Chapter 30: Entangled in Mystery (Please Add to Your Favorites!)

No, that's not right. The murderer should be Duan Feihong! But who exactly is this Duan Feihong—real or, like Su Jingxing, merely someone wearing a human-skin mask and impersonating him—remained unclear.

Suddenly, everything became shrouded in mystery. First, the Xiaodao Society was wiped out. Then Chen Xiaodao, with his dying breath, insisted that the killer was Duan Feihong. But was this Duan Feihong genuine or not? No one could say for certain.

A headache!

It wasn't just Wei Jiajia who found herself beset by confusion—Su Jingxing felt the same. Of course, it wasn't fear or regret over killing Chen Xiaodao. In the situation just now, if Chen Xiaodao hadn't died, Su Jingxing would have. He wasn't really Duan Feihong; why should he take the blame for some ambiguous Duan Feihong, real or fake?

If Chen Xiaodao had wanted to talk, Su Jingxing wouldn't have minded a conversation. But the man had attacked him with deadly intent from the start. Su Jingxing had no intention of indulging him. He'd even considered crippling Chen Xiaodao to render him harmless. But Chen Xiaodao had fought back, driven by his final breath, attacking with wild desperation. If Su Jingxing held back, he’d be wounded himself; if he struck hard enough to defend himself, that last breath would scatter, and with it, Chen Xiaodao’s life.

Faced with a choice between himself and Chen Xiaodao, Su Jingxing naturally chose himself.

Many present could see this truth. Yet, as always, perspective dictated opinion.

Old Master Huang was the first to speak.

"Duan Feihong, do you have anything to say?"

His face was cold, hands poised like claws, ready to strike at any moment.

Su Jingxing ignored him. What was there to say? He hadn’t done it! If they wanted answers, they should go find that questionable Duan Feihong.

Expressionless, Su Jingxing glanced at Wei Jiajia, signaling her subtly. The first task was done! The terms of their deal required him to act three times; the first was to kill Chen Xiaodao. That much, Su Jingxing had accomplished. As for the process, that was irrelevant—what mattered was that Chen Xiaodao had died by his hand.

Wei Jiajia's face was a complex mask of emotions. She caught his signal, but words failed her. Her mind was in even greater turmoil now. Had her senior brother wiped out the Xiaodao Society? Nearly killed Chen Xiaodao? Was this "senior brother" even real?

With Su Jingxing as an example, Wei Jiajia couldn’t be sure whether the "Duan Feihong" who destroyed the Xiaodao Society was genuine or not. Still, there was one thing she could be certain of: Su Jingxing wasn’t the culprit. After several encounters, she had a fair grasp of his character. He would never help her eliminate the Xiaodao Society unless she offered up the lost art of the Nine Steps.

A myriad of thoughts raced through Wei Jiajia’s mind, but she too chose silence. Su Jingxing didn’t mind. As long as Wei Jiajia had no objections, he was content to stay quiet. As for Old Master Huang... Su Jingxing spared him a glance but said nothing, striding toward Chen Xiaodao’s corpse.

[Corpse detected. Retrieve?]

"Yes!"

"I asked you a question—you’re not leaving!" Old Master Huang, furious at being ignored, leaped at Su Jingxing with clawed hands, like a tiger pouncing down the mountain.

Just as expected!

Su Jingxing gave a cold snort, raised his fist, and struck out with all his might.

Bang!

Fist and claws collided with a muffled boom.

Before anyone else could make sense of the movement, Old Master Huang was already being hurled backwards, unable to control his retreat.

His heavy footsteps left deep imprints in the floorboards.

With a thunderous crash, Old Master Huang, having nowhere left to retreat, slammed into the wall. The entire wall visibly trembled three times. From the ceiling above, dust and debris rained down.

"What in the world..." Wu Shouhan and the others were stunned.

A figure flashed—Qi Zhaozhen, shaken but quick to react, lunged at Su Jingxing.

"You’re not leaving yet!"

He moved like a soaring eagle, his aura surging as he called out in a low growl.

Bang!

Su Jingxing responded in kind, unleashing his full strength with a punch that exploded the air. The force radiated out in a visible shockwave that blasted through the office.

Qi Zhaozhen, taking the blow, felt a tremendous power crash into him. It dissolved his attack and propelled him backwards, his feet carving fresh imprints into the floor. Just before he struck the wall, he let out a low roar, twisted in midair, and kicked against the wall with both feet—"bang, bang"—to absorb the momentum, landing back on the floor, barely steadying himself, his hands still trembling uncontrollably.

By then, Su Jingxing had already leapt out the window. Activating the "Eight Steps Ascending Dragon," his inner strength wrapped around him like a cloak. He scaled the wall with the agility of Spider-Man, using every available surface to quickly distance himself from the building. In moments, he was on the roof next door, then vanished into a nearby alley.

"Impressive!" Wu Shouhan, returning to his senses, watched the direction Su Jingxing had disappeared and couldn’t help but praise, "Duan Feihong has grown even more formidable after all these years."

"Indeed. And I can tell he hasn't even reached sixth grade yet."

"So strong at seventh grade—what would he be like at sixth?"

"That's not certain. Given that Duan Feihong is now the prime suspect, whether he’ll ever reach sixth grade is an open question."

"Right, I nearly forgot—he killed Chen Xiaodao and wiped out the Xiaodao Society!"

"Killing Chen Xiaodao, sure. But as for the Xiaodao Society, that's up for debate."

"Heh. If it wasn’t him, why did he run?"

The group of elders argued endlessly among themselves.

"Hmph!" Old Master Huang, having mostly recovered, listened with growing resentment, his face flushed with anger and humiliation. As a seventh-grade martial artist, he'd been beaten back with a single punch! If the opponent were a sixth-grade martial artist, empowered by true qi, it might be understandable, but during the clash, he’d clearly sensed the other was using only inner strength and brute force.

It was a slap in the face.

By comparison, Qi Zhaozhen fared better. He clenched his fists, forced his hands to stop trembling, took a deep breath to steady himself, and then looked at Wei Jiajia, asking in a solemn voice, "Was that really Duan Feihong?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you mean?" Wu Shouhan raised an eyebrow, also turning to Wei Jiajia. Old Master Huang and the other elders did the same, suspicion in their eyes.

"He..." Wei Jiajia’s body tensed. After a long pause, she finally admitted, "He’s someone I hired, purposely disguised to look like my senior brother."

Wu Shouhan and the others were speechless.

Such a thing was possible?

"What’s his name? Where is he from? Where does he live?" Old Master Huang, startled, pressed for answers.

Wei Jiajia shook her head. "I don't know."

"But you hired him! How could you not know?" Old Master Huang demanded.

"I truly don’t know," Wei Jiajia replied with a bitter smile. "I was able to hire him because he saved me once before. As for his name, what he looks like, or where he lives, I have no idea, and I didn’t dare to ask. Every time we met, he wore a mask."

With things having come to this point, Wei Jiajia dared not keep anything hidden—it wouldn’t stay secret for long anyway. Better to confess now than be hounded by the Martial Authority day and night.

Of course, she left out any mention of the "Eight Steps Ascending Dragon."

"Hmph, always skulking around and hiding his face—obviously suspicious!" Old Master Huang snapped, his face dark.

Qi Zhaozhen remained silent for a moment, then spoke. "We’ll investigate Duan Feihong’s case in due time. For now, you and your brother should stay at the Martial Authority for the next few days."

"Alright!" Wei Jiajia replied quickly, relieved. With matters growing more complicated, staying under the Martial Authority’s protection was, in fact, safer.