Rosy Cloud Patterns Reveal the Truth

The next day, Flender changed the lesson at the last minute.

They weren't going to the Soul Fighting Arena.

They were going to the woods outside Suotuo City.

His reason was simple.

"Yesterday, you practiced working together. Today, you'll exercise your brains."

Ma Hongjun's face fell.

"Dean, can you even exercise a brain?"

Flender said, "Yours especially needs it."

Everyone burst out laughing.

There was a small patch of woodland outside Suotuo City where few people went.

Flender had Zhao Wuji plant clues there ahead of time.

Broken branches, footprints, strips of cloth, and a little Poison powder scattered over the grass.

The task was simple, too.

Within half an hour, they had to work out "what had happened" in the woods.

Tang San's eyes lit up at once.

This was his kind of task.

Yuan Yu stood nearby with his Sun Wheel Blade strapped to his back.

The Rosy Cloud Pattern hadn't fully dimmed since dawn.

Flender glanced at him.

"Yuan Yu, you're not allowed to give them the answer."

Yuan Yu looked innocent. "Dean, I haven't even looked yet."

"Your eyes are too quick."

Zhao Wuji added, "And that blade of yours is too strange."

Yuan Yu sighed.

"Fine. I'll keep quiet."

Flender added another rule.

"The rest of you aren't allowed to just wait for Tang San to give you the answer, either."

Xiao Wu immediately looked up.

"Dean, were you looking at me when you said that?"

Flender said, "What do you think?"

Xiao Wu huffed.

Ning Rongrong looked at the woods, then at Zhu Zhuqing.

"I'll look for strips of cloth and the smell of Poison. You look for footprints?"

Zhu Zhuqing nodded.

"All right."

Oscar raised his hand.

"What should I look for?"

Ma Hongjun patted him on the shoulder.

"Somewhere safe."

Oscar was about to argue, but on second thought, that was a skill too.

They entered the woods.

Tang San crouched to examine the footprints first.

"Three people."

Dai Mubai asked, "How can you tell?"

Tang San pointed at the ground.

"The footprints vary in depth and stride length. One of them was injured and put less weight on his right foot."

Xiao Wu leaned in for a look.

"You can tell all that?"

Tang San nodded.

Ning Rongrong looked off to one side.

"There's a strip of cloth here."

Zhu Zhuqing had already gone over.

She picked it up and sniffed it.

"It smells of medicine."

Ma Hongjun immediately stepped back.

"Poison?"

Tang San took it and examined it.

"No. It's hemostatic medicine."

Oscar breathed a sigh of relief.

"You scared me."

Yuan Yu remained silent.

He stood beside a tree, his fingers resting on his sword hilt.

The Rosy Cloud Pattern glowed faintly.

He saw more than the clues.

He also saw how the others reacted to them.

Whenever Tang San came across a clue, he would first calm down and study it.

Xiao Wu was particularly sensitive to wounds and being pursued.

Ning Rongrong was beginning to learn to find ways she could help.

Zhu Zhuqing said little, but she moved fastest.

Ma Hongjun talked about being afraid of poison, yet his eyes kept scanning ahead.

Half an hour later, they gave their assessment.

Three people had been involved in a chase.

One had been injured.

One of the pursuers was an agility-type Soul Master.

The injured person had stopped behind a tree, then run toward the river.

Flender listened and nodded.

"Close enough."

Ma Hongjun breathed a sigh of relief.

"I thought we were going to get scolded."

Zhao Wuji pointed at him.

"You missed two scorch marks."

Ma Hongjun froze.

"Where?"

Zhao Wuji walked over to a rock.

There was a small blackened patch on its far side.

“If a fire-attribute Soul Master had really attacked here, the route you just took would have let someone cut off your retreat.”

Ma Hongjun scratched his head.

"We have to look for that too?"

Yuan Yu said, “When you use fire in the future, other people will look for your traces the same way.”

Ma Hongjun grew serious at once.

"Then I'd better learn."

Flender turned to Yuan Yu.

"Fill in what they missed."

Only then did Yuan Yu speak.

"There weren't three people. There were four."

Everyone stared.

Tang San immediately frowned.

"Where was the fourth?"

Yuan Yu pointed upward.

"He never touched the ground."

Zhu Zhuqing looked up.

There was a faint scratch on a branch.

Without a careful look, it was impossible to spot.

Yuan Yu said, “The injured person wasn't being chased. He was the decoy. The one carrying the goods traveled through the trees.”

Flender's gaze sharpened.

"Go on."

"The bloodstains were in obvious places all along the route. Someone fleeing for his life wouldn't waste that much effort leaving them."

Tang San nodded.

"That makes sense."

Xiao Wu suddenly asked, “What was he carrying?”

Flender took out a small box.

"Let's say it was this."

Inside was a Spirit Beast Bone Fragment.

It was just ordinary material.

But when Xiao Wu saw the words “Spirit Beast Bone Fragment,” her expression changed.

Only for an instant.

So briefly that no one else noticed.

Yuan Yu noticed.

The Rosy Cloud Pattern stirred as well.

He looked at Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu had already returned to normal and was tugging at Tang San, asking what the fragment was used for.

Yuan Yu didn't press her.

Everyone had things they couldn't say in front of others.

He did too.

On the way back to the academy after training, Tang San walked up beside Yuan Yu.

"What did you notice back there?"

Yuan Yu said, "That the Dean is good at fooling people."

Tang San looked at him.

"That's not all."

Yuan Yu smiled.

“Tang San, have you noticed that sometimes your questions hit a little too close to the mark?”

Tang San paused.

Yuan Yu said, “So close that I wonder whether you know what I saw.”

Tang San was silent for a moment.

"Sorry."

"No need."

Yuan Yu patted him on the shoulder.

"I understand why you want to know. But when I don't want to talk about it, don't push me."

Tang San nodded.

"All right."

The two of them walked at the back of the group.

Up ahead, Xiao Wu was arguing with Ma Hongjun.

Oscar stood between them, trying to sell sausages, only to be rebuffed by both.

Zhu Zhuqing walked beside Ning Rongrong, who quietly asked how she had judged the scratch on the branch just now.

For once, the mood was relaxed.

Just then, the Sun Wheel Blade at Yuan Yu's waist suddenly trembled.

The Rosy Cloud Pattern lit up.

A thin mist spread before his eyes, then quickly gathered again.

A Divine Sense descended.

"The sixth of the Ten Thousand Manifestations Nine Trials: Rosy Cloud Patterns Reveal the Truth."

"Within three months, discern truth from falsehood amid the deception in Suotuo City. Do not let others' loyalties sway you or personal ties blind you."

"Reward: a God-given Spirit Ring."

"Failure: the Rosy Cloud Pattern will fall dormant, and the Ten Thousand Manifestations Nine Trials will come to a halt."

Yuan Yu stopped in his tracks.

This time, the Divine Sense had not said which god had set the trial.

Nor had it given him a ready-made path.

Discern the truth. It sounded simple enough.

But he had only just discovered that Xiao Wu had secrets he could not ask about.

Everyone in Shrek did.

So did he.

That made this trial more troublesome than cutting people down.

He would rather fight Zhao Wuji ten more times.

At least that would be straightforward.

And he would not have to guess.

Tang San looked at him.

"What's wrong?"

Yuan Yu touched his blade.

"Trouble's here."

"What kind of trouble?"

"The kind that won't let me slack off."

Tang San did not understand.

Yuan Yu did not explain.

In the distance, Flender had received a letter sent from Suotuo City.

He frowned after reading it.

"The Great Soul Arena sent another letter."

Zhao Wuji asked, "They still dare?"

Flender passed the letter around.

"VIP Challenge."

"For the Shrek Eight Monsters."

Ning Rongrong's expression turned cold.

"They're still not done?"

Yuan Yu looked toward Suotuo City.

The Rosy Cloud Pattern glowed faintly on his blade.

"Perfect."

“Now I have somewhere to investigate for the Sixth Trial.”