Chapter 468: Soundwave Ability User
Under the cover of green lotus leaves, hundreds of corpses floated in the middle of the lotus pond of the south courtyard. These bodies had already turned white and bloated, and a suffocating stench wafted from this pond.
“Senior brothers and sisters!”
Sun Zhan dropped to his knees, his two hands covering his pale face as he wailed in agony.
“Change!”
The Dragonscale Hectoslasher changed into 108 flying daggers, and Xia Fei controlled them to fly right into the water, rapidly dragging each body out ash.o.r.e, and soon, these hundreds of rotting corpses were piled up high by the pond bank.
Xia Fei then squatted and began inspecting these corpses, using his fingers to investigate.
“Hmm? Not a single trace of wounds, yet the muscles and bones were all broken. If I have to guess, the person who did this should be a soundwave ability user, causing the sound to penetrate the skin and shock the internal organs.
“What powerful strength. Hundreds of people, who were originally all over the place, all died the moment they were subjected to this targeted attack from the soundwave ability user, who then tossed them all into the pond.”
Sun Zhan was crying inconsolably after hearing Xia Fei’s conclusion. He was hugging a female body which looked to be in her twenties, seemingly a senior sister whom he had quite a close relations.h.i.+p with, someone who brought him everywhere to play when they were younger, who would often save what treats she got for Sun Zhan whenever she was given them.
Xia Fei very curtly punched Sun Zhan as he scowled. “What use is crying? The dead won’t come back to life. What’s important now is for you to find the murderer and avenge your fellow brothers and sisters!”
Sun Zhan wiped his tears with his sleeves and nodded with a sense of decisiveness.
He had every intention of getting revenge, but Sun Zhan was someone who had never experienced such a huge undertaking like this and had no idea what else to do, so all he could do was look hopefully at Xia Fei.
“First, let’s examine these corpses closely. See if your parents or if any other seniors of yours managed to escape this fate.
“Second, try and recall those who have connections with Nanming a.s.sociation and who among them, especially your enemies, are soundwave ability users.”
“I’ll keep searching for clues, and we can consolidate our findings in five minutes’ time.”
*Whoos.h.!.+*
Xia Fei was quick, immediately getting up after giving Sun Zhan instructions, going around the walls of the compound, examining every inch of ground.
“Sun Zhan isn’t strong-willed enough, panicking too much when trouble occurs. I’m afraid that he won’t be too much of a help to you, maybe even becoming a burden if you two run into enemies.” Phantom sighed.
XIa Fei shrugged. “He’s already not bad considering the fact that he has yet to have any actual combat experience to speak of. At the very least, he’s able to listen to my orders.”
Phantom burst into laughter. “Look at you speaking like you’re some old sage. Aren’t you just twenty years old? You’re merely two or three years older than Sun Zhan.”
Xia Fei shook his head. “How could you use age to take the measure of a person? Some people have lived their entire lives yet are still useless. What matters most is experience and their comprehension ability.”
The killer was not too clever with their methods. He noticed plenty of flaws and clues everywhere after a close inspection. Had Xia Fei been the one doing this, he would definitely not have left so many traces of his presence. As such, it could be seen that the person had done this for the slaughter and was not a killer who had undergone professional training. Tossing the corpses into the pond was something the person had done casually and not for the sake of destroying evidence.
He went back to the Adjudicator Union’s frigate by the backyard, somberly saying, “This s.h.i.+p has been parked here at most for two days, and by the state of immersion those bodies have been through, we can tell that the tragedy happened after the person from the Adjudicator Union arrived, but what I don’t understand is what’s the Adjudicator Union’s role in all this…”
Phantom said nonchalantly, “Who cares if they are Adjudicators or Monastics? You already left the organization, so you don’t have to listen to their orders anymore.”
Xia Fei laughed. “I’ve never really heeded the Union’s orders before, so of course I care even less now that I’m no longer affiliated with them. I’m still gonna get them even if this is done by someone from the Adjudicator Union.”
By the pond, Sun Zhan came rus.h.i.+ng over the moment he saw Xia Fei return. “Big brother Xia Fei, I checked everyone, and my elder sister, father, and mother aren’t among the dead, though the rest of my fellow seniors are.”
Xia Fei patted Sun Zhan’s shoulder fitfully. “Don’t give up until the very end. Perhaps your family is still alive; right now, the only clue we have is that Adjudicators last arrived here in Nanming. This killer went straight to the dark side of the planet solo, so perhaps we’ll be able to find them if we follow their tracks.”
Sun Zhan gulped and said heavily, “Alright. I’ll go get the gear for this trip to the Evernight Forest.”
“Gear?”
“The dark side of the planet never sees light, and it will forever be dark all four seasons. That’s why the place is called the Evernight Forest. The environment of the Evernight Forest is absolutely harsh, and there are plenty of ferocious insects, snakes, and deadly bio-gas. Whenever we venture in and gather the medicinal plants, it is necessary for us to carry plenty of supplies and gear just in case,” Sun Zhan explained.
Xia Fei was curious. “I was about to ask you… Going by what you just shared, the Evernight Forest is where your a.s.sociation used to collect all the medicinal ingredients, but it’s somewhere perpetually night, meaning that it’s impossible for plants to photosynthesize, so how do they survive? Not to mention the fact that they can grow and flourish so lusciously.”
Sun Zhan hesitated. “This is originally the secret of Nanming a.s.sociation which shouldn’t be shared with anyone else, but since big brother Xia Fei is the one asking, I’ll be frank with you. Evernight Forest is a very peculiar place, where plants will grow even more densely the closer they get to the center of the forest, and it’s all because of a water pool there that grants plenty of nutrients to the plants for nourishment, so much so that they can grow even without the presence of sunlight.
“The more precious the medicinal ingredient, the closer they will be to the pool. As the area enlarges, the grade of medicinal plants, which surround the pool, will gradually become lower. I can’t really explain the reason for it myself, but according to my father, that water pool is the basis of survival of our entire a.s.sociation. Even we aren’t allowed to get near usually. I recall when I was younger my father and senior brother there went, and that’s how my father lost his left arm, while my senior’s legs and arms broke, becoming a cripple.
“However, neither of them said a word about what happened with the pool. In fact, my father even chased away my senior for reasons unspecified.”
Xia Fei nodded repeatedly as he listened to Sun Zhan’s introduction of the place. The reason why Nanming a.s.sociation had been able to produce such high-grade fruits, completely organically, were all thanks to that pool. As for why top-grade equipment like the Zephyr boots would be used by them to harvest medicinal ingredients, Sun Zhan did not say. Xia Fei did not ask, either, given that it was not the right time to get to the bottom of things.
Sun Zhan brought Xia Fei over to the main temple and moved a white bottle in a cabinet. The ground began to rumble as the entrance to a secret chamber underground got revealed.
It turned out that the white gla.s.s bottle was part of a secret mechanism, where turning it to the propriate spot and a light tug would trigger the mechanism.
A bright light came on and Xia Fei made his way into this secret chamber with Sun Zhan.
“Good heavens! Someone has been in here already!” Sun Zhan exclaimed.
Three metal doors were all open, and the pa.s.sageway leading to the secret chamber went un.o.bstructed. The secret switch, which controlled the traps and mechanisms, had been turned off by someone!
“The intruder very clearly has a deep understanding of Nanming a.s.sociation, able to locate the secret chamber accurately and even turn off the traps here. There can only be two reasons for this. First, they forced your parents to cooperate, threatening them to get the secret chamber open. Second, they themselves hold deep knowledge of Nanming a.s.sociation.”
Sun Zhan was greatly shocked and upset. The first reason made sense, but the second was a horrifying possibility!
Someone familiar with Nanming a.s.sociation and even knew the existence of the secret chamber and the mechanisms, just who could the person be?
“That’s not possible. Only I, my elder sister, and my parents live here in the main temple. No other outsider can have known this secret.”
Xia Fei continued forward in silence, his brain mulling over this rapidly. It was important for a warrior to remain calm and collected. The more they were troubled by a puzzle, the more they needed to be composed.
“Hey, let me ask you something. Have you all ever lost anything important?” Xia Fei stood in the center of the secret chamber and asked.
All around him were plant storage vessels that ensure the stored medicinal ingredient would not rot with the pa.s.sage of time. There were plenty of wild White Dews and Snake Eye Berries growing inside. Aside from all that, there were also many precious ingredients that Xia Fei recognized and some that he did not. On the opposite wall hung hundreds of black protective suits, as well as tools, which could be used for the gathering of ingredients.
“Oh, my G.o.d. To think this Nanming a.s.sociation actually is so lavish. These medicinal ingredients here are all completely organic and can only be obtained by chance, not through diligent search!” Phantom gasped.
These ingredients were very precious, yet Xia Fei was more interested in the protective suits and gear.
“Most of these gears are relics from the ancient civilization! Sun Zhan, just what’s going on here?” Xia Fei furrowed his brows and asked. As one of the few experts who had plenty of knowledge and had done research on the ancient civilization, Xia Fei could tell that these were all from the ancient civilization at a single glance, which was why he questioned Sun Zhan.
Sun Zhan, who was in the middle of nervously checking for any damage to the suits, responded with a shrug. “Big brother Xia Fei, I don’t know what you mean by ancient civilization, but all this gear has existed ever since Nanming a.s.sociation was established here. I have no clue where all this came from, either. Is it very precious?”
Xia Fei replied, “To be precise, this gear is called the Excavator’s Set, usually worn by surveyors and miners in ancient times. It’s a very specialized equipment, and using them to gather medicinal ingredients can also be considered a very good use of them. I was merely asking, that’s all.”
Sun Zhan nodded and continued to take an inventory of what they needed.
“The Nanming a.s.sociation sure is very mysterious; I’m afraid that they’re not as simple as they appear. For there to be such a large amount of specialized equipment here, not even the a.s.sa.s.sin Sect has any of this,” Phantom said somberly.
Xia Fei slightly nodded his head, not saying a word in response.
Several minutes later, Sun Zhan approached Xia Fei with knitted eyebrows. “Big brother Xia, everything’s too strange. We’ve only lost some ant.i.toxin and restorative fruits, while the really precious medicinal ingredients are all still here.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. There’s a book here in the secret chamber which specifically records the types and amount of items we have in store. My sister’s usually in charge of this.”
With that, Sun Zhan handed over an electronic tablet to Xia Fei.
“The last record was nine days ago, and I can confirm that everything of value is still here.”
“If not for riches, why would those people break into Nanming a.s.sociation like that?” Xia Fei muttered to himself as he pondered over this.
“The strangest thing is that the suits my parents and older sister usually wear are all gone. Eight other suits, along with seven pairs of Zephyr combat boots and seven toolboxes, are also gone.”
“Eight suits and seven pair of boots? Seven toolboxes?” Xia Fei was puzzled.
Usually if someone wanted to enter the Evernight Forest, the number of toolboxes and the number of suits should match the number of people heading in, so why would there be an additional suit gone but no boots and tools to go along with it?
As for that last Adjudicator who arrived, this person had not taken any equipment and headed right into the forest all by himself. Could the Adjudicator have not been together with the seven?
Xia Fei could not make sense of things, so he simply said, “Let’s go. Let’s track them all the way to the Evernight Forest, and we’ll learn the truth of this matter.”
Seven people yet eight suits, taking only tools but not the valuable medicinal ingredients. The tragedy that struck Nanming a.s.sociation and that last mysterious Adjudicator…
The situation was becoming more and more complicated and confusing. Xia Fei frowned, his head swimming with thoughts as he ventured into this legendary Evernight Forest with Sun Zhan.