Chapter 34: Murder (2/2)

Lu Yin’s palm smacked against the ice and shattered it, prompting Bai Xue to take a few steps back as she glared at him warily. Only then did he shrug, “I was just horsing around.”

“It wasn’t funny,” she replied coldly.

“Barging into my home to threaten me this late in the night wasn’t funny either,” he responded with a slight chill of his own.

Bai Xue’s eyes twinkled, and she left behind a “Sorry” and her signature fragrance as she took to the sky. Watching her fly away, Lu Yin wondered just what kind of person would want the ballistics destroyed. Was there anyone who’d want the zombies kept alive?

Jeraldine squeaked in admiration as she watched Bai Xue leave, “I’m always so enthralled whenever I see her. Zhou Shan was right; this woman really does seem like a water goddess. Even in terms of looks alone, she’s definitely worthy of comparison to Starsibyl.”

“Starsibyl?” Lu Yin asked in confusion.

Jeraldine looked towards the sky and spoke with a longing tone, “She’s the most beautiful woman in the universe, rumored to be at least an explorer. She visits trials quite often, supposedly to look for those who are destined to meet her. She’s said to have the power of divination, and can also look into the past; she’s the fantasy of countless people.”

Lu Yin was speechless, “Yours too?”

Jeraldine rolled her eyes, “For me, she’s my idol. She comes from a powerful, mysterious sect in the Innerverse; any random disciple of that sect can destroy any youth from the Great Yu Empire. She’s a legend on the battlefield, too, she… Nevermind, you wouldn’t understand even if I explained. I’m going to bed.”

Indeed, Lu Yin dismissed Jeraldine’s words. The universe was beyond vast, and things often got grossly exaggerated as stories spread around. He fully believed that this Starsibyl’s supposed divination abilities were one such thing; it simply made no sense.

While he considered what he’d just heard, Lu Yin stared into the stars once more, as two stars spun on his own right palm with a third starting to manifest. The eradication of the zombie horde was put on hold and he didn’t really care about how Zhang Dingtian would handle it, but he was concerned that the second batch of students would be arriving in only about forty more days. He was running out of time.

Meanwhile, Zhang Dingtian ordered ten thousand cultivators to leave the city in batches to head out and eliminate all the zombies. They were told they could ignore all mutant beasts, which made the task fairly easy. He and Bai Xue oversaw the departures from atop the city walls, the latter commenting, “Even if we destroy all the zombies around the capital, there are still more everywhere else.”

“This is still better than nothing,” the Bladesage said with a grave tone, “I’ve also ordered troops to travel to Jinlin, Hubei, and elsewhere to deliver an update on the situations. We’re trying to minimize the risk.”

Bai Xue’s eyes lit up when Hubei was mentioned, “How is Shaoge doing?”

Zhang Dingtian looked at her and responded monotonously, “I don’t know.”

Bai Xue fell silent.

The zombie purge was accomplished quite successfully. Ten thousand cultivators were able to kill and burn nearly two million zombies each day, so after only a few days, the area surrounding the capital had been emptied. Now, all that filled the vicinity was pungent smoke. Zhang Dingtian personally investigated westwards where the ballistics team had been stationed, but even after several days, he couldn’t find any clues about the identity of their killer. The only thing he knew was that the assassin was swift and brutal, massacring more than 500 people within a minute.

“Do you think Lu Yin could have done it?” Bai Xue asked from a distance.

“Did you see it with your own eyes?” he asked in a grave tone, his eyes sweeping through the ground.

She pursed her lips, “We’d better connect with Jinlin as soon as possible. This Lu Yin guy is suspicious, I have a feeling he’s a student from outer space.”

“And what if he is? With our current world, we should only draw a line between allies and enemies; we don’t have the option to segregate ourselves based on race or origin any longer.”

Bai Xue had a melancholy face, but remained silent.