At Heavenly Spiral City.
Only two days had passed since the Thousand Island Country’s diplomatic banquet. Today, a homing pigeon flew into Heavenly Spiral Academy.
Homing pigeons were commonly used to deliver messages across long distances, and there were street vendors who sold birds for this very purpose. Of course, the price of a bird depended on its class. Premium ones, for instance, were generally quite expensive.
This bird swiftly descended inside the quarters of a Rank 4 appraiser. Someone grabbed the bird and removed the letter from its leg.
He opened the letter and seconds later, his brows furrowed.
“Trash!”
With a gentle flick of his hand, the letter was engulfed in flames which reduced it to ashes.
“Wait. If the wooden token isn’t with Yang Ming, he must have hidden it somewhere else. I’ve searched his residence in Heavenly Spiral City but found nothing. Could he have other residences here? That must be it! Who knew that Yang Ming would be this cunning.”
This person mumbled to himself.
“Now that Yang Ming has been rescued by a mysterious person, he’ll definitely return. Looks like I can’t keep up this identity any longer. What a pity,” said the man as he shook his head.
Then, he went outside and gathered his pupils. “I have some errands to run so I’ll be out today. All of you just have to stay here and study.”
“Understood!”
His students nodded obediently. None of them had to courage to ask about his departure.
After packing up his valued items, this person snuck out of the academy and disappeared.
The next morning, Shang’er arrived at the gates of Heavenly Spiral Academy with the tiger carrying Yang Ming. Students who were entering the academy immediately recognized Yang Ming.
“Lecturer Yang Ming is back!”
Word of his return quickly spread throughout Heavenly Spiral Academy.
It took a while before the message finally reached Lin Jin. By the time he rushed over to the hall, almost all lecturers of the academy had gathered there.
At the sight of Lin Jin, the lecturers greeted him.
Lin Jin’s status was unlike before. Everyone now knew how close he was with Senior Shu. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe them as being good friends. This alone was enough for them to start treating him with more respect.
Even Mr. Zhong spoke very politely with Lin Jin. Still, everyone was aware that he was doing this out of respect for Senior Shu.
Lin Jin returned the salute to the lecturers. After entering the great hall, he instantly spotted Shang’er.
He could help it because no matter where she was, Shang’er was still the most eye-catching individual. Her unrivaled temperament paired with her beauty drew everyone’s attention so long as they weren’t blind.
It went without saying that Lin Jin was shocked to find her standing there.
He did not expect to see her here. Wasn’t Shang’er supposed to be in Maple City? Why did she come here to Heavenly Spiral Academy?
At the sight of Lin Jin, Shang’er’s eyes lit up and she hurried forward to bow before him. “Shang’er greets Master Lin!”
The jaws of everyone else dropped to the floor. They had arrived early so they knew that this young lady was Yang Ming’s savior. What they did not anticipate was the fact that she was Lin Jin’s disciple.
Of course, while Shang’er was proficient in concealing her aura, many appraisers were still able to detect that she was a monster. Thankfully, the people here were well-mannered, and they were fairly lenient. Even after learning that Shang’er was a monster, they wouldn’t judge her unless she started causing trouble.
As the saying went, the higher one’s status becomes, the more tolerant they would grow.
Despite Shang’er being a monster, she possessed spiritual energy. Her cultivation method was ethical and they could sense no malevolent energy coming from her. Lecturer Yang Ming even declared personally that Shang’er was his savior, so instead of showing prejudice, the entire academy was grateful toward Shang’er.
Soon, Lin Jin learned what had happened.
It was because he noticed the state Yang Ming was in at the moment. The degree of damage he sustained made the situation self-explanatory.
“Lecturer Lin, Lecturer Yang has stated that he had no idea you were attacked that night. Apart from that, he told us that he was fooled into returning to Great Deer Kingdom, where he was ambushed. He almost lost his life before he was rescued by Ms. Shang’er,” explained Zhong Zifeng.
He had a more comprehensive understanding of the situation right now.
That night, because he received news that his mother had fallen gravely ill, Yang Ming rushed home immediately. He had informed Appraiser Yan about his departure, and the latter promised to convey the message to the academy.
Hence, Yang Ming wasn’t trying to escape punishment after attacking Lin Jin.
An examination of Yang Ming’s injuries confirmed his testimony.
The key suspect here would be Appraiser Yan. According to Yang Ming, he had informed him about his departure, and yet Appraiser Yan failed to mention anything about that.
“Where is Appraiser Yan?” Lin Jin asked.
This was a serious matter. Lin Jin had grown wary of Appraiser Yan since two days ago when he received the warning from Shu Xiaolou. Still, because there was no evidence to confirm his suspicion, the past two days had been uneventful.
“Appraiser Yan is missing!” someone spoke up.
He knew it!
Lin Jin’s suspicion of Appraiser Yan intensified. After all, Shu Xiaolou’s observation skills weren’t bogus. Now that this happened, Appraiser Yan had become a very questionable character.
After further inquiry, they learned that Appraiser Yan had left of his own accord since noon yesterday. Taking into account the time provided by Shang’er, it matched with the theory that he had left after receiving a message from the Demonic Appraiser Association.
He knew that Yang Ming would return the next day and that his deeds would be exposed, which was why he left in advance.
A cautious person like him would be tough to deal with.
However, Zhong Zifeng suddenly said, “We still don’t have evidence that Appraiser Yan is behind this so we’ll need to track him down to get his explanation.”
That made sense.
After all, given the information they currently had, the most Appraiser Yan had done was withholding information about Yang Ming’s departure. It was insufficient to uncover Appraiser Yan’s stance. However, to Lin Jin, when he linked up all the clues he discovered in the past, he was confident that Appraiser Yan was no good samaritan.
Appraiser Yan might just be that mysterious Black Envoy in the Demonic Appraisal Association.
Previously, Lin Jin suspected that it was Yang Ming. After the ambush, however, it became clear that Yang Ming wasn’t involved in the equation. After Shang’er told him that Yang Ming was a citizen of Great Deer Kingdom, Lin Jin finally knew why Yang Ming had been harassing him in the past.
It was because he was a loyal citizen of Great Deer Kingdom.
Great Deer Kingdom had always been at odds with Jade Dragon Kingdom. Lin Jin knew this well. It was only natural for Yang Ming to have an innate distaste for people from Jade Dragon Kingdom, which explained the harassment.
Lin Jin blamed himself for being too careless. Had he been aware of this earlier, his suspicion toward Yang Ming would have been cleared off sooner.
Something else intrigued Lin Jin now. If Appraiser Yan was the Black Envoy of the Demonic Appraisal Association, why did he scheme against Yang Ming?
There must be a reason.
Instead of remaining silent, Lin Jin decided to ask Yang Ming about it directly.
Speaking of which, when Yang Ming saw Shang’er bowing at Lin Jin and addressed him as ‘Master Lin’, he felt nothing but shock. To find out that his savior was Lin Jin’s disciple, his reaction was somewhat anticipated.
Now that he thought about it, he didn’t actually hold a grudge against Lin Jin. Sure, they had a minor conflict back then, but his disciple had saved his life. Thus, Yang Ming let out an invisible sigh before telling Lin Jin the truth.
