Dai Huabin: My Brother Put Me Up to It!

At dawn the next day, the first pale light slipped through the window lattice and fell across Huo Yuhao's face.

His lashes fluttered. He slowly opened his eyes, feeling sore and weak all over. His mental strength was still somewhat drained, but most of his spiritual energy had recovered.

"Creak—"

The door was gently pushed open.

Huo Yuhao was about to sit up when he saw Ning Tian and Gu Yue walk in with a white porcelain bowl.

It held a deep-purple paste that bubbled ominously. A few unidentified blackened objects were faintly visible beneath the surface, and it gave off a smell he could not begin to describe.

Huo Yuhao rubbed his eyes hard, wondering if he was still asleep.

He looked again—the purple bubbles were still there, along with a patch of foam shaped like a skull!

Huo Yuhao: "..."

Help! Some villainous commoners are trying to murder their emperor!

"Yuhao, you're awake!" Ning Tian's eyes lit up with delight. She hurried to the bedside and held the bowl of "soup" out to him, her voice full of anticipation. "Gu Yue and I got up before dawn to make you this restorative soup. We put in lots of nourishing herbs. Try it—it'll help you recover."

Gu Yue nodded too, a rare hint of nerves in her violet eyes. "I added ice lotus seeds. They'll help calm your mind."

Huo Yuhao stared at the restorative soup, which seemed to radiate death, and his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

He had no doubt that if he drank it, enduring yesterday's beating would have been for nothing. He would end up in the Medical Room today.

His hand trembling, Huo Yuhao reached out. The instant his fingertips touched the rim, he snatched them back. His eyes darted around as he forced a change of subject. "Oh, right, Ning Tian. What happened after I stayed behind yesterday? Did Senior Ma deal with those people?"

At the mention of serious business, Ning Tian did indeed put down the spoon. Her expression darkened, and she sat beside the bed before slowly beginning. "..."

The underground Interrogation Room at Shrek Academy.

Cold seeped from the stone walls. The only light came from a Soul Guidance Lamp swaying overhead.

Dai Huabin was tied to an iron chair, his head lolling to one side as he pretended to be unconscious.

"How much longer are you going to play dead?"

The tall young man in a black cloak and mask spoke coldly, with an authority that brooked no argument.

Dai Huabin did not move a muscle.

Dai Yueheng glanced at his fellow Inspector, Yao Haoxuan.

A wicked grin tugged at Yao Haoxuan's lips. He flexed his wrist and stepped forward.

Smack!

The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the Interrogation Room.

The blow whipped Dai Huabin's head to one side. Blood immediately seeped from the corner of his mouth.

His eyes flew open, and he glared venomously at Dai Yueheng and Yao Haoxuan. "You dare hit me?! I'm the legitimate heir of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion!"

"Good, you're awake, little Dai Huabin." Dai Yueheng's voice was mocking as he stepped forward and bent over him. "Now tell us. Who ordered you to hire assassins to intercept and kill a core student of Shrek Academy?"

"I didn't! I never did any such thing!" Dai Huabin thrust out his neck, refusing to admit it. "You have no evidence! What right do you have to arrest me?"

"No evidence?" Dai Yueheng gave a cold laugh and flung a stack of papers into his face. "The assassins' statements are all here. Are you still going to deny it?"

Dai Huabin looked at the damning evidence in the case file, and his face went deathly pale.

His eyes darted about in panic. Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, he shrieked, "It was him! Dai Yueheng put me up to it! My brother! He's jealous that I'm the legitimate heir and afraid I'll take his inheritance. He made me kill Huo Yuhao so he could pin it on me afterward! He did all of it!"

For a moment, the Interrogation Room fell deathly silent.

Every masked Inspector froze, then turned as one to look at Dai Yueheng standing in the middle of the room.

The air seemed to congeal for three seconds.

The veins on Dai Yueheng's forehead throbbed, and his clenched fists crackled.

Looking at his hopelessly stupid younger brother, he felt helplessness, anger, and sheer speechlessness surge up all at once.

Yan Shaozhe had put him in charge of the interrogation to give him a chance to clear Dai Huabin. He could have found a convenient scapegoat and called it a day, avoiding offense to the White Tiger Duke's Mansion while giving Huo Yuhao and the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect an answer.

Instead, this pig of a teammate had sold him out and dragged the entire White Tiger Duke's Mansion into the mire!

"A hopeless fool!"

Dai Yueheng ground out the insult and backhanded Dai Huabin across the face.

With a thud, Dai Huabin passed out.

The Dean's Office at Shrek Academy.

Yan Shaozhe sat behind his desk, wearing his usual refined, practiced smile as he looked at the middle-aged man across from him.

The man wore an azure brocade robe. His features were ordinary, but his eyes were sharp as a hawk's. He wore a genial smile as well, though his tone carried unquestionable weight. "Dean Yan, my young lady said she was nearly caught in the attack yesterday. She hopes the academy will see justice done for the student who was actually targeted. This is a small token from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect."

As he spoke, he placed a weighty brocade box on the desk.

"Of course, of course." Yan Shaozhe accepted the box with a smile, his tone earnest. "Shrek Academy will never let any student suffer an injustice. The Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect can rest assured of that."

"I'm glad to hear it. Farewell." The middle-aged man bowed slightly and left the office.

The instant the door closed, Yan Shaozhe's smile vanished. His face darkened like a storm cloud ready to burst.

He rubbed his brow and called toward the door, "Xiaotao, come in."

Ma Xiaotao pushed the door open and looked at him in confusion. "Teacher, what is it?"

"Go to the Interrogation Room and tell Dai Yueheng that he must find out who was truly behind this," Yan Shaozhe said grimly.

Ma Xiaotao stared. "Huh? Teacher, isn't Dai Huabin the one behind it? The evidence is conclusive."

"There are always two sides to a matter." Yan Shaozhe sighed, his tone laden with meaning. "Xiaotao, you can't just look at the surface. How would a first-year student like Dai Huabin have the connections to hire a Soul Emperor-level assassin? There must be someone behind him."

Ma Xiaotao nodded, though she only half understood. "Oh... all right."

Little did she know that Yan Shaozhe wanted Dai Yueheng to find a scapegoat and clear Dai Huabin, earning himself a favor from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

Unfortunately, for all his careful calculations, he had never reckoned on Dai Huabin being this stupid.

In the courtyard.

Huo Yuhao listened quietly to Ning Tian's account. He did not look surprised in the slightest; he merely let out a soft scoff.

What could he say?

He could only grumble inwardly in the style of Tang-style Quotes: Yan Shaozhe, you already have a path to death!

What a clever little abacus you were working.

You wanted Dai Yueheng to investigate the case and clear Dai Huabin. That way, you wouldn't offend the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, you'd earn a favor, and you could give me some random scapegoat as an answer. Three birds with one arrow.

Then Dai Huabin, that pig of a teammate, smashed the whole plan to pieces. Now the White Tiger Duke's Mansion is a clay idol trying to cross a river—it can barely save itself.

"Yuhao, what about the soup..." Remembering her original purpose, Ning Tian picked up the bowl again and looked at him expectantly.

Huo Yuhao's heart lurched. His will to survive surged to its limit.

He shifted aside without drawing attention and gently set the bowl in the farthest corner of the bedside cabinet. As he got up and dressed, he said with a perfectly straight face, "Oh, the soup's gone cold. Drinking it cold wouldn't be good for me. Besides, the academy will definitely send someone with an apology gift today, and I still have to go to Lionheart Club Headquarters to arrange the Points System. There's no time. Come on, come on—business first."

With that, he slipped on his shoes and headed out the door ahead of them, all in one fluid motion.

Gu Yue looked at the forgotten bowl on the bedside cabinet and murmured, "Yuhao... doesn't seem to like it."

Ning Tian refused to believe it. She scooped up a little with the spoon and took a sip.

The next second, her face turned green, and every feature scrunched up. She rushed into the courtyard and spat it out with a "pfft."

"It tastes awful..." Ning Tian rinsed her mouth three times, but the strange taste still lingered. She looked utterly defeated.

Curious, Gu Yue scooped up a spoonful and tasted it too.

A moment later, the Silver Dragon King silently set down the spoon. Expressionless, she picked up the bowl, walked to the corner of the courtyard, and poured the entire serving into the flowerbed.

(The next day, every flower in that bed had withered.)

"Let's go." Ning Tian composed herself, caught up with Huo Yuhao, and pretended nothing had happened.

Gu Yue hurried after them too, resolve flashing in her violet eyes—next time, I'll make soup that's actually drinkable!