130: Fill in the gaps, solve the mystery, and eat pears.

After returning to Lingnan Academy, everyone took time to reorganize—some showered, while others tended to their injuries.

Three hours quickly passed.

At this moment, those who had cooperated with Xie Ning gathered in the small courtyard once again. They were the three from Lu Bingyun's group, Su Qin, Mo Yu, the Mu Tian brothers, Ye Feiyu, and Fei Shanqiu.

A total of nine people.

Just then, Xie Ning walked out of the house, carrying a large platter filled with sliced pears.

"Come, come, have some pears first to quench your thirst. These are Yantai Big Fragrant Pears I bought online a few days ago. They're quite good, everyone try some."

No one stood on ceremony, each taking a piece and munching away.

Only Fei Shanqiu had a look of disdain: "No way, we came all this way to hear you solve these puzzles and fill in the holes, and you're just giving us pears? At least bring out some Advanced goods."

"Dead Fatty! If you don't want to eat, then don't. Get out, get out!" Xiao Ya took a bite and unceremoniously kicked Fei Shanqiu.

The latter curled his lip and also took a piece of pear to eat. "Tch~ I'm not leaving. I'm still waiting to hear what he has to say. If these mysteries aren't solved, I won't even hope to get any sleep tonight."

Hearing this, the others all nodded. Su Qin, however, was completely bewildered. He looked left and right, asking, "What puzzle-solving? Why don't I understand?"

Mu Tian laughed and replied, "Aren't you curious how Xie Ning mobilized so many people, obtained all the earth cracking beast inner cores, and even snatched the treasures from the ruins?"

"Ah, I'm not curious. I believe Big Brother Xie is very capable; nothing he does would surprise me," Su Qin said blankly.

Everyone: "..."

Mo Yu gave a thumbs up and said sincerely, "We should learn from Student Su Qin."

At that moment, Xie Ning walked out again. "Come, come, there are still more pears. Don't be shy."

Everyone said in unison, "There's more?!"

Ye Feiyu swallowed and said, "You're being too 'watery' with this; at least give us some 'dry goods'."

As soon as he said this, everyone burst into laughter. Even Xie Ning gave a helpless smile, sat to one side, and then said, "The people who helped this time weren't just everyone present; there was also a man in black."

"I know! It was that person who came and went like a ghost when we were chasing Iron Fist Lu Si at the end."

After Xiao Ya finished, Fei Shanqiu slammed the table hard, startling everyone. He then shouted, "I know even better! Good grief! That guy was hunting me down before and almost took my life! I just don't know how he ended up working for you. Did you send him to kill me?"

"I don't have the spare time to deal with you," Xie Ning said, pausing before continuing, "Actually, both Su Qin and Fei Shanqiu know this person."

"Who is it?"

"Qin Tianyu."

After Xie Ning finished speaking, the two of them stared with wide eyes, looking shocked.

"The reason Qin Tianyu was hunting you down back then was that it was the content of the mission he accepted. However, he also showed mercy; otherwise, do you think you could have lasted until I showed up?" Xie Ning said, looking at Fei Shanqiu.

"This..." Fei Shanqiu was speechless for a moment. He gripped the pear core in his hand tightly, looked up, and asked again, "Then why did he help you?"

Xie Ning smiled. "For certain reasons, he needed moke grass to save a life. According to the information you provided, there was moke grass within the Houtu Secret Realm."

"No wonder you told me to find the moke grass first; so it was for him," Ye Feiyu realized.

"Yes," Xie Ning said. "I guessed that I wouldn't be the only one who needed the earth cracking beast inner cores and that others would try to snatch them. Qin Tianyu's abilities are best suited for 'highway robbery,' so I gave him a route and had him lie in wait to hunt for the inner elixir others had obtained. Then I had Ye Feiyu pick the moke grass as the promised reward for Qin Tianyu. As for his appearance outside the ruins at the end, that was a complete accident."

"I see. Looking at it that way, it's also thanks to the need to pick moke grass that Sister Feiyu saved us once." Xiao Ya slapped her forehead in realization, then thought of another question and pressed, "Then why did you arrange for us to hunt the Earth-Splitting Beasts and then have us give all the inner elixir to Lan Yu, that big road idiot?"

Lan Yu was eating a pear. Upon hearing this, she raised her hand and tapped Xiao Ya, then quickly withdrew her hand when she saw Xie Ning looking.

Xie Ning smiled and gave her a thumbs up, then looked at Xiao Ya and Lu Bingyun, saying, "Because no matter how much one runs blindly, a person's route always leaves a trail. Only when someone doesn't even know where they are can they deceive those skilled in tracking. Plus, Lan Yu is a flying Demon Tamers Beast; it's not easy to leave a scent in the air, which also prevents being caught by Demon Tamers Beasts with a keen sense of smell."

Xiao Ya hooked her arm around Lan Yu's shoulder and laughed, "So Classmate Lan Yu's road idiot attribute actually ended up being a huge help."

"Exactly. It's just that it was a close call; I didn't expect to run into people from the Monster Hunting Ground, and almost had an accident." As Xie Ning spoke, he couldn't help but feel some lingering fear. He looked at Lan Yu, who smiled back at him without any blame, making his heart feel warm.

The others all nodded.

The scene of Lan Yu's return today was truly too thrilling; she had almost lost her life.

"After that, the mission for Xiao Yu and Su Qin is also obvious." Xie Ning looked at Su Qin and Mo Yu. Both returned the smile, and Mo Yu even made a peace sign with a playful grin.

"It would have been difficult for us to get all the earth cracking beast inner cores just by 'robbing' and hunting them ourselves. Some were bound to appear outside the Secret Realm. Their line of action was to trade for them before those people realized the importance of the earth cracking beast inner cores."

Hearing this, everyone nodded one after another.

This was the most obvious, safest, and easiest line of action. What impressed them was that this line, along with all the others, the entire Secret Realm operation, had been calculated by Xie Ning.

"And there is one last line."

Hearing this, everyone turned their gaze toward Fei Shanqiu, making him take a huge bite of pear that he didn't dare swallow and couldn't speak through. As a result, the pear juice ran down his throat, nearly choking him to death.

"Cough, cough, you—why are you all looking at me? Wasn't I just doing what Xie Ning told me to?"

Mu Xiaolong kicked him directly and said through gritted teeth, "Then you could have at least given me a heads-up! My brother and Sister Feiyu both knew, and only I was kept in the dark!"

"You have the nerve to snap at me? You almost killed me!"

Seeing the two about to start a fight, Ye Feiyu stepped forward and gave them each a punch, knocking them to the ground. His tiger-like eyes glared as he scolded, "Stop arguing! I'll hit whoever argues again."

At these words, the two immediately wilted.

"Let's continue with the explanation." Mu Tian looked at Xie Ning.

The latter nodded and then said, "Fei Shanqiu naturally had requirements for cooperating with me. There is an item in the Houtu ruins called Demon-Luring Incense, which is what he needed. The result of our discussion was for him to pretend to defect to Zhao Long's side. Using the excuse of taking a shortcut, he led him in circles inside while I used the tunnels he had dug over the last two years to get the item first."

Mu Tian continued, "Then Feiyu and I were responsible for going three-against-one with Xie Ning, showing an intent to obstruct. Combined with your empty backpack, it made him firmly believe we hadn't gotten the treasure yet. I just didn't expect you to be so full of bad ideas, not only taking the item but also leaving an empty box."

"Exactly. I almost thought the plan had failed at that time." Ye Feiyu also chimed in.

Everyone looked at each other and smiled, then burst into loud laughter that echoed throughout the small courtyard.

When they looked at Xie Ning again, their gazes had changed. Who could have imagined that the two arduous tasks of "obtaining all earth cracking beast inner cores" and "seizing the treasure" were accomplished like this?

"I have a question."

Lan Yu suddenly interrupted the laughter. Under everyone's gaze, she looked at Xie Ning and asked, "If it was just an empty box, even if Zhao Long was pressed for time, it's unlikely he wouldn't have noticed."

"Of course it wasn't an empty box. There was something inside, a fruit." Xie Ning nodded.

"What fruit?"

"A pear."

As Xie Ning spoke, he took a bite of the fragrant pear.