Volume 1

38 The Culprit Was Nie Zun?

Jiao S cut off their exchange, “Guan Nie, why don’t you two settle your accounts later? Let’s first deal with the shocking matter that Li Shen and her pals brought back after rushing into the South-North border forest.”

Guan Nie’s phoenix eyes slanted upwards. “I’m not curious, nor do I care about any of that. Don’t you know?”

Jiao S crafty eyes turned. “If I told you that someone was trying to develop a method of killing in the Split Zone without the use of a split symbol and splitting key, would you be interested then?”

Then a light seemed to flood forth from her eyes. Locked on Guan Nie, she said, “If there were such a method, then you wouldn’t need to sacrifice yourself to kill Gaoqin Jiuye.”

I inhaled a breath of air. This… Do you need to be so direct when Gaoqin Jiuye is right in front of us?!

But it was clear that her words had an effect, because a spark of curiosity flashed across Guan Nie’s eyes.

Before Guan Nie could respond though, Gaoqin Jiuye spoke to Jiao S, “Don’t tease. His only motive is to get rid of me; as for his own well-being, he’s never been concerned with that. But these experiments won’t help him with anything. The problem now isn’t whether he’ll have to pay with his life after killing me, it’s the fact that he’s unable to kill me in the first place.” As if putting on his haughty and ruthless outer coat, Gaoqin Jiuye raised his head slightly, somewhat by habit.

Instead of retorting, Guan Nie simply glanced over at him. Then he walked over to sit down at the desk, his long robes swaying along the way. He crossed his legs, and his soft, silk robes covered his inelegant action. He pulled his hair forward from behind his head, letting it fall to his legs. After pouring himself a cup of water, he drank it leisurely, as if he had nothing to say.

The situation between the two of them was becoming more and more unclear to me.

Jiao S saw that Guan Nie wasn’t speaking to Gaoqin Jiuye, and that the latter was also simply staring at the former. So, Jiao S spoke up, “What should we do now, then?”

Jie Pa suddenly jumped in, “I’ll check to see if Ms Song Lu has woken up. Perhaps she’ll be able to offer us some clues.”

At the thought of Song Lu, my chest tightened. The weak coward that I was, I didn’t dare to check if she’d woken.

I couldn’t help closing my eyes when I recalled the hair-raising scene inside that stone room. The smell of blood an massacre seemed to linger at my nose, and I didn’t dare to breathe too deeply.

Jie Pa, who had just stepped out to check on Song Lu in the other room, suddenly backstepped into the room. It seemed as if he’d seen something when he walked out. He pushed his glasses up on his nose as he backed into the room, one step at a time.

We all turned to him.

Without us realizing, Song Lu had already woken up, and she was standing in front of the door. She held a sword up to Jie Pa as he slowly retreated. Wrapped in her sexy, black attire, she approached; Jie Pa must have had someone change her clothes in the ensuing time. Her large curls of hair casually rested on her shoulders. Her breasts were beautifully outlined by her tight-fitting black clothes.

She looked as sultry and beautiful as before, only her eyes seemed a bit sunken, her face a bit fatigued. Her spirit hadn’t entirely been recovered.

Her eyes were filled with a hateful, murderous intent, as well as a deep fear, mixed in with some pain. With her sword pointed at Jie Pa, she approached.

I quickly stepped forward and help up my hands, trying to placate her. “Song Lu jiejie.” But Song Lu only glanced at me before looking around at the rest of the room.

When her loathing eyes landed on Nie Zun, she exploded. With her sword raised, she flew past me over to Nie Zun. “Nie Zun, you’re going to pay!”

Everything came so unexpectedly that I could only stare blankly at the scene before me. Song Lu flew at Nie Zun with her sword, but he swiftly stepped out of the way, causing her to run into empty space. She flipped her hair and pressed her lips together, and then turned to attack again.

I grabbed Piercer and caught Song Lu’s sword. My hand wasn’t as nimble because it was still bandaged, but I was still able to stop Song Lu.

She clenched her teeth and pulled back on her sword. She pulled with more and more force as she glared resentfully at me. “Li Shen, you had better stay out of this. Otherwise, even if it’s you, I won’t show any mercy!”

“What exactly happened?!” I couldn’t help shouting out loud.

Tears suddenly appeared in Song Lu’s eyes. “Nie Zun… Nie Zun, he’s the person who planned all of this! He killed Yu Liang!”

What?

Taken aback, my grip on Piercer loosened.

While my guard was down, Song Lu immediately pulled back her sword and lunged at Nie Zun. “Nie Zun! I will kill you here today to avenge Yu Liang!”

Nie Zun easily dodged her attack, his expression seemingly unaffected by the sudden events. With his same carefree tone, he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Jie Pa moved to stop Song Lu. “Ms Song Lu, please calm down. Tell us the entire situation. Perhaps there’s a misunderstanding somewhere.”

“Yes, Song Lu jiejie, what exactly happened?” I quickly asked.

When Jie Pa reached out to block her, Song Lu paused, but her sword remained aimed at Nie Zun. The tears welling up in her eyes suddenly started to flow down. “Ah Shen, that day, Nie Zun came to our room to seek out Yu Liang. You know about Yu Liang’s ability; it’s not something that just anyone can fight against. Moreover, his split symbol was activated then. But Nie Zun isn’t just an ordinary person. Yu Liang hadn’t suspected Nie Zun at all, and he didn’t use his projection ability. But then Nie Zun ambushed us!

“He poured some type of inhibitor on us so that we couldn’t use our mental force, and then we were brought to the pit. Then those two women kept torturing me with strange poisons. Some kind of poisonous bugs ate at me until they were absorbed into my body. But Yu Liang’s body rejected them. In the end, to prove the viability of the experiment, Nie Zun stabbed Yu Liang with a sword covered in my blood.”

Song Lu grew more distressed, and continuous streams of tears flowed down her face.

I gave a slight smile. “That can’t be. Nie Zun wouldn’t do that kind of thing.”

Song Lu looked at me with tears in her eyes. “Would I lie to you?”

I shook my head. “You wouldn’t lie to me either. So, there must be something strange going on here.”

Jie Pa nodded. “Perhaps someone changed their appearance to look like Nie Zun?”

Song Lu shook her head, and a stream of tears slipped down her face. “That can’t be. To disguise yourself as someone else, you must have a very high mental force. To imitate Nie Zun isn’t an easy feat, and they would have to understand Nie Zun’s habits as well. It had to be him!”

Jie Pa took a step forward. “Ms Song Lu, calm down. Where is Mr Yu Liang right now? Maybe we can still save him?”

At his words, Son Lu’s expression tensed in anguish. “He can’t be saved! I don’t know what kind of poison they put into me, but now whoever is harmed with my blood, they cannot heal! I saw Nie Zun stab Yu Liang in the heart with a sword covered in my blood!”

Her tears fell angrily, and she raised her sword to Nie Zun again.

Jie Pa nodded profoundly. “My suspicions were correct then. Someone is really trying to develop a method to directly kill others in the Split Zone.”

Jiao S suddenly stood up. “Things are getting more and more complicated. Nie Zun, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Then, Guan Nie stepped forward. With a playful laugh, he said, “Although I don’t quite understand all that you’re saying, there’s no need to suspect my pet yet.” Gaoqin Jiuye’s brows raised slightly, but he didn’t intend to speak up.

Nie Zun replied lightly, “There’s nothing in particular I have to say, but it wasn’t me.”

Song Lu bit her lip, and a trickle of blood dripped down. Then she raised her sword with one arm and slit her other arm. A strange, pungent and irritating scent seemed to exude from the dark black blood flowing from her arm.

Then she slashed the blood contaminated sword at Nie Zun again.

“You’re going to insist on evading your wrongdoing! Don’t blame me for disregarding our year’s worth of friendship!” Song Lu shouted loudly.

An apprehensive feeling washed over me. Without hesitation or any questions, I raised my hand to stop Song Lu’s sword. Because of my close proximity to Song Lu, I saw my bandaged hand get chopped off by her sword.

Suddenly, the booming sound of an explosion sounded. Jiao S’ eyes tightened. Gaoqin Jiuye raised his left hand, and the two of them started to control the airflow. Blocked by their air blades, Song Lu was pushed back.

Nie Zun had already made his way over to my side.

Song Lu landed on the ground. She looked up, warm tears rolling down her face. “Ah Shen, are you really not going to help avenge Yu Liang?”

My chest tightened. With a frown, I replied, “Song Lu jiejie, I understand what you’re feeling, but you need to calm down right now. Nie Zun was not the perpetrator. I will vouch for it with my own life!”

Down on the ground, Song Lu’s pained tears streamed down her cheeks. “How could I possible want your life… But… Who will compensate for Yu Liang’s…?”

I finally couldn’t stand it any longer. Pushing aside Nie Zun, who was blocking me, I knelt down beside Song Lu and hugged her. “Song Lu jiejie, trust me. I can’t explain the specifics of it, but Nie Zun definitely didn’t do that.”

Suddenly, Jiao S, who had just helped me, spoke up, “Li Shen, if you’re hiding something, it’s best that you tell us all now. Everyone is here now. Though I don’t know how it was for you before, but right now, it’s not only people from your district who have died. A child from our district has also died! Even if it’s Nie Zun, if there’s any suspicion, I won’t turn a blind eye to it!”

Gaoqin Jiuye must have some enmity for Jiao S, for after she spoke, he was quick to mock, “You speak as though you’re so righteous. Are you truly concerned for the kid, or are you just concerned that Si Luo may be involved?”

Jiao S fumed.

Guan Nie yawned and his bewitching eyes jumped. “Must you mock Jiao S? After all, are you truly standing here right now out of concern for the Southern District? Aren’t you also doing this for that Si Luo or whoever?”

Gaoqin Jiuye’s eyes turned cold.

I finally couldn’t stand it anymore. I turned and shouted, “Enough!”

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