Her Sword Found on the Assassin's Corpse

Black energy drilled out from Fang Shao's tooth sockets, crawling along his blood vessels toward the crown of his head.

Li Sanshun pinched both of his cheeks, using earth-elemental force to seal his throat. Zhao Rui used pliers to pry open his jaws, extracting half a black wax pill from his rear molars.

Fang Shao had already stopped struggling.

Li Sanshun leaned down and inhaled.

[Soul-Devouring Tooth Restriction detected.]

[Restriction has invaded the sea of consciousness.]

[Target's soul is dissipating.]

[Irreversible.]

Fang Shao's head slumped.

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

"He's dead."

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

They had finally captured the assassin Xu Zhenchuan had kept hidden for six years, yet they hadn't even managed to extract a single word of testimony.

Xiong Baichuan picked up the half-pill, examining it through a piece of Spirit-Sealing Cloth.

"The Soul-Devouring Tooth Restriction was embedded in his tooth roots at least ten years ago. The moment he intends to commit suicide, the restriction destroys his soul. Soul-searching is useless."

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

Li Sanshun flipped back Fang Shao's lips. Near the restriction, there was an old scar; the time it had been implanted matched the records of his faked death.

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

It was also six years ago that he had installed this lethal restriction.

Alive, Fang Shao was a blade for murder; captured, he was nothing but a corpse that could not speak.

"Search him again, and don't overlook the seams of his clothes."

Zhao Rui donned toxin-proof gloves, checking from the collar down to the soles of his boots. The Soul-Severing Bell, the fake transfer order, and the map of the Cold Prison had already been placed in the evidence bag; the rest contained only a few bottles of toxic powder and a dozen spirit stones.

A Cold Prison guard unbuckled Fang Shao's belt, his knife tip striking a hard object.

Sewn into the lining of the belt was a piece of a sword blade.

The fragment was only two inches long, the broken edge stained with dried blood, the surface engraved with the Law Enforcement Hall's weapon seal. Zhao Rui placed it into the Spirit-Verification Plate, and the character "Gu" quickly surfaced on the plate's face.

Everyone looked at Gu Qinghe.

She drew her own sword and placed it beside the fragment.

The sword aura emitted by both was identical.

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

"This didn't break off from the sword you are carrying now."

Gu Qinghe's sword was intact, with no notches on the blade. However, when the Law Enforcement Peak forged swords for each deacon, they left behind a unique spiritual signature. Even if an old sword were damaged, the fragments could still be verified to their original owner.

Zhao Rui continued to dismantle the belt.

Hidden at the bottom of the lining was a Message Talisman.

The talisman paper had already been used, with only three lines of text remaining.

Enter the Cold Prison at the Hour of the Rat.

Eliminate Zhao Chong.

Commit suicide upon completion.

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

No one in the Cold Prison spoke.

Fang Shao had identified Gu Qinghe before he died, and her old sword fragment and the Message Talisman had been found on his corpse. The two pieces of evidence corroborated each other, and even the timing of the message matched.

The fake transfer order had sent Fang Shao into the Cold Prison.

Gu Qinghe had led the team to set the ambush and make the arrest.

Fang Shao's assassination attempt failed, triggering the tooth restriction on the spot.

If the case file were written this way, Gu Qinghe could easily be framed as the mastermind. She had arranged for Fang Shao to silence the witness, then arrived in person to eliminate Fang Shao himself.

"Bullshit!"

Zhao Rui grabbed the Message Talisman.

"If Deacon Gu wanted to silence him, why bring us along to capture him alive? And why leave her own seal on him, just waiting for the Law Enforcement Hall to investigate?"

Gu Qinghe pressed the Message Talisman back into the evidence bag.

"A frame-up doesn't need to be logical in every detail, as long as the evidence is real."

Qi Shouxuan arrived at the Cold Prison shortly after.

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

The spiritual signature on the sword fragment belonged to Gu Qinghe.

The Deacon Seal on the Message Talisman was also genuine.

Qi Shouxuan put away the Spirit-Reflecting Mirror.

"From this moment on, this case is transferred to the Main Peak. Gu Qinghe is forbidden from contacting witnesses, case files, or evidence."

"This disciple requests to enter the Quiet Room."

Gu Qinghe unhooked the token from her waist and placed it on the table along with her sword.

Zhao Rui grew anxious.

"Are you really going in? Xu Zhenchuan is currently acting as the Hall Master. As soon as word reaches the Law Enforcement Peak, he will definitely use this to his advantage."

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

"But this is clearly a trap!"

"Which is why we must investigate according to the rules."

Gu Qinghe took out her Storage Bag, wiped away her opening imprint, and handed it to Qi Shouxuan. When the Law Enforcement Hall investigated one of its own deacons, the suspect was required to enter the Quiet Room, during which time they were cut off from all communication and could not interfere with the case.

If she refused, Xu Zhenchuan could seize upon that point to dismiss the testimony from the West Mountain mine as nothing more than a personal vendetta.

Qi Shouxuan took the Storage Bag.

"I will personally seal the Quiet Room. Until this case is cleared, Xu Zhenchuan has no authority to interrogate you."

Two Main Peak disciples walked to the door.

Gu Qinghe stopped for a half-step as she passed Li Sanshun.

"There is Green Pine Resin on the sword fragment."

Li Sanshun looked at the evidence bag.

There was indeed a thin layer of oil on the surface of the fragment, difficult to distinguish amidst the bloodstains.

"What is it?"

"A sealing oil used by the Law Enforcement Peak's Armory to maintain old weapons. It is applied every six months and cannot be bought outside."

Six years ago, Gu Qinghe had broken a sword while investigating the case of Zhou Huai falling off a cliff. After the broken sword was recovered, it was sent to the Armory to be sealed for ten years, as per the rules, before being sent to the furnace.

The fragment on Fang Shao must have come from that old sword.

"Which row in the Armory?"

"Armory B, the seventh rack."

Gu Qinghe did not linger, following the Main Peak disciples into the Quiet Room.

The stone door closed, and sealing Array Patterns covered the door frame.

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

"Investigate the Armory first, but don't alert the Law Enforcement Peak."

Li Sanshun glanced at Fang Shao's corpse.

After Xu Zhenchuan sent men to eliminate Zhao Chong and the assassination failed, he had conveniently dragged Gu Qinghe into the case. This man had even calculated the method of his subordinate's death in advance.

But the old bastard hadn't counted on them finding the loose thread.

It was not yet dawn when the two returned to the Law Enforcement Peak.

The Armory was built behind the Law Enforcement Hall, with triple locks hanging on the door. The guard disciple checked Qi Shouxuan's warrant but still refused to open the door.

"Deacon Gu is currently under investigation, and all old weapons she handled have been sealed. No one is allowed to touch them."

Zhao Rui pressed the warrant onto the seal-verification plate.

"This is personally approved by the Sect Master; do you still intend to withhold it?"

The guard disciple had no choice but to take out the array tablet.

Armory B was filled with retired weapons, with wooden tags hanging on the racks; each weapon had a storage date and a handling record.

The seventh rack had one empty slot.

The wooden tag was still there.

It read: Gu Qinghe's old sword, stored six years ago, broken into three pieces.

Zhao Rui searched the entire rack, finding only the hilt and the front half of the blade. The middle two inches were missing, and the gap matched the sword fragment on Fang Shao perfectly.

Li Sanshun checked the locker.

There were no signs of the door being pried, and the seal was unbroken. Whoever had taken the fragment from here possessed an Armory array tablet.

The guard disciple brought over the entry log.

The most recent record of the armory being opened was half a year ago; no one had come in tonight.

Li Sanshun smelled the sealing oil remaining near the empty slot.

[Green Pine Resin detected.]

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

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

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

Just as Zhao Rui was about to seal the Armory, a night-duty disciple ran in.

"Senior Brother Zhao, Armory B has been inventoried again."

"What else is missing?"

The night-duty disciple handed over a weapon list that had just been copied.

"It's not just the sword fragment that's missing—it's an entire old sword!"