The afternoon passed rather leisurely.
Akali was training, while Ahri was meditating.
Luke had also finished trying to comprehend the World Runes and was now lying comfortably beneath the trees, listening to the birds singing as he recovered his mental energy.
He had discovered that studying the runes consumed an enormous amount of mental power. After his first attempt, he had distinctly felt a suffocating wave of dizziness and near-fainting.
It was a clear symptom of overusing his mental strength.
Fortunately, he had known when to stop. Nothing unusual had happened during the process, and there had been a definite benefit. Luke now understood the runes more clearly and could control their energy with considerably greater precision.
Irelia had also finished handling the spirit-prayer ceremonies and was sitting in the courtyard cleaning her blades.
Those blades had once formed the crest of the Xan family. Through an extraordinary twist of fate, the crest had broken apart into individual blades and become the source of her strength.
Just then, a three-tailed bird descended from the sky, chirping repeatedly.
Irelia looked over and rose to her feet, removing a letter tied around the bird's leg.
Three-tailed birds were an unusually intelligent species native to Ionia. They could fly extremely quickly, making them excellent messengers.
Once the letter had been removed, the bird turned around and flew away.
Irelia slowly opened the letter and began reading.
When she finished, confusion appeared on her face.
Akali stopped training and asked curiously, "Who sent you the letter?"
"Elder Nanwu." Irelia nodded without trying to hide it. "He says he has something important to discuss with me and wants me to visit Nanwu Town."
"Elder Nanwu? Have you dealt with him before?"
Akali was familiar with the name.
He was a highly respected leader in Ionia who had become famous long ago. There was even a town named after him.
"Once. When the resistance and I were fighting Noxus, Elder Nanwu personally came to reinforce us. Without him, we would have suffered far more casualties in that battle."
The memory returned to Irelia, and her respect for him was obvious.
"I've heard he contributed a great deal during the war too." Akali looked at Irelia. "So are you going?"
"If it were something minor, he would have explained it in the letter. Since he says it's important, I think I should go."
Irelia put the letter away, having made her decision.
Hearing that, Luke got up.
"In that case, we'll come along. Maybe there's something we can help with."
They had only remained here because they were waiting for Irelia's answer. If she was leaving, there was naturally little reason for the three of them to stay behind.
They might as well visit Nanwu Town along the way.
Nanwu Town was not especially far from Keda Village, but the journey would still take three or four days.
After saying goodbye to Keda Village's chief, the group quickly set out.
Four days later, outside Nanwu Town, the group followed a narrow road until the town gradually came into view.
It was morning, and gentle sunlight illuminated the peaceful settlement ahead.
The four urged their horses forward.
At that moment, Luke suddenly sensed a disturbance.
"Hm? This is..."
He focused carefully and confirmed that the agitation had come from the two World Rune fragments inside his mindscape.
Luke looked toward the town thoughtfully.
Normally, the two rune fragments sat inside his mental space as quietly as ordinary stones.
If they had suddenly become restless, then there was only one explanation he could think of.
Could there be another World Rune somewhere in this area?
Luke could not sense exactly where it was, but he felt fairly certain that his guess was close to the truth.
After all, his control over runic energy had become much more precise.
He could even draw out a portion of the runes' power and channel it into his body to enhance himself.
From past experience, excessively using runic energy also placed tremendous strain on his body. Even relatively minor overuse could leave him needing more than a month to recover.
But what he was doing now was different.
If he only drew out a small portion of that energy, the damage to his body was almost negligible.
And as his control over the runes became more refined, the amount of energy he could safely draw upon would continue increasing.
By then, the four had entered the town.
Nanwu Town was roughly the same size as Guyuan, perhaps even a little larger.
The settlement had been named after Elder Nanwu himself, and he held an important position here, responsible for preserving peace and fairness throughout the town.
His residence was not difficult to find.
Before long, Luke saw an old manor ahead of them. It looked like the estate of an old aristocratic family, with guards stationed at the entrance and two stone guardian beasts standing on either side of the gate.
The sight gave Luke a strangely familiar sense of déjà vu.
"Irelia? What brings you here?"
One of the disciples guarding the entrance stared at Irelia in surprise.
He had been lounging lazily a moment earlier, but immediately scrambled to his feet.
Irelia had been born into the Xan family, once a renowned family of dancers. The Noxians had later destroyed the family, leaving her as its sole survivor.
Now, she alone represented the entire Xan name.
Seeing the disciple's surprised reaction, Irelia became puzzled. She took out Elder Nanwu's letter.
"Elder Nanwu invited me here several days ago to discuss an important matter. Didn't he tell you?"
"This..."
The disciple accepted the letter and looked it over.
"It really is Master's handwriting. I suppose he simply forgot to tell us. In that case, please come inside."
Naturally, he had no intention of preventing Irelia from entering. He turned around, opened the main gate, and welcomed them into the estate.
As they walked, the disciple said, "This is quite a coincidence. Master entered a secluded meditation retreat exactly four days ago and still hasn't emerged. I'm afraid you may have to wait for a while."
"That's fine. Something like that shouldn't be interrupted."
Irelia nodded.
The disciple brought them to the reception hall and served them tea.
Before long, another disciple arrived to greet them. He was Elder Nanwu's senior disciple.
Even he seemed confused.
"I never heard anything about Master contacting you. Why would he invite someone here just as he was preparing to enter seclusion?"
He had met Irelia once before and respected her greatly, so he did not dare neglect his guests.
But if even his senior disciple could not make sense of the situation, then the others certainly could not either.
The timing really was unusually coincidental.
Could Elder Nanwu truly have been unaware that Irelia would arrive within these few days?
"Could it be something even more important?"
Irelia considered the possibility.
If Elder Nanwu had not even informed his own disciples, perhaps the matter was unusually sensitive.
Luke, however, sensed that something was wrong.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Where is Elder Nanwu conducting his retreat? Could you take us there?"
The senior disciple regarded the people accompanying Irelia as honored guests, but he still hesitated.
"Master usually dislikes being disturbed while in seclusion."
"We won't disturb him," Luke said. "I only want to see the place where Elder Nanwu is meditating."
Seeing Luke insist, Irelia added, "Please take us there. I'm curious as well."
"This... All right."
After struggling with the decision for a while, the senior disciple finally agreed.
On the way, he repeatedly warned them, "Please don't make too much noise. We mustn't disturb Master. A secluded retreat like this is serious."
Usually, someone only entered seclusion when attempting to overcome some kind of bottleneck. Otherwise, there was little reason to isolate oneself so completely.
Naturally, disturbing someone at such a critical time could be dangerous.
Elder Nanwu had chosen a secluded place within his own estate for the retreat.
It was deep in the rear courtyard, surrounded by artificial rock formations. An elegant old building stood in the center, encircled by water filled with swimming fish.
The place was beautiful and remarkably peaceful.
"Master is inside. He's been there for four days now, so I imagine he's reached the most critical point."
The senior disciple lowered his voice as he spoke.
At that moment, Ahri suddenly grabbed Luke's sleeve.
Her eyes were filled with unease.
The moment Luke saw her expression, he understood.
His voice became serious.
"I suspect something has happened to Elder Nanwu. I want to open the door and check."
The senior disciple's expression changed instantly.
"What are you talking about? Don't say something so ridiculous!"
Irelia raised a hand to stop him and looked anxiously at Luke.
"Do you really mean that?"
"There's about an eighty percent chance."
Luke nodded.
Ahri spoke quietly.
"I can't sense Elder Nanwu's life force."
Although Irelia had not known Ahri for long, she already understood that this was precisely the kind of magic Ahri excelled at.
If Ahri believed that...
Irelia's expression immediately turned grave.
She looked toward the senior disciple.
The disciple saw something in her eyes, and his face suddenly went pale.
He rushed toward the building, no longer caring how much noise he made.
"Master!"
He threw open the doors.
His entire body froze.
Then he dropped to his knees, seemingly losing all strength.
Irelia's pupils contracted.
In the center of the room, an elderly white-bearded man had been suspended against the wall.
His skin was corpse-gray, his eyes vacant, and there was no trace of life left in him.
It was Elder Nanwu.
His chest looked as though it had been pierced straight through by a blade.
His blood had long since drained away, leaving a huge stain across the floor that resembled a blooming crimson flower.
It had clearly dripped continuously from the wound in his chest.
The others immediately hurried inside and were met by the overpowering smell of blood.
Irelia entered cautiously and looked around, her brow furrowing.
There were signs of a fight inside the room.
They were subtle, but not difficult to notice.
There was essentially no doubt that Elder Nanwu had been murdered.
"He fought his killer before he died, but he lost the ability to resist almost immediately. After that, a blade was driven through his chest."
Luke swept his gaze around the room, reconstructing what had happened before Elder Nanwu's death.
Judging from the traces left behind, the fight had not been intense.
Elder Nanwu had resisted, but he had been defeated very quickly.
That meant the killer was far stronger than him.
Otherwise, given Elder Nanwu's strength, he would certainly have had enough time to call for help.
According to Irelia, Elder Nanwu might not have ranked among Ionia's absolute strongest, but he had still been formidable.
"Judging from the lividity, Elder Nanwu has been dead for more than four days. He may have been murdered the very day he supposedly began his retreat."
Luke examined the body again.
Akali sucked in a breath.
"Who would do something like this?"
Elder Nanwu was widely known as an exceptionally kind man. He was also highly respected.
Who would want to kill someone like him?
And how had they infiltrated the estate unnoticed?
Someone had murdered Elder Nanwu right under the noses of all his disciples.
"Whoever did this, we have to find them."
Irelia's expression was solemn.
She rose and looked at the stunned senior disciple.
"I understand how you feel, but right now we need to secure Nanwu Town and make arrangements for Elder Nanwu."
The disciple finally snapped out of his daze.
He wiped away his tears and immediately turned to leave.
Luke stopped him.
"The murder happened four days ago. There's a good chance the killer has already escaped. Locking down the town now would accomplish nothing. If the murderer is still here, it might only alert them."
He continued, "For now, we should pretend Elder Nanwu is still in seclusion and that none of us knows what happened. Then we investigate the killer quietly."
The senior disciple looked toward Irelia.
His thoughts were in complete chaos.
"Do as he says," Irelia said.
Thinking about it carefully, Luke was right.
Four days was more than enough time for the killer to escape far beyond Nanwu Town.
They currently knew far too little. They could not even determine whether the murderer had already left, much less why Elder Nanwu had been assassinated.
Irelia had never expected to encounter something like this.
She had a vague feeling that something was deeply wrong, but for now, the priority was figuring out how to deal with the situation.
Before long, all of Elder Nanwu's disciples had been summoned to the estate's reception hall.
When they were informed of his death, many were devastated to the point of nearly collapsing.
Some sobbed openly.
Others covered their faces and wept.
Still others trembled with rage.
"Did Elder Nanwu have any enemies?" Luke asked. "When something like this happens, checking known enemies first is usually the obvious place to start."
The senior disciple quickly answered.
"Master treated people kindly throughout his entire life. He made countless friends and almost never quarreled with anyone, much less made enemies."
None of the disciples could think of a single person who could truly be called Elder Nanwu's enemy.
"No enemies..."
Luke thought for a moment.
"Then there are only two obvious possibilities. The first is that he recently offended someone. The second is much harder to deal with, the murderer may simply be killing people indiscriminately."
The disciples felt a chill run through them, followed by anger.
If the killer truly murdered people at random, then they were monstrously evil.
"Recently..."
The senior disciple suddenly seemed to remember something.
"There is one possibility. Master publicly opposed establishing a centralized government and military rule in the First Lands. He also strongly condemned the radical factions."
At that, everyone immediately thought of the Navori Brotherhood.
At present, the Navori Brotherhood was the faction most openly advocating the creation of a centralized government and standing army.
Of course, they were not the only faction pursuing such a goal, merely the most famous.
Akali and Ahri both turned toward Irelia.
Irelia's expression became grave as well.
Only a few days earlier, she herself had survived an assassination attempt by the Navori Brotherhood.
Looking at it from that perspective, the Navori Brotherhood appeared overwhelmingly suspicious.
But at that moment, Luke caught the unmistakable scent of a conspiracy.
Something told him this was nowhere near as simple as it seemed.
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