Chapter 469: Bombarding the Academy

Wang Chao was furious.

How could this Prefect Liu lack even a shred of a scholar's grace?

You have already arrived at my Academy, yet instead of following my rules to ascend the mountain, you have directly brought out Red Cannons?

"What is going on? What on earth is going on!"

At this moment, the calm and detached air he had carried vanished instantly.

"Dean, Dean! He, he, he said that he is an imperial envoy. Xiaoliang Mountain belongs to the Longyan enfeoffment, and the Dean of the Academy should also honor the Emperor and accept the teachings of the imperial court. He, an imperial envoy, has come to the Academy, and since you did not send anyone to welcome him and instead made him ascend the mountain himself, it is contrary to reason and law..."

"And there is more..."

"He says he will camp at the foot of the mountain for three days. If no one comes out to welcome him by then, he will treat us as bandits occupying the mountain and shell the Sacred Mountain!"

Boom!

The entire place erupted; everyone, to the last person, was filled with righteous indignation.

"Bandit behavior!"

"This, this, this is simply an insult to refinement!"

"This man, this man..."

For thousands of years, the people of Wangbei Academy had never seen such a brazen fellow. Who ever came to the Academy without being respectful and orderly, treating this place as a sacred ground, or even a holy site for scholars to pay homage?

But look at you—you just set up cannons at the foot of the mountain.

"I, I, I..."

Wang Chao nearly fainted on the spot.

Situ Kong, standing nearby, slapped his thigh and laughed heartily: "The Great Trend, the Great Trend! I told you long ago, this kid understands the Great Trend."

This is the Great Trend of a hammer!

Wang Chao was so angry he gritted his teeth.

At this, the group that had just been mocking Prefect Liu immediately panicked. What could they do? If he shelled the Sacred Mountain, could they withstand it? Their Mechanism Art of Strange Skills might be able to block Prefect Liu, but could it block cannons?

"Dean, this..."

"Preposterous, simply preposterous!"

"An insult to refinement! We are all men of Learning..."

Situ Kong sighed from the side: "Enough, put away your arrogance for now. Dean, prepare yourself slightly, and I will go down the mountain myself."

Wang Chao's mouth twitched.

But it seemed this was the only way... How embarrassing! He, a dignified Dean, had thought everything was under his control, only to be broken by a young man in one stroke...

Did he still have the face to go down the mountain?

At this time, Situ Kong was indeed the most suitable choice.

But he still wouldn't let it go with his words: "Hmph, Elder, do not give this kid too much face. Hmm, let us leave it at that for now. Everyone go back, go back!"

The Wangbei members of the Academy looked at each other in dismay.

Right!

Welcome him first, and then humiliate this Prefect Liu severely in every possible way!

"Is it aimed?"

"Yes, yes, yes, right there!"

"It needs to be a bit higher, understand? You cannot just hit wherever you aim. You must also consider wind speed, gravity, and so on and so forth..."

The third day.

Early in the morning, Liu Zheng came to these five Red Cannons and deliberately taught Pei Yanran and Qin Zhangfeng how to aim the cannons toward Gemu Sacred Mountain.

Jie Yu stood behind them, watching these people acting so serious, and was on the verge of tears.

"Prefect Liu..."

"Prefect Liu, you absolutely must not!"

"You absolutely must not!"

Jie Yu pleaded from the side: "If this cannon fires, the Academy will be gone."

Liu Zheng turned his head and let out an 'eh': "Wangbei Academy isn't that pathetic, is it... You were the one who told me about all the Mechanism Art, Geomancy Art, Wooden Horse Water Wheels, and Mysterious Gate Dunjia. Can they really not block my cannons?"

"You, you, you..."

Jie Yu was crying: "Where is there any Mysterious Gate Dunjia..."

Liu Zheng found teasing her quite amusing and asked with a serious face: "Wasn't it you who said so?"

"It wasn't..."

"Oh!"

Liu Zheng turned his head back again and continued: "What is gravity? Hmm, you probably don't understand... In short, Ballistics is a complex field of Learning. We must visually estimate the distance between here and that Sacred Mountain, then use the weather and wind speed to estimate the trajectory of the cannonball... So, if we want the cannonball to land on that thatched cottage, we have to adjust the elevation by this much; it all follows a pattern..."

"That thatched cottage is quite nice, actually..."

"Waaah..."

Jie Yu was truly crying now.

Why treat her like this? She came down the mountain to mediate. Was she too stupid? To have let things reach this point... If a cannon really fired, how could she, an Academy Yushi, have the face to go back and face those fellow disciples?

"Don't, don't, don't cry..."

Liu Zheng's face darkened, suppressing a laugh inside.

He was just out having some fun; the three days weren't even up yet, were they?

Was it really necessary?

He was a man who feared women's tears most of all, especially from a woman who looked exactly like his first love.

"First... can we not bombard them, please?"

Jie Yu sobbed, "Wait for me, wait for me to go up the mountain, wait for me... I will go call people to come and pick you up, okay..."

After saying this, she could wait no longer, turned around, and ran toward Gemu Sacred Mountain.

Liu Zheng gave a wink, and the Liangzhou Army soldiers nearby intercepted Jie Yu.

Just kidding...

If you go back, how am I supposed to bombard them?

The third day passed, bit by bit.

Still, no one was seen coming down from the mountain.

The sun was already about to set behind the mountains.

By this time, Jie Yu had already cried until she had no strength left.

Liu Zheng chuckled.

This Academy certainly has some backbone...

But do you think I am just playing around with you?

"Set up the cannons!"

He shouted loudly.

"Set up the cannons!"

Five Red Cannons were loaded one by one, their muzzles aimed at Gemu Sacred Mountain.

I must say, although these Red Cannons are not easy to use, they are quite intimidating in appearance; these two-to-three-meter-long contraptions, placed here, seem to be a form of deterrence.

Liu Zheng went over to adjust the angle.

"Fire!"

"Ah..."

Jie Yu was already sitting on the ground, crying.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five cannon blasts shook the mountain forest.

This secluded, idyllic sacred mountain was startled, causing birds to fly up everywhere.

However...

An awkward situation occurred.

These five cannonballs soared into the sky, but they didn't even touch the sacred mountain before landing in the forest. Two of them even fell directly into the water.

"Pfft..."

Liu Zheng nearly spat out his drink.

Good grief...

He really meant it—good grief!

It's not even a kilometer away, and they can't even hit that?

Did I just bombard the air for nothing?

As expected.

These ancient Red Cannons are as unreliable as they could possibly be.

"Reload, continue reloading!"

He roared.

"Yes!"

However...

He felt the accuracy was insufficient, but others might not think so. Just kidding, isn't the sound alone scary enough? You really want them to hit our mountain?

Once these few cannonballs were fired, the entire Academy panicked.

"This, he is actually firing!"

"Ahhhhh, run!"

"Don't step on my Sweet Potato!"

"Prefect Liu, spare us!"

A few cannonballs.

Shattered the peace and arrogance of this sacred mountain.