Black Tuo, the Weird God Cult

"Teacher, Captain Hu Xiang can testify. Not only that, he found Zhou Xian's inside man among the City Patrol Guard. He is currently under strict guard," Su Chen recounted.

Yuan Chenyang gave him a long look. He had been looking for the thief's inside man, and now one had simply delivered himself to his door?

Hu Xiang seemed to wake from a dream and could not help but sigh inwardly. Brother Su was truly loyal—at a time like this, he had not forgotten to share some of the credit with him.

He immediately said, "That's right. I have already detained Tang Chen. On the night Zhou Zong died, it was he who searched through Zhou Zong's body."

"Oh." Zhang Hongbo's tone was inscrutable. "Bring him here."

"Framed! This is a vicious slander!" Zhou Xian roared furiously.

Hu Xiang jogged all the way over and escorted Tang Chen in. Tang Chen was tied up tightly, with his mouth gagged. At the sight of all these important figures, his eyes were filled with terror.

"C-City Lord..."

The moment the metal gag was removed, Tang Chen's legs gave out. He wailed, "You have to uphold justice for me! I don't even know why Captain Hu Xiang—"

Before he could finish, Zhang Hongbo walked up and placed a hand on Tang Chen's head.

Tang Chen's eyes rolled back, and his expression turned vacant.

"You searched Zhou Zong's body?" Zhang Hongbo asked.

"Yes." Tang Chen's voice was utterly flat.

A chill ran through Su Chen. What kind of profession was this? It was so twisted.

"Who ordered you to do it?"

"It was..." Tang Chen was just about to speak when his face suddenly twisted into a savage expression. Black patterns surfaced along his cheeks, his hair merged together like snow, and a black vertical eye emerged from his bald scalp.

"Black Tuo!"

Zhang Hongbo's expression changed, and he abruptly retreated.

Bang! Tang Chen's head exploded, red and white matter scattering across the ground as startled cries rose from all around.

"The Weird God Cult..." With his back to the crowd, Zhang Hongbo spoke in a grave tone.

A follower of Black Tuo... Yuan Chenyang's gaze darkened as it settled on Zhou Xian.

Zhou Xian's expression was ugly as he hurriedly explained, "A setup—it must be a setup. Zhou Zong himself definitely didn't know either. Otherwise, he would have handed the item over to this man long ago. Why would he wait until after his death and have someone strip his corpse?"

"That's right. Zhou Zong himself probably didn't know." Yuan Chenyang nodded, then added pointedly, "But others may not have been so ignorant."

Yuan Chenyang's voice turned icy. "Hu Xiang, how did Zhou Zong manage to bring the item out? When you left the school that day, didn't you inspect him?"

Cold sweat covered Hu Xiang's head. He now realized that he had stepped into some enormous pit.

He carefully replied, "That day, the Inspection Guard did come to investigate, but we had been standing right under their noses the whole time. I thought they were targeting..."

"The students?" Yuan Chenyang frowned. The grudges and entanglements among the three major agencies went back a long time, and Zhang Hongbo seemed to be connected to them as well. This matter was not easy to pursue further.

"Later, Director Zhou arrived and persuaded both sides. The Inspection Guard's examination ended up being little more than a formality."

"Ah..." Yuan Chenyang suddenly understood.

"I was merely trying to calm things down. Who knew... who knew Zhou Zong would have such an item on him?" Zhou Xian retorted darkly.

Yuan Chenyang bellowed, "Who knew? You knew!"

The theft of the Holy Word Stone had left him overwhelmed and frantic. He wanted nothing more than to cut the culprit into a thousand pieces.

"Let's wait until the matter has been thoroughly investigated." Zhang Hongbo did not press further and instead put a stop to the discussion.

"Besides, your team should return as soon as possible." Zhang Hongbo pondered briefly. "We'll return together as well."

Someone among the Exploration Guard beside him asked, "What about the ruin..."

Zhang Hongbo waved a hand. "I'll bring out another group. It will only delay things by a few days. It's settled."

Many of the students were still bewildered, unsure of what exactly had happened, but someone still mustered the courage to ask, "P-Principal, then what about our city patrol this time..."

Zhang Hongbo's attitude toward the students was surprisingly kind. "You experienced two attacks, far more intense than anything faced by the other groups. It counts as completed."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief and thanked him repeatedly.

They were heading back!

All told, they had been out for less than three days.

After that, no one brought up the Holy Word Stone or Zhou Zong's death again.

With a grief-stricken expression, Zhou Xian opened the body bag. His trembling hand stroked the cold corpse, and when he saw those mangled shoes, his cheeks trembled even harder.

Tears streamed from his eyes as his wails echoed throughout the camp. Those who heard them felt sorrow; those who listened wept.

"He's putting on a miserable act now. What an old fox—he's even using his own son's corpse."

Inside the tent, Yuan Chenyang listened to the sound outside and spoke disdainfully.

Then his gaze fell upon the boy before him, his expression turning unfriendly.

"You..." He wanted to speak, only to realize that he did not even know the boy's name. They had argued outside for so long, yet no one had mentioned it.

"What's your name?" he asked irritably.

"Su Chen," Su Chen answered honestly.

"Su Chen?" Yuan Chenyang froze. "You're Su Chen?"

He looked toward Bai Fengxi at the side. "He's Su Chen?"

"Mhm." Bai Fengxi nodded.

Yuan Chenyang had not expected that his connection with this boy had begun long ago.

"Really..." He found it difficult to describe, but he frowned again, studying Su Chen with scrutiny and wariness. "Aren't you a drifter? How did you know Zhou Xian had the Holy Word Stone on him? And you're even a professional..."

"It's a complicated story..." Su Chen had long prepared an excuse. "Actually, I have been unusually thoughtful since I was young..."

"...My profession, [Sky-Rending Warrior], was left to me by my parents. For years, I carefully worked toward fulfilling its requirements..."

"...Recently, I was just one step away. I could only get in touch with Jiang He and seek resources... Who would have thought..."

Su Chen explained a great deal, and in great detail. He attributed his profession to parents he had never met. Since he had migrated here, it would be difficult for anyone to verify it.

He also recounted everything involving Jiang He, including the assassination attempt that night.

"..."

"You even fought that thief?" Yuan Chenyang was immensely surprised. "And you discovered the Holy Word Stone at the time?"

"Why didn't you report it?"

Su Chen shook his head. "There was no evidence. Even if the thief had been seriously injured, he could probably still deal with me. I could only leave the item there. But if I hadn't left it behind, how could I have explained it?"

"That's true..." Yuan Chenyang could not help nodding, though his gaze at Su Chen remained scrutinizing.

"Do you truly want to become my student?" As he spoke, he glanced at Bai Fengxi, a strange look flashing across his face.

"Mhm." Su Chen nodded solemnly. After all that maneuvering, he had been waiting to cling to this powerful backer.

"Since that's the case, I'll accept you as my student." Yuan Chenyang had already agreed outside, so he was not going to say anything else now. After a moment of thought, he said, "The fact that you were able to take up a profession so quickly may be due to years of effort, but your physical talent must be quite good as well. We'll test you when we get back. You're probably at Bronze rank, and you might even have a chance at Brilliant Silver."

"Oh, right. What rank is your [Sky-Rending Warrior] profession?" he asked casually.

"First-rank top-tier," Su Chen answered.

Yuan Chenyang's smile froze on his face. Bai Fengxi looked over as well, surprise flashing across her eyes.

"First-rank... top-tier?" Yuan Chenyang swallowed, heavy suspicion once again filling his gaze.

"Mhm. Do you need it? I can tell you." Su Chen seemed to have prepared for this long ago. After completing the profession devouring, he had learned its requirements for taking up the profession.

Yuan Chenyang looked at Su Chen with a complicated expression and hesitated. "But that was left by your parents..."

"My parents would be pleased to see it happen," Su Chen said without hesitation, his expression sincere.

Yuan Chenyang paused, then laughed and scolded, "You little brat."

"Don't worry, I won't take your things for nothing." Then his expression turned solemn. "Remember, do not reveal this matter to anyone else. If you absolutely must, say that I gave you the profession."

He knew Su Chen had not told the whole truth. Was a first-rank top-tier profession something one could encounter so casually? But for now, he had no intention of digging deeper.

Su Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The first hurdle had been cleared. He had originally planned to approach Yuan Chenyang after returning to the city normally.

In this sudden situation, even with Old Bai vouching for him, it would have been difficult to dispel the other man's scrutiny and suspicion. At the very least, [Sky-Rending Warrior] could serve as visible leverage to establish a foundation of mutual trust.

The only thing that surprised him was that a first-rank top-tier profession was worth far more than he had imagined, causing Yuan Chenyang's attitude to change dramatically.

At that moment, a figure flickered outside the tent. The three of them fell silent at once, and an Exploration Guard called out loudly from outside.

"Minister Yuan, to prevent hidden bodily injuries, the City Lord will conduct detailed physical examinations on everyone from the City Patrol Guard and all the students."