Blame the Clone, Not Me

The two of them walked into the dark alley one after another.

Only when they were far away from the crowd and the surroundings were quiet did Zhou Zhihai turn around and say,

"I didn't want to get the information wrong either. Who would have thought Lin Shen's strength could increase so quickly… Has anyone accepted the mission?"

Unexpectedly, a faint smile appeared on the man's face when he heard Zhou Zhihai's question.

"It really is you."

"What do you mean?"

Zhou Zhihai looked at the man in astonishment. He immediately realized what was going on, and his expression changed drastically.

"You're not from Lurking Snake!"

Zhou Zhihai suddenly felt extremely uneasy. Without thinking, he quickly backed away.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

A blinding red light suddenly lit up in his vision. It was like a blazing sun breaking through the clouds and instantly tearing apart the darkness in the alley!

Seeing this, Zhou Zhihai widened his eyes in shock and exclaimed,

"You've reached Perfection in Blazing Sun Palm!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a scorching heat wave swept over like a tidal wave, drowning him as he watched in horror.

Thump!

Zhou Zhihai was sent flying like a kite with a broken string!

While he was still in mid-air, he spat out a large mouthful of blood. The blood was extremely hot, and before it landed on the ground, it evaporated into a large cloud of blood mist.

Thump!

Zhou Zhihai fell heavily to the ground. His entire body seemed to have been burnt by fire, and his limbs couldn't stop twitching.

Under the dim light, one could see a red palm print on his chest. Large blisters appeared on his skin, and in the blink of an eye, they melted into a blood-red color. Finally, they dried up and looked like burnt leather.

The power of the Blazing Sun Palm in Perfection enhanced by the Pure Yang Body was extremely powerful. Zhou Zhihai took this blow head-on and was hit at a vital spot like his chest. His internal organs were almost cooked. As he panted violently, he exhaled white smoke that was visible to the naked eye. It was obvious that he didn't have long to live.

"Heh… Heh…"

Zhou Zhihai's face contorted in pain. Veins popped out of his red neck as he stared at the man in front of him.

He was filled with despair, horror, and confusion.

He couldn't figure out who this person was and why he was attacked.

Unfortunately, he no longer had the chance to know the answer to this question.

Zhou Zhihai could clearly feel his life force rapidly draining away.

Before he fell into the eternal darkness, the scene left behind in his vision was the man slowly distorted and disappearing like a reflection in the lake hit by a stone.

…

At the entrance of the academy more than 200m away,

Yang Zhongyi was calling Lin Shen and Su Nian to get into the car when he suddenly saw a commotion in the crowd in the distance.

Many people screamed loudly, and he could vaguely hear the words "dead" and "Willow Academy".

A few students from the academy ran back with panicked expressions and rushed toward the academy's entrance. It seemed they wanted to inform the teacher.

Yang Zhongyi reached out to stop one of them and asked,

"What happened?"

The student recognized Yang Zhongyi. Seeing who was asking, he had to answer the question.

"Someone died in the alley ahead!"

"Who is it? Someone from our academy?"

"That's right. It's Zhou Zhihai!"

Yang Zhongyi was shocked.

At this moment, a series of ripping sounds suddenly came from behind. A few figures passed by at lightning speed and rushed towards the distant alley.

They were the teachers who had rushed over after hearing the news.

Seeing this, Yang Zhongyi immediately followed them.

"Let's go take a look!"

Lin Shen and Su Nian looked at each other and followed Yang Zhongyi right away.

When the three of them arrived at the entrance of the alley, it was already surrounded by people.

"I heard Zhou Zhihai was dead?"

"That's right. I took a look just now. He died miserably. His body was blood-red, like a cooked prawn!"

"Why does it sound like a sign of being hit by the Blazing Sun Palm?"

The crowd discussed animatedly.

After all, Zhou Zhihai was a student of Willow Academy, but he died in its vicinity. Naturally, many people stopped to watch the commotion.

Some pitied him, some were scared, and some people gloated.

Because Zhou Zhihai was a disciple of an influential family, he often tyrannized the academy. Now that he had died tragically in the alley, those who had been bullied by him would only feel he deserved it.

With Yang Zhongyi leading the way, the three teenagers successfully squeezed into the front of the crowd.

In the dark alley, three teachers were examining the corpses with solemn expressions.

The leader was Kong Hong.

"What a powerful palm force!"

Kong Hong stared at the charred palm print on the corpse's chest in astonishment.

"Blazing energy seeped into his body. Not only were his internal organs almost roasted, but more than half of his blood had also evaporated. It's very likely that the perpetrator's Blazing Sun Palm has already reached Perfection!"

Hearing this, the two teachers beside him immediately took a deep breath, their faces filled with shock.

Perfection in Blazing Sun Palm!

Only a handful of teachers in the entire Willow Academy could reach this level of martial arts technique!

For example, the three of them had only reached Mastery in Blazing Sun Palm.

"In that case, the perpetrator should be a Long Breath Stage cultivator!"

"It's very likely. Even if they're not that, they should be at least at the later stage of the Qi Transformation Stage!"

Kong Hong's expression was abnormally solemn.

It wasn't easy to cultivate any martial technique, even the most basic ones, to Perfection!

Although Mastery and Perfection were only one step away, many cultivators would never be able to cross this threshold in their entire lives.

For example, the three of them had been stuck at Mastery for seven to eight years and had yet to break through this barrier.

Talent wasn't the only factor. It was also because they needed to divert their attention to cultivate other martial techniques.

No matter what, since the perpetrator was able to reach Perfection in Blazing Sun Palm, they had to have an advanced cultivation level.

Even if they weren't at the Long Breath Stage, they were definitely at the eighth or ninth level of the Qi Transformation Stage!

"We need to report this!"

Kong Hong rubbed the space between his eyebrows in frustration. With such a sudden incident, the teachers would be very busy for a while.

Suddenly, Kong Hong recalled something and instructed the others,

"We also have to inform the Martial Enforcement Hall!

"Didn't one of our students die in the Northern District some time ago? Zhou Zhihai's death might have something to do with this!"

The two teachers looked at each other and nodded heavily.

At the entrance of the alley,

Yang Zhongyi heard the three teachers' analysis clearly. His eyes flickered slightly as he subconsciously glanced at Lin Shen.

To be honest, the moment he heard Zhou Zhihai was killed, he immediately thought of Lin Shen.

After all, Lin Shen was the only one who had a conflict with Zhou Zhihai and had the ability to kill the latter.

However, Lin Shen was by Yang Zhongyi's side when Zhou Zhihai died. Apart from that, judging by the analysis of the three teachers, Lin Shen's strength didn't match that of the perpetrator.

As for hiring someone to kill Zhou Zhihai, how could Lin Shen, who came from a welfare institute, have the financial resources and channels?

Thinking of this, Yang Zhongyi couldn't help but mock himself.

He had really let his imagination run wild. How did it involve Lin Shen?

Zhou Zhihai had always been arrogant and despotic. There were countless people who hated him. Anyhow, it wasn't Lin Shen's turn to take revenge.

Lin Shen didn't know the thoughts flashing through Yang Zhongyi's mind. Even if he did, he wouldn't care.

He looked calmly at the scene not far away with an unperturbed expression. There was nothing suspicious about him.

He thought, "What do my clone's actions have anything to do with me?"