The Murderer's Sword Was Found on the Corpse

Black qi seeped out between Fang Shao's teeth, crawling along his blood vessels toward his head.

Li Sanshun clamped his hands around Fang Shao's jaws, sealing his throat with Earth-Element Qi. Zhao Rui pried open his clenched teeth with pliers and pulled half a black wax pellet from the back of his mouth.

Fang Shao was no longer struggling.

Li Sanshun leaned in and drew a breath.

[Detected Soul-Devouring Tooth Restriction.]

[Restriction has invaded the sea of consciousness.]

[Target's soul is dissipating.]

[Irreversible.]

Fang Shao's head drooped.

Gu Qinghe took out a Soul-Protecting Pill and slipped it into his mouth. The pill had barely dissolved before Fang Shao's breath stopped.

"He's dead."

Zhao Rui slammed a fist against the edge of the stone bed.

They had finally caught the killer Xu Zhenchuan had hidden for six years, only to lose him before they could get even a single statement.

Xiong Baichuan picked up half the black wax pellet and examined it through the Spirit-Sealing Cloth.

"The Soul-Devouring Tooth Restriction was planted in his tooth roots at least ten years ago. The moment he tried to kill himself, it would destroy his soul. Even soul-searching won't help."

"Xu Zhenchuan never meant for him to come back alive."

Li Sanshun pulled back Fang Shao's lips. Near the tooth restriction was an old wound, one that had been made around the same time as the forged death records.

Six years ago, Xu Zhenchuan had faked Fang Shao's death.

And six years ago, he had planted this deadly restriction in him.

Alive, Fang Shao was a blade for murder. Caught, he was a corpse that couldn't speak.

"Search him again. Don't miss the seams in his clothes."

Zhao Rui put on poison-proof gloves and searched from collar to boot soles. The Soul-Severing Bell, the forged transfer order, and the Cold Prison map had already been sealed in the Evidence Bag. All that remained were a few bottles of poison powder and a dozen or so spirit stones.

One of the Cold Prison guards took apart Fang Shao's belt. The tip of his knife struck something hard.

A sword fragment had been sewn into the belt's inner lining.

The fragment was only two inches long. Dried blood clung to its broken edge, and the Law Enforcement Hall's weapon mark was carved into its surface. Zhao Rui placed it on the Spirit-Verification Plate. A moment later, the character "Gu" appeared on its surface.

Everyone looked at Gu Qinghe.

She drew her sword and set it beside the fragment.

The sword auras they gave off were exactly the same.

Xiong Baichuan picked up the fragment and compared it to her sword several times.

"This wasn't broken off your current sword."

Gu Qinghe's sword was intact, its edge unchipped. But whenever the Law Enforcement Peak forged a sword for a deacon, it left a unique spiritual aura mark on it. Even if an old sword was damaged, its fragments could still reveal its original owner.

Zhao Rui continued taking apart the belt.

Another item was hidden at the bottom of the lining: a Message Talisman.

It had already been used. Only three lines remained on it.

Enter the Cold Prison at midnight.

Kill Zhao Chong.

Take your own life once the job is done.

At the very bottom was Gu Qinghe's Deacon Seal.

No one in the Cold Prison spoke.

Fang Shao had named Gu Qinghe just before his death, and now they had found fragments of her old sword and a Message Talisman on his corpse. The two pieces of evidence backed each other up, and even the time on the talisman matched.

The forged transfer order had sent Fang Shao to the Cold Prison.

Gu Qinghe had led a team there to capture him.

Fang Shao's assassination had failed, and he had triggered the tooth restriction on the spot.

If they wrote it up that way, Gu Qinghe could easily be made out as the mastermind. She had arranged for Fang Shao to be silenced, then personally come to clean up after him.

"Bullshit!"

Zhao Rui snatched up the Message Talisman.

"If Deacon Gu wanted him silenced, why bring us along to capture Fang Shao alive? And why leave her own seal on him for the Law Enforcement Hall to find?"

Gu Qinghe pressed the talisman back into the Evidence Bag.

"A frame-up doesn't have to make sense in every detail. The evidence only needs to be real."

Qi Shouxuan arrived at the Cold Prison soon after.

He first sealed Fang Shao's corpse, then brought over the Spirit-Reflecting Mirror to examine the sword fragment and the Message Talisman.

The spiritual aura on the fragment belonged to Gu Qinghe.

The Deacon Seal on the Message Talisman was genuine too.

Qi Shouxuan put away the Spirit-Reflecting Mirror.

"From this moment on, the case is being transferred to the main peak. Gu Qinghe is not to have contact with witnesses, case files, or evidence."

"This disciple requests entry into the Quiet Room."

Gu Qinghe untied the token at her waist and set it on the table together with her sword.

Zhao Rui panicked.

"You're really going in? Xu Zhenchuan is temporarily exercising the authority of the Hall Master. The moment word gets back to the Law Enforcement Peak, he'll use this to make trouble."

"If I don't go in, people will question every piece of evidence we find."

"But this is obviously a trap!"

"That's all the more reason to follow the rules."

Gu Qinghe took out her Storage Bag, erased her opening mark, and handed it to Qi Shouxuan. Whenever the Law Enforcement Hall investigated one of its own deacons, the suspect had to enter a Quiet Room, cut off all communication, and stay out of the investigation.

If she refused, Xu Zhenchuan could seize on that point and dismiss the testimony from the West Mountain mine as a personal vendetta.

Qi Shouxuan accepted the Storage Bag.

"I'll seal the Quiet Room myself. Xu Zhenchuan has no authority to interrogate you before this case is solved."

Two disciples from the main peak walked to the door.

As Gu Qinghe passed Li Sanshun, she paused for half a step.

"There's Green Pine Resin on the sword fragment."

Li Sanshun glanced at the Evidence Bag.

There was indeed a thin film of oil on the fragment's surface, almost impossible to make out beneath the bloodstains.

"What is it?"

"Sealing oil used to maintain old weapons in the Law Enforcement Peak's Armory. They apply it once every six months. It's not sold anywhere outside."

Six years ago, Gu Qinghe had broken a sword while investigating Zhou Huai's fall from a cliff. After the broken sword was retrieved, it had been sent to the Armory and sealed away for ten years, as regulations required. Only then would it be sent to the furnace.

The fragment found on Fang Shao had come from that old sword.

"Which row in the Armory?"

"Armory B, rack seven."

Gu Qinghe didn't linger. She followed the main-peak disciples into the Quiet Room.

The stone door shut, and Array Patterns spread across its frame.

Qi Shouxuan handed the two pieces of evidence to Zhao Rui.

"Check the Armory first. Don't alert the Law Enforcement Peak."

Li Sanshun took one last look at Fang Shao's corpse.

Xu Zhenchuan had sent someone to kill Zhao Chong, then dragged Gu Qinghe into the case after the assassination failed. He had even planned his underling's death in advance.

But the old bastard hadn't realized they'd already found the thread.

When they hurried back to the Law Enforcement Peak, dawn had yet to break.

The Armory stood behind the Law Enforcement Hall, its entrance protected by three layers of locks. The disciple on duty checked Qi Shouxuan's order but still refused to open the door.

"Deacon Gu is under investigation. All the old weapons she handled have been sealed. No one is allowed to touch them."

Zhao Rui pressed the order onto the verification stand.

"Even with the sect leader's personal approval, you're still going to hold it up?"

The disciple had no choice but to take out an Array Tablet.

Armory B was crammed with retired weapons. Wooden tags hung from the racks, each listing the weapon's return date and the person who had handled it.

One space on the seventh rack was empty.

The wooden tag was still there.

It said: Gu Qinghe's old sword. Entered storage six years ago. Broken into three pieces.

Zhao Rui searched the rack from top to bottom but found only the hilt and the front half of the blade. The middle two inches were missing, and the gap matched the fragment found on Fang Shao perfectly.

Li Sanshun checked the locked cabinet.

There were no signs of forced entry, and its seals were unbroken. Whoever had taken the fragment from here must have had an Array Tablet for the Armory.

The disciple on duty brought out the entry log.

Its most recent record showed that the Armory had last been opened six months ago. No one had entered tonight.

Li Sanshun sniffed the sealing oil lingering near the empty spot.

[Detected Green Pine Resin.]

[Time since old weapon left the Armory: within three hours.]

Three hours ago, Fang Shao had just entered the Cold Prison.

Someone had taken the sword fragment, planted it on Fang Shao, then wiped the Armory records clean.

Zhao Rui was about to seal off the Armory when a disciple on night duty rushed in.

"Senior Brother Zhao, we finished another inventory of Armory B."

"What else is missing?"

The disciple handed him a freshly copied weapon list.

"The missing item wasn't a sword fragment. It was an entire old sword!"