Silver Pearl

After handing the items over to the Academy, Huo Hai no longer had to worry about them. The Academy had a solid reputation, after all. If anything went missing, it would compensate him at its full value, even if Huo Hai could not casually reveal what was inside.

By the time he sent the items off, the sky was growing dark. So much had happened in a single day that Huo Hai felt as though a lifetime had passed. "I'd better head back. I still have things to do tonight." He glanced at the sky, pulled his hat on again, and left the shipping office. Come to think of it, he had not seen Huo Yan and the others lately.

He had no idea what they were doing, or even whether they knew their fathers had already been purged by the Lineage. Huo Yan no longer had anyone backing him.

But as long as Huo Yan lived, Huo Hai could not rest easy. He had been too busy to deal with them before. Now he had the time, but he could not find them. What Huo Hai did not know was that Huo Yan was hiding from him.

In a corner of the Academy, Huo Yan and the other Huo Family youths stayed thoroughly hidden, not daring to show their faces. They had some connection to the young master of the He Family, too. They had learned at once that their fathers had been dealt with, even before Ji Mu heard the news. Huo Yan had long known he had lost his backers.

Then came word that someone had used hidden weapons to wipe out a large group at the Academy gates. Others might not have known who it was, but Huo Yan and his companions immediately recognized the Hidden