expendable cannon fodder to wear down the Bai Family.
Once the enemy’s offensive weakened, they would be rotated out.
As a result, after several days had passed, they had gained little credit, yet had added a body full of injuries, and now even their lives might not be safe.
Because of that, they inevitably began to miss Xu Yuan again.
Although they had earned fewer battle merits under Xu Yuan, at least they would not be squandered for nothing, and overall things had been relatively stable.
So along the way, when many people saw Xu Yuan return, they looked as though they had seen a ghost. They stood in the distance, their expressions full of both shock and complicated emotion.
And by the time he neared the Workshop Master’s office, Chen Sanli, Gao Yuan, and the others had already received the news and were waiting early at the main entrance.
“Oh, Brother Xu, you’ve finally come back!”
The moment he saw Xu Yuan return, Chen Sanli hurried forward in three quick strides, so emotional he nearly cried on the spot. With snot and tears running together, he wailed:
“Brother Xu, you have no idea! While you were gone, our ward got bullied miserably, especially by that Workshop Master Huo. He practically treated us like cannon fodder!”
“Whenever there was an ambush to deal with or a charge to lead, he always sent us up first. Now our losses are severe. One Street Guard is dead, and several more are wounded!”
“What did you say?”
Xu Yuan had been wearing a calm expression, but upon hearing that, his thick brows shot up at once. His gaze turned razor-sharp, and a murderous aura seemed to rise from him, making everyone around him shudder inwardly.
...
However, Xu Yuan did not go directly to Huo Gang and attack him.
That would have been taking justice into his own hands. It would have turned him from being in the right to being in the wrong, made the matter impossible to contain, and also left a very poor impression on the upper ranks of the Shangyang Residence.
Instead, he first returned to the Shangyang Residence and advanced to the rank of seven-striped household guard.
That rank could already be considered part of the family’s upper echelon.
The steward in charge of registration treated him with great respect, personally leading him through the process and giving him a detailed explanation of all the benefits he would enjoy after the promotion.
Xu Yuan noted them down one by one, but did not linger.
Afterward, he wrote down everything that had happened and sent the letter to the Affairs Hall and the Law Enforcement Hall.
As someone who had just rendered great service, and someone the Shangyang Residence intended to heavily publicize, his opinions naturally received serious attention.
Inside the Affairs Hall, several stewards looked at one another.
“This matter... is difficult to handle.”
One of them frowned and said, “Battle Overseer Han was also acting according to the rules. The front lines were under strain, so moving troops was perfectly normal. But Xu Yuan truly was wronged in this matter.”
“Wronged? It was more than that.”
Another gave a cold snort. “He gave warning in advance and was ignored, then risked his life in battle to preserve the supplies. When he came back, he found his own ward had been heavily consumed. If it were you, could you endure it?”
“Exactly. This kind of atmosphere cannot be encouraged. Otherwise, who in the future would still dare devote themselves wholeheartedly to the Shangyang Residence?”
“That may be true, but on Battle Overseer Han’s side...”
“That’s enough.”
An old man seated at the head of the room waved his hand. “Report the matter upward. Let those above make the final decision.”
The reaction from the Law Enforcement Hall was almost exactly the same.
The views of the two halls were quickly compiled and reported upward layer by layer, until in the end they reached the desk of Chief Steward Su Chunyang.
After reading the letter, Su Chunyang fell silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a cold laugh.
“This Han Li... he may not be very capable, but his nerve certainly isn’t small.”
The trusted aide beside him asked in a low voice, “Chief Steward, how should this matter be handled?”
Su Chunyang did not answer at once. He merely gazed out the window in thought.
He had long since heard of Xu Yuan.
From menial worker to seven meridians, in so short a time and at such astonishing speed, it could only be called world-shaking.
What was even rarer was that this man acted cautiously and thought with meticulous care. He was by no means a reckless fool.
A talent like that was worth cultivating.
As for Han Li...
He shook his head.
“Summon the people in charge of both halls. We convene in a quarter of an hour.”
...
No one knew the outcome of the meeting.
But some people saw Su Chunyang walk out of the meeting chamber with a rather gloomy expression.
And on the second day after the news spread, an order came down.
Because Xu Yuan had rendered great service in the battle against the Bai Family’s attempt to intercept and kill the supply line, he was awarded three thousand battle merits and five Meridian-Opening Pills.
At the same time, Xu Yuan was appointed Battle Overseer of the Level Three zone, with overall authority over front-line affairs, answerable only to Chief Overseer Zhao Yan.
As for the former Battle Overseer, Han Li, because he had neglected his duties, allowing the Bai Family’s morale to surge and causing the family to waste a great deal of resources for nothing, his position as battle overseer was stripped from him, and he was transferred back to the Level Four zone to await further orders.
As for Huo Gang, he was charged with “inciting his superior and targeting a colleague.” His monthly stipend was cut by thirty percent, and he was temporarily stripped of his position as Workshop Master and ordered to redeem himself through service at the front lines.
The moment this order came down, it knocked the jaw of many people clean to the floor.
None of them had expected the punishment to come down so hard.
Hand on heart, if they had been the battle overseer, most of them probably would not have paid much attention to the Bai Family’s interception of the supply line either.
But in the end, the incident had indeed happened, and afterward he had gone and targeted a major contributor. For the sake of morale and rules alike, the upper ranks had to give an explanation.
Once this matter came out, even as some people openly and secretly mocked Han Li for having a dog’s brain, they also began to think about getting on good terms with Xu Yuan.
After all, anyone with eyes could see that Xu Yuan had already possessed remarkable talent, and after this incident, he was likely about to soar.
...
At a Workshop Master garrison point on the front lines of the Level Three zone—
“What did you say? Xu Yuan came back!”
“And he broke through to seven meridians and killed two Workshop Masters of the Bai Family and one seven-meridian martial artist?!”
Huo Gang’s face was full of shock as he looked at the man reporting the news.
Though it was not yet deep winter, he suddenly felt a chill spreading over his body for no reason.
“Yes,” the martial artist replied softly with a nod.
“What the hell... is that even reasonable?”
Huo Gang cursed under his breath, both shocked and furious. Xu Yuan had clearly been nothing more than a mud-legged nobody, so how had his luck been so good? Even after being saddled with a complete mess, he had still managed to turn it around.
In truth, it was not that he had never considered the possibility that the Bai Family might once again intercept the supply line. He had simply not expected them to make such a huge move, even sending out a seven-meridian fighter.
What he had never expected even more was that Xu Yuan had also broken through to seven meridians, and had swallowed the entire enemy force whole!
Bang!
At that moment, the main door was suddenly kicked open.
Han Li strode in, his face looking equally ugly.
“You’ve both heard already, I assume?”
Huo Gang nodded and hurried forward, asking cautiously, “Lord Han, we won’t be in trouble, will we?”
“Look at how spineless you are, scared into this state already?”
Han Li glanced at him and let out a cold laugh. “Relax. This is a critical time right now, and we are still the backbone of the Level Three zone. We won’t be dealt with lightly. Besides, it’s not as though we don’t have people above us...”
Listening to that, Huo Gang visibly relaxed and even smiled.
“I was too anxious for a moment there. This matter isn’t really that serious. No matter what, we were all just doing our respective jobs. And hasn’t the Bai Family’s momentum already been gradually beaten back by us?”
“Who knows? The family might even reward us for it.”
Just as the two exchanged smiles, a sudden commotion sounded outside the door.
A moment later, the stewards from the Affairs Hall and the Law Enforcement Hall entered the room together.
Huo Gang’s eyes lit up, and he hurried forward to greet them. “Two stewards, could it be that the higher-ups have some good news?”
Han Li, however, sensed that something was wrong. If rewards were being handed down, only people from the Affairs Hall would normally come. What was the Law Enforcement Hall doing here joining the fun?
The steward from the Affairs Hall stepped forward and said blandly,
“You two, your transfer orders have arrived.”