Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 101 - Scapegoat

The square was quiet, occasionally broken by the intermittent snores. Under the glory of fire, everyone could see a figure seated in each tent, cultivating as the surrounding spiritual energy poured into their tents.

The arrow traveled across the air from a massive rock towards Liu Wuxie’s tent. It was just ten meters away, and it would only take half a breath for it to pierce into the tent. The tents weren’t huge and could only accommodate a person at best, leaving no space for anyone to avoid the incoming arrow.

The arrow punctured a small hole in the tent and struck the person inside. A groan was heard shortly after, followed by the sound of a body slowly collapsing to the ground.

A smile spread across the face of the black-clothed youth. His crossbow, a spiritual artifact, had never failed him in his numerous assassinations over the years. Having completed his mission, he disappeared into the darkness like a cat, reappearing in the woods three miles away.

“How did it go?” Xue Pinzhi asked, having not yet departed. Even without the patriarch’s orders, he would have sought to kill Liu Wuxie based on the offense he had taken earlier in the day. He couldn’t wait until tomorrow and had enlisted the help of a skilled assassin to kill Liu Wuxie, a cunning plan indeed.

“Rest assured. I saw him collapse with my own eyes. My arrow was coated with a potent poison, and just a slight scratch guarantees death.” The black-clothed youth reassured Xue Pinzhi. Within ten meters of range, he was confident that his arrow had taken Liu Wuxie’s life.

“Great! I’ll arrange for you to enter the Profound Grade’s advanced class tomorrow!” Xue Pinzhi laughed as he had finally completed the order given to him by the patriarch. As he had a conflict with Liu Wuxie during the day, it wasn’t convenient for him to make a move. Thus, he could only seek help from someone else.

After all, he would be investigated if Liu Wuxie died, and he didn’t want to get involved too much. So, he devised the plan of getting someone else to do the dirty job.

“I’ll thank Senior Brother Xue in advance!” The black-clothed youth smiled. His talent wasn’t exceptional, and he had reached the Profound Grade’s elementary class with great difficulty over the past two years. He had been longing to enter the advanced class, where he would have access to more resources than the elementary class.

They quickly parted ways, with Xue Pinzhi retracing his steps back to the academy’s dormitory. The black-clothed youth, on the other hand, took flight in the opposite direction, as their residences were not in the same area.

Suddenly, a figure walked out from a tree not far away with a cold smirk. He sneered, “Xue Pinzhi, it looks like you haven’t given up yet.”

If Xue Pinzhi had seen his smile, he would have mistaken this person for a ghost. This individual quickly caught up with the black-clothed man, traversing the woods as they were on the verge of entering the dormitory zone.

“Who’s there?!” The black-clothed youth suddenly stopped, sensing someone trailing him. He raised his crossbow, aiming at the darkness ahead, ready to fire at the first sight of movement.

Without warning, a mysterious shadow materialized behind the black-clothed youth and struck his neck, rendering him unconscious. As the shadow revealed himself, he grabbed the black-clothed youth by the shoulder and swiftly vacated the area. This place was patrolled by disciples at night, and he didn’t want to leave any evidence behind.

Carrying the black-clothed youth, he passed through the Imperial Academy’s region, entering a deserted mountain range. He tossed the black-clothed youth on the ground and sealed his dantian, ensuring he couldn’t circulate his true essence.

Roughly fifteen minutes later, the black-clothed youth regained consciousness and caressed the back of his head. His last memory was of being struck by something and losing consciousness.

“Where am I?” The black-clothed youth looked around after waking up and found himself in an unfamiliar place surrounded by tall trees. He had a feeling that this place was no longer within the jurisdiction of the Imperial Academy.

He sat up with a start and tried to circulate his true essence. Finding himself unable to muster any strength, he slumped back onto the ground.

“Who are you?!” The black-clothed youth wasn’t stupid and soon deduced that someone had knocked him unconscious before bringing him here. He quickly regained his composure, struggled to sit up, and began to survey his surroundings warily. His gaze eventually landed on a large rock where a figure was seated, legs swinging in the air, a piece of dried grass in his mouth, his face obscured by the darkness.

“I didn’t expect you to wake up so quickly!” The figure didn’t rise from his perch on the rock. His voice was rather youthful, suggesting he was quite young. However, the black-clothed youth couldn’t make out the appearance of his abductor, only managing to discern the figure’s legs swinging in the dim light.

“W-Who are you?! Why did you bring me here? Do you realize this is the Imperial Academy, and I’m a Profound Grade student? If anything happens to me, the academy will investigate this matter!” The black-clothed youth panicked, attempting to use the Imperial Academy’s name to intimidate his abductor into releasing him. After all, this person was so terrifying that he had been knocked unconscious without even realizing it. Only teachers or students of the elite class might possess such ability.

“You came to assassinate me at night because Xue Pinzhi promised to try and get you into the advanced class?” This mysterious person was naturally Liu Wuxie. He jumped down from the huge rock and stood before the black-clothed youth.

The black-clothed youth was horrified. He didn’t know who Liu Wuxie was, but he knew who he had assassinated today. With fear on his face, he couldn’t believe that Liu Wuxie was still alive. He screamed, “That’s impossible! Didn’t my arrow kill you? I saw your body collapsing onto the ground!”

“Who told you I was in the tent?” Liu Wuxie smiled. He had anticipated that the Xue Clan wouldn’t let this matter rest and might send someone to assassinate him that night. Everything had unfolded as he had predicted. Xue Pinzhi had indeed sent someone to try and assassinate him, but fortunately, he had been prepared. As for the person in the tent, it was Feng Bingquan, whom he had killed earlier that day.

“Y-You’re still not a student of the Imperial Academy! If you dare kill me, the academy will investigate this matter, and you will be punished! I advise you to let me go, and I won’t tell a soul about what happened today.” The black-clothed youth was right. Liu Wuxie still wasn’t a student of the Imperial Academy as he hadn’t gone through the assessment yet. If Liu Wuxie killed a student of the academy now, he would’ve violated the academy’s rules, with consequences from expulsion from the assessment to having his cultivation crippled.

It was forbidden to kill in the academy. Fighting wasn’t prohibited, but killing was taboo. However, assassinations were a different matter altogether, as students died every year, and investigating every death would be a lengthy process.

“What else did Xue Pinzhi plan on using against me?” Liu Wuxie’s gaze hardened. Knowing your enemy is the key to victory, and he was certain that Xue Pinzhi had laid traps for him, which he needed to be wary of. If he failed to join the Imperial Academy, the Xue Clan would have experts waiting outside the academy to take his life the moment he failed.

“I don’t know. He only asked me to assassinate you tonight and said nothing else,” the black-clothed youth replied.

Liu Wuxie nodded as he could sense that the black-clothed youth was telling the truth. He was already dead to Xue Pinzhi. So, he did not need to use any plan against him tomorrow.

“I have already told you everything I know. Can I leave now?” The black-clothed youth pleaded, looking at Liu Wuxie. He didn’t want to die, especially in such a remote area. Even if the Imperial Academy were to avenge him, he would already be dead, rendering it meaningless. He was willing to kneel and kowtow as long as he could live.

“Let you live?” Liu Wuxie raised his brow. He wasn’t naive enough to let this person return and tell Xue Pinzhi that he was still alive.

With a swift motion of Liu Wuxie’s blade, the black-clad youth fell to the ground. His body began to wither until only a layer of skin remained, his life energies absorbed by Liu Wuxie. This was done so cleanly that not a trace was left that could lead the academy to any clues. Liu Wuxie even made sure to incinerate the skin before making his way back to the square.

As dawn broke, many people woke up from their cultivation and exited their tents, stretching their bodies and preparing for today’s assessment.

“Strange, where’s Feng Bingquan’s body?” As everyone emerged, they noticed only a pool of blood where Feng Bingquan’s body had been, with no sign of the corpse. Everyone began to gather, discussing the previous night’s events.

“Wait, why is that brat sitting on the rock cultivating?” They saw a blue-clothed figure seated on a huge rock, meditating. The density of spiritual energy in the Imperial Academy was several times higher than in the Azure Billow City. Cultivating here for a day was equivalent to a few days in the Azure Billow City, and Liu Wuxie’s true essence grew rapidly.

If someone else had been cultivating at Liu Wuxie’s rapid pace, they would’ve made a breakthrough long ago. But Liu Wuxie’s dantian could contain much more true essence than others. Thus, he barely made any progress.

“If he’s cultivating over there, who’s in the tent?” Everyone could see a person lying in Liu Wuxie’s tent from the shadows.

Bai Yu and Yu Yifan emerged from their tents, awakened by the commotion. As more individuals exited their tents, they appeared rejuvenated from a night of rest.

A few of the braver individuals approached Liu Wuxie’s tent and pulled it open, revealing a person lying inside, bloodied with an arrow lodged in the back of his head.

“Arghh!” The man who opened the tent let out a scream and retreated.

“I-It’s Feng Bingquan! He’s been murdered!” The man stuttered and staggered as he took ten steps back before regaining his footing.

“Isn’t that obvious? We all saw him get killed yesterday,” the crowd retorted, rolling their eyes at the man’s statement.

“No, I mean Feng Bingquan was killed by an arrow!” The man clarified his earlier statement.

“This is strange. Why is Feng Bingquan in the tent, and how did he end up killed by an arrow?” The crowd was puzzled, unable to piece together the events of the previous night.

“Can it be that someone wanted to kill that brat, and Feng Bingquan ended up as the scapegoat?” someone whispered.