All four mountain paths leading to the Judgment Platform were blocked by enforcement disciples.
Hundreds of people stood below the platform, half of them from the Law Enforcement Hall. Sixteen Old Dark Patrol Guards held the formation pillars, their blades already drawn.
Gu Changyue stood on the platform, with his sword and token laid at his feet.
Xu Zhenchuan finally showed himself.
He wore the robes of a deputy hall master and held up an Imperial Treason Order.
"Gu Changyue secretly released Imperial Blood Fifteen, colluded with the imperial clan's old faction, and stole the Scroll-Sealing Sword from the Armory. Gu Qinghe broke the seal on the Quiet Room and helped Li Sanshun move the records from the Old Infant Case."
"The Gu father and daughter joined forces with the remnants. The evidence is conclusive!"
No one below the platform responded.
Many enforcement disciples had served under Gu Changyue for over a decade. They were willing to obey orders and block the roads, but they weren't willing to slap the crime of betraying the sect onto their former hall master.
Xu Zhenchuan pressed the Imperial Treason Order onto the desk.
"Take them!"
Sixteen Dark Patrol Guards strode up the steps.
Gu Changyue raised his right hand.
"For the Law Enforcement Hall to hold a trial, there must be an elder from a main peak as witness. The seal on the order must be verified, and the three interrogations must be conducted."
"Xu Zhenchuan, which of those three rules have you followed?"
Xu Zhenchuan tapped the Imperial Treason Order.
"The imperial clan's Kin-Seeking Seal is right here. The Old Infant Case involves imperial blood. There's no need to wait for the sect's three interrogations."
"Who gave you that authority?"
"Elder Bai."
"He's surnamed Bai, not Ji."
Xu Zhenchuan swept his hand through the air.
The Dark Patrol Guards advanced, blades raised.
"Gu Changyue is resisting arrest. Cripple his cultivation first!"
"Who dares!"
Gu Qinghe charged onto the Judgment Platform with Li Sanshun.
Zhao Rui followed behind, carrying the Iron Casket they'd snatched back from the archives. Xiong Baichuan held a Copper Hammer, with more than twenty disciples from Zhen Yue Peak behind him.
The enforcement disciples at the four entrances tried to stop them, then stepped aside and let them pass.
Xu Zhenchuan fixed his gaze on the Iron Casket.
"The archives caught fire, and you moved sealed records without authorization. Gu Qinghe, how do you intend to answer for this crime?"
Gu Qinghe walked onto the platform and pulled the remnants of the Sealing Chain from her wrist.
"The real records didn't burn. Disappointed?"
Zhao Rui opened the Iron Casket.
The imperial clan's Old Infant Case, the West Mountain Mining Ledger, and Gu Changyue's Furnace-Sealing Order were all there, not a single document missing.
Each file bore a seal from Qi Shouxuan.
Xu Zhenchuan pointed at the Iron Casket.
"Who can prove those are the real records?"
Li Sanshun took out four route orders and tossed them beside the Imperial Treason Order.
"The men you sent to burn the archives can."
The corners of the four papers fit together, revealing half a Black Mountain Crest in full.
A commotion broke out below the platform.
Several disciples who'd helped put out the fire recognized the route orders.
"This is the one they found on Wang Lin."
"He stole the West Mountain Mining Ledger."
"Each of the other three grabbed a different file. They even found the right places."
Xu Zhenchuan planted his foot on the route orders.
"A few traitors broke into the archives with fake orders. How does that prove anything against me?"
"Fine. Paper can be faked, but people can't."
Li Sanshun took an Image-Recording Bead from the Iron Casket and placed it in the formation slot on the Judgment Platform.
He poured spiritual energy into it.
A mine shaft beneath the Ding-Character Furnace appeared in midair.
Luo Dashan, dragging an injured leg, pointed to the private seal on the Earth-Fire Control Token.
Yuan Fu named the date, six years earlier, when the Blood-Vein Black Iron had been transported.
Chen Jiumu raised half a copper plaque bearing the character "Zhen" and identified Xu Zhenchuan on the spot.
The recording continued.
Xu Zhenchuan forced the miners to forge fifteen imitation tokens.
He trapped people with the Fire Contract.
He stole Gu Changyue's old seal.
The quantities, dates, and names in the mining ledger all matched.
The last item to appear was the fifteenth blank.
The front was engraved with "No. 15" from the imperial clan's Old Infant Case.
Two characters were on the back.
Shuntian.
Every one of the hundreds of enforcement disciples saw it clearly.
Xu Zhenchuan drew his blade and slashed at the formation slot.
Gu Changyue picked up his sword and blocked the strike.
"The evidence isn't all out yet. What's the rush?"
They both stepped back.
By now, some enforcement disciples below the platform had lowered their weapons.
The first.
Then the second.
Soon, more than twenty weapons had hit the ground.
The officer blocking the northern road pulled off his Array Tablet.
"Hall Master Gu saved my life years ago. Until the evidence has been investigated, I won't arrest him."
Another squad withdrew from its position.
Xu Zhenchuan turned and pointed at the crowd.
"Disobeying orders in the face of the enemy is treason against the sect!"
"Xu Zhenchuan, where did your orders come from?"
Gu Changyue opened the last page of the West Mountain Mining Ledger.
Two seals were on the paper.
One belonged to Gu Changyue, ordering the furnace sealed and a covert investigation.
The other belonged to Xu Zhenchuan, ordering the Earth Fire reopened and fifty-eight jin of Blood-Vein Black Iron moved.
The two orders were three days apart.
Gu Changyue sealed the furnace.
Xu Zhenchuan reopened it.
"This private seal has been in use for over twenty years. At least thirty people in the Law Enforcement Hall recognize it."
Gu Changyue raised the ledger.
"You're going to say this is fake, too?"
Another group below the platform lowered their weapons.
Of the hundreds of enforcement disciples who'd initially surrounded the Judgment Platform, barely thirty still held their blades.
Most had the Black Mountain Seal embroidered on their sleeves.
Gu Changyue picked up the hall master's token.
"Disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall, hear my command."
"Lay down your weapons and leave the Judgment Platform. Take the Old Dark Patrol Guards into custody for questioning. Strip the authority of anyone who disobeys!"
"Understood!"
Dozens of enforcement disciples turned and charged at the Dark Patrol Guards.
The formation at the front collapsed.
The sixteen Dark Patrol Guards backed up against the formation pillars and tried to set up a formation. Disciples from Zhen Yue Peak pressed in from both sides, bringing chains and Copper Hammers crashing down.
Three fell on the spot.
The rest were quickly surrounded by their fellow enforcement disciples.
Only six loyalists remained beside Xu Zhenchuan.
Xiong Baichuan strode onto the platform, hammer in hand.
"Xu, still planning to take over the sect?"
Xu Zhenchuan didn't retreat.
He took out a Black Iron token and thrust it into the base of the Judgment Platform.
Li Sanshun caught the rusty tang of Blood-Vein Black Iron.
[Imitation sealing order detected.] [Number: Nine.] [Opening the Judgment Platform's punishment formation.]
"Get down!"
The No. 9 Imitation Token slid into the formation slot, and the interrogation Fire Pillars below the platform rose at the same time. The six loyalists threw out Fire Talismans, sealing off Gu Changyue and Xiong Baichuan.
Xu Zhenchuan lunged straight at Zhao Rui.
His target was the Iron Casket holding the evidence!
Li Sanshun stomped on the flagstones. A Stone Wall rose in front of the Iron Casket. Xu Zhenchuan punched through it and grabbed the edge of the casket with all five fingers.
Zhao Rui clung to the other side and wouldn't let go.
The Iron Casket split apart on the spot.
The files scattered toward the Fire Pillars.
Gu Qinghe flung out the Sealing Chain and wrapped it around the Old Infant Case. Li Sanshun drew in the water pooled below the platform and shielded the West Mountain Mining Ledger.
Gu Changyue grabbed the Furnace-Sealing Order.
Xu Zhenchuan managed to seize only a blank copy.
"Deputy Hall Master Xu, wrong one!"
Li Sanshun brought his foot down.
The Judgment Platform cracked down the middle, and the No. 9 Imitation Token sprang out of the stone fissure. The punishment formation broke in two places, and the Fire Pillars sank lower.
Xiong Baichuan swept his hammer across.
Xu Zhenchuan threw the blank book in its path and used the impact to crash through the southern formation pillar. He'd already prepared an escape route behind it. A flagstone flipped up, revealing a Law Enforcement tunnel beneath.
Gu Qinghe chased him to the entrance. Several fire bombs flew out of the tunnel.
Li Sanshun raised a Stone Wall, and all the fire bombs slammed into it.
By the time everyone cleared away the rubble, only a deputy hall master's robe remained in the tunnel.
Xu Zhenchuan had escaped.
Zhao Rui found half of a transfer order in the lining of the robe.
It bore the imperial clan's Kin-Seeking Seal, with just four characters written on it.
Seal Guest-Welcoming Peak.
Another fast horse galloped up from beyond the mountain path.
Its rider wore the uniform of the Imperial Envoy Group and had two arrows in his back. He fell from his horse and grabbed Li Sanshun's robe hem.
"Bai Chongshan took the Fourth Imperial Grandson's Kin-Seeking Seal. Guest-Welcoming Peak has already been sealed off!"
"His Highness asked me to beg you for one thing."
"Li Sanshun, save me!"
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