The wedding was livestreamed by the sister, revealing his identity as a Taoist priest.

"They were all picked up on the spot."

Sun Peng's voice carried an indescribable complexity.

"What do you mean?"

Qinling frowned.

Sun Peng spread the on-site reports from the six arrest teams on the table, flipping through one of them.

"The Yunnan team consisted of two people. When they arrived, one was sitting in the mud and the other was lying on his back, covered in cow dung, offering no resistance."

"The Rongcheng group consists of four people. Three of them encountered problems while destroying evidence: the shredder jammed, the computer crashed, and the lighter wouldn't light. The fourth person slipped and broke his collarbone while running outside and is currently howling on the roadside."

"The three men from northern Myanmar were near the rendezvous point when they all developed diarrhea. They were caught red-handed by a border patrol car while squatting by the roadside."

No one laughed in the meeting room.

Because this doesn't sound like a joke, it sounds more like a horror story.

Sun Peng swallowed hard and continued flipping through the pages.

"The most outrageous one is the middleman in Hong Kong, Mr. Lin. He was waiting for someone in the hotel lobby when suddenly the air conditioner above his head fell off and hit him in front of him. He was so scared that he jumped back and knocked over the luggage cart next to him. The luggage cart rolled out and smashed open a door to the staff passage. There were two plainclothes officers behind the door who were staking out another case."

He looked up and glanced at the Qinling Mountains.

"When the plainclothes officer noticed his unusual reaction, he checked his identity and found out."

The Qinling Mountains are silent.

Song Tieshan remained silent.

Fang Zhiguo stubbed out his cigarette and lit another one.

"besides."

Sun Peng's voice became even softer.

"Of the eleven peripheral members scattered across six provinces, seven called the police themselves."

"Call the police yourself?"

"right."

Sun Peng turned to the last page.

"Three of them said 'someone is following him,' two said 'his house is haunted,' one said 'he was hit by a car three times today and survived, which seems strange,' and another one..."

He stopped.

"What about the other one?"

He walked straight into the police station and said, "Officer, please put me in. It's too dangerous outside. I'm safer inside."

The meeting room remained silent for a full ten seconds.

Fang Zhiguo threw away his cigarette.

"How do I write this report?"

No one answered.

Qin Ling stared at the anonymous letter; the handwriting on it was neat and tidy.

"team leader."

Sun Peng's voice was kept extremely low.

"You mean... could this matter be related to those four Taoist priests from last night?"

Qinling remained silent.

He folded the letter and put it in his pocket.

"Report as is."

"Truly?"

Song Tieshan's eyebrows were all furrowed together.

"The suspect was arrested because of bad luck? Write that down..."

"Remove the bad luck."

The Qinling Mountains stand tall.

"Just write 'The target was successfully captured according to the location provided by the intelligence'."

He walked to the door and paused for a moment.

"As for that letter."

He didn't turn around.

There is no such letter.

The door closed.

Song Tieshan and Sun Peng exchanged a glance and sighed in unison.

……

Thousands of miles away.

Zhengyi Dao, Taiqing Palace.

Chen Shi (7-9 AM).

Inside the main hall, the twelve ever-burning lamps resumed their normal warm yellow glow and burned quietly.

However, the atmosphere inside the hall was not relaxed.

The twelve elders of the four academies, along with several stewards who had come from various peaks, sat together on both sides.

The long table in front of him was covered with scrolls and booklets.

Master Xuanmo sat in the first seat below, holding an old book with a yellow silk cover in his hands.

"The third betrothal gift."

He opened the booklet.

"According to the old custom of the seventh Celestial Master's wedding, the first step is to choose 'Wen Hua' (文华), mainly through marriage certificates and tokens; the second step is to choose 'Guang Ming' (光明), meaning to use ritual implements to illuminate the way; the third step..."

His finger stopped on a certain line.

"Take the name 'permanent'."

Yingfei should not respond.

"The meaning of 'eternal stability' is to give the bride a house-protecting object to ensure her lifelong peace and protection from evil spirits."

Elder Zhu stroked his chin.

"There are many items for warding off evil spirits in Taoism, such as the Purple Star Guardian Stele, the Vajra Seal for Exorcising Evil, and the Black Tortoise Iron Certificate..."

The old Taoist priest in the alchemy room shook his head.

"None of them are up to par. The first layer is the Taiyi Star Chart, the second is the Seven Star Dharma Lamp, each layer is heavier than the last. If the third layer isn't substantial enough, what will outsiders think?"

"What qualifies?"

Discussions began to rise inside the hall.

"Nine Heavens Breath Soil? It's lost to time."

"A ten-thousand-year-old spirit tortoise shell? The Taiqing Palace does have one, but it's a sacred object and cannot be touched."

"The Primordial Chaos Cauldron?"

"No one has ever seen that thing even in legends, so don't mention it."

The elders chimed in, offering suggestions and then rejecting them all.

Chen Shidu sat on the Dharma seat without making a sound.

His right thumb slowly turned the old red string on his wrist, as if listening, or perhaps thinking about something else.

Master Xuanmo was about to propose another plan.

Hurried footsteps could be heard outside the palace gates.

One of the disciples ran to the threshold and knelt on one knee.

"Reporting to the Celestial Master and all the elders, a group of people have arrived at the mountain gate and presented a visiting card."

Master Xuanmo took the invitation and glanced at it.

His movements stopped.

"What's wrong?"

It shouldn't be a sideways head movement.

Master Xuanmo turned the post over and showed it to the elders next to him.

The post contained only four words.

The lineage of tomb raiders.

The hall was quiet for two breaths.

Elder Zhu's teacup froze in mid-air.

"Tomb raiders? What are those grave robbers doing here?"

Yingfei did not respond.

His gaze fell on a line of small print at the bottom of the post, and his pupils contracted slightly.

"Let them in."

Chen Shidu spoke.

All the elders looked toward the Dharma seat.

A faint glint flashed in Chen Shidu's eyes.

Master Xuanmo observed the Celestial Master for a moment, then stood up and raised his hand to the disciple outside the door.

"Please come in."

The disciple accepted the order and withdrew.

The people inside the hall looked at each other, puzzled.

But Master Xuanmo noticed a detail.

Chen Shidu stopped turning the red rope.

This is a habitual action of the Celestial Master when he is thinking.

Master Xuanmo stroked his beard, suppressing his curiosity, and did not ask any further questions.

After half a cup of tea.

Footsteps sounded again.

Three figures stood still outside the palace gate.

The person in the lead stepped over the threshold and looked up.

His gaze met that of Chen Shidu on the Dharma seat.

The visitor bowed respectfully, his voice steady and calm.

"Sun Yinglong, the nineteenth generation descendant of the Sun family of tomb raiders, greets the Celestial Master."

"I have dared to visit you today, but there is only one matter to discuss."

Chen Shidu looked at him without saying a word.

Sun Yinglong straightened up, took out a yellowed sheepskin map from his sleeve, and presented it with both hands.

"Three months ago, when my Sun family was exploring the earth's veins in the southwest, we accidentally stumbled upon an ancient site."

"Deep within the ruins, there is something."

He paused for a moment, lowering his voice by half an octave.

"With the capabilities of the Sun family, we cannot enter, nor dare we."

"But that thing..."

He looked at Chen Shidu with a mixture of awe, probing, and a hint of expectation in his eyes.

"If the Celestial Master is willing, I, Sun, am willing to offer a map to guide you."

The elders in the hall paused in their breathing for a moment.

Chen Shidu's gaze fell on the rolled-up sheepskin picture.

Three breaths later, he stood up, stepped down from the throne, and walked toward the desk.

Master Xuanmo followed half a step.

"A Celestial Master?"

Chen Shidu did not accept the scroll.

He simply stood there with his hands behind his back, looking at Sun Yinglong, and suddenly spoke.

"The things from that site."

"I know what it is."

Sun Yinglong suddenly looked up.

All the elders in the hall turned to look at Chen Shidu.

Chen Shidu turned around and looked at Xuanmo Zhenren.

"The third betrothal gift."

"This is it."