Tying Up Loose Ends

"Fallen Ones?"

Chen Xin sized Tang Hao up and asked in a somewhat strange tone:

"Real Fallen Ones, or the kind of 'Fallen Ones' in quotation marks?"

He suspected that Tang Hao had killed people from Spirit Hall and then pinned the identity of Fallen Ones on them. After all, corpses could not speak.

"They were real Fallen Ones," Tang Hao said flatly. "I, Tang Hao, would not resort to such lowly methods. I don't need an excuse like that to kill people from Spirit Hall."

Chen Xin's expression grew more serious. "Even the Fallen Ones have been drawn out. Xiao Feng has really become quite the prized target."

Tang Hao was not surprised. He put away the Clear Sky Hammer and said:

"This child has caused such a huge commotion and drawn so many forces from across the continent here. It is perfectly normal for the Fallen Ones to come sniffing around."

"True enough, but it's not a major problem. The Fallen Ones won't amount to much," Chen Xin said.

"Mm. Although I don't think highly of Spirit Hall, they have done some things right. The matter here is settled. Senior, I'll be leaving now." With that, Tang Hao turned to go.

"Wait, don't be in such a hurry to leave," Chen Xin called after him.

Tang Hao, who was about to depart, stopped. "What is it?"

"Earlier, you said you wanted to entrust your son to my protection. I gave it some thought and decided it won't work," Chen Xin said.

"Why?" Tang Hao asked in surprise.

Chen Xin looked toward the teaching building. "You should know that Bone and I guard the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. When Fengzhi goes out, only one of us usually accompanies him, while the other remains behind to guard the sect.

"That means neither Bone nor I can spare much time to protect Xiao Feng, unless Xiao Feng returns to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect with us. But if that happens, then your son..."

"My son can't go to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect with you," Tang Hao cut in. "So, I can't leave for the time being."

"That's how it is." Chen Xin nodded.

Tang Hao fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

"Fine. Then I'll watch over him for a while longer."

"Mm, then I won't disturb you any further." Chen Xin turned and left, heading toward Ning Fengzhi and the others.

Elsewhere, Dugu Bo and Chen Feng arrived at Master's room, while everyone else went to rest in the meeting room prepared by the dean of Nuoding Academy.

The disturbance today had truly shocked the dean of Nuoding Academy. He had never expected his tiny academy to draw the attention of so many forces.

When he asked why those forces had come, Master explained that his friend, Grandmaster Chen Feng, had asked him to publish a Thesis on his behalf, leading those forces to believe that Grandmaster Chen Feng was at Nuoding Academy and causing this misunderstanding.

Just as the Thesis from the Star Luo Empire had been published on behalf of its third prince, Dai Mubai, Master was merely the person publishing the Thesis on someone else's behalf.

Ning Fengzhi, who stood nearby, also nodded in agreement. He said that the people who had come before, as well as himself, had only come here because of a misunderstanding. Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, they would naturally leave. The people from the Star Luo Empire and he himself were staying only to catch up with Master.

In any case, if anyone asked, it was a misunderstanding.

Clearly, they were all helping Chen Feng tie up loose ends.

Since their goal had already been achieved, there was no need to let others learn Chen Feng's identity and draw excessive attention to him. That would be detrimental to Chen Feng's growth.

This time had already drawn so many forces here, even the Fallen Ones. There was no telling what sort of people might come next.

It would have been easier if Chen Feng had returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect with Ning Fengzhi, but Chen Feng had previously said that he would still remain here. Under those circumstances, they could not let too many people know that he was Chen Feng, the one who had published the Thesis.

In truth, no one would connect that academic grandmaster with Chen Feng, a little brat. Even Dugu Bo had trouble believing it despite seeing it with his own eyes, much less anyone else.

Ning Fengzhi had also instructed the people from the Star Luo Empire and Dugu Bo to keep the secret. They all said they would keep Chen Feng's true circumstances confidential and not spread them.

But that still was not entirely safe. Chen Feng proposed a solution: hire people to spread rumors and muddy the waters.

Simply put, they would use countless rumors, impossible to distinguish as true or false, to conceal Chen Feng's identity. Once there were enough rumors, people would find it difficult to uncover the truth.

Ning Fengzhi added to the plan. If Chen Feng wanted to publish more Theses in the future, he could directly hand the manuscripts to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would submit the manuscripts from different places across the continent, creating the illusion that Grandmaster Chen Feng was traveling the continent.

With both plans working together, they should be able to separate Chen Feng from the identity of an academic grandmaster.

From then on, his identity would truly become one of those things that those who knew, knew, while those who did not need not be told.

In short, the waters ran deep, and ordinary people could not handle them.

Inside Master's room, Chen Feng and Dugu Bo sat facing each other across the desk.

Dugu Bo waved his hand and laid down a barrier of Soul Power around the room to prevent anyone from overhearing their conversation. Then he said nothing more, merely watching Chen Feng in silence.

Facing this handsome middle-aged man with an almost sinister appearance, Chen Feng spoke first:

"Thank you, Poison Douluo, for agreeing to keep my secret."

"Heh. This old man has always been a loner and has no friends. Even if I wanted to share a secret, who do you think I could share it with?" Dugu Bo sneered.

"Uh... Prince Xue Xing?" Chen Feng ventured.

"This old man only works for him to repay his kindness. I do not confide in him," Dugu Bo said flatly.

"All right. No matter what, thank you," Chen Feng said.

"Just now, you said you knew what this old man wanted to ask, didn't you?" Dugu Bo stared at Chen Feng.

"Yes. If I'm not mistaken, Senior came because of your martial soul," Chen Feng said.

"Too vague. Be more specific," Dugu Bo said flatly.

"To be specific..." Chen Feng's gaze fell on Dugu Bo's head. "The toxins within your martial soul have already seeped deep into your bone marrow. Not only have they caused you considerable pain, they have even begun to plague your descendants through your bloodline. Am I right?"

"As this junior understands it, Senior's son suddenly died while breaking through to Soul Ancestor a few years ago, and your daughter-in-law soon passed away as well, leaving only one granddaughter behind. Most importantly, the color of your hair is highly abnormal. That gave me a certain guess about your condition."

Dugu Bo fell silent for a moment before slowly asking, "Then do you have a solution?"