The Bloodstained Medal

Creak.

The stone slab door underground was pushed open from within, and a familiar head slowly emerged from the cellar.

"Phew, the cherry wine down there really is delicious. What a shame... this may be the last time I get to drink such fine cherry wine."

Qin Xiao staggered onto the ground, his face slightly flushed with drink. He still held a bottle of cherry wine, alcohol continually dripping from it.

Standing at the edge of the stone slab, Qin Xiao watched the cellar before him, already drenched in wine by his own hand, about to be destroyed.

Crack.

A thread of lightning flickered at Qin Xiao's fingertips.

"Let this secret be buried underground forever."

"Stop!"

Bang!

Before Qin Xiao could even turn around, someone struck the back of his head with a heavy blow!

With a thud, the drunken Qin Xiao collapsed to the ground, foam occasionally spilling from his mouth.

Meng Xuanji stood behind Qin Xiao, holding a broken wooden club. He had used too much force, snapping the solid wooden stick he had found.

"He shouldn't be dead, right?" Hu Liena walked over and asked.

"Probably not. Look, he's still breathing. Let's go. We need to find what we're looking for before the others return."

Without another word, Meng Xuanji led Hu Liena into the cellar, thick with the smell of wine.

Inside the cellar, shattered wine jars and spilled liquor covered the floor. Everything was a complete mess. Even the oil lamps hanging on the walls seemed dim, while only the electric lamp above their heads shone with flickering brightness.

"Why did he smash all the wine here? Was he about to burn this place down?" Hu Liena asked.

"Most likely."

"But why? Did the owner of the Cherry Tavern offend him?"

"Heh, perhaps. Search the left side for me; I'll search the right. Pay special attention to high places and dark corners. If Qin Xiao didn't find it, then those things should be hidden somewhere difficult to spot."

"Wait. What exactly are you looking for? Can you be more specific?"

"Evidence," Meng Xuanji said flatly. "I have reason to suspect that humans assisted the soul beasts behind the invasion, and that person is very likely the mayor of Heavenly Spring Town."

"What? No, how is that possible? He's the mayor! What would he gain by destroying the village?"

"You don't understand. Let me ask you this: what if the mayor used the soul beasts to eliminate his enemies in the village, then used the external threat to force the villagers into binding themselves tightly to him? What do you think he would become here?"

"A god—a god greater even than the Pope. From then on, this town would become his personal domain. As long as the soul beasts remained, his position would never waver. Even if people from above questioned him, he could cover it up with the villagers' help. That's called raising a tiger."

"That's also why I didn't recommend going to Spirit Hall. Do you really think Spirit Hall wouldn't have sent extermination squads after a beast disaster had lasted an entire month? It isn't that they can't kill them—it's that they can't catch them. As long as someone tipped off the wolf beasts, Spirit Hall would have a hard time catching them."

After hearing Meng Xuanji's explanation, the fog in Hu Liena's heart gradually cleared.

"Oh! I get it! So you think the owner of the Cherry Tavern had evidence that the mayor was colluding with soul beasts, and the mayor had him killed through the soul beasts!"

"That's right." Meng Xuanji nodded. "Young miss, you really do understand me." He winked at Hu Liena.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's find it quickly! We'll be finished if the mayor gets back." Hu Liena now regarded the mayor as an enemy. If the truth was really as Meng Xuanji said, Qin Potian's actions absolutely warranted execution.

A soul master colluding with soul beasts to harm villagers and prey upon the local people was already an intolerable atrocity in the soul master world. It had long crossed the red line set by Spirit Hall.

Such people generally had another name.

Human traitors.

Meng Xuanji and Hu Liena split up to search. They paced back and forth through the cluttered cellar, from the wooden compartments at the very bottom to the highest beams, from the wooden crates in the farthest corners to the most conspicuous shelves. Yet even after searching everywhere, they found nothing they needed.

"Strange. Where could it be? It shouldn't be like this. Qin Xiao wanted to set fire to this place, doesn't that prove he didn't find the crucial evidence? He must be one of the mayor's men. If he did this, it definitely means the evidence is still hidden in the cellar."

In Meng Xuanji's eyes, Qin Xiao's appearance was absolutely no coincidence. Clearly, he had been sent by the mayor, intending to use the forest fire as a cover to dispose of the evidence held by the Cherry Tavern's owner.

After reasoning it through layer by layer, Meng Xuanji became increasingly certain that Qin Xiao had not found what they were looking for—and that it was most likely hidden in this cellar.

But where exactly was it hidden?

Time ticked away second by second, and Meng Xuanji grew increasingly anxious.

"Ice Soul Ghost Shadow, have you found anything yet?"

"I've searched everywhere. There's no hidden door or anything like that you mentioned. This really is all there is here. Oh, right—there's one thing you haven't noticed. I only found it just now."

"Don't you think the light above your head is swaying a little?"

"The light?"

Meng Xuanji looked up. The blinding glare made it difficult for him to keep his eyes open, instinctively making him want to look away.

In this dim cellar, probably no one would want to endure that physical discomfort and stare directly into the light.

Yet the most valuable thing had been placed in the spot most easily overlooked.

"That's... a medal?"

Meng Xuanji spotted a small metal medal, with one corner exposed atop the hanging lamp.

If Ice Soul Ghost Shadow had not pointed it out, who would notice such a tiny thing through that blinding light?

Meng Xuanji had the Blue Silver Emperor retrieve the medal, then carefully examined it in his hand.

A hunting rifle was imprinted on the surface of the medal, with the words "Security Squad" engraved beneath it. At the same time, large patches of dried bloodstains remained on its surface, too deeply caked on to be wiped clean by hand.

"Looks like the owner of this medal was a member of the Security Squad, and he must have died horribly."

Meng Xuanji wanted to find more clues on the medal, but as far as he could tell, it was nothing more than an utterly ordinary medal.

"Could this be the true reason the tavern owner was killed? But what use is this medal?" Meng Xuanji felt that the medal concealed evidence identifying the culprit, but unfortunately, he had too little information. Even with the medal in hand, he could not guess what it represented.

"Maybe Old Wu will know. Why not take it to him and let him have a look?" Meng Xuanji clenched the medal in his hand and turned toward Hu Liena.

"Let's go, Hu Liena. I found what we needed." Meng Xuanji headed for the stairs leading to the surface, but suddenly stopped.

Hu Liena walked up behind him in confusion.

"What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

"Because you aren't going anywhere."

Qin Potian's imposing voice came from above the stairs.

"Men, seize these two brats who intended to destroy the Cherry Tavern and throw them into the dungeon. I now have reason to suspect that you were also responsible for the forest fire. That adds another crime to your charges."

"Until I have investigated your motives, you will obediently remain in the dungeon. Take them away!"

Qin Xiao hid behind Qin Potian, a smug and lecherous grin on his face.

It was clear that he had already told Qin Potian everything that had happened here. And Qin Potian's move to capture them further confirmed Meng Xuanji's deepest suspicions.

Qin Potian definitely had something to hide.