Who Hides Behind the Half-Blood Token!

"Elder Qi, the person who took Zhao Chong used Gu Changyue's Law Enforcement Token!"

Just past midnight, Gu Qinghe hurried back to Law Enforcement Peak.

The seal-verification room was packed with elders. Her foster father, Gu Changyue, had removed his sword and hall master's token, standing alone beside the formation disk. Four seal-verification disciples guarded the doors and windows, none daring to speak.

Gu Qinghe took the half-piece of black iron token from her robes and placed it into the white jade basin.

The token was stained with dried blood, and the broken edge bore scorch marks. Only half of the character "Law" remained on the front, and the formation patterns on the back had been gouged by a sharp weapon, yet the spiritual energy had not fully dissipated.

The seal-verification disciples activated the formation disk.

Two auras flared to life simultaneously.

One belonged to Gu Changyue, while the other matched the door-opening record left at Cell Number Fifteen.

An elder spoke in a deep voice: "Where did you obtain this token?"

"Under the cliff on the east side of the West Mountain Spirit Mine."

Gu Qinghe had spent the entire day flying on her sword, her hem caked in mountain mud. It was only upon returning to the sect that she learned of Zhao Chong's disappearance, and now this half-token pointed the case toward her foster father.

"I was investigating the location where Zhou Huai, the mine's accountant, fell from the cliff, and I discovered bloodstains in a rock crevice. I followed the trail for thirty miles until I encountered a masked cultivator. The moment he saw me, he fled, and this half-token fell during our skirmish."

"And the person?"

"He took poison and died; there were no identification items on him."

The elders looked toward Gu Changyue.

"A high-level Law Enforcement Token requires the original owner's aura. Hall Master Gu, how do you explain this?"

Gu Changyue placed his own complete token into another jade basin.

"The imitation token was aimed at me. Suspend my authority as hall master first; Law Enforcement Peak shall be temporarily presided over by Elder Qi."

Gu Qinghe took up the thread.

"The disciple requests the suspension of all Law Enforcement Tokens under my foster father's name, and the sealing of his residence and case files. Until the matter is cleared, my foster father must not be allowed to contact anyone involved in the case."

Gu Changyue looked at his foster daughter.

"Do you realize what you are saying?"

"I do. If I recuse myself on your behalf, any future problems discovered will cast doubt on all previous evidence. Only by suspending you can we investigate thoroughly."

Qi Shouxuan took out a temporary legal seal and pressed it onto Gu Changyue's token.

"Granted. Gu Changyue is temporarily removed from his position as hall master and must not leave the main peak. Gu Qinghe is responsible for the West Mountain lead, and Li Sanshun shall accompany her to investigate Zhao Chong's whereabouts."

Only then did Gu Qinghe look at Li Sanshun, who stood by the door.

A newly initiated Qi-refining disciple was actually allowed to participate in a case involving an elder's token. Even stranger, neither Qi Shouxuan nor Xiong Baichuan had explained why.

She did not ask further, pushing the half-token to the center of the verification formation.

"The bloodstains are covering the core formation patterns. Wash the blood first, then verify the casting time."

The verification disciple brought over cleansing fluid. As the medicinal liquid fell onto the token, the dried blood formed a hard crust that would not dissolve.

"There is spirit-fixing powder in the blood."

"The mines often use spirit-fixing powder to seal spirit stone crates." Gu Qinghe took out a small knife. "Scrape it from the edges."

Li Sanshun stood nearby and caught a familiar scent.

It was not the smell of blood, nor was it spirit-fixing powder.

When he had opened the spirit stone crates sent as compensation by the Zhao family at the Logistics Hall, the sealing wax had emitted this same pungent odor. When Zhao Yuanqing cast fire-attribute techniques, the fire talismans in his sleeves left behind a small amount of the same residue after burning.

"Stop scraping."

Gu Qinghe paused.

"What did you find?"

"There is red saltpeter powder in the blood. When the Zhao family refines fire talismans, they often use this substance to stabilize the fire energy."

A verification disciple leaned in and sniffed.

"Indeed, there is. Red saltpeter powder clumps when it meets cleansing fluid; no wonder it wouldn't wash off."

Gu Qinghe switched to fire-melting fluid. The blood crust gradually peeled away, revealing the formation patterns beneath.

At first glance, the patterns appeared identical to Gu Changyue's token, but the third loop contained an extra notch.

"The imitator only copied the two functions of opening doors and sealing formations." Gu Qinghe pointed to the notch. "They cannot mobilize law enforcement disciples, nor can they view case files. Their goal from the start was to enter the prison."

Li Sanshun asked: "How many times can the token be used?"

"Three times at most. Once the spiritual energy is exhausted, it will shatter."

"The back mountain teleportation array counts as once, the prison door as once, and sealing the communication array as once. The token has already been used up; why destroy half of it?"

Gu Qinghe flipped the token over.

"To cover up the casting serial number inside."

The verification disciple channeled spiritual energy into the broken edge. Several small characters emerged from within the formation patterns, though only half remained.

"West Mountain Spirit Mine, Ding-Character Furnace."

Gu Qinghe opened the mine's registry.

The Ding-Character Furnace had been sealed six years ago. The final batch of black iron before the furnace was sealed had all been sent to Law Enforcement Peak to cast the updated elder tokens.

Gu Changyue's token was one of them.

"Who was in charge of the Ding-Character Furnace six years ago?"

"The accountant, Zhou Huai." Gu Qinghe closed the registry. "He is also the one who fell from the cliff and went missing."

The elders exchanged glances.

Zhou Huai had access to the records of the old furnace and had also come into contact with the raw materials for Gu Changyue's token. If he had set aside black iron from the same furnace long ago, he could indeed have imitated a similar aura.

Gu Qinghe, however, did not say everything.

When she found the half-token under the cliff, Zhou Huai's identity tag had been right beside it. The tag was covered in blood, and his life-fire had already extinguished.

Zhou Huai was dead.

The half-token had not fallen from the masked cultivator; it had been clutched in the hand of the dead Zhou Huai.

Until she could determine why Zhou Huai had left the token behind, she could not rush to speak of this. Once the news spread, the true culprit would immediately destroy the remaining clues.

Li Sanshun walked around the verification table.

"Before Zhao Chong disappeared, were there any traces of fire talisman combustion in the cell?"

The law enforcement disciple checked the inspection records.

"None. Fire talismans are prohibited in the prison, and there were no scorch marks on the walls."

"Red saltpeter powder isn't just for imitating tokens; it might also be on the person who moved Zhao Chong. Check the soles of the shoes and the sleeves of the disciples who delivered food and transported corpses, then check the prison ventilation ducts."

Gu Qinghe followed his line of reasoning.

"The underground prison has only one main entrance; moving a living person out would easily be spotted by guards. If they used medicine to make Zhao Chong appear dead, mixed him into the corpse cabinet, and then sent him out through the corpse transport passage, the guards naturally wouldn't suspect anything."

Qi Shouxuan immediately issued an order.

"Seal the morgue and the ventilation ducts. All corpse transport carts are to remain on the peak."

A law enforcement disciple hurried away.

Gu Qinghe continued to clean the token. Once all the bloodstains were removed, a patch the size of a grain of rice was revealed in the center of the formation patterns.

The patch was not of Law Enforcement Peak's standard craftsmanship; it looked like a mark embedded later.

She used a silver needle to pry the patch open.

Two neat numbers were engraved inside.

Fifteen.

Li Sanshun took out the rubbing of the portrait's serial number and placed it next to the token. The handwriting of the two numbers was identical, even down to the pause in the final stroke.

The Ninth Floor of the Scripture Pavilion, the imperial portrait, Zhao Chong's cell, and the imitation token—all four threads pointed to fifteen.

A copper bell rang outside the verification room.

The disciple in charge of prison inspections stood outside, clutching a witness protection register.

"Elder Qi, there is also a problem with the protection registration for Cell Number Fifteen. Li Sanshun is listed as a relevant witness, and the default guardian has already been changed to the Fourth Imperial Grandson, Ji Jingyao."

Gu Qinghe picked up the half-blood token.

"Check the protection register first. The number fifteen is also engraved inside the token!"