Chapter 29
The hunched figure beneath the black cloak clearly avoided Xue Changyi’s gaze, the cloak like a suit of armor, shielding him completely.
The former Director General raised his voice. “Wu Mu, can’t you see? He’s using you! Xue Changyi is using you!!”
“Xue Changyi isn’t injured, he just spread a false rumor! He’s exploiting your concern for him!”
“You care for him so deeply, and he uses you so heartlessly! Wu Mu, open your eyes!”
The former Director General was clearly trying to sow discord. Surrounded by Wu Mu and Xue Changyi, his chances of escape were slim. They were both powerful, while he was alone and vulnerable.
Xue Changyi’s eyes flickered, glancing at Wu Mu.
The former Director General’s words weren’t entirely untrue. Xue Changyi had used Wu Mu, gambling that he would appear upon hearing the news of his injury.
And Wu Mu had appeared, his appearance slightly disheveled, his eyes filled with concern and urgency, a stark contrast to his usual cold demeanor, his presence warm and comforting like the morning sun…
Seeing him, Xue Changyi had felt a surge of unexpected joy…
Wu Mu looked Xue Changyi up and down, making sure he was unharmed, and breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you… alright?”
Xue Changyi shook his head, a slight pang of guilt in his heart.
Wu Mu turned to the former Director General, his voice firm and resolute. “I don’t care.”
The former Director General was taken aback.
Wu Mu repeated, “I don’t care. I like Xue Changyi, that’s my business. I never intended to tell him, I just wanted to like him secretly. Now that he knows, I’m content, I don’t expect anything more. Whether he’s using me or not, I’m willing, I don’t regret it.”
Xue Changyi’s stone heart fluttered, a warmth he shouldn’t be capable of feeling spreading through him.
The former Director General trembled with rage. Seeing that his attempt to sow discord had failed, he suddenly lunged to the side, trying to escape while they were distracted.
“Trying to run?” Xue Changyi chuckled softly.
The black umbrella transformed into the Judge’s Pen, his signature weapon.
With a flick of his wrist, the sharp tip of the pen sliced through the black cloak. Rip—
The cloak tore, and the former Director General, clutching the torn fabric, tried to flee again.
Wu Mu’s eyes narrowed, and he moved, flanking the former Director General.
“Wu Mu!!” the former Director General shouted. “You’re my adopted son! Are you betraying me too?!”
Wu Mu’s voice was husky. “I’ve always wondered why you never let me see your true face, Father. Today, I have to see it.”
If it were just Wu Mu or just Xue Changyi, the former Director General might have had a chance, but against both of them, working together with an almost uncanny unspoken understanding, he was outmatched.
Rip—
Xue Changyi’s Judge’s Pen tore through the cloak again, and Wu Mu grabbed it, pulling it away.
“Ah!” The former Director General cried out, covering his face with his hands, turning away, not wanting them to see him.
Still clinging to a sliver of hope.
Wu Mu hadn’t seen his face yet, but the figure beneath the cloak wasn’t an old man. His posture wasn’t hunched, the cloak had been padded to create the illusion of a stooped back.
The person was short and slender, their hands pale and delicate, not at all like those of an old man.
—It was a young boy!
Xue Changyi said calmly, “I suspected it was you, I just didn’t want to believe it.”
He looked towards the distant Terrace of Forgetfulness.
“That day, when Wu Mu took me beneath the Terrace, I only told you about it. I was wondering… if it wasn’t Wu Mu who betrayed me, then who was it? The answer… was quite obvious, wasn’t it?”
The young boy’s body trembled, his hands still covering his face.
Xue Changyi continued, “Later, when I asked you about the blood samples, you kept avoiding the question. So I tested you, telling you I wanted to use the Thousand Demon Eyes to find Wu Mu. And sure enough… you took the bait.”
“So…” the young boy finally spoke, his hands still covering his face. “You were testing me?”
Xue Changyi chuckled bitterly. “Yes, and unfortunately, you fell into my trap. You didn’t want me to find Wu Mu, because if I did, I would know that it wasn’t him who betrayed me, but you! That’s why you stole the Thousand Demon Eyes, didn’t you… Old Seven?”
The young boy slowly lowered his hands, his true face revealed.
Wu Mu was stunned.
His adoptive father, the former Director General of the Supervisory Department, was the Seventh Yama King—Dong Lan!
“It was you,” Xue Changyi’s voice was calm. “Dong Lan.”
“How…” Wu Mu narrowed his eyes. “The Seventh Yama King is the former Director General?”
“Hehe…” Dong Lan laughed, his usual cute and charming demeanor gone, replaced by an air of authority. “Surprised? Not just you, no one in the entire Central Office would have imagined that the Director General of the Supervisory Department, the Yama Courts’ sworn enemy, was actually a Yama King himself.”
Wu Mu quickly grasped the key point, frowning. “Then why did you make me investigate the Second Yama King?”
The Ten Yama Kings were like brothers. The Second Yama King, Li Han, was Dong Lan’s older brother. Even if not by blood, their bond couldn’t be fake.
Xue Changyi’s throat bobbed, his voice hoarse. “Why? That’s what I want to know.”
Dong Lan stood there, his hands hanging limply at his sides, a sense of defeat washing over him. He remained silent for a long time.
Drip—
A tear fell onto the ground of the academy.
“I…” Dong Lan’s voice was hoarse. “I had no choice… I had no choice… I couldn’t keep this from you forever, Little Ten. It all started with this academy.”
Jixia Academy, Underworld High School.
The affiliated middle school built by the Central Office at great expense, selecting the most outstanding individuals from throughout history, gathering them here through rigorous testing and screening. Only those who scored above 80 on the entrance exam could enter the experimental Classes 8 and 9.
Only those who studied at Jixia Academy could escape the cycle of reincarnation. Therefore, when the academy announced its recruitment, many flocked to take the entrance exam.
This was the Central Office’s most classified file.
In reality, this wasn’t an academy, but… a giant experimental facility.
“Experimental facility?” Xue Changyi frowned.
Dong Lan nodded. “I’m the true Libationer of this academy. Even the principal doesn’t know its true purpose. He’s just responsible for teaching the students and conducting the assessments. The real purpose of this academy is… experimentation.”
He looked up at the dark sky.
Jixia Academy simulated the normal cycle of day and night, appearing like a normal world, but a closer look revealed a hazy, polluted sky.
Dong Lan said softly, “The pollution… is too high, isn’t it?”
The pollution was getting worse, the sun unable to rise properly, plants unable to photosynthesize. When the world was plunged into eternal darkness, death would spread uncontrollably.
While society was rapidly advancing, it was also heading towards self-destruction. This was true in the mortal realm, and also in the Underworld, even for the gods.
“In a hundred years, the stars will fall, the sun will vanish, and humanity will cease to exist, buried in the annals of history, a mere speck of dust in the grand scheme of time.” Dong Lan’s voice was hoarse. “That’s why the Central Office issued a classified order, tasking me with this secret project, gathering the most precious life forms, stimulating their potential, extracting their power, trying to find a way to stop the encroaching death.”
So, the academy’s purpose wasn’t education, but to stimulate the latent power of these gifted individuals by having them study unfamiliar subjects.
Class Nine constantly failed their exams, never taking their studies seriously, how could they possibly unlock their potential? That was why the Central Office had sent a capable teacher to discipline them, a substitute homeroom teacher.
And the recent blood tests were part of the experiment.
In short, Jixia Academy was a giant laboratory, and the students were the test subjects…
Dong Lan suddenly became agitated, stumbling forward and grabbing Xue Changyi’s hands.
Wu Mu immediately tensed, his eyes fixed on Dong Lan.
Dong Lan choked back a sob. “Little Ten, when death comes, the sun will vanish. Except for me… the Ghost Orchid doesn’t need photosynthesis, everyone else will die, especially you!”
Xue Changyi, as a spirit stone, couldn’t be exposed to sunlight or moonlight for extended periods, yet he relied on absorbing their energy. If what Dong Lan said was true, if death came in a hundred years, then…
That day would be Xue Changyi’s end.
Dong Lan shook his head. “I can’t just watch you die, you’re my little brother! That’s why I took on this project…”
Xue Changyi gripped Dong Lan’s hands. “But what about Second Brother?”
“Second Brother…” Dong Lan’s eyes filled with tears. He murmured, “He found out and tried to stop me… He didn’t think we should sacrifice the students, but… but faced with such a catastrophe, sacrifice… is necessary! So I… I…”
Xue Changyi said firmly, “So you demoted Second Brother, the only other person who knew, to the Terrace of Forgetfulness.”
