Gu Qinghe helped Sun Erhe back onto the wooden stool.
"Which old storehouse?"
"Ding Sancang, on the western slope of Medicine Peak. They used to dry medicinal dregs there, but it's been abandoned for seven or eight years."
Sun Erhe wiped the tears from his face and explained what had happened.
Three days ago, he was driving a corpse cart past Medicine Peak when someone tossed a Wooden Tiger into it. He had carved that toy for his youngest son with his own hands.
That night, a Grey Feather Paper Crane flew into his home with a note tucked inside.
If he wanted his wife and children to live, he had to transport Zhao Chong out of Law Enforcement Peak.
The other party had also made him go to the old storehouse and see for himself. His wife and three children were tied up inside, surrounded by piles of lamp oil. If he dared to report it, all four would die.
"After I moved Zhao Chong, they told me to wait for word. I wasn't allowed to touch the medicine list, either."
Sun Erhe grabbed Li Sanshun's sleeve.
"Please, save them."
"How many people were in the storehouse?"
"There were four when I went. Two wore Medicine Peak errand disciple uniforms, and the other two had their faces covered."
"What about the entrances?"
"There are front and back doors. There's also a medicine-drain channel beneath the north wall that leads into the storehouse. The opening's narrow, and they've blocked it with wooden boards."
Gu Qinghe summoned the four Law Enforcement disciples who had returned from North Mountain to the side hall.
Zhao Chong remained where he was, with the Spirit Locking Array fully activated. Zhao Rui and his men guarded the door. Any food, drink, or medicine had to be checked by both men before it could be brought inside.
She didn't notify Medicine Peak.
If anyone really was guarding the old storehouse, word reaching Medicine Peak would mean the hostages were as good as dead.
Sun Erhe wanted to go with them, but as soon as he stood, his injured leg gave way.
Li Sanshun pushed him back onto the stool.
"You can't even run. Tell us what your wife and children look like."
"My wife's surname is He. She's missing a small piece of her left ear. My eldest is twelve, the second is eight, and the youngest is only five."
Sun Erhe pulled a bloodstained piece of cloth from his robes.
"This was torn from my eldest's clothes."
Li Sanshun took the cloth, then followed Gu Qinghe out of the side hall.
The six of them avoided the main path up Medicine Peak. They skirted two medicinal plots and approached Ding Sancang from below the western slope.
The storehouse stood halfway up the mountain, its outer walls shedding patches of mud. A flatbed cart covered with an oilcloth was parked in the yard, its tracks still fresh.
Someone was preparing to move the hostages.
Gu Qinghe raised a hand to stop the others. She sent two disciples to guard the path down the mountain, while the rest crept along the north wall.
The medicine-drain channel was hidden behind dead grass. Three wooden boards were nailed across its opening, with thin threads tied between them and their ends connected to a copper bell inside the storehouse.
Pulling them off by force would certainly alert whoever was inside.
Li Sanshun leaned toward the opening and sniffed.
The bitter smell of medicinal dregs mingled with Soul-Calming Powder, lamp oil, and pine resin. There was also the scent of freshly burned paper inside the storehouse.
[Low-grade wood spiritual energy detected.]
[Life energy increased by 0.2 points.]
[Residual Soul-Calming Powder detected. Purging complete.]
The Soul-Calming Powder was still potent. The hostages should still be unconscious.
He took out his short sword and hooked the thread through a gap between the boards. Gu Qinghe took the end of the thread, while another disciple steadied the copper bell.
They removed the boards one by one.
The channel was full of medicinal sludge and wide enough for only one person to crawl through. Li Sanshun went in first, with Gu Qinghe right behind him.
A dozen rows of old wooden shelves stood inside the storehouse. Four burlap sacks lay on the floor; two had already been loaded onto the cart. The other two rested beside a barrel of lamp oil, with children's hair sticking out of their openings.
Three kidnappers were packing things up.
"The paper crane's sent word twice. What's taking you so long?"
"This woman woke up. She bit me just now."
"Make them drink a bowl of Soul-Calming Soup. We'll deal with them after we're off Medicine Peak."
One of the kidnappers carried a bowl of medicine toward the sacks.
Li Sanshun flicked his hand.
A blast of wind struck the bottom of the bowl, splashing the medicine all over the kidnapper's face.
"Who's there!"
Gu Qinghe charged out from behind the shelves, her short sword at one man's throat. The two Law Enforcement disciples who had followed them sealed off the back door.
The other two grabbed for the sacks.
Li Sanshun stamped on the ground.
Chunks of earth rose through the cracks between the bricks and caught one man by the ankle. He fell beside the barrel of lamp oil, and before he could get back up, Li Sanshun had pinned him by the neck.
The other man drew a dagger and yanked the youngest child in front of him.
"Let us go, or I'll cut his throat first!"
The child had been drugged with Soul-Calming Powder. His head lolled against the kidnapper's shoulder, and he was nowhere near waking up.
Gu Qinghe didn't approach.
The kidnapper dragged the child toward the front door, his dagger already against the child's neck.
Li Sanshun kicked over a nearby basket of herbs.
Dry medicinal dregs scattered across the ground.
The kidnapper looked down to avoid them. Li Sanshun flicked a pebble at him.
Smack!
The pebble struck his wrist, and the dagger fell.
Gu Qinghe took two quick steps forward, drove her sword through his shoulder, and snatched the child away.
Suddenly, the sound of horses came from outside the front door.
The Law Enforcement disciples guarding the path down the mountain raised the alarm.
More people were coming to help them!
Li Sanshun dashed out of the storehouse. Two men in black rode toward them. When they saw the Law Enforcement disciples outside, they immediately turned their horses around.
A rope of water coiled around the lead horse's legs.
Horse and rider crashed into a ditch together.
The other man threw out a Fire Talisman, trying to set Ding Sancang ablaze.
As soon as the talisman flew, Gu Qinghe's short sword pinned it to the ground. Li Sanshun reached the path and slammed a blast of wind into the horse's back. The man tumbled from the saddle and tried to take poison, but a Law Enforcement disciple dislocated his jaw before he could.
Not one of the five kidnappers escaped.
All four burlap sacks in the storehouse were opened.
Madam He shielded her three children. Her wrists had been rubbed raw. She had taken one bowl less of Soul-Calming Soup than the children and had woken twice along the way, only to be knocked unconscious each time.
Gu Qinghe gave them Detoxification Pills, then checked the lamp oil inside the storehouse.
Fire Talismans were stuck to the rafters, needing only a surge of spiritual energy to activate. If pursuers caught up with them during the move, the guards could burn the storehouse and silence everyone inside.
Li Sanshun found half a packet of Breath-Closing Powder beneath the flatbed cart.
Someone had scraped the medicine shop's seal off the packet, leaving only half of the character "outer."
By the time they returned to Law Enforcement Peak, Sun Erhe hadn't even brought his crutch. He dragged his injured leg toward his wife and children. The youngest had just woken up and clung to his neck, crying without pause.
Sun Erhe handed the child to his wife, then turned and knelt before Gu Qinghe.
"I'll give you the medicine list."
In the evidence room, the rear-left axle of corpse cart number seven was placed on the table.
Gu Qinghe broke open the sealing clay in front of three Law Enforcement disciples. Sun Erhe took out a thin iron rod, inserted it into the end of the axle, and hooked out a roll of oilcloth.
Wrapped inside the oilcloth was an old medicine list.
The list named seventeen medicinal ingredients, including Essence-Nourishing Soup, Pulse-Warming Powder, and Stalactite Powder. The number "fifteen" was written beside the amount used each month.
The medicine had been collected twenty-one years ago.
The recipient's name was blank, and half a White Cicada Wing was stamped where the seal belonged.
Gu Qinghe sealed the medicine list in an Evidence Bag, then took out the Breath-Closing Powder recovered from the storehouse.
"We got the medicine list and rescued the hostages. But the five men we caught were all hired hands. None of them had ever seen Mr. Bai."
Li Sanshun pinched the packet of Breath-Closing Powder between his fingers.
"It doesn't matter whether they've seen him. Someone knows where this packet came from."
"The seal's been scraped off."
"Then we'll help him put it back."
Gu Qinghe looked at him.
Li Sanshun set the packet down on the table.
"Spread the word that the Breath-Closing Powder came from the outer sect's medicine shop, and that the ledger will be sent to the Law Enforcement Hall tomorrow morning."
Gu Qinghe immediately understood his plan.
"You want whoever handled it to go back and alter the records themselves?"
Li Sanshun tapped the Evidence Bag.
"Whoever dares sneak into the storeroom tonight is the mole we're after."
Before you continue