"Check the protection registry. There's also the number fifteen engraved inside the token!"
Gu Qinghe led everyone into the Law Enforcement Hall's Archive Room.
After Zhao Chong went missing, everyone who had been involved in the Immortal-Asking Stairs case or the Scripture Library case had been added to the witness protection registry. It listed their residence, sect affiliation, guarantor, and emergency contact. If a witness came under attack, the Law Enforcement Hall would notify the relevant people according to the list.
Li Sanshun's name was on the fifth page.
His sect affiliation was listed as Xuan Chu Academy, and his guarantor was blank. His emergency contact had originally been empty, but now a line of fresh ink had appeared.
Fourth Imperial Grandson of the Shunchang Imperial Clan, Ji Jingyao.
Below it was the Imperial Envoy Group's Kin-Seeking Seal.
Li Sanshun finished reading, picked up the pen on the table, and crossed out Ji Jingyao.
Gu Qinghe pressed down on the page.
"The protection registry isn't an ordinary list. If you cross out the default guardian, you need to provide a new guarantor. If his imperial identity is genuine, Ji Jingyao is indeed qualified to take charge as an elder of the same clan."
"The blood test hasn't even started. What kind of elder is he?"
"The Law Enforcement Hall registers people according to risk. The envoy group brought a Kin-Seeking Document, so this relationship takes precedence over ordinary fellow disciples."
Li Sanshun pointed to the guarantor column.
"Put down Xiong Baichuan."
Footsteps sounded outside the Archive Room. An old attendant sent by Ji Jingyao entered with two golden-armored guards, carrying a document from the envoy group.
"His Highness has just received the news. Zhao Chong is missing, and Young Master Li's situation is even more dangerous. The contact on the protection registry must not be changed. You should move to Guest-Welcoming Peak tonight."
"Word travels fast. The Law Enforcement Hall had only just opened the registry, and Guest-Welcoming Peak already knew."
The old attendant's expression didn't change.
"The Imperial Envoy Group naturally has its own channels of information."
"That's all the more reason not to list you. We still haven't figured out how Zhao Chong disappeared, and we don't know who passed along the news. If someone comes to kill me, the protection registry will notify you first. I'm afraid the killer won't even arrive before the corpse collectors do."
One of the golden-armored guards stepped forward.
"Watch your words."
Li Sanshun dipped the pen until it was full of ink.
"I'm only asking one thing. Who agreed to make Ji Jingyao my emergency contact?"
The disciple in charge of the records checked the seal.
"The envoy group applied using a Kin-Seeking Document. Under the old agreement between the imperial court and the sect, until a separated member of the imperial clan has been verified, the closest adult clan relative temporarily serves as their guardian."
"Does the old agreement say the person in question can't refuse?"
The archivist flipped to the back and searched for a long time.
"No."
The old attendant pressed down on the protection registry.
"If you hide your imperial identity and refuse protection from your clan, who will take responsibility if you're killed as a result?"
"I will."
"Can a Qi Refining disciple like you bear that responsibility?"
"My life is mine. I should decide what to do with it."
Li Sanshun pulled out the page, wrote his name in the liability section, and pressed his thumbprint onto it.
"Until my identity is verified, I do not accept imperial guardianship. Any risks arising from concealing or rejecting my identity will be borne by Li Sanshun himself."
The old attendant snatched up the brush.
"This registration is invalid. Anyone who guarantees an imperial clan relative must be at least a peak master. Xiong Baichuan hasn't accepted you into his peak, nor has he stamped the registry."
A sword clanged against the wall outside the Archive Room.
Xiong Baichuan squeezed sideways through the doorway and slapped the Zhen Yue Peak Master's seal onto the table.
"Who says I haven't?"
The seal landed, and an earthen-yellow light shimmered across the page.
"Starting today, Li Sanshun is transferred to Zhen Yue Peak's temporary registry. After his identity is verified in three days, we'll decide whether to formally accept him as a disciple. If anyone wants to find him, they can come to Zhen Yue Peak and find me first."
The old attendant stared at the peak master's seal.
"Peak Master Xiong, have you thought this through? If Li Sanshun is implicated in a treason case involving the imperial clan, Zhen Yue Peak will also be investigated."
Xiong Baichuan took back the seal.
"I've lived for over a hundred years, and this is the first time I've heard that taking on a new disciple means you have to care about the imperial clan's face. Go back and tell Ji Jingyao that the boy isn't going to Guest-Welcoming Peak. If he wants to change the registry, he can come here himself."
The old attendant couldn't take Li Sanshun away, so he had no choice but to put away the document.
Before leaving the Archive Room, he glanced at Zhen Yue Peak's temporary registry.
"His Highness is giving you three days out of regard for your blood ties. You won't benefit from exhausting his goodwill."
Li Sanshun picked up the pen again and scribbled over Ji Jingyao's name until it was unreadable.
"The portrait hasn't even been verified yet. Don't rush to talk to me about blood ties."
After the envoy group left, Xiong Baichuan tossed Li Sanshun a wooden plaque for Zhen Yue Peak.
"Temporary disciples stay in the east courtyard. There are only three rules: don't steal from your fellow disciples, don't bring demonic creatures back to the dormitory, and don't test explosive spells in the middle of the night."
"Why is the third rule so specific?"
"Some idiot blew up half the courtyard once."
Gu Qinghe closed the protection registry.
"Peak Master Xiong, now that your guarantee is in effect, you'll be punished if Li Sanshun leaves the sect without permission. If the imperial clan comes after him, they'll come to Zhen Yue Peak first."
"I know. Just investigate your cases without losing people."
This was the first time Li Sanshun had chosen a backer for himself.
Qi Shouxuan had protected him, but that was tangled up with the Third Prince's old case. Ji Jingyao had come looking for him because he had his eye on the imperial bloodline. Xiong Baichuan's reason, though, was simple. Li Sanshun had passed the Immortal-Asking Stairs and was suited to body cultivation, so Zhen Yue Peak was willing to take him in.
That simplicity made him feel all the more reassuring.
A Law Enforcement Hall disciple shouted from outside.
"The ventilation passage is open!"
Everyone hurried to cell number fifteen. The iron grate in the corner had been removed, revealing a passage just wide enough for one person to crawl through. Drag marks scarred the stone walls, along with a few dark-red stains of medicine.
A disciple picked at the stain with a wooden sliver.
"This is Corpse-Bone Water. It can dissolve clothing and hair within two hours. It's commonly used to dispose of unclaimed corpses."
Gu Qinghe examined the width of the passage.
"Zhao Chong was rather fat. It would've been difficult to drag him through here unconscious, unless someone first stuffed him into a body bag and then moved him on a corpse cart."
Li Sanshun leaned toward the iron grate and caught another scent beneath the medicinal stain.
Sour and bitter, with the stench of old, rotting flesh.
From deep inside the passage came the echo of wheels rolling over cracks in the stone. The other end connected to the Corpse Room, where the corpse cart was parked.
Gu Qinghe took out a glowing pearl.
"Let's take a look inside."
The disciple in charge of the examination blocked the entrance.
"Senior Sister Gu, the medicinal fumes haven't cleared yet. Breathing in too much could damage your meridians."
Li Sanshun crouched beside the entrance and sniffed a second time.
Besides the Corpse-Bone Water, there was also the smell of sweat left behind by a living person who had taken medicine.
"Zhao Chong might have gone out through here."
Gu Qinghe put on a poison-filtering mask.
"How can you tell?"
Li Sanshun looked at the dark-red marks inside the passage.
"There's a foul medicinal smell lingering in the cell's ventilation passage."
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