Chapter 127: Emergency Curfew
Chapter 127: Emergency Curfew
Solomon continued mimicking the foundational strikes of the Azure Crane Blade alongside the other disciples. He swung the wooden longsword through the prescribed arcs while keeping a close eye on the stone archway.
Thirty minutes passed before Pavilion Leader Jin finally marched back into the courtyard.
The pavilion leader’s face lacked all color. He clapped his hands together to immediately halt the practice session. The sharp crack echoed across the polished cobblestones, prompting the students to lower their practice swords and gather around the center ring.
"All training routines are temporarily suspended," Jin announced, projecting his voice clearly across the courtyard. "We discovered a major security breach within the pavilion grounds. Effective immediately, we are enforcing strict surveillance protocols across the entire mountain. You are strictly forbidden from leaving your assigned quarters or the main training grounds unless absolutely necessary. If you must travel, a designated sect guard will accompany you at all times."
The first-year students immediately erupted into loud whispers. A tall boy from the Vanguard house stepped forward and pointed at the bronze owl hovering over his shoulder.
"We already possess a twenty-four-hour surveillance system," the boy argued, gesturing to the glowing blue interface. "These drones record everything we do and broadcast it to millions of people. We should be perfectly safe without personal escorts."
Jin shook his head and scanned the crowd of academy disciples. "Your broadcasting devices rely on foreign magical signals to transmit data back to your world. The Azure Dragon Sect sits upon a massive network of ancient Qi-gathering arrays. Those specific formations condense spiritual energy to fuel our training facilities, and the resulting magical interference completely disrupts external communication frequencies in certain corridors. You already have dead zones where your drones fail to record anything. Relying entirely on those machines will get you killed."
Solomon rested his wooden sword against his collarbone and took a step forward. He maintained a bright, helpful expression while addressing the pavilion leader.
"That is a great security measure," Solomon chimed in, making sure his voice carried over the chatter. "However, the assassins who breached the pavilion were wearing the deep blue uniforms of the Azure Dragon Sect. That clearly means someone from the inside is directly involved in this syndicate network. How exactly are we supposed to trust these designated guards if the corruption runs that deep?"
The entire courtyard fell entirely silent.
[Xander_Man: wait, how does he know they were wearing uniforms?]
[James_Heyas: Solo Man dropping exclusive leaks.]
[1Fizzy: bro is doing the detective work for them.]
[Fatal_Beauty: HE KNOWS TOO MUCH!]
Jin locked his eyes directly onto the silver-haired boy.
His jaw tightened visibly. The pavilion leader had never mentioned any assassins, nor had he brought up the details about the stolen sect uniforms. The guards had only just pulled the three submerged corpses from the communal bathhouse half an hour ago.
The realization slammed into Jin’s mind. Solomon had drowned the intruders.
’The boy had purposefully used the dead zones to execute the syndicate hunters and was now openly admitting the act to the highest authority in the pavilion.’ Jim raised his brows.
Jin stared at the novice student. He analyzed the tactical reasoning behind such a blatant confession. Most people usually hide their involvement in a triple homicide to avoid an investigation.
Solomon, however, simply laid the facts out in the open to intentionally manipulate the sect’s internal politics.
The boy was forcing the administration to acknowledge the corruption and clean house, while simultaneously reminding the pavilion leader exactly how dangerous he actually was.
Jin shifted his gaze away from Solomon and addressed the shouting crowd. "We are fully aware of the infiltration tactics," Jin stated, keeping his tone strictly authoritative. "Only the oldest, most trusted veteran members of the sect will serve as your escorts. Furthermore, every single junior instructor and sect worker will undergo an immediate, rigorous spiritual examination to root out the spies. The safety of the disciples remains our absolute priority."
Solomon grinned and patted the hilt of his wooden sword. He had successfully cornered the administration into doing the dirty work for him.
Pavilion leader Jin then left for the sect meeting.
He reached the sect hall and saw the dead bodies of the assassins. Water dripped from three pale corpses laid across the polished stone tables of the inspection hall.
Jin stood over the bodies, examining the bruised necks and crushed faces.
Shen crossed his arms, he observed the stolen robes clinging to the wet skin. "We must find the person who did this. These men infiltrated our walls wearing our own uniforms."
Lin inspected a severed strap on one of the garments. "If someone within our ranks discovered them, they should have raised the alarm and subjugated them for questioning. Killing them outright and leaving them at the bottom of the bathhouse lacks tactical sense."
Jin turned away from the stone tables to face the group. "Solomon killed them."
Shen furrowed his brow and pointed at the nearest corpse. "These assassins had already reached the Late Foundation Establishment stage. A novice cannot possibly drown three seasoned cultivators at the same time. The power gap is far too wide."
"He knew exact details about the infiltration during our earlier conversation in the courtyard," Jin replied. "He provoked us to check the security logs and mentioned the stolen uniforms before we even pulled these bodies from the water. He handled them himself while his surveillance drone was deactivated."
’He intentionally left the bodies in the communal bathhouse to force our hand,’ Jin realized, keeping the thought to himself.
Wu stepped closer to the middle corpse. He pulled the wet collar aside to reveal a black tattoo etched into the collarbone. "A coiled serpent. These men belong to the underground syndicate operating in Tianfeng City."
Liang tapped his wooden staff against the floorboards. "I led the raid on that specific arena early this morning. We arrested the ringleaders and sealed the facility. They lacked the coordination to deploy elite assassins to our peak while their base fell."
Wu traced the serpent ink with his thumb. "The syndicate operates as a mere front. Another organization is using them to bypass our external borders and mask their true identities. The infiltration network runs deeper than petty criminals."
Lin glanced toward the reinforced doors of the hall. "If rival factions are actively targeting the students, we should suspend the curriculum. We need to send the trainees back through the transit gates until we purge the spies from our ranks."
Wu shook his head and turned to face the group. "Retreating exposes vulnerability. If these factions intend to harm the students, they will track them regardless of their location. We will proceed with the schedule."
He raised his hand to issue a final directive. "Comb through every single patrol log and interrogate the outer disciples. We will root out the traitors today. Everyone, get to work."