Huo Feng and his group of four arrived outside the imposing walls of Heaven Dou City. Although night had fallen, covering the world in a blanket of darkness, the city gate remained bustling. Lanterns hung high, casting a warm, inviting glow that illuminated the lively scene.
Near the city gate, a large crowd had gathered in front of a wooden notice board. The murmurs of the people created a low hum of curiosity that immediately caught Ning Rongrong's attention.
She skipped over to the notice board, her movements light and graceful, and peered at the parchment pinned to the wood. "A wanted poster?" Ning Rongrong pouted slightly, clearly unimpressed. "How boring. I thought it was something fun. Come on, I'll take you guys to a good place later!"
At this moment, Huo Feng, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing also walked over. Huo Feng's casual glance swept over the poster, but his eyes widened almost imperceptibly as he read the description.
Isn't this Yu Xiaogang?!
The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. Others might not know the details, but he knew very well. The famous Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang, was indeed a member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, though an exiled one.
The poster detailed a theft of 500,000 gold coins from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. This perfectly matched the sudden, unexplained wealth Yu Xiaogang had flaunted a while ago. But the most conclusive piece of evidence was the final detail: the suspect had only one arm.
Besides Yu Xiaogang, who else could it be? Huo Feng had personally witnessed the gruesome scene in the Star Dou Forest where Tang San, in a moment of desperation and madness, had cut off Yu Xiaogang's arm.
It had been some time since the wanted poster was issued, but it seemed no one had yet connected the dots to the "Grandmaster" currently residing in the prestigious Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Although Huo Feng was internally shaken by this serendipitous discovery, his facial expression remained relatively calm. He needed to spread this news. It was too good an opportunity to pass up. However, it couldn't be obvious that he was the one behind the leak.
"Shall we go, Huo Feng?" Ning Rongrong's cheerful voice called out from ahead. The three girls had already passed through the city gate, eager to explore.
"Coming!" Huo Feng responded with a smile.
As he turned to leave, he casually swiped a loose flyer of the wanted poster from the edge of the board. With a sleight of hand, he placed it into his Spirit Tool storage ring. Then, he quickly caught up with the girls.
Led by an enthusiastic Ning Rongrong, the four of them played and explored the vibrant night markets of Heaven Dou City for two full hours before finally returning to the academy.
By the time they arrived back at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, it was already late at night. The campus was quiet, bathed in moonlight.
As Huo Feng walked past the building where the teachers resided, he spotted Flender's open window. With a flick of his wrist and perfect timing, he sent the flyer drifting through the window on a gentle breeze. It landed softly, right on Flender's face.
Inside, Flender groaned groggily, peeling the paper off his face. "What the..."
After realizing it was a wanted poster, he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and examined it carefully under the dim light of his lamp. His gaze shifted from annoyance to confusion, and finally to shock in just over ten seconds.
The suspect described on the wanted poster... it was an exact match for Yu Xiaogang. The missing arm, the clan connection, the timing of the funds. It all fit.
After sitting in silence for half an hour, wrestling with his conscience and his greed, Flender made a bold decision. He had originally planned to hold a meeting in the next two days to formally expel Yu Xiaogang and his troublesome disciple, Tang San, from the academy to save face. But now, the appearance of this wanted poster suddenly gave him another, more profitable idea.
He would personally report Yu Xiaogang to the authorities.
After all, 100,000 gold coins was not a small sum, even for a Spirit Saint like him. It was enough to fund the academy for years. However, he clearly couldn't decide on such a major betrayal alone. Therefore, Flender went next door and dragged a sleepy Zhao Wuji into his room in the middle of the night.
The two veteran teachers discussed the matter in hushed tones. Soon, their views aligned. They would go to Heaven Dou City first thing tomorrow morning to claim the reward on the wanted poster. Loyalty was important, but Yu Xiaogang had brought nothing but trouble, and 100,000 gold coins was a lot of loyalty.
What Flender didn't realize was that the communal toilet for this courtyard was situated right next to his room, separated by a thin wall. And Tang San, who was unfortunately suffering from a bout of diarrhea in the middle of the night, happened to be in that very toilet.
He heard everything.
Tang San sat there, enduring the foul smell, his face pale not just from illness but from fear. He stayed there for over half an hour, waiting until the voices next door died down and he heard the rhythmic snoring that indicated Flender had fallen asleep again. Then, he quietly crept back to the room he shared with Yu Xiaogang.
He shook his teacher awake. "Teacher, wake up! We have to leave. Now."
Yu Xiaogang, who had been sleeping heavily, instantly sobered up as Tang San recounted what he had just heard in urgent whispers.
In just one minute, Yu Xiaogang made a bold decision. It was clear that he and his disciple could no longer stay at Heaven Dou Royal Academy. If they stayed until morning, they would be arrested.
"We run," Yu Xiaogang hissed. "Tonight."
After simply packing a few essential items, Yu Xiaogang and Tang San slipped out of their room and left the academy grounds, moving like shadows in the night.
Tang San then realized something shocking—his teacher could run surprisingly fast without his wheelchair when his life depended on it!
By the time they ran out of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's territory, the sky was beginning to lighten. It was almost dawn.
Panting heavily, Yu Xiaogang made another decision. "We go to Heaven Dou City."
"The city?" Tang San asked, confused. "Isn't that where the wanted posters are?"
"As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest place," Yu Xiaogang replied, his eyes gleaming with desperate cunning. "They will expect us to flee to the wilderness. They won't look for us right under their noses. The effect of 'darkness under the lamp' is exactly what we need."
Yu Xiaogang brought Tang San to the outskirts of Heaven Dou City. Just as the two of them were about to enter the city gate, blending in with the early morning farmers and merchants, they saw the notice board.
It was that wanted poster.
However, Yu Xiaogang was now disguised. He wore a heavy cloak and had even managed to rig a crude prosthetic limb from a sturdy branch and some cloth, attaching it to his shoulder to fill out his silhouette. The people around him would never have imagined that the one-armed fugitive on the poster was standing right next to them.
On the notice board, right next to his warrant, there was another large announcement that caught his eye:
"HIRING!"
"Lanba Advanced Spirit Master Academy, due to expansion, is now seeking to hire the following personnel:"
"Ten Spirit Ancestors with Spirit Power above level 40!"
"Those with higher Spirit Power will be given priority. Once hired, excellent benefits will be provided!"
"Also, two cleaners needed, no Spirit Power requirement!"
Seeing this news, Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but be surprised. "How did this academy's advertisement get to the city gate notice board? That's prime real estate."
"Teacher, do you know this place?" Tang San asked quietly.
"No," Yu Xiaogang muttered. "What kind of academy is this Lanba Advanced Spirit Master Academy? I've never heard of it before."
Besides Yu Xiaogang and Tang San, there were many other people gathering around the notice board as the city woke up. Although most people's attention was on the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's wanted poster and the massive reward, some were looking at Lanba Academy's recruitment advertisement.
Just then, a middle-aged man standing nearby overheard Yu Xiaogang's mutterings and chimed in.
"Advanced Spirit Master Academies that can operate within Heaven Dou City all have a certain background," the man explained knowledgeable. "Although I don't know the specific backer of this Lanba Academy, they aren't pushovers. In the previous Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Competition, during the Heaven Dou City qualifiers, it was this academy that eliminated one of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's two competing teams."
"However," the man continued, shaking his head, "that batch of students from Lanba Academy has already graduated this year. And Heaven Dou Academy's Royal Fight Team this year is much stronger than it was during the last tournament. I heard they even brought in a group of very mysterious students, all of whom are very powerful. It's estimated that Lanba won't have much of a chance this time around."
Yu Xiaogang frowned slightly, intrigued. "What is the scale of this Lanba Academy?"
The person replied, "It's about one-third the size of Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Although the scale is smaller, they operate right here within the city limits. Their expenses won't be less than Heaven Dou Royal Academy's; it's just that they don't have a royal background."
"I heard that this academy's teaching is very rigorous," another bystander added. "And it has a unique characteristic: it only accepts commoner students, rejecting all nobles. If it didn't have a strong background protecting it, it would be impossible for such a rule to exist in Heaven Dou City."
After the man finished speaking, he turned and melted into the crowd.
Although Yu Xiaogang still wanted to ask more detailed questions, the source of information was gone. The others around the board seemed to have no interest in him, focused on their own affairs.
"Commoners only..." Yu Xiaogang murmured, a plan forming in his mind. "Rigorous teaching... This might be exactly what we need."
Since they had nowhere else to go, he decided to see for himself what this Lanba Academy was all about.
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