Chapter 25

Chapter 25: I Want to Kill Cub’s Father and Bury Him Under My Roots

Chong Ming glanced at the blood on his hand like it was nothing. With a casual flick, he sent it flying. “Congratulations, Cadet Jiang Tea Tea. Your sneak attack succeeded. I’m injured.”

Jiang Tea Tea sprang back, eyes locked on the exposed skin.

His hair was gold. His eyes were gold.

And now she saw it clearly—his blood was gold, too.

It shimmered with dense energy. Just breathing it in eased her lingering pain more than twenty minutes of rooting in the earth ever could.

Of course.

Dragons—pure yang creatures—were treasures from head to toe.

If she could kill him and bury him beneath her roots as fertilizer…

She didn’t even dare imagine how rich it would be. How nourishing. How happy she’d be.

Jiang Tea Tea’s mind was already plotting how to murder him without anyone noticing. Her mouth stayed sweet and innocent. “I didn’t mean to sneak attack you. Your hand reached so far, I thought you were going to sneak attack me. I was just defending myself.”

Chong Ming rose and clasped his injured hand behind his back. He looked almost indulgent, like he was dealing with a thorny child. “All right. You’re right.”

Then, those golden eyes still on her, he asked again, “Now tell me. What ability did you awaken?”

There was no mental-power fluctuation coming from her, nothing he could sense—yet she treated his pressure like it didn’t exist.

That wasn’t normal.

Jiang Tea Tea lifted her chin and smiled. “If I say I didn’t awaken anything, will you believe me?”

“No.”

Her temper flared. “You dragons are really strange. You ask, I answer, and you don’t believe. What, are you going to drag me into a lab and dissect me?”

Chong Ming’s smile stayed light. “That won’t happen. Zhen Lin Empire law strictly prohibits any laboratory from dissecting humans, beastfolk, or half-beastfolk.”

“You are a citizen of the empire. The law protects you. Including me—no one has the authority to send you to a lab.”

“If you ever see signs of that kind of abuse, contact the Police Bureau. They will arrive within ten minutes.”

Jiang Tea Tea gave a noncommittal hum. “Thanks. Very comforting.”

Her eyes sharpened. “Still doesn’t change the fact you shoved me and almost got me swallowed by a tiger.”

Chong Ming fell silent, as if weighing how to deal with someone this petty.

Harder than coaxing his nephew, he thought.

Then the battlefield noise shifted, and two familiar voices rose into the air like wailing ghosts.

“Aiyo, Sister Tea! My leg! My back is going to snap—save me!”

“Beast God, roommate—take me to the Medical Department! I’m burned crispy from lightning!”

Huang Da Zhuang and Sui Xuan Chu were sprawled on the ground, howling.

Jiang Tea Tea turned and walked away from Chong Ming without a second thought.

She dragged Huang Da Zhuang—half-dead—toward Sui Xuan Chu, who was lying there smoking.

Then someone stepped into their path.

Jiang Yi Zhu.

She was smeared with blood, her expression fierce, like she’d been lying in wait for this moment. She pointed at the three of them and launched into a scathing tirade.

“Sui Xuan Chu! You’re the first-year chief of the Combat Department, a talent the Royal Military Academy spends heavily to cultivate. During an aberrant beast and mutant insect invasion, how could you turn around and attack Prince Regent Chong Ming? What were you thinking? Are you worthy of the academy’s training?”

“Are you worthy of the oath you swore under the military flag to serve the empire?”

Then she whirled on Huang Da Zhuang. “And you! A first-year Pacification Department beastfolk without abilities. You usually act honest—how could you follow Sui Xuan Chu and attack the Commander-in-Chief at such a critical moment?”

Her gaze cut to Jiang Tea Tea like a blade. “And you, Jiang Tea Tea. Have you been hiding an awakened ability—waiting for the Commander-in-Chief to approach so you could attack him?”

“The Commander-in-Chief is our shield,” Jiang Yi Zhu continued, righteousness swelling in her voice. “If anything happens to him, it’s a loss to the empire and a tragedy for all citizens!”

“The three of you were cultivated by the Royal Military Academy. How could you do something so disgraceful—betraying the country, betraying the citizens, betraying your parents? You’ve gone too far!”

Sui Xuan Chu and Huang Da Zhuang stopped whining, stunned into silence by her nerve.

Using Jiang Tea Tea’s arm for support, they forced themselves upright. Blood and smoke clung to them, the stench of battle thick in the air.

Only then did the academy leadership finally notice what had happened. Their faces twisted into horror.

The Commander-in-Chief coming to inspect and running into an invasion was already a catastrophic failure. If they added cadets attacking him on top of that…

This wasn’t a school incident anymore. This was treason.

Chong Ming’s golden gaze settled on Jiang Yi Zhu, unreadable. Adjutant Ai leaned in and murmured a few quiet words.

Jiang Tea Tea, still propping up two injured idiots, spoke softly, like she was commenting on the weather. “If the Commander-in-Chief could be killed by cadets that easily, then he deserves to die. How is that our problem?”

Sui Xuan Chu’s eyes lit up with delight. He added, loud and arrogant, “Exactly. Commander-in-Chief said it himself—if any cadet can get close enough to kick him or successfully ambush him, the Top Thirty Elite Legions are open.”

“My dream as a cadet is to kick down the Commander-in-Chief, defeat the Commander-in-Chief, surpass the Commander-in-Chief, and become the Commander-in-Chief!”

He jabbed a finger at Jiang Yi Zhu. “And you—who are you? Some onion? Some garlic? You think you get to forbid my dreams?”

Huang Da Zhuang nodded rapidly, desperate to contribute. “Yeah! Even if I don’t have abilities, I want to enter one of the empire’s Top Thirty Elite Legions too!”

“It’s like the battlefield—if you get a chance to hit the enemy, you seize it. We did nothing wrong. Jiang Yi Zhu, stop splashing dirty water on us. Our consciences are clear.”

Jiang Yi Zhu’s face twisted.

She hadn’t expected them to clap back like that—no begging, no kneeling, no fear.

So she turned sharply, lowered her head, and addressed Chong Ming with false respect.

“Your Highness,” she said, voice shaking with righteous fury, “I want to report something. Jiang Tea Tea—after being abandoned and suffering emotional trauma—secretly used banned drugs to awaken abilities. She has a violent, bloodthirsty, anti-human personality. She attempted to murder you!”