Chapter 1 The Beginning

Zhu Mingxu started, scanning the students below, seeing pairs of eyes full of hostility and disgust.

The anger he had suppressed for a long time finally erupted, "What's there to say? Whether I killed someone or not, the headquarters will investigate. What's it to you? What right do you have, a bunch of second-liners, to tie me up..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was slapped to the ground by Huo Mo (Fire Demon), who added another kick to his abdomen.

Zhu Mingxu curled up like a shrimp in pain, spitting out bitter water.

The physiques of the Le Shi (Musician) and Xue Shi (Scholar) are the worst among the Lingjing Xingzhe (Lingjing Explorers). The Hong Luan Xingguan (Red Matchmaker Star Official) at the Saint stage is stronger than ordinary people, but only slightly so. Luo Lesheng shouted angrily, "Will you talk or not?"

Zhu Mingxu spat out the bitter water, gasping for breath. "I'll talk, I'll talk..."

He panted for a long time until the pain subsided and his breathing became smooth. Then, he was picked up again by Luo Lesheng, and the rude Huo Mo pointed at the students below, "Look at them and speak."

The Xingkong Guancezhe (Stargazer) took the opportunity to stuff the lie-detection tool into Zhu Mingxu's hand.

Under the gaze of many eyes, Zhu Mingxu gritted his teeth and said:

"Last night, I left the cafeteria and did go to find Xia Chaoxue, but I didn't kill her. The lie-detection tool can prove it. I don't have the ability to block tools either, otherwise... I wouldn't be standing here now."

The brown horn showed no reaction.

"Why did you go to find Xia Chaoxue?" Xiahou Aotian asked.

As the class monitor, he felt obligated and responsible to ask.

Zhu Mingxu mumbled for a long time, "Going to the girls' dormitory in the middle of the night, what else could it be..."

"So, you're Xia Chaoxue's lover? She was with you before she died... No, you only went for ten minutes, the time doesn't match up." Xiahou Aotian nodded in realization, and then questioned.

"That night I drank a little wine and planned to go find her, but when I got to the girls' dormitory, I found she wasn't there, so I returned to the cafeteria," Zhu Mingxu said.

"Later, the dinner party broke up, and I went back to the dormitory to rest. It wasn't until the next day that I learned she was dead." The brown horn still showed no reaction.

"In that case, it makes sense. Where did Xia Chaoxue go at that time?" Zhang Yuanqing asked:

"Why didn't you report this in the morning?"

Zhu Mingxu was silent.

Luo Lesheng raised his big hand, threatening, "Need me to help you?"

...Zhu Mingxu instinctively shrank his head. He knew that in front of the暴躁 Hu Mo (Violent Fire Demon), his identity and family background couldn't protect him. He muttered:

"I don't want to get involved in a murder case. This matter has nothing to do with me." The brown horn bloomed with a dazzling light.

"You still dare to lie." Luo Lesheng slapped him.

*Pa!*

Zhu Mingxu staggered, his cheeks quickly swelling, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Only then did he reluctantly confess, "My affair with Xia Chaoxue isn't glorious. I used a Qing Si (Love Thread) tool..."

Qing Si (Love Thread) tool? Zhang Yuanqing took ten seconds to understand. The Hong Luan Xingguan (Red Matchmaker Star Official) has a skill called Qing Si, which, as the name suggests, is used to draw a red thread for oneself or for others.

Give the target a red thread, and the target will fall madly in love with oneself.

——It has a time limit.

However, Qing Si is a skill that can only be learned at level 5, and Zhu Mingxu is at level 4, so he said he used a tool.

Damn, what's the difference between this and drugging someone? Zhang Yuanqing hadn't had much contact with Le Shi (Musicians). Even more so with Hong Luan Xingguan (Red Matchmaker Star Official) and above, except for the Zhisha Gongzhu (Palace Master of Killings). And the Palace Master had never used this skill on him. So he hadn't reacted just now. Only Zhu Rong and Xie's father, whom he had only met once, didn't count.

"Disgusting!"

"Despicable, I'm going to castrate you."

The female students below were in an uproar, cursing incessantly.

The male students also looked disdainful and contemptuous, and San Yang Kaitai angrily participated in the abuse.

At this time, Song Manmei on the podium said:

"Since you went to the girls' dormitory, why didn't the animals and plants discover you?"

Zhu Mingzhao said:

"Qing Si (Love Thread) is time-sensitive. After Xia Chaoxue returned to normal, her reaction was very strong."

"I promised to compensate her after I went out, letting her enjoy the Zhu family's resources and wealth, and spent a lot of effort to appease her."

"But she had a request, which was not to let others know about our relationship, because she had a boyfriend outside, belonging to the same branch as her. So every time I went to rendezvous with her, I would wear a Ye You (Night Wanderer) tool."

Although Ye Youshen (Night Wanderer God) tools are rare, it is not difficult for young masters from Lingjing (Spirit Realm) families to exchange one from their families. Moreover, "Ye You (Night Wander)" is an excellent escape skill, and Lingjing Xingzhe (Spirit Realm Explorers) with sufficient financial resources will try to get one.

Of course, the Ye You (Night Wanderer) ability of the tool is definitely not comparable to that of a genuine Ye Youshen (Night Wanderer God).

"Who else knows about your relationship?" the Dean asked.

According to the autopsy, Xia Chaoxue had been violated before her death. Yes, now it can be confirmed that she was violated.

Obviously, the perpetrator knew about Zhu Mingxu's and Xia Chaoxue's relationship, so he deliberately violated her, creating the illusion of a "familiar person" committing the crime.

"No, I didn't reveal it to anyone." Zhu Mingzhao shook his head vigorously, and the brown horn did not react.

Dean Li Yanxi pondered for a few seconds, "Did Xia Chaoxue have any unusual behavior yesterday?"

Zhu Mingxu shook his head: "No. After learning that she was killed this morning, I've been thinking about who the murderer is. I originally thought it was Yuan Shitianzun (Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning)."

"Oh? Why do you think so?" Dean Li Yanxi narrowed his eyes.

"Being able to sneak into the girls' dormitory silently, he must have the ability of a Ye Youshen (Night Wanderer God). Yuan Shitianzun (Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning) also has another title outside, called Rogue Celestial Worthy. Isn't it normal for him to act like a rogue?" Zhu Mingxu snorted coldly.

*You're being prejudiced,* Zhang Yuanqing wanted to go on stage and touch him.

The Dean shook his head in disappointment.

He thought Zhu Mingxiong could provide valuable clues.

After asking a few more questions and seeing that there was nothing to gain, Li Yanxi said:

"Zhu Mingxu's behavior of***Xia Chaoxue, I will truthfully report to the headquarters. From now on, he will be guarded by Teacher Luo Lesheng." Tianxiaguihuo, who was separated by three tables, denied her statement, "It's not twenty-two choose one, it's seven choose one."

Sun Senmiao hadn't reacted yet, when she heard Yuan Shitianzun's (Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning) voice coming from the headset:

"That's right, the armored person is most likely a female student."

"Zhu Mingxu's confession gave us two clues. First, the girls' dormitory may not be the first crime scene. Second, the armored person knows about Zhu Mingxiong and Xia Chaoxue's relationship."

"Zhu Mingxu didn't reveal their relationship to anyone. This has been verified by the lie-detection tool. So, is it possible that Xia Chaoxue revealed it?"

Sun Miaomiao nodded in realization:

"Yuan Shi is right. Xia Chaoxue probably wouldn't tell male students about this kind of thing. It's more likely that she confided in female students. The armored person deliberately "violated" her after killing Xia Chaoxue, with the purpose of making us focus our suspicions on male students. "Well, it's precisely because the murderer is female that there are no male fluids in Xia Chaoxue's body." Hearing this, Zhao Chenghuang expressed his opinion: "In that case, the range is narrowed. Which female students did Xia Chaoxue usually hang out with?"

Sun Miaomiao tilted her head, recalled for a moment, and said, "Xianchanjun and Little Moon Rabbit were quite close to her." There are a total of eight female students. Tianxiaguihuo said sinisterly:

"Find an opportunity to invite them to the Island of Beasts and use the hand of the Tiger King to test them. Faced with a level 6 spirit beast, they will either die or use the Ye You (Night Wanderer) tool to save their lives."

"Whoever has the Ye You (Night Wanderer) tool and armor is a member of Dark Night Rose."

*Hey, old brother, your thinking is very dangerous...* Zhang Yuanqing grinned.

"What if our guess is wrong? Wouldn't we be killing them?" Sun Miaosen frowned cutely,

and casually rubbed the little fool's sparse lanugo.

Tianxiaguihuo said indifferently:

"If your moral bottom line is too high, you're often at a disadvantage. Compared to the benefits we gain, what does killing two people matter? Of course, this is in a situation where there is no other way."

"And we have other ways. To force them to reveal their cards, it's very simple, just give them enough crisis. Use Yuan Shitianzun's (Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning) red hat to collect them."

"Then, put on my Wanrenju (Ten Thousand People Slaughterhouse) and enter the hat space to hunt them down. Sun Miaomiao will handle this matter. I suggest you act at night." Sun Miaomiao's eyes lit up: "This method is feasible."

Leading them to the Island of Beasts puts the initiative in the hands of the Tiger King, which is uncontrollable.

But the second plan puts the initiative in her hands.

Seeing that no one objected to his proposal, Tianxiaguihuo continued:

"We must be prepared for the possibility of a wrong deduction, so the Dean's suspicious points must also be investigated. We can't delay. While we are looking for the armored person, he is also looking for us. We know too little about this enemy."

Xiahou Aotian stopped talking, sitting alone in the distance, arrogantly raising his chin.

Zhang Yuanqing understood and transmitted his thoughts:

"Amazing, Brother Aotian is worthy of being the protagonist. We supporting characters sigh in inferiority."

Only then did Xiahou Aotian put away his arrogant chin and say: "We can drug the Dean, damage his spirit, and then use a hypnosis tool to hypnotize him. Everything will be fine."

Tianxiaguihuo held back for a long time and squeezed out a sentence: "First of all, you have to have the drug."

"Among the materials in the underground palace, there is a medicinal herb called Sen Luowanxiang Cao (All Things in the Underworld Grass), which is a material for the Illusionist profession at the Ruler level. I can refine it into a hallucinogenic mist, colorless and odorless. People who inhale the mist will have hallucinations, be confused, and easily controlled. As for auxiliary medicinal herbs, Lingzhi Island has them. Lingzhi Island has thousands of medicinal herbs."

The Alchemist is best at refining pills and medicines, and Xiahou Aotian is reliable. Everyone listened with joy.

Zhang Yuanqing said:

"This idea is good. Um, is there any medicine that can poison all the plants and animals in the academy? Teacher Song Man's skill is too annoying. There are clearly no surveillance cameras in the academy, but there are surveillance cameras everywhere."

"Both sides have been elusive, and after a long time, even a fool would know that everyone can Ye You (Night Wander) and Xing Tong (Star Travel). Killing these plants and animals can both eliminate hidden dangers and spread smoke bombs."

Xiahou Aotian thought for a while, "No problem."

After lunch, the underground palace team returned to the cafe and completed the tool transaction in the toilet. Zhang Yuanqing and Tianxiaguihuo handed over "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Wanrentu (Ten Thousand People Slaughterhouse)" to Sun Miaomiao.

They then received Zhao Chenghuang's hypnotic pocket watch.

Xiahou Aotian also received a Ye You (Night Wanderer) tool from Sun Miaomiao, as well as Zhang Yuanqing's Jifengzhe (Wind Rider) gloves.

The combination of the two tools allows him to fly directly to Lingzhi Island to collect herbs.

8:30 p.m.

The afternoon was calm, and nothing happened.

Room 404, Brother Red Rooster, after playing cards, followed Zhang Yuanqing back to his room to rest.

The light was soft, and a v-shaped face beauty was standing by the table:

Sitting on the chair was an elegant and dignified, beautiful woman with eerie red pupils.

They were like the most top-level dolls.

"Your two Yin Shi (Corpse Servants) are really beautiful, Yuan Shitianzun (Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning). Do you have any special preferences?" Brother Red Rooster walked to the table, his eyes wandering over the delicate bodies of Xue Qiangwei (Blood Rose) and Yinyao Junzhu (Silver Yao Princess). *They are all beauties, which is very strange.*

He suspected that Yuan Shitianzun's (Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning) p, *one beautiful Yin Shi (Corpse Servant) is understandable, but both Yin Shi (Corpse Servants) are gorgeous.*

"Last time in the Cliff Mountain dungeon, you didn't have this Yin Shi (Corpse Servant)." Brother Red Rooster stared at Yinyao Junzhu (Silver Yao Princess) for a moment, and sighed:

He pretended to go to the toilet. After appeasing the princess, Zhang Yuanqing went to bed to sleep. Time passed minute by minute. At 10:30 p.m., he closed the door to the bathroom, took out the Ba Si mirror, and shone it on himself.

Next second, a stream of light was projected from the mirror, turning into another Zhang Yuanqing.

This Zhang Yuanqing opened the bathroom door with a normal expression, returned to the bedroom, and got into bed.

The real Zhang Yuanqing had already used the Xingdun Shu (Star Escape Technique) to leave the boys' dormitory.

Outside the boys' dormitory, under a certain tree, a hazy and dreamy starlight rose.

Zhang Yuanqing looked around, the night was dark, there was no sound, and the full moon hung high in the night sky, casting a cold glow.

The lush green plants and colorful flowers were bathed in the bright moonlight, appearing a little listless.

In the evening, Xiahou Aotian refined a poison called "Bai Hua Sha (Hundred Flowers Kill)", a small handful of poisonous powder that could kill all the plants in the flowerbed within six hours.

Animals that smelled this colorless and odorless poisonous powder would also not survive more than eight hours.

The underground palace team secretly sprinkled it all over the places in the academy where plants grew.

Zhang Yuanqing took out a wax pill and a pocket watch from the item bar. The former was the hallucinogenic poison smoke, and the latter was the hypnosis tool given by Zhao Chenghuang.

After putting the two items into his pocket, he grabbed the perfect human skin and spread it on his face. The human skin, as thin as a cicada's wing, quickly melted and adhered to his body. In a moment, he turned into the cold and intellectual female teacher, Lin Su.

His plan was to disguise himself as Teacher Lin Su, visit the Dean, and then use the poison smoke to launch a surprise attack, and then use Zhao Chenghuang's tool to hypnotize him. The reason for choosing Lin Su was the result of Xiahou Aotian's divination.

The hexagram showed that among the many teachers, only approaching the Dean disguised as Lin Su would be the best of luck.

"Dong dong!"

The Dean, who was sitting at his desk pondering the murder case, heard a knock on the door.

He got up from the desk, opened the door, and saw the intellectual and cold Lin Su standing at the door.

"Teacher Lin Su?" The old Dean said in surprise: "What's the matter?"

This Lin Su was clearly wearing a student's uniform, but he felt it was extremely natural, as if she should be wearing it.

"Dean, I always feel uneasy in my heart," Zhang Yuanqing said something against his will.

Then, he saw Dean Li Yanxi sigh, put his arm around his waist, and bring him into the house. *What's going on?* Zhang Yuanqing thought.

*"Teacher Song Man was indeed punished and entered the academy because of her messy private life... Pfft, Old Dean, I didn't expect you to be this kind of Dean. What's the difference between you and those professors at our Songhai University who sleep with female students and female teachers... "*Zhang Yuanqing cursed madly in his heart. The Dean's face, which was both vicissitudes and masculine charm, smiled:

"Life in the academy is boring, and she and I are just comforting each other. There's no need for you to be jealous. She hasn't come to me these days, so she must be with some student."

"It's getting late, let's rest."

*You rest yourself!* Zhang Yuanqing silently crushed the wax pill. Colorless and odorless gas spread instantly.

Zhang Yuanqing held his breath the moment he crushed the wax pill.

As the gas spread, the old courtyard's clear eyes suddenly showed an extremely chaotic state, his eyeballs sometimes rolled up, sometimes fell down, and sometimes stared at a certain place.

He began to mutter, talking nonsense.

Zhang Yuanqing took two steps back, broke free from the Dean's embrace, tore off the perfect human skin, took out the pocket watch from his pocket, and hung it in front of the Dean's eyes. The pocket watch swung like a pendulum: "Answer my question, answer my question..."

It took a full two minutes before he saw the chaos in the Dean's pupils disappear, replaced by emptiness.

This meant that the hypnosis was successful.

Zhang Yuanqing went straight to the topic: "In the morning, why did you ask Yuan Shitianzun (Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning) if he had left the dormitory last night?"

The Dean muttered, "I just wanted to find out the students' whereabouts last night."

"Why do you want to find out the students' whereabouts? Haven't you already cleared their suspicions?"

The Dean muttered, "I just wanted to find out the students' whereabouts last night."

Zhang Yuanqing's brows gradually furrowed, *just wanted to find out the students' whereabouts?*

This reason could not convince him.

He had already proven his innocence three hundred and sixty degrees without dead ends. Whether he was in the dormitory or not was irrelevant to the case. Instead, the armored person who knew that the stone door had been opened was most concerned about this question.

The Dean asked this question at that juncture, which was too suspicious. But hypnosis would not lie. The Dean's answer must be the truth from the heart.

*Just a coincidence? Am I overthinking it?*

"Who do you suspect is the murderer?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

"tool, nor the armor Yuan Shi (Primordial) said." Sun Miaomiao said with a face full of regret:

"In order to save them, I wasted half a tube of life source liquid. The two are still unconscious. When they wake up later, they will definitely report to the teacher that they were attacked. But they didn't see my appearance. I was wearing battle armor."

"Remember to return Wanrenju (Ten Thousand People Slaughterhouse) to me later." Tianxiaguihuo, separated by a few tables, said, "Yuan Shitianzun (Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning), what about you?"

Zhang Yuanqing lowered his head and drank porridge. "The Dean's reply was: He just wanted to know the students' whereabouts last night."

"That's it?" Xiahou Aotian couldn't accept it. "Asked so coincidentally?"

"I don't believe it's a coincidence either, but it seems, that's how it is." Zhang Yuanqing sighed.

He didn't explain the events of last night in detail, and didn't reveal the Dean's and Teacher Lin Su's lover relationship. He wasn't Yuan Ting.

Thinking about it now, life in the academy is boring, and everyone is an adult, so there will naturally be needs. It's nothing to blame if you are willing.

"In that case, the investigation is stuck. In the next two days, we will be very passive," Zhao Chenghuang's cold voice sounded in the headset.

"Is our thinking wrong..." Xiahou Aotian muttered.

Just then, the Dean's stern and painful voice sounded on the cafeteria's loudspeaker, "Everyone, gather at the library immediately."*Did you reveal any flaws last night?*

"I definitely didn't reveal any flaws yesterday." Zhang Yuanqing looked blank, quietly tightened his nerves, put down his chopsticks, and walked out of the cafeteria with the equally blank students, and entered the library.

The students entered the library.

On the podium, the Dean's eyes were slightly red, his eyes were hidden with pain, his expression was cold and stern, and his cold gaze swept across everyone's faces. He said word by word, "Teacher Lin Su was murdered last night."