With the eyes of all in the room upon her, the old woman’s wrinkled skin suddenly reddened. Her cheeks took on a healthy blush and her neck flushed as beads of sweat broke out upon her brow.
“H-h-he came to ask me where to find a s-se-specific type of material, a-a-and then I told him where to find it.”
“Why didn’t you mention this before?”
The old librarian looked downwards and clutched the sides of her dress, “The material he was looking for should not be mentioned. I did not want to sully his reputation.”
Upon this admission, the group of people shared glances with each other and then started looking around at the shelves near them. What sort of thing was in the library that shouldn’t be mentioned for the sake of one’s reputation? Was it here? What did it do to Lu Ju?
“What type of material is it? Are these tablets dangerous? Why are they allowed to remain within the library?”
The librarian was hoping not to keep being questioned along these lines and she had seemed to return to a shy girl rather than a dignified old woman, “The Jade Tablets contain… material… that was deemed important for the Clear Sky Academy to retain by someone high up. They are not dangerous,” then her voice dropped down to a barely audible level, “they’re scandalous.”
The Discipline Keeper was quite displeased by the sudden loss of decorum and the suddenly meek personality of the librarian. He’d thought she was an efficient and steadfast staff member of the school he could rely upon, but now she’d suddenly become muddle headed.
“Enough dallying, direct me to these works you speak of.”
From the way he stared at the librarian, the Discipline Keeper seemed to have completely lost faith in her and had to ensure Lu Ju’s death was not connected to these mysterious works. They were in a small intersection between the many tall library shelves. The librarian pointed to their left, which was not the path they’d used to reach this spot. She spoke softly, “That row, the top shelf on the right.”
Starting the walk in the indicated direction, the Discipline Keeper moved rapidly in the direction indicated and grabbed the sliding ladder at the end of the row. He looked up at the indicated top shelf, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The barrier on the shelf seemed just like all the rest. Then he climbed up the ladder and grabbed one of the Jade Tablets without reading the label on the side of it. He sent his consciousness into the tablet and then suddenly swayed on the top of the ladder.
The group waiting patiently were shocked that the powerful Discipline Keeper would nearly fall off the ladder just by looking inside a Jade Tablet. How profound was the knowledge contained within it, that just a glance could shake him so deeply? The librarian was the only one not looking, instead she had her head bowed and did not want to meet anyone’s gaze. The Discipline Keeper had a slightly shocked look on his face as he set down the Jade Tablet and then picked up another. This time he didn’t stumble, but he set this second one down and had a strange look on his face. He stopped to read the titles and the group of people all couldn’t help but move closer and crane their necks up to see the titles on the sides of the Jade Tablets that were placed in an upright position like the spine of a book.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Determination of Eternity. Flame without Shame. Visitor with Blue Eyes. Dao of Desire. Creation of Mountains. Amusing the Night.
On their own, none of the titles meant much, but seeing them all arranged in one shelf together meant there was something in common between them all. Sage took into account the librarian’s words and conduct as well as the look on the Discipline Keepers face.
The Clear Sky Academy has a section for bawdy romance novels? Someone high up in the academy is a fan of steamy books, eh? Funny how knowledgeable the librarian is and that this Lu Ju was bold enough to request such a thing.
The Discipline Keeper put away the Jade Tablets and climbed down the ladder with his back straight and a completely calm look upon his face. As he moved the rest of the people rushed back to where they were standing previously. The man’s stark gaze fell over them once again and he looked down at Lu Ju’s body. The young man had fallen face first onto the ground in the opposite direction of the shelves they were just looking at. If he’d come from the place where the librarian and the three golden students were studying, why was he facing back towards the shelf? Did something draw him away and make him turn around? If Lu Ju was running from something he would be facing the opposite direction when he fell.
After looking at Lu Ju’s body for a bit longer, the Discipline Keepers gaze regained its stern countenance and it swung over to fall upon Sage once again.
“It’s quite convenient that you first arrived at the Clear Sky Academy on the same day as Lu Ju. You also just so happen to be able to perfectly solve a very rare and dangerous problem that mysteriously appeared a few years ago. The only reward you seek for such a convenient problem is to be allowed into this library where Lu Ju is spending the day without his guards.”
The group of people all turned to look at Sage, as the Discipline Keeper’s words suddenly made all of them suspicious. There were so many convenient circumstances? Wasn’t it more likely this was an elaborate plot? If it was just luck, why weren’t they so lucky?
Sage looked around at the group and then back to the Discipline Keeper who seemed to be enjoying the accusatory gazes of all the others and the impressed looks they were sending his way.
What a farce!
“So, you wish to accuse me now? What is your evidence?”
The Discipline Keeper held his shoulders and chin high as he glared down his nose imperiously at Sage even though they were roughly the same height. The man even turned up his chin so he could look downwards at him.
“The others here are students in good standing, or important members of our staff. Why would any of them have any reason to murder a prospective student? You arranged for the Sunset Rain Snake to be hidden or released on the academy’s grounds, knowing no one else could handle it. It might even be your contracted beast. You knew that Lu Ju would be visiting here and you even followed him in to make sure of it. Then you plotted the perfect opportunity, making it look like you’re a complete newcomer. You must have used the restricted section of the library to enable your plot.”
As he spoke these words, the Discipline Keeper turned and pointed upwards. The upper floors of the library were arranged in a mezzanine fashion with a large open area at the center of each of them so they were like a huge balcony area that could look down upon the lower floors. At this time, the Discipline Keeper was pointing up to a higher floor where the restricted section was and the group marveled as there really was a direct view from there down to the spot they were standing on.
“Your alibi of being in the restricted section and behind a locked gate was a clever ploy, but I have seen through your plot. Turn yourself in now and I will ensure your body remains in one piece after your execution.”