Old Acquaintances and Old Cases

Liu Ye's eyes immediately turned red.

"Sir, you must seek justice for our Inkstone Town!"

He stated his purpose in a trembling voice.

Over the past three months, young people in Inkstone Town had been disappearing one after another.

Not one or two, but dozens.

Both male and female, aged between sixteen and twenty-five.

They would simply vanish into thin air after waking up in their own homes, leaving no trace behind.

The town's yamen was useless, dismissing it as ordinary runaway cases.

"My son, Liu Hua... you remember him, right? He became a constable in town."

Shen Che nodded. He remembered Liu Hua, a sturdy and honest young man.

"Half a month ago, he told me he had found some clues and chased after them alone... and then... then he never came back!"

Liu Ye's voice broke into sobs.

"No one has seen him alive, and his body has not been found!"

Shen Che listened quietly.

A remote town, missing young men and women, an incompetent government.

These elements combined pointed to one clear possibility.

This was no ordinary case.

This had the scent of Demonic Beasts.

An opportunity had presented itself.

A debt of gratitude that must be repaid.

"Uncle Liu, you should stay in Cangyun City for now and get some rest."

"I'll go back to Inkstone Town with you."

Five days of hard riding.

The further they got from Cangyun City, the more desolate the surroundings became.

As the familiar outline of Inkstone Town appeared on the horizon, Shen Che felt a sense of unreality, as if he had returned from a different lifetime.

Though he hadn't been back for only a year, it felt like a completely different world.

The town was eerily quiet.

Few pedestrians walked the streets, and those who did kept their heads down, walking with hurried steps.

The lively marketplace of his memory was now desolate and deserted.

An invisible fear, like a heavy dark cloud, hung over the entire town.

Faces of young people were almost nonexistent. The occasional one passing by was filled with vigilance and worry.

This was not the hometown he remembered.

Shen Che did not go home first.

He went straight to the town's yamen.

Seeing him approach, the yamen runners at the entrance impatiently tried to stop him.

"This is an important government office, unauthorized personnel are not allowed!"

Shen Che had no time for pleasantries.

He directly took out the black iron token engraved with the words "Demon Suppression."

The expression on the yamen runner's face froze instantly.

"Lord Shen... Lord Shen! This lowly one had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai!"

The yamen runner's waist bent to a ninety-degree angle.

"This lowly one will go and inform Constable Sun immediately!"

A slightly overweight middle-aged man, wearing a constable's uniform, hurried out from inside.

It was Sun De, the constable of Inkstone Town, and Liu Hua's superior.

"My, my, Lord Shen has returned!"

Sun De's face was all smiles, his attitude excessively enthusiastic.

Shen Che got straight to the point.

"Constable Sun, I'm here about Liu Hua's case. What did he find out before he disappeared?"

Sun De's smile faltered for a moment.

He sighed and invited Shen Che into the main hall.

"Lord Shen, you have no idea how bizarre this case is."

According to him, Liu Hua had indeed been following a suspicious person before he disappeared.

On the night of his disappearance, Liu Hua followed that person into Black Wind Mountain, outside the town.

And then he never came out again.

"We sent people into the mountain to search, and only found torn pieces of his official uniform fabric at the foot of the mountain."

Sun De's face was full of helplessness.

"Oh, right. Before he disappeared, he left a note at the yamen, as if to record some important clue."

"But, when we found it, the note had already been torn into pieces."

Shen Che's attention focused.

"Where's the note?"

"We collected all the fragments we could find," Sun De shook his head, "but several pieces are still missing, and it's impossible to put it together. I don't know what kind of gibberish was written on it."

After Sun De reported to his superior, he retrieved an oil-paper package from the evidence room.

He carefully opened it. Inside were more than a dozen pieces of paper of varying sizes, pieced together haphazardly.

On the paper, one could vaguely discern the character "Heaven", while the rest were either incomplete strokes or simply blank.

"Lord Shen, you see, this is all we have."

Sun De's expression was somewhat troubled, yet also held a hint of schadenfreude.

Even the authorities were helpless in this case. What waves could a young man who had only recently left town, even after joining the Demon Suppression Division, possibly stir up?

Shen Che said his thanks and put away the oil-paper package.

He didn't linger at the yamen and turned to leave.

Sun De watched his retreating back, curled his lips, and muttered, "Young people are always so full of spirit."

Shen Che found a deserted alley.

He opened the oil-paper package and spread the torn paper scraps on his palm.

He closed his eyes, sinking his consciousness into his mind.

"System, restore this note to its state before it was torn."

[Initiating Time Reversal, repairing target: Note. Estimated Time Value consumption: 300 points. Confirm?]

The System's prompt sounded.

Time Reversal was much more expensive than accelerating time.

This was going upstream against the river of time, and it required a price.

His remaining 300 Time Value.

"Confirm."

Without the slightest hesitation.

An invisible force enveloped his palm.

The static pieces of paper began to tremble and piece themselves together in a way that defied logic.

They seemed to come alive, the torn edges wriggling and healing, missing parts appearing out of thin air.

In less than a breath, a complete note lay intact in his palm.

[Time Value -300]

[Time Value: 0]

Shen Che's entire fortune was wiped out.

He looked down.

On the note were three characters written in a bold, flowing script.

Heavenly Profound Pavilion.

Shen Che committed these three characters firmly to memory.

Heavenly Profound Pavilion. He had some impression of it.

It was a well-known martial arts sect in the neighboring Qingfeng City, primarily dealing in elixirs and weapons, and always acting with discretion.

Qingfeng City was hundreds of miles away from Inkstone Town.

Why would a force from Qingfeng City have a member appear in Black Wind Mountain outside Inkstone Town?

Liu Hua had tracked this person and hastily written down "Heavenly Profound Pavilion" before being silenced.

This indicated that he had recognized the other party's identity and sensed something was amiss.

The murderer, after killing Liu Hua, had destroyed the note to erase the clue.

Committing the crime across such a distance was indeed a clever tactic.

Who would connect a legitimate business hundreds of miles away with a disappearance case in a remote town?

Liu Hua is likely beyond saving now.

Shen Che clenched his fists.

He had to make a trip to Qingfeng City.

Several days later, Qingfeng City.

This place was far more prosperous than Inkstone Town, with bustling streets filled with traffic and a clamor of voices.

Shen Che followed the map and quickly found the Heavenly Profound Pavilion.

It occupied the most prime location in the city, a magnificent three-story pavilion. The sign above the entrance bore the three characters "Heavenly Profound Pavilion" in gilded lettering, written with a powerful and imposing calligraphy.

The pavilion was thronged with people, its business booming.

The first-floor hall was filled with all sorts of weapons and elixirs, and the shop assistants enthusiastically greeted customers.

Everything appeared normal, everything in order.

No one would have imagined that such a place could be connected to the disappearance of dozens of lives.

Storming in to interrogate them would only alert the enemy.

He needed to find a way to lure out the true person in charge of the Heavenly Profound Pavilion.

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