Chapter Fifty-Six: Return to School (Part Two)

The tranquil and uneventful campus life felt much duller without Xia Ruohé’s usual mischief. After their morning conversation, Xia Ruohé handed Chen Hongxu a registration form for special talents, then ignored him entirely during Chinese class. The day passed in boredom as usual. Xue Xi skipped class early and waited at the gate; Chen Hongxu arrived late, whether intentionally or not was unclear, but he enjoyed the feeling of being waited for and didn’t want to disrupt Xue Xi’s well-kept habit.

Approaching Xue Xi slowly, Chen Hongxu took her hand, only to find the girl staring absent-mindedly toward the school gate. Mischief stirred in him; he leaned in close and yelled just loudly enough to startle her: “Mouse!”

Xue Xi’s reaction surprised him. She turned, gave him a playful glare, then lightly slapped him as punishment for daring to scare her. Her expression grew serious: “There are so many people at the gate. Are they here to cause trouble for you? I’ve already called my family's bodyguards. Let’s wait until they arrive before we go out.”

“Huh?” Chen Hongxu tightened his grip on her hand and looked in the direction she indicated. At that moment, the school gate was crowded, the road blocked solid by a sea of people.

The blockade consisted of a hundred men dressed impeccably. Despite their neat attire, glimpses of tattoos peeking from open collars betrayed their true identities. Chen Hongxu scanned the crowd, suddenly spotting Liu Yixian, unchanged as always, wearing a baseball cap and standing out like a crane among chickens. Beside Liu Yixian stood a sharply dressed man who seemed oddly familiar.

“It’s fine,” Chen Hongxu said, pulling Xue Xi along, intent on leaving. Xue Xi trusted him completely, but the school’s security guard was not so easily convinced.

Though unaware of Xue Xi’s background, the guard clearly sensed she was someone important. If anything happened under his watch, it would spell trouble. He raised a hand to block them, refusing to open the gate no matter how Chen Hongxu pleaded, firmly declaring that the police had been called and that the matter would be left to them.

It was after school, so a crowd of students was trapped inside, buzzing with speculation. No one knew whose misdeeds had drawn so many underworld figures—high schoolers, having watched enough Hong Kong films, saw these men as formidable.

Helpless, Chen Hongxu realized the longer this dragged on, the messier it would become. Releasing Xue Xi’s hand, he walked to the iron gate under everyone’s gaze and beckoned to Liu Yixian, shouting, “Liu Yixian, come here and explain what’s going on.”

Expressionless, Liu Yixian pulled his cap lower and stepped to the gate. “Yesterday, I went to sweep up a guy who’d offended you before, Chen Brother,” he explained. “Turns out their boss claimed to be under your wing. I figured it was serious, so I called him here today for a confrontation. Didn’t expect he’d bring such a crowd!”

Chen Hongxu frowned, unable to recall the familiar man. He waved him over.

The man with a big brother’s air among the hundred underworld toughs was Li Tao. Seeing Chen Hongxu beckon, he hurried over, nodding and bowing. “Chen Brother, what can I do for you?”

At Li Tao’s display, Chen Hongxu finally remembered who he was. It wasn’t that his memory was bad, but Li Tao, formerly a small fry, had stood arrogantly as if the world was his. It was hard to connect that groveling figure with the big boss he appeared to be now.

“Li Tao, right?” Chen Hongxu said coolly. “You brought all these people to reclaim your turf?”

Hearing this, Liu Yixian tensed, a murderous look in his eyes as he glared at Li Tao—so he’d brought trouble to Chen Brother!

Li Tao suddenly felt a chilly threat at his side, and the word “killing intent” flashed in his mind. He was sure that if he hesitated even a second, Liu Yixian would slaughter him without hesitation. Shaking his head like a rattle drum, Li Tao proved Chen Hongxu’s assumption wrong with his actions. Before Liu Yixian could move, Li Tao dropped to his knees, knocked his head three times, then raised his red, scraped forehead. “Chen Brother, I’m here today to pay my respects. Please accept me under your protection!”

“What the hell is this?” Chen Hongxu was dumbfounded. Had his aura of dominance leaked out?

“Take him in, take him in!” Bing Ling, whose mind already leaned toward a rogue’s path, cheered in his mind.

Liu Yixian’s murderous air dissipated, but his expression remained grim—he’d been deceived. If Chen Hongxu weren’t present, he wouldn’t let the liar off so easily.

Chen Hongxu was about to refuse when Xue Xi interrupted him. She glared at the guard, then walked over and nestled at Chen Hongxu’s side before speaking: “Take him in. It’s not a bad thing. But there needs to be rules; otherwise, when power grows, so will ambition.”

“Sister-in-law, you say the word!” Li Tao, shedding all big boss airs, responded eagerly.

“I haven’t thought of much yet, but one thing: since you’ve pledged yourself to my man, you must never touch drugs. Otherwise, the punishment will be severe—no one will be able to help you.”

Li Tao had never planned to get involved with drugs; there were plenty of ways to make money. As long as he controlled the underground world of HJ City, why risk his neck for such dangerous business?

Seeing Li Tao’s agreeable attitude, Xue Xi shrugged shamelessly. “That’s all I have to say for now!”

Chen Hongxu shot her a look, pondered for a moment, and said to Liu Yixian, “For now, you can follow Li Tao. You should secure a path for yourself—otherwise, following a high school student like me only leads to starvation.”

Though Chen Hongxu spoke obliquely, both Li Tao and Liu Yixian understood: he wanted someone to keep an eye on things. Still, both were pleased—Liu Yixian finally felt recognized after his hardships, while Li Tao had successfully attached himself to this local tyrant.

They nodded together. Just as Chen Hongxu was about to tell Li Tao to disperse the crowd, Liu Yixian interrupted.

Chen Hongxu was genuinely annoyed—was it so hard to get a word in? He’d been interrupted several times, but Liu Yixian’s next news made him laugh.

“Secretary Hu from the municipal committee was recognized by higher-ups and transferred to BJ Party School for training. That tough Director Gong has been formally indicted by the disciplinary commission for corruption and bribery. The new director is said to be ruthless, and upon taking office, immediately cracked down on many people.”

Chen Hongxu waved to indicate he understood and told the crowd to disperse. The toughs, as if rehearsed, lined up neatly and bowed respectfully to Chen Hongxu inside the school gate: “Greetings, Young Master! Greetings, Sister-in-law!”

Then, under the shocked eyes of students and local shopkeepers, they dispersed in perfect order. The “Young Master” nickname was Li Tao’s idea—it carried no real meaning, but sounded pleasant.

Chen Hongxu’s wry smile contrasted sharply with Xue Xi’s pride. Glancing at the fearful looks behind him, Chen Hongxu pulled Xue Xi along without explanation, eager to leave, but their path was blocked again—

A large contingent of police and armed officers arrived, stopping the toughs who hadn’t fully dispersed. The lead officer, a fat man, gave instructions to his colleagues before approaching Chen Hongxu. “Sorry, the situation was serious, so it took some time to get the armed police here. Are you all alright?”

Though he addressed everyone inside the school, his gaze never left Chen Hongxu. This was the same fat officer who’d taken him away last time!

As Chen Hongxu gathered his thoughts, another policeman hurried over, saluted the fat officer, and reported, “Director! We found no controlled weapons among them. The toughs claim they’re here to survey the school environment, planning to send their relatives’ children here to study.”

Chen Hongxu laughed again, finally understanding why those two officers had been startled by his ID the day before. The new leader must have said something, intentionally or otherwise.

Smiling and shaking his head, Chen Hongxu caught the fat officer’s knowing look. The officer turned and barked at his subordinate, “As public servants, you shouldn’t judge people by appearances. Just because someone has tattoos doesn’t make them a thug—tattoos are a form of art. Ignorance is dangerous. Go inform Instructor Xu that the show’s over and let them go!”

The young policeman froze in place.

“Move it!” the fat officer snapped.

The young officer jolted awake and ran to the main group. Chen Hongxu and the fat officer exchanged a glance and smiled.

Hidden Saint 56: Chapter Fifty-Six, Return to School (Part Two), finished updating!