Having left the scene in a hurry, Ren Hao moved swiftly through the outskirts, making his way far from the wreckage. He needed to get away—from the explosion, from the blood, from the fire. From the decision.
But just as he vanished into the trees…
Someone else stepped out from the ruins.
Had Ren Hao seen him, he would've been anything but pleased.
Jun Fen—an instructor of the Stone Path Hall—walked calmly out from the destroyed building. Unlike the bloodied bodies around him, the man had only minor scratches on his pale face and a few tears in his dark, flowing robes. His long black hair drifted in the wind, unbothered. He didn't look afraid. Or angry. Or even surprised.
He looked thoughtful.
"Hmm… so, the institute finally started attacking Jiang clan assets," he murmured aloud, eyes roaming over the scorched storefronts. The Poison Heart Shop had been annihilated, and several neighboring buildings were reduced to flaming wrecks.
"This must be the work of blisterbombs," he muttered. "Lu Heng must be serious."
He glanced once more at the destruction behind him. "Hmph… time to schedule some meetings."
Without another word, Jun Fen vanished into the shadows. Several guards and civilians attempted to stop him—shouting, chasing, trying to identify him. But they were far too slow.
They didn't even see his face.
---
Elsewhere, Ren Hao waited.
He sat quietly on a low outcropping, nestled just off the road that led back to the institute—a spot he and Lin Shu had agreed to meet at if they got separated.
"I should wait… in case he survived," Ren Hao muttered, arms crossed. "Still, I don't have much hope. He was way too close to my bomb. It went off too early..."
He fell silent for a moment, staring out toward the forest path, then scowled.
"Although… when I saw Jun Fen, I got carried away. I let my hate take over. But… why was he there?"
His brow furrowed.
"We weren't told anyone else would be sent. No reinforcements. No observers. And why did he come out of one of the VIP rooms upstairs? Those are usually reserved for special Jiang guests. If he were just scouting, he wouldn't be up there…"
A sickening realization began to creep into his thoughts.
"Wait... was he undercover? No, that wouldn't make sense. If he was, why wouldn't the institute tell us? Why send us to a place he was spying on?"
His eyes widened.
"...He's a spy."
A wicked grin stretched across his face.
"Hahahaha... wouldn't that be something? If I accidentally killed a spy for the Jiang clan, I could get a massive reward from the institute. I just need proof. If Jun Fen hid the fact that he was there, or went without permission… I could use that. Lu Heng just needs to hear the right words."
Ren Hao's mind raced with possibilities, his future painted in ambition and personal gain.
But his thoughts were interrupted.
He felt it—a flicker of Qi. A ripple in the air.
Then—a streak of lightning tore through the forest.
A bolt slammed toward him.
Ren Hao's reflexes kicked in. He rolled to the side, evading the crackling strike. His eyes shot toward the source—and what he saw made his blood run cold.
A figure emerged, shirtless and limping, his pants torn, his body a tapestry of burns and slowly healing wounds. His jaw was half-sealed with scabbing flesh. His eyes burned—not with pain, but fury.
Lin Shu.
Ren Hao's mouth twitched. "…Lin Shu—wait. I can explain what happened, alright?!"
The boy didn't speak. Bone blades began to pierce from the back of his hands. Lightning crackled and danced across them. His silence was far louder than a threat.
"…Sure," Lin Shu said coldly. "Go ahead."
Ren Hao swallowed and began.
"Okay. I didn't have a choice. Listen: while you were in the bathroom, someone came out of one of the upstairs VIP rooms. It was Instructor Jun Fen. Yeah. From our own institute."
Lin Shu's eyes narrowed, but he remained silent.
"I was shocked. That mission was supposed to be top secret. Important. And here comes Jun Fen, casually walking out from upstairs like he belongs there."
Ren Hao took a breath, watching Lin Shu's face.
"I didn't understand why he was there. It was dangerous for him to be near that bomb, especially since these blisterbombs can even injure peak-stage Rank 1 cultivators. I saw him with other Jiang clan people too—important-looking ones. That's when I remembered what the instructors said… about a possible spy in the institute."
"I thought—maybe Jun Fen's the one. Maybe he's the spy."
Ren Hao spread his hands. "Even if he wasn't, I couldn't risk it. The mission had to succeed."
He continued.
"So as soon as I saw you coming out, I calculated that you'd need around four seconds to reach the door. More than enough time. I'd activate the bomb, toss it, and we'd both make it out together."
"But…"
He looked away, grimacing.
"…The bomb was faulty. It went off at three seconds. Not five. That's why it caught you in the blast. I can assure you that everything i said is the truth."
Ren Hao fell silent, waiting.
Lin Shu didn't say a word.
Lightning still danced across his body. His bone-blades still glinted.
But now—his mind was calculating. Weighing Ren Hao's words.
And what would he do with the answer.
Lin Shu stood silently, eyes locked onto Ren Hao as his Qi began to settle. The crackle of lightning around him faded, though the bone blades at his wrists still glinted faintly in the low light.
He wasn't about to make a decision based on words alone.
"I have no grudge against him," Lin Shu thought coldly, scanning Ren Hao's every twitch, every shift in expression. "So there's no personal motive. No hatred. And there's no one I've angered recently who would bother paying someone like him to kill me. Which means… there's no clear reason for him to betray me."
His expression didn't change.
"But just because there's no reason doesn't mean I should trust him. Not yet. I'll have to find out the truth when we're back at the mine."
He turned around without a word, his feet crunching softly against the earth as he stepped onto the road. His body still ached. His jaw was still split open. But he moved with steady purpose—he had to leave. Fast. If any trace of his Qi remained at the site, if any cultivator came hunting with a scent-tracking technique, staying in the area could be a death sentence.
Behind him, Ren Hao waited a few seconds, watching closely.
Lin Shu didn't turn back.
Only then did Ren Hao exhale and begin following.
His fingers slid discreetly toward his sleeves. With practiced ease, he retrieved the two slender knives hidden beneath them—just in case. The boy might have accepted his explanation, but Ren Hao wasn't about to leave things to chance.
He was already prepared to subdue Lin Shu if it came to that. Or kill him—if necessary.
After all, one could not forget the facts.
Ren Hao had taken a far higher spot than Lin Shu in the entrance tournament all those months ago. Back then, his strength had been only slightly below that of Xie Lang—and since then, he'd grown. Sharpened. Refined.
But even with that, he wasn't arrogant enough to underestimate Lin Shu now.
The boy survived a blisterbomb explosion. That alone was terrifying. From what Ren Hao had seen of the blast, even if it went off early, it should've been enough to tear through someone of Lin Shu's previous level like paper.
Yet he lived.
That meant he possessed an extremely powerful defensive technique. Possibly a high-tier Rank 1 art, maybe even beyond that.
Ren Hao's eyes narrowed as he followed silently behind. "Better not to provoke him. Not unless there's no choice."
Still, the tension in his shoulders slowly loosened.
At least, he thought, Lin Shu turned out to be a reasonable person—not someone ruled by blind emotion. That makes him dangerous, yes… but also useful.
And together, they vanished down the road, two weapons sheathed in silence—each with their own thoughts, their own calculations, their own quiet edge.