第39章 你替我偿命!

Li Sanshun grabbed his outer robe and followed Zhao Rui out of the duty room.

Gu Qinghe was already waiting under the corridor.

"How many people came?"

"One. He's wearing the main peak's messenger uniform, carrying Qi Shouxuan's official seal, and holding a temporary summons order." Zhao Rui lowered his voice. "The Cold Prison verified it; the seal is genuine."

Gu Qinghe did not stop walking.

"What about the duty disciples?"

"They're stalling for time. But the summons order states that for every moment of delay, the duty disciples will be punished for obstructing the Sect Master's investigation."

The other party had prepared everything perfectly.

The main peak's seal, the summons order, the location of Zhao Chong's cell—nothing was amiss.

If they hadn't moved Zhao Chong ahead of time, they really would have let the intruder succeed tonight.

The three of them circled to the back of the Cold Prison and entered the underground array chamber through the narrow door used for transporting medicinal herbs. Xiong Baichuan was already waiting inside, a Prison Observation Mirror set up on the table.

In the mirror, only two lamps were lit in the Cold Prison corridor.

A messenger disciple stood outside the cell door, the main peak's token hanging from his waist, his face covered by a grey cloth. He was accompanied by two Cold Prison guards, both of whom were on duty tonight.

The duty supervisor held the summons order, still trying to stall.

"Zhao Chong is a key prisoner in the Imperial City tribute case. Without the joint signatures of the Law Enforcement Hall and the main peak, he cannot be removed from his cell."

The messenger disciple took out the official seal and pressed it onto the summons order.

Golden seal patterns spread out, and the spiritual aura of Qi Shouxuan emanated from them.

"The Sect Master has already signed it. Deputy Hall Master Xu is also aware of this."

"What about Deputy Hall Master Xu's seal?"

"This case involves Gu Changyue; it is not appropriate for the Law Enforcement Hall to intervene. If you block me again, I will deal with you according to the summons order."

The duty supervisor flipped the order paper over, verified the seal once more, and had no choice but to hand over the cell door's array plate.

In the array chamber, Xiong Baichuan tapped the table.

"This seal is made remarkably well. Even if old Qi came himself, he might not spot the problem at a glance."

Gu Qinghe stared at the mirror.

"The Cold Prison's Seal Verification Array didn't detect it either."

Li Sanshun leaned toward the Prison Observation Mirror and took a sniff of the air coming through the array vent.

[Residual aura of main peak seal detected.]
[Source of spiritual aura: Rubbing.]
[Time of rubbing: Within two hours.]
[Seal carrier can only be used once.]

Li Sanshun looked at the transfer order on the table.

Two hours ago, Qi Shouxuan had signed a genuine transfer order to send Zhao Chong to Zhen Yue Peak. Anyone who had contact with that order could have rubbed the seal while the spiritual aura had yet to dissipate.

"The seal was rubbed from the genuine transfer order."

Gu Qinghe took out the personnel register.

The transfer order had passed through four people on its way from the main peak to the Cold Prison: the main peak messenger disciple, the Law Enforcement Peak duty room supervisor, the Cold Prison order-verification disciple, and Zhao Rui, who was responsible for the transport carriage.

Zhao Rui threw his storage bag onto the table.

"Check it all you want. When the order reached my hands, the seal had already been opened once."

"Who opened it?"

"The duty room supervisor, Du An. He said he needed to register it."

Gu Qinghe drew a line through Du An's name.

This man reported to Xu Zhenchuan.

Inside the Cold Prison, the outer array gate had already been opened.

The messenger disciple took back the summons order and walked toward the deepest cell. The two guards followed behind; one of them took out the keys, while the other carried the Spirit-Binding Seal.

Li Sanshun looked at Xiong Baichuan.

"Can the puppet hold up?"

"Do you think the Mountain-Moving Puppet of Zhen Yue Peak is made of mud?" Xiong Baichuan picked up the array disk. "I dressed it in Zhao Chong's prison clothes, stuffed a blood bag inside its belly, and even placed a Breath-Simulating Talisman on it. Looking at it from outside the cell door, even its own father wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

"If Zhao Chong had a father like you, he would have been reincarnated for the second time by now."

Just as Xiong Baichuan was about to retort, the messenger disciple in the mirror stopped in front of the cell door.

A figure lay inside the cell, hands bound by Spirit-Locking Chains, covered by an old blanket, with only half a face exposed.

The guard opened the first lock.

The Breath-Simulating Talisman activated, and the puppet's chest began to rise and fall.

The messenger disciple did not go in.

He stared through the iron bars for a long time before taking a copper bell from his sleeve.

There were no characters carved on the bell, but several fine needles protruded from the bottom.

Gu Qinghe recognized the object.

"The Soul-Severing Bell. Ring it three times, and the soul of anyone below the Foundation Establishment stage will scatter."

This man had no intention of taking Zhao Chong away at all.

He had come to the Cold Prison solely to silence him.

The messenger disciple shook the copper bell.

The first chime fell, and the Breath-Simulating Talisman inside the cell paused for a moment.

After the second chime, the blood bag on the puppet's neck ruptured, and blood flowed to the edge of the stone bed.

The two Cold Prison guards stepped back in fear.

"Envoy, didn't the Sect Master want to interrogate him?"

The messenger disciple put away the copper bell.

"Zhao Chong resisted arrest and has been executed. You may register it as it happened."

He turned to leave.

Xiong Baichuan pressed down on the array disk.

"Shall we take him now?"

"Wait," Li Sanshun stared at the mirror. "He hasn't touched the corpse yet."

The dead can be real or fake.

If the other party didn't examine the body, he would remain suspicious upon returning.

The messenger disciple walked two steps and, as expected, stopped. He chased the two guards away and returned to the cell alone.

The cell door swung wide open.

He stepped over the bloodstains, pulled back the old blanket, and reached out to press his hand against the puppet's neck.

The Mountain-Moving Puppet had no pulse.

The messenger disciple's hand froze.

The next instant, he tore off the puppet's prison clothes and lunged toward the cell door.

"Activate the array!"

Xiong Baichuan pressed down on the array disk.

The stone walls surrounding the Cold Prison rose simultaneously, and eight Mountain-Suppressing Steles sealed off the front and back passages. The messenger disciple threw an Array-Breaking Talisman, but the moment the talisman's fire touched the stone wall, it was crushed out by the mountain patterns on the steles.

He drew a short blade and charged at the nearest guard, hoping to take a hostage to clear a path.

Li Sanshun killed his way in from the side door and kicked the short blade away.

The messenger disciple whipped out three poison needles with his backhand. Li Sanshun tilted his body to dodge two of them, raised his hand to catch the last one, and channeled his earth-elemental energy to coil around the man's legs through the ground.

The stone bricks flipped up, pinning the man in place.

The messenger disciple tore apart the token at his waist. A flash of fire erupted from the token, streaking toward the mineral rock overhead.

Xiong Baichuan swung his iron rod, smashing the fire back into the cell.

"Playing with explosive talismans inside the Mountain-Locking Array of Zhen Yue Peak? You're still too green!"

The messenger disciple abandoned the short blade and formed the Law Enforcement Hall's Spirit-Binding Seal with his hands.

Gu Qinghe arrived from the other end of the corridor, sliced through his sleeve with one strike, and pinned his wrist down with the back of her sword.

The Spirit-Binding Seal failed to take form.

Li Sanshun grabbed him by the back of his collar and pressed him onto the stone bed.

The Mountain-Locking Array tightened.

Four stone chains coiled around his limbs, sealing his dantian along with them.

Zhao Rui led his men into the cell and searched the man, finding three items.

A one-time-use main peak official seal, the Soul-Severing Bell, and a map of the Cold Prison's interior.

The map marked Zhao Chong's cell and three escape routes; even the names of the duty disciples for tonight were written clearly.

Gu Qinghe flipped open the fake transfer order.

"Did Du An give you this?"

The messenger disciple remained silent.

Zhao Rui tore off his mask. The man was about forty years old, with a piece of his left ear missing. The Cold Prison guards recognized him immediately.

"Fang Shao?"

Six years ago, Fang Shao was still a prison-guarding disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall. Not long after Zhou Huai fell off the cliff, he was put on the wanted list for letting a prisoner escape.

The Law Enforcement Hall had investigated for three years, only to find a charred corpse.

Gu Qinghe took out the old case file, which still contained Fang Shao's death certificate. The person who had signed off on the case was none other than Xu Zhenchuan.

"Xu Zhenchuan forged your death to keep you outside, killing people on his behalf."

Fang Shao lay on the stone bed, his shoulders twitching.

Li Sanshun gripped his chin.

"Don't play mute. Bai Cheng has already confessed, and the three miners from the Ding-Character Furnace are still alive. Everything your master has hidden for six years has fallen into my hands."

Fang Shao finally raised his head.

"The miners are still alive?"

"The old bastard didn't tell you?"

Fang Shao paused for a moment, then suddenly pushed his tongue against the back of his teeth.

Li Sanshun wrenched his chin, but he was still a step too late.

A wisp of black gas emerged from between Fang Shao's teeth.

Zhao Rui grabbed a pair of pliers, but Fang Shao looked only at Gu Qinghe.

"Officer Gu, the person you asked me to kill didn't die; this time, I'm afraid you'll have to pay with your life for me."