CH 325

325: What Was the Truth?

Airon, who had fainted from being drugged earlier, woke up just as Jier and Ming Xi were about to give up.

Airon was smart. He thought he might be the next victim, so he had taken precautions. Earlier, he had taken medicine to help fight off different kinds of anesthetics.

He had ultimately fallen asleep, but he was only unconscious for a short period of time. He had woken up as Ming Xi was questioning Chamai, so he guessed what had happened and that Chamai was the killer.

“Chamai! It was you?! Why would you do this?!” How would Airon be able to figure it out if even Ming Xi and Jier couldn’t?

“Do I have to remind you? Six months ago, Songwei island.”[notes] Chamai’s eyes were full of bitterness as he sneered.

“You’re a resident of Songwei island?!” Airon was shocked to discover that Chamai was an original inhabitant of the island.

“That’s right. You guessed it. Now you’re all going to die from the curse! Anyone who recklessly touched my clan’s treasure will die by god’s will!” Promptly after saying these words, Chamai bit into a pill and poisoned himself to death.

Even though he was dead, the illusion was still intact.

“Speak, what did Chamai mean just now?!” Ming Xi asked. The facts were more troublesome than they thought. Chamai’s last words were too ambiguous. They couldn’t understand it, but an insider like Airon would surely know. Didn’t his face pale at the mention of the island? There was definitely a secret here!

“I don’t know what he’s talking about. I’ll go and inform the teacher about Chamai’s death.” Airon didn’t want to talk about it, so he used a convenient excuse to exit.

Jier stopped him. “If you don’t want to die, you’ll talk about it. It’s best to cooperate. You avoided death today, but you may not be so lucky next time.”

Airon took two septs back. “The murderer, Chamai, is dead. How is there going to be a next time?”

Jier gave him a look. “Really? You really think so? Who said Chamai acted alone? If he didn’t have accomplices, do you think he’d be that quick to commit suicide?”

Chamai had died too easily, with total calmness in his eyes. He didn’t beg for mercy, or brag or explain anything. He just took the poison and died. That was it. There was no unwillingness at all.

He had to have accomplices. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise. He must have known his accomplices would see things through to the end. He knew that, and had died peacefully with his faith in them.

Airon stared out blankly for a moment. His face did not look good.

“Talk, what’s going on.” Ming Xi demanded again.

Airon took a deep breath. He knew he wouldn’t be allowed to leave unless he told them the truth.

“Have a seat. This will take a while.” Airon motioned for Jier and Ming Xi to follow him to the sofa.

After sitting down, Airon sighed. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep the secret hidden any longer. He would have to break his agreement with the others.

“It all started six months ago. . . ”

At that time Yanaimo had taken some friends on holiday to Songwei island. There were several villages, both large and small, on the island. The residents lived and worked peacefully in harmony with each other. The island didn’t have a strong protector, but it never suffered any disasters. It was like it was protected by a god.

The residents would never have thought a bunch of students on holiday would bring disaster.

Although Songwei island was beautiful, it didn’t have any minerals, so some people weren’t willing to stay. However the scenic island did attract a lot of tourists. Someone clever built a hotel, and as the only hotel on the island, business was very profitable for the owner.

The hotel was run by a kind uncle with the help of his wife and daughter. They lived a happy life.

Naturally Airon and the rest of the kids stayed at the hotel. One night, Yanaimo and another girl were heading to the bathroom when they overheard an amazing conversation.

The daughter was being naughty and had taken a map from the her dad’s secret hiding spot. The map showed the way to the key to Poseidon’s tomb, the god emperor of the sea.

The owner told his daughter never to take the map out again, lest it get lost.

The kids never expected Songwei island would have such a big mystery, that it was protecting a key to a tomb. The news made Yanaimo’s heart beat fast. She was the kind to always get what she wanted, so she asked the owner for the map.

She told him to name his price, but of course the owner refused. Upon his refusal, the two sides fought. The twelve students were the only ones in the hotel that day; there weren’t any other guests. The owner tried desperately to protect the map, but Yanaimo wasn’t allowing it. He and his family were ordinary people, so they didn’t stand a chance and Yanaimo easily took it.

She didn’t want the matter to spread, so she killed the owner and his family.

With the owner and his family dead, the girls excitedly took the map to find the key. They entered the cave where the key was hidden, but couldn’t go any farther after accidentally stepping on a restriction.

What they didn’t know was that the owner’s daughter was still alive. She managed to get herself out of the hotel and to a village. There she asked for help after explaining what had happened.

The villagers were furious. For generations, the people of Songwei island had protected the secret of the key. Not many people knew about it and the map changed hands every three years for safekeeping. Unexpectedly something happened to the hotel owner while the map was kept there.