Mo Heng's heart accelerated and beat in his chest like a galloping horse. He could not afford to make mistakes at this point when everything seemed like it was resolved. With Xiao Xun dead, there was no need for anyone to suspect him.
Moreover, after the discovery of the restoration potion, it could be said that Xiao Xun did not have malicious intent against Feng Yie. It could even be said that he was an admirer or a righteous junior who wanted to help her.
The only question would be about who killed him and the presence of a devil cultivator among the group that entered the domain. There would be no connection between him and the events of the previous night.
But Mo Heng never expected that the two idiots with him would come up with an idea. If they fed Feng Yie the restoration potion, the entire story would fall apart. Everything would be called into question when she died from the Forlorn Water.
It would have been fine if Su Yaling had not examined Feng Yie. If she had died without verification of her condition, it could be considered a relapse from poison or the backlash of the strange treatment. But it was now confirmed that she was well, just weak.
If anything went wrong, it would be easy to find the problem.
No, Feng Yie had to live.
"We cannot feed her this potion." Mo Heng said.
"Why?" Long Jingyi asked suspiciously. "Is there something wrong with it?"
"Are you stupid?" Mo Heng asked with a snort. "We found this potion next to a dead body! How can we feed Senior Feng something like that? What if the thing that killed Xiao Xun contaminated the potion before it killed him?"
The other two cultivators felt embarrassed immediately for making an insensitive suggestion. The two of them did not think deeply about the death of Xiao Xun because he was not a member of their academy, clan, sect, or team.
Their thinking was quite simple. In the world of cultivation, it was not uncommon for people to loot corpses and take the resources of the dead. It was normal to pick things without a psychological burden because cultivation was often quite expensive.
In addition, items like potions could not be wasted.
Usually, cultivators could choose to be warriors or mages. Warriors focused on building physical strength and learning how to use weapons to maximise their power. On the other hand, mages used their spiritual energy to develop support skills.
Unfortunately, being a mage demanded talent and resources.
As a result, there was always a problem in ensuring a balance in the cultivation world.
The problem was not only in the imbalance of the number of warriors and mages. Most people chose the warrior route because it only required mindless focus and combat to build up strength. In addition, most countries needed combat strength, so making a living was easy.
The primary challenge was in the diversity of mage professions. Mages could choose different paths, including apothecary, weapon smithing, artefact forging, and formation building as well as minor professions such as cooking, winemaking, art, and music.
These skills could contribute significantly to the growth of a warrior and other mages. People were often willing to go to great lengths to hire and form relationships with powerful mages. Due to the high costs involved, items made by a mage could not be discarded easily.
But Mo Heng had a point.
"You are right. I did not think clearly." Su Yaling said in contrition. "We have not yet determined the cause of your junior's death, so we should be cautious. As an apology, I will offer Feng Yie one of my restoration potions."
With that, Fairy Su took out a potion from her storage ring and lifted Feng Yie's head to feed her.
Mo Heng exhaled in relief. He felt like he had escaped a crisis. But he also felt a little smug at being able to lead two of the most revered cultivators of the younger generation on Obsidian Continent by the nose.
If he put in more effort, he could surpass them all.
"You know, we can have the potion tested for dangers." Long Jingyi said thoughtfully as he stroked his chin. "If the person who killed your junior interfered with the potion, we will be able to track them down with more ease from any residues they might have left."
Mo Heng was on a roller-coaster of emotions. Every time he thought that the danger had passed, something new came up. At this point, he just wanted the portal gate to open. He never wanted to step into the domain again after his misfortunes.
"You are right," he said despite his turbulent emotions. "I will have the vial tested. It does not look like the potion has been tampered with, but it is good to be more cautious."
Long Jingyi did not push further. Ultimately, he was not a member of the Shadowmantle Academy. The only reason he had stuck around was to ensure that his Hallowflame Academy and Yuan Haoran would not be blamed for anything.
"What are you going to do about the body?" He still asked Mo Heng.
Mo Heng's eyes drifted to the corpse, and he felt distaste. He was not unfamiliar with dead people. He did not even mind handling them. During this training, he had already lost one junior to a spiritual beast that attacked out of nowhere.
Unlike most hidden domains, this one had low danger and rarely claimed lives, but a few people would still end up dead after the training. As a senior, Mo Heng was in charge of collecting the bodies, so he already had a body in the so-called Burial Ring.
The Burial Ring was just a normal storage ring, but it was used exclusively for carrying dead bodies.
The reason for his disgust was the condition of Xiao Xun's body. The flesh was falling from the bones like mud, and the stench was overwhelming. He felt like carrying the body would be equivalent to carrying sewage with him.
"Of course, I must return him to the academy, so that we can investigate his death. If there is a devil cultivator among us, we must ensure that Xiao Xun gets justice. After that, his family can get his body back and let him rest with his ancestors." Mo Heng replied.
Long Jingyi nodded in understanding. "Given the condition of his body and the possibility that he was killed by a devil cultivator, you should take more precautions. You can ask your juniors to build a coffin to contain the body and prevent negative effects."
Mo Heng felt that Long Jingyi was condescending, but he also knew that the suggestion was good. If the juniors could carve out a box from a large tree, he would not have to worry about the sorry state of Xiao Xun's corpse and the effect it might have on his Burial Ring.
"Let me go and speak to my juniors." Mo Heng said without showing gratitude to Long Jingyi for his suggestion.
"I have fed Feng Yie a restoration potion, so her body should be recovering quickly." Su Yaling said with a polite smile. "I have to leave you now. I must check on my junior sisters and make sure they are ready to exit the domain. Let me know what happens."
"I will walk out with you." Long Jingyi spoke up quickly as he walked up to Fairy Su. "Now that we have cleared up the air, I am sure Mo Heng can handle everything on behalf of his Shademantle Academy. We are not needed anymore."
Mo Heng could only watch as the two people left him in the disgusting tent to deal with the mess. He looked at Feng Yie whose face no longer had the sickly parlour of someone close to death. The sight made him curse the man in the scarlet cloak.
If it had not been for him, Mo Heng would have been free of Feng Yie.
At this time, Yuan Haoran was perched carelessly on a branch, checking his reward for saving Feng Yie.