The Seven Missing Crossbows

But one glance told him the ground-floor lobby was very different today.

At this hour, the lobby was usually quiet, but people still came and went. Now the whole place was hushed. Several deacons in Spirit Hall uniforms stood guard at the entrance to the corridor in back, their expressions grave. Anyone passing through instinctively lowered their voice.

"What's going on...?"

Chu Heng blinked.

They couldn't have started investigating already, could they?

How long had it been?

Remembering the crossbow Su Xianling had taken earlier, Chu Heng perked up at once.

He walked to the front desk.

"Excuse me, has Sister Xianling come back?"

The receptionist naturally knew Chu Heng. Lately, whenever Su Xianling appeared, the little boy was always at her side.

"Lady Xianling is in the records room at the back."

The receptionist added,

"But right now..."

Before the sentence was finished, a familiar voice came from the corridor behind them.

"Let him through."

Chu Heng looked up. Su Xianling stood at the end of the corridor, beckoning to him. Compared with when she had left the academy, her expression was much more serious.

"Sister!"

Chu Heng hurried over.

"Did you find anything?"

"Come inside."

Su Xianling led Chu Heng into a room.

A long table stood in the middle, piled with ledgers and files. The crossbow she had brought back from the academy lay among them.

As soon as Chu Heng entered, he saw several Spirit Hall staff members who usually handled logistics standing off to one side, tense and grim-faced.

Su Xianling ignored them and flipped open a ledger.

"Take a look."

"Lady Xianling..."

Seeing that Su Xianling was about to show Chu Heng the records, one of the staff tried to object. A single look from her silenced him.

Chu Heng leaned in. The words were easy enough to understand, but the endless strings of numbers and dates made his head hurt.

"There's too much..."

"Just look at the serial number."

Su Xianling pointed to a line. Chu Heng followed her finger and saw a serial number that seemed... to match the one engraved on the bottom of the crossbow exactly!

But the entries after that number read...

[March 13: Mechanism Crossbow damaged beyond repair.]

[March 17: Designated for disposal.]

[March 20: Destruction completed.]

Chu Heng froze.

"It was destroyed?"

"Yes."

Su Xianling tapped the table lightly.

"According to these records, it was destroyed three months ago."

Chu Heng turned to the perfectly intact crossbow on the table. It was sitting right there in front of them.

"Then this..."

"Exactly. There's a serious problem behind this."

Su Xianling leaned against the table.

What it meant for a crossbow recorded as destroyed to turn up in a noble student's hands needed no explanation.

Someone had been falsifying the books, and had been doing it for some time.

"What about the academy?"

Chu Heng asked.

"We checked there too."

Su Xianling picked up another document from the table and handed it to Chu Heng.

"That student's father handles the purchase of some daily supplies for Nott Academy. For the past six months, the food, clothing, and other necessities allocated to the Work-Study Students haven't matched the quantities on the books."

Chu Heng frowned.

"So his father really did it?"

"He was involved."

Su Xianling answered.

"But he certainly wasn't alone. Someone responsible for receiving supplies at the academy and someone handling their transport and disposal at Spirit Hall were probably involved too."

Chu Heng understood. It was an embezzlement case.

"As for that crossbow,"

Su Xianling continued,

"It probably slipped out through the same channel. That student likely took it from home in secret. His father may not even know he brought it to the academy."

Chu Heng's mouth twitched.

That guy was unlucky. Was he getting his father in trouble, or was his father getting him in trouble?

"But..."

Su Xianling suddenly paused.

Chu Heng looked at her and saw hesitation in her expression.

"There's more?"

"Yes."

Su Xianling picked up the ledger.

"We just checked every weapon of this type recorded as scrapped over the past six months. Twenty-seven were registered as destroyed, but we can confirm that only nineteen were actually damaged and destroyed."

The room fell silent.

Chu Heng did the math.

"Then that means..."

"Besides the one in front of us, there are seven more."

Su Xianling spoke calmly.

"Their whereabouts are unknown."

That number gave him pause. One or two might have been taken on impulse while supplies were being stolen. But that many weapons would be hard to turn into money. What was the point of keeping them?

And who exactly was involved? What methods had they used? If they had not happened to find one at Nott Academy today, perhaps no one would ever have noticed when the weapons disappeared.

It seemed not everyone in Spirit Hall was like Su Xianling and Su Yuntao.

"Sister."

Chu Heng could not help asking,

"People in Spirit Hall do this sort of thing too?"

Su Xianling turned to look at him.

"Of course they do."

"..."

That was blunt.

Chu Heng had no words.

Su Xianling set down the ledger.

"People can be good or bad. You didn't think everyone in Spirit Hall was good, did you?"

Chu Heng thought for a moment.

"Not really."

"There you go."

Su Xianling's tone was calm.

"People want different things. Spirit Hall is enormous, and with so many people gathered together, you'll find every sort. Some join to cultivate, some for money, some to climb the ranks, and some genuinely want ordinary Soul Masters to have better lives."

She reached out and tapped Chu Heng on the head.

"So what kind of person does our Chu Heng want to be?"

Chu Heng rubbed his head.

"I want it all!"

Su Xianling blinked, then burst out laughing.

"Well, our little Chu Heng certainly has big ambitions. But if you want it all, you'll need great strength and a very kind heart. Can you manage that?"

Su Xianling looked at Chu Heng intently.

Chu Heng paused, taken aback, but Su Xianling had already turned back to the files on the table.

I really can't figure out what she's thinking.

"What about the other seven crossbows?"

"We investigate."

Su Xianling answered without hesitation.

"We follow the trail as far as it goes. I doubt anyone in Nott City dares challenge me. But this isn't something you need to worry about right now."

Uh...

Chu Heng obediently shut his mouth.

"Go on, off you go."

Su Xianling waved him away.

"Your friend's problem is settled, so get back to training. I'll handle things here."

All right.

Chu Heng could only ask questions about this matter; he could not really help. So he headed to the training ground Su Xianling had taken him to yesterday and resumed his training.