Returning to the Academy

Huo Hai's words revealed several things. First, he was a student at the Imperial City Academy. With the Academy behind him, these men would not dare act recklessly.

After all, they were official subordinates of the Four Great Families, not agents working in the shadows. If an Imperial City Academy student was killed here today and the investigation led back to them, they would be left holding the bag.

Second, he had only just arrived from elsewhere. He had come to Black Cloud Mountain for a task and knew nothing about what had happened there. That quietly made him less suspicious. Sure enough, the wariness on their faces vanished when they heard his explanation.

Huo Hai also carried no trace of the World-Spirit Stone's aura, and he was only an ordinary expert of the Spirit Bone Realm. To these men, even a young expert at that level represented nothing more than potential.

No matter how they looked at it, Huo Hai could not have stolen the World-Spirit Stone. Nor could he have any connection to the thief; he was far too weak. Besides, there was nothing unusual in his pack.

At a glance, they could see it held only survival supplies, exactly as Huo Hai had said. What truly put them at ease, though, was that they had found other people arriving at the mountain's outskirts over the past few days. Those people had offered all sorts of excuses, but most were scouts sent by other forces.

"All right, all right. I don't think this kid could have anything to do with those people. He's got some nerve, though. He made it all the way here before we spotted him. If we'd found him any later, he might've gone inside."

The captain muttered to himself, then called out to Huo