260 Death (2/2)
”If that is what you think, then we must be careful,” Hei Gou said solemnly. ”But what is their aim by getting close to us? For what purpose would spies be sent to be servants of insignificant two-eyed cultivators?”
”I do not know yet,” Xue Wei sighed. ”I neither know what their purpose is nor do I know whether it's beneficial or harmful to us, but I do know that we will know soon enough.
”I have a hunch that they are doing all in their power to build relationships with us so they can keep surveillance on us and give our information to a third party.”
Hei Gou's face was unsightly, Lin Xiao's showed some disbelief, and Bai Tianyi's had not changed at all.
Xue Wei was pondering. It seemed that their mission was fairly easy on the surface. They had to solve a mystery within the Garden of Shadows, but that was where the simplicity ended.
”We have no idea what exactly is expected of us. We do not know if someone is sick, or if someone has gone mad. We don't even know if it is a person or a spirit. Heck, it could even be a tree considering the fact that we are in a place called 'Garden of Shadows.'
”We do not know the symptoms we need to solve. We do not know anything at all!” Xue Wei was frustrated.
”To understand this issue, we have to slowly enter the rest of the academy and slowly gain an understanding of this place. That's why I decided for us to start exploring it already.”
With that being said, they resumed their stroll through the area, their eyes observing everything around them with great interest.
All the core students of the academy focused on spiritual energy, and all of them were at least three-eyed with the majority being four-eyed. There were no Primordial Beasts or two eyed cultivators, but the sudden appearance of Xue Wei and his team caused a great shock to spread among them.
It was impossible to enter the core section of the residential area unless you possessed a core emblem, and since these people had appeared here, it was clear that they possessed one each. But this was the first time in history that two-eyed experts were allowed into the academy's core section. It was simply unbelievable and while many held curiosity towards these people, there was also a group filled with contempt.
Fortunately, no one stepped out to bother them or cause them any problems. All of the students just observed them. Even if they felt contempt towards them, they did not find any trouble for them, something that stunned Xue Wei.
Back in Chang'an, it would have been impossible to not be met with violence or confrontation from others in such a situation.
”We have finished walking all the streets in the residential area for the core students, and I haven't found anything amiss,” Bai Tianyi said with a frown.
”Although the core students are looking at us as if we were monkeys in a cage, they have not caused us any problems, and nothing suspicious has happened either.”
”Let us go to the Soul Tower,” Xue Wei decided, his words stunning the others. ”Xiao and Gou go back to the courtyard and cultivate. You will have no benefit from the Soul Tower at all, so Bai Tianyi and I will go check it out.”
Lin Xiao and Hei Gou hesitated for a moment before they nodded their heads and left, heading back to their courtyard. Before they left, Xue Wei warned them to be careful of the two Mo brothers and to withhold discussing delicate matters around them.
Looking at the two guys who vanished into the distance, Xue Wei and Bai Tianyi sighed. Those two were good friends, but they were quite dense and also rather naive.
”I feel an oppressive aura around here,” Bai Tianyi said as they reached the Soul Tower. His brows furrowed into a deep frown.
”The aura is different from the soul power and spiritual energy that we need. It is much more similar to my sword energy; so to say, what I can sense is in the family of the daos.”
Xue Wei also frowned when hearing this. The dao was something he was not completely unfamiliar with, but at the same time he had not personally come into contact with it. All he knew was from what Bai Tianyi and Lin Xiao had told him.
”There is a dao around here? Can you sense which dao it is?” he asked Bai Tianyi. Although Bai Tianyi only had the dao of sword now, it used to be different when he was a human.
”If I am not mistaken, it is the dao of death,” Bai Tianyi's face was grim, his eyes solemn. It was clear that something serious was happening within this Garden of Shadows since the dao of death had appeared.
”Is it coming from the Soul Tower, or is it coming from outside of the tower?” Xue Wei continued to ask.
Bai Tianyi took a moment before he answered, ”I think it comes from the top floor of the Soul Tower.”
At that moment, it felt as if a mountain had been dropped on Xue Wei and Bai Tianyi's shoulders. An invisible pressure wrapped around them like a blanket, pressuring them more than they had ever been pressured before.
Unable to handle the pressure, Xue Wei and Bai Tianyi both quickly retreated a few steps, and the pressure quickly dissipated again. If it was not for the shock they saw in one another's eyes, then they would never have believed it to be true.
”Do we enter?” Bai Tianyi hesitated as he looked at the gate to the Soul Tower. Many students were walking in and out in succession, none of them having sensed the heavy pressure that Xue Wei and Bai Tianyi had been subject to just moments before, and all of them were happily cultivating.
”We enter,” Xue Wei clenched his fists and made a decision. ”If the owner of this power wanted us dead, then we would already be dead,” he said reasonably.
Bai Tianyi hesitated for a moment, but feeling that Xue Wei was probably right, he nodded his head. ”Let us see what makes this Soul Tower so famous then!” he exclaimed excitedly. Without further ado, he followed Xue Wei over to the entrance.
There were no guards, there was just an open door, and anyone could enter and leave as they pleased. While everyone else seemed casual and carefree, Xue Wei and Bai Tianyi both moved forward with caution. Soon, they had entered into the actual Soul Tower.