“D-Dustin? How could it be him?” Ronald was taken aback. He was in total disbelief. They had just been discussing how they were going to nurture him. And now, something like this happened.
“Could you be mistaken? Why would Dustin murder Sir Paul?” one of the elders asked.
“It’s true! I got the news firsthand from the Hills household. There were many eyewitnesses too! There’s no mistaking it!” the member said solemnly.
“How could that be? Has he gone crazy?”
“To think that we were just talking about helping him grow! Who would’ve thought that he’s such a merciless beast?”
“He’s a threat to the alliance!”
After hearing the news was true, the elders were all upset and furious.
Paul Hill had made tremendous contributions to the Balerno martial arts alliance. He was a figure of great importance.
Everyone who met him had to show him a certain level of respect.
For such a respectable person to be killed evoked a sense of anger and resentment in them. And even more so when the murderer was Dustin, who was currently at the center of attention. “Come on! Let’s go to the Hills to check things out!” Ronald ordered with a dark expression.
Then, with those from the alliance in tow, they went to the Hill family residence. They wanted to see for themselves if the claims were true.
Over at the Glenstead martial arts alliance.
Early in the morning, Conrad called for a meeting with the higher-ups. It was to discuss their defeat the previous day.
Halfway through the meeting, they received the news about Paul’s death.
“What? Paul Hill is dead?”
At first, Conrad was stunned. Then, he jumped up and began laughing heartily. “Hahaha! That’s great news! Absolutely great news!
“That old man should have died long ago! Which hero should we be thanking for his death?”
“Sir, it was Dustin Rhys, the one who won in the tournament yesterday!” the person reported.
“Dustin Rhys? It was him?” Conrad was surprised.
“That rascal should be a hotshot with the Balerno martial arts alliance now. Why would he do something like that to put himself in trouble? What’s going on?”
“We still do not know what exactly happened. I suppose there was some sort of internal strife,”
Conrad’s subordinate replied.
“Sir, Paul’s death came on too suddenly. Will we be blamed for what happened?” Brutus asked.
The Glenstead and Balerno martial arts alliances didn’t get along. They also just had a disagreement recently.
With Paul’s sudden murder, the Glenstead martial arts alliance would inevitably be suspected.
After all, the death of a grandmaster was a huge matter. It might lead to a war between both alliances. If that happened, things could rapidly get out of hand.
“Why are you so flustered? Didn’t you hear? Dustin Rhys is the murderer. What’s anything got to do with us?” Conrad wasn’t worried.
“Besides, it’s Paul Hill we’re talking about. Even if I personally went for him, I can’t say for sure that I’d be able to defeat him.
“It is no easy feat trying to kill him. Only someone close to him could sneak an attack on him. Ronald’s no fool. He’d understand this.”
“So, there really has been internal strife in the Balerno martial arts alliance?” Brutus frowned. “We’ll know once we go there and see for ourselves. Come on, let’s go and join the excitement!”
With a wave, Conrad led them out the door.
At this point, be it the Balerno martial arts alliance, the Glenstead martial arts alliance, or even the Hill household, they all had their attention on Dustin.
He had gone from a hotshot genius to a murderer overnight.
The entire martial arts world was in chaos because of it. Countless martial artists were on the lookout for him, the murderer.
