The stolen magic is a bit magical

"This isn't a matter of time. With Brother Su's talent, capturing the Holy Maiden of Tiandu should be a piece of cake. Why did this woman escape your clutches?" Gu Suixin's eyes darted around: "I think I understand now!"

"Understand what?"

"The problem probably stems from inaccurate communication!" Gu Suixin said. "She doesn't know your physical body can be amplified, and she thinks you're incapable of accomplishing that, so agreeing is pointless. Therefore, Brother Su, in the next few days, you need to clearly convey this signal to her, letting her know that you can do it. People are like that; no one will truly commit to something without hope. You need to give her hope..."

Lin Xiaosu covered her forehead with her hand, and a voice echoed back: "If one day I find out that you played this prank on me, I will definitely teach you a lesson!"

“You…” Gu Suixin sighed, “I asked you to pick up girls, and you actually think it’s a prank? Please, give me a chance, give me ten of these pranks! Not only will I have no complaints, but I’ll also invite you to the Immortal Music Hall to listen to music.”

Lin Xiaosu was speechless. Picking up girls!
You think I don't like chasing girls?
But, to pick up a girl like that... is shocking in itself, okay?

Suddenly, the sky trembled slightly, and a golden bridge, like a rainbow after the rain, stretched across the sky.

There are three people on the golden bridge.

Lin Xiaosu knew two of the three people.

They were Song Lifu, the Minister of Justice, his captain of the guard, and another person, a middle-aged man in the robes of a fourth-rank official, who should be a mid-level official such as the Chief Clerk of the Ministry of Justice.

Song Lifu fell from the sky, landing directly on the flagship where Lin Xiaosu was.

Lin Xiaosu rose from her seat and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Lord Song!"

"Lord Su!" Song Lifu returned the greeting: "I came from the capital overnight because of a sudden incident. Last night, some experts broke into the prison in Ningcheng and kidnapped 127 people."

On the flagship, all the guards' expressions changed.

Those 127 people, they knew very well, were people they had personally pulled out of the Heart Pavilion.

When it was handed over to Prefect Song Yuncang, very strict handover procedures were followed.

That happened yesterday, exactly one day and one night ago.

These 120-plus people were all elders of the Heart Pavilion. If they were in Ningcheng, they would be considered serious criminals. How could they have been kidnapped in such a short time?

While the practitioners in the Jiangnan region may be wicked, it is rare to find someone so wicked as to dare to directly break into the prefect's prison and kidnap people.

Only one person felt their heart race.

He is Zhang Tao.

He once analyzed the situation of these 127 people with Lin Xiaosu.

Lin Xiaosu told him that these more than one hundred people were a trap he had set for Song Yuncang.

He didn't explicitly say what kind of pit it was, but Zhang Tao wasn't stupid, and he naturally understood that if the Ministry of Justice interrogated these hundred-odd people, they would definitely give some confessions that were detrimental to Song Yuncang.

His Majesty himself wanted to set an example and take down some representative figures in the officialdom during the Crown Prince's era in order to rectify the court's atmosphere. If Song Yuncang were to be bitten by these hundred-plus people, he would suffer a severe injury, if not a bruise.

So, although Song Yuncang may seem to have achieved a great success by getting more than a hundred people out of Lin Xiaosu's hands, in reality, those people he got out of his hands will become a hot potato that puts him in a difficult position.

But now, before the Ministry of Justice arrives, the prison has been raided.

All of these more than one hundred people were rescued.

With the man gone, the Ministry of Justice was unable to interrogate him, thus saving Song Yuncang's life.

If this was Lin Xiaosu's strategy, then this prison break completely and thoroughly thwarted it.

If Song Yuncang really gave these 127 people to Xinmen, then he would have done a great service for Xinmen.

This must not be a prison break; this must be Song Yuncang's embezzlement.

This was a judgment made in an instant by the captain of the personal guard, who came from an intelligence background.

Lin Xiaosu slowly raised his gaze, his face calm and composed, even with a faint smile: "Lord Song, you have come from afar, you must be tired from your journey. Please sit down and have a cup of tea!"

Song Lifu took a deep breath: "Lord Su, this is a matter of great importance, how can you still be in the mood for tea?"

Lin Xiaosu smiled: "If what I said was within my expectations, would you still be willing to have a drink with me, sir?"

The entire ship was shocked.

Song Lifu's gaze slowly shifted to the coffee table, and he stepped forward to stand in front of it.

He steadied the teapot and poured a cup for Song Lifu.

“Lord Su, please speak frankly!” Song Lifu said.

As soon as he finished speaking, golden light shone around the coffee table like a curtain.

He and Lin Xiaosu suddenly seemed to have been banished from everyone's sight.

This is also a form of sound insulation.

Official seals can also provide sound insulation.

"Then I will speak frankly!" Lin Xiaosu picked up his teacup and took a sip. "What Xin Ge is, Your Excellency knows, His Majesty knows, and I naturally know as well. Yesterday, when my troops surrounded Xin Ge in Huzhou, it was a test for Prefect Song Yuncang. As long as he has any connection with Xin Ge or Xin Men, he will surely stand up and stop me."

Song Lifu's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't say anything.

Lin Xiaosu said, "He did indeed stand up and stop me from taking drastic measures against Xin Pavilion. If I had intended to exterminate Xin Pavilion, he wouldn't have been able to stop me. However, I did him a favor by giving him 127 elders. These 127 elders are still a test for him, to test whether his connection with Xin Pavilion has reached a point where it cannot be revealed."

A glint flashed in Song Lifu's eyes, indicating a thoughtful expression, but he remained silent.

Lin Xiaosu said, "If he is merely providing protection for Xin Ge and has no deep relationship with Xin Men, he can calmly face the Ministry of Justice's investigation. However, if what he has done is truly taboo, he will definitely not dare to hand over these hundred people to you! He will definitely take risks to deal with them!"

“Taking a risky approach…” Song Lifu sighed softly: “You mean, he might even kill these hundred-odd people to silence them!”

Lin Xiaosu laughed: "If he didn't have the Heart Gate's backing, he really would have taken this step. But with the Heart Gate around, he doesn't dare! Because he knows that the Heart Gate can uncover any secret. Song Yuncang dared to personally kill more than a hundred Heart Pavilion elders, so the Heart Gate naturally has ways to make him suffer worse than death."

"Then... the only way is to create the conditions for the Heart Sect to send out experts to raid the prison at night!"

“That’s right!” Lin Xiaosu said, “The Heart Sect sent out experts to break into the prison at night. At most, Song Yuncang is only guilty of dereliction of duty as a guard. He can calmly submit a letter of apology to His Majesty, and His Majesty can at most punish him with half a year’s salary.”

Song Lifu let out a long sigh: "Therefore, Lord Su believes that there is no need for me to meet with the Prefect, because this meeting would only serve to deliver a letter of apology on his behalf to His Majesty in exchange for a paltry punishment from the court?"

“Of course not!” Lin Xiaosu said, “Song Yuncang took this step thinking he could advance or retreat at will, but he overlooked one thing.”

"what?"

"This humble official is capable of investigating cases!"

Song Lifu's eyes lit up!
He immediately thought of the Wenhua Pavilion data clearing case from that day...

What a baffling case that was!

He investigated everything clearly in less than 15 minutes. Even the secret techniques of a Daoist master could not escape his keen eyes. What ability did Song Yuncang have to make it so flawless?
"Lord Song, I've invited you to sit down and have this cup of tea because I wish to reach an agreement with you beforehand!"

Song Lifu asked, "What kind of consensus does Lord Su wish to reach?"

"This prefect is a powerful regional official in Jiangnan. For a long time, he has acted as a protective umbrella for various sects, forming an ironclad community of interests. This situation is not unique to Huzhou; it exists to varying degrees in the remaining twelve prefectures of Jiangnan!" Lin Xiaosu said. "Faced with the stalemate of collusion between the government and the sects, we need a breakthrough to intimidate the Jiangnan officialdom and send a strong and clear message: any official who dares to oppose His Majesty's great cause in Jiangnan, even if you are a second-rank prefect or a powerful regional official, can be... taken down!"

Song Lifu's eyes were extremely serious: "This matter is of utmost importance. The deposition and installation of a second-rank official is related to the stability of the court. If we want to take action against him, we need irrefutable evidence."

"The evidence, I will hand it over to you, sir! All you need to do, sir, is..."

Lin Xiaosu's words sent a chill down Song Lifu's spine.

Only now did he truly understand how shrewd and experienced this young man was.

Song Lifu slowly stood up: "Lord Su, your journey in Jiangnan has been quite spectacular. It seems I can only join in your madness. Now, please!"

"Please, Lord Song!"

Silently, the flagship moved sideways.

The warship flew directly over Ningcheng.

The enormous warship cast a huge shadow over the morning sky, making Ningcheng, which was already shrouded in dark clouds, even more oppressive.

Although there was only one flagship and it was not in battle formation, this flagship, which was the Zhen-level battle team of the Zhentian Pavilion that had wiped out four major forces, carried a strong deterrent force.

Lin Xiaosu and Song Lifu plummeted from the sky and landed outside the prefectural government office.

Behind them, more than ten people fell down at the same time.

The tallest of them all is Kuanglang, and the most alluring is Fufu. Although Fufu is still dressed as a page in blue robes, as "Lord Su's" power on the battlefield grows stronger, she has lowered her standards for herself. Now, many people can see that this page is actually a woman.

She didn't particularly care.

She's getting too big for her britches. His Majesty is counting on my Su brother to help him make money. What would happen to him for violating a not-so-serious so-called "military rule"—bringing female relatives into the military camp?
The gates of the prefectural government were wide open.

Prefect Song Yuncang led officials of the prefectural rank of fifth grade and above to greet them.

"Greetings, Lord Song!" Everyone bowed deeply before Song Lifu, the Minister of Justice, and paid their respects with great ceremony.

Song Lifu said, "I just received an urgent report from the prefect of Huzhou, saying that more than one hundred people awaiting trial were all abducted by bandits last night?"

His face was extremely gloomy.

The voice was also extremely heavy.

"Yes!" Song Yuncang's face twisted slightly. "Lord Song, the thugs who came were extremely skilled and ruthless. The prefectural prison was guarded by an entire defense force of over 370 men, but the intruders swept through like autumn leaves, killing more than 200 people in a short time. By the time I arrived at the scene, they had already completed the prison break and escaped. I will not shirk my responsibility for my negligence and dereliction of duty. I will thoroughly examine myself later and submit a letter of apology to His Majesty."

"Your Excellency!" The provincial governor Qiu Ji hurriedly bowed and said, "Civil affairs are my responsibility. If I have failed in my duty, all the blame lies with me. How can you expect me to take the blame?"

Another provincial inspector stepped forward: "The matter of the prison is both a civil and a criminal matter. If there is any negligence in the criminal matter, the primary responsibility lies with me. Just as Lord Qiu said, my dereliction of duty cannot be excused by my superiors. I will submit a written apology to the prefect later..."

A prefect, a provincial governor, and a provincial judicial commissioner all stepped forward to admit their guilt. In that instant, the three chief officials of the Huzhou prefectural government appeared exceptionally selfless.

Song Lifu's face darkened; Su Lin had actually guessed it correctly.

This group was just thinking about this. Since the incident had already happened, they decided to lower their stance and accept punishment. The "Great Wilderness Law" clearly states that when bandits break into prison, the official in charge is simply guilty of dereliction of duty. According to past practice, they would either be reprimanded or fined for half a year.

Lin Xiaosu took half a step forward: "Gentlemen, are you only thinking about taking responsibility? Aren't you thinking about how to bring back the kidnapped prisoners?"

"Your Excellency is wise!" Song Yuncang said, "It's not that the prefect of Huzhou doesn't want to bring back the kidnapped prisoner, but rather that this person's methods are beyond comprehension and cannot be tracked down by human power."

"Oh?" Lin Xiaosu frowned.

Song Yuncang said, "When the accident happened last night, the warden immediately recorded the whole process with his official seal. The warden unfortunately died in battle, but his official seal was preserved. Lord Song, Chief Inspector, why don't you take a look for yourselves!"

A man behind him stepped forward and held up a seventh-rank official seal, which was the seal of the prison warden.

As soon as the official seal was projected, the sky instantly returned to the prison of the previous night.

The attack was already underway when the official seal was activated.

Amidst the turbulent currents, countless soldiers were reduced to a mist of blood...

Song Lifu's eyes widened in shock. Good heavens, what kind of technique was this? It wasn't a conventional attack, but a turbulent current, within which a figure appeared and disappeared, seemingly there yet not there.

No matter who gets close, they are all directly swept into the turbulent current and killed without a trace.

It was like a tornado, ignoring all attacks and methods. The figure inside moved as if it were in an empty place, directly bypassing all the guards on the outside and arriving in front of the prison where more than a hundred elders were being held. Facing the steel bars, the person gently raised his hand, and a portal appeared in the void.

More than one hundred people entered the portal at the same time.

The man turned around and stepped through the doorway, disappearing without a trace.

Then, the portal vanished into thin air, as if it had never existed at all.

Zhang Tao exclaimed softly, "The Laws of Space!"

“Skylight!” Gu Suixin added, “A top expert in the Time-Space Dao!”

Song Lifu's expression completely changed.

Although he was not a cultivator, he was the Minister of Justice, and his knowledge of cultivation methods was arguably even greater than that of cultivators themselves.

A turbulent current, where people die upon entering, and blades shatter upon entering—this is spatial turbulence!

Within a heavily guarded prison, a portal opened in the void, allowing hundreds of people to be taken away without leaving a trace outside—this is called opening a skylight! What is opening a skylight? It is the great supernatural power of tearing space apart out of thin air!
Even among the Six Paths, the Path of Time and Space is the most powerful, and this is a top-tier technique.

How could this be?
He was convinced that Song Yuncang was orchestrating the prison break in cooperation with Xinmen, which was why he and Lin Xiaosu were investigating the case together.

The results completely overturned their understanding.

The method of breaking out of prison is a top-level supernatural power in the realm of time and space.

The Time-Space Path has gotten involved; it's terrifying.

Moreover, once the ultimate techniques of the Time-Space Path are employed, no matter how skilled you are at investigating cases, it will be in vain. A window is opened in the void, and the world on the other side is not this world, but another world. Once the window is closed, the portal connecting the two worlds is shut. Even if you have extraordinary abilities, it is impossible to trace the source of the problem.

“What General Zhang and this young master said is exactly the consensus of the prefect’s staff!” Song Yuncang said, “They also uncovered a secret: the Dongxuan Sect Master has a daughter who married a disciple of the Time and Space Path. Perhaps the Time and Space Path also harbors thoughts of revenge after Lord Su’s army destroyed the Dongxuan Sect.”

Song Lifu's heart raced.

Could it be that the aftereffects of this campaign to conquer four major powers in Jiangnan are truly beginning to appear?

The path of cultivation is intricate and complex. Every sect has some connection with the major top powers. You might think a sect isn't that strong, but it can be wiped out with a flick of its wrist.

However, it offended a powerful force that it simply could not afford to offend.

For example, the spacetime tunnel!

The Time-Space Dao integrates the two great laws of time and space. Originally, it was two of the seven Daos. When the two Daos were merged into one, it truly became the first of the six Daos.

It is absolutely terrifying.

Even the supreme imperial power was deeply wary of such a terrifying law.

What about Lin Xiaosu?

Will he also be drenched in sweat?
Song Lifu shifted his gaze to Lin Xiaosu, whose face showed no sign of pallor. He then looked away from the projection in the air and onto Song Yuncang: "Your Excellency the Prefect and your advisors seem to have a deep understanding of the Time-Space Dao?"

Song Yuncang slowly shook his head: "The Dao of Time and Space is profound and mysterious. Who dares to claim to have a deep understanding of it? I can only see one thing: this thief's mastery is extremely profound!"

Lin Xiaosu said, "It's not just that he has profound skills. He opened a window in the void and easily transferred these 127 people to his private space, realizing the transfer of living beings across space. This kind of method can only be Zhi San!"

Holding three?!
The expressions of everyone around him changed.

The one who became the most formidable was Song Lifu.

He is the one who knows the "three principles" best.

There are three levels of control: the first is unaffected by wind and clouds, the second is untouched by time, and the third is indifferent to heaven and earth.

Why does Heaven and Earth not intervene? Because they cannot!

Even Heaven and Earth cannot control them, so who can restrain them?
Therefore, among the backlog of cases in the Ministry of Justice, anyone with a background of being a "three-time executioner" was released directly, regardless of what they had done, and no one felt there was anything wrong with it.

Even His Majesty the Emperor thought so.

Because we can't afford to offend Zhi San.

If you can't afford to offend them, why invite trouble upon yourself?

Song Yuncang frowned: "Does the Chief Inspector mean that, in fact, no matter how much our prefecture tries to guard against such a master of skylights, it's all in vain?"

“If he really is Zhi San, then it is obvious!” Lin Xiaosu said calmly. “But I have a question: why did he kill the two hundred or so people on the outer perimeter? He could have simply appeared out of thin air in the prison without alerting anyone on the outer perimeter and easily carried out the prison break.”

Song Yuncang said, "Perhaps this expert really harbors thoughts of revenge."

Lin Xiaosu said, "If he really was standing up for the Dongxuan Sect and harbored resentment towards me, why didn't he just go outside the city and kill me directly? Does Lord Song think that a master like Tianchuang can't kill a mere Su Lin like me? Or perhaps he doesn't dare to kill me?"

Song Lifu suddenly raised his eyes: "I agree with Lord Su's point of view. Tell me, what did you see?"

“It’s very simple! It’s an illusion!” Lin Xiaosu said, “The so-called intervention of the Time-Space Dao is fake! What this official seal records is actually the ‘Returning to Truth from Illusion’ technique.”

"Returning to Reality from Illusion?" Song Lifu's eyes lit up: "A high-level quasi-divine technique?"

Illusions are nothing unusual.

The greatest strength of demigod magic lies in creating illusions.

However, under normal circumstances, illusions only mislead the thinking of people with emotions and desires, and cannot hide them from cold filming machines (official seals are the cameras of this era). Therefore, what people feel is not the same as what the machine captures.

However, this is only under normal circumstances.

When a demigod technique reaches a high level, it is no ordinary art.
It is said that when the art of sub-divine cultivation reaches its highest level, it can transform the illusory into the real and even reconstruct the world.

Compared to this highest level, what is a brief illusion to deceive the official seal?
Lin Xiaosu said, "Therefore, the mastermind behind this scam is not the 'Three Heavenly Window Masters' of the Time-Space Path, but a sub-god level expert... You gentlemen should believe that the appearance of a sub-god level expert is more in line with the theme of rescuing the Heart Pavilion elder."

The fog in everyone's hearts gradually dissipated.

The prison holds more than a hundred elders of Xin Ge.

Although these people have lost their cultivation, they have worked for the Heart Pavilion for so many years. How could the Heart Pavilion give up on them so easily? Even if they are ruined, they must be saved to comfort the other elders of the Heart Pavilion.

Moreover, behind the Heart Pavilion is the Heart Gate, and behind the Heart Gate is the Left Path. The true power of the Left Path is actually the Sub-God Technique. The Sub-God Technique and the Heavenly Path cultivation are two different paths. If the Heavenly Path cultivation path is cut off, they can still specialize in the Sub-God Technique, so they are not useless people in the conventional sense.

Therefore, Xin Ge had a motive to save them.

And this secondary divine art happens to be the skill that the unorthodox path excels at.

Meanwhile, the unorthodox sect is known worldwide for stirring up trouble, and it loves to drag other forces into the mess when doing sensitive things, fishing in troubled waters.

All it took was an explanation from Lin Xiaosu to dispel the mystery.

Everyone found a more reasonable direction.

Song Yuncang frowned: "Lord Su's speculation certainly makes some sense, but... but how can it be verified?"

"To confirm this, we must find those hundred-odd people who vanished into thin air!" Lin Xiaosu said, "Your Excellency, shall we go to the crime scene?"

"Go!" Song Lifu soared into the air and shot towards the north of the city.

The north side of the city is where the prison is located.

At this moment, everything was in a mess.

The once-solid prison is now in ruins, with severed limbs and legs being collected on the ground.

Song Lifu's face was extremely gloomy.

in case……

Just saying "if..."

If Song Yuncang really orchestrated this whole thing, then his crime is enough to warrant the extermination of his entire family!
In order to avoid being implicated, he sacrificed the lives of more than two hundred of his men.

How utterly unscrupulous and how utterly devoid of conscience this is?
Lin Xiaosu's gaze fell upon the ruins, his eyes calm and indifferent. The next moment, he soared into the sky, leading his entire team towards a certain location... (End of Chapter)