Still Want to Test My Blood

Li Sanshun pinched the damp paper from the side of the furnace and brought it close to smell it again.

[Residue of pine resin detected.]

[Residue of burnt Grey Feather Talisman Paper detected.]

[Imperial Cinnabar detected.]

The pine resin matched again.

Gu Qinghe used a bamboo slip to pry open the paper ball. Several fine grey feathers were embedded in the pulp, and they had not come apart even after being soaked in water.

"Grey Feather Talisman Paper."

She pressed the damp paper into the evidence box.

"It's from the Imperial Paper-Making Institute, supplied only for the Imperial Envoy Group to transmit messages. Ordinary people cannot get their hands on it."

Du Heng leaned against the bed frame, his room for denial already gone.

Li Sanshun pulled over a wooden stool.

"How old is Mr. Bai?"

"I couldn't see his face."

"What about his hands?"

Du Heng recalled for a moment.

"The backs of his hands had age spots. He steadied himself on the table while walking down the steps; he couldn't be young. He understands medicine and the rules of the Law Enforcement Hall. He knew everything—the medicine furnace in my house, the accounts Cao An kept, and which corpse cart Sun Erhe was driving."

"His cultivation level?"

"I never saw him make a move. The backyard of the Hundred Herbs Shop is set with a formation; every time I went in, my strength felt suppressed."

Gu Qinghe finished recording the testimony and took out the registry of the Hundred Herbs Shop's employees.

The three days Mr. Bai appeared happened to fall right after the Imperial Envoy Group entered the city.

The first time, the envoy group arrived at the Tai Xuan Sect.

The second time, the envoy group submitted the Kin-Seeking Document.

The third time, Zhao Chong snuck into the ninth floor of the Scripture Library.

The timing matched perfectly.

"How many people are in the Imperial Envoy Group?"

"Thirty-seven on paper." Gu Qinghe closed the registry. "The chief envoy is Ji Jingyao, with two guest cultivators, eight guards, and the rest are attendants and scribes."

"Who keeps the Kin-Seeking Seal?"

"It wouldn't be written in the envoy's official documents."

Li Sanshun patted Du Heng on the shoulder.

"Bear with staying here tonight. If he loses even a single hair, I'll settle the account with the guards."

Du Heng was locked into the East Wing Room, and the medicine boy was detained separately. A major case seal was placed on the courtyard gate, and Gu Qinghe left only the men brought back from North Mountain to stand guard.

Cao An, Zhao Chong, and Sun Erhe were also placed in separate locations.

The testimonies were each sealed in triplicate.

One copy went into the Major Case Cabinet, one was kept on Gu Qinghe's person, and the final copy was delivered to the Second Elder of Law Enforcement Peak.

Yan Song did not receive a shred of news.

Before dawn, the two of them rushed to the Archive Room of the Law Enforcement Hall.

The envoy roster was kept in the Guest Reception Archive. Gu Qinghe took out the entire volume under the pretext of verifying a private seal, without mentioning that Du Heng had confessed.

Li Sanshun flipped through from the first page.

Ji Jingyao, a branch member of the imperial family, was in charge of this kin-seeking mission.

The first guest cultivator was named Zhou Tong, fifty-two years old, a sword cultivator who visited old friends at Sword Peak the day he entered the sect. During several of the incidents, he had entry and exit records at Sword Peak.

The second guest cultivator had only one page.

Bai Chongshan, sixty-seven years old, a former official of the Ji imperial family, responsible for protecting the Kin-Seeking Document and the Blood Appraisal instruments.

He practiced a Fire Element Cultivation Method.

Ten years ago, he suffered a fire injury to his right hand during an attack while escorting imperial children.

Li Sanshun pointed at the name.

"Bai Chongshan."

Mr. Bai.

White Wood Mask.

Half a White Cicada Wing.

These titles all revolved around the character "Bai."

Gu Qinghe flipped to the registry of the envoy group's items.

One Kin-Seeking Seal, kept by Bai Chongshan.

Two hundred sheets of Grey Feather Talisman Paper, collected by Bai Chongshan.

The envoy group also brought three Blood Appraisal Disks, also under his guard.

"It all matches."

Li Sanshun, however, closed the roster.

"Don't arrest him yet."

"Du Heng and Zhao Chong can both identify his features."

"They can only identify the White Wood Mask; they can't prove who is behind the mask. The seal and the talisman paper belong to the envoy group; others could have borrowed them."

The Imperial Envoy Group was staying at the Tai Xuan Sect's Reception Courtyard.

If they detained an imperial guest cultivator without solid evidence, Ji Jingyao could easily turn the case into a matter of the sect detaining imperial envoys.

If it reached that point, the Old Infant Case would be impossible to investigate, and Li Sanshun would also be charged with falsely claiming imperial kinship.

What was more critical was that Bai Chongshan held the Kin-Seeking Document.

Once news of an arrest leaked, he only needed to destroy the Blood Appraisal Disks and pin the events of twenty-one years ago on a few dead men, and the entire trail would go cold.

"He doesn't know Du Heng has confessed yet."

Li Sanshun put the roster back in its place.

"Cao An wasn't sent to the dungeon, and Du Heng's courtyard is sealed. The outside world only knows we found the fake corpse compartment; they don't necessarily know we found the imperial seal."

Gu Qinghe understood his plan.

"Keep the information gap and wait for him to make a move."

"To get to the fifteenth, this old bastard already burned the herb garden and kidnapped Sun Erhe's entire family. He won't watch me live to perform a blood test."

As soon as he finished speaking, two disciples arrived outside the Archive Room.

One of them handed over a purple invitation.

"Sent by the Imperial Envoy Group. Ji Jingyao requests Deacon Gu and Li Sanshun to head to the Reception Courtyard at noon."

Gu Qinghe tore open the invitation.

The envoy group had already learned that the Law Enforcement Hall had discovered the imperial Kin-Seeking Seal, and they had also heard that Li Sanshun matched the characteristics of the fifteenth infant from twenty-one years ago.

Ji Jingyao demanded to take over the Old Infant Case.

Blood test at noon.

The Blood Appraisal instruments would be provided by the envoy group.

After the blood test, regardless of the result, Li Sanshun would have to return to the Imperial City with the envoy group.

"News travels fast."

Gu Qinghe flipped the invitation to the back.

The end was stamped with the Kin-Seeking Seal; the print was complete, the very same Black Bird Tail Feather found on the scrap of paper from the medicine furnace.

Bai Chongshan was forcing them to hand over the suspects.

If they refused the blood test, the envoy group could accuse the Tai Xuan Sect of concealing imperial bloodlines.

If they agreed to the blood test, the instruments and blood samples would be entirely in Bai Chongshan's hands. Whatever the result was, he would be the one to decide.

Li Sanshun laughed after reading the invitation.

Bai Chongshan was in such a hurry to test the blood because the identity of the fifteenth could cost him his life.

This old dog finally couldn't sit still anymore.

"We cannot go to the Reception Courtyard."

Gu Qinghe put away the invitation.

"And we cannot let him touch the Blood Appraisal Disks alone."

Li Sanshun took paper and brush and wrote down three lines.

The Tai Xuan Sect would provide one set of blood appraisal instruments.

The Imperial Envoy Group would provide one set.

And they would invite the Alchemy Alliance to provide a third.

From the moment the blood was drawn, the entire process would be recorded, each sample would be sealed in duplicate, and six witnesses would sign off on it. Whoever dared to tamper with it would leave evidence behind immediately.

After reading it, Gu Qinghe added one more condition.

The blood test would be held at the Tai Xuan Sect's Questioning Dao Platform, and deacons from all peaks would be allowed to observe.

Once the news was made public, it wouldn't be so easy for Bai Chongshan to silence them in the dark.

But if the blood appraisal results truly implicated the imperial family, Ji Jingyao would never let them go easily.

The envoy disciple outside the door was still waiting for a reply.

Li Sanshun folded the conditions and stuffed them back into the purple invitation.

"Deliver this to Ji Jingyao."

The envoy disciple took the invitation but did not leave.

"His Highness also left a message. Imperial blood appraisals do not allow for outsiders to interfere. If Li Sanshun refuses the envoy group's arrangements, it will be treated as falsely claiming imperial kinship."

Li Sanshun pushed open the door to the Archive Room.

"If you want to test my blood, fine."

He pointed toward the direction of the Reception Courtyard.

"Tell Ji Jingyao, we start the triple blood appraisal tomorrow, and have Bai Chongshan bring the Blood Appraisal Disks over himself!"