Lin Jin learned from Shu Xiaolou what had happened at the academy. About the six-eye six-ear beast noticing his abduction, and Mr. Zhong’s rescue team. When he heard how the teachers of the academy had come to save him, Lin Jin smiled and he felt a warmth in his heart.
He also heard about Yang Ming.
Shu Xiaolou was furious, declaring that she would deal with Yang Ming herself, but Lin Jin stopped her. After returning to the academy and asking around, Lin Jin learned that Yang Ming was currently missing.
The moment Lin Jin returned to the academy, many of the teachers approached him to ask about his well-being, and they all provided kind words of comfort. Shu Xiaolou remained by his side, but she refrained from revealing herself. She did this by hiding inside his house where she sneakily drank his tea.
Lin Jin figured the teachers’ concerns were genuine but their intent to befriend Shu Xiaolou was also real.
Mr. Zhong was the last to arrive. He probed for many details and Lin Jin answered them all. However, he wasn’t honest about defeating the assailants and said it was Senior Shu who helped him instead.
Then, Mr. Zhong asked about Lin Jin’s conflict with Yang Ming.
The academy was evidently on Yang Ming’s tail now. After all, it was obvious to everyone that Yang Ming was the only one to possess the relevant motivation to initiate such an attack.
No matter how reputable he was, breaking the academy rules and attempting to murder a fellow colleague was just too much.
After everyone left, Shu Xiaolou noticed how quiet Lin Jin became, as if he was in deep thought. Assuming he was worried, she reassured him, “Don’t be scared. I’ll stay here in Peach Blossom House for a few days so no matter how capable Yang Ming is, I won’t let him leave this place alive if he’s brave enough to show himself again.”
Yet, Lin Jin shook his head in response. “The culprit isn’t Appraiser Yang Ming!”
Shu Xiaolou was shocked.
All evidence now pointed to Yang Ming. At the very least, he had the motive and capability of being the culprit. More importantly, right after the attack failed, he vanished without warning.
The answer could not have been any more obvious.
Yet, to her surprise, Lin Jin was insisting that Yang Ming wasn’t the culprit.
“I’d like to hear your thoughts.” Having lived for several hundred years, even if Shu Xiaolou was startled, she didn’t lose her composure. Instead, she pulled over a tiny bench. After sitting down, she cradled her chin with both hands and she wore an expression that seemed to tell Lin Jin ‘I’m all ears’.
Lin Jin explained, “It’s easy. Appraiser Yang and I may have had some disagreements but they’re not serious enough for him to want to kill me. Also, Appraiser Yang has never been to Peach Blossom House.”
It was at that moment that Shu Xiaolou realized this fact.
She remembered that small tin box.
They were basically sure that someone had poured part of the blood ghost’s fluids into the tin and hid it in Peach Blossom House. This tin was a crucial part of the picture since it was the reason behind Lin Jin’s abduction. Upon making contact with it, he would instantly be sent into some barrier.
The culprit was highly-skilled and discreet enough to avoid detection by the academy’s potent security system.
Here came the problem. If Yang Ming was the culprit, he would have visited Peach Blossom House to plant the tin box somewhere discreet. However, Yang Ming had never stepped foot here.
Of course, he could have sent someone to do it. But Lin Jin knew full well that ever since he moved into this place, besides a few friendly teachers, no one else came to visit him.
A stealthy infiltration was out of the question too, since Senior Mo had been tasked with guarding the house. He had never left the place after moving in with Lin Jin. With Senior Mo’s keen senses, he would never miss an uninvited guest.
Of course, there were exceptions like Shu Xiaolou. Senior Mo failed to notice her, but Lin Jin would never suspect her. If she wanted to harm Lin Jin, she could have done so without having to go through this much hassle.
In other words, those who visited Peach Blossom House after Lin Jin had moved in were all suspicious, and Yang Ming wasn’t one of them. Given Lin Jin’s limited understanding of Yang Ming’s character, he was confident that the latter wasn’t the culprit.
From a certain point of view, this surprise attack was quite thoroughly planned. The culprit probably didn’t expect failure, but even if he did, it would make sense to say that Yang Ming had fled to escape punishment. However, Lin Jin’s instincts told him that was wrong. If Yang Ming was behind this, he would have at least had a backup plan if the situation backfired.
The losses were too great for him to just escape like this.
To assume he was a demonic appraiser, or even the mysteriously powerful ‘Black Envoy’ Chu Gou had mentioned, was out of the question.
If he were Black Envoy, it had taken so many years of scheming for him to infiltrate Heavenly Spiral Academy so he must have a bigger ploy here. How could he possibly risk years, even decades of effort just to kill Lin Jin?
That didn’t make sense.
Hence, Lin Jin arrived at his conclusion based on these considerations. The culprit behind this surprise attack definitely wasn’t Appraiser Yang Ming.
The culprit must be a cautious type so he probably planted the tin box here in person. That, or he must have instructed someone to bring it in. No matter who, that person was must have visited Peach Blossom House recently, and he might even be one of the people whom Lin Jin welcomed with open arms.
At this thought, Lin Jin couldn’t help a shudder.
He began recalling who his visitors were.
Shu Xiaolou aside, Mr. Zhong came here once, Appraiser Yan and Appraiser Ouyang visited before too. And then there was Appraiser Wang. Besides them would be Lin Jin’s private students.
Li Xinqi, Li Yuanqing, Yue Yun, Wang Pin, Shen Chiyue, Yu Daiwei, and the bookworm, Fan Yuan.
Would it be one of them?
Lin Jin had to retain his suspicion of these students because there was no saying which one of them had ill intentions. Among the many people listed, Lin Jin could exclude only two people.
One was Shu Xiaolou, and the other was Mr. Zhong.
As for the others, they all remained suspects regardless if they were teachers or students. On second thought, the Demonic Appraisal Association might even place someone by Lin Jin’s side for them to reach him more easily.
Nothing in this world was impossible. The culprit’s plan was way too deliberate. If this attack had happened to any other Rank 4 appraiser, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to assume they would be dead by now.
Lin Jin could say this because they wouldn’t have the museum bail them out at the last minute. During moments of desperation, they wouldn’t have the Visitation Hall to turn the tables in their favor, nor an expert like Shu Xiaolou to come to their rescue.
Just this factor was enough to impress Lin Jin. The culprit was surely a master in devious schemes.
However, Lin Jin was no pushover. When he came back, he deliberately feigned weakness as if he was injured. He was trying to conceal his strength and deceive the enemy.
Perhaps the culprit or his subordinate was hidden among the teachers who came to check on him or the students who came to visit him after dawn.
In any case, Lin Jin had to tread carefully.
Showing weakness was to confuse the enemy and lure them into taking action.
Whoever it was, if he had managed to come up with such a detailed assassination ploy, he’d be infuriated to find out that it had failed. So, after realizing that his target was in a vulnerable state, he would definitely assume this to be a chance for a second strike.
He couldn’t possibly wait for Lin Jin to recover first, right?
Of course, Lin Jin was unsure whether the enemy would take action again. What if he was much more cunning than Lin Jin thought?
It didn’t matter. It didn’t hurt for Lin Jin to try this plan out. Before he could uncover who the enemy was, to remain on edge while putting on a relaxed facade was the right move.
