There's a ghost in the house!

They stared at the open metal briefcase discarded in the roadside greenery.

Chizuru Kami and the other two did not initially believe this was the briefcase they were looking for, and they scanned their surroundings for a while.

After all, the briefcase the family had tasked them with finding was supposed to contain the Tianshan Snow Lotus.

Yet the briefcase before them was empty and tossed carelessly by the side of the road.

However, after observing it for a moment, the expressions of Chizuru Kami and his two companions shifted from indifference to contemplation, and finally to disbelief.

With a sudden whoosh, they arrived before the metal briefcase lying in the greenery.

Swish— Just then, a plain-looking middle-aged man walked over from not far away, staring at the briefcase in the greenery with equal incredulity.

"Chizuru Qi."

Chizuru Kami immediately recognized the middle-aged man's identity; as the contact team, he had been briefed on all the man's information.

"Are you the contacts from the family?"

Chizuru Qi looked at Chizuru Kami and the other two.

He fell into an immediate silence.

Following the explanations and orders from the family back in the Fusang Kingdom, he realized that the contact, Chizuru Kawashige, with whom he had chatted happily and made plans to spend the next Cherry Blossom Festival, was a fake.

These three before him were the real ones.

"The briefcase has been opened."

Chizuru Qi's mind was in turmoil as he looked at the metal briefcase in the greenery, at a loss for what to say.

He had carried this briefcase through a desperate flight, from the northern Tianshan Mountains to the Magic City, enduring countless dangers along the way.

And now, the briefcase had been opened, and the Tianshan Snow Lotus inside had vanished into thin air.

Collecting his thoughts, Chizuru Qi immediately picked up the metal briefcase and carefully inspected it.

Beside him, Chizuru Kami and the other two felt their hearts sink as they watched Chizuru Qi's cautious behavior.

It was obvious that this metal briefcase was indeed the one they were looking for.

A moment later, Chizuru Qi set the briefcase down, looked at Chizuru Kami and his companions, and said in a deep voice, "I will explain this to the family."

The Chizuru Family had not only ordered Chizuru Kami and the others to follow the tracker to find the briefcase, but had also ordered Chizuru Qi, who had been preparing to leave the Magic City, to return and search for it as well.

The purpose of this was a lack of confidence in the strength of Chizuru Kami's team.

But now... the briefcase had been found, yet the Snow Lotus was gone.

Meanwhile, on Kyushu Island in the Fusang Kingdom.

Inside the Chizuru Family shrine, the atmosphere was exceptionally oppressive.

Especially with the old man sitting in the seat of honor, dressed in traditional Onmyoji robes and wearing a tall black hat, his hair and beard completely white. He radiated an intangible, deep, ocean-like spiritual pressure that made everyone else in the room afraid to lift their heads or look directly at him.

This white-haired, white-bearded old man was the Great Onmyoji of the Chizuru Family, Chizuru Ichiyo.

He was the true leader of the Chizuru Family and a renowned powerhouse in the Fusang Kingdom, possessing the great ability to communicate with spirits and gods, summon the dead, and manipulate souls.

At this very moment, Chizuru Ichiyo's heart was far from calm; events and details kept flashing through his mind.

From the discovery of the Tianshan Snow Lotus in the northern Tianshan Mountains of the Xia Kingdom, to Chizuru Qi carrying it away and fleeing to the Magic City, and finally, the family's three contacts meeting at a hotel in the Magic City to transfer the Tianshan Snow Lotus.

However, the variables had begun at the Yuan'an Hotel where the meeting took place.

A mysterious person had impersonated the Chizuru Family's contact and successfully swindled the Tianshan Snow Lotus from Chizuru Qi.

And this mysterious person knew the details of the transfer plan formulated by the Chizuru Family.

They knew the meeting room.

They knew the code words.

They knew the Chizuru Family like the back of their hand.

They even knew the password to the metal briefcase.

Chizuru Ichiyo's gaze turned cold as he looked at the eight family elders in the room.

There was a traitor in the house!

Aside from this reason, Chizuru Ichiyo could not think of any other possibility.

How could an outsider possibly know the plan so clearly?

Especially the password to the metal briefcase at the end? Very few people knew it—only the eight people present in this room.

Chizuru Ichiyo never imagined that there would be an internal traitor among the eight elders of the family.

The eight elders were the cornerstone of the Chizuru Family, and some of them were even older than Chizuru Ichiyo himself.

Chizuru Ichiyo was unwilling from the bottom of his heart to suspect these eight elders.

But after ruling out every other possibility...

The only remaining possibility, no matter how inconceivable or unbelievable, was the truth!

"Speak, who ordered you to do this? The Matsukawa Family? Or the Hanazaki Family?"

Chizuru Ichiyo spoke in a sinister tone, his voice slow and deliberate.

Whether it was the Matsukawa Family or the Hanazaki Family, both held grudges against the Chizuru Family and were considered hostile.

If they had received news of the Tianshan Snow Lotus and learned that Chizuru Ichiyo had obtained it to heal his foundational injuries, they would undoubtedly stop at nothing to prevent it.

The shrine fell into a deathly silence.

The eight family elders were speechless.

In fact, it wasn't just Chizuru Ichiyo who suspected there was a mole among them.

Even they themselves harbored the same suspicion.

Otherwise, how else could they explain everything that had happened far away in the Xia Kingdom?

Magic City, Xia Kingdom.

Inside a certain coffee shop.

Chizuru Kami, Chizuru Qi, and two others were gathered here.

Chizuru Qi had already informed the family that the metal briefcase had been opened, and not by force, but with the correct password.

Now, they only needed to wait for the family's next order.

"Who on earth could it be?"

Chizuru Kami whispered.

At this moment, he had also roughly pieced together what had happened.

The Tianshan Snow Lotus had been intercepted, and the person who did it knew them extremely well.

Chizuru Qi remained silent.

"Could it have been the Xia Kingdom's authorities?"

Chizuru Takahashi suddenly spoke up.

"Impossible."

Chizuru Kami shook his head.

"Right, it couldn't be the Xia Kingdom's authorities."

Chizuru Qi nodded in agreement.

If the Xia Kingdom's authorities had been that well-informed about their transport plan, he, Chizuru Qi, would have been captured back in the North.

How could it have dragged on until they reached Magic City, and why would they have let him go?

"Let's wait and see what the family decides."

Chizuru Kami said in a low voice.

The other three did not continue the conversation.

The central district of Magic City was the busiest and most prosperous area in the city.

It was a gathering place for tourists from all over the world.

Su Yuan walked along the crowded streets.

After leaving the western district, Su Yuan did not take any transportation but instead strolled leisurely toward the central district.

Jinshan Villa District was located in the eastern suburbs, so traveling from the western district to the central district and then back to the eastern district was essentially on the way.

At this time, Chizuru Qi and those three contacts should have gathered together, waiting for the Chizuru Family's next instructions at Dingxing Coffee Shop, Su Yuan thought to himself.

Dingxing Coffee Shop was the shop located near where Su Yuan had discarded the metal briefcase.

According to the plan provided by the Grey Mirror, at this point in time, Chizuru Qi and the other three would be waiting there.

"The final step of the plan."

Su Yuan flipped his right hand and produced a mobile phone.

This phone was naturally not Su Yuan's; it had come from an international friend with dark skin who had just brushed past him.

Skillfully unlocking the phone and entering the passcode, Su Yuan adjusted his vocal pitch and dialed the emergency services.

"Hello, is this the police? Yes, I want to report a crime!"