The six elders of Kongming Academy had gathered in the great hall. The first elder chaired the meeting; to his left and right sat the remaining five elders. Beside them sat the provosts of each college, with Li Mo on the right. And in the center of the great hall stood five people: Yun Ruoyan and Guan Ruliu on one side, and Rong Yueshan, Yi Qianying, and Pei ZIao on the other.

“Hasn’t the truth of the matter been established?” the second elder asked, his face ugly. He stared maliciously at Yun Ruoyan, as though he wanted to dice her up on the spot. “Yun Ruoyan killed Guan Tianyu, and I want her life in recompense!”

“Second Elder, the matter’s still under investigation. It’s certainly not confirmed that that’s the case,” the first elder replied.

“What else is there to investigate? Rong Yueshan, Yi Qianying, and Pei Ziao all saw it with their own eyes! Is the southern college going to allow a murderer to remain in good standing?” the second elder yelled, jumping out of his seat.

“Second Elder!” Then, Li Mo also stood up. “Who was it that told you that Yun Ruoyan killed Guan Tianyu?”

Li Mo’s gaze swept over Rong Yueshan’s group of three.

“The three of us reported the incident to the second elder together,” Rong Yueshan said, stepping forward. “Senior Brother Guan died at Yun Ruoyan’s hands.”

“That’s slander!” Yun Ruoyan didn’t speak up, but Guan Ruliu couldn’t help herself. “When the four of you parted ways with us, Guan Tianyu was clearly still alive. Who knows what might have happened between then and when you left the training grounds?”

“Senior Sister Guan, what do you mean?” Yi Qianying put her hand to her mouth. “Are you implying that the three of us killed Senior Brother Guan and then tried to blame it on Yun Ruoyan?”

Guan Ruliu frowned. “That’s not what I said. But consider a scenario like this—you encountered a horde of powerful beasts on your way out of the forest and left the wounded Guan Tianyu behind in order to escape with your lives. If not for such a situation, how would Guan Tianyu’s corpse be so mangled?”

Behind Rong Yueshan’s group was a stretcher, and on that stretcher was Guan Tianyu’s corpse. It was covered with a white cloth that was now stained with blood; the extent and richness of the color spoke volumes as to the state of Guan Tianyu’s body.

“Senior Brother Guan’s corpse was only mutilated after his death,” Pei Ziao replied somberly. “It’s true that we weren’t able to protect his corpse in its entirety, but that was because the treehouse was suddenly attacked by a large horde of beasts! All of us suffered some form of injury in our defense, let alone the dead Guan Tianyu!”

“Or so you claim. What if Guan Tianyu had died during the defense itself, because you weren’t able to protect him?”

“Senior Brother Guan was beset with grievous injuries after his fight with Yun Ruoyan, which directly led to his death. Later, we had a run-in with wild beasts at the treehouse. Senior Sister Guan, surely you aren’t trying to conflate the two issues?” Rong Yueshan shouted in defense.

“Enough.” The first elder struck the armrests of his chair, quieting everyone instantly. “Each party will present their own account of what exactly happened.”

Rong Yueshan detailed her version of the events on behalf of her group. Because Yun Ruoyan was the suspect in this affair, she had Guan Ruliu speak for her instead. Their accounts were relatively similar: the two parties had come into conflict, Yun Ruoyan’s party had killed Song Yi and Sun Yan, then seriously wounded Guan Tianyu by blinding him. Then, Li Mo arrived, and Rong Yueshan’s group was commanded to return to the treehouse.

Where the two accounts differed was on their respective emphases. Rong Yueshan focused on how Yun Ruoyan’s team had killed Song Yi and Sun Yan, then grievously injured Guan Tianyu. On the other hand, Guan Ruliu focused on how Rong Yueshan’s party had incited the whole affair, and Yun Ruoyan’s group was only acting in self-defense.

“I can attest that, when Rong Yueshan’s group left, Guan Tianyu only had a severe eye injury and nothing more. There was no way he could have been so grievously injured that he would die!” Guan Ruliu emphasized.

“My grandson’s death will not go unpunished!” The second elder continued looking hatefully at Yun Ruoyan when he spoke.

Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo glanced at each other, both realizing that this was a ploy. When all the students had gathered in the treehouse at the end of the expedition, they found Rong Yueshan’s group being attacked by a large group of wild and low-ranked beasts. By then, Guan Tianyu had died.

Rong Yueshan claimed that Guan Tianyu had died to the beast onslaught, and neither Yun Ruoyan nor Li Mo had paid the incident much mind. However, after returning to Kongming Academy, all three of them immediately recanted their statements and accused Yun Ruoyan of seriously injuring Guan Tianyu and ultimately leading to his death and his body’s mutilation as a result of the beast horde.

From Yun Ruoyan’s perspective, this was clearly slander, but those who weren’t in the know could easily accept this as fact.

Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo’s confusion now lay in why such a large group of beasts had attacked the treehouse. It was constructed about eighty feet from the forest, and those beasts wouldn’t be able to climb up into the treehouse. Instead, they had slammed their bodies against the trees holding the treehouse up, causing it to fall to the ground,

What could have riled up the beasts so much that they would spare no expense to attack Rong Yueshan’s group?

“Second Elder, don’t you think it’s important to figure out what’s going on before you accuse these students? It’s exactly because this matter concerns your grandson’s death that you should be all the more prudent!” the sixth elder advised.

Yun Ruoyan had saved Zhuo Yifeng, who belonged to the central college. As a result, the sixth elder thought quite fondly of her.

“And what do you mean?” The second elder pointed an accusing finger at the sixth elder. “Do you claim that I’ve wrongfully accused Yun Ruoyan?!”

“I think that that’s quite possible,” the sixth elder replied calmly, seemingly unperturbed by the wrathful fury on the second elder’s face.

“You!” The second elder’s eyes turned red. “And so what if I’ve maligned her?! Today, I’ll see that Yun Ruoyan gets her just deserts so my grandson can rest comfortably in his grave!”

“Second Elder!” Li Mo suddenly cried out. “Give me a day, and I’ll find your grandson’s killer for you. Whether you agree or not, I won’t let you touch my disciple.”

Li Mo met the second elder’s gaze evenly, neither man intending to relent.

“Alright, let’s leave it at that,” the first elder stepped in. “Give Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan a day to prove their innocence.”

The second elder had no choice but to accede to the first elder’s will. “And if they can’t prove their innocence even after a day?”

“In that case, you may do whatever you like with me and my disciple, Second Elder,” Li Mo pledged.

“One full day—don’t try to run off, or I’ll hunt you down even if I have to trawl through the entirety of the Chenyuan continent!” The second elder pointed a warning finger at Li Mo, then beckoned to the northern college’s students to follow him out with Guan Tianyu’s corpse.

Shortly after, the remaining elders and provosts also departed, leaving only the first elder behind. “What’s your plan?” he asked Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan.

Li Mo glanced at Cang Song, still in a corner of the room, and didn’t respond. Nodding, the first elder called out to Cang Song, “Cang Song, see if the students in the southern college are doing well. There’ll be a competition between the colleges in two months, so make sure that the students are preparing for it.”

Cang Song nodded and left, but couldn’t help turning back after leaving the great hall. How exactly would Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan get out of this mess? He was eagerly waiting for a good show!

“Li Mo, you don’t trust Cang Song?” the first elder asked after Cang Song left. To the first elder, Cang Song was a trusted confidante. Although he had never divulged the details of his relationship with Li Mo to Cang Song, he was comfortable allowing Cang Song to handle the workings of the southern college with little oversight on his part.

In conclusion, the first elder considered Cang Song quite trustworthy, so he was surprised to see Li Mo so guarded against him.

“I 

am 

a little suspicious of Senior Cang Song at the moment, but we can discuss this later. Right now, I have to bring Yan’er back to the forest to find some evidence of the altercation,” Li Mo replied.

By the time they returned, the treehouse that had hosted them was nothing but splinters. The trees that had supported it were stumps, and beast carcasses filled the ground where the treehouse once stood.

Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan glanced at each other before turning to a beast carcass and pulling its eyes open. The beast’s eyes were muddied and obfuscated, as though it had been drugged.

“As expected.” Yun Ruoyan stood up and looked toward Li Mo. “These magical beasts were stimulated by a beast attractant.”

Li Mo nodded, having thought of this possibility at almost the same time as Yun Ruoyan. “But who did it, and why?”

“I don’t know why, but I have one suspect—no, I’m almost certain that the one who did this was her!”

“Her?”

“Yi Qianying! Back in the imperial territory, Yi Qianying used this exact tactic to lure two high-rank beasts into my group. After this period of time, she’s surely grown more adept with such powders.”

Yun Ruoyan swept over the carcasses strewn on the ground. Although they were massive, the beasts didn’t have a very advanced cultivation at all.

“Given Yi Qianying’s current skills, I doubt it would be difficult for her to attract all these beasts over. Of the students participating in the training, she’s the most likely one to have done so.”

“In that case, we now need a motive. Why would she want to attract a horde of beasts over to attack herself?”

Yun Ruoyan frowned. She was sure that Yi Qianying had done it, but why? She surely wasn’t planning on committing suicide, so…

“Perhaps it’s to hide something,” Li Mo suddenly began, while Yun Ruoyan was lost in her thoughts...

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter