The next morning, Chang Xinkuan came to find Tang Jie, bringing good news.
Lin Xudu had agreed.
Guided by Chang Xinkuan, the three of them headed straight to Cloudflow Academy.
Cloudflow Academy was located at the base of the Cloudflow Mountains, on the outskirts of Shangquan City. The Cloudflow Sect was located atop the mountains, and it was from them that it got its name.
Carrying on the usual style of Immortal sects, Cloudflow Academy did not mix with the common folk, though it was much less impressive than Basking Moon Academy, which had created an entire mountain range for its school. It had simply occupied a field at the base of the mountain for its school grounds.
When the trio arrived, they saw an estate of gray bricks and glazed tiles. It couldn’t compare to the grandeur of Basking Moon Academy, but it had the delicate refinement of a small sect. A large field of spirit grains had been planted around the academy, and only invited farmers were allowed to farm these fields.
In front of the academy was a towering archway upon which the name “Cloudflow Academy” had been written.
A teacher from the academy was already waiting under the archway. Upon seeing the trio, he clasped his fist in his hand and said, “Sun Baoran pays respects to the students from the upper sect.”
Chang Xinkuan said to Tang Jie, “This is Sun Baoran, a Mortal Shedding Realm Nine Revolutions expert. He is the headmaster of Cloudflow Academy.”
When Tang Jie learned this, he stepped forward. “I pay my respects to Headmaster Sun. Please forgive us for the trouble.”
Sun Baoran chuckled. “It’s fine, fine. Although Lin Lang was a student of my academy, treason can never be tolerated. If there is any place you need to investigate, please say so, and we will do our utmost to cooperate.”
After exchanging pleasantries, Sun Baoran led them into the academy.
As they passed through the archway, they followed a path of gray bricks deep into the school. There were countless small buildings concealed on the sides, and the place was rather quiet and peaceful.
Several students sauntered on the main avenue of the academy, wearing the azure robes of the academy, with a white cloud embroidered on their sleeves and collars.
When they saw the trio wearing moon-white robes, they couldn’t help but gawk and point. In terms of atmosphere, it was rather peaceful.
Once they arrived at a small, black building, Sun Baoran stopped. “This is where the records of our Cloudflow students are stored. Please enter.”
As they entered the record pavilion, Sun Baoran clapped his hands. A female student came over and asked, “Headmaster, what do you need?”
“These are students from Basking Moon Academy. Mo’er, take out all the information on the students of the same class as Lin Lang for them to review.”
The female student glanced at Tang Jie’s group before assenting and going to get the information.
Chang Xinkuan saw that everything was going fine, so he laughed and said, “Old Sun, let these kids get on with their business. Let’s go and share a drink.”
“Hmm, a good idea!” Sun Baoran chuckled. After telling that student Mo’er to take good care of Tang Jie’s group, he walked off with Chang Xinkuan.
As Chang Xinkuan left, he shot a glance at Tang Jie, as if he was saying, “I’ve done my job. The rest is up to you.”
A few moments later, Mo’er came back with the files.
Shi Meng was rather dazzled when he saw the thick stack of papers. He asked Tang Jie, “We’re looking through all of them?”
“That won’t be necessary. Let’s pick out the files of the students who were on good terms with Lin Lang first, then anyone who had a grudge against him. In any case, we need to check everyone that had a relationship with him.”
Tang Jie’s group already had some understanding of Lin Lang, so they started with his close relations.
After a little while, Wei Tianchong started to feel dizzy. He finally shouted, “Tang Jie, let’s take a break.”
“You’ve hit your limit?” Tang Jie asked, raising his head.
“This is really too boring. I can’t stand it,” Wei Tianchong said with an apologetic smile.
“Let’s do this,” Tang Jie said after some thought. “Since you’re tired, why not leave this to me while you two go and do something else?”
“Okay, okay!” Wei Tianchong excitedly said. “I’ll do whatever you say.”
He was willing to do anything as long as it wasn’t reading all these files.
“Then, Young Master, please take a trip to Wanxin Village and look into that fox problem for me. What about it?”
“No problem! Leave it to me.” Wei Tianchong thumped his chest. Although Tang Jie was the one who had taken the mission, Tang Jie was working so hard for his sake that he didn’t feel right not helping him out.
“Then it’s settled. Just go over there and gather some information, but don’t strike! If there’s danger, just run and have the puppet hold the rear for you. Nothing is more important than your life,” Tang Jie ordered.
According to the reports, that fiend fox had just entered the lower grade, so Wei Tianchong was strong enough to deal with it. But Tang Jie still couldn’t rest easy and didn’t want him to do it alone. He was having him head off to Wanxin Village primarily so that he could temper himself.
After giving Wei Tianchong his task, Tang Jie turned to Shi Meng and said, “Shi Meng, take a walk around the academy and get in touch with students from Lin Lang’s class. Question these people. They were all once good friends of Lin Lang.”
Tang Jie gave Shi Meng a list.
“Alright.” Shi Meng took the list and left.
Once the two of them were gone, Tang Jie continued to peruse the files alone. That student called Mo’er sent over lunch, and he continued to read in the study as he ate, occasionally jotting a few things down.
Mo’er finally couldn’t restrain her curiosity and asked, “Will you really be able to find out where Lin Lang is with this? Or is this how all the students of Basking Moon Academy do things?”
Tang Jie raised his head and saw that girl curiously blinking at him.
Tang Jie laughed. “This is just my own habit. To catch someone, it’s not enough to just know him… You also have to understand the people around him.”
“And why is that?” Mo’er didn’t get it.
“Because nobody can survive alone… especially… someone young, who suddenly had their clan massacred. These people will very naturally seek out people who they can trust to help them. I would like to see if I can find out who this person is.”
“Then did you find anything?”
Tang Jie sighed and shook his head. “These files primarily record information on the students, but they don’t say anything about the relations between them. It seems like I’ve picked the wrong method.”
“So doesn’t that mean you wasted an entire day?” Mo’er asked in shock.
Tang Jie smiled. “It can’t be considered a complete waste. Useful clues are founded on a base of numerous useless clues.”
He stood up. “Alright, that’s it for today.” He peered into the inner room and asked Mo’er, “Right, is there other information stored here?”
“Yes,” Mo’er answered.
“Can I go in and take a look?” Tang Jie asked.
“This…”
Tang Jie added, “All these students share the same academy, and their circle of acquaintances isn’t necessarily restricted to students of the same year. Lin Lang might also have friends in another class that know where he is.”
“But you said just now that there was nothing…” Before she could finish, Tang Jie had already entered the inner room.
The girl didn’t know how to handle him. She wanted to call him back, but she ultimately didn’t dare and just followed him in.
Tang Jie was strolling around the record pavilion.
This was where the records of Cloudflow Academy were stored, and this wasn’t restricted to just student files. There were also secret incident reports and correspondences. Outsiders usually weren’t allowed in, but Tang Jie had waltzed right in.
Mo’er was frantic. As she anxiously peered outside, she said, “Young Master Tang, you can’t come inside here. If you need something, I can get it for you, but if the headmaster sees you here, it will be bad.”
“I can only know what I want when I see it. How can I make myself clear with just words?” Tang Jie lazily replied as he pulled out a book and flipped through it.
He didn’t find anything interesting in it, so he put it back and pulled out another.
Mo’er anxiously said, “You should hurry and get out. If the headmaster finds out, I’ll also get in trouble.”
“Isn’t it fine if he just never finds out? Keep an eye on the entrance, and if the headmaster comes, just let me know. Relax; I won’t cause you any trouble,” Tang Jie casually replied.
He took out another book, his eyes flying across the pages.
The girl was at a loss. All she could do was stand at the door and keep watch, fearful that the headmaster really would come back.
Tang Jie continued to browse, and finally, his gaze was drawn to a certain book.
Tang Jie took out the book, flipped through it, and muttered, “Finally found it!”
At this moment, Mo’er shouted, “The headmaster is coming back with more people.”
Tang Jie quickly put the book back, came out of the inner room, and looked out the entrance.
What he saw alarmed him.
The people with Sun Baoran were wearing the clothes of Basking Moon students, and they seemed to be several years above him. They quickly walked over, and while he found the face of their leader rather familiar, he couldn’t quite remember who it was.
It turned out that there were other people who had come here to find the truth.
But as they had come a step later, they had been able to use the road Tang Jie had paved to gain access to Cloudflow Academy. For Cloudflow Academy, letting in one was the same as letting in a few more, so it had not made things difficult.
Tang Jie immediately knew that this was bad. He went back to his desk, grabbed a book from the thick stack, and ripped out a few pages.
Mo’er was scared out of her wits. “What are you doing?”
“I have other business, so I’ll be going!” Tang Jie replied, and then he opened the window and jumped out.
Just as Tang Jie was running away, Sun Baoran arrived. He smiled at Mo’er and said, “Mo’er, this is Young Master Ye Tianshang, a student of Basking Moon, a senior of the fifth year who is at the Spirit Sea Tier. These are his classmates. They’ve also come investigating Lin Lang’s case. Why don’t you call out Young Master Tang’s group so they can introduce themselves?”
He looked inside the pavilion and found the place empty. “Where are Young Master Tang and the others?” he asked in surprise.
Mo’er answered, “Young Master Wei and the other one had business, so they left first. Young Master Tang was here just moments ago, but when he saw you coming over, he inexplicably pushed open the window and ran off.”
“What?” the Basking Moon students blurted out in unison.
Their leader was a tall man with a cold and aloof face, fitting into the archetype of the cool and stylish young man. This was the Ye Tianshang that Sun Baoran had come to introduce. When he heard Mo’er’s words, he pushed her aside and strode into the room. He looked around and noticed that one of the books had pages torn from it. He grabbed that book and inspected it, and then he sternly said, “He took away some pages. He must have found something!”
A student pointed at the window and shouted, “Senior Ye, he left through there!”
“After him!” Ye Tianshang shouted, and his group immediately jumped out of the window in pursuit.