An Entire Dossier Gone

Inside the new residence at Perching Swan Academy, lamplight flickered.

In the private message panel, Bibi Dong's question, "What does that lock keep locked away?" was still there. Qin Zhaoye glanced at it, then swiped it aside without even opening it.

He had no intention of answering Bibi Dong's question.

"Keep His Holiness the Pope hanging, and she'll be least likely to make a reckless move."

He lowered his head, spread the "transcription master copy" he had just intercepted from an outlying relay station across his desk, then fetched some old xuan paper and seal paste he had prepared long ago.

The Eye of Historical Observation's annotations had marked out the handwriting, the paper grain, and even the hidden seals across the seams, so forging it was not especially difficult. All he had to do was trace it.

Qin Zhaoye forged an empty shell of a dossier with his own hands. Its cover number, wax seals, and even the weight of its paper were, compared with the original, indistinguishable down to the smallest detail.

"The shell's ready. Now I just have to wait for the original to pass through the station."

Three days later, night fell, and dark clouds completely covered the moon.

The timetable he had fixed that night stated it clearly: the original Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Sighting Records, escorted all the way from Spirit City, was due to arrive at the escort station outside Suotuo City tonight. It was the last stop before archival, and the handover would take place there.

Qin Zhaoye changed into black night clothes, tucked the forged empty dossier into his robes, and slipped out of the academy without a sound.

Outside the heavily guarded compound at the escort station, two squads of Spirit Hall guards were patrolling back and forth in shifts before the gate.

Qin Zhaoye lay hidden in the shadows beneath a side window of the rear courtyard's storeroom. According to the timetable, the handover signatures and seals should be under verification in the front hall at this hour.

He peered through a gap in the window into the inner storeroom. A sealed agarwood box sat on an ironwood table. The bronze scroll in his palm opened slightly, and an annotation from the Eye of Historical Observation appeared: this box contained the original Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Sighting Records.

Only one Soul Elder patrol guard stood watch at the entrance to the inner storeroom, his hands behind his back. Every so often, he turned and walked a few steps down the corridor.

Qin Zhaoye watched the man's back, waiting for him to turn and walk down the corridor again.

Now.

The second purple Soul Ring beneath his feet flashed silently. Folded Page. His figure vanished from the shadows, crossed ten zhang in the blink of an eye, and appeared before the ironwood table in the inner storeroom.

The copper lock on the agarwood box was normally covered by a layer of alert Soul Power. If an outsider touched it, the deacon in the front hall would notice immediately. But during the handover verification, the alert had to be withdrawn so the box could be inspected in the front hall. To put it plainly, that was the window for the switch marked on the timetable.

Qin Zhaoye reached out and felt it. Cold. Sure enough, there was no Soul Power on it at all.

He undid the copper clasp and lifted the lid. With his left hand, he pulled the forged empty dossier from his robes and stuffed it into the bottom of the box. His right hand did not remain idle either: he steadily drew out the yellowed original and tucked it into his robes.

He closed the lid, locked it, and pressed the seal back into place.

Outside in the corridor, the patrol guard had just reached a pillar and was about to turn around. Fortunately, Folded Page's cooldown had ended by then.

Purple light flashed again beneath Qin Zhaoye's feet. He moved ten zhang outward, landing beneath the shadows of the trees beyond the rear courtyard wall, and withdrew from the escort station just like that.

Over in the front hall, the handover was complete. A clerk entered the inner storeroom, lifted the wooden box and hefted it. The weight was right. He checked the seal across the cover seam too, and that was also right, so he locked it away in an iron archive cabinet.

From then on, Spirit Hall's archives contained one more empty dossier. Where had the original gone? No one could find out.

Back at the new residence, Qin Zhaoye first locked the door from the inside. Only then did he take out the original and casually toss it into the copper brazier in the corner. "Only by burning it clean can I truly cut it off at the root."

The flames whooshed up, licking at the yellowed old paper. In a few bites, they had devoured it completely, leaving only a handful of ash at the bottom of the brazier.

The last spark had only just gone out when two dark-gold private message boxes quietly appeared in the lower right corner of the bronze scroll. No one else could see them, however; only he, the group owner, could.

[Group Hub private message: The original Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Sighting Records has been detected as completely destroyed. The related clue in the original course of history has been officially removed. Hidden alteration settlement complete. Talking Capital awarded as usual. Invisible to the entire group.]

Another followed immediately.

[Historian's private account: Hidden alteration clue removal complete. Footnote level. 300 Talking Capital credited to the group owner.]

And so the clue about Xiao Wu recorded in the original course of history had been erased ahead of time, just like that. The girl herself was still in the dark.

He scattered the ash with the fire tongs, then sprawled on the soft couch by the window and pulled up the bronze scroll's public screen. The second half of the Shrek Seven Devils Future Roster special had already been delayed for three days; it felt about time to wrap it up.

[Group owner: The second half of the roster special continues. All remaining posts will be released at once.]

Lan Xuanyu had been keeping watch in the group the whole time. As soon as he heard the group owner speak, he tossed the final two research posts onto the public screen.

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: The second half begins with the final reveals! Here are the last two pieces of the puzzle from Official History of the First Era: Shrek Biographies. One is Ning Rongrong, the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and the other is Zhu Zhuqing, the Hell Spirit Cat. Both of them went on to break free of the shackles of their sect and Martial Soul, and even became gods! Apart from the one entry that's locked, the future roster of the first-generation Shrek Seven Devils has now been fully revealed!]

[Ancestral Precepts Recitation Champion: Seven gods from one school! No matter how many times I see it, it still fires me up! That first-generation Shrek lineup was truly unmatched throughout the ages!]

As the final post delivered its conclusive proof, a golden settlement box burst open at the top of the special.

[Golden announcement: The Shrek Seven Devils Future Roster archaeology special has concluded successfully. The host's sixty-percent share has been settled. 800 Talking Capital credited to the group owner.]

Qin Zhaoye was in an excellent mood, so he casually took a sum of Talking Capital from his account and sent out a shower of red envelopes to celebrate the special's conclusion.

[Group owner: The roster special is over, so here's a shower of red envelopes to liven things up.]

The screen had only just filled with gold-and-red envelopes when, before the three descendants could make their move, a pink-and-white figure began clicking wildly, her hands moving so fast they left afterimages.

[Xiao Wu: Wow, I got them, I got them! I clicked several in a row!]

[Ancestral Precepts Recitation Champion: No way! My hands were already fast enough, so how did someone still snatch the biggest envelope this time?!]

[Group Hub: The scramble for this round's closing red-envelope shower is over. Congratulations to new member "Xiao Wu" for winning the title of "Luckiest Newcomer" this round!]

A colorful ribbon bearing the words "Luckiest Newcomer" appeared over Xiao Wu's head. The girl was overjoyed and sent a string of emojis in the thread.

[Xiao Wu: This group is way too much fun! Are there red envelopes to grab every day?]

While she enjoyed herself, someone had just burned the record that could have cost her her life to ash. But not a single person in the group knew about it.

In a dormitory at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, Tang San had not joined the scramble for red envelopes. He was busy going through the posts on the future achievements of the Shrek Seven Devils from both halves of the special, carefully rereading them from beginning to end.

When he finished, he clicked the local save button in the corner of the interface and stored the entire roster in his private collection. Under his breath, he murmured, "Shrek Seven Devils..."

The seven names on the roster stood neatly side by side. Would things really turn out that way? He stared at them for a long time before slowly typing a line on the public screen.

[Tang San: I'll see the future recorded here with my own eyes.]

Although the special had ended, the mood in the group had not cooled in the slightest. Tang Wulin was still wondering aloud how the first-generation students of Shrek Academy had been taught. Their teaching standards were simply incredible.

[Ancestral Precepts Recitation Champion: They taught seven gods in one go! The theory classes at first-generation Shrek must have been miraculous, right? If only I could sit in on one.]

Lan Xuanyu was amused the moment he heard that.

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: That might not actually be the case.]

He casually took a screenshot of a page from a Fourth Era Shrek Academy textbook and tossed it onto the public screen.

[Ten-Thousand-Year Melon Field Contractor: Here, this is one of our textbooks. The man known as "Grandmaster" left behind three core works on Martial Soul Theory in all. By the time they made it into later textbooks, two had already been crossed out!]

In the image, two red annotations had been clearly crossed out.

[Ancestral Precepts Recitation Champion: Pfft! Two out of three crossed out? That elimination rate is way too brutal, hahahaha!]

[Xiao Wu: Pfft, whatever you do, don't let Grandmaster himself see that.]

That remark sent the group into fits of laughter. Once they had laughed, the matter passed.

Bibi Dong was watching the laughter too, from the Pope's Palace in Spirit City, her gaze cold. The question she had asked was still sitting in her private message panel, without the slightest response. She pressed a hand against the armrest and said nothing.

In the new residence at Perching Swan Academy, Qin Zhaoye was just about to close the bronze scroll when a glance caught the string of numbers in the lower right corner of the Group Hub panel. Why was it still ticking?

He looked closely. It was the group's cumulative transaction total, climbing one increment at a time. It was only a breath away from 12,000.

Immediately afterward, another line of small text appeared on the panel: countdown to Group Hub's third-tier upgrade.

He looked to the side again. The little icon in the very corner of the panel, which had always been gray, was now giving off a faint light. He leaned closer and saw a few words beneath it: Observer Seat Application Channel.