Eldritch Horror Theatre

Paying no mind to Jian Jingzheng, who was trembling with anger, Fu Qian wiped the blood off his hands and pushed the door open to leave.

He had just told the truth: Ruan Shuo had indeed hidden his true nature exceptionally well.

Unlike Yuan Xin earlier, he carried no murderous aura whatsoever.

Right until he was tricked into transforming, Fu Qian had merely sensed a subtle addition to his presence; it bore no resemblance to the violent sword qi from the footage.

Therefore, the only thing certain at the time was that Ruan Shuo hadn’t left the Sword Pavilion empty-handed, and had actively concealed that fact.

However, Jian Jingzheng essentially embodied the Sword Comprehension Institute’s stance on the matter. He was clearly displeased that his student had fallen under suspicion, and had only tagged along to go through the motions.

Under those circumstances, expecting the Sword Comprehension Institute to conduct a thorough investigation based on such a minor anomaly was all but impossible.

Given that no transcendent materials were found, Ruan Shuo could have likely deflected any questions with a half-baked excuse.

Although this mission had no time limit, past experience told him that dragging things out was never a good thing.

He didn’t have that much time to sit around and wrangle with these people. Cutting the knot was the only sensible approach. Besides, he had been itching to slap Jian Jingzheng for a while now.If Li Weixuan actually came out of seclusion to cause trouble over this, all the better—it would be the perfect opportunity to confirm whether he was the target.

...

By the time Fu Qian stepped outside, the crowd had grown significantly.

Though the entire encounter took less than a minute, Ruan Shuo’s roars had been loud. The students had clearly been drawn in by the commotion.

A group of them now stared at Fu Qian with a mixture of shock and suspicion, but none dared step forward to question him.

Some had already recognized him as the man who had spoken with Ji Liushuang.

Gossip always traveled fast. By now, word of his identity as an Apocalypse instructor had already spread.

”Problem solved.”

Ignoring the students, Fu Qian walked off, found a quiet spot, and contacted Naya.

Truth be told, he was in a rather bad mood.

The facts were clear: although Ruan Shuo had caused a massive scene, he was not the target.

It had all been for nothing.

”That fast?”

Fu Qian’s words caught Naya completely off guard.

It hadn’t even been an hour since their last call, had it?

”Are you certain it was him?”

”He admitted it himself. It was essentially a story of a low-key genius cultivating in secret.”

”...Where is he now?”

”Dead. He put up a stubborn fight.”

Fu Qian gave a brief rundown of what had happened.

”As for the specifics, the Sword Comprehension Institute will send you a report shortly.”

...

After listening to Fu Qian’s account, Naya fell into a long silence, nursing a massive headache.

Confirming the culprit was certainly a good thing, but the fact that it was an Academy student made things messy. The real issue was that he was now a corpse.

And while Fu Qian made it sound trivial, the actual process had likely been far from simple.

”In that case, I’ll have to ask you to come over.”

Naya finally said after a moment of thought.

With Jia Yi, simply saying the culprit was found but ended up dead wouldn’t necessarily suffice as an explanation.

For a matter like this, it would be best for Fu Qian, as a direct witness, to explain things in person.

Go over there?

Honestly, Fu Qian didn’t care how Naya managed her dealings with Jia Yi, but since she asked...

”Sure.”

...

When Fu Qian saw Naya again, her expression was extremely strange.

It seemed she had already received the report.

”You’re too reckless!”

Naya stared at Fu Qian as if he were an alien.

”You moved in for the kill without any direct evidence, and even injured Jian Jingzheng when he tried to intervene?”

”Do you have any idea how many crimes that guy listed against you in his report? Ruthless methods, a tyrannical nature...”

”It’s not like I killed Ruan Shuo on purpose.”

Fu Qian pointed at himself.

”He must have mentioned that I got stabbed, right?”

”Petty as he is, he doesn’t have the guts to omit that part.”

Naya nodded.

”How is your wound?”

”Pretty much healed.”

Fu Qian patted the area around the wound to show she didn’t need to worry.

Given his constitution, if he hadn’t intentionally suppressed the wound’s recovery speed, there likely wouldn’t even be a scar left by now.

Even so, the wound was already practically healed.

That didn’t mean Ruan Shuo’s sneak attack hadn’t been serious. The dagger was not only razor-sharp, but heavily coated in poison. Anyone else would have dropped on the spot.

”That’s good!”

Seeing that Fu Qian didn’t look seriously injured, Naya breathed a sigh of relief.

”Still, try not to do that in the future. It’s too easy for people to use it against you.”

”Yeah, I just have a habit of acting on impulse. I’m actually still regretting it right now.”

Fu Qian said casually.

”Instructor Jian Jingzheng is doing all right, I assume? I’ll find time to visit and apologize in person later.”

Do you look like you have even an ounce of regret?

Naya shot him an exasperated glare.

Given Jian Jingzheng’s personality, filing petty complaints behind someone’s back was one thing, but if Fu Qian actually showed up at his door to apologize, it was a toss-up whether he would even dare show his face.

...

”Mr. Fu, are you trying to tell me that a Sword Comprehension Institute student who hadn’t even reached the Mid Tier consecutively slaughtered the guards at two of our Warehouses? And that this same student died during apprehension?

Pardon my bluntness, but I cannot take a conclusion like this back to headquarters. If this is the Academy’s attitude, then I will have no choice but to consult the Night Watchers.”

In the conference room, Jia Yi sneered repeatedly at Fu Qian, clearly dissatisfied with the investigation’s outcome.

”What is that supposed to mean? Do you think the Academy would use a student’s life just to brush you off?”

Naya slammed her hand against the table. It was obvious she had been suppressing a great deal of anger up until now.

”I didn’t say that.”

Jia Yi, however, was not the least bit intimidated by her.

”I simply feel that the investigation was far too sloppy, with neither evidence nor testimony.”

Oh?

Fu Qian glanced up at Jia Yi.

”President Jia makes a fair point. It is indeed unacceptable to be too sloppy.”

Hey!

Naya glared at Fu Qian. Whose side are you even on?

”So, as a precaution, how about I send you down to ask the student yourself?”

”...What do you mean?”

Jia Yi froze for a moment before registering Fu Qian’s meaning, his face instantly turning deathly pale.

Had anyone else said it, he would have only thought it was a threat.

The problem was that he had just read the Academy’s report. Although it was just a simplified version that didn’t describe much of Fu Qian’s terrible conduct, he still knew that this man had directly killed Ruan Shuo, even doing so right in front of a Sword Comprehension Institute instructor.

This guy was an utterly lawless, ruthless man. There was truly no telling what he might do.

”Exactly what it sounds like.”

Seeing Jia Yi stunned into silence, Fu Qian paid him no further mind.

In reality, the man simply felt that pinning the blame on a mere student lacked sufficient weight, and worried he wouldn’t be able to justify it to the consortium.

The actual truth of the matter wasn’t necessarily that important to him.

Truth be told, his concerns were not entirely unjustified.

In Fu Qian’s eyes, regardless of the investigation’s outcome, the Yuan Clan was never going to sever ties with the Academy over an incident like this.

However, with an unconvincing accident report, Jia Yi, as the regional head, was highly likely to be held accountable.

He might feel wronged, but bluntly speaking, if something like this happened on his turf, he just had to accept his bad luck.

Taking the blame was one of the duties of a leader with no influential backing.