Following the Trail, UnderCurrents Stir!

The next morning.

The clouds over Tiandou City had yet to disperse, leaving a dampness in the air.

When Gu Changsheng arrived at the main hall, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan was already seated in the place of honor.

Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan were there as well.

There were dark circles beneath Yan's eyes. Clearly, he had not slept well last night.

The moment he saw Gu Changsheng enter, he could not help muttering,

"Some people went out in the middle of the night and got hurt. Some people got punished for peeping in the middle of the night. Yet somehow, I'm the one who got it worst."

Xie Yue said blandly,

"You could have chosen not to peek."

Yan's face darkened.

"Can you shut up?"

Holding a cup of tea, Hu Liena looked calm, as though nothing had happened last night.

Yet when she saw Gu Changsheng, her gaze lingered on his shoulder for a moment.

"How is the wound?"

Gu Changsheng sat down, gently picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, and said,

"It's nothing."

Hu Liena nodded lightly and did not press further.

Looking at the group, Yue Guan smiled.

"Looks like quite a few things happened last night."

Gu Changsheng did not conceal anything and recounted the ambush in the dark alley.

Naturally, he downplayed the part where Xiao Wu had appeared and helped him escape, describing it as a passing Spirit Master briefly holding the attackers off.

After listening, the Exquisite Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum in Yue Guan's hand slowly turned, and the smile on his face faded slightly.

"Black Chain Spirit King, a Soul-Suppressing Bell Soul Sect, God-Bewitching Incense."

"They came well prepared."

Hu Liena said coldly,

"They were clearly targeting Junior Brother."

Xie Yue immediately added,

"They knew his Soul Skills and had prepared countermeasures in advance. That means they've been watching us for some time."

Yan slammed his fist onto the table.

"They've got some nerve, attacking people from Spirit Hall."

Yue Guan smiled faintly.

"In Tiandou City, there are always people who think that with nobles backing them, they can do whatever they want."

Gu Changsheng raised his eyes.

"Elder, do you know where they came from?"

Yue Guan said,

"If I'm not mistaken, the Black Chain Spirit King is from an underground Soul Arena in the Old District. His nickname is Heisuo."

"He used to be a mercenary Spirit Master on the border. Later, he joined an underground force in Tiandou City and specialized in taking on dirty jobs."

Hu Liena quickly asked,

"Who hired them?"

Yue Guan lightly tapped the table with his fingertip.

"That will require an investigation."

Gu Changsheng said,

"I recorded the remnants of their Soul Power and memorized the scent of the God-Bewitching Incense."

Interest flashed through Yue Guan's eyes. With a teasing glint in his gaze, he looked lightly at Gu Changsheng.

"What do you want to do?"

Gu Changsheng opened the Myriad Heaven Book.

The characteristics of the Martial Souls of last night's assassins appeared one by one upon its pages.

He pointed to the clues above.

"God-Bewitching Incense isn't an ordinary fragrance. It requires pollen from mind-bewitching Spirit Beasts to prepare."

"There aren't many places in Tiandou City that can sell such things."

"If we trace the source of the ingredients, we should find some clues."

Yue Guan smiled. He suddenly felt that this child was far more well-rounded than he had thought.

"Not bad."

He rose to his feet and said coolly,

"Since someone has reached out, we'll chop off that hand."

"Changsheng, Nana, come with me to the Old District."

Yan immediately stood up.

"I'm coming too!"

Yue Guan glanced at him.

"You?"

Yan puffed out his chest.

"I'm good at fighting."

Xie Yue calmly drove the knife in.

"Not at investigations."

Yan glared, suddenly filled with indignation.

Yue Guan said with a smile,

"Then you and Xie Yue will stay behind. Go observe today's matches while you're at it."

Yan immediately deflated and said helplessly,

"Watching matches again?"

Gu Changsheng said,

"Shrek shouldn't face any strong opponents today, but we can observe whether Tang San is hiding any new methods."

Xie Yue nodded.

"I'll watch."

As Hu Liena rose, she casually swept her gaze over Gu Changsheng.

"Let's go, Junior Brother."

For some reason, Gu Changsheng felt that this trip to the Old District would not be easy.

Half an hour later.

The three arrived in Tiandou's Old District.

The Old District was livelier during the day than at night, but it was still chaotic.

All kinds of stalls lined the streets. Some sold Spirit Beast materials, some bought damaged weapons, and others were gray-market shops specializing in providing information to low-ranking Spirit Masters.

Yue Guan was not wearing the robes of a Spirit Hall elder, only a luxurious long robe.

Even so, his overly beautiful face still drew plenty of attention.

Hu Liena said quietly,

"Chrysanthemum Elder, aren't you a little too conspicuous?"

Yue Guan chuckled.

"Being conspicuous has its advantages."

Gu Changsheng understood what he meant.

They were not here to investigate in secret.

They were here to tell the other side: Spirit Hall had its eyes on them.

The three entered a shop called Hundred Herb Workshop.

The shopkeeper was a thin old man. Seeing that the three carried themselves extraordinarily, he immediately came forward to greet them.

"What would you guests like to buy?"

Gu Changsheng placed a sheet of paper on the counter.

It listed several ingredients that might be used in God-Bewitching Incense.

"Who bought these recently?"

The old man's expression changed slightly, then he smiled.

"You must be joking, sir. This little shop does a lot of business. How could I remember such things?"

Yue Guan casually plucked off a chrysanthemum petal.

The petal gently landed on the counter.

The next instant, a thin crack silently split the hard wooden counter.

The old man's smile froze.

Hu Liena smiled faintly.

"Old sir, we're not here to buy anything."

Gu Changsheng's voice was calm.

"Last night, someone used God-Bewitching Incense to attack a member of the Spirit Hall Academy Team."

"Now tell me who bought these ingredients."

"You only sell medicine."

"If you refuse to speak, you may become an accomplice."

Cold sweat instantly broke out across the old man's forehead.

"Spirit... Spirit Hall?"

Yue Guan smiled.

"Remember now?"

The old man hurriedly nodded.

"I remember! Three days ago, Heisuo's people came to buy mind-bewitching flower pollen and calming herb ash. They said it was to make sleep incense for the underground Soul Arena."

Hu Liena sneered.

"Sleep incense?"

Gu Changsheng asked,

"Where is Heisuo now?"

The old man hesitated for a moment.

Yue Guan picked up another chrysanthemum petal between his fingertips.

The old man immediately said,

"On the western side of the Old District! Beneath an abandoned tavern, there's an underground establishment of theirs!"

Gu Changsheng nodded.

"Thank you."

After the three left Hundred Herb Workshop, Hu Liena looked at Gu Changsheng.

"Junior Brother, you were rather practiced at threatening people just now."

Gu Changsheng said,

"That wasn't a threat. I was making him weigh the pros and cons."

Hu Liena chuckled.

"That sounds even more like a threat."

Walking ahead of them, Yue Guan seemed to be in a good mood.

"Changsheng did very well. Sometimes, Spirit Hall being reasonable is even more frightening than Spirit Hall being unreasonable."

Before long, the three arrived at the western side of the Old District.

The abandoned tavern looked desolate from the outside. Its doorboards were worn, and its windows had half collapsed.

Yet as soon as Gu Changsheng approached, he sensed fluctuations of Soul Power underground.

"There are people below."

Yue Guan nodded.

"And quite a few."

A faint pink light flickered in Hu Liena's eyes.

"At least twenty Spirit Masters."

Gu Changsheng said quietly,

"Heisuo should be there too."

Yue Guan smiled slightly.

"Then let's go in."

He raised his hand and waved.

The tavern doors exploded apart.

The underground entrance was exposed.

Angry shouts immediately rang out from within.

"Who is it?!"

Yue Guan did not answer and walked straight down the stairs.

Gu Changsheng and Hu Liena followed close behind. The underground space was far larger than they had imagined.

At its center stood a crude Soul Arena, with quite a few Spirit Masters gambling and fighting around it.

The moment the three barged in, the area fell silent. Soon, a cold voice rang out.

"Who did I think it was? Turns out it's the kid who didn't die last night."

Heisuo stepped out from the shadows.

His face was somewhat pale. Clearly, he had been injured after Gu Changsheng shook him off last night.

When he saw Yue Guan clearly, his expression changed drastically.

"Ch-Chrysanthemum Douluo!"

Every Spirit Master in the underground Soul Arena turned pale.

The words Titled Douluo were enough to crush every last shred of luck.

Yue Guan smiled and stepped forward. The pressure of a Titled Douluo descended instantly.

"Looks like you recognize me."

Heisuo immediately backed away.

"Misunderstanding! Last night was just a misunderstanding!"

Hu Liena said coldly,

"A misunderstanding? Four people surrounded and tried to kill a member of the Spirit Hall Team, and you call that a misunderstanding?"

Cold sweat streamed down Heisuo's forehead.

He knew he was finished.

Yet he still wanted to struggle.

"I was only doing a job for money. I didn't know he was from Spirit Hall!"

Gu Changsheng said calmly,

"Last night, you said that Spirit Hall's geniuses truly were sharp."

Heisuo's expression stiffened.

The surroundings fell deathly silent.

Yue Guan chuckled. With a wave of his right hand, he trapped Heisuo where he stood.

"Changsheng, I'll leave interrogations to you."

Gu Changsheng stepped forward as the Myriad Heaven Book appeared.

The Third Soul Ring slowly lit up.

Heisuo's face darkened.

"What are you trying to do?"

Gu Changsheng replied evenly,

"I ask. You answer."

"Minor Thousand-Faced Phantom Realm."

The illusion spread, but it did not cover the entire area. It only enveloped Heisuo.

The underground Soul Arena before Heisuo instantly vanished.

In its place was the dark alley from last night.

He saw the extinguished God-Bewitching Incense again, the fallen Soul-Suppressing Bell Spirit Master, and himself being swallowed by darkness.

Gu Changsheng's voice echoed within the illusion.

"Who hired you to kill me?"

Heisuo gritted his teeth and refused to answer.

Gu Changsheng's expression did not change.

The illusion deepened.

Yue Guan suddenly appeared before Heisuo. The Exquisite Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum bloomed, its sharp petals slowly slicing through his Soul Power defense.

This was not real damage, but it brought immense mental pressure.

Cold sweat poured down Heisuo's face. At last, he broke down.

"It was someone from the Baruch Kingdom!"

Gu Changsheng's eyes flickered.

"Name."

"Viscount Luxun! He has connections with several Tiandou Nobility. They said they only wanted to test the core members of the Spirit Hall Team. They didn't necessarily need to kill you!"

Hu Liena's gaze turned icy.

"Didn't necessarily?"

Heisuo hurriedly said,

"But afterward, someone raised the price and said that if we could kill you, then kill you!"

Gu Changsheng continued asking,

"Who raised the price?"

Just as Heisuo was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed.

A black bloodline appeared across his throat.

Gu Changsheng's pupils contracted slightly.

"Not good."

The next moment, blood poured from Heisuo's seven orifices, and his body crashed heavily to the ground.

He was dead.

The underground Soul Arena instantly descended into chaos.

Yue Guan's eyes turned cold as the pressure of a Titled Douluo suddenly came crashing down.

Everyone instantly fell to their knees.

Gu Changsheng crouched down and examined Heisuo's corpse.

"Poison."

Hu Liena frowned.

"A silencing?"

Gu Changsheng nodded.

"Poison had already been planted in his body. The moment he mentioned a key figure, it activated."

The smile on Yue Guan's face vanished completely.

"The person behind this is no simple figure if they could poison a Spirit King without anyone noticing."

Gu Changsheng rose to his feet, his gaze calm.

"At the very least, this proves one thing."

Hu Liena looked at him.

Gu Changsheng said slowly,

"The ones who tried to assassinate me last night were not merely underground forces."

"Someone wanted to use them to test Spirit Hall, and perhaps Shrek as well."

"And the person truly hiding behind this still hasn't shown themselves."

Yue Guan fell silent for a moment, then ordered the Spirit Hall Deacons to seal off the underground Soul Arena.

On the way back, Hu Liena walked beside Gu Changsheng, her voice softer than before.

"Who do you think it was?"

Gu Changsheng looked toward the Tiantou Great Soul Arena in the distance.

"Someone who can keep an eye on both Spirit Hall and the tournament while refusing to expose their identity... that narrows the field considerably."

Hu Liena's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Tiandou Nobility?"

"Or perhaps another faction."

Gu Changsheng did not spell it out.

He vaguely had several guesses. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan would not be so foolish, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had no reason to do this, and the Baruch nobles were merely pawns on the surface.

The ones most likely to interfere were those who wanted to use the tournament to throw the situation into chaos.

It was even possible that any clan could not be ruled out.

But there was still insufficient evidence.

Just then, thunderous cheers erupted from the direction of the Soul Arena in the distance.

Today's match seemed to have ended already.

Soon, a Spirit Hall Deacon hurried over.

"Elder, Shrek Academy won again today."

Gu Changsheng asked,

"Did Tang San make a move?"

The deacon replied,

"He did, but he still did not reveal any new Soul Skills. The match ended quickly."

Gu Changsheng nodded slightly, seemingly interested in studying Tang San's latest developments.

Hu Liena suddenly asked,

"What about that Xiao Wu?"

The deacon froze for a moment.

Gu Changsheng glanced at Hu Liena.

Hu Liena looked perfectly natural, as though she had merely asked in passing.

The deacon said,

"Xiao Wu also took the field. Her performance was normal."

Hu Liena smiled softly and immediately looked at Gu Changsheng.

"That's good. Normal is good, hehe~"

Gu Changsheng said, "Senior Sister... why are you looking at me and smiling?"

Yue Guan gave them both a meaningful look, but said nothing.

The winds in Tiandou City seemed to be growing ever more chaotic...