The First One Is You!

The night-shift disciple spread the second weapons ledger across the table.

"In the seventh rack of the B-Vault, a Mystic-15 Sealing Sword is missing. This sword was cataloged twenty-one years ago and has not been checked out since."

Zhao Rui flipped to the corresponding page.

The Sealing Sword was three feet and two inches long, its blade unsharpened, used exclusively for sealing imperial archives. On the day it was cataloged, it was registered by the Archives Room disciple, Xu Zhenchuan.

Xu Zhenchuan again.

The fragments of the broken sword Gu Qinghe had were merely planted evidence the other party had shoved onto Fang Shao. The item actually taken from the B-Vault was the Mystic-15 Sealing Sword.

Li Sanshun flipped over the wooden tag.

A line of small characters was left on the back.

Bladesmith, Wei Tiesheng.

"Is the man still alive?"

The vault-guarding disciple nodded.

"Master Wei left Law Enforcement Peak ten years ago and now lives at the foot of East Mountain. Many of the old weapons in the B-Vault came from his hands."

Li Sanshun tucked the wooden tag into his robes.

"Don't seal the vault yet. If anyone asks tonight, just say only that sword fragment of Gu Qinghe's was lost."

Zhao Rui understood his meaning.

The person who stole the sword did not yet know the armory had discovered the entire Sealing Sword was missing. If they kept the news suppressed, they would have a chance to track it down by the sword's serial number.

Several disciples closed the vault door again.

Before leaving, Li Sanshun took a breath beside the seventh rack.

[Residual aura of blood-patterned iron detected.]

[Time since item left vault: within three hours.]

[Two types of residual aura.]

[One of them was in contact with Fang Shao for over half an hour.]

The person who took the sword had met with Fang Shao.

Before Fang Shao entered the Cold Prison, someone had personally sewn the old sword fragments into his waistband and taken the Sealing Sword away.

This person was likely still within the Tai Xuan Sect at this moment.

On the west side of Law Enforcement Peak, in an abandoned medicine hut.

Bai Chongshan sat in the cellar, a shattered Blood Mirror placed before him.

Several fine cracks split the center of the verification disk, and the blood sample from the gifts the Bai family had sent to the Imperial City had already turned into black sludge.

Xu Zhenchuan stood by the table, holding the verification results sent back from the Imperial City.

"The No. 15 blood guide failed; the imperial treasury did not recognize this blood. The Gift Registry Department even withheld the delivery order we sent."

Bai Chongshan crushed the verification results.

"Where is Bai Cheng?"

"He went to the West Mountain Old Mine and hasn't returned. News from the Cold Prison has also been cut off."

"Something happened at the Ding-Character Furnace."

Xu Zhenchuan placed a black-covered registry on the table.

The registry had only fifteen pages.

Each page bore a name, followed by their residence, cultivation level, and the matters they had handled that year.

Chen Jiumu, Yuan Fu, and Luo Dashan were listed in the middle.

Zhao Chong was ranked seventh.

Gu Changyue and Gu Qinghe were also in the registry.

The first page bore the name Wei Tiesheng.

Bai Chongshan finished flipping through the registry.

"Activate the Sealing Registry. Within one night, all fifteen people must be silenced."

"Gu Changyue is at the Main Peak, and Gu Qinghe has entered the Quiet Room; we can't touch them tonight."

"Kill those we can first."

Bai Chongshan tore off the first page and threw it into the brazier.

"Wei Tiesheng repaired the Mystic-15 Sealing Sword and knows where the old imperial archives are hidden. Retrieve the archives first, then silence him."

Xu Zhenchuan picked up half a black iron token from the table.

"The Sealing Sword has already been sent over."

"Who is doing the deed?"

"The apprentice Wei Tiesheng taught."

The paper in the brazier burned to the end, and the three characters for Wei Tiesheng turned to ash.

Outside the armory, Li Sanshun and Zhao Rui rushed to the Archives Room.

The records for Mystic-grade weapons were too old; the ordinary weapon ledgers only kept the names. To check their purpose, one had to consult the Sealing Supplementary Record.

The manager in charge retrieved five thick volumes, flipping through them for a long time before finding Mystic-15.

The corresponding record had only two lines.

Used for sealing the Imperial Old Infant Case.

After the case closed, the sword returned to the B-Vault, sealed for twenty-five years.

Zhao Rui tapped the year.

"It's still four years from expiration. Why is Xu Zhenchuan stealing the sword now?"

"The Sealing Sword itself is a key."

The manager looked up at him.

"Who told you that?"

"A guess."

Li Sanshun pulled the old ledger toward him.

The imperial archives were protected by a blood array; ordinary array tokens could not enter. The weapons used during the sealing process retained array patterns, which could reopen the old vault without alerting the Main Peak.

Xu Zhenchuan's goal in stealing the sword was clear.

The original files of the Imperial Old Infant Case from twenty-one years ago.

Zhao Rui flipped to the next page, only to find half the paper had been torn away.

The tear was fresh, and ink dust still clung to the edge of the paper.

The manager searched through the desks and cabinets, sweating profusely.

"The supplementary record has always been locked here; only Du An and I have the keys."

Du An again.

The Authentic Transfer Order passed through his hands, and the Dharma Seal was traced by someone.

The armory entry and exit logs were also registered by him.

For Fang Shao to figure out the Cold Prison guard schedule, Du An must have played a part.

Zhao Rui turned to make an arrest, but two law enforcement disciples ran in from outside.

"Du An is gone. His duty room has been cleared out, and a tunnel leading to the mountain ravine was dug under his bed."

"Pursue!"

"There are bloodstains at the tunnel exit, along with one of Du An's outer robes. We can't determine which direction he went for now."

Li Sanshun picked up the wooden tag for Mystic-15.

Du An was merely the one responsible for opening the door. After the Sealing Sword left the vault, the truly dangerous one was Wei Tiesheng.

"Split into two groups. You go catch Du An; I'm going to East Mountain."

Zhao Rui led his men toward the ravine.

Li Sanshun summoned two fast horses, called upon the Zhen Yue Peak disciples sent by Xiong Baichuan, and took a shortcut down the mountain.

Wei Tiesheng lived in Blacksmith Alley at the foot of East Mountain.

When the group arrived, the courtyard gate was open.

The furnace fire had not yet died, and half a bowl of cold porridge sat beside the anvil. A few broken nails were scattered on the ground, and a new sword mark marred the wall.

Li Sanshun stepped on the embers by the furnace and found a few drops of blood at the back door.

The blood trail extended all the way to the alley entrance.

The Zhen Yue Peak disciple crouched down to examine it.

"The blood hasn't dried yet; he left less than half an hour ago."

Li Sanshun pushed open the inner room.

The room was in disarray, yet the wooden chest containing money had not been touched. Several carving knives were missing from the table, and a square space on the wall was empty.

Pinned to the corner of the wall was an old weapon rubbing.

The rubbing depicted the Mystic-15 Sealing Sword, with a string of small characters carved into the sword's spine.

Old Infant Case, Imperial Treasury Level 7, West Wall, 15th Compartment.

Zhao Rui's Message Talisman lit up at this moment.

"Du An has been found; he is dead at the tunnel exit. He was struck in the back by the Sealing Sword, and the aura of the imperial sealing array remains in the wound."

Li Sanshun put away the rubbing.

The killer used the Mystic-15 to kill Du An, then came to find Wei Tiesheng.

Retrieve the archives, kill those in the know, and use the corpses to block the investigation along the way.

The old bastard was planning to tie up all loose ends tonight.

The sound of hoofbeats came from outside the courtyard.

A Main Peak disciple vaulted off his horse and handed over an urgent order from Qi Shouxuan.

"The Imperial Sealing Vault was opened once just now. The vault-guarding array did not trigger an alarm; the person who entered carried the Sealing Sword from the old case."

Li Sanshun grabbed the rubbing and mounted his horse.

"To the Sealing Vault!"

Inside the Imperial Sealing Vault, Wei Tiesheng clutched the wound at his waist and retreated into the seventh-level corridor.

A man in gray robes carrying the Mystic-15 Sealing Sword walked in from behind the stone door.

The tip of the sword was still stained with Du An's blood.

Wei Tiesheng recognized the man.

"Did Xu Zhenchuan send you?"

The man in gray closed the stone door and flipped the black-covered registry to the first page.

"Master, the Sealing Registry has been opened, and the first name on it is you."