Rosy Cloud Pattern Discerns Truth

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

They were not going to the Spirit Arena.

They were going to the woodland outside Suotuo City.

His reason was simple.

"Yesterday, we practiced working together. Today, we train your brains."

Ma Hongjun's face fell.

"Dean, can you train a brain?"

Flender said, "Yours especially needs it."

Everyone burst out laughing.

There was a small grove outside Suotuo City that few people visited.

Flender had sent Zhao Wuji ahead to plant a few clues.

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

The task was simple too.

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

Tang San's eyes lit up at once.

This was his kind of work.

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

The Rosy Cloud Pattern had not fully dimmed since morning.

Flender glanced at him.

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

Yuan Yu said innocently, "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 one more thing.

"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 replied, "What do you think?"

Xiao Wu huffed.

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

"I'll look for cloth and the smell of medicine. You take the 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 wanted to argue, but after a moment's thought, he decided that counted as a skill too.

They entered the grove.

Tang San crouched first to examine the footprints.

"Three people."

Dai Mubai asked, "How can you tell?"

Tang San pointed at the ground.

"The prints differ 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 that too?"

Tang San nodded.

Ning Rongrong looked off to one side.

"There's a strip of cloth here."

Zhu Zhuqing was already there.

She picked up the cloth and sniffed it.

"It smells of medicine."

Ma Hongjun immediately backed away.

"Poison?"

Tang San took it and examined it.

"No. It's hemostatic medicine."

Oscar breathed a sigh of relief.

"You scared me."

Yuan Yu said nothing.

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 everyone reacted to them.

When Tang San found a clue, he grew quiet and focused.

Xiao Wu was sensitive to injuries and pursuits.

Ning Rongrong was learning to find ways she could help.

Zhu Zhuqing spoke little, but she moved fastest.

Ma Hongjun talked about being afraid of poison, yet his eyes kept watching the path 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.

"More or less."

Ma Hongjun relaxed.

"I thought we were about 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 acted here, someone would already have cut off your retreat along the route you took."

Ma Hongjun scratched his head.

"We have to look for that too?"

Yuan Yu said, "When you set fires in the future, other people will look for them the same way."

Ma Hongjun turned serious at once.

"Then I'd better learn."

Flender looked at Yuan Yu.

"Fill in the rest."

Only then did Yuan Yu speak.

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

Everyone was startled.

Tang San frowned immediately.

"Where was the fourth?"

Yuan Yu pointed up into the tree.

"He never touched the ground."

Zhu Zhuqing looked up.

There was a faint scratch on a branch.

Without a close look, they would never have noticed it.

Yuan Yu said, "The injured person wasn't being chased. He was bait. The one actually carrying something 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 energy making them so visible."

Tang San nodded.

"That makes sense."

Xiao Wu suddenly asked, "What was he carrying away?"

Flender took out a small box.

"Let's say it was this."

Inside lay a Spirit Beast Bone Fragment.

It was only an ordinary material.

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

Only for an instant.

So quickly that no one else noticed.

Yuan Yu did.

The Rosy Cloud Pattern stirred as well.

He looked at Xiao Wu.

She was already back to normal, tugging on Tang San's arm and asking him what the fragment was for.

Yuan Yu did not press her.

Everyone had things they could not say in public.

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, "I noticed 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, "Close enough to make me wonder if you know what I saw."

Tang San was silent for a moment.

"Sorry."

"No need."

Yuan Yu patted his shoulder.

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

Tang San nodded.

"All right."

The two walked at the back of the group.

Up ahead, Xiao Wu was arguing with Ma Hongjun.

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

Zhu Zhuqing walked beside Ning Rongrong, who quietly asked her how she had spotted the scratch on the branch.

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 parted before his eyes, then quickly gathered again.

Divine Sense descended.

"The Sixth Trial of the Ten Thousand Manifestations Nine Trials: Rosy Cloud Pattern Discerns Truth."

"Within three months, discern truth from lies in Suotuo City's web of deception. Do not let others' positions sway you, or let personal ties blind you."

"Reward: a God-given Spirit Ring."

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

Yuan Yu stopped in his tracks.

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

Nor did it give him a ready-made path.

Discern the truth. The words sounded simple.

But he had only just realized 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 someone 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."

"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 just received a letter from Suotuo City.

He frowned after reading it.

"The Great Soul Arena has written again."

Zhao Wuji asked, "They still dare?"

Flender passed the letter to the others.

"A 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 along his blade.

"Perfect."

"Now I have somewhere to investigate for the Sixth Trial."