Tumor Sword Immortal

Chapter 248 White Jade Bracelet

Unlike the meticulously decorated rocks, trees, pavilions, and towers on the right side of the mountain, the left side of Su Baozhai's mountain looks quite primitive, with most of the area being remote and untouched forests.

Only a few narrow paths led to the storeroom and the residence of the gatekeeper in charge of its management.

Pei Xia followed behind Meng Xiao, climbing the steps toward the stolen warehouse.

Su Baozhai built a narrow bluestone path for Zuoshan. Pei Xia walked to the mountainside, looked up, saw an unassuming gate, and asked, "Is that the mountain gate?"

"I guess so, there has to be some kind of mark." Meng Xiao replied casually, his expression nonchalant.

Pei Xia nodded, saying as she walked, "The mountain path here is quite clean."

Pei Xia was just muttering to himself, but Meng Xiao seemed to think he was being addressed. He was very impatient with Pei Xia's rambling: "What? Is this also related to the warehouse theft?"

Pei Xia remained silent.

Among the most suspicious people who killed Song Huan, Li Xu is old and frail, and although Meng Xiao is a suspect, no suspicious points have been found yet. If the "wood" last words and the "lustful" motive are not the cause of Song Huan's death, then we have to consider the possibilities outside our sight.

The theft of Zuoshan by Su Baozhai seemed quite coincidental.

Meng Xiao led the way, glancing back at Pei Xia every now and then.

Normally, this kind of case shouldn't be something for an outsider like Pei Xia to get involved in, but since he dared to make such a bold claim, we might as well let him give it a try.

After all, it concerned whether he could return to the Spirit Selection Pavilion smoothly, so using his special privileges was nothing to Meng Xiao.

Having received Meng Xiao's orders in advance, Pei Xia found that Elder Siku and a group of warehouse disciples were already waiting outside when she arrived.

Pei Xia was somewhat surprised and raised an eyebrow at Meng Xiao: "You're just an elder of the Foreign Affairs Hall, how do you wield so much power?"

Meng Xiao simply waved his hand, as if he didn't want to pay any attention to him.

The Foreign Affairs Hall is responsible for external affairs; the theft of a sect's property is not under its direct jurisdiction.

However, this matter was too big to be outdone. If it was considered that it needed to be reported to the Spirit Selection Pavilion, then Meng Xiao, the elder who was parachuted in, immediately stood out.

This is why Li Xu also said that he has been under a lot of pressure lately.

The die is cast, and Meng Xiao must find the thief as quickly as possible and recover the stolen goods.

Without further ado, Pei Xia cupped his hands in greeting to the elders and said, "Let's go check out the storeroom first."

The Su Baozhai Siku is actually a four-story square building, which is divided into four sections from top to bottom: Heaven, Yellow, Black, and Earth. The Heaven and Yellow sections are on the ground, while the Black and Earth sections are underground.

There's nothing worth looking at in the Yellow Treasury. It mainly contains ordinary items, such as gold and silver, ornaments, and medicinal herbs. Most of them are not cultivation resources, and it's not much different from the warehouses of ordinary merchants.

The Xuanku storehouse contained some common spiritual materials and a number of pills. Pei Xia glanced at them and found that most of them were of low grade.

However, Xuanku had already used neat fragrant wood shelves to store the items. Pei Xia paused slightly in front of several empty shelves that had been robbed.

A steward cautiously stepped forward and said, "This place was originally where a strange magical artifact was displayed; it was a short knife."

There was indeed a short knife mark on the dust, and the dust in it was noticeably thinner than in other places. Apart from that, there were no other traces.

The thief seems quite relaxed.

Pei Xia then went down to the basement. The square storeroom on the second basement level was much more spacious. The incense wood shelves were no longer needed, and the altar was filled with exquisite treasure boxes.

Pei Xia glanced around, then turned and asked, "With so little stuff, and you check it every day, how could you not know it was missing?"

The elders in charge looked at each other, their expressions revealing a hint of fear: "We really don't know what kind of methods this fiend used to sweep through the four warehouses overnight. Even the two cauldrons that were originally stored in this underground warehouse were taken away."

Pei Xia turned to look at a corner of the basement, where there was nothing left except for two red cloths that had been used to cover it.

Alchemy furnaces are not small items, and weapon-refining furnaces even have stoves. It is indeed inconceivable that they could be taken out quietly while under guard.

Pei Xia's thoughts raced, and without saying much, she only suggested that she wanted to visit the Heavenly Treasury. The Heavenly Treasury was the highest-level storeroom in Su Bao Zhai, and even if Meng Xiao himself wanted to see it, he would have to apply to the sect first.

This is a special case being handled as such.

To Pei Xia's surprise, going up the stairs from the Yellow Warehouse did not lead directly to the Heavenly Warehouse, but to an empty room with only four futons.

The elder in charge explained in a low voice, "This is for preventing theft. There are usually four Open Mansion Realm experts stationed here day and night. Disciples need to be searched when they are organizing the storeroom or entering and leaving."

Pei Xia nodded and, accompanied by several elders in charge, entered the Heavenly Treasury.

The Heavenly Treasury was sparsely stocked, and Pei Xia looked around but couldn't find anything missing. It was only after the steward reminded her that "there used to be a pill here."

He pointed to an empty wooden box on the inner altar: "That is a 'Guiding Path of the Immortal,' which can enhance divine sense and is a treasure for cultivators at the Heavenly Consciousness Realm."

Pei Xia frowned: "The Heavenly Treasury is missing this one thing?"

Yes, just the same.

Pei Xia rubbed her chin.

This is obviously not right. If this thief is capable of stealing two furnaces without anyone noticing, why would he be so discreet once he enters the Heavenly Treasury?
Besides, even if there were any restrictions, such as only being able to take one item, I would never choose the elixir that guides the immortals. Ordinary people can't use that thing, it's extremely conspicuous and difficult to sell.

Surely this thief isn't actually a Heavenly Consciousness Realm cultivator himself?

After organizing the clues, Pei Xia slowly formed an idea in her mind.

Back outside the warehouse, Meng Xiao immediately came over: "How was it?"

Pei Xia ignored him and walked towards the disciples of Zuo Shan who were in charge of organizing the storeroom.

They all became somewhat nervous when they saw the stranger brought by Elder Meng approaching.

Pei Xia walked past them, stopping every now and then to observe one of them.

These disciples were all from the outer sect, and their cultivation level was only at the Transformation Realm. Moreover, they had been engaged in warehouse organization for many years, and the spiritual energy they were exposed to was very mixed. They did not know how to regulate it, so their bodies were more or less deficient.

As Pei Xia walked, her eyes suddenly lit up.

It was a white jade bracelet, tied with two red cords, hanging at her waist.

This bracelet is in very poor condition; the jade is cloudy and it's not worth much.

Pei Xia looked up and saw a young man with hunched shoulders standing in front of him. His long bangs covered his eyes, making it impossible to see his face.

Pei Xia whispered, "The bracelet is nice."

He trembled nervously and stammered, "It was left to me by my mother...it's worthless."

Pei Xia glanced at the bangs on his forehead, which seemed to pierce through his black hair and look directly into his eyes.

He grunted in response and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Pei Xia returned to Meng Xiao's side, and several elders in charge also quickly gathered around. Although no one spoke, their eyes were filled with hope as they looked at Pei Xia.

They are undoubtedly responsible for the theft of the Siku Quanshu, but if the thieves can be caught and some losses recovered, the punishment can at least be lighter.

But Pei Xia whispered to Meng Xiao, "Let them all go back."

Watching the anxious figures of the elders and warehouse disciples as they left, Meng Xiao glared at Pei Xia: "You went to all this trouble to investigate, and you came up empty-handed? Kid, are you kidding me?"

He couldn't see that Pei Xia's eyes were even colder than his at that moment.

"Go back and wait. I'll hand the person over to you by tomorrow at the latest."

(End of this chapter)