Eldritch Horror Theatre

"As the regional head of the Yuan Consortium, I have always held the Academy in high regard."

Wasting no time on pleasantries, Jia Yi led Fu Qian and Lanaya straight inside to a chaotic, blood-soaked crime scene.

"Please believe that our abrupt request for the Academy's assistance wasn't without reason."

Jia Yi unzipped a body bag as he spoke.

Gasp!

Almost instantly, Fu Qian heard Lanaya draw a sharp breath in front of him.

Inside the bag lay a mangled, bloody corpse.

Crisscrossing wounds covered the body from head to toe, leaving it almost completely unrecognizable.

Its bones had to be mostly shattered. Was the killer mincing meat for dumplings?

Despite the sheer number of gashes, every single one had clearly been inflicted by a sharp blade...

Sword wounds?

Seeing that the two of them had noticed the anomaly, Jia Yi signaled his subordinates to unzip the rest of the body bags.

Sure enough, every single corpse had been torn apart by crisscrossing sword strikes. The killer's method was completely identical.

"Six dead in total. Three guards, one supervisor, and two staff members."

Jia Yi's face was as cold as iron, visibly suppressing his anger.

"All the supernatural materials inside the warehouse are gone."

"I'm sure you've both seen the wounds on their bodies. That is exactly why I immediately requested the Academy's assistance."

"If this can be resolved properly, we'd rather not escalate the matter to the Night Watchers."

...

"What were the victims' power levels?"

Staring at the gruesome scene, Lanaya's expression grew solemn. She finally understood why The Committee was taking this so seriously.

In this world, not many transcendents walked the sword path, and the vast majority of those who did were concentrated in the Academy's Sword Comprehension Institute.

Yet right here, just a short distance away, a group of people had been slaughtered by fierce sword strikes and robbed of their supernatural materials. It would be difficult for the Academy to shake off suspicion.

From the look of Jia Yi, he was on the verge of pointing a finger in their faces and demanding the Academy hand over the killer.

"The three guards were between Tier 7 and Tier 8, but the supervisor was a Quasi-Tier 5."

Jia Yi answered bluntly.

Quasi-Tier 5. That was a fairly impressive level of strength.

Fu Qian mused silently.

To slaughter so many people in one fell swoop—if this was really the work of a single person, their strength had to be extraordinary.

"Is there surveillance footage?"

Lanaya asked after a moment of thought.

"Yes."

Jia Yi was clearly prepared. A subordinate quickly stepped forward and played a video clip.

The footage was from the night before. A figure wearing a mask and bundled up tightly from head to toe appeared on the camera feed.

Facing the guards, who instantly went on high alert, the figure didn't hesitate for a second. They swung a Longsword with chilling, murderous intent, instantly sending blood spraying.

Judging from their reactions, the assailant had immediately killed the fastest-reacting Quasi-Tier 5 first, before casually destroying the camera with a backhand slash. The footage ended there.

Even through the screen, one could practically feel the sheer ferocity of that swing.

This...

Staring at the video, Lanaya fell silent for a long time.

After a while, she let out a breath and looked at Jia Yi.

"I will contact the Academy."

A moment later, Lanaya returned.

"I've reported the situation. The Academy will fully assist with the investigation. Until there are results, Fu Qian and I will stay here to prevent any further incidents."

Shouldn't you ask for my opinion before saying something like that? When did I ever agree to stay here?

Fu Qian grumbled inwardly.

Still, he could understand Lanaya's reaction.

Although the video was short, it was enough to prove that this was the work of a master on the sword path.

Looking at Jia Yi's expression, it was clear he had already concluded the culprit was someone from the Academy.

As the regional head, an incident like this undoubtedly put him under massive pressure. Naturally, he wanted to catch the killer as soon as possible.

Going straight to the Academy and using the Night Watchers as leverage was indeed the most efficient approach.

And the fact that The Committee had dispatched someone so quickly showed they also wanted to handle the matter properly.

Lanaya volunteering to stay behind was essentially a gesture of goodwill from the Academy.

"Thank you both for your trouble."

Seeing Lanaya's cooperative stance, Jia Yi's expression softened slightly.

"Then we will wait for news from the Academy."

...

"How long do you expect it will take to get results?"

Inside the lounge Jia Yi had arranged for them, Fu Qian looked at a solemn Lanaya.

"It won't take long. I've already submitted a request to The Committee to have someone pull yesterday's travel logs."

Faced with Fu Qian's question, Lanaya spoke with absolute certainty.

"While the Academy has quite a few people with this level of strength, narrowing it down to those who practice the sword path makes finding them much easier."

"Although the Sword Comprehension Institute has developed rapidly over the last few years, cultivation is a gradual process. For now, there still aren't that many people at the Mid Tier or above."

"Combined with the opening of the Sword Pavilion, most people's movements are highly concentrated right now. We should have results very soon."

"We're waiting here primarily to prevent another attack, but also to stop the Yuan Clan from doing anything rash that might make the situation impossible to clean up."

At this point, Lanaya scoffed.

"They've enjoyed favorable wind and smooth water these past few years, and their egos have grown right along with it."

"The best possible outcome here is to clear the Academy of suspicion. Then they can go cry to the Night Watchers themselves."

It was obvious she did not appreciate being threatened.

...

True to Lanaya's words, given the nature of the incident, the Academy operated with remarkable efficiency.

In less than an hour, Lanaya received an encrypted file.

After quickly skimming through it, her expression suddenly stiffened.

"Did someone's itinerary match up?"

Seeing her strange reaction, Fu Qian asked in confusion.

"No."

Lanaya subconsciously shook her head, letting Fu Qian read the forwarded data for himself.

"Not just the people capable of executing that sword strike—the whereabouts of everyone at the Mid Tier and above in the Sword Comprehension Institute have been completely screened. Everyone on the list has been cleared of suspicion."

Then why do you look so grim? Isn't this exactly what you wanted?

Fu Qian casually scrolled through the document, his eyes quickly scanning over line after line of information.

Even though he was nominally an instructor at the Academy, he didn't really have a solid grasp of its inner workings, and he was completely unfamiliar with the Sword Comprehension Institute.

However, after a brief glance, Fu Qian noticed a problem.

It seemed like someone was missing?

"What about Li Weixuan? He uses a sword too, right?"

"Yes."

Lanaya replied softly.

"He's in secluded meditation. He hasn't responded."

"A month ago, he went into secluded meditation to prepare for his breakthrough to the Demigod Realm."

Fu Qian finally understood why Lanaya looked so grim.

If he remembered correctly, this man was a highly prominent figure within the Academy.

If it was ultimately proven that he was involved in this incident, it would be a massive problem.

As they fell silent, frantic knocking suddenly came from the door.

Before they could even answer, the door was shoved open from the outside. Jia Yi strode in, his expression absolutely thunderous.

"Another site has been robbed!"

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