"Hall Master Gu, Zhao Chong's cell is empty!"
The news spread quickly across the main peak.
That night, the Deliberation Hall blazed with light. Seven elders sat on either side, while Qi Shouxuan sat at the head of the hall. On the table before him lay the records of the empty cell, the Imperial Kin-Seeking Document, and the Sect Registry Jade Tablet Li Sanshun had just received.
Ji Jingyao sat in the guest seat, with two imperial attendants standing behind him.
"Zhao Chong's disappearance proves that Tai Xuan Sect is no longer safe. Li Sanshun may well be the surviving bloodline of my Third Imperial Uncle. If he keeps living at Xuan Chu Academy and something happens, who will be held responsible?"
A main-peak elder glanced over the records of the empty cell.
"His Highness the Imperial Grandson makes a fair point. The blood test is in three days. We can move Li Sanshun to Guest-Welcoming Peak for now, where the sect and the envoy group can jointly keep watch over him."
"Jointly keep watch?"
Li Sanshun set his Sect Registry Jade Tablet on the table.
"That sounds nice, but in practice, you're handing me over to the envoy group. Once the formation at Guest-Welcoming Peak is shut, will Tai Xuan Sect's disciples still be allowed inside?"
The old attendant said coldly, "If the envoy group wanted to harm you, why would we have entered the sect openly? Don't treat everyone like a thief."
"Zhao Chong vanished even while locked in the Law Enforcement Hall. Around the time you entered the sect, the Communication Array failed, and someone used a forged token at the Back Mountain Teleportation Array. Now you want me to move into the place where you're staying? I'm not that reckless."
Ji Jingyao tapped the table.
"Are you doubting me?"
"I doubt anyone trying to rush me out of the sect."
Several elders in the hall conferred in hushed voices. The Imperial Envoy Group held a distinguished status. If Li Sanshun really was a surviving member of the imperial family and Tai Xuan Sect refused to let him go, the sect could face a reckoning from the court.
Qi Shouxuan picked up the Sect Registry Jade Tablet.
"Li Sanshun officially entered the sect registry yesterday. Today, he is still a disciple of Tai Xuan Sect. If the sect can't even protect its own disciples, there's no point in keeping the Mountain Protection Array."
Ji Jingyao countered, "Is Grand Elder Qi prepared to offend the Imperial City for a new disciple whose identity is uncertain?"
From outside the hall came the sound of an iron sword scraping over stone.
Xiong Baichuan walked into the Deliberation Hall and leaned his broad sword against the door.
"What do you mean, his identity is uncertain? He's entered the sect registry, so he belongs to Tai Xuan Sect. Whether the Imperial City recognizes him is a matter for three days from now."
"Peak Master Xiong is willing to vouch for him?"
"I am."
"What if someone uses him to revive the Imperial Old Case and drag Tai Xuan Sect into it?"
Xiong Baichuan pulled out a chair and sat down.
"If someone really wants to stir up trouble, sending Li Sanshun away won't help. They could take Zhao Chong today and someone else tomorrow. Plug the holes in the sect first. Then we can talk about whether we're up to the challenge."
Ji Jingyao looked at Li Sanshun.
"You can choose for yourself. Come stay with me at Guest-Welcoming Peak, and take the blood test in three days. If your identity is confirmed, you can go straight back to the Imperial City. If you stay here, you'll be dragged into Zhao Chong's case. Many people died in the Imperial Old Case. Your little Qi Refining cultivation won't keep you alive."
The Imperial Grandson Mansion and cultivation resources were right before him. All Li Sanshun had to do was agree, and he could leave Xuan Chu Academy. Someone would even deliver everything he needed for Foundation Establishment right to his door.
But the portrait had come from Zhao Chong. The Gold Blade left behind by the Old Rascal was also tied to the Third Prince's former followers.
Until he uncovered what had happened to the Old Rascal, the more benefits the Imperial City offered, the less he could accept them.
Li Sanshun took the Gold Blade from his waist and placed it, scabbard and all, in front of Qi Shouxuan.
"I'll hand the Gold Blade over to Grand Elder Qi to seal away for three days. I won't carry a blade or leave the sect. In exchange, give me the right to take part in the investigation."
Qi Shouxuan looked at the short blade on the table.
"This is the key to confirming your identity."
"Precisely because it's important, I can't keep it on me. The envoy group is afraid I'll run off with it, and the sect is afraid someone will come after me. Seal the blade away at the main peak, and it'll put both sides at ease."
Ji Jingyao studied Li Sanshun, privately deciding that he was trying to drive up the price.
An orphan raised in a ruined temple couldn't truly be willing to give up his imperial identity. Li Sanshun was only putting on a show of defiance so Tai Xuan Sect and the Imperial City would compete to offer him more.
"If you want something, just say so."
"I want to investigate Zhao Chong's disappearance."
"You're pretending to investigate, but really, you're trying to make yourself more valuable, aren't you?"
Li Sanshun didn't argue. He simply looked at Qi Shouxuan.
"Whatever the blood test shows in three days, I won't go to the Imperial City until I've found out what happened to the Old Rascal. My imperial identity hasn't been verified, so I don't recognize it either."
The discussion in the hall fell silent.
Several elders had been worried that Li Sanshun would be eager to claim his ancestry, then treat Tai Xuan Sect as nothing more than a place to stay. Now that he had even handed over the Gold Blade, his position was clear enough.
Qi Shouxuan put away the Gold Blade and personally placed three layers of seals on it.
"For the next three days, the blade will remain at the main peak. Li Sanshun may take part in the investigation, but he is to stay within the sect and must not contact the Zhao household or the Imperial Envoy Group without permission."
Xiong Baichuan picked up the Sect Registry Jade Tablet.
"We'll list him under Zhen Yue Peak for now. Xuan Chu Academy is crowded and full of prying eyes. I'll find him a place to stay."
Ji Jingyao rose to his feet.
"I'll wait three days. Once the Blood Mirror gives us an answer, I hope Tai Xuan Sect won't use the sect registry to hold him back."
"We'll talk once we have the result."
After the Imperial Envoy Group left the Deliberation Hall, Gu Changyue brought over the cell guard shift records.
Before Zhao Chong vanished, two groups of disciples had entered the underground cells. The first had brought food. The second had carried out prisoners who had died after interrogation. Both groups had had their identities checked.
The problem lay in the half-quarter hour between them.
An elder's Law Enforcement Token had opened cell fifteen and then sealed off the Communication Array. The guards had been affected by the formation and had no memory of that stretch of time.
Xiong Baichuan pointed at the records.
"An elder's token can't be stored in a Storage Bag. If it gets more than a hundred zhang away from its owner, it stops working. Whose token could open a cell in the Law Enforcement Hall?"
Gu Changyue took off his token and pressed it into the Seal Verification Array.
The Array Disk lit up with two identical auras.
One came from the token in Gu Changyue's hand. The other lingered on the cell's formation lock.
"Someone forged my token." Gu Changyue flipped through the token-use records. "Forging a high-level Law Enforcement Token requires the original owner's aura, as well as knowledge of the internal Array Patterns. Not many people could do that."
Li Sanshun recalled the footprints on the Ninth Floor of the Scripture Pavilion.
"Zhao Chong had been to the Ninth Floor of the Scripture Pavilion, and he also had sealing wax from the Deacon Hall. He might not have gone there alone. Hall Master Gu, where were you fifteen days ago?"
"I was leading a team to inspect the West Mountain Spirit Mine. I only returned to the sect yesterday."
"Who went with you?"
"Sixteen enforcement disciples, four mine managers, and an accountant in charge of the old ledgers. We were attacked on the way back. The accountant fell off a cliff, and his body was never found."
A flying sword's whistle cut through the air outside the hall.
An enforcement disciple landed at the entrance and handed over an urgent letter.
"Hall Master Gu, Senior Sister Gu Qinghe has returned from West Mountain. She intercepted a suspicious cultivator and brought back half of a bloodstained token."
Gu Changyue unfolded the letter. The first line changed everyone's expression.
The half-token bore the authority of an elder's token, and its aura was identical to the one on the cell's formation lock.
The records in the Seal Verification Array continued to unfold, revealing the name of the token's owner.
Gu Changyue.
Qi Shouxuan set down the case files.
"Bring Gu Qinghe and the token to the seal verification room. Check everything in front of everyone."
The enforcement disciple didn't leave. Instead, he pointed to the last page of the shift records.
"Grand Elder Qi, the person who took Zhao Chong used Gu Changyue's Law Enforcement Token!"
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