Chapter 40

The area of the Furnace Ruins was even larger than imagined.

Fu Qian followed behind a line of people, casually surveying the surroundings as if nothing was amiss.

He didn’t hold much hope for finding a loophole to escape but understood why Li Weixuan arranged things this way.

Firstly, even if the chances were slim in this desperate situation, one should not casually give up hope; one still had to try.

Secondly, having everyone personally confirm the current predicament could save a lot of talking.

Newly joined Huang Zhaoyan clearly did not get along with Yuan Xin and the others, and although he dared not start an open conflict under Li Weixuan’s warning, there was a continuous exchange of barbed words along the way.

Unexpectedly, Ji Liushuang actually played the role of a coordinator between the two.

Yuan Xin, needless to say, and even Huang Zhaoyan put on an attitude of not wanting to stoop to the other’s level for Ji Liushuang’s sake.

It was hard to imagine that he would arrange to have Ji Liushuang killed behind the scenes.

From the conversations of the three and those around them, Fu Qian roughly understood that they all came from powerful aristocratic families.

Unlike the newly rich Wen Li’s family, even Young Master Ye could not be compared; they were bona fide Transcendent families with a history of over a hundred years.

The relationships between them were also quite extensive, whether they were fateful or cursed was another matter.

And people like Ji Liushuang were among the best of their generation, selected to be sent to the Academy as classmates.

Truly complicated interpersonal relationships!

Fu Qian had no interest in the grievances among the three. For him, the only thing that mattered was completing the mission and getting out of there.

Their plotting and alliances were their business, but if it hindered his own, he wouldn’t mind eliminating them together.

At first, the group searched the barriers diligently for any weakness, afraid of missing any chance of escape.

However, it wasn’t long before they lost their enthusiasm, and a sense of despair began to spread, leaving only a mechanical tapping and pounding.

After marching continuously for a while, everyone was both physically and mentally exhausted and decided to take a break.

Fu Qian had no objection to the rest and, after the group sat down, indicated that he wasn’t tired and would go ahead first.

“Director Li wants us to move together.”

Yuan Xin stared at Fu Qian with a stern face.

“I know, you can catch up.”

“Everyone needs rest.”

“So, it’s you who can’t keep up?”

“…Why should we follow you?”

“Maybe—”

Fu Qian blinked.

“Because I’m Sixth Phase?”

“You can follow slowly behind; I don’t mind you dragging me down.”

“You…”

Yuan Xin shook with anger, but the facts were as such, making it impossible to refute.

You see, in a world where might makes right, a bigger fist crushes the opposition.

Fu Qian turned around, satisfied, and set off on his own under everyone’s complicated glances.

If he remembered correctly, it wasn’t far ahead to the burial site of Assassin Brother.

He had something he needed to check out.

However, not long after Fu Qian went out, he noticed someone following him.

Huang Zhaoyan actually hadn’t stopped to rest but followed him cautiously.

Had this guy sensed something unusual, or had he come out to meet with Assassin Brother?

Both were possible since, if they were truly trapped inside, they would eventually meet, and it would be quite awkward if anything was exposed.

But no matter the reason, his arrival was timely!

Fu Qian didn’t mind the extra tail in the least and continued on his way, quickly finding the place where he had dealt with the body.

He didn’t hesitate; he directly lifted the stele that was pressing down on the corpse.

Hiss!

Although he had anticipated it, the scene before him still felt incredibly surreal.

The body of Assassin Brother, who had died just a short while ago, had already become a mummified corpse.

It was shriveled up all over, without a single drop of blood in sight.

Even more bizarre was the fact that the scant hair on the top of his head had, at this point, completely vanished without a trace.

Not only that, the entire withered body from head to toe resembled a melting wax figure, displaying an eerie twisted posture, with some parts grotesquely elongated.

For example, the skin at both shoulder areas had been stretched near transparent, as if the arms were about to detach from the body.

It really is like a furnace here!

Fu Qian silently lamented that this place was indeed sinister to the extreme.

His previous conjecture was correct after all; every creature that entered here and died was being disassembled by a special rule, then converging into the shapes of those monstrous hair and hands.

If he were to come across a block of blood tofu or the like later, Fu Qian wouldn’t be surprised in the least.

After meticulously observing the scene, Fu Qian immediately stepped away.

This time he didn’t cover the body with the stele again but instead tossed it aside, not minding if it would be discovered by someone.

Fu Qian was quite aware that Huang Zhaoyan was secretly observing from behind a certain building not too far away, and he was curious to see how this brother would react to the corpse.

As it turned out, once he left, Huang Zhaoyan quietly approached the body and stood there dumbfounded for several minutes.

This guy is truly suspicious, Fu Qian thought to himself as he nodded secretly.

What he had just done could not have been more obvious, practically rushing straight to the stele and flipping over the corpse; even a fool could guess that the death of the man was related to him.

And he had deliberately made the corpse visible to him.

If Huang Zhaoyan felt like a guilty thief, then he would certainly think that Fu Qian knew something, and this display was intentional.

Later upon meeting Li Weixuan, if Huang Zhaoyan disclosed that it was Fu Qian who uncovered the body for all to see, it would be somewhat normal.

But if he omitted that part and kept quiet, then there was a ninety-nine percent chance that the assassin was sent by him.

Of course, if Huang Zhaoyan was foolish enough to think that since the matter was exposed, he might as well kill someone to silence them, Fu Qian wouldn’t mind finishing him off.

After all, theoretically, his scheme had arranged for a Transcendent assassin to set his sights on Fu Qian, even aiming to put him to death.

He who kills must be prepared to be killed.

Fu Qian suddenly found himself looking forward to that scene.

Unfortunately, after waiting for a while, Huang Zhaoyan was still standing there in a daze, which deeply disappointed Fu Qian, prompting him to leave.

Not long after, Fu Qian encountered Li Weixuan and his group, whose complexions were not looking good.

The morale of this group had evidently almost bottomed out; without asking, it was clear they had found nothing.

“Where are the others?”

Li Weixuan, seeing Fu Qian alone, furrowed his brows.

“They needed to rest; I came ahead to scout the area.”

Fu Qian replied with an air of nonchalance.

Li Weixuan was clearly in a bad mood and didn’t have the energy to probe into Fu Qian’s slight breach of protocol.

“Did you find any places for entry or exit?”

“No.”

The somewhat hopeful looks in the group’s eyes dimmed further.

Li Weixuan clearly hadn’t held much hope, nodded to Fu Qian to rejoin the group, and ordered everyone to rest on the spot.

After waiting for a while, they saw a large group of people approaching from afar.

The person in the lead had long hair fluttering and an elegant gait; he wasn’t even close when he shouted out loud.

“Director Li, we’ve found something!”