Ouyang Jie sat upright in the main hall, the Criminal Investigation Iron Whip behind him seeming to lie across his official cap.
He frowned because he had just received a reply from Zuo Qiu Wu, the headmaster of Diligent Academy. There was too much information in it, and he weighed every word.
He and Zuo Qiu Wu had a personal friendship.
Many people knew that. It was no secret.
When the Central Empire had previously purged the Equality State, Zuo Qiu Wu had been able to promptly escort the academy instructors Zheng Wu and Lou Mingbi to turn themselves in, partly for this reason.
Of course, there had also been no evidence at all linking Zuo Qiu Wu to the Equality State. Together with Diligent Academy's own influence and its consistently upright stance, that was why the matter had received special handling.
Zuo Qiu Wu's reply addressed the questions in Ouyang Jie's earlier letter.
When he had returned from the East Sea, he had been shocked to find an insect leaving his body. At the time, eager to join the suppression of the One Truth Sect, he had been unable to investigate it in person. Still, he had deliberately sent messages to those more knowledgeable, seeking the truth.
He had asked favors of people both within and beyond the Jing Kingdom, but in this matter, Zuo Qiu Wu was ultimately more convincing.
"...This insect is so strange, yet its name does not appear, nor have I heard of it. Someone has erased its traces, hiding it away from the world.
"...While investigating this insect, I seemed to sense a resistance from history.
"...Later, after cleansing my heart in the Sea of Learning and ascending Book Mountain in search of answers, I exhaustively perused ancient texts and found a fragment from