Chapter 167: Are You Playing with Us?

The night wind blew.

The moon spilled its light over the great river.

Su Jingxing glided through the air, crossing more than half of Qinghe City, and arrived at Xuantian University.

Upon entering the campus, however, he found it completely deserted.

The faculty and students of Xuantian University had all been evacuated.

On second thought, this was entirely understandable.

Four ancient texts were hidden within Xuantian University; until this issue was resolved, the university would never know a moment of peace.

Not every Fourth-Rank martial artist possessed a gentle disposition.

Clearing the campus was, in Su Jingxing's view, a very prudent move.

Flying leisurely through the air, timing his arrival precisely, Su Jingxing floated into the grand auditorium on the top floor of Tianshui Tower.

Every other part of the campus was pitch-dark and utterly silent.

Only Tianshui Tower was brilliantly lit.

In the top-floor grand auditorium, all the windows were thrown wide open.

Like Su Jingxing, quite a few people entered the grand auditorium directly through the windows.

These individuals were either Fourth-Rank or Fifth-Rank experts.

Standing against the wall near a window, Su Jingxing scanned the room and realized he did not recognize most of the people present.

Naturally, Su Jingxing, clad in a cloak and wearing a mask, was also being scrutinized and sized up by others.

Among the gathered experts who had arrived at the auditorium, while some wore cloaks or masks like Su Jingxing, the majority bared their faces.

Consequently, whenever someone with a concealed appearance entered the hall, they would attract a wave of probing gazes.

Su Jingxing took it in stride.

Among these people, he spotted quite a few acquaintances.

For instance, the young man capable of transforming into a golden figure, despite wearing dark sunglasses.

Another was Lu Chen of Cien Bank, who sat in a corner accompanied by a cold-aura-emitting helper.

Qi Xinjue and Zhao Zhongyi went without saying.

As for Yan Yuanfeng, who had been the first to call and invite him, Su Jingxing also spotted him sitting alongside a middle-aged man with semi-long hair.

During his approach earlier, Su Jingxing had sent a message telling him not to wait at the front entrance on the ground floor.

Thus, seeing Yan Yuanfeng seated in the auditorium now came as no surprise.

What genuinely astonished Su Jingxing was that Li Lilong was actually sitting side by side with Xu Tailong!

Each of the two men was flanked by their respective entourages, yet they were neither fighting nor making a scene.

Knowing the inside story, Su Jingxing found the sight bizarre no matter how he looked at it.

Could the Li family have helped Xu Tailong find the murderer of Tian Huaichao?

Thinking of the killer, Su Jingxing raised his head and swept the room once more, searching for He Lieshen—the man whose cultivation surpassed even that of Li Linzhou, who wielded a vegetable cleaver as a spiritual weapon, and who could manifest over a dozen true-qi avatars.

Although He Lieshen had not revealed his face at the time, Su Jingxing had memorized his aura.

Right now, sensing the entire room with a sweeping glance, he failed to spot him.

"Could it be that he hasn't come?"

Su Jingxing did not believe that the He family would skip tonight's gathering.

With the "Mausoleum of King Qin" at stake, even with the He family's four-hundred-year heritage, as long as they had never stepped inside, they would still be tempted.

"Swish!"

Just as he resumed his scanning, a gust of fierce wind suddenly swept rapidly from the nearby window into the auditorium.

Su Jingxing detected the familiar aura instantly.

Raising his eyes, he saw that it was indeed He Lieshen, the man he had forced back with "Thunderbolt" that night.

True to form, this fellow was wrapped in black cloth from head to toe.

Like Su Jingxing, he did not look for a seat, but instead leaned silently against the wall near the window.

"So he just arrived late."

Su Jingxing glanced at He Lieshen and withdrew his gaze.

At the Fourth-Rank realm, perceptions were extremely acute; being stared at for too long would inevitably arouse suspicion.

Su Jingxing was here tonight to watch the show, not to pick a fight with the He family, so naturally he had no intention of alerting the man.

At that very moment, Ma Shifang, the principal of Xuantian University's Qinghe Branch dressed in martial attire, strode onto the rostrum.

Though only at the Fifth-Rank realm, he showed no panic whatsoever in the face of the gazes from a crowd of Fourth-Rank and Fifth-Rank martial artists.

With a composed expression, he clicked on a file displayed on a computer screen while channeling true-qi to amplify his voice, and began to speak: "Good evening, everyone. I am Ma Shifang, the principal of this institution."

"I presume everyone has the same purpose for coming here tonight and is well aware of it, so I will spare you the elaboration."

"Before we begin tonight's main topic, I must impose upon you for a few minutes. Please take a look at the borrowing records of the four named ancient texts over the past four hundred years at our school."

As he spoke, the projection screen behind him lit up, displaying a detailed record of book rentals.

First came *Foundations of Spiritual Weapons*, tracking records from four hundred years ago down to two hundred years ago.

The final entry displayed the bold characters "Lost," causing a stir throughout the auditorium.

Next was *Elementary Alchemical Pills*, with records spanning from four hundred years ago until seventy years ago, when it was checked out by someone named "Gu Huanxi," ending with the bold characters "Unreturned," which sparked another wave of commotion in the hall.

Then came *Elementary Array Formations*, recorded from four hundred years ago all the way up to last month, yet the final display still showed the bold characters "Lost."

"Principal Ma, are you playing games with us?"

Before the records finished playing, a rough voice abruptly rang out.

"The first two books are one thing, but *Elementary Array Formations* was clearly logged as late as last month, and yet you're telling us it's 'lost' as well? Do you take us for fools?"

"That's right, Principal Ma. We all gave you face by gathering here tonight upon your invitation. But you can't treat us like monkeys for that reason."

"Since *Elementary Array Formations* 'went missing' just last month, did *Introduction to True Qi* 'go missing' last night, too?"

"..."

Voices filled with anger, cold sneers, and disdain erupted continuously.

Invisible waves of aura spread simultaneously through the auditorium, clashing against one another.

On the rostrum, Ma Shifang's expression shifted slightly, and he hurriedly raised a hand in a gesture of pacification.

However, before he could speak, Han Zong, the dean of Xuantian University's Martial Arts Academy, stood up ahead of him, faced the crowd, and bellowed angrily, "What are you doing? What is everyone doing? Trying to cause trouble? Let me tell you, Xuantian doesn't owe a single one of you anything! We invited you here tonight simply to expose the mastermind hiding in the shadows who is stirring up all this chaos!"

"I refuse to believe none of you can guess his purpose in leaking the 'Mausoleum of King Qin'."

"Diverting the trouble onto us at Xuantian is just an attempt to muddy the waters even further!"

"Just think: if those four ancient texts had always remained with us at Xuantian, would we have endured for four hundred years and let the 'Mausoleum of King Qin' sit there without taking a look?"

Silence.

Han Zong's reckless and furious outburst tore away the superficial veil worn by everyone present.

No more concealment!

Everyone was here for the "Mausoleum of King Qin"; none of them was any nobler than the rest.

That being the case, it was better to lay everything completely out in the open.

"I'm not afraid to tell you either: *Elementary Array Formations* was stolen. Previously, three separate parties broke into the top floor of our library and made off with the Landscape Painting, and along with it, *Elementary Array Formations* vanished without a trace. We never saw the thief's true face; we only know it was a Fourth-Rank expert."

"As for *Introduction to True Qi*, thankfully, we have preserved it all along, and it is also the target we aim to decipher tonight."

With that, Han Zong waved at Liang Yiqing, who was standing in the corner.

The latter, holding a square wooden box, strode up to the rostrum.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is *Introduction to True Qi*. Because it has been reinforced with a special..."

Liang Yiqing's voice abruptly cut off.

His eyes widened to their limits, staring fixedly at the opened wooden box.

Inside the box, however, it was completely empty.

The copy of *Introduction to True Qi* that was supposed to be resting there... had vanished into thin air!