Retired for A Hundred Years: Re-Employment for the Apocalypse Bigshot!-Chapter 420 - 415: Central Region Tournament (Part 8)

Chapter 420: Chapter 415: Central Region Tournament (Part 8)

This was Bai Xiaotang’s first time hurting someone.

Ever since she was little, even if she accidentally stepped on a kitten’s tail, she would be upset for a long time, let alone hurt a person.

In her interactions with others, she never used her background to bully anyone, yet she was often ridiculed and insulted, called the Bai Family’s fool, naive and kind-hearted like a saint.

Her seemingly cheerful personality was actually covering a sensitive and fragile heart.

If you observe closely, she interacts with others very cautiously.

Afraid of hurting others, and also afraid of getting hurt.

This girl, kind to her core, finally mustered the courage to fight back against the perpetrator who harmed them.

This transformation is both startling and heartbreaking.

Watching Bai Xiaotang bury her face in Lin Yuanyang’s shoulder, crying loudly, a gentle expression flitted across Ji Ning’s eyes.

She dispelled the space isolation around her, and Lin Yuanyang immediately sensed it, his wary expression quickly turning into delight.

"Sister Xiaotang, stop crying. Sister Ning is here, she’s come to rescue us."

Bai Xiaotang’s sobbing paused, and she wiped her eyes with a sniffle, turning her head to look, her red and swollen eyes resembling an abandoned puppy, pitiful and small.

"Sister Ning... sob... I killed someone... sob sob..."

"It’s okay, he’s still breathing." Ji Ning glanced at Bai Yulin, who was covered in blood, offering comfort, with approval in her eyes, "You did very well this time. Especially Bai Xiaotang."

Lin Yuanyang finally understood that Ji Ning hadn’t just arrived but had been hiding in the shadows observing their counterattack.

This was her trial for them; only by experiencing the brink of life and death could they unleash their fullest potential.

Like him, he had finally awakened his superpower completely.

He stared blankly at Ji Ning, then turned back to the still sniffling Bai Xiaotang, a bitter smile on his face.

Although Bai Xiaotang had overcome the trauma of Bai Yulin’s cold violence since childhood, she now carried the psychological burden of having injured a relative with her own hands.

This price of growth is a bit too high...

"Really? I didn’t kill someone?" Bai Xiaotang, dribbling snot and tears, looked at Ji Ning pitifully.

Seeing her nod again, she took the tissue Ji Ning handed over, blew her nose firmly, wiped her tears, and finally said, "Good, I don’t want to go to prison as a murderer because of this."

Lin Yuanyang: Hmm, thought too much...

***

In the evening, a gentle spring rain began to fall.

The raindrops gradually soaked the outside ground, and the white fog blurred the view out the window.

Principal Zhang blamed himself endlessly, constantly wiping the glass window in front of him.

His mind played out numerous bad scenarios.

At this moment, he no longer cared about the competition; as long as the two kids came back safely, it didn’t matter if Anhe Middle School came last in every competition from now on.

As the clock in the lobby pointed to seven, a black car finally stopped outside the hotel.

Two familiar figures first got out of the car from the back seat.

Principal Zhang rubbed his eyes hard, jumping up from the sofa with excitement, and dashed out of the hotel lobby.

He was in such a hurry that he almost bumped into the door frame, unable to wait for the revolving door.

The countless worries in his heart finally settled upon seeing the abducted Bai Xiaotang and Lin Yuanyang.

The two looked in good spirits, although they were dirty and had dark red bloodstains on them.

Clearly, they had suffered.

Principal Zhang’s eyes reddened slightly; he rushed over, gripping Lin Yuanyang’s shoulders tightly, looking him over, then glancing at Bai Xiaotang. If she weren’t a girl, he would have patted her too.

"Where are you hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital? How about Ji Ning, has she checked you? Any problems?"

A barrage of questions shot out like a machine gun.

Although the wound on Lin Yuanyang’s shoulder had healed, Principal Zhang’s grip was too strong, and Lin Yuanyang had no choice but to grab his wrist forcefully, pulling away, "Principal, we’re fine, the wounds have healed."

"Ah, still injured? Damn traffickers! They should all be shot!"

Principal Zhang cursed angrily, spitting on Lin Yuanyang’s face.

After cursing the traffickers, he cursed the Anshui City Security Bureau, "And what about the security at the Security Bureau, letting traffickers mix in? It’s simply useless!"

Only after his rant did he remember that Ji Ning was also part of the Security Bureau, lowering his voice and turning to bring up the previous issues with the organizers, cursing them again, his loud voice echoing outside the hotel.

Fortunately, there weren’t many people around, or the reputation of the "Hyperthyroidism Principal" would have grown even more.

After venting his fears, he realized there was no one left around him. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Only the hotel owner and the security guard looked at him awkwardly.

"Where are they? Surely not again..."

"Lao Zhang, calm down! Aren’t you afraid of high blood pressure at your age? The kids have already gone to rest. That young lady with the surname Ji told you to rest early and not curse away the students’ good luck."

Principal Zhang: ...

***

Elsewhere, Ji Ning sent Lin Yuanyang and Bai Xiaotang back to their room, preparing to head to the Anshui City Security Bureau.

As she got off the elevator, she saw Principal Zhang still waiting in the lobby.

"Are you going to the Security Bureau? I’ll go with you."

Ji Ning wasn’t surprised, allowing him to accompany her.

After getting in the car, Principal Zhang finally asked the questions he had been holding back all afternoon.

"Did you know all along these people planned to target the kids?"

Ji Ning acknowledged with a hum, Principal Zhang’s blood pressure rising, his voice raising several octaves, "Why didn’t you say anything earlier?"

"If I had, would you have withdrawn from the competition?" Principal Zhang’s expression froze, his tone softening, "At least we could have taken precautions."

"And then become overly cautious, affecting their competition performance?"

"No, I wouldn’t have." Principal Zhang’s face was awkward, his eyes looking away.

Ji Ning understood his anxiety, her voice softened, "This wasn’t the first batch, we also needed to lay a trap to catch them, so no news was spread."

Principal Zhang felt another line of worry rise in his heart, seemingly in disbelief, finally squeezing out a sentence after a long time: "Will this put the kids in danger again?"

"No. The finals are in Beijing, they wouldn’t dare act there. The only place they could act was on the way back from the finals. We’ve arranged people to ensure the kids’ safety."

Principal Zhang patted his chest, relieved, "That’s good."

"These traffickers are quite special, when we get to the Security Bureau, please don’t curse."

Principal Zhang: ...

Even though Ji Ning had reminded him, upon learning the ones who abducted Lin Yuanyang and Bai Xiaotang were two eighth-level superpower users, he lost his temper again, finally being manually silenced by Ji Ning with helplessness.

Director Liao of the Anshui City Security Bureau glanced in surprise at the previously gentle and kind-looking, now unrestrained and indiscriminate Principal Zhang, awkwardly smiling at Ji Ning, even ordering a subordinate to pour Principal Zhang a cup of chrysanthemum tea to calm him down.

"Leader Ji, can your team hand over the suspects to us for interrogation?" Director Liao asked politely.

Even though Ji Ning had reported to the Anshui City Security Bureau beforehand, the incident occurred in Anshui City, and they couldn’t just watch as the suspects were taken away by agents from another region.

This didn’t align with procedural regulations.

Moreover, their bureau desperately needed the achievements of this case.

If not as the main organizer, at least let them be an assistant...