Number Fifteen Was Li Sanshun!

The assassin finished speaking, then breathed his last.

Li Sanshun let go of his collar and lowered his head to inspect his teeth. The poison pill was hidden deep, wrapped in a thin layer of wax. Once bitten, the poison flowed straight down his throat and into his stomach. There was no time to save him.

"Number fifteen..."

Gu Qinghe repeated the words and ordered the Law Enforcement disciples to search the body.

They took apart his belt, shoes, and hair ornament, even cutting open the lining of his clothes to check. Apart from a few Fire Talismans and two bottles of Detoxification Pills, they found nothing else.

Sun Erhe was leaning against the stretcher. When he heard those four words, his body twitched.

"The people who captured me last night mentioned fifteen too."

Gu Qinghe turned to him. "What did they say?"

"When they shoved Zhao Chong into the iron box, someone asked what to do about number fifteen. Their leader told him to shut up and said it wasn't their concern."

Sun Erhe thought for a moment, then added, "I couldn't tell if they said the fifteenth portion or number fifteen."

At the other end of the stretcher, Zhao Chong suddenly began coughing.

Black water ran from the corner of his mouth, mixed with undissolved Breath-Closing Powder. As soon as he woke, he struggled to grab the hem of Gu Qinghe's robe.

"What he said... it wasn't a thing."

Gu Qinghe bent down and held him still. "Do you know what the fifteenth portion means?"

Zhao Chong saw Li Sanshun standing nearby, and immediately pulled his hand back.

"Get me out of here."

"Answer first."

"There are still people on their side here. Medicine Peak, the Internal Affairs Hall, the Law Enforcement Hall. If we stay on North Mountain, none of us will survive."

Several Law Enforcement disciples looked displeased.

Gu Qinghe didn't press him. She turned and began assigning people.

"Zhou Yuan, seal off the Herb Garden. Register every servant who took part in the burning, one by one. Zhao Rui, take two teams and investigate the Fire Talisman. We need a portrait of the disciple who delivered the order by tonight."

"Take all the bodies back to the Law Enforcement Hall. Anyone who dares interfere gets detained."

The Medicine Peak Deacon tried to speak, but Gu Qinghe tossed the forged Fire Talisman in front of him.

"North Mountain nearly burned two witnesses alive. If you still want to argue over who controls the Herb Garden, come back to the Law Enforcement Hall and argue with me."

The Medicine Peak Deacon picked up the Fire Talisman and didn't dare stop them again.

Half an hour later, they returned to Law Enforcement Peak.

Zhao Chong and Sun Erhe were both taken to a side hall. It had originally been used to confine injured criminals. A Spirit Locking Array was carved into the walls, and eight Law Enforcement disciples guarded the door.

The Medicine Peak physician cut open Zhao Chong's clothes and removed two iron nails from his abdomen.

The nails had been smeared with Vein-Corroding Poison. The poison had been at work too long and had already damaged his meridians. Zhao Chong took two Healing Pills, yet still spat up a good deal of black blood.

The physician packed away his medicine box.

"His life can be saved. Whether he keeps his cultivation will depend on luck. He can't use spiritual power for the next few days, and he mustn't take any more Breath-Closing Powder."

Gu Qinghe sealed the room, leaving only Li Sanshun inside.

"You can talk now."

Zhao Chong leaned against the headboard and glanced toward the door several times.

"You can't protect me."

"Five of the six assassins on North Mountain are dead. You're the one who's left." Li Sanshun pulled over a stool. "They went to all that trouble and still failed to burn you alive. They're the ones who should be afraid now."

Zhao Chong stared at him for a long time.

"What's your name?"

"Li Sanshun."

Zhao Chong clutched the thin blanket covering him.

"Who gave you that name?"

"Does that have anything to do with the case?"

"Answer me!"

Li Sanshun raised a hand and pressed down on his wound.

Zhao Chong curled up in pain. The little strength he'd just gathered vanished.

"Now I'm the one asking you questions."

Gu Qinghe took out the Evidence Bag and pulled out an old sheet of folded paper.

It was a tracing found in the lining of Zhao Chong's inner robe. It showed a newborn baby, with the child's weight, birthmark, and swaddling color recorded beside it. In the lower-right corner was the number "fifteen."

At first, the Law Enforcement Hall had assumed it was a birth date.

But the drawing had no month or year.

Gu Qinghe placed the tracing in front of Zhao Chong.

"Is the fifteenth portion the assassin mentioned related to this drawing?"

Zhao Chong avoided looking at the tracing and kept his mouth shut.

Li Sanshun picked up the paper and examined it.

Three red dots were drawn behind the baby's right shoulder, with a line of small writing beside them.

"Three red moles, arranged like the character 品."

Li Sanshun's hand stopped.

He pulled open his collar and turned his right shoulder toward the bronze mirror. There were three red moles just behind his shoulder, near his neck.

He'd had them since childhood.

When Old Rascal bathed him, he'd joked about the moles, saying Li Sanshun had owed three debts in his past life and had been left with a mark so his creditors could find him in this one.

Gu Qinghe took the tracing and compared it with the birthmarks behind his shoulder.

The position was the same, and so was the size.

"Where did this drawing come from?"

Zhao Chong still refused to answer.

Li Sanshun pressed the tracing to his chest.

"You recognized me the moment you saw me. What exactly is the fifteenth portion?"

Zhao Chong drew a few breaths.

"The Old Infant Case."

"Explain."

"Twenty-one years ago, someone collected a batch of newborn babies from all over. Each child had a portrait and a separate file, numbered in order, starting from one."

Gu Qinghe pressed him. "How many were there in total?"

"I only saw the first fifteen files."

"Where were the children sent?"

"It wasn't written in the files."

Zhao Chong answered too quickly.

Li Sanshun stared at the tracing. One corner of the paper was charred black. Several lines below the portrait had been scraped away, leaving only a blurry character: "Shun."

His name, birthmarks, and age all matched.

It couldn't be a coincidence.

"Number fifteen went missing?"

Zhao Chong nodded.

"The first fourteen all had destinations. Only the handover record for number fifteen was blank. A missing-person stamp was on the last page."

Gu Qinghe picked up the tracing.

"So Li Sanshun was the number fifteen who disappeared all those years ago."

"Yes."

The room fell silent for a moment.

But Li Sanshun didn't ask about his birth parents.

To get their hands on this portrait, the enemy had dared to forge a Fire Talisman, burn down North Mountain, and send six cultivators to wipe everyone out. Whoever was involved in the infant case from twenty-one years ago was probably still alive.

And might even hold a high position.

"Why take the babies?"

"I don't know."

"Who kept the portraits?"

"I don't know."

"How did you get the tracing?"

Zhao Chong clenched his jaw.

Gu Qinghe turned the tracing over. A few flecks of blue wax clung to its back.

"Sealing wax from the Ninth Floor of the Scripture Library. You went to the Ninth Floor."

Zhao Chong's breathing grew ragged.

The Ninth Floor of the Scripture Library held only the sect's forbidden records. Without an elder's hand seal, even the Law Enforcement Hall Master couldn't enter.

Gu Qinghe sealed the Evidence Bag.

"Breaking into the Ninth Floor and stealing forbidden records is enough to cripple your cultivation and lock you in the Cold Prison. Are you still planning to hold out?"

Suddenly, three knocks sounded at the door.

A Law Enforcement disciple reported from outside, "Senior Sister Gu, the Hall Master has ordered Zhao Chong and Sun Erhe sent to the dungeon. He wants them handed over immediately."

Gu Qinghe took out the Law Enforcement Token. "Who delivered the order?"

"The Hall Master's personal attendant. The token checked out."

Zhao Chong pushed himself upright against the bed. Blood seeped from his wound again.

"I can't go to the dungeon. They're waiting for me in there."

"Why should I defy orders to protect you?"

Zhao Chong looked at Li Sanshun.

"Keep me alive until the public hearing, and I'll tell you who sent me into the Ninth Floor of the Scripture Library—and who wants to erase number fifteen from the face of the earth!"