Chapter 177: Chapter 176: Secret Battle (Part 4)_1
 

This is…

In that instant, even Lanaia couldn’t help but be stunned.

“It is indeed Sword Intent, but the murderous aura is rather heavy.”

After provoking Fu Qian’s reaction, Li Weixuan commented without any expression on his face.

“Can you tell me which sword you are comprehending?”

This has nothing to do with which sword it was.

Fu Qian thought to himself while trying to calm the reaction in his body.

“Dean…”

Before he could speak, Jian Jingzheng suddenly leaned in and whispered something into Li Weixuan’s ear.

Almost instantly, the latter’s gaze grew sharper.

Fu Qian could probably guess what Jian Jingzheng had said.

Lanaia had already given him the relevant information, and he had naturally looked through it all.

Anyone with a bit of imagination could link the Sword Intent from earlier with the massacre scene in the warehouse.

And Ruan Shuo had been wearing a mask the entire time.

The trap had apparently started even before they got to the Academy.

The assault by Ruan Shuo was partly an attempt to kill him, but its main purpose was to use such abnormal behavior to make himself appear suspicious.

Even his subsequent response was within “its” design, instantly doubling the level of suspicion.

By this time, Li Weixuan had already taken the information handed over by Jian Jingzheng, and after flipping through it for a few moments, his brows furrowed as he looked towards Lanaia.

“A mere Seventh Phase student who has successively killed nearly ten Transcendents, including some from the Middle Tier, isn’t that a bit strange?”

“The strength Ruan Shuo exhibited did indeed far exceed his own realm.”

Lanaia had no choice but to take Li Weixuan’s opinion seriously and immediately explained.

“However, we caught Ruan Shuo at the scene of the crime, where he had already wounded several people and even attempted to ambush Fu Qian, seeming somewhat insane.”

“Insane…”

Li Weixuan repeated softly, then turned to look at Fu Qian.

“So he didn’t even try to flee but instead attempted to ambush you? That’s indeed irrationally crazy.”

“Actually, I am also curious, how did Professor Fu know that Ruan Shuo’s next target was you?”

Jian Jingzheng chimed in from the side as well.

This really is a problem, isn’t it!

Lanaia couldn’t help but glance sideways, Fu Qian’s earlier explanation was the intuition of a swordsman, which obviously couldn’t serve as a reason now.

“In my view, there are many doubts in this matter, and it is not suitable to jump to conclusions hastily.”

Li Weixuan’s expression looking at Fu Qian was already quite unfriendly.

“If possible, I would like to invite the two of you to accompany me to the committee.”

This…

Lanaia looked up, her intuition still leaned toward Fu Qian’s side.

It wasn’t that they were close, but in the short time they had been in contact, Fu Qian had made an impressively deep impression.

It made her feel that even if he wanted to commit murder, he wouldn’t stoop to something so complicated.

However, intuition couldn’t serve as evidence, and the situation now was undoubtedly quite unfavorable for Fu Qian.

Why did you have to go so hard!

Lanaia sighed inwardly, although the final blow was delivered by her, Ruan Shuo had undoubtedly already been beyond saving at the time.

What had been a very straightforward situation—the perpetrator caught at the scene of the crime—just needed them to hang on to their last breath, and there were plenty of ways to confirm it.

It really is all linked together!

Watching Li Weixuan in front of him, with a hint of murderous intent, Fu Qian felt a sense of regret in his heart.

It seemed he had still underestimated “its” caliber.

Although it had previously given the impression of a wild beast, by leveraging the invisible control over the members of the Swarm, that thing undoubtedly possessed a high strategical capability, effortlessly setting perfect traps.

With just a few simple actions of Li Weixuan and Ruan Shuo, he found himself almost unable to clear his suspicion.

Last time I felt this way was when I was capturing Evil Omen in Xi Yuan City.

In fact, this time might be even worse, since I’ve already become a part of the Swarm.

Making a move to kill Ruan Shuo without living witnesses, the influence of “it” might not have been absent in that action of mine.

Looking at Li Weixuan in front of me, Fu Qian had no doubt about his determination.

What just happened was less of a suggestion and more of a command.

Under the current circumstances, being suspected as the mastermind behind the scenes would undoubtedly drastically limit one’s actions.

Especially because of the Sword Intent of slaughter on my person, clearing my suspicion was almost impossible.

What a headache!

“Alright!”

Fu Qian nodded in agreement.

There were no other options under the circumstances, and not going with Li Weixuan likely meant he would take immediate action.

Not to mention the multitude of experts at the Academy, it has already been proven that physical destruction is useless.

Though this trap is poisonous, “it” has overlooked one thing.

In its attempt to destroy my sanity earlier, “it” subjected me to a crazed Sword Intent assault, which, while exceedingly painful, also yielded some gains for me.

For instance, each shift in Sword Intent represented a transition of old and new, and after thousands of such experiences, I, Fu Qian, had vaguely grasped something.

As someone who has never used a sword, Sword Intent was forcibly instilled into me, and the integration wasn’t so tight.

If “it” can instill it in me, there’s no reason I can’t try to strip it away in reverse.

Just need to get to the Academy, where once they can’t find the Sword Intent of slaughter on me, things will be much easier to handle.

“Then let’s head over immediately.”

Seeing Fu Qian’s agreement, Li Weixuan did not hesitate and directly signaled for Lanaia to leave; even Jian Jingzheng followed suit.

Walking in the middle, Fu Qian turned back and saw the look in Lanaia’s eyes, both worried and relieved.

Are you worried that if I don’t cooperate, we’ll end up fighting? It seems my reputation has made a strong impression!

Fu Qian chuckled inwardly and began trying to strip the Sword Intent from his body.

Almost instantly, he felt the integration loosening.

Wait a minute!

Just as he was about to proceed further, Fu Qian stopped.

Something isn’t right! There’s a problem with “myself”!

He looked at Lanaia again, realizing he had overlooked something.

Her reaction just now was undoubtedly based on her knowledge of my personality.

In her view, facing such accusations, even if innocent, I might very well be uncooperative.

This stereotype stemmed from my previous behavior, which, to be fair, is quite accurate.

But when I was being questioned just now, my first reaction was to clear the suspicion, which is out of character for me!

Every event that had happened before flashed quickly through my mind, and I realized the true purpose of “it”.

The trap “it” designed wasn’t to make me unable to clear my name even if I jumped into the Yellow River, but to make me voluntarily detach from the Sword Intent!

From what happened before, “it” can bombard me with a massive flow of Sword Intent, but it can’t cut off the established connection.

This connection is extremely solid—unless I take the initiative.

By forcing me into a corner by all means, then deliberately revealing a flaw, it gave me a way to detach from the Sword Intent.

If I’m not mistaken, with just a bit more effort just now, “it” would’ve gladly withdrawn the Sword Intent that had been instilled into me.

Once detached from the Swarm, I would no longer pose a threat to “it”.

Then I would be faced directly with the situation as before, destined to die.

Detaching from the Sword Intent would mean losing the threat, such an obvious issue and yet I had been completely unaware just moments ago.

Indeed, “it” can warp the perception of every individual in the Swarm, including my own.

Lucky for me, opting to be a real man has left a deep impression on Lanaia.

“That’s right, I killed the person.”

Fu Qian suddenly stopped in his tracks.