Inquiry

When it was Li Xuan's turn, the sun was just sinking behind the main peak of Crimson Firmament Mountain.

Li Xuan got up from the rock wall, his palm tightening on the hilt of his blade before relaxing again.

He glanced at Shadow one last time—the man was leaning against the other side of the cave entrance, half his face hidden in shadow, the old scar on his wrist completely concealed by his sleeve, showing no expression whatsoever.

"Move." The enforcement disciple was a tall, thin man in his thirties at the third layer of the True Qi Realm, and his look at Li Xuan carried a hint of scrutiny.

Li Xuan followed him toward the mountain path. Low red pines grew on both sides of the path, their needles glowing dark red in the setting sun, as if soaked in blood.

The Enforcement Hall was not in the inner sect, but at a standalone stone hall halfway up Crimson Firmament Mountain.

When Li Xuan was led into the side hall, he saw Elder Heiyan sitting in the main seat at a glance.

The old man was still wearing that dusty gray robe, and two enforcement disciples stood behind him, both in the True Qi Realm with standard longswords at their waists, standing with straight postures.

"Sit." Elder Heiyan raised his chin and pointed to the futon opposite.

Li Xuan sat cross-legged with his saber laid across his knees and his spine straight.

Elder Heiyan did not rush to speak, but picked up a teacup and took a sip. His brow furrowed, and he put the teacup back down. The hall was so quiet that the faint cracking sound of the candle flame could be heard.

"That thing inside your body," Elder Heiyan suddenly raised his eyes, "when did you get it?"

Li Xuan's heart gave a fierce contraction, but his expression remained unchanged.

He stared into Elder Heiyan's eyes, which were turbid yet sharp, as if they could pierce flesh and bone directly.

"The Northern Territory," Li Xuan said. "The night Iron Wall City fell, planted by a shaman right before he died."

"What shaman?"

"A camp shaman under Wanyan Lie. I don't know what he was called, but he bit me." Li Xuan pointed to his right shoulder. "The wound healed later, but something extra was left behind."

Elder Heiyan did not speak, staring at him for a full three breaths before suddenly letting out a laugh. "You're honest enough."

Li Xuan did not take up the prompt.

"Know why I asked this first?" Elder Heiyan picked up the teacup, this time truly taking a sip.

"Please enlighten me, Elder."

"Because that thing in the mine shaft," Elder Heiyan set down the teacup and tapped his fingers on the table, "was also brought out by a shaman thirty years ago."

Li Xuan's pupils contracted slightly.

"That gimmick inside you and the thing in the mine shaft share the same origin." Elder Heiyan spoke in a very flat tone, as if commenting that the weather was fine today. "So the moment you entered the cave, it jumped, didn't it?"

"...Yes."

"How many times did it jump?"

Li Xuan paused. "It jumped once upon entering the cave, and then jumped again when we retreated."

Elder Heiyan nodded, not pressing whether it was true or false. The topic shifted abruptly: "What did you see in the cave?"

Li Xuan had long since prepared, repeating the narrative the seven of them had agreed upon: they went deep into the mine shaft, encountered a demonic beast, fought a battle, and retreated. His tone was steady as he spoke, details clear, blurring where it should be blurred and affirming where it should be affirmed.

After listening, Elder Heiyan neither nodded nor shook his head, only asking, "What demonic beast?"

"Didn't see clearly. Pitch black and fast."

"How many people made a move?"

"All of us."

"Who ran first?"

Li Xuan paused for a fraction of a second. "No one ran first. We retreated together."

Elder Heiyan stared at him, his gaze carrying a trace of playfulness. "Are you sure?"

"...Sure."

"Then whose claw marks are those on Zhou Wu's leg?"

Li Xuan's heart sank, but his face showed just the right amount of astonishment. "Zhou Wu is injured? It was too chaotic during the retreat, I didn't notice."

Elder Heiyan looked at him and suddenly smiled. "Alright, questions are over. Wait outside."

Li Xuan pushed the door open and stepped out. Xu He was standing outside.

His complexion was pale with sweat on his temples. Seeing Li Xuan come out, his gaze flickered, and he said nothing.

The enforcement disciple beckoned to him. He took a deep breath, lowered his head, and entered the side hall.

When Li Xuan returned to the cave entrance, the sky had turned pitch black.

Su Ying was leaning against the rock wall. Seeing him return, she asked in a low voice, "Are you alright?"

Li Xuan shook his head and sat down beside her. Zhou Wen and Zhou Wu were absent, Shadow was not there either, and Shi Yong had not returned yet. Only Xu He had been taken away, and Su Ying had already finished her questioning.

"Zhou Wu was carried to the Medical Hall," Su Ying said in a very suppressed voice. "There's a claw mark on his leg, very deep."

Li Xuan did not speak, his mind spinning rapidly. Elder Heiyan knew Zhou Wu was injured, which meant the Enforcement Hall had already grasped certain information. When were those claw marks inflicted? It was too chaotic during the retreat; he truly hadn't noticed Zhou Wu getting hurt.

"What about Zhou Wen?"

"He went along to accompany him." Su Ying paused. "Shadow was taken away."

Li Xuan turned to look at her.

"Just before you came out," Su Ying said, "someone dressed in black arrived, exchanged a few words with the enforcement disciple, and took Shadow away. Shadow glanced at me when he left and didn't say a word."

A bad premonition welled up in Li Xuan's heart.

Half an hour later, Shi Yong returned.

His walking posture was normal and his complexion wasn't bad. Seeing Li Xuan, he split into a grin. "It's fine, the questioning is over."

Li Xuan lowered his voice. "Did everyone stick to the story?"

"Just like you said," Shi Yong sat down beside him, his voice dropped low as well. "A demonic beast, we fought a battle, and we retreated. When asked why the soul lamp gave a warning, I said the fight was too fierce and it probably shook our foundations."

Li Xuan nodded.

"Did they ask about Zhou Wu getting hurt?" Shi Yong asked.

"They asked." Li Xuan repeated Elder Heiyan's words.

Hearing this, Shi Yong frowned. "Those claw marks... I didn't see them."

"I didn't see them either."

The two exchanged a glance and remained silent.

After another stick of incense's time, Xu He returned.

His complexion was even paler than when he went in, his walk somewhat stiff. Seeing Li Xuan and Shi Yong, his pace stuttered, and he walked straight off to sit in the distance without coming over to their side.

"Something's wrong with him," Shi Yong muttered in a low voice.

Li Xuan looked at Xu He's back and stayed silent.

Half an hour later, Zhou Wen returned. His eyes were red. His steps were heavy as he walked over and came to a stop before Shi Yong, his voice hoarse: "Zhou Wu's leg is ruined. The claw marks are poisonous and spread to the bone. The Medical Hall says he has to recuperate for at least three months, and whether he can recover depends on fortune."

Shi Yong stood up abruptly, his fists clenching before relaxing, finally choking out after a long moment, "Who did this?"

Zhou Wen shook his head. "I don't know. It was too chaotic during the retreat, even he doesn't know when he was clawed."

Li Xuan thought of the speed of that black shadow in the cave and remained silent, saying nothing.

They waited for another stick of incense's time, but Shadow did not return.

An enforcement disciple came over to relay a message: Shadow had been taken by the Shadow Division, subsequent matters were no longer under the purview of the Enforcement Hall, and they were dismissed.

Shi Yong wanted to say something, but Li Xuan pressed down on his wrist.

There were seven of them when they left together, but upon returning, Zhou Wu was carried away horizontally, Shadow's whereabouts were unknown, and the remaining five stood at the cave entrance, chilled by the night wind.

"Let's head back first," Li Xuan said. "We'll talk about anything else tomorrow."

Xu He was the first to turn and leave, moving quickly without once looking back.

Su Ying looked at Li Xuan, then at Shi Yong, and said in a low voice, "My uncle is in the Logistics Hall. Tomorrow I'll go inquire about Zhou Wu's condition."

Zhou Wen nodded at her and walked toward the inner sect with red-rimmed eyes.

Shi Yong stood on the spot, gazing in the direction where Shadow had been taken, and suddenly asked Li Xuan, "Do you trust him?"

Li Xuan was silent for a long time before he spoke. "I don't know."

When they returned to Courtyard 7, the moon had already risen.

Li Xuan pushed open his chamber door and sat in the dark for a long time, running through today's events over and over in his mind: the corpse in the cave opening its eyes, Shadow collecting the rune fragments, the claw marks during the retreat, Xu He's complexion after being questioned, Elder Heiyan's remark of "you can shoulder more than I expected," and the news of Shadow being taken by the Shadow Division.

He raised his right hand and opened his palm. Moonlight streamed in through the window, shining upon the golden veins across his palm—the traces left behind after the refining of the Earth Vein Fiend Stone, which were faintly radiating heat at this moment.

Li Xuan closed his eyes, sensing the wolf soul mark deep within his body. It lay dormant quietly deep inside his right shoulder, not pulsating, yet he could sense something awakening.

It was resonance.

A resonance with that thing in the mine shaft.

He recalled the old scar on Shadow's wrist, the speed with which Shadow had gathered the rune fragments, and what Shadow had said when he proactively invited him to join the Shadow Division: "The Shadow Division doesn't raise idlers, but I don't think you look like one."

At the time, he thought it was solicitation.

Thinking about it now, perhaps it was a test.

Footnotes of footsteps sounded outside the window, very light, stopping right at Li Xuan's door.

Li Xuan opened his eyes, his hand already pressed to the hilt of his blade.

"It's me," came Shi Yong's voice.

Li Xuan opened the door, and Shi Yong slipped inside, pulling the door shut behind him. He fished a piece of cloth from his bosom and laid it flat on the table.

Wrapped inside the cloth was a small piece of something black.

A rune fragment.

"Where did you get this?" Li Xuan lowered his voice.

"Zhou Wen gave it to me," Shi Yong said. "Zhou Wu was clutching it in his hand when he was carried away. The people at the Medical Hall found it while cleaning his wound, and Zhou Wen hid it while they weren't paying attention."

Li Xuan stared at the fragment, and the wolf soul mark within his body suddenly began to beat violently.

On the fragment, the black runes seemed to come alive, beginning to wriggle.

Li Xuan grabbed Shi Yong's shoulder, pulling him backward while simultaneously drawing his blade.

The fragment split apart on the table, dividing into two halves. From the crack, a wisp of extremely fine black smoke crawled out, suspended in the air before condensing into a blurred shape—

Like an eye.

That eye opened in the darkness, staring directly at Li Xuan.

Then, a voice echoed in Li Xuan's mind, hoarse, aged, and carrying the accent of the Northern Territory barbarian tribes:

"Found you."