Chapter 164: Snitching on Spies

Ryan Miller wiped his nose and looked up at the silver-haired boy. The LSA student did not hesitate for a single second. He pointed a shaking finger directly into the massive crowd of teenagers.

"David Kole !" Ryan shouted. "He is one of them! And Zack Peters!"

The local disciple named Chen Tao immediately joined the confession to secure his own pardon. "Wang Lei is with us! Liu Wei and Song Jia took the bribes too!"

The other four captured spies began screaming out names as fast as their lungs allowed. They pointed frantically into the sea of gray and blue uniforms.

As every single name echoed across the stone plaza, the surrounding students reacted instantly. Teenagers scrambled backward and shoved each other out of the way.

The rapid exodus created wide circles of empty cobblestones around the accused individuals. The hidden spies were left standing entirely alone, illuminated under the moonlight like isolated targets on a practice range.

[1Fizzy: LMAO THEY SNITCHED SO FAST!]

[LazyCat: bro offered them points and they folded instantly.]

[Fatal_Beauty: Solo Man playing the interrogator perfectly.]

[James_hayes: look at the crowd backing away from the imposters.]

[Chi_Master: the rats are eating each other.]

Realizing their cover was permanently blown, several of the exposed traitors bolted for the courtyard exits. They pushed past their former classmates and sprinted toward the stone archways.

Vice Pavilion Leader Xian Xue simply raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

Glowing golden runes instantly ignited across the perimeter of the plaza. The intricate arrays and defensive formations designed by the elder instructors flared to life as the fleeing spies crashed headfirst into invisible spiritual barriers.

They bounced off the magical walls and tumbled onto the hard stones.

Dozens of blue-robed guards surged forward. The sentries tackled the groaning traitors, pinning them to the ground and binding their wrists with heavy iron chains.

[Foodball: the teachers were completely ready for runners.]

[GoonLord: GET THEM ALL!]

[BloodKnight: A flawless trap. The enemy exposes themselves out of sheer panic.]

[Grim: that barrier just flattened the guy trying to jump the wall.]

[User12: snitches get riches, runners get stitches.]

Solomon watched the guards drag the struggling students to the front of the platform. He mentally tallied the captured infiltrators. The sentries lined up twenty-two newly exposed spies next to the original six.

He added the numbers together in his head. Including the lone student he had killed back in the dormitory during the hostage situation, the total count of exposed traitors came to exactly twenty-nine.

’Twenty-nine is a very strange number for a coordinated military squad,’ Solomon calculated, lowering his greatsword to rest the tip on the ground. ’Strike teams usually operate in even numbers. Ten, twenty, or a full thirty. An odd number means the roster is incomplete. There has to be one more spy hiding in this sect. Probably the actual ringleader pulling their strings.’

He scanned the faces of the terrified students and the scowling instructors. Pointing out his mathematical assumption without concrete proof would only cause unnecessary panic. He kept his mouth shut and simply memorized the faces of the arrested disciples.

Jin stepped off the raised platform and walked along the line of chained traitors. The pavilion leader stared at the students who had betrayed the sect.

"You promised us safety!" Ryan Miller cried out, looking frantically at Solomon. "We gave you the names! You said we would be spared!"

Solomon offered a casual shrug and tapped his boots against the cobblestones. "I promised I would not kill you. I never said anything about what the pavilion instructors would do. My jurisdiction ended the moment you stopped talking."

[Mezz_3863: THE SCAM!]

[Austin: bro literally lied to their faces.]

[Stephen-Wood: Solo Man is a menace to society.]

[IceWaterKat: never trust a mercenary’s promise lol.]

[Last_Fables: he played them so hard.]

Elizabeth let out a short, quiet laugh from her spot near the front of the crowd. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand to mask her amusement, though her red eyes gleamed with obvious approval.

Jin signaled the sentries with a wave of his hand. "Take them to the disciplinary subterranean holding cells. Ensure they are placed in maximum confinement arrays."

The guards hauled the twenty-eight crying and protesting students away from the central plaza. The heavy iron gates of the disciplinary wing slammed shut in the distance, leaving the remaining seven hundred innocent disciples standing in the cold night wind.

Pavilion Leader Jin stepped back onto the raised stone platform and addressed the remaining students. "Return to your dormitories immediately. We have secured the perimeter for the night. Master Wu will address this incident at a mandatory assembly tomorrow morning."

The surviving first-year disciples bowed their heads and shuffled toward the exits. They whispered among themselves, casting nervous glances over their shoulders as they retreated into the designated sleeping quarters.

Jin turned his attention to the silver-haired boy standing near the fountain. "Did a professor or the Grandmaster at your academy assign you this mission?"

Solomon rested Eden’s Penance on his shoulder and shook his head. "I did not get any assignment. I just stumbled into the plot and decided to join the fun. The fights felt really good."

Jin let out a long sigh and rubbed his temples. "You are overqualified for these beginner lessons. You do not need to hunt standard missions to get your academy stars. Just remember that Master Wu will not hand them to you simply because you ask nicely. You will have to earn them his way."

The pavilion leader turned and walked toward the upper mountain trails to report to the grandmaster.

Solomon remained standing in the clearing, while Elizabeth waited a few paces away. Vice Pavilion Leader Xian Xue stayed behind as well.

The female instructor smoothed the fabric of her azure robes and walked directly up to Solomon. She looked at his face and smiled from the corner of her lips.

Leaning close, she bypassed his personal space. "Visit my quarters once everyone is asleep," she whispered into his ear.

Xian Xue pulled back and offered a polite nod before turning gracefully on her heel. She walked away toward the inner courtyards without looking back.