If I stay in the Hehuan Sect, I'll live off the pampered daughters of the Heavenly Pride Sect.

Qin Wanzhuang raised her hand and handed the sword box to Xie Buci.

When Xie Buci caught it, a peach petal circled around the seal.

"Second Junior Sister, your actions are making your senior brother uneasy."

Qin Wanzhuang did not reply to him; her right hand fell onto the hilt of her sword.

The row of officials behind Yan Shao took half a step forward at the same time, their ink-patterned waist badges clinking together softly.

"Senior Sister Qin, you must not draw your sword in front of the boundary marker."

Qin Wanzhuang asked.

"Who made that decision?"

Yan Shao gripped the imperial edict, pressing his fingertips firmly against the red seal.

"Sect rules."

"From today onwards, the Qingquan Peak escort certificate will be returned to the mountain. Within a hundred steps of the boundary marker, I will set the rules."

As the Blazing Sun Sword left its sheath an inch, golden-white flames rolled out along its blade, illuminating the verification stone on the long table.

Yan Shao's eyelids twitched, and he moved his toes back, the hem of his robe brushing against the vermilion table leg.

"Qin Wanzhuang, do you dare to make a move in front of the sect's boundary marker?"

Qin Wanzhuang drew her sword.

There was no reply.

The golden and white sword flames swept past Yan Shao's head, and the jade clasp on his hair ornament shattered into two pieces on the spot. A few strands of hair, carrying the smell of burning, fell onto his shoulders.

The stone lion on the right side of the boundary marker split open from its forehead, with a line of fire passing through its belly. Half of the lion's head slid off the stone base and crashed onto the blue bricks next to the long table.

The verification stone was shaken and jumped up, then fell back onto the table, the red seal swaying in a blur.

Yan Shao bent his knees down, his palms supporting him on the ground, and the scroll of the imperial edict rolled out from between his fingers, hitting the tip of Qin Wanzhuang's boot.

The officers behind him turned pale, their badges dangling against their clothes, and no one dared to take another step forward.

Xie Buci clicked his tongue.

"Second Junior Sister's sword strike saved us trouble; even the stone lions have learned to split up."

Qin Wanzhuang's sword tip hung obliquely, and the flames spread along the ground, burning a golden line into the blue bricks in front of the vermilion long table.

"Go and summon the elder who gave the order to speak with me."

Yan Shao's palms were still on the ground, and the cuffs of his sleeves were curled up from being heated by the fire.

"You, you chopped down the boundary stone lion."

Qin Wanzhuang looked down at him.

"I didn't chop you up."

Yan Shao felt a lump in his throat and glanced at the officer next to him.

"Send a message."

As soon as the talisman in the sleeve of the officer on the left lit up, Xie Buci's folding fan touched the back of his neck.

The man's eyelids rolled up, his knees buckled, and the sound transmission talisman slipped out of his sleeve, landing in Xie Buci's palm, carried by peach petals.

Xie Buci unfolded the talisman and glanced at it.

"He wrote in such a hurry that his handwriting is crooked. His salary should be reduced for his poor writing skills."

Another officer gripped his waist badge, hiding the back of his hand behind his sleeve.

Xie Buci turned to look at him.

"Still sending them?"

The officer raised his hand, his badge dangling between his fingers.

"No, no, I'm just supporting the cards."

Shopkeeper Hu peeked half a step out from beside the door, and the white paper lamp shone on Yan Shao's broken hair on his shoulder.

"Fairy Qin, is this Officer Yan still going to check people?"

Qin Wanzhuang said.

"He'll have his gallbladder checked first."

The coachman leaned over the white jade pot, stretched his neck out half an inch, and then pulled it back in.

"When I went there, I saw that his courage wasn't on the table, but on the ground."

Xie Buci nodded to the coachman with his folding fan.

"Leave this sentence out, or you'll risk having your fare docked."

The driver immediately covered his mouth.

Mo Chengyue looked at the scroll of imperial edict beside Yan Shao, and the wound on his right wrist began to heat up again when the wind blew on the bandage.

"Senior sister, don't step on the decree, keep it for registration."

Qin Wanzhuang used the tip of her sword to lift the imperial edict, but the fire did not touch the paper; it only baked out a few wisps of black smoke from the outer layer of damp ink.

"Thank you without hesitation."

Xie Buci used peach petals to receive the imperial decree.

"exist."

"seal up."

"Second Junior Sister is getting better and better at giving orders."

Qin Wanzhuang looked at him.

"quick."

Peach petals wrapped around the imperial edict, and the ribs of a folding fan tapped against the red seal, revealing a ring of pink and white talismanic marks on the paper.

Xie Buci handed the imperial edict to Mo Chengyue, but withdrew his hand halfway through.

"Forget it, your hand is more valuable than an imperial edict now."

Qin Wanzhuang took it and stuck it to the edge of the outer sealing bag of the sword box.

"Yan Shao".

Yan Shao looked up, sweat trickling into his broken hair, and his lips appeared pale in the firelight.

"Senior Sister Qin."

"First, the evidence from Red Maple Ferry has been temporarily sealed off by Clear Spring Peak. If the External Affairs Hall wants to see it, they should bring the elder himself to the boundary marker."

Yan Shao's throat bobbed.

"This is against the rules of the hall."

Qin Wanzhuang touched the ground with the tip of her sword, and the fire line crawled past his sleeve.

"Secondly, witnesses shall not enter the outer hall before the purification incantation is performed."

Yan Shao pulled his hand back, his palm covered in dust.

"Humans are essentially just menial servants in the External Affairs Office."

"third."

Qin Wanzhuang took a step forward, her boots landing on the hem of Yan Shao's robe.

"Anyone who crosses this line to steal people will be treated as if they were attacking disciples of Qingquan Peak."

Yan Shao's clothes were stepped on, and he tried to back away, but the fabric tightened and his shoulders and back bent down.

"Qin Wanzhuang, don't push your luck."

Qin Wanzhuang looked down at him.

"The Foreign Affairs Office used poisonous miasma to block the road, the Mountain Patrol Office seized people without orders, and set up a table in front of the boundary marker to seize evidence."

Sword fire shot out half a foot beside her, and the blood jade reflected a dark red light.

"I only walk."

Xie Buci closed the folding fan and tapped it twice in his palm.

"Junior Brother Yan, did you understand? Second Junior Sister is in a good mood today, so she only chopped down the stone lion."

Manager Hu responded.

"Can it still be cut in half?"

Xie Buci looked at the half of the stone lion.

"Qingquan Peak is manageable, but the outer peaks require some getting used to."

The young servant, with a strip of cloth in his mouth, made muffled sounds.

Mo Chengyue turned his head to the side.

"Want to say something?"

The young man touched the door panel with his forehead.

Shopkeeper Hu placed the silver hairpin against the knot of cloth.

"Don't remove it yet, the blister under his tongue hasn't gone away."

The young man blinked twice, and a red mark appeared on the corner of his eye from being rubbed by the edge of the wooden board.

Mo Chengyue asked.

"You mean to say that Yan Shao recognizes you?"

The young man nodded vigorously, leaving wet marks on the strip of cloth.

Yan Shao pressed the back of his hand onto the ground.

"He's a lost servant from the External Affairs Office, what's so strange about me recognizing him?"

Mo Chengyue looked at him.

"I haven't asked what they recognize yet."

Yan Shao closed his lips and flapped his nostrils twice.

Xie Buci used his folding fan to support his chin.

"Junior Brother Yan, don't rush to add your own statement. The statement paper hasn't been laid out yet."

Qin Wanzhuang took out a blank offering paper from the side pocket of the sword box and handed it to Manager Hu.

"remember."

Shopkeeper Hu placed the white paper lantern firmly and used a silver hairpin to hold down the corner of the paper.

"I write slowly."

Mo Chengyue said.

"It's better to go slower, then there will be fewer typos."

The coachman reached out his hand by the kettle.

"I'll go and have my handprints taken too."

Xie Buci slapped his hand back.

"Don't make things worse, your hands are covered in pottery dust."

Yan Shao watched as the men took their statements on the spot, his throat tightening twice, and he glanced at the long table out of the corner of his eye.

Qin Wanzhuang pushed the toes of her boots forward slightly.

The hem of the robe made a tearing sound.

"Call someone."

Yan Shao forced out the words through clenched teeth.

"Go and invite the Elder in charge of the case."

The officers behind them exchanged glances for a moment, but none of them dared to make the first move.

Xie Buci unfolded his folding fan, and peach petals parted to make way for him.

"Take the right path, don't use talismans, don't go around the stone steps, and don't let your second junior sister think your footwork is ugly."

An officer, his throat dry, held his badge to his chest with both hands and walked around the line of fire.

Qin Wanzhuang did not stop her.

Yan Shao knelt on the ground, his gaze falling on the hem of the robe that Qin Wanzhuang was standing on.

"Senior Sister Qin, the hem of your dress."

"Tear it up."

Yan Shao touched the edge of the cloth with his fingers, tried to tear it twice but failed, and sweat dripped from his forehead onto the blue bricks.

Xie Buci clicked his tongue and spoke.

"The profits from the Foreign Affairs Office all end up in the warm jade pendant, while the clothing is surprisingly sturdy."

Shopkeeper Hu paused for a moment.

Should we write this sentence?

Mo Chengyue replied.

"Don't write it, it'll easily go off-topic."

Qin Wanzhuang picked up the sword case, stepped over the long vermilion table, and her boots trod across the edge of Yan Shao's torn robe.

"Climbing Qingquan Peak".

Xie Buci lifted up a corner of the door panel.

"Let's go, the living witness sits in the pot, the dead rules remain on the ground."

Manager Hu followed with the lamp, and the coachman climbed down from behind the white jade pot, carrying an old cloth. He glanced at the fire line as soon as his toes touched the ground.

"Can I go too?"

Qin Wanzhuang didn't even turn her head.

"Stay close."

Mo Chengyue passed by Yan Shao's side last.

Just as his left palm, hidden in his sleeve, passed over the torn robe, a black nail pierced his palm, pushing it into his flesh, and a sharp pain crept up his wrist bone to his forearm.

He stopped half an inch away, his fingertips gripping the hilt of the Rain Flower Sword, a new dark red seeping through the white silk.

A gray-blue sachet with an ink-patterned waist tag dangled from Yan Shao's waist.

The red thread at the end of the black nail was taut, pointing straight at the sachet.