Qiao Qianzhi clapped Ye Xiaotian on the shoulder and said, “Yuan Tou is done for.”
It was difficult to foster an Inner Yard disciple, and, furthermore, that man was one of the new 33 and had a bright future ahead of him.
Despite having a somewhat stained record, given that no one was perfect, his flaws were forgivable.
In this world, no one paid particular attention to someone’s flaws. What people did pay attention to was how powerful a person was.
“It’s a pity…”
Ye Xiaotian simply sighed. The path to reach the Great Path was fraught with incidents, and it wasn’t uncommon to see someone gone due to one of such incidents.
He turned around and added, “We’ll try one last time when we open the gate of the place normally a day later.”
“Sure.” Qiao Qianzhi agreed to it without any hesitation. He then turned around to look at Zhao Xidong. “Time to get to work.”
“We’ve been waiting just to do that.”
Zhao Xidong all of a sudden had a piece of grass dangling from his mouth that no one recalled him putting there, and there was a cynical look in his eyes. He then disappeared from where he stood with the wheel in his hands.
By the time he reappeared, he was already seen squatting at the fence of the pavilion.
“Yo!”
Everyone turned to look at it, their moods different.
For some of the veterans, seeing Zhao Xidong in law enforcer mode was like seeing a walking, talking “Tribunal,” and they instinctively became flustered.
“Alright. I’ll cut to the chase instead of beating around the bush.”
Zhao Xidong pushed the wheel and said, “This thing here is called the ‘Spirit Curtain Wheel of the 12 Pearls.’ It reflects the conditions inside the Tianxuan Gate.
“When four of the 12 world-stabilizing treasures are lost, the Tianxuan Gate will start to collapse. I think you all experienced that fact firsthand.”
The handful of those who weren’t in the know immediately realized what was going on right then and there, not daring to believe that the collapse was actually a man-made disaster.
Xu Xiaoshou glanced at the others, finding that everyone other than Luo Leilei and Mo Mo still seemed somewhat puzzled…
“These guys really are slow at picking up on things…” he thought.
Zhao Xidong then continued, “This type of incident didn’t happen in years past, and even if someone was lucky enough to chance upon such treasures, it would still be difficult for them to break the seals.
“However, those treasures shall be the prizes of any who succeed in doing so.”
“Prizes?” Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes immediately lit up. “Wait, is this to say that all four treasures on my person now are all mine to keep?” he thought.
Zhao Xidong glanced at him thoughtfully and continued, “But things are different this time around.”
“Oh?”
“The Tianxuan Gate was only open for two days. Losing four treasures at once is impossible, which means…”
“That there are spies?” Xu Xiaoshou finished the sentence.
Zhao Xidong stared at him and smirked. “You think that you’re cleared of all suspicions just because you behave as if you’re on our side?” he thought.
He then continued steadily, “Indeed. Furthermore, there’s not one spy; there’re two spies at hand.”
Two?
Mu Zixi blinked her huge eyes, not quite following what he was saying.
She knew who the spy was if there was only one. Sister Mo would definitely be a suspect, as that girl had been after her “Spirit Mark of Life” the whole time, which meant there was something wrong with her.
She then turned to Xu Xiaoshou, feeling even more puzzled.
After all, judging from the outcome alone, not only had her brother-in-training gotten the “Spirit Mark of Life” all of a sudden, but he’d even gotten a small portion of the “Sealing Stone” as well.
As such, she chose to say nothing. Xu Xiaoshou was around and would say what needed to be said, after all.
However, Xu Xiaoshou was also somewhat shocked.
In the case of two spies, he already knew that Luo Leilei was of the “Holy Servant,” as he was the one who’d busted her cover, which left one other person…
He thought that it could be Mo Mo as well, as that grey mist figure could be considered a spy.
Right, that thing had been after one of those treasures right from the start, after all.
However, when it came to sheer numbers alone, he was possibly the one with the highest number of treasures on him… and that thought caused him to immediately become somewhat flustered.
…
Zhao Xidong closely watched their reactions the whole time. Some were puzzled, some were confused, some were calm, and some were quiet…
Xu Xiaoshou was the one with the most reactions to pass over his face, and Zhao Xidong deemed that he was as suspicious as one could get.
“That guy definitely knows some insider information and is probably familiar with the treasures as well,” he thought. “He could actually be the spy.
“But…”
Given that even Elder Xiao had made it very clear that the spy couldn’t be Xu Xiaoshou, Zhao Xidong was feeling rather troubled, and he wondered why the elders were so sure about this.
Elder Sang’s deduction made a lot of sense. There were probably two spies, and other than Luo Leilei, who they’d all seen from “Heaven’s Vision,” the identity of the spy was still a mystery.
If he were to go based on intuition alone, he would probably mark Luo Leilei, Xu Xiaoshou, and Mo Mo as suspects.
However, the Spiritual Law Division didn’t go about their business through intuition alone. There needed to be evidence.
Even Luo Leilei, who was the most suspicious at the moment, could just claim that she just so happened to get to the top of the Black Cliff and saw the scabbard and tried to pry it out, just like anyone else would have.
As such…
“I’m very sorry to tell all of you and none of you are cleared of suspicion, so hand over your rings.” Zhao Xidong opened his hands.
Everyone’s expressions drastically changed. A space ring could be said to be a person’s utmost privacy, with outcomes of their encounters stored within. They couldn’t possibly just hand over their rings like that.
“It’s absurd to make such a request on just suspicions alone!” The longer one spent in the Inner Yard, the more secrets one harbored. It was only natural that someone would be displeased.
“Oh?” Zhao Xidong looked at the one who’d said so and continued in a threatening tone, “If you get to the Tribunal, you won’t even get to keep your underwear. We’re not actually asking much of you now. What more do you want?”
“I…”
“Would you like to come with me, then?” Zhao Xidong twisted his head about.
That man became as flustered as one could get right there and then.
Xu Xiaoshou raised his hand. “I have a question.”
“Speak.”
“Assuming that there were two spies, and then someone else just chanced upon the treasures and managed to take them, what happens to them?”
Zhao Xidong was stunned. That was a question that he hadn’t thought about, yet he quickly dismissed that possibility deep down.
“There were only ten of you in there,” he thought. “Two of you were spies, and you’re saying that one more of you was lucky enough to just stumble upon the treasures? Are there such coincidences in this world?”
“There couldn’t be so many coincidences in this world,” he answered exasperatedly. “You really think that those treasures are something that just drop from the sky?”
“Indeed,” Xu Xiaoshou continued seriously. “There are indeed so many coincidences in this world.”
“Heh, so you’re telling me that you happened to get one of those treasures and that you’re not a spy?” Zhao Xidong smirked.
Xu Xiaoshou said no more and broke out “Hiding Pain,” letting it stand on the floor with a thump.
“What a coincidence. I’m indeed one of those lucky people.”
Doubted, Passive Points +472.
Zhao Xidong almost burst out laughing and added, “Do you think I’m blind? That’s just your cheap sword…”
He was stunned all of a sudden.
That sword was definitely the one he’d caught the crowd’s attention with back in the contest and caused quite a huge commotion.
However, the problem was the scabbard…
“The Black Scabbard?” Zhao Xidong exclaimed.
The image from “Heaven’s Vision” had been that of Luo Leilei prying off the scabbard and Xu Xiaoshou watching from the sidelines.
That meant that the two definitely had had an altercation.
He wondered how Xu Xiaoshou had managed to pry the “Black Scabbard” off of the most powerful member among the newly appointed 33.
“How is this possible?”
He turned to look at Luo Leilei, who blushed and said, “Why are you looking at me?”
“You really managed to take it off of her hands?” Zhao Xidong thought. He was shocked to the core.
He recalled the night where Xu Xiaoshou, who was still at Spiritual Cultivation Level nine, had managed to shoot Zhao Shu off like fireworks. As such, it would seem that it was plausible that this kid, who was already at early Origin Court Level, had snatched the scabbard from Luo Leilei’s hands. Everything actually…
Felt rather possible.
But!
Zhao Xidong felt his worldview collapsing. How was this possible? This was absurd!
Someone at early Origin Court level defeating someone at the peak of Upper Spiritual Level?
Well, it wasn’t like something like this hadn’t happened before, but it was just too d*mn rare! You could say that Zhao Shu had lost due to miscalculations, but Luo Leilei…
The girl wasn’t of the same order of magnitude as Zhao Shu to begin with!
More importantly, if the “Black Scabbard” was now in Xu Xiaoshou’s hands, how would they confirm their suspicions with Luo Leilei, then?
Zhao Xidong was puzzled.
The two spies were now unknown again?