140 A Study of Blood Words 2 (1/2)
”Well, there are two possibilities.” Ye Qingxuan held up two fingers. ”The first is that the Professor followed the traitor like a ghost. The traitor didn’t notice him at all and revealed all his minions and channels while escaping, providing clues for the Professor. In the end, the Professor followed the traitor into this safe house and killed him.”
”Then what’s the second one?”
”The second one is scarier. The Professor knew early on that the traitor would hide here.” Ye Qingxuan sighed. ”Maybe the guy begged for help at the police station, ran all the way back here to hide, and then he turned around…and realized that the Professor had been waiting here all this time.”
”So which one is it?”
”I don’t know.” Ye Qingxuan shrugged. ”I’m not a bug living on the Professor. How would I know? But either one is scary enough.”
Bai Xi’s expression fell. ”So you discovered all that, but it’s useless, so what’s the point?”
”No evidence is useless.” Squatting in the center of the room, Ye Qingxuan gazed around. ”It’ll be easier to deduce once we know the pre-conditions. We know that, no matter how the Professor entered, the traitor was terrified…”
What would the Professor do to someone that betrayed and almost killed him? Cut him to pieces? No, that was too bloody and not the Professor’s style. Threaten him? No, that was too simple. The horror of being threatened was nothing compared to physical pain. Threaten his family? But someone as lowly as the traitor was most likely a poor bachelor with no family. Even if he had family, the Professor would probably bring them here and make him watch his family die before his eyes.
Then what did the Professor do in those short minutes that suited his viper-like personality? Did he simply just burn the man? But that was not aesthetic. The man was still on fire when the police had arrived…It seemed more likely that the Professor had killed the traitor to shut him up.
So here was the question…They had only been alone for a few short minutes. What could the Professor have done to take revenge for the betrayal?
Ye Qingxuan began to ponder. Quickly, he bent down and began searching through the ruins. Unfortunately, the site had already been searched through and not much was left behind; however, there were many small traces.
In the end, he managed to recreate the crime scene…even though it still looked like a mess.
He squatted, staring at the empty space littered with shards. He stepped onto it carefully and swung his arms before finally concluding that this is where the man stood when he was set ablaze. It was laughable.
He had betrayed the Professor and fled with the last shred of hope to this secret hiding spot. Then he closed the door, turned around…and saw the terrifying face. It was the Professor standing behind him.
”You betrayed me!” The Professor must have said that, right?
Ye Qingxuan closed his eyes, entirely immersed in his imagination as he thought over and over.
The man stood there and saw the Professor. Maybe he panicked and knelt down, begging for mercy, but it had been too late, so he fell into despair. In his last moments, he denounced this criminal who had hands dyed red with blood. Or perhaps he said something even uglier? Did the Professor become angry? Then the Professor…
Ye Qingxuan turned around and looked at the broken chair on the ground. Perhaps the Professor had sat there, listening quietly. His expression would have been calm and composed, his face gentle and elegant. He would not have even moved his eyebrow because he had been angered long ago. Not begging nor furious insults could change his decision to punish the man.
Then the punishment came…What could it have been?
Ye Qingxuan shut his eyes, focusing on his thoughts.
In the darkness, he seemed to have become the hopeless criminal, waiting to be slaughtered by the Professor. The figure walked toward him step by step and he…what did he do? Following it was endless pain. But the pain stopped suddenly. Something had surprised the Professor…Yes, it was the sound of the police.
The Professor’s only mistake was that he had miscalculated how long it would take for the police to arrive. He decided to end the torture and quickly kill the traitor.
But would it not have been better to use a sword? It would not have left any traces of aether. Why fire? Why did he burn the traitor to crisp…And why did the man leave behind those bloody words before he had died? What did the words mean? The blood words, blood words…
Sweat beaded on Ye Qingxuan’s forehead. He racked his mind, flipping through the records in his brain, but he could not find anything related to those symbols. No matter if one looked at its structure or logic, this writing system did not exist! But then why would the traitor leave it behind?
”Blood words, blood words…” Ye Qingxuan murmured to himself. ”It doesn’t make any sense!”
”Of course it doesn’t make any sense.” Bai Xi glared at him. ”I told you the guy just randomly drew it.”
”Randomly?” Ye Qingxuan froze.
An light flashed in his mind. It was like lightning at night, appearing and vanishing within a second, but revealing a hidden shape.
Ye Qingxuan quickly came up with a ridiculous theory. The possibility of it made him want to laugh, but there was no better explanation.
He opened his eyes slowly. ”I think I got it.”