Chapter 30: The Eccentric Old Man and the Ancient Chrysanthemum

When Long Silver saw Dorin, the other’s shabby appearance made him feel an unexpected sense of kinship, reminding him of Cassano. Naturally, he took a liking to this elderly man upon their first meeting.

Long Silver propped his chin up. “Do you think I’ll suffer inhuman abuse?”

Dorin circled Long Silver, scrutinizing him with a puzzled expression. “Why aren’t there any injuries?”

Long Silver rolled his eyes. “No matter how much they want to mess with me, they’re not the sort to lose their composure.”

“Oh!” Dorin scratched his scalp, sending dandruff flying. Long Silver quickly leaned back, hands braced behind him. “Dean Dorin, manners!”

Dorin picked at his fingertips and gave Long Silver a look of disdain. “How vulgar!”

Seeing Long Silver had no intention of standing, Dean Dorin sat down cross-legged as well. “Kid, let’s get straight to the point. Who is your teacher?”

“If I tell you, will you believe me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Dorin cast Long Silver a sidelong glance, arms folded. “You dared to reveal SS-class spiritual power to me, hiding nothing from yourself; I doubt your master is a secret worth keeping!”

Long Silver tilted his head and smiled. “That’s not necessarily true!” He glanced around. “This isn’t the best place to talk.”

“Tch, kid, you’d better have something worth saying.” Dorin waved his hand, cloaking them in an energy shield. “Speak!”

“Dongfang Ning.”

“What?” Dorin was momentarily stunned.

“My teacher is Dongfang Ning.”

There was an audible gulp. Dorin stared at Long Silver. “Kid! Don’t make wild claims!”

Long Silver stood up. “Dean Dorin, just take it as a wild claim.”

“Hey, kid!” Dorin grabbed Long Silver’s arm. “Is Dongfang Ning truly your master?”

Long Silver sighed helplessly. “I was just making it up. He died before I was even born, Dean Dorin—why take it seriously?”

“No, that’s not right!” Dorin shook his head. “You must be Dongfang Ning’s pupil! Even I had to bow before that genius; his death was mourned by many!”

That’s how it goes—the more you deny, the more others convince themselves.

“I’ve always thought he must have passed down his card-making theories. Even this recent uproar over the miraculous card incident—it must be the work of his successor. Such cards, only that genius could have devised!”

Long Silver raised his brows; Dorin’s guesses were nearly spot-on, though no one would ever suspect the truth—that Dongfang Ning had been reborn, memories intact.

Long Silver fell silent, refusing to comment on his past life. There was always a touch of absurdity in his heart.

“Hey, kid, I can support you!” Dorin said casually, as if deciding what to eat for lunch.

“He’s the Crown Prince!” Long Silver looked up, surprised at the old man’s nonchalance.

“So what? My sign is crab. Didn’t you know?”

Long Silver couldn’t help but chuckle. Now he knew. The old man was carefree, but he understood that card masters had a certain stubbornness—they never wavered once committed. This was a gamble, half-truths and hints, hoping for Dorin’s backing. Now his goal was achieved, and meeting such an interesting elder, he might as well repay him if needed.

“Dean Dorin, was it you who stirred up the commotion outside?”

Dorin nodded with pride. “Of course. I’m the Dean of the Card Masters Academy. If you want to graduate smoothly, you’d better behave!”

Long Silver smiled. “Dean Dorin, the Crown Prince will soon quell this unrest. Do you believe it?”

Dorin raised a brow. “Kid, did you hear what I said? I’m the Dean here!”

Long Silver walked to the door, hand raised to his ear. “Dean Dorin, listen—the noise is dying down!”

Dorin paused, squinting his yellowed old eyes, and glanced at Long Silver thoughtfully. “I’ll go take a look.”

“Dean Dorin, next time you visit, remember to bring some medicine!” Long Silver waved.

Dorin stopped, incredulously looking back at Long Silver. Long Silver shrugged. “Don’t ask why, just remember—bring medicine next time!”

Dorin watched as small groups of academy students left, recalling Long Silver’s confident face, and smiled. This kid had a depth not inferior to the Crown Prince. The Prince was ruthless—every term, there were days set aside for academy maintenance, but he’d moved them up, forcing students to leave. Of course, the Prince knew this was only a temporary fix; students would eventually return. But the key lay with that kid. If, in these days, the kid was expelled from Dexin and the case settled, even Dorin couldn’t help. Without the root cause, what could he stir up?

Dorin scratched his head and frowned. “No wonder the kid told me to bring medicine. Could he withstand the enforcement squad’s methods?”

“No, I must get him out first. I wouldn’t meddle if I didn’t know, but now I can’t just stand by!” Dorin hurried off, but was stopped by Li Xian.

“Dean Dorin, where are you going?” Li Xian stood with hands behind his back, his serene smile slightly questioning.

Dorin halted. He’d always disliked Li Xian’s smile, tempted to vomit on him, but thought better of it and swallowed his disgust. He rolled his eyes upward, stepped to Li Xian’s left, but Li Xian stepped aside as well.

“Please, put away that disgusting smile and get out of my way. I really don’t want to throw up on your face!” Dorin finally lowered his gaze, staring straight at Li Xian, his eyes full of disdain.

“All these years and your ability to puke at any moment hasn’t changed a bit!” Li Xian kept smiling, seemingly unconcerned by Dorin’s dislike. “You shouldn’t hate me so much!”

“Ugh…” Dorin pointed at Li Xian, who had sidestepped. “I’ve seen shameless old chrysanthemums, but never one as narcissistic and self-satisfied as you!”

Li Xian raised an eyebrow. “Dorin, I know where you’re going. I hope you won’t interfere. After all, you’re from the Ji family—helping an outsider bully your own, do you really think that's right?”

“Get lost, you old chrysanthemum! Since my brother died, my branch has long split from the Ji family. I never admit to the Ji name. If you say such things, you can count it as my brother’s mistake for trusting you. I’ll say this now—if you dare harm that child, I’ll expose your secrets!” Dorin glanced at Li Xian’s changed expression, arrogantly turned and left.

Li Xian clenched his fists behind his back. Dorin’s brother had always been his weakness. Back then… memories of youthful arrogance flashed by, and Li Xian’s face showed a trace of bitter smile. Fine, this time he’d let the child go! Li Xian turned away, his back slightly hunched. All that talk of sharpening stones—how could he use his brother as someone’s stepping stone? At most, he’d let the Crown Prince’s temperament be tempered by the kid.

When Long Silver was ready to endure every physical hardship, he was surprised to find himself released.

No one was happier than Little Hammer. Long Silver propped his chin, puzzled—it shouldn’t have happened. Did that shabby old man have some unknown trump card? One move to topple the Crown Prince? He had no idea that the old man was even fiercer than he’d imagined, directly knocking out Dean Li Xian.

“Hey, kid, come with me!” Dorin emerged from the side. Long Silver glanced down and, seeing it was Dorin, quickly jumped off Little Hammer’s shoulder, not wanting to remain perched there. He walked over to Dorin. “Thank you!”

“No need. I’m not one to act for nothing in return!”

Long Silver smiled. “I know, but I still owe you thanks.” After all, he’d avoided a beating.

“Don’t you want to know how I got you out?”

“I do.” Long Silver nodded. “But will you tell me?”

Dorin frowned and shook his head. “No. But I’ll say this—this sort of thing can only happen once. Next time, I won’t be able to help. If you want to deal with the Crown Prince, you’ll have to rely on yourself. I don’t want a sudden impulse of investment to go to waste.”

Long Silver shrugged. “I can’t guarantee that. To be safe, Dean Dorin, why not take back a little interest? Like handing me over to the Crown Prince?”

Dorin’s beard bristled, his eyes nearly popping out. “You little scoundrel! I’m not that kind of person. Behave, or I won’t hand you to the Crown Prince—I’ll skin you myself!”

Long Silver shrugged shamelessly. “You see, here at Dexin it’s just me and Little Hammer, so isolated!”

So, he was asking for help. Dorin was amused, after a long while saying, “Fine, you little scoundrel. I’ll give you someone—let’s see if you can use him!”

A hint of surprise flickered beneath Long Silver’s mask. It seemed Dorin’s offer was not ordinary. “Who is it?”

Dorin regretted his words at first, but seeing Long Silver’s eyes change, he reaffirmed his decision. “He’s my nephew! My elder brother died, and I raised him. He’s solitary, doesn’t like crowds, prefers to do things on his own, but he’ll do what I ask. I’ll hand him over to you…” Dorin paused, then added, “If you can lead him out of his nightmare… Forget it, old fool, I’m rambling. Anyway, he’s yours—use him if you can, but don’t expect anything else from me if you can’t!”

Long Silver was speechless. Did the old man suddenly lose his mind? He only wanted a few amulets for himself, not a troublesome person dumped in his lap! And it looked like there was no refusing.

Once Dorin made up his mind, he didn’t leave. He waved his hand. “You all go back. I’ll send word to my nephew and have him report to you tonight!”

Dorin left, but as Long Silver was lost in thought, he came rushing back to say, “Oh, right, my nephew’s name is Yuan Shaolin.”

Long Silver grabbed Little Hammer’s ear and shook it. “Little Hammer, tell me, I’m not about to lose my mind! Isn’t this just a way for him to keep someone right under our noses to watch us? No, no…”