A decision made in an instant

Within the pure-white space of his consciousness, Jiang Che pondered.

Here, in the seventy-ninth year of Yongzhen, one person had maintained the formation while six others looked ready to step into it...

A bold thought rose in his mind: Was that a teleportation formation?

On the night of the theft, the inner courtyard had been tightly guarded, its doors and windows locked, with outer disciples keeping watch outside all night. How had the thief slipped in without a sound, then slipped away just as silently?

If it had been a teleportation formation, everything made sense.

The more Jiang Che thought about it, the more likely his guess seemed. But just then, the surrounding space began to tremble faintly. An invisible repelling force surged in from every direction, gentle yet impossible to resist.

He understood. He was being sent back to reality.

He did not struggle, allowing that force to envelop him.

"...Get out, all of you!"

Steward Du's furious roar still echoed in his ears, its final note yet to fade.

Jiang Che was still sprawled on the ground, his fingers having just touched that floor tile. But there was no longer any blue glow upon it.

Everything was exactly as it had been before he touched the tile. Not a moment had passed.

Even setting aside what had happened in the pure-white space, his brief experience within the time fragment had lasted at least long enough for two sentences.

Yet in the real world, not even the blink of an eye had passed.

At the same time, he could sense that he seemed able to return to that pure-white space whenever he wished. It lay within his consciousness; he needed only to sink into it.

For now, Jiang Che did not rush to enter again. Instead, he rose with the others and left the inner courtyard.

"Stop!"

Once they were outside, the man at their head turned around, his dark face showing no sign of a good mood.

He was Jiang Weichuan, a nominal disciple of the Azure Mystic Sect and Jiang Che's clan uncle.

Both came from the prominent local Jiang clan, but there were differences between them.

Though Jiang Weichuan belonged to a collateral branch, he was an acknowledged member of the Jiang clan.

Jiang Che's relationship was so distant that he did not even fall within its generational naming order, much less appear in the clan genealogy.

It was only because Jiang Weichuan's father had shared some old ties with Jiang Che's grandfather, and because Jiang Che was quick-witted, sensible, and sturdy and strong from childhood, that he had been brought in as an unranked disciple awaiting registration.

After stopping everyone, Jiang Weichuan swept his gaze over those who habitually shirked their duties, then said in a low voice, "You all heard what Steward Du said just now. Those weren't merely a few angry words from a superior. People really will die!"

No one spoke, but everyone knew they were in deep trouble.

"I know you're tired." Jiang Weichuan's tone softened a little. "You haven't slept for two days. And it's not just you. I, Jiang Weichuan, am no different. But a little exhaustion now will keep us all alive. Besides, if we recover what was stolen, everyone will receive a generous reward! No one rests tonight. Keep investigating. Turn the ground of the three surrounding wards upside down again, and go inside every house. Do you hear me?"

"Yes!"

The menial servants answered. Their spirits were hardly high, but none dared take this lightly.

Jiang Che was among them.

This case truly was a great calamity.

Never mind the reward. He did not want to lose his life.

The stolen goods had to be recovered. Even if they could not be found, obtaining a crucial clue would at least leave some room to salvage the situation once people from the sect actually arrived.

His earlier guess surfaced once more.

Could it really have been a teleportation formation, or something similar?

But he had no way to explain this, much less prove it.

If he died in the time fragment, he could start over. In the real world, he could not.

He needed to be more certain.

Jiang Che would definitely enter that time fragment again and find a way to obtain more information.

But he could not act blindly.

The last time he entered, he had been killed as soon as he spoke, without even learning who those seven people were.

He needed more information, so he could compare the two sources and unravel this lead.

A thought suddenly surfaced in Jiang Che's mind: The County Gazetteer.

The County Gazetteer was a specialized record of the area's history, geography, customs, notable figures, and more, kept in the County Office's archives. Ordinary people naturally could not touch it, but he at least wore the Azure Mystic Sect's mantle. With a suitable pretext, gaining access might not be impossible.

Forty years ago, Willow Source's local clans had rallied to support the Sky Pillar Sect, only to be besieged themselves and have their city fall. Such major events were certain to be recorded in the County Gazetteer. As for that formation and those seven people, there might not be any record of them, but it was at least a lead.

At that thought, he felt a little frustrated. The situation he had faced had been too urgent for him to come up with a suitable explanation.

But in truth, even with time, he could not think of a single sentence that would have kept him alive.

Whatever those seven people had been doing, they had clearly reached the point where flames were licking at their eyebrows. When a stranger like him materialized out of nothing, they would certainly rather kill an innocent man than let a suspect escape.

Without more information and a better answer, he would still be stumbling blind the next time he entered the time fragment, and would still die after a single sentence.

At the same time, he also coveted that "rating" in the space within his consciousness.

No rating meant his performance within the time fragment had been utterly without merit. But if he earned a high rating, might the reward have something to do with cultivation?

Once he cultivated real strength, he would no longer have to kneel on the ground waiting to be told to "get out," with even his life dependent on someone else's mood.

At that thought, Jiang Che strode forward and quietly called out to Jiang Weichuan.

"Uncle Weichuan, I have an idea."

Jiang Weichuan glanced back at him. Jiang Che had been clever since childhood and willing to put thought into his work. Over these past few months under his command, the boy had proved more dependable than those slippery old hands.

"Let's hear it."

"We've turned Willow Source upside down these past few days and searched both inside and outside the city, yet we haven't found a single clue. I was thinking: since the thief took the goods from the inner courtyard without alerting any guards, even if they'd flown in out of thin air, they couldn't have escaped Steward Du's notice. Could there be a secret passage, a space between the walls, or a hidden chamber we haven't discovered?"

"Someone already thought of that. The branch headquarters has been searched from top to bottom. What secret passage could there be?"

"Then it must be very well hidden." Jiang Che lowered his voice. "Think about it, Uncle Weichuan. The buildings at the headquarters and that enormous courtyard have stood for years. Who knows how many times they've been renovated? Rather than blindly banging our heads against walls, why not try another approach? I'd like to visit the archives and consult the County Gazetteer to see whether any records were left behind."

Jiang Weichuan stared at him for a moment. The boy's eyes were clear as he spoke; he did not seem to be spouting nonsense. Besides, he had a point. Right now, they really were flies without heads, and losing one pair of hands would make little difference. If he found something, it would be a welcome surprise.

"All right." Jiang Weichuan nodded. "I'll write you a note. Go to the County Office and find Clerk Hong. Tell him you need to consult the County Gazetteer for the investigation. He'll grant me that favor."

Joy stirred in Jiang Che's heart, but he did not let it show. He lowered his head and thanked him.

The County Office stood on the western side of the county seat. It was the Great Wu Dynasty's governing institution in Willow Source, though the Azure Mystic Sect was actually the one calling the shots here.

Jiang Che stood in the County Office's archive, holding the County Gazetteer's records from around the seventy-ninth year of Yongzhen.

"Yongzhen" was an era name of the Wu Kingdom. It was now the twenty-eighth year of Xianxi, forty years after the seventy-ninth year of Yongzhen.

He turned the pages rapidly, his eyes searching the paper for words related to the Liu Clan, the siege, and the ravages of war.

He soon found the records of Willow Source's Liu Clan.