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

Mo Chengyue took out a blank offering paper from his sleeve pocket. The bandage on his right wrist was tugged, and the blood on his lips faded a little.

Xie Buci caught a glimpse of the red stain on his palm, with a peach petal supporting a corner of the offering paper.

"You dictate, I write."

Mo Chengyue glanced at him.

"Is your handwriting legible, senior brother?"

"It's watchable, but expensive."

Qin Wanzhuang.

"Write."

Xie accepted his fate and spread out the paper.

"In front of the boundary marker, Yan Shao, the secretary of the Foreign Affairs Hall, carried a sachet. Drawn by the white paper lantern and the broken nail of the Red Maple Ferry, wet ink traces appeared, pointing towards the direction of the inner mountain of the sect."

Manager Hu pressed his handprint onto the edge of the offering paper, leaving a crescent-shaped mark on his palm from the silver hairpin.

"I only saw the lamplight shining on the sachet, there were ink lines on the cloth, and paper scraps were rustling inside."

The coachman also reached out his hand.

"I also saw that Officer Yan was protecting it, even more so than I was protecting my car."

Xie Buci looked up.

"Don't write the second half of the sentence."

"I understand, I'll just write the first half."

The young servant, with a strip of cloth in his mouth, stared at the sachet, making intermittent bubbling sounds in his throat.

Mo Chengyue looked over.

"Have you seen this sachet before? Nod or shake your head."

The young handyman pressed his forehead against the door panel, first shaking his head, then stopping, and squeezing out two rapid sounds from his throat.

Shopkeeper Hu used a silver hairpin to stabilize the knot in the cloth.

"He seems to want to change."

Mo Chengyue asked.

"Never seen a sachet before, but have you ever seen fabric?"

The young man nodded vigorously.

Yan Shao snatched it as soon as he opened his mouth.

"The official cloth bag from the Foreign Affairs Office is everywhere."

Qin Wanzhuang's sword tip deviated by half an inch.

"I didn't ask you."

Mo Chengyue continued to ask.

"Is it in the back alley of the warehouse, or when they're moving case files?"

The young man blinked repeatedly, his forehead pressed against the door panel, and slowly nodded.

Xie did not hesitate to put pen to paper.

"The witness saw the same material; the location is pending verification."

Yan Shao's chest heaved rapidly, and a corner of his torn robe was flipped up to his knees by the wind.

"He was under a water curse, so his testimony cannot be counted."

Mo Chengyue said.

"Therefore, only the reaction is recorded, not the crime."

Xie Buci chuckled softly.

"Junior Brother Yan, learn from this, this is what it means to leave a way out."

Qin Wanzhuang sealed the offering paper and then pressed the sachet into the newly sealed bag on the outside of the sword box.

"Thank you for your help, please lead the way."

"Second Junior Sister, I just revealed the Master's Cup, and I've already used one of my trump cards. It hurts."

"Return to peak to make up for it."

"What do you mean by 'supplement'?"

"Medicine account".

Xie Buci put the white jade cup back into his sleeve.

"The public tent at Qingquan Peak is likely to weep today."

Mo Chengyue, supporting his sword, stepped onto the stone steps. The black nail in his sleeve finally stopped struggling towards Yan Shao's waist, but the red thread slowly turned around along the palm lines.

It bypassed the boundary marker, passed over the long vermilion table, and pointed to a side gate deep in the mountain path that had no plaque.

Mo Chengyue paused for a moment.

Qin Wanzhuang didn't turn around, but the sword sheath was placed horizontally beside him.

"You saw it?"

"I saw it."

Xie Buci lightly tapped the white jade cup with his folding fan, and the fragrance of peach blossoms was carried away by the mountain breeze.

"Junior brother, don't tell me that the door of the External Affairs Hall will admit its own responsibility."

Mo Chengyue pulled his left sleeve tight, pressing the bloodstains down the edge of the sleeve.

"Senior brother, I'm afraid we'll have to borrow your second trump card this time."

Xie Buci glanced at the side door, his nonchalant expression vanishing.

"OK."

Inside the side door, someone gently lowered the latch.

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

Xie Buci caught the sealed bag, and the peach petals circled around the three layers of seals.

"Second Junior Sister, with this handing over, your Senior Brother has another debt to settle today."

"predict with confidence."

"These two words are even heavier than the imperial edict of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

Yan Shao held the scroll of imperial edict with its yellow background and vermilion patterns, his fingertips pressed against the edge of the red seal, leaving shallow marks on it.

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

Qin Wanzhuang's right hand landed on the hilt of the sword.

"Who made that decision?"

Yan Shao held the imperial edict half an inch in front of him.

"Sect rules."

"Which one, which volume, and which year was it repaired?"

Yan Shao's Adam's apple bobbed once, and his eyes swept over the staff behind the long desk.

"Disciples of Qingquan Peak are not allowed to use force at the outer gate checkpoints; this is an old rule."

Mo Chengyue leaned against the Rain Flower Sword, his left sleeve hanging down at his side, the medicine cloth clinging to his wrist bone in the wind.

"Can old customs ward off poisonous miasma, or can they prevent people from being silenced?"

Yan Shao looked at him.

"Mo Chengyue, you've been illegally detaining servants from the External Affairs Hall and keeping the Red Maple Ferry roster secret. Now you dare to provoke the Hall Commander?"

Manager Hu placed the white paper lantern horizontally in front of the door.

"Officer Yan, the Red Maple Ferry roster is my family's account book. It contains both the dead and the living. How come it becomes your family's stuff once it enters your mouth?"

Yan Shao's sleeve twitched.

"Mortals are not allowed to interrupt."

Manager Hu used a silver hairpin to prop up the lamp base, causing the lamplight to shift half an inch away from the lampshade.

"Even mortals know to ask the owner about someone else's account books, so why do you immortal sects skip this step?"

Xie Buci clicked his tongue.

"Manager Hu's words are so insightful; I can write them down later, even if my handwriting is terrible."

Yan Shao elevated the imperial edict.

"By order of the elder, Qingquan Peak shall hand over all the lists of spoils seized from Hongfeng Ferry, without error."

Qin Wanzhuang asked, "Which elder?"

"The imperial edict bears an official seal."

"Name."

"How can a disciple be allowed to question the elder in public according to his decree?"

Xie Buci held the white jade cup upside down in his palm, the bottom of the cup lightly touching his fingertips.

"Junior Brother Yan, what you're saying is strange. The elders won't even put your names on the register, how can they have the nerve to ask someone to hand over their life book?"

An officer behind Yan Shao pushed the verification stone in front of the table.

"Thank you, Senior Brother. The verification stone can be used to verify authenticity."

Qin Wanzhuang looked over.

"Can you verify who delivered the message to you?"

The officer opened his lips slightly, then shifted his gaze back to Yan Shao's back.

Yan Shao pressed the imperial edict onto the verification stone, and the vermilion patterns lit up, with a pale red imprint emerging along the stone's surface.

"The decree is true."

Mo Chengyue's fingertip rested on the hilt of the Rain Flower Sword.

"The seal is real, but the story may not be complete."

Yan Shao's palm pressed against the corner of the table, and the edge of his sleeve was damp from the red light of the examination stone.

"You want to slander the elder?"

Mo Chengyue looked at the end of the scroll of imperial edict.

"I only have one question: who told you the roster was on us?"

Yan Shao's pronunciation became faster.

"The case information has been sent back to the Foreign Affairs Office, where arrangements will be made accordingly."

"The paper offerings from Hongfeng Ferry have not yet been incorporated into the clan, the photos taken at Xunshan Hall are still on the way, Manager Hu is standing outside the boundary marker, and the servants still have cloth stuffed in their mouths."

Mo Chengyue tilted his head and coughed twice, covering his lips with his right sleeve.

"You know we have a roster, you know we bring witnesses, and you even know we set up a table at the boundary marker to wait for people."

Xie Buci nodded towards Yan Shao with the rim of his cup.

"Junior Brother Yan, you spread the news faster than my Jade Pot."

Yan Shao rolled up the imperial edict and affixed the red seal to his palm.

"Submit the roster now, and we'll address the rest later."

Qin Wanzhuang handed the sword box to Xie Buci. As her fingertips left the seal, the blood jade made a soft sound against the scabbard.

Xie Buci looked down at the things in his arms.

"Second Junior Sister, your movements are making my feet go cold."

Qin Wanzhuang did not respond.

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 took a half step back, his toes brushing against the vermilion table leg.

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

The sword was fully drawn.

Qin Wanzhuang flipped her wrist, and a golden-white fire line brushed against Yan Shao's hair ornament.

The jade buckle broke into two pieces, and a stray hair fell onto his shoulder. The smell of burning was carried by the mountain wind to the long table.

Yan Shao bent his knees down, his palms braced against the blue bricks, and the imperial edict rolled out from between his fingers, hitting the tip of Qin Wanzhuang's boot.

The stone lion on the right side of the boundary marker has a crack in its forehead, with a line of fire passing through its belly. Half of the lion's head has slid off the stone base and crashed next to the vermilion long table.

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

The staff behind the long desk all stepped back, their waist badges jingling against their clothes.

Xie Buci looked at the half of the stone lion.

"Second Junior Sister's sword strike saved us trouble; even Stone Lion knows to split up and live separately now."

Qin Wanzhuang's sword tip hung obliquely, and the flames spread a golden line along the blue bricks.

"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 chopped down the boundary stone lion."

Qin Wanzhuang looked down at him.

"I didn't chop you up."