Huo Yuhao was completely satisfied after eating, then promptly collapsed and passed out. They were terrified and rushed him back to the academy, carrying him straight to a healing-type Soul Master for help. But the teacher took one look and decided there was nothing to worry about. He told them to hurry up and take Huo Yuhao away; there was nothing wrong with him. He was simply exhausted and had eaten too much high-energy food, which had made him drowsy. It was a perfectly normal physical reaction. That answer eased Bei Bei and the others' worries, and only then did they have time to discuss what had happened.
But the three of them couldn't learn anything just by standing around. The person who had experienced it was asleep, and they couldn't very well wake him. Even if he did wake up, asking him about it would be awkward. For now, they had to find the answers themselves, and Bei Bei would have to take the lead. After all, he had grown up in Shrek City and was the leading heir of one of the top families. To suggest he didn't know how to find someone he could ask would be underestimating him.
Bei Bei didn't waste time. Without another word, he took Tang Ya and Xu Sanshi to speak with the patrol leader and ask if he knew anything. Sure enough, there were relevant records, and they were clearly recent. When Bei Bei and the others arrived, they happened to see the deputy patrol leader walk in carrying a file. He also had a strong smell of blood about him. Bei Bei and the others carried the same scent, which had rubbed off on them from Huo Yuhao. Even changing their clothes hadn't gotten rid of it, and it was almost identical to the smell on the deputy. One look at each other was enough for both sides to understand what the others wanted to know.
But there was no need for them to talk. The final decision still rested with the patrol leader. Both sides turned to look at him at the same time.
The patrol leader could only give a wry smile. This was a tough situation. His superiors had ordered him to keep the matter under wraps and tell no one, but he couldn't afford to offend the young master standing in front of him, either. Caught between the two sides, he was in a bind. He made his meaning clear with a look, and the deputy didn't need to worry: the patrol leader's word was his rule of conduct, and he would do whatever he was told. Now they were waiting for the patrol leader to speak. In truth, the patrol leader was waiting for Bei Bei to speak, too.
"Captain, I don't think the people you have to keep this secret from include us. Just let us take a look at the file, and that'll be all. It'll save me the trouble of asking my elders for it. If anyone holds you accountable, send them to me, Bei Bei. And if anyone gives you a hard time, I'll help."
The patrol leader was delighted by those words. They showed that he hadn't misjudged Bei Bei. In fact, letting Bei Bei in at all had already made his position clear: if this had been something that truly couldn't be leaked, he wouldn't have met with Bei Bei and the other youngsters in the first place. What he wanted was a way to stay in touch with Bei Bei, a future powerhouse in the making. That was his real goal. This file wasn't worth offending the Golden Sacred Dragon Family over—the most distinguished Beast Martial Soul family, yet one that kept a low profile and avoided trouble. Bei Bei was the foremost member of its new generation, both refined and modest.
The back-and-forth was meant to make Bei Bei understand his predicament, so the favor would feel all the greater. The patrol leader gave his deputy a look, signaling him to hand the file to Bei Bei. The deputy's arrival had been carefully timed, too, to set things on the right track. Otherwise, the young heir might fail to grasp the situation and leave in a fit of impatience, which would have been a serious loss. Putting the result in front of them made it all but impossible for them to walk away.
Bei Bei and the others took the file and left, saying they would bring it back shortly. In truth, whether the patrol leader got the file back or not didn't matter. It was meant for the people above him to read, and he had already formed a rough idea of what had happened. Still, he found it difficult to accept. The report presented the sort of explanation everyone could accept, based on the usual procedure. After all, no one knew why the patrol route had happened to miss the area at the time. The gap in the patrol schedule was a sign that someone had leaked information.
But everyone already knew that. Who didn't know there was a traitor? The people at the top didn't consider that the real problem. Perhaps you were the real problem if you wanted to deal with it. If you made a move, you'd simply be replaced. He was laying the groundwork now to reduce the chances of anything like this happening again.
None of that mattered now. The more he thought about the killer's movements, the more frightened he became. He hadn't actually seen them; reconstructing the crime from traces at the scene was part of his professional skill. But the truth had been so shocking that he'd sanitized the report into something people could understand. He was also somewhat perplexed: he'd received orders to resolve the matter before it had even happened.
But he'd seen plenty of the dirty business of powerful people. What made this case unusual was the strength involved. It was frighteningly high. The report Bei Bei and the others had taken was mostly useless. The patrol leader actually had a direct superior at the very top, one who reported straight to the Sea God Pavilion and gave them the details of what happened on the ground, so they wouldn't be completely out of touch with the world. This time, the assignment had come from an elder of the Sea God Pavilion, though he didn't know which one. But that didn't matter. A little man like him was better off not wasting time worrying about the affairs of the great and powerful.
The person who had given the patrol leader his orders was now speaking with Wang Yi. This incident had already proved that they weren't from the Sun Moon Empire, and that was all that mattered. Shrek Academy's enemy was the Sun Moon Empire because their core interests clashed. If the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy existed, Shrek Academy couldn't. The two sides were irreconcilable—unless the Sun Moon Empire was willing to cripple itself by joining Shrek's educational system. That trend was becoming increasingly clear, but success seemed unlikely. You couldn't expect Soul Engineers to admit they were inferior to Soul Masters. These were two clashing systems, and if either side conceded, countless people would suffer losses to their interests. The Sun Moon Empire didn't have the ability to do that for now. In other words, few had ever been capable of it throughout history.
The two men were discussing that very conflict. The Sun Moon Empire and the Three Great Empires would surely use the White Tiger Family's situation to make trouble. That was a serious threat to Shrek's interests. So what could they do?
Huo Yuhao's appearance offered a good solution. If the old man was right, it would be perfectly natural for Huo Yuhao to deal with the White Tiger Family's schemes. Everyone knew Huo Yuhao belonged to the White Tiger Family; no matter how he handled things, no one could object. That would resolve Shrek's predicament, but it would take time and careful planning.
Wang Yi had come to discuss the details. No one believed in Huo Yuhao's prospects more than he did. This would set Huo Yuhao on the right path for the early stages. What came afterward would be up to Huo Yuhao himself. Providing a stable environment for his initial development was the limit of what Wang Yi could do. He had done the best he could.
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