Chapter 32

July 9th.

This is the date of the semi-finals at Zhongzhou Academy, where today's matches will determine the finalists. Tomorrow morning will see the third and fourth place matches, while the final will be held in the afternoon.

The semi-final match for the Dragon Tomb Society is against the War Wolf Society, with their match scheduled for the afternoon. The Swallow Heaven Society's match is in the morning.

Neither the Dragon Tomb Society nor the Swallow Heaven Society are among the top ten seed societies, and both are small societies, so their matches have generated a lot of discussion.

The Dragon Tomb Society, though new, has already gained significant attention due to Zhang Taihao's fame over the past few months and Zhou Xian's outstanding performance in the preliminary rounds. Of course, if it weren't for the unexpected withdrawal of the Esports Society, the Dragon Tomb Society's entry into the semi-finals would have been seen as impossible by others.

As for the Swallow Heaven Society, their tactics are somewhat unconventional, and their path to the semi-finals has been smoother than that of the Dragon Tomb Society, leading to them being praised for their "outstanding luck."

Today, when the Swallow Heaven Society took the stage, the students watching the venue were immediately puzzled.

Because only four members of the Swallow Heaven Society were on stage, and Ying Tianlong was not among them.

"This year is full of surprises. It seems even the Swallow Heaven Society has encountered an unexpected event," one spectator remarked, puzzled.

"How can there be so many issues this year? Hey, look, it seems the Dragon Tomb Society has benefited the most from these unexpected events, right? Could it be them...?" Another spectator chimed in.

"Yes, yes, I feel the same. The situation is just too strange..." another person agreed.

Hearing this, the other spectators began to murmur.

"Those two over there, Senior Su Xiaoyue has something to ask you."

At this moment, one of Su Xiaoyue's followers approached.

"Oh! It's Su Xiaoyue!"

Upon hearing this, the students nearby noticed Su Xiaoyue in the back of the audience.

"Sorry, I'm not part of the Esports Society, why should I go?"

"Yeah, yeah. What does the Esports Society have to do with us!"

"Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're the daughter of the school board chairman!"

These words stunned the surrounding students.

"Hey, Luo Zai, that's the Senior Su Xiaoyue you admire the most, what's wrong with you?!" The first spectator whispered to one of them.

But Luo Zai seemed very "stubborn" at this moment, standing firm and unmoving, and the other person was the same.

Seeing this, the Esports Society members were at a loss and could only turn to Su Xiaoyue.

"Excuse me, could you please step aside, I need to go in and watch the match."

At this moment, a voice came from behind Su Xiaoyue.

"Hmm?" Su Xiaoyue turned around to see a cute girl with shoulder-length hair standing there.

"Sorry." Su Xiaoyue moved aside.

After Su Xiaoyue let the girl in, the Esports Society members brought the two students over.

"Senior Su Xiaoyue!"

The two students, who were called over by Su Xiaoyue, had clearly excited expressions, which was completely different from their previous stubbornness.

Su Xiaoyue turned to her follower, who hesitated, seemingly still trying to understand why these two had suddenly changed their attitude so drastically.

"What's going on?"

Su Xiaoyue turned to the two students who were acting strangely. She had only heard that they were saying bad things about the Dragon Tomb Society and wanted to ask them about it, but the sudden change made her feel something was off.

...

On the other side, Zhou Xian also felt something was wrong.

"Ying Tianlong is actually absent."

Fleeing to avoid punishment?

Zhou Xian was almost ready to believe that.

Zhou Xian had already told the Dragon Tomb Society about how Ying Tianlong tried to ambush him in the game but was defeated. They had planned to report this situation.

However, Ying Tianlong's sudden disappearance changed everything.

"Could he really be fleeing to avoid punishment? But why is Li Zheng still here?" Xu Tianyun was the first to ask.

"Yes. But when Ying Tianlong revealed the information to me yesterday, Li Zheng was indeed his accomplice."

Zhou Xian had video footage, but in the video, Ying Tianlong was always wearing armor and a mask, so only his face was visible at the end. Zhou Xian didn't want to expose this video because it showed his powerful Four Holy Puppets, and he feared that his identity as the eighth emperor would be revealed.

"Is he doing something harmful again?" Tao Shan asked, puzzled.

Lai Yiming nodded. "It's possible. They dared to sneak into my dorm to steal, they are truly audacious!"

"I'm back." At this moment, Li Chuyu walked in from outside.

Seeing Li Chuyu return, Zhou Xian immediately asked, "What did the police say?"

"The police are investigating Ying Tianlong's whereabouts, but they said they have no evidence to confirm that he is the final culprit. They can only monitor him. However, the school board chairman and the principal believe our testimony is credible. Now... we can only wait and see."

The result was the same.

"This clearly shows that they are the culprits! How can they not be the culprits? They still want to wait and see?!"

Seeing the result, Tao Shan shouted angrily.

"It's understandable. The attackers all claimed they were in a confused state at the time. They didn't know why they were doing those things. Apart from Lu Zhong, even the robber the Esports Society encountered said he was mentally confused. According to the police's tests, they were indeed in a hypnotized state, but they couldn't identify who hypnotized them."

Li Chuyu shook his head. The police had conducted a detailed investigation, but the criminals had left no trace, which was the most troublesome part.

Without evidence, everything is just talk.

"We can't let them act recklessly!" Xu Tianyun said indignantly.

"Let it be. But Ying Tianlong's disappearance will likely draw the police's attention. At least they won't be hiding in the shadows anymore. This is actually good for us."

Zhou Xian vaguely recalled Ying Tianlong's final plea to him.

Could it be... that something really happened to Ying Tianlong?

But he only died in the game, right? Apart from people like Zhou Xian with emperor tasks, others at most have a quest for a rare encounter. Even if they are disappointed, they wouldn't beg like that.

Zhou Xian hadn't thought about this at the time, but now, it made him very puzzled.

Despite the confusion within the Dragon Tomb Society, the match schedule remained unchanged.

The Swallow Heaven Society, though missing Ying Tianlong, still advanced to the finals smoothly due to the presence of Li Zheng and Mo Ye, along with two other experts hired by Ying Haitao.

The Dragon Tomb Society's match was in the afternoon, as it was a semi-final.

Xu Tianyun was the first to start for the Dragon Tomb Society.

The War Wolf Society, though one of the top ten seed societies, had questionable strength. Compared to the always victorious branch of Senior Huang Yingyue's society, they were probably inferior.

In the first match, Xu Tianyun defeated his opponent and reduced the second opponent's health to half. Then Tao Shan came on and quickly finished off the second opponent. However, the third opponent was the president of the War Wolf Society, so Tao Shan was immediately "suppressed."

In the third match, Zhang Taihao came on. Zhang Taihao's strength was undeniable, and even against the president of the War Wolf Society, he only lost half his health before ending the match.

The Dragon Tomb Society's semi-final was smooth and easy.

However, the ease of their advancement made the competition seem anticlimactic.

Originally, due to the generous rewards, this year had the most participants. But the competition started strong and ended weak. What should have been a smooth and intense match ended up like this in the final.

It's like not seeing Brazil in the World Cup or the United States in basketball. The originally intense and exciting match has turned out this way, and no one could have predicted it.

But this is unavoidable. The series of events triggered by the Swallow Heaven Society were unpredictable.

After the match, the Dragon Tomb Society returned to their activity room, but their faces showed no signs of victory.

The match had lost all its passion and excitement, leaving only a battle of intrigue, which no one would enjoy.

"It seems the members of the Dragon Tomb Society have no enthusiasm."

At this moment, someone suddenly walked into the room.

"—!! You're from the Swallow Heaven Society!" Xu Tianyun, standing at the door, immediately stood up.

"Mo Ye, right?" Zhou Xian recognized the name.

"No, no, not 'xie,' it's 'ye.' My name is Mo Ye. This name is derived from the ancient Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, you can't be that ignorant, can you?"

"What are you doing here? The Dragon Tomb Society doesn't welcome you." Xu Tianyun stood up.

"—Even if I tell you I have the records of Li Zheng's criminal activities, it's the same?"

Mo Ye said, opening his personal terminal and playing a short video.

"This time, it's up to you. Last time, we failed to get rid of Senior Su Xiaoyue, so this time, we'll take down the entire Esports Society—"

But before the video ended, he turned it off.

"It's Ying Tianlong!"

The Dragon Tomb Society recognized the voice immediately.

"Yes, I recorded their conversations. I had no issues with it at first, but they went too far. And after the match, I couldn't contact Li Zheng anymore. He must have fled." Mo Ye crossed his arms and leaned against the door.

"Li Zheng also fled?!"

This news caused a stir.

"Yes, who knows what they're planning." Mo Ye shrugged.

"What about you? Aren't you afraid we'll report you to the police?" Xu Tianyun asked.

"I'm a污点证人. And don't forget, I'm a minor. Don't push me too far, or I'll destroy the evidence, and you won't even find the people."

The Dragon Tomb Society looked at each other, and this was indeed the case.

"What do you want?" Zhou Xian stood up.

"Simple. Tomorrow is the final. You guys are strong, and I want to fight you. Win or lose, I'll give you the information. You can report it to the police or handle it privately, it's none of my business." He said.

"Is that it?" Xu Tianyun asked.

"Yes. I'll wait for you in the final tomorrow. Don't disappoint me."

Mo Ye said and left the Dragon Tomb Society's activity room.