第35章 许镇川要来灭口!

"This sentence was not written by Zhou Huai."

Li Sanshun flipped the map over, pointing to the line of text that had been scraped.

The oil paper had been stored for six years, and the original ink had seeped into the fibers, turning a brownish hue. The phrase "Do not trust my father" was written in fresh ink, and paper dust from a Grey Feather Talisman Paper still clung to the edges of the scratch marks.

Someone had entered Zhou Huai's residence.

The intruder had failed to find the hidden compartment, but discovered that the identity tag could open it; thus, they left the scratch marks and added the sentence to the back of the map.

The goal was simple.

Lure Gu Qinghe to the cliff, then make her suspicious of Gu Changyue.

"The imperial document used to borrow the West Mountain pass token was also for the sake of coming to the cliff." Gu Qinghe put the map away. "He set out before us."

Li Sanshun looked toward the North Mountain disciple who had come to deliver the news.

"When was the pass token borrowed?"

"Half an hour ago. The name registered is Bai Cheng, who is responsible for the delegation's documents."

Another one surnamed Bai.

Bai Chongshan was currently having Law Enforcement disciples guard the Questioning Dao Platform, yet Bai Cheng had run off first.

"Zhao Rui, seal the three paths leading down from West Mountain."

Gu Qinghe handed him Zhou Huai's identity tag.

"Do not bring anyone else from the Law Enforcement Hall. Use only that group of North Mountain disciples."

Zhao Rui took the identity tag and left through the side door with two men.

Li Sanshun and Gu Qinghe hurried toward West Mountain.

The old mine had been sealed for over a decade, and the mountain paths had gone unmaintained for years. The further they went, the more gravel littered the road. Abandoned mining frames stood on both sides, the wood blackened by dampness and the iron hooks covered in rust.

After passing the first abandoned checkpoint, several fresh footprints appeared on the ground.

The footprints led straight into the depths of the old mine.

Gu Qinghe took out the West Mountain passage Array Disk and opened the stone door blocking the path. They had only walked a few dozen yards when the mine tunnel ahead ended.

A massive pile of rubble blocked the middle of the road, with freshly cut tree branches jammed into the gaps between the stones. The soil was still damp; someone had clearly blocked the path in a hurry.

"Bai Cheng wants to stall for time."

Li Sanshun raised his hand and pressed it against the rubble, his earth-attribute energy drilling into the gaps. The topmost stones slid to either side, revealing a narrow passage.

The two of them squeezed through sideways.

The tunnel behind it split into three.

The cliff marked on the map was to the left, but the footprints on the ground led to the right.

"Trying to lead people down the wrong path."

Li Sanshun crouched down and sniffed the air at the junction.

The right side smelled of soil and sweat, and the footprints were very fresh.

The left side, however, retained a faint scent of pine resin, and half a scrap of grey paper was stuck to the rock wall.

[Pine resin residue detected.]
[Grey Feather Talisman Paper residue detected.]
[Time of residue: within half an hour.]

Bai Cheng had taken the left path first, then used the Grey Feather Talisman Paper to double back, leaving the footprints on the right.

"Take the left."

The two moved along the abandoned mine tunnel. Less than a quarter of an hour later, traces of ground fire appeared ahead.

The rock walls were blackened, and broken iron was scattered on the ground. Several old rail tracks extended into the mountain belly, only to end in front of a collapsed stone door.

A "Ding" character was carved beside the stone door.

They had reached the Ding-Character Furnace.

Li Sanshun took out the half-piece of the Blood Token. The black grit at the broken edge of the token was the same color as the scrap iron beside the tracks.

Gu Qinghe found a discarded material tag by the furnace door.

The tag bore a date from six years ago.

Ding Furnace, Blood-Vein Black Iron.

Entered furnace: 370 jin.

Exited furnace: 312 jin.

Fifty-eight jin were missing.

"Someone took source-matched black iron from here." Gu Qinghe flipped the tag over. "The half-piece of the Blood Token was likely cast here as well."

Behind the Ding-Character Furnace was another mine tunnel, the exit facing the West Mountain cliff.

The two passed through the tunnel, and mountain wind poured in from ahead. Mist drifted beneath the cliff, and a broken section of railing stood at the edge.

Six years ago, this was where Zhou Huai had fallen.

There was freshly turned soil at the cliff's edge.

Bai Cheng had been here.

Li Sanshun circled the cliff once but found no one. Gu Qinghe took out the map and compared it to the red line on it.

The red line did not stop at the cliff's edge.

It followed the cliff downward, finally landing at the middle section of the cliff face.

"The account is under the cliff, not at the bottom."

Gu Qinghe grabbed the railing and leaned over to look.

Three zhang below the cliff face was a protruding stone platform. The platform was blocked by vines, and there was a man-made foothold path beside it.

The two descended along the foothold path.

Just as they reached the halfway point, several mountain stones fell from above.

Li Sanshun pressed against the cliff wall and raised his hand to conjure an earthen wall. The stones struck the wall and tumbled to the bottom of the cliff.

Gu Qinghe drew her sword and cleared away the vines.

Behind them hid a rope that had been cut.

Bai Cheng had cut the rope in advance and weighted it with stones from above. As soon as someone stepped on the loose foothold stone, the mountain rocks would come crashing down.

"He left just a moment ago."

Gu Qinghe checked the cut and continued downward.

At the end of the stone platform was a hole half a person's height. Inside the cave were a few pieces of ore, and at the very back, an iron box was pressed down.

The iron box was covered in white powder.

Li Sanshun leaned in and took a sniff.

[Spirit-Fixing Powder detected.]
[Sealing time: six years and three months.]
[Internal spiritual essence remains intact.]

The Spirit-Fixing Powder on the map finally matched up.

This iron box had been hidden in the cliff six years ago. Although Bai Cheng had found the stone platform, he hadn't had time to open it.

Gu Qinghe swept away the dust on the surface, revealing two seals on the iron box.

One belonged to Zhou Huai.

The other belonged to Gu Changyue.

Her hand paused on the lid.

"My father knew about this account."

"Open it first."

Li Sanshun took out Zhou Huai's identity tag and inserted it into the slot on the left. Gu Qinghe used the Gu family seal technique of Law Enforcement Peak to unlock the seal on the right.

The iron box opened.

Inside lay a mine furnace ledger wrapped in oilcloth.

The first half of the ledger contained entry and exit records for the Ding-Character Furnace. When they flipped to the page from six years ago, the page for Blood-Vein Black Iron had been folded over.

June 7th.

Under the pretext of repairing the West Mountain Law Enforcement Token, 58 jin of source-matched black iron were requisitioned.

The requisition document bore Gu Changyue's private seal.

However, the name of the person who handled it had been scraped off.

Gu Qinghe continued to flip forward.

The next page contained an inspection record written by Zhou Huai.

Gu Changyue's Law Enforcement Token was not damaged, nor was it sent to the Ding-Character Furnace for repairs. The document used to requisition the black iron was fake, and the private seal had been taken from discarded files three years prior.

Further down, there was a furnace-sealing order.

On June 8th, six years ago, Gu Changyue discovered that 58 jin of black iron were missing from the Ding-Character Furnace. He ordered the furnace sealed that very day and commanded Zhou Huai to secretly investigate the source of the requisition document.

Gu Qinghe stared at the furnace-sealing order.

The seal impressions, secret marks, and Law Enforcement spiritual aura all matched.

Gu Changyue had not requisitioned the black iron.

He was the one who had ordered Zhou Huai to investigate the accounts.

"The signature on the cliff-fall case file might also be fake." Li Sanshun flipped to the end. "Someone stole Gu Changyue's old seal to requisition the black iron. After Zhou Huai investigated this far, the other party lured him to the cliff and then forged the case file to close the matter."

Gu Qinghe took a thin piece of paper from between the pages of the ledger.

Two handler marks were left on the paper.

One belonged to the manager of the Ding-Character Furnace.

The other contained only half of the character "Zhen."

The rest had been torn away.

Li Sanshun put the thin paper into an evidence bag.

"To be able to obtain Gu Changyue's discarded files from three years ago from the Law Enforcement Hall, and to be able to forge a cliff-fall case file, this person's rank is not low."

"Yan Song was not yet in charge of the Cold Prison six years ago." Gu Qinghe closed the ledger. "There are only four people in the Law Enforcement Hall qualified to requisition old files."

"How many are still alive?"

"Two."

Just as Li Sanshun was about to press for more, a loose stone fell outside the cave.

At the other end of the stone platform, a trail of fresh blood appeared.

The blood trail bypassed the cliff and led toward the abandoned mine tunnel behind the Ding-Character Furnace. A corner of an imperial document robe was also snagged nearby.

Bai Cheng was injured.

The two put away the iron box and followed the blood trail into the mine tunnel.

The blood trail passed through the Ding-Character Furnace and disappeared before a collapsed area. A thick stone door blocked the path ahead, the gaps in the door stuffed with Spirit-Fixing Powder, and the mine-sealing order from six years ago pressed against the outside.

Li Sanshun leaned close to the stone door and took a breath.

There was mine-vein spiritual energy behind the stone door.

And the aura of living people.

The next moment, three knocks came from behind the door.

After a pause, three more.

Gu Qinghe took out the miner roster from six years ago and flipped to the missing persons section.

There were exactly three people listed.

Li Sanshun gripped the door ring.

The person behind the stone door squeezed out a sentence.

"If that is Deacon Gu outside, please save us... Xu Zhenchuan is coming back to silence us!"