37 Eyes in the dark.

Five days passed after the Jade sword crew's first investigation. But, No murder happened after their arrival so, they faced a tight situation as they couldn't find any reliable pieces of evidence.

Therefore, they stopped the investigation for a while and roamed around to get familiarised with the city.

Within this hiatus, they had the chance to get along with a few people in the Phoenix sect. One person was Su Lin. She was an innocent lady with beautiful facial features. She had curly dark brown hair that reached her upper back. Her playful but caring nature attracted many suitors towards her constantly.

She was famous among her sect's peers for her kindness. Xie Ra noticed that she was kind to the spiritual beasts even though she was a senior beast trainer in the sect.

Another figure they met was Ling Daiyu. She was another talented figure among the senior beast trainers in the sect. She had long, straight hair that was put in a half bun, while the rest freely spread on her back.

She had a stunning face and elegant features, which made her stand out from the rest of the crowd. However, she was famous for her cold demeanor that hid her true warming personality inside.

Whenever the sword sect people visited the training grounds, they saw these two ladies busily teach their youngsters about the beast training. So many years of experience handling the beasts made them exceptional tutors for these newbies.

However, each time when Xie Ra saw them training, he got reminded of the training he had at the barbarian's sect in his last life.

The third special character they met was Lei Da. He was an extremely outgoing, funny person who was loved by every single one in the sect.

He wasn't afraid to crack jokes with anyone, including the sect elders. However, nobody was offended by his breakless mouth, which never ran out of teases and puns.

Xie Ra loved his company the most. It was after a long time he met someone who was this funny. But, that doesn't mean he lingered in the sect library where Lei Da worked as the Library elder.

Even though he was popular among everyone, Xie Ra heard many rumors around him. The reason behind this gossip was the fact that Lei Da never participated in any kind of sect fights.

He had special permission from the sect leader not to participate in fights.

Some said he had a fatal illness that prevented him from fighting. And another rumor said he faced a *" Qi deviation" many years ago, so fighting would drain his life energy out of him.

Whatever the reason was, everyone including Xie Ra pitied him.

The Sixth day of their hiatus wasn't peaceful as they expected. Someone banged on their doors early in the morning. The one who woke them up was Zu Bingwen.

"Doazhang, another murder happened a few minutes ago in the city. Let's go quickly."

Poor sword sect crew didn't have time to wear their uniforms. They just grabbed their weapons and ran behind Zu Bingwen.

To their despair, the victim was an old woman who probably was in her 80's.

They were right. The scene that was in front of them wasn't pleasing in any aspect. Blood, brains, inner organ pieces, It was clearly an explosion created by using spiritual energy. The pressure made in the atmosphere by oozing qi from the dead body wasn't a small amount.

The only time Xie Ra witnesses a scene this inhuman was when he came across the breakthrough failed cultivator's body on a secluded mountain top. The poor man didn't escape the brutality of heavenly tribulations.

Both Xiao Lan and Wei Ming looked pale. However, the other three weren't as affected as those two. They recovered quickly and started to investigate.

Weiming Zhao distributed works among the five quickly.

He asked Xie Ra to accompany Wei Ming to check for hidden arrays and formations. The other two cleared the crowd including phoenix sect disciples.

Many Phoenix sect disciples including Zu Bingwen weren't happy about sending them away. But, they left quietly, keeping the mortals at the bay.

The short-haired senior Wei Ming made the sword seal and lifted his hands to search for the hidden arrays or any kind of formation around the area. However, the golden yellow beam emitted from his fingers died quickly.

Xie Ra ran towards his senior. He saw the fingers of the other one quivering. He knew the senior boy hadn't recovered from the shock yet.

Even the cultivators weren't afraid of blood or gore, the way the victim died wasn't pleasing for another human being. Especially, when the victim was an old innocent woman.

Xie Ra took his palm to his mouth and muttered something before putting that palm on the senior's temple. He seemed to calm down a bit. Then, he left his senior in a leaning position nearby and went to complete their task.

A golden yellow beam escaped from Xie Ra's fingers. However, he didn't feel the pair of hawk-like eyes watching his every movement with great interest.

"So, you know how to check for formations, even though you aren't nascent. Impressive." A voice silently talked to themselves before mixed with the wind that carried the burning smell of flesh.

Sadly, They didn't find anything that could help them to progress through their investigations. Weiming Zhao ordered others to go and have breakfast while he guards there. However, Xie Ra volunteered for the work.

"I can't eat Dage. I will guard the place. I won't let anyone come near."

Weiming Zhao sighed. Then, he agreed to the persistent youth before heading back to the sect with Zu Bingwen and the crew.

After everyone left, Xie Ra locked the door. The corpse was still there. Then he turned around and said,

"You can come out, now. I know you are here."

"So, you know I'm here. Good good. What gave me away?"

Another tall young man walked out from a hidden corner. He had a beardless handsome face. Xie Ra knew this was the man who spied on them a few days ago.

"I sensed an extra presence when I searched for arrays. You were waiting there to sneak into the house. Am I right? I wanted to see what you were doing here before blowing your cover."

The other young man smirked. "Alright, you won. However, I may be the killer. Why did you take the risk by waiting for me alone?"

"Are you telling me to believe an ice demon like you could burn this corpse into this state?" Xie Ra smirked.

"H...How did you know?"