A Slap in the Face!

Bai Cheng still wanted to laugh, but Li Sanshun planted a foot on his wound.

"Whether the confession is real or forged is none of your concern. You should be thinking about how many rounds of questioning you can withstand once you get back to Law Enforcement Peak."

Bai Cheng clenched his teeth and shut his mouth.

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Stone chips were still falling from the top of the mine.

No one wasted any more time. Gu Qinghe sealed the furnace-material list, the mine furnace ledger, and the fifteenth blank token. Zhao Rui also arrived at Ding-Character Furnace with men and had the three miners carried out.

Bai Cheng was shackled with a Spirit-Locking Chain and guarded by four North Mountain disciples.

Before leaving the old mine, Li Sanshun glanced back at Ding-Character Furnace.

Fifteen counterfeit tokens.

Fourteen had gone missing.

Xu Zhenchuan had spent six years concealing the old accounts. Now the ledger and the living witnesses had fallen into their hands.

That old bastard would surely be unable to sit still.

The group didn't enter through the front gate of Law Enforcement Peak. They circled around Reception Courtyard and entered Deliberation Hall from behind the main peak.

Gu Changyue had already arrived.

He was still wearing the gray clothes from his house arrest. He had no hall master token at his waist, and a main peak disciple stood on either side of him.

A confession lay on the long table.

Xu Zhenchuan hadn't come. He'd only sent this document, claiming he was tied up investigating the imperial capital's gifts and couldn't get away.

Qi Shouxuan pointed to the table.

"Gu Changyue, you go first."

Gu Changyue picked up the confession and read half a page.

"The handwriting is mine, and the seal is real."

Gu Qinghe gripped the edge of the table.

Li Sanshun took the paper from him.

The confession was explicit. Twenty-one years ago, Gu Changyue had secretly transferred fifteen imperial infants and used Tai Xuan Sect's disciple register to give them new identities. Six years ago, fearing the old case would come to light, he'd ordered Zhou Huai to destroy the evidence.

At the bottom was Gu Changyue's handwritten signature.

Li Sanshun held the confession close to his nose and sniffed.

[Detected Gu Changyue's Law Enforcement spiritual aura.]

[Detected residual ink aura from the imperial family.]

[Time the upper half was written: within the last seven days.]

[Time the lower-half signature was written: more than twenty-one years ago.]

The paper was real.

The handwriting and seal were real, too.

But the confession had been written only recently.

Li Sanshun pressed the confession onto the table and pointed to an inconspicuous seam in the middle.

"The top was written recently. The signature below is from twenty-one years ago. Someone joined two sheets of paper together to make one."

Qi Shouxuan swept his spiritual power over the seam. Two different layers of ink light rose from the paper.

The upper half still held the scent of fresh ink, while the signature at the bottom had long since seeped into the paper fibers.

Gu Changyue picked up the lower half and turned it over.

"Twenty-one years ago, when we investigated the Old Infant Case, I signed twelve blank case-sealing sheets. The case involved the imperial family. The files had to be stamped with the real seal first, then sent into the sealing formation to be transcribed."

"One went missing?"

"Two."

Gu Qinghe turned to look at him.

"You never mentioned it."

"After the Old Infant Case was sealed, Qi Shouxuan personally issued a gag order. Anyone who dared leak information would have their cultivation crippled, then be expelled from the sect."

Qi Shouxuan took out a Spirit-Reflecting Mirror and laid it over the confession.

The mirror soon revealed records of Xu Zhenchuan handling case files.

Twenty-one years ago, Xu Zhenchuan had been only a disciple in the Archives Room, yet he'd taken part in sealing the Old Infant Case files.

Six years ago, he'd also retrieved Gu Changyue's discarded personal seal and forged the mine documents.

Gu Qinghe placed the mine furnace ledger on the table.

"The three miners from Ding-Character Furnace can all testify. Xu Zhenchuan used the old seal to withdraw fifty-eight jin of Blood-Vein Black Iron and forge fifteen counterfeit tokens. Zhou Huai was ordered by my father to investigate the accounts, then disappeared."

Zhao Rui brought Bai Cheng into Deliberation Hall under guard, and the Earth-Fire Control Token was placed on the table as well.

The personal seal on the bottom of the token perfectly matched the mine's withdrawal stamp.

Qi Shouxuan checked it three times, and the result didn't change.

Bai Cheng still refused to speak.

Chen Jiumu, however, recognized the control token.

"Xu Zhenchuan used it to open Ding-Character Furnace six years ago!"

Yuan Fu also pressed down his blood-seal testimony.

"He locked us in the stone chamber and said Hall Master Gu had already confessed. He said that when the Old Infant Case was reopened, all three of us would be counted as accomplices of the Gu family."

The mine furnace ledger, withdrawal documents, control token, and two living witnesses all pointed to Xu Zhenchuan.

The Black Iron theft case from six years ago could now be reopened.

Qi Shouxuan put away the Spirit-Reflecting Mirror.

"From today onward, Gu Changyue's house arrest is lifted."

At last, Gu Qinghe's taut shoulders relaxed.

But Gu Changyue didn't reach for the hall master token beside the table.

"The Old Infant Case still hasn't been cleared up. I did sign blank case-sealing sheets, and I really did lose two of them. The hall master token should stay at the main peak for now."

"You want to remain suspended?" Qi Shouxuan looked at him.

"Xu Zhenchuan still has fourteen counterfeit tokens. Catching him will be easy. Recovering the tokens will be hard."

Li Sanshun tapped the Spirit-Sealing Box.

"What's worse is, he still doesn't know we found the witnesses."

Xu Zhenchuan had dared to hand over the confession because he was certain Gu Changyue could never clear his name.

West Mountain Old Mine had been sealed for more than a decade, and the three miners had been listed as missing for six years. As long as Bai Cheng hadn't sent word, Xu Zhenchuan would still believe no one knew what had happened in Ding-Character Furnace.

Qi Shouxuan understood what the two of them were planning.

"You want to use the suspension to lure him out?"

Gu Qinghe took out the Law Enforcement Hall personnel register.

"Yes. We'll announce publicly that Gu Changyue's house arrest has been lifted, but Xu Zhenchuan will still hold the hall master token's authority. The evidence from West Mountain won't be entered into the archives yet, and the three miners' names won't go into the witness register."

Gu Changyue picked up where she left off.

"Seeing that I'm still under suspicion, Xu Zhenchuan will surely keep covering his tracks."

"Who will he try to kill first?" Qi Shouxuan looked at Li Sanshun.

"Zhao Chong."

Zhao Chong had been in charge of escorting the imperial capital's gifts. He'd also seen the counterfeit Blood Mirror and Delivery Order.

After Bai Chongshan entered Tai Xuan Sect, Zhao Chong had him thrown into Cold Prison under Yan Song's guard. If Xu Zhenchuan wanted to protect the fourteen counterfeit tokens, Zhao Chong had to die.

Li Sanshun went over to Bai Cheng and pulled the Message Talisman from his waist.

The talisman hadn't been used.

Bai Cheng had been injured and hadn't managed to send word. Xu Zhenchuan only knew he'd gone to West Mountain, not what had happened beneath the mine.

"Spread the word. Say Zhao Chong's willing to confess tonight and can identify the person who supplied the counterfeit tokens."

Qi Shouxuan took out a transfer order.

"Move Zhao Chong to the main peak's secret prison?"

"Xu Zhenchuan has people on the main peak, too." Li Sanshun shook his head. "Send him to Zhen Yue Peak. That's Xiong Baichuan's territory. He can't get his fingers in there."

Gu Qinghe looked at Gu Changyue for a while.

"Six years ago, I suspected you."

Gu Changyue straightened the mine furnace ledger.

"If you didn't investigate just because I'm your father, the Law Enforcement Hall might as well shut down."

"After Zhou Huai's disappearance, I even confiscated his identity plaque."

"That was the right call."

Father and daughter said no more about it.

Listening to them made Li Sanshun's teeth ache. He snatched up the Spirit-Sealing Box and headed out.

"You Gu family members are something else. Even your apologies sound like interrogations. Three sentences, and it's over."

Gu Qinghe followed him.

"What else do you want to hear?"

"At least buy me a meal."

"After we catch Xu Zhenchuan."

"Still putting it off?"

"I'll put it on the tab."

After nightfall, Law Enforcement Peak posted a notice.

Gu Changyue's house arrest had been lifted, but he remained suspended.

Xu Zhenchuan would temporarily wield the hall master token's authority and take charge of the imperial capital's gifts case.

The news quickly spread through all the courtyards.

Word that Zhao Chong was going to confess also got out through the disciples guarding Cold Prison.

Li Sanshun went to Cold Prison before the shift change, then brought out a covered prison cart through the back gate. Xiong Baichuan had already sent people to meet them on the mountain road. The cart bypassed the Law Enforcement Peak guard post and went straight to Zhen Yue Peak.

Just after midnight, Zhao Rui pushed open the guardroom door.

"Cold Prison reports that someone's holding Qi Shouxuan's Dharma Seal and wants to take Zhao Chong away tonight!"