The trainees behind them immediately shifted their gazes from Zhao Chenghuang to Yuanshi Tianzun, who was being questioned by the dean.
It was an instinctual reaction. None of the trainees present actually took the matter to heart; some even felt the instructors of Qinfeng Academy were making a mountain out of a molehill. It was just diving into Jiaoren Lake—what was the big fuss about?
Qinfeng Academy had no electronic devices and lacked recreational activities and amenities; were they not even allowed to seek a little fun?
Maybe once boredom set in over the next few days, they would dive into Jiaoren Lake themselves to frolic with those strikingly beautiful jiaoren.
Only Zhang Yuanqing knew best: if his dive into Jiaoren Lake were exposed, first, the academy's instructors would interrogate him about how he learned of the hidden quest.
Second, that competitor would learn of his identity, and because Zhang Yuanqing would be taking the fall, the armored figure would get off scot-free.
Lastly, over the coming days, he would definitely be placed under heavy surveillance, making it very difficult to enter the stone gate again.
Because even if he entered the stone gate and claimed the treasure, headquarters would know full well who was responsible.
Facing the sharp, deep gaze of Dean Li Yanxi, Zhang Yuanqing shook his head and offered an ambiguous grin.
"Teacher Song Man said that jiaoren have little fangs. I'm not an Earth Monster; I know my own defense limits well enough."
The male trainees let out knowing, suggestive chuckles.
A few female trainees who caught on spat in mock disgust with flushed faces, or couldn't help stifling laughs as they giggled along.
With a stern nod, the dean turned his gaze to Sun Miaomiao. "Were you the one who dived into Jiaoren Lake?"
Sun Miaomiao shook her head. "Not me. After returning to the dorms, I was in my room catching up with Peony Fairy and Little Fairy of Niulanshan the whole time."
The dean scrutinized her for a few seconds, grunted an acknowledgment, and moved on to the next person.
*Phew, passed safely. Just as I thought, the Ghost Mirror's 'Sage' drawback can smooth out all emotional fluctuations. Even a Scout's Insight can't detect a thing. In that case, most lie-detecting items can be bypassed as well, unless it's the kind of item that forces someone to speak nothing but the truth...* Zhang Yuanqing breathed a silent sigh of relief.
The trickiest part about Insight was that it didn't inflict any negative debuffs on you; it merely observed you.
If it were a debuff, Zhang Yuanqing could have transferred it to Little Doubi or the Ghost Bride.
Without using an item, how could a Stargazer's lie ever fool a Swordsman's Insight?
Fortunately, during his mental recap earlier, Zhang Yuanqing had anticipated that the academy instructors would thoroughly investigate the matter, so he kept an ace up his sleeve.
He had handed the Ghost Mirror to Commandery Princess Yinyao, then split off half his spirit body to possess her, triggering the drawback by having her hold the Ghost Mirror.
—The spirit body on both sides was one and the same.
In effect, by using Commandery Princess Yinyao as a conduit, the Ghost Mirror's drawback influenced his true body as well.
The dean going to such great lengths confirmed one of his suspicions: the jiaoren, the Tiger King, and the academy's instructors all bore the duty of guarding the hidden quest.
That Fu Qingyang hadn't mentioned this was likely not an oversight; rather, back then, the one who had dived into Jiaoren Lake was Lingjun, the maternal grandson of Grand Elder Baihui.
Had it been anyone else, a collective interrogation would probably have taken place as well.
*From the look of things, Hundred Beasts Island's hidden quest is essentially a taboo at Qinfeng Academy, which goes to show how much importance Baihui places on it.*
*From this, it can be inferred that Baihui's upper echelon knows what lies behind the stone gate, or at least has a general idea. No one places this much importance on something completely unknown.*
*Hiss, if I want to seize the treasure behind the stone gate and claim the artifact of Takamagahara for myself, the difficulty is going to be immense. Headquarters absolutely cannot find out.*
Another competitor had been added to the mix.
Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts drifted aimlessly as he tilted his head, following the dean with his gaze and watching him interrogate each trainee one by one. Yet even after questioning the very last person, the intruder wasn't exposed.
*They actually didn't root out the armored person? That's going to be tricky...* His heart grew heavy.
This meant finding the armored person himself would be just as difficult; the other party was definitely no pushover.
"Didn't you say a trainee dived into Jiaoren Lake? Where are they?" Brother Red Chicken hollered. "Gathering us all here in the middle of the night just to make a giant blunder out of nothing? Give me a break! Next time, you'd better not bother me with this kind of nonsense."
One had to admit, Fire Practitioners were fantastic at drawing aggro and diverting attention—true unruly villagers in a game of Werewolf! Zhang Yuanqing gave Brother Red Chicken a mental thumbs-up.
Then, glancing at World Returns to Fire, who was calmly contemplating in silence, he spat inwardly: *The disgrace of Fire Practitioners!*
"Everyone, please remain calm. Keep quiet and wait where you are," the gray-haired old dean said in a deep voice.
The trainees showed him enough respect by not walking off, but they completely ignored the request for quiet, bursting into a buzz of chatter.
After a while, Teacher Song Man from the infirmary—with her long legs, slim waist, rounded hips, and voluptuous figure—returned. She stopped beside the dean and whispered into his ear.
Upon hearing her, the dean's brows knitted slightly, then relaxed into a smile.
"My apologies, it was all a misunderstanding!
"Zhao Chenghuang, Sun Miaomiao, Xie Lingzhou, Zhao Feiwen, Liu Yushu, Zhu Mingxu, Xiahou Aotian, you few come with me. The rest may return to your dorms. Tomorrow morning is Spirit Realm History, starting at nine o'clock. Don't be late."
The trainees dispersed in an instant.
Room 404.
Zhang Yuanqing pushed open the door, retrieved the Ghost Mirror from Commandery Princess Yinyao, and transmitted a psychic ripple using the Night Walkers' unique method of communication:
"The dean questioned every trainee tonight, but he didn't catch the armored person."
He recounted everything that had happened in the library hall to Commandery Princess Yinyao.
Zhang Yuanqing was receptive to good counsel and more than willing to heed a companion's suggestions and advice.
Sitting with prim, ladylike posture, Commandery Princess Yinyao said, "You are a Stargazer possessing the Night Wandering skill, so the flora outside the dorms could not detect you. But how did the armored person also evade the plants and animals?
"Two possibilities: first, the armored person is also a Night Walker, or possesses a Night Wandering item. Second, the armored person is not a trainee, but an academy instructor. Given that the Swordsman's Insight failed, I am inclined toward the second possibility."
Zhang Yuanqing shook his head. "If it were an instructor, their sole purpose would be fishing in troubled waters to pin the blame on a trainee. But the armored person's behavior doesn't fit that."
Commandery Princess Yinyao tilted her head, her crimson eyes gazing at him, waiting for an explanation.
"If the armored person were an instructor, it would have been premeditated for a long time. They'd know the environment, the jiaoren guards, and the stone gate like the back of their hand, waiting only for trainees to arrive so they could act immediately. But tonight, that armored person's actions seemed more like scoping out the place."
Zhang Yuanqing recalled how the armored person searched for the stone gate—it had looked nothing like a long-premeditated plan.
Commandery Princess Yinyao found this reasonable. "The situation has grown rather complicated. A three-way game—what do you intend to do?"
Zhang Yuanqing shook his head.
"The armored person must have some special means of concealment. I'm a Night Walker; detecting such things isn't my forte. The only thing I have that could serve as a lie detector is the Houtu Boots, but I can't go making every single trainee try them on.
"I'm at a dead end for now. Do you have any ideas, Princess?"
Commandery Princess Yinyao said indifferently, "Wash up and go to sleep."
"...I already washed."
"Then go to sleep early."
"..."
The next morning, Zhang Yuanqing woke up at seven-thirty. Dressed in the Qinfeng Academy uniform, he strolled through the scenic grounds toward the cafeteria.
While preserving Qin dynasty architecture, the academy buildings incorporated modern elements, exuding an antique charm without the spartan inconvenience of ancient residences.
Between the structures ran winding bluestone paths and cobblestone lanes, dotted with pavilions, stone tables, and stone benches.
Abundant greenery flanked the walkways. Early autumn was here, but the blooming season hadn't passed yet; amid the lush verdure blossomed exotic, vibrant flowers in brilliant hues—species never seen in the real world.
As he walked, Zhang Yuanqing spotted Sun Miaomiao. Her black hair was pinned up, crowned with blossoms in every color of the rainbow—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple—and she was still picking them, tucking one in after another.
Upon seeing Zhang Yuanqing walking toward her, Sun Miaomiao, sweet as the girl next door, struck a cute pose and asked, "Does it look good?"
"It looks great, absolutely stunning! 'Fresh flowers belong with beauties' really is an eternal truth. But in my eyes, Miaomiao's beauty far outshines the blossoms." Zhang Yuanqing applauded vigorously.
Sun Miaomiao beamed happily. "I asked Yuan Ting and Zhao Chenghuang, and both of them said I was crazy and throwing a fit."
"They clearly don't know how to appreciate beauty," Zhang Yuanqing denounced them.
"Hmph, you really do have the makings of a playboy." Sun Miaomiao smiled even wider. "Where's Little Doubi? Let me play with him!"
"No way, unless you beg me."
"Please, I beg you!"
"...Where is your pride as a third-generation scion of the Taiyi Sect?" Zhang Yuanqing exhaled lunar energy in defeat, which materialized on the ground into a chubby, adorable baby.
"Ah, my little darling~!" Sun Miaomiao's heart blossomed with joy. She dashed over, scooped Little Doubi off the ground, and showered him with kisses, her face radiating doting bliss.
Little Doubi was equally thrilled, seizing the opportunity to suck down a few extra gulps of lunar energy, lightening the burden on his master to nurture him.
"Let me play with him for a few days! I'll give him back before we leave Qinfeng Academy," Sun Miaomiao pleaded.
Zhang Yuanqing thought it over and replied, "You can play with him during the day, but you have to return him before dark. Also, you cover all my expenses at Qinfeng Academy."
"All your expenses..." Sun Miaomiao wrinkled her nose. "You scoundrel, selling your own son for money! Fine, deal."
The two entered the cafeteria together. As soon as they stepped inside, a loud commotion met their ears.
Looking toward the noise, they saw Brother Red Chicken pointing right at the chef's nose, hollering:
"I'll tell you one more time: I want porridge! Porridge brewed from the freshest moonlight fish! Toast, butter, fried eggs, sausages, bacon... stop giving me this Western crap!
"No Chinese breakfast? Why the fuck don't you take a piss and look at your own skin color in the puddle! Keep flapping your lips and I'll beat the shit out of you!"
The chef refused to back down, stiffening his neck and retorting, "What can you do to me? Assaulting academy staff results in docked pay and disciplinary action—"
Before he could finish, his two-hundred-jin frame went flying sideways.
Brother Red Chicken lunged forward and began raining down a vicious beating.
Cafeteria staff and Five Elements Alliance trainees rushed forward to break up the fight.
"Go get a teacher, quick! Stop hitting him! Are you trying to kill him?!"
"The cook's out of his mind too, arguing with a Fire Practitioner of all people..."
"Class Monitor, stop him, quick!"
"Brother Red Chicken, stop hitting him, give Xiahou Aotian some face here... Ow! You dare hit me too? Just you wait!"
"Huh, what is the monitor doing—holy shit, are you assembling a cannon?! Calm down, damn it!!"
The scene descended into utter chaos.
Ignoring the clash among the trainees, Zhang Yuanqing and Sun Miaomiao glanced around and naturally took seats by the window, where Yuan Ting and Zhao Chenghuang were leisurely enjoying their breakfast.
The former stared unblinkingly at the crowd attempting to pull the brawl apart, while the latter ate calmly, deaf to all the commotion around him.
"What did the dean keep you guys behind for last night?" Zhang Yuanqing snatched a strip of bacon from Zhao Chenghuang, speaking as he chewed.
"He asked if we knew about Qinfeng Academy's hidden dungeon, and he used a lie-detecting item on us," Zhao Chenghuang said coldly.
Yuan Ting looked back and kindly shared a slice of toast with Yuanshi Tianzun, saying, "Surprisingly, he didn't keep you behind as well."
Just as Zhang Yuanqing was about to speak, a calm, steady voice rang out:
"Because Yuanshi Tianzun is a grassroots nobody."
World Returns to Fire carried his tray over, dragged a chair across, and squeezed in between Sun Miaomiao and Zhang Yuanqing. "Make room..."
Once they made space for him, he sat down and said, "The dean might make a huge fuss over a hundred thousand yuan, but he wouldn't hold you few back and pursue the matter relentlessly just for that. The only possibility is—
"There is a secret at the bottom of Jiaoren Lake, one that cannot be leaked. And those who know this secret hold significant influence within the officials or the Spirit Realm clans.
"Yuanshi Tianzun may be in the limelight, but he's from grassroots origins, with no elders and no prominent clan behind him. That's why the dean ruled him out."
He took a sip of coffee and added, "These are merely my speculations."
*I might be a grassroots nobody, but my future brother-in-law treats me like his own son,* Zhang Yuanqing quipped inwardly.
Fu Qingyang was indeed exceptionally good to him.
Zhao Chenghuang and Sun Miaomiao looked thoughtful.
Yuan Ting's eyes lit up. "So you're saying the dean made such a scene not because someone broke the rule against diving into the lake. On the surface, it's for trainee safety, but in truth, there's another mystery at play. World Returns to Fire, what secret is at the bottom of the lake?"
World Returns to Fire chuckled coldly. "If it's a secret, how could I know? What about you two?"
This was his true purpose for squeezing in here.
Zhao Chenghuang and Sun Miaomiao shook their heads.
World Returns to Fire looked toward Yuanshi Tianzun. "What do you think?"
*Knowing how well he knows me, if I don't give an opinion now and evade the topic, he'll definitely get suspicious...* Zhang Yuanqing snatched a sausage from World Returns to Fire's plate and said, "Someone among the trainees is after that secret. Well, not necessarily a trainee—it could also be an instructor."
Zhang Yuanqing knew it wasn't an instructor because he had witnessed the armored figure's actions firsthand, but from an outsider's perspective, if the trainees came up clean, the instructors were bound to fall under suspicion as well.
World Returns to Fire nodded. "My thoughts exactly. If an opportunity comes up, shall we pick a time to dive down and take a look?"
Zhao Chenghuang was the first to refuse. "Not interested."
Sun Miaomiao and Yuan Ting seemed somewhat tempted.
Zhang Yuanqing intentionally adopted an expression of longing mingled with hesitation. "We'll see if a chance presents itself. It's probably out of the question in the short term; the academy instructors will be watching closely."
After finishing their simple breakfast, the trainees headed to the library next door, entering that "cathedral."
The class schedule had already been distributed to them. The academy's curriculum consisted of Spirit Realm History, Profession Studies (Including Overseas), Alchemy, Item Refinement, Astrology, Item Classification, Combat, and Pharmacology.
Today was dedicated to theory: a Spirit Realm History class in the morning, followed in the afternoon by a Profession Studies class and an Item Classification class.
Zhang Yuanqing was looking forward to the academy's classes immensely.
In terms of dungeon strategy and actual combat, the academy instructors weren't necessarily superior to him, or even that much better than the trainees. But in terms of foundational knowledge and depth of lore, they completely overwhelmed this newly minted cohort of Saints.
There was a great deal of knowledge that the official organization would never disclose to you until you reached the required level.
For example, with item classification, Zhang Yuanqing currently only knew of two major categories.
The same went for overseas professions, astrology, pharmacology, and so on.
*As for Spirit Realm history, I actually know quite a bit. Hmm, taking Commandery Princess Yinyao along, maybe I can turn things around and teach the dean a thing or two...* Zhang Yuanqing thought with mischievous relish.
Chapter 421