Chapter 147

It took around an hour to reach Heaven Dou City and as the soul train came to a stop, Xiu Ye stepped out of the doors of the soul train with his soul communicator in his ear.

"An evil soul master, along with some terrorists, hijacked a soul train with the purpose of getting their people back and infect the passengers after they had their demands satisfied... But they all ended being dead." On the other side of the line, Wu Zhangkong, furrowed his brows with a serious expression. "Do you know the background of this, Emissary of Pestilence?"

"Yeah. The guy confessed that he was from Holy Spirit Cult and among other things." Xiu Ye quickly slipped passed the police and media and called out for a taxi.

He was doing his job, tailing after Tang Wulin who had quickly escaped the scene much earlier and was heading towards the only place that can help him earn money–the Blacksmith Association.

"Them again huh... I knew that they weren't going to just hide in a ditch and die like the rats that they are." Wu Zhangkong said it so coldly that Xiu Ye felt a cold breeze going through his phone. "So what'd you found out from him?"

"Teacher Wu, did you know that for the last few months there were several attacks and hijacks on trains in different cities?"

"Hold on. I'm checking it on soulnet right now... yeah, you're right. For the last few months, several more train related attacks has been reported and all of them are due to acts of terrorism or... genocide."

Xiu Ye's eyes went wide and frowned. "Acts of terrorism and genocide are usually the same, what makes them different?"

"Well, it's different because there was no terrorists claiming to have hijacked some of the trains that were reported to have been derailed or went missing and when they were found, the authorities had only seen two things in them: blood and corpses." Wu Zhangkong spat out in distaste.

"Investigations even found out that there were some acts of cannibalism within the train... Xiu Ye, we both know what this means."

"Damn these people." Xiu Ye snarled, already knowing what Wu Zhangkong meant, but he let out a calm breath and tilted his head back. "And they still planned on continuing."

"What do you mean?"

"This act of terrorism teacher Wu? This isn't just about killing people of creating chaos, no, they're doing this because they want to find something. Specifically, a key." Xiu Ye came to a stop. He narrowed his eyes and turned to the left, he felt...a disgusting feeling coming from that direction before disappearing into thin air.

He didn't why, but whatever that was, it was a familiar feeling of something...revolting.

"...Xiu Ye?" Wu Zhangkong's voice sounded.

"Hm? Sorry, I got distracted by something." Xiu Ye shook his head and replied with a sincere apology. "You were saying something?"

"I was asking about this "key" they're searching for. Do you what it is or what lock it unlocks?"

"It's some kind of staff really, like a scepter of some sort Here, I got a picture of what they're looking for and I'll send it to you. Tell me if you've seen it before teacher Wu." He slide his hand into his pocket and grabbed the picture he pocketed from the so called Emissary of Pestilence and took a picture of it to send to Wu Zhangkong.

As what he initially had described, the so called "key" was a one meter wooden scepter with a blue orb on top and something you'd see in the hand of a mage. It was also apt to be called a "key" because its entire structure looked similarly to a key.

"Well? Is it familiar teacher Wu?"

"I'm afraid no. This is also the first for me to see such a strange staff. But, whatever it is or does, it can't be good if the Holy Spirit Cult are finding it so we must find it first and destroy it so we won't let them use it."

"I am curious however, why are they highjacking trains if they want to find this key? Is it in them?"

"No." Xiu Ye shook his head and replied. "The evil soul master that I interrogated didn't say the key was in those trains, in fact, he said the "key" is somewhere in the old world, wherever the hell that is. The attacks on these trains had only serves as a distraction from any investigators trying to find out their objective."

Wu Zhangkong hummed and said. "I see. I'll hand this information over to the elders and have them handle this. For now, wait for a while as I hand this information while talking to the headmistress about what to do with the exam. I'll call you later."

"Got it."

"...And Xiu Ye?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful." Wu Zhangkong ended the call.

Xiu Ye huffed and smiled, 'That cold yet worried teacher...' He glance around his surroundings, trying to find a cab and continue on his job.

That's when he spotted a diner. He didn't have lunch, due to the whole terrorist attack on the train, so he was getting a bit hungry.

"...Well, surely Wulin wouldn't trip himself into trouble just hours after what just happened. And if he did, well I'm sure he could survive it." Xiu Ye chuckled to himself and went towards the diner, intending to get something to eat and drink. He also pretended that he didn't just see a familiar bunch tailing after him.

'Huh? Where's the teacher that's supposed to be shadowing them?' Whatever, he'd just ask either Wu Zhangkong or Shen Yi later.

Half an hour later, Xiu Ye was enjoying his cup of coffee when his soul communicator rang.

"So, what does the academy plan to do here? Do we extract the students back or let the exam continue?" As soon as the line connected, Xiu Ye asked the question.

Though he could somewhat guessed what the decision would already be.

"Because to this incident, the academy has decided to shorten the exam to having one student be at one city and defeat an opponent over two realms of their cultivation, with the deadline being three days. But due to the lack of teachers that we have right now, we've decided to let the teachers show themselves to the students and be near around them at almost all time."

"Lastly, let them form a group with the limit of seven students as the test has changed; they have to defeat someone who's a one-word battle armor master or they have a purple mecha."

Xiu Ye raised his eyebrows, surprised at the new demands for the examination of the students.

'With such requirements, I can only think of a few of the students in Wulin's class, including them, that could accomplish such a exam. Well, good luck guys. Don't give up.' He internally gave the poor students who would most likely fail a thumbs up.

"Is that all teacher Wu?" Xiu Ye asked as he finished his cup of coffee.

"For now, yes. The other teachers and elders are still discussing the matter of the actions of Holy Spirit Cult, so until they come to a decision, you'll just have to wait and continue on with your job of taking care of them." Wu Zhangkong said.

"Copy that. Talk to you later, teach." Xiu Ye ended the call and he let out a sigh.

'Well, time to go to work.'

"Gu Yue, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, Ye Xinglan, Xu Lizhi and Wu Siduo, all of you come out. It's no use hiding from me." He called his friends who were trying, all failing except Xie Xie, to hide by the nearby corner of a dinner table with menus covering their faces.

"-!?" They flinched and they chuckled as they lowered their menus, a nervous expression on all of them.

"Oh man..."

"We got found out."

"I told you we'd already been found out by Ye."

"It's probably because of fatty's large figure."

"Ah, really? Sorry everyone."

"It wasn't your fault fatty. In the first place, it was just so obvious."

A faint shadow in the chair in front of Xiu Ye rippled and out came Xie Xie with a similar expression as the rest of his friends.

"As always, you always seem to figure me out."

Xiu Ye smirked. "Of course. In the first place, I was the one who helped develop your skills as a agility system soul master and assassin before someone else help refine and further your skills."

"But anyways, you guys already heard what teacher Wu and I were talking about?"

Everyone's expression turned serious and Gu Yue, moving from her seat to sit next to Xiu Ye, nodded. "Yes. Are we going to retrieve Wulin?"

"Yup. Finish with whatever you're all eating and drinking, and let's head out."