Reversal and the Hand Behind It

The dark room was deathly silent.

Zhang Hao's hand trembled over his mouth. The specks of fluorescent powder on his sole were still glowing, stubbornly bright.

The older deacon put the shoe down without a word. He stared at Zhang Hao as though he were a Soul Tool component that needed to be taken apart.

The younger deacon was the first to lose patience.

"Zhang Hao." His voice was heavy. "Explain."

"I... I don't know!" Zhang Hao's tongue tangled. "Someone must be trying to frame me!"

Li Wei and Zhao Kun edged half a step away, "Leave me out of this" written all over their faces.

The older deacon raised a hand to stop the younger deacon. He turned to Lu Yuan.

"What do you think?"

The question came out of nowhere.

Lu Yuan's gaze rested on Zhang Hao's face for two seconds.

"Deacon," he said evenly, "the fluorescent powder was inside his cuff and on the heel of his sole. Neither place would have picked it up through ordinary contact."

The older deacon nodded.

"For it to get inside his cuff, he would have had to reach into something or brush against the inside of the packaging while carrying it." Lu Yuan paused. "As for the crevice in the heel of his sole-unless he crushed the packaging underfoot, or the powder spilled on the floor and he stepped in it, then failed to clean it off properly."

Zhang Hao's face turned even paler.

"So," Lu Yuan concluded, "he didn't get it on him by 'chance.' He came into close contact with the stolen materials, and thoroughly at that. He washed his hands afterward, but he didn't wash his clothes or scrub his shoes."

That was all he had to say.

The dark room fell silent again. The Soul Power lamp's light flickered over Zhang Hao's face as beads of sweat trickled down his forehead.

At last, the older deacon turned to him.

"Zhang Hao," he asked, "did you steal the materials?"

"No!" Zhang Hao blurted. "It really wasn't me! I just... just..."

"Just what?"

Zhang Hao's lips trembled.

The younger deacon stepped forward, a faint ripple of Soul Power spreading from him-not strong, but intensely oppressive. Zhang Hao's legs went weak.

"Someone... someone gave me five Gold Soul Coins." His voice shook. "Told me to put... put that scrap of paper wrapping under Lu Yuan's bed. Then... then when it came to light, I was to lead the others in accusing him."

Five Gold Soul Coins.

Wang Shuo sucked in a cold breath.

The older deacon's face darkened. "Who gave them to you?"

"I don't know!" Zhang Hao shook his head fiercely. "A masked person. We met by the academy's back wall at night. The voice was kept so low I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. He gave me two first and said he'd give me three more when it was done."

"A masked person?" The younger deacon frowned.

"What about the materials?" the older deacon cut in. "Where are the stolen materials?"

"I don't know!" Zhang Hao was on the verge of tears. "The masked person only gave me the scrap and told me to frame him. The materials... he might have taken them away long ago!"

That much was somewhat believable.

The older deacon pondered for a moment.

"What did you do with the scrap after you got it?"

"I wrapped it in cloth and tucked it inside my clothes. When I got back to the dorm, I slipped it under Lu Yuan's mattress while no one was looking." Zhang Hao's voice grew quieter as he spoke. "I washed my hands, but my sleeve... my sleeve might have brushed against it. My shoes... I really didn't notice..."

The younger deacon snorted. "Five Gold Soul Coins were enough to make you do something like this?"

Zhang Hao lowered his head.

The older deacon asked a few more questions-the masked person's height, clothes, and the time of the meeting. Zhang Hao's answers were confused, with little useful information.

The questioning was over.

The older deacon had the younger deacon take Zhang Hao and the other two outside to be held for the time being. Only Lu Yuan, Wang Shuo, and Shen Moxin remained in the dark room.

"The matter is clear for now." The older deacon looked at Lu Yuan. "You were framed. Zhang Hao will be disciplined-attempted theft, framing a fellow student, and taking a bribe. At the very least, he'll be expelled."

Lu Yuan nodded. "Thank you for seeing the truth, Deacon."

The older deacon waved a hand.

"But the actual theft hasn't been solved." His tone changed. "The materials really were stolen, and someone else was the thief. That masked person is the key."

He fixed his gaze on Lu Yuan.

"Who do you think is trying to harm you?"

The question was direct.

Lu Yuan fell silent for two seconds.

"I don't know," he said. "I only just enrolled. I don't know many people."

"But you have enemies," the older deacon said with certainty. "You got Wang Shuo out of trouble when Zhang Hao tried to extort him last time. It's no surprise he bears you a grudge. But five Gold Soul Coins-that's not a sum a student could come up with. Someone behind him put up the money."

Lu Yuan didn't deny it.

The older deacon didn't press him. He got up and walked to the door, then looked back.

"Lu Yuan," he said, "you're clever and have ideas. That's a good thing. But sometimes, being too clever can attract unwanted attention."

With that, he pushed the door open and left.

Only the faint light of the Soul Power lamp remained in the dark room.

Shen Moxin let out a soft breath.

"Go back and rest first," she told Lu Yuan. "You've been through enough today."

The three walked out of the deacons' office. It was late at night, and the academy was quiet.

Wang Shuo said nothing along the way. Only when they were nearing the work-study students' dormitory area did he speak softly. "Lu Yuan... I'm sorry. If it weren't for me..."

"It has nothing to do with you." Lu Yuan shook his head. "What's bound to come will come."

Shen Moxin saw them to the dormitory door. She didn't leave right away.

"Lu Yuan," she said quietly, "did you take the older deacon's words to heart?"

Lu Yuan looked at her.

"The Hundred Refinements Pavilion," Shen Moxin said. "Shopkeeper Jin and Teacher Sun are close. Teacher Sun must have told him how you questioned the triangular array in class."

She paused.

"The Hundred Refinements Pavilion monopolizes the low-level Soul Tool business. Any technique that might simplify their manufacture is their enemy. That's why Mo Chen was driven out ten years ago."

The night breeze blew past, a little chilly.

Lu Yuan nodded.

"I understand."

"You don't understand." Shen Moxin rarely spoke so emphatically. "This isn't children squabbling. This is business, this is profit. Threaten their rice bowls, and they'll come after you."

She pushed up her glasses.

"The framing was crude, but effective. If you hadn't happened to know the properties of fluorescent powder, you'd be the one being expelled now."

Lu Yuan fell silent.

He knew Shen Moxin was right. His memories of his previous life were full of such things. New theories threatened old interests, and exclusion and suppression followed. That was how he had died in bitter frustration in his last life.

He hadn't expected to run into it so soon in this life.

"Be careful from now on," Shen Moxin said at last. "Talk less and observe more. The annual assessment is coming up. That's the key to your staying at the academy."

She turned to leave, then stopped.

"Oh, right." She looked back. "There are rumors that the instructor in charge of the practical combat assessment this time is an old friend of Teacher Sun's. He'll be especially strict in assessing students who 'like to be clever.'"

That was all she had to say.

Her figure vanished into the night.

Lu Yuan stood where he was, unmoving.

Wang Shuo waited beside him for a while, then asked softly, "Going in?"

"Yeah."

The two pushed open the dormitory door. The room was dark, and Li Shitou was already asleep.

Lu Yuan felt his way to his bunk and sat down.

Wang Shuo lit an oil lamp. A dim yellow glow spread out.

"Lu Yuan." Wang Shuo had been holding it in for a long time. "The annual assessment... are you really going to take it?"

"Yeah."

"But..." Wang Shuo rubbed his hands together. "Less than thirty percent of work-study students pass the assessment. If you fail, you have to roll up your bedding and leave. And the assessment results also determine next year's resource quota."

Lu Yuan didn't reply.

Of course he knew. Shen Moxin had told him about that rule when she vouched for his admission.

"And that rumor..." Wang Shuo's voice grew even quieter. "That the assessment instructor will target you..."

"It's just a rumor." Lu Yuan cut him off. "Get some sleep."

Wang Shuo opened his mouth, but in the end swallowed his words. He blew out the oil lamp and lay down.

Darkness settled over the room again.

Lu Yuan didn't lie down. He leaned against the wall, and once his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see a little moonlight outside the window.

Thoughts raced through his head.

The framing incident was resolved, but the real hand behind it hadn't been exposed. The Hundred Refinements Pavilion was the chief suspect, but there was no evidence.

His relationship with Teacher Sun had already soured.

The annual assessment was a hurdle.

And then there was the resource quota...

He closed his eyes, his fingers tapping lightly on his knee.

The rhythm was steady.

Once, twice.

As though he were calculating something.

Outside the window, the moon disappeared completely behind the clouds.

The night was still long.

And some things, once begun, couldn't be stopped.