Chapter 248: Suspicion

Haitang City.

Early morning.

Just as the sky was beginning to brighten, the upper echelons and nobles throughout the entire city were already in a state of chaos.

Sixty-eight corpses were densely nailed to the outer wall of the Nine Heart Begonia Family; all sixty-eight people were Spirit Masters, and all were high-ranking members of the Nine Heart Begonia Family, with even the weakest being a Soul Emperor. The family head and numerous Elders of the Nine Heart Begonia Family had all perished.

For a time, the entire Haitang City was in a state of panic. The city lord immediately ordered the entire city to be locked down and sent people to report to the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City, at once.

Of course, that city lord of Haitang City also understood that the lockdown within the city was completely futile. Since the culprits were able to slaughter the strongest batch of people in the Nine Heart Begonia Family in the span of a single night, how could the soldiers and generals under his command possibly resist such strength? He only prayed that those who had killed the Nine Heart Begonia Family's Spirit Masters would not come looking for him.

The Heaven Dou Empire naturally had its own special methods of communication; in just two hours, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City, had already received the news.

Looking at the contents of the letter, Ning Fengzhi's expression could not help but become grave.

The power that had suddenly emerged behind Shi Quan made Xue Ye feel a few more points of wariness toward him. On the continent, apart from the Spirit Hall, Xue Ye the Great truly could not think of any other force capable of silently destroying a Spirit Master family that possessed two Spirit Douluos in a single night.

Xue Qinghe said calmly, "Father Emperor, the Three Great Education Committees have always been at the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy and have no connection to this matter. I also do not know where Master Shi obtained this assistance. I imagine they must be good friends he met during his travels."

"Uncle Sword, are you trying to say it was the Spirit Hall?" Ning Fengzhi looked toward the Title Douluo.

Although the age was not high, Shi Quan, who possessed the Spirit Bone Modifier, had no requirements regarding age. As long as the quantity was sufficient, he could completely rely on the Spirit Bone Modifier to fuse and modify these soul bones into top-grade soul bones suitable for everyone.

Xue Ye the Great continued to ask, "How do you think this matter should be handled?"

"Your son pays respects to Father Emperor." In less than a quarter of an hour, the figure of Xue Qinghe appeared in the great hall.

"Very well, Emperor. This servant will go at once." A servant waiting to the side hurriedly walked out of the palace.

As for the attributes, judging from the perception, two of them were inclined toward explosive power, one was water-attributed, and one was thunder-attributed.

Shi Quan smiled and led Xue Qinghe into the room.

Xue Qinghe took the document. After he finished reading the contents, his expression could not help but be startled. He had not expected that Shi Quan's speed in taking action would be so fast and so ruthless—hunting down sixty-eight people in one night without the Nine Heart Begonia Family noticing any abnormalities.

After hearing this, Xue Ye the Great could not help but fall slightly silent, because Xue Qinghe's handling of the matter had no issues.

The Title Douluo, however, said, "Fengzhi, isn't there a saying that the clever are undone by their own cleverness? Is it possible that he is precisely trying to use your understanding of him to intentionally mislead you? Otherwise, how else can one explain these suddenly appearing experts?"

"The Nine Heart Begonia Family has suffered heavy losses; the Empire can take this opportunity to incorporate them under the pretext of investigating the culprits. Whether this matter was done by Master Shi is merely my own speculation; there is no evidence. If the Empire wishes to investigate, it will naturally take time."

Xue Ye the Great said in a deep voice, "According to the report in the document, the people killed fall into five categories: one type of piercing wound, one poisoned to death, one bound and strangled to death by Entanglement, one beaten to death by heavy blows, and another with no obvious wounds on the surface of the body, which should have been killed by a mental-type Spirit Master. This means there were at least five people. Even in a heavy rain, to be able to kill so many people within the Nine Heart Begonia Family without a sound, the strength of these five people is likely all above the Spirit Douluo level."

The Title Douluo nodded and said, "There is no such possibility."

After Xue Qinghe left the great hall, he ordered people to transmit the events that occurred in Haitang City to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the form of a letter.

"Qinghe, is this matter not a bit too coincidental?" Xue Ye the Great's scrutinizing gaze fell upon Xue Qinghe.

"Uncle Bone, what you say is not without reason. His Majesty will certainly be suspicious because of this and investigate Shi Quan. However, if Shi Quan has no problems, this might be our chance to befriend him."

After Shi Quan nailed the corpses of the Nine Heart Begonia Family members to the outer wall, they returned to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy overnight.

Xue Qinghe said directly, "Father Emperor, your son does not believe it is a coincidence. I feel that this matter was indeed done by Master Shi."

A flash of sharp light passed through Ning Fengzhi's eyes, "The matter of the soul bones must be done as soon as possible..."

"Silently assassinating sixty-eight people of the Nine Heart Begonia Family, including two Spirit Douluos." The Title Douluo's expression also became serious, "Killing is easy, but to kill silently, even if that old fellow Chen Xin and I acted together, we could not do it. How did they manage it?"

"Judging from the investigation of the corpses, at least five people participated in the operation. Dugu Bo must have been involved. As for the other four, it is hard to say, especially the mysterious Tool Spirit expert with the piercing wounds. He killed the most people, and one of them was a Spirit Douluo; he is at least a Title Douluo, and his strength is likely even greater than Dugu Bo's."

Hearing this, Shi Quan immediately walked out of the room.

"Fengzhi, this Shi Quan actually hides so many experts behind him?" The Title Douluo exclaimed in surprise.

Shi Quan feigned ignorance and said, "I don't understand what Brother Xue is talking about?"

As for the rest, apart from money, most were rare treasures, such as special metals, some Soul Guidance Devices with special uses, and some medicinal herbs. Although they were of no great use to Shi Quan, after Shi Quan categorized them, he placed them all in his Hundred Treasure Bag. Since the space in the Hundred Treasure Bag was infinite, he might find a use for them at some point.

A flash of sharp light passed through Xue Qinghe's eyes. He raised his head and recounted to Xue Ye the Great the response he had given Shi Quan at the Crown Prince's Mansion.

Among them, three were thousand-year-level soul bones, and only one was around ten thousand years, though the age was only around ten thousand years.

"Your son takes his leave." Xue Qinghe then turned and left.

Xue Ye the Great pondered for a moment and said, "You are responsible for following up on the incorporation of the Nine Heart Begonia Family. This matter cannot happen twice. Sixty-eight Spirit Masters, all with strength above the Soul Emperor level—for the Empire, this loss is already not small. Also, investigate the people who did this clearly."

"Suspicion?" Shi Quan said slowly, "It is of no concern. They are merely worried that these experts come from the Spirit Hall and are worried that I have ties to the Spirit Hall. As long as I can explain the origins of these experts, this matter will naturally fade away."

"Brother Xue, I wonder what brings you here for a sudden visit?" Shi Quan welcomed him with a face full of smiles.

Watching Xue Qinghe's departing figure, Xue Ye the Great was silent for a long time before saying in a low voice, "Send people to investigate this matter in secret."

"You really caught me off guard." Just after sitting down in the room, Xue Qinghe's helpless voice rang out.

"What do you plan to do?" Xue Qinghe raised his eyes to look at Shi Quan.

On the other side, Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.

"Qinghe, how did you handle the matter of Master Shi?" Xue Ye the Great asked in a deep voice.

"Go." Xue Ye the Great waved his hand.

Ning Fengzhi, however, shook his head, "This Shi Quan is exceptionally clever and has a steady temperament. If he were truly a hidden piece of the Spirit Hall, how could he so easily expose himself for such a small matter?"

Ning Fengzhi frowned in distress, "Unknowingly, it feels like this Shi Quan has grown to a level where we must take him seriously. It looks like these three soul bones need to be even better."

He had not expected that Shi Quan would act so ruthlessly and decisively.

At this time, everyone was leisurely doing their own things, as if nothing had happened at all.

In one night of assassination, Shi Quan and the others also had quite a harvest; there were four soul bones in total.

"If you had gone and caused a scene, this matter would still be easy to wrap up, but you chose to raid and kill sixty-eight Spirit Masters of the Nine Heart Begonia Family on a rainy night, all with strength at least at the Soul Emperor level, and without attracting anyone's attention. This act is too shocking." Xue Qinghe shook his head, "Although you did not leave any evidence behind, a little investigation would lead one to guess that this was your doing. His Majesty has already developed suspicions toward you, and the same goes for my teacher."

"Look at this document; it was sent urgently from Haitang City this morning." A servant took the document from Xue Ye the Great's hand and passed it to Xue Qinghe.

"Understood, Emperor." A black shadow emerged from behind Xue Ye the Great and disappeared into the great hall.

"Let's go."

Xue Qinghe shook his head, "Let's go to your room to talk."

"Xiao Quan, Xue Qinghe is here." Shi Quan was in the room researching Soul Spirits when Lingling's voice came from outside.

It would be fine if the investigation revealed that these mysterious people did not belong to the Spirit Hall, but if they were connected to the Spirit Hall, even if Shi Quan were of great benefit to the Empire, he could only be nipped in the bud.

Xue Ye the Great sat on the throne in the great hall, looking at the urgent document in his hand. He could not help but furrow his brows, subconsciously gripping the document tightly, and ordered, "Call Qinghe here."

One of them was obtained from the treasury of the Nine Heart Begonia Family, while the other three were obtained from the bodies of the Spirit Masters he killed.

"This son understands." Xue Qinghe nodded.

Sword Douluo said with apprehension: "As for the other three, their strength is at least around Spirit Douluo; two Title Douluo, three Spirit Douluo—how could Shi Quan possibly mobilize so many experts? I fear there is some force pushing this from behind?"

Xue Qinghe wore a smile, "Brother Shi, are you not aware?"

Shi Quan raised his hand and reached into his Hundred Treasure Bag, and a corpse frozen in ice appeared in the room.

"I said I would resolve it myself."

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Xue Qinghe looked at the corpse before him and was instantly stunned on the spot, his eyes turning blood-red as he stared fixedly at the corpse and said: "You killed Tang Hao?"

"That's right." Shi Quan nodded and said: "Previously, when I went to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain a Soul Ring, Tang Hao did not know where he got this news, secretly followed us to the Star Dou Great Forest, and wanted to leave me in the Star Dou Great Forest forever, but the ambush failed, and instead, he fell at our hands..."