"As the Yuan Corporation's regional director, I've always held the academy in great respect."
Without wasting words, the director, a man named Jia Yi, led Fu Qian and Lanaia inside, to a blood-soaked scene of carnage.
"So please believe us when I say that we aren't making unreasonable demands by asking the academy for help so suddenly."
As he spoke, Jia Yi opened one of the body bags.
Hiss!
Almost at once, Fu Qian heard Lanaia take a sharp breath.
Inside the body bag lay a corpse mutilated beyond recognition.
From head to toe, it was covered in crisscrossing wounds. It was almost impossible to make out what the victim had looked like.
Most of the bones were probably broken, too. Had the killer been chopping meat for dumplings?
After taking a quick look at the wounds, Fu Qian understood why Lanaia had reacted that way.
There were countless cuts, but they had all clearly been made by sharp blades...
Sword wounds?
Once he was sure the two of them had noticed, Jia Yi signaled for his men to open the other body bags as well.
Sure enough, every corpse had been torn apart by crisscrossing sword wounds, all inflicted in much the same way.
"Six people died in total: three guards, a supervisor, and two other staff members."
Jia Yi's expression was as hard as iron, as if he were struggling to hold back his anger.
"All the supernatural materials in the warehouse are gone."
"I'm sure you've seen the wounds on the victims. That's why I asked the academy for help right away."
"If we can resolve this properly, we'd rather not take it to the Night Watchers."
"What were the victims' ranks?"
Lanaia's expression was grave as she took in the scene. Now she understood why