1481 The First Victim
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Even though Mo Fan did not have a good first impression of the Alps Inst.i.tute, the school was full of girls. He could not just sit and watch after learning that they might end up like the little creatures.
“Mo Fan, do you still remember the Mother Scale Skin Phantom in the Pearl Inst.i.tute’s stadium? Since then, we’ve sworn to protect every girl in the world. Isn’t this the perfect time for us to step forward, knowing that the students of the Alps Inst.i.tute are in trouble? Count me in!” Zhao Manyan proclaimed, patted himself on the chest.
“I thought you recently said that you were never going to come back to this school for the rest of your life?” Mu Bai promptly teased him.
“Why are you treating that so seriously!?” Zhao Manyan answered dismissively..
“We’ll search the vicinity of the school at night. Li Ximei, s.h.i.+ Junsheng, Professor Li, Professor Zheng, and the others will worry about the exchange program,” Mo Fan said.
“Alright… Mo Fan, are you sure that Miss Brianca is fine?” Mu Bai asked.
“Maybe you got the ingredients wrong, or maybe the herbs here aren’t the same. She looks perfectly fine to me,” Mo Fan said.
“That’s good to know.”
—
The evening lasted for quite a long time. Dark clouds soon shrouded the sky. Some were thin enough for moonlight to pa.s.s through, while the others were pitch-black.
“Sister Heidi, are you going training again?” a young girl with a basket of flowers in one hand saw the ash-brown haired Heidi heading toward Faerun Waterfall.
“Yeah, Amelia, is that Snow Lavender you’re planting? I kept noticing them around the school,” Heidi surprisingly smiled back. Her smile was extremely warm.
“Yeah, it took me quite a long time to plant them. Only a few more spots left until I’m done. Sister Heidi, you must come and check it out when I’m done,” Amelia said.
“Sure!”
—
Heidi went to the waterfall. The huge waterfall looked like dragons rising from the lake and soaring into the sky. Its majestic appearance would make anyone fear falling into a bottomless chasm. Heidi stood at the top of the waterfall. The edge of the waterfall’s fierce current was less than a meter away from her. She hovered in the air and was able to see the entire irregular crescent-shape of the Faerun Waterfall…
She breathed at a steady pace. She could not afford to let anything disrupt her breathing, especially when she was in dangerous situations. It would cause her Will to shatter and dissipate.
Heidi hovered close to the edge of the waterfall like a statue for an hour. Her eyes suddenly widened as she focused on the s.p.a.ce ahead.
A sapphire-blue light slowly surrounded her, like the glow of a bright moon. Her gaze sharpened. The waterfall underwent shocking changes. The water was initially pouring down fiercely, but started to flow in the air under her control.
The edge of the waterfall was a huge cliff, over which the water would pour into a deep lake. However, it felt as if the river had extended indefinitely out into the air. The water just kept flowing ahead…
The water crossed the deep chasm and formed a white bridge in the air. It was now parallel to the river at the bottom of the waterfall, a spectacular and breathtaking sight!
The river kept extending, reaching a distance of over five hundred meters. The water finally fell from the sky and struck the river under it with a loud splash.
Heidi smiled, very satisfied with the outcome of her training. Normally, she would struggle to focus enough to extend the river by five hundred meters. It was a sign that her mental strength had improved again!
She was aiming to reach the advanced stage of mental strength. With her Innate Talent to mind three things at once, her Will would be incredibly powerful once she reached the advanced stage!
The Faerun Waterfall gradually recovered its usual appearance. Heidi lowered her gaze and noticed the water was a little turbid.
The water of Faerun Waterfall had always been clean. The source of the waters were a few icy mountains. The ice of the mountains gradually melted, forming the huge river and waterfall. It was unlikely for the water to be polluted. The Alps barely had any presence of mud, either.
She looked down and fixed her eyes on the water that was flowing past under her feet.
Suddenly, a face whose eyes were almost poked out from their sockets showed up. The face was extremely pale, with two obvious wounds on both sides from which fresh blood was pouring out. Most shockingly, the eyes were staring right at Heidi…
The face quickly vanished from Heidi’s vision in the rapid current of the river. Heidi immediately saw the person’s body that was covered in wounds, her clothes that were soaked in the water, and her small, pale feet…
Heidi was completely stunned. Her eyes were filled with terror!
The sight only lasted briefly. The body went past Heidi’s feet and plunged into the chasm under the waterfall before Heidi could react!
The water was not turbid. It was mixed with the blood of a corpse that was was.h.i.+ng to the bottom of Faerun Waterfall by the river. Everything happened so quickly and was so surprising that Heidi completely forgot to use her Will to stop the body from plunging into the bottom of the lake!
“AHHHHH!”
Heidi’s scream immediately tore the quiet night apart!
—
—
The first person that showed up was Brianca. She summoned a few patrolling Magas to retrieve the corpse.
Heidi sat on a stone bench in the garden beside the waterfall. She looked battered out of her senses.
Her cultivation might be impressive, but she was inexperienced with the real world. It was actually her first time being so close to a dead body, especially when she recalled how it went right under her feet while its eyes were staring right at her, giving her a great fright. She was still trembling in fear even now.
When Mo Fan, Zhao Manyan, and Mu Bai arrived, they heard the patrolling Magas yelling. It sounded like they had found the girl whose body had been washed to the bottom of the lake.
“I…I actually talked to her not long ago. She happily told me that she was almost done with her work,” Heidi said in low spirits.
After Heidi calmed herself down, she realized the girl was none other than Amelia, who greeted her right before she went to the waterfall.
Amelia was the Alps Inst.i.tute’s stylist. The flowers, wall paintings, decorations on the lamps, and flower rings on each door were all her artworks. She was a Plant Mage. Her cultivation was not that impressive, but she was extremely pa.s.sionate about art. Every student in the school knew her; they all called her the Faerun’s Little Fairy.
She was an orphan. Something terrible had happened to her in the past, but she was full of hope when she came to the school. She was doing something she was interested in and good at, giving Faerun School the best scenery. Everyone in the school liked her.
She had a long life ahead of her, and she was kind and diligent. She was going to receive a lot of compliments for her work and find her other half. She would then occasionally visit the Alps Inst.i.tute together with her kids, who would love flowers just like she did…
But her life had come to an end…
—
Heidi and Brianca did not dare to look at the corpse. The girl’s body was twisted beyond recognition when it fell to the bottom of the chasm.
The patrolling Magas shared the same reaction. They too were terrified by the incident. Normally, they would alert the Holy Judgment Court if something like this happened, so they could send someone over to deal with the incident.
However, for some reason, the headmistress did not notify the Holy Judgment Court. She even told everyone at the scene not to tell anyone about the incident.
“I’ll go take a look.” Mo Fan looked at the girls and let out a helpless sigh.
These girls might have impressive cultivation, but they lacked practical experience, as they rarely visited the outside world.
Mo Fan had just lifted the white blanket covering the dead body when Sheryl went up to him and grunted angrily, “What do you think you’re doing? How dare you disrespect her when she’s already dead!?”
“p.i.s.s off,” Mo Fan impatiently rose to his feet and unleashed his aura. Sheryl struggled to breathe properly under the pressure.
“Sheryl, back off!” Brianca said.
“Miss, but he’s a shameless…”
“Silence! Where are your manners? Can’t you see he’s inspecting the corpse to search for clues? Do you think it’s unimportant to find out who the culprit is? Do you think you’re being respectful to the dead girl by stirring up a scene here?” Brianca scolded her.
Sheryl was stunned. She did not think her teacher would scold her like that. Tears almost poured out of her eyes.
Brianca was Sheryl’s mentor. She had always been pampered by Brianca, which was why she was so proud and arrogant. Mo Fan gloated in his heart when he saw Brianca scolding Sheryl. He was glad that he had volunteered to lend Brianca a hand in finding the culprit.
“We’ve been patrolling in the area, but unfortunately, the school is too big and there are too many people to look after,” Mo Fan sighed.
Mo Fan was enraged after inspecting the corpse. There were cuts almost everywhere on the girl’s body; her face, back, legs, stomach, shoulders… she was most likely tied up or impaired with magic to prevent her from struggling. She was bleeding slowly and was tossed into the waterfall when she was at the brink of death.
She was most likely still alive when she was thrown into the waterfall. She had only died after floating in it for a few minutes.
“Err, Miss Brianca, can you please check something for me? It’s not appropriate for me to do it,” Mo Fan said.
“Alright,” Brianca went up to the body. She obviously recognized Amelia, and was trying her best not to look at the corpse.
Mo Fan went closer to Brianca and whispered into her ear.
Brianca was a little surprised, but she remained still as Mo Fan moved close to her. She was feeling uneasy when Mo Fan’s hot breath touched her ear.
“I hope you won’t mind, I just want to confirm something,” Mo Fan said.
“I understand,” Brianca nodded. She crouched slowly and proceeded to check the final thing that Mo Fan had requested.