Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Reaction
At the crime scene,
Liu Ming’s phone suddenly lit up.
His hands, which were in the middle of an examination, paused. He stood up, walked over to a nearby sink to wash the blood from his hands, wiped them on a rag, then ducked under the police tape to step outside. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and glanced at it.
"Brother Ming, what happened?"
There was no contact name saved.
’Probably someone I added but never spoke to.’
He glanced at his account, confirmed it was the one dedicated to the organization, and typed a reply:
"Who is this?"
"I’m Su Yu."
The reply came quickly.
Hearing it was Su Yu, Liu Ming nodded in understanding.
These days, everyone in the special department knew the name Su Yu.
Even though Su Yu was still a rookie with a very low realm, his Sequencer ranking was extremely high, and he was expected to play a crucial role in the events about to unfold in the Capital City. Thus, his fame had not only spread throughout the Cang City special department but had even reached the Capital.
"The Spiritual Sect has made a move in the southwest of Cang City."
"Last night, two bodies were found in a worshipping pose. They had both undergone a ’dirty rite’ at the hands of the Spiritual Sect."
"Didn’t Senior Li Yu go to northern Cang City to deal with the Spiritual Sect? How can they have people in the southwest too?"
Su Yu’s brow furrowed. His hands typed rapidly on his phone, the TAP-TAP-TAP of the keys echoing in the small room.
"I don’t know either."
"But that’s the reality. The Spiritual Sect is much larger than we thought. We need to be prepared."
On the other end, Liu Ming was also frowning, clearly fed up with the Spiritual Sect. Not all of their members possessed Extraordinary powers; a large portion were just ordinary citizens, making them impossible to guard against.
Su Yu took a breath and continued typing, "What about the killer this time?"
"We’ve only found the killer for one of the bodies. The other is still at large. It’s just that..."
"Just what?"
"It’s just that the killer we found was also a corpse. They were split in two by some sharp object. The cut was incredibly clean and neat. The killer’s skill is clearly superb."
’Extremely skilled?’
A person suddenly came to Su Yu’s mind. He hurriedly typed, "Can you tell what kind of weapon was used? Was it a Sequencer?"
"It’s hard to tell what the weapon was. Possibly a sword."
"But we’re sure they must be a Sequencer, around the peak of Tier One. An ordinary person couldn’t make such a clean and decisive slash."
"Understood."
After sending his reply, Su Yu shut off his phone, casually tossed it onto his bed, and pinched the bridge of his nose hard, his mind racing to process the information.
’A sword...’
’It couldn’t be my brother.’
’My brother is just an ordinary person, not a Sequencer.’
’Besides, that Tier One Sequencer’s realm is already about the same as my own.’
After pinching the bridge of his nose, Su Yu leaned back on his bed. He stared at the lightbulb on the ceiling and muttered to himself:
"Not only has a Spiritualist appeared nearby, but now there’s a wild Tier One Sequencer too."
"Why does it feel like a storm is brewing?"
...
In the Sword Hall’s training hall,
Su Xing sat alone, waiting for the Sword Dao class to begin.
He sipped the chrysanthemum tea before him, his mind sifting through the events of the last two days. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice when he took a sip and started chewing on one of the chrysanthemum flowers.
Time trickled by.
A student walked up to Su Xing and gently patted him, snapping him out of his daze.
Su Xing turned to see a cute girl, a little over five feet tall with long hair, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. He had a vague impression of her; he thought her name was Liu Shiyu. She was very well-behaved, frail, and timid.
Su Xing had never understood why a girl like her would want to learn the sword.
Su Xing was always kind to his well-behaved students, so he offered an apologetic smile and spoke.
"Sorry, I was spacing out. Is everyone else here?"
Liu Shiyu timidly replied, "Everyone who’s coming is here, Coach Su. It’s just that... a lot of people didn’t come today."
"A lot of people didn’t come?"
Su Xing was taken aback. This had never happened before.
A Sword Dao class wasn’t cheap; almost no one would be willing to waste a lesson. Plus, most of the students were kids, and even if they didn’t want to come, their parents would force them. After all, money doesn’t grow on trees.
"Go on and join the others."
"Okay, Coach Su."
Seeing Liu Shiyu trot back to her place in small, shuffling steps, Su Xing placed his hands on his knees, pushed himself to his feet, and walked to the front of the students, who were arranged in four rows. One glance was all it took to see that at least half of them were absent. There was no need for a headcount.
"Does anyone know why they didn’t come?"
Su Xing scanned the students who had shown up and posed the question.
Many of the students glanced at each other and shook their heads. Only one boy raised his hand and said:
"Um... Coach Su, one of the students told me that their parents aren’t letting them come anymore."
Hearing the boy’s words, a girl also raised her hand. She was sturdy and tan, not looking much like a typical girl. She spoke up:
"My parents didn’t want me to come this morning either."
"They said it’s dangerous around here. There are a lot of videos online, and it was on the news or something, about a murder case nearby."
Hearing this, the other students were visibly stunned. Their parents apparently didn’t follow the news closely, so they had missed the story that had broken early this morning.
"Alright, alright. If it’s your parents’ decision, then that’s that. When class is over, I want all of you to have your parents pick you up. No one is to go home alone, understand?"
"Understood!"
Hearing the students’ reply, Su Xing gave a helpless smile.
’I can’t believe what happened yesterday is already affecting my daily life. If the students stop coming, am I going to be unemployed?’
"Today, we’re going to learn the ’thrust.’ But before we do, I need to pick a few of you to demonstrate the ’slash’ we learned yesterday."
"Ah?!"
Hearing there would be a spot check,
some of the boys let out cries of agony.
Spot checks.
The one thing students always hated most.
But they were a coach’s favorite, as they could both test the students’ progress and provide a justifiable excuse to slack off. It was simply the best of both worlds.
After the spot check, Su Xing taught some more theory and movements, then let the students practice on their own.
Time passed leisurely.
The class drew to a close.
Su Xing stood before the students, slid a heavy sword made of pure iron back into its Sword Scabbard, and leaned against a nearby sword rack.
As his strength grew, Su Xing had found himself less accustomed to the light, fast blades. Only these heavy swords felt right in his hands anymore.
He waved his hand.
"Class dismissed. Hurry up and call your parents to pick you up. Don’t run off on your own!"
"Okay, goodbye, Coach!"
[Narrated a Sword Dao class.]
[Sword Dao Points +1]
