Chapter 116 The Wang family held a meeting overnight, and Wang Chongyuan mobilized the offerings of the Condensed Core Formation cultivators.

The inner hall of the Wang family's main residence.

A celadon tea cup shattered on the blue brick floor, the pieces splashing three feet away as the tea soaked into the cracks between the bricks in front of the kneeling man in black.

Second Young Master Wang Pei stood by the table, his palm still in the position of having smashed the cup, his fingers trembling.

“Ningdan Realm?”

His voice squeezed out from between his teeth, every word carrying an irrepressible anger.

“When did he become Ningdan Realm?”

The man in black pressed his forehead against the brick floor, his voice trembling.

“Second Master, he made a Breakthrough in the middle of the street.”

“The City Defense Battalion was present, the Criminal Division was present, and the commoners were also present. At least two hundred people saw it with their own eyes.”

Second Young Master Wang Pei's hand pressed on the edge of the table, his fingers tightening bit by bit as he crushed the wood grain, creating fine cracks.

“A Breakthrough in the middle of the street?”

The man in black didn't dare look up.

“When the leader of the Death Warriors slashed down with his twin blades, he broke through his realm.”

“With one strike, he split the protective True Qi of a Tongmai Peak expert, cutting the man and his blade in half.”

Second Young Master Wang Pei's breath hitched for a moment. The anger in his chest surged up to his throat, but he forced it back down.

He turned to look at the draft of the self-inspection report spread on the table. His gaze fell upon the handwriting stating that Feng Sanxing had been bribed by Deputy Chief Meng Huaian, and he suddenly found those words absurdly laughable.

The curtain of the side door was lifted, and Third Young Master Wang Chengye walked in from outside, his boots crushing a piece of porcelain shard. His expression was even uglier than Second Young Master Wang Pei's.

“Second Uncle.”

Second Young Master Wang Pei looked at him.

Third Young Master Wang Chengye's lips were tightly pursed, and the muscles in his cheeks were twitching.

“The leader of the Death Warriors was someone I hired from Qingzhou for thirty thousand taels.”

“Tongmai Peak, he had killed six experts of the same realm and was a well-known ruthless figure in the Jianghu.”

He paused for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing twice.

“He was split in two by a single strike from him.”

Second Young Master Wang Pei stared at him, the anger in his eyes finally finding an outlet.

“Your people, your plan, the coffin crossbows, the hidden blades in white banners, the archers on the roofs—all useless.”

Third Young Master Wang Chengye gnashed his teeth.

“Who could have imagined he would break through his realm in the middle of the street?”

Second Young Master Wang Pei slapped the table, causing the draft of the self-inspection report to bounce half an inch into the air.

“You didn't expect it, and neither did I.”

“But Liu Buyu's case records did!”

He pointed toward the door, his voice low and fierce.

“When the joint trial adjourned this morning, I said one thing, and he had someone record it into the case files on the spot.”

“It's written in black and white: I threatened the Inspector.”

Third Young Master Wang Chengye's expression changed.

“And then a coffin ambush was sent in the afternoon.”

“The City Defense Battalion was present, the Criminal Division was present, and the streets were full of people watching.”

“This chain of evidence, from the threat to the action, didn't even have a half-day gap.”

Second Young Master Wang Pei's voice grew lower and lower, until it was almost squeezed from his chest.

“Now everyone in Nanyang Prefecture knows that the Wang family makes threats in the morning and kills in the afternoon.”

Third Young Master Wang Chengye opened his mouth and then closed it.

The hall fell silent for a few moments.

In the shadows behind the screen, Grey Sparrow sat on a low stool. The candle fire cast a flickering glow on his iron mask, and he toyed with the wooden plaque missing an ear, his thumb rubbing back and forth along its edge.

He spoke up, his voice low, yet it caused both men in the hall to fall silent simultaneously.

“Lin Chen reaching Ningdan means that anyone below the Tongmai Realm is no longer a threat to him.”

Second Young Master Wang Pei turned to look at him, an unreadable look in his eyes.

“What about you?”

Grey Sparrow didn't Move.

Second Young Master Wang Pei took a step forward.

“Grey Sparrow, I'm asking you, can you kill him?”

Grey Sparrow placed the wooden plaque on his lap, his expression unreadable in the darkness behind the iron mask.

“I am not the combat type.”

Third Young Master Wang Chengye sneered.

“If you're not a combat type, then what does the Wang family keep you for?”

Grey Sparrow didn't look at him, only saying a single sentence to Second Young Master Wang Pei.

“My use is not for wielding a blade to kill people.”

Third Young Master Wang Chengye was about to speak again when an aged voice drifted down from the attic, causing the air in the inner hall to turn heavy.

“All of you, come up.”

Second Young Master Wang Pei and Third Young Master Wang Chengye exchanged a glance and stood up at the same time.

Grey Sparrow also stood up from behind the screen, the hem of his cloak dragging across the blue brick floor as he followed at the very back.

The wooden stairs of the attic creaked heavily with every step.

Wang Chongyuan sat in a grand armchair. The tea in the purple clay teapot before him had long since gone cold, with a thin layer of oil floating on the surface.

He didn't drink it, nor did he pour it out; he just left it there, like an old object he didn't want to touch.

The three entered the attic. Second Young Master Wang Pei and Third Young Master Wang Chengye knelt down, while Grey Sparrow stood by the door, bowing with his hands cupped.

Wang Chongyuan's gaze first fell upon Second Young Master Wang Pei.

That gaze held no anger, yet it was more chilling than rage.

“You threatened him in the morning and sent people to kill him in the afternoon, and you even let him record it in the case files.”

Second Young Master Wang Pei lowered his head, sweat from his temples trickling down his sideburns.

“Your nephew miscalculated.”

Wang Chongyuan's voice was very flat, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

“It wasn't a miscalculation.”

“It was stupidity.”

Second Young Master Wang Pei's back bent even lower.

Wang Chongyuan didn't dwell on him for long, turning his gaze to Third Young Master Wang Chengye.

“The coffin ambush, the funeral procession, the Iron-arm Crossbows, the archers on the roofs—how much silver did you spend?”

Third Young Master Wang Chengye clenched his back teeth, his voice forced out from his throat.

“Thirty thousand taels.”

Wang Chongyuan closed his eyes.

“Thirty thousand taels to buy a chain of evidence in the case records.”

He opened his eyes, his gaze like two cold blades slowly sweeping across Third Young Master Wang Chengye's face.

“From this day forward, you are not allowed to touch anything related to Lin Chen.”

Third Young Master Wang Chengye's face changed drastically, and his body leaned forward half an inch.

“Clan Chief...”

Wang Chongyuan slapped the armrest of his chair.

The Aura of the Ningdan Realm Late Stage erupted from that aged palm like an invisible mountain pressing down. The candle flames in the attic leaned outward half an inch at the same time, and the lid of the cold purple clay teapot on the table jumped slightly.

Third Young Master Wang Chengye's words were choked back into his throat. His spine felt as if it were pierced by an iron rod, and he stopped there stiffly, beads of sweat rolling off his forehead one by one onto the wooden floor.

Second Young Master Wang Pei was also suffocated by this Aura, his shoulders slumping half an inch.

Grey Sparrow stood by the door, the edges of his cloak blown by the air current, but his body did not sway. He only kept his head down, his eyes narrowing slightly behind the iron mask.

The pressure lasted for three breaths before slowly receding.

Wang Chongyuan's hand released the armrest, leaving deep indentations of the wood grain on his fingertips.

“Will you listen?”

Third Young Master Wang Chengye's jaw loosened, his voice sounding dry.

“Your grand-nephew obeys.”

Only then did Wang Chongyuan shift his gaze to Grey Sparrow.

“How many survivors are left from Qingyun Ridge?”

Grey Sparrow cupped his hands and replied, his voice steady as if reporting a routine matter.

“There are still seventeen children in the Yiyang Foster Home.”

“Zhou Huaiyi is locked in a well.”

“Feng Sanxing is on the run.”

Wang Chongyuan said.

“Zhou Huaiyi cannot live.”

Grey Sparrow nodded.

“Understood.”

Wang Chongyuan's fingers tapped lightly on the armrest twice, the rhythm slow as if he were counting something.

“But he cannot die before the Patrol Division finds him.”

Grey Sparrow's iron mask lifted an inch.

“What does the Clan Chief mean?”

Wang Chongyuan looked at the night sky outside, the wrinkles at the corners of his mouth forming a shallow arc that was colder than a smile.

“Let him die at the hands of the Patrol Division.”

Second Young Master Wang Pei looked up, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes.

“Does the Clan Chief mean that when Lin Chen searches the Yiyang Foster Home, we have Zhou Huaiyi die exactly during the evidence-gathering process?”

Wang Chongyuan neither nodded nor shook his head.

“A Inspector, Early Stage Ningdan, with an unstable Foundation and an impulsive nature.”

“If someone resists to the death when he arrives at the Yiyang Foster Home and several people die in the chaos, who could tell if he killed them during a forced confession or if the suspects died out of fear of punishment?”

Third Young Master Wang Chengye's eyes brightened.

“Frame him?”

Wang Chongyuan glanced at him.

“Shut up.”

Third Young Master Wang Chengye closed his mouth.

Second Young Master Wang Pei whispered,

“Clan Chief, Lin Chen is now in the Ningdan Realm.”

“The Tongmai Realm people in the Main Courtyard, including the Death Warriors and the undercover agents—no one can stop him.”

Wang Chongyuan looked toward a secret door in the corner of the attic.

That door was embedded in the wall, the paint the same color as the bricks, making it nearly indistinguishable if one didn't look closely.

“Call Wang Xuan.”

There was a moment of silence behind the secret door, then the sound of footsteps.

The footsteps were very light, as if stepping on cotton, with an even interval between each step, carrying the sluggish rhythm of someone who had lived in seclusion away from the sun for a long time.

A lean, tall middle-aged man walked out from behind the secret door.

He wore a faded grey cloth robe with very narrow sleeves. No blade hung at his waist, and his hands hung at his sides. His fingers were long and withered, with a thin layer of callouses on the skin of his knuckles.

His face was cold and stern, his cheeks sunken, and his cheekbones high. His eyes held the gloom of someone who hadn't seen the sun for years, like stagnant water that had been in a dry well for ten years.

The moment Second Young Master Wang Pei saw him, his body shrank back half an inch.

“Uncle Wang Xuan?”

Wang Xuan didn't look at him, not even sparing a glance for anyone in the hall, only cupping his hands to Wang Chongyuan in the armchair.

“Clan Chief.”

His voice was very dry, like two withered leaves being crushed in a palm.

Wang Chongyuan looked at him, his gaze holding a warmth rarely seen this night.

“How long have you been in the secret chamber?”

Wang Xuan replied,

“Three years and four months.”

Wang Chongyuan nodded.

“Lin Chen is in the Early Stage of Ningdan, his Foundation is unstable, he broke through by force, and his Meridians are damaged.”

“You are in the Middle Stage of Ningdan and have been in seclusion for three years. That is enough.”

Wang Xuan's fingers twitched, as if weighing the heft of something.

“When do we act?”

Wang Chongyuan said.

“No rush.”

He picked up the cold pot of tea and poured half a cup. The tea was murky and carried the bitter scent of being left overnight.

“Wait until he goes to Qingyun Ridge.”

Wang Xuan withdrew his hands into his sleeves, bowed, and retreated behind the secret door, the sound of his footsteps disappearing on the other side of the wall.

From beginning to end, he didn't say a single extra word, nor did he spare anyone a second glance.

Third Young Master Wang Chengye looked at the closed secret door, his Adam's apple bobbing as he whispered in an extremely low voice.

“Second Uncle, Uncle Wang Xuan has been locked in the secret chamber for three years. His cultivation...”

Second Young Master Wang Pei was also looking at that door. His expression looked a bit better than before, but the wariness in his eyes was even heavier.

“Don't ask.”

Wang Chongyuan put down the teacup and waved his hand.

“All of you, leave.”

When the three exited the attic, Grey Sparrow was at the very back.

His footsteps made no sound on the wooden stairs, moving like a shadow against the base of the wall.

After descending from the attic, Grey Sparrow did not return to his own courtyard.

He passed through the corridor of the inner hall, exited through a secret opening in the back door of the Wang family's outer residence, and walked down a very narrow dark alley along the base of the wall.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

The alley didn't even have a lantern; it was so dark you couldn't see your own fingers.

He walked a long way, passing through three dark alleys and bypassing two blind spots of the City Defense Battalion patrols, finally stopping in front of an abandoned dye house.

The dye house's gate was crooked, and most of the paint on the door panels had peeled off, revealing the grey wood underneath.

When Grey Sparrow pushed the door open to enter, someone was waiting for him inside the dye house.

The man was wearing the green robes of the Provincial Administration Commission, his collar neatly fastened, and his face wore a look of respect, as if welcoming a superior who could not be slighted.

"My lord."

The man in green bowed slightly.

"Vice Minister Chen asks, how should the impeachment memorial be written for tomorrow?"

Grey Sparrow walked to the dusty old desk in the dye house and reached out to remove half of his iron mask.

The candlelight illuminated his jaw; an old scar stretched from his right cheekbone to the tip of his chin. The scar was deep, with shriveled, white skin at the edges, looking like a dead centipede lying on his face.

The man in green let his gaze linger on the scar for a moment before quickly looking away.

Grey Sparrow placed the iron mask on the desk, his voice sounding more at ease than it had been in the Wang family's inner hall.

"Write that Lin Chen used his authority as a Inspector to conduct a Breakthrough without authorization, disrupting the order of the prefecture city, causing panic among the commoners on the streets, and damaging shops."

The man in green took a thin brush from his sleeve and quickly recorded it in a small booklet by the dim candlelight.

"Anything else?"

Grey Sparrow pressed a finger onto the desk, his fingertip tracing a circle in the dust.

"Write that he coerced a confession from Deputy Chief Meng Huaian, threatened the Qian Merchant Guild, took Zhou Pingan hostage, and intended to use the case for personal gain."

The man in green's brush tip paused.

"Coerced confession and hostage-taking require witnesses."

Grey Sparrow put the iron mask back on, the old scar disappearing behind the cold iron mask.

"Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's wife and children are being held by him at the Main Courtyard; what do you call that?"

The man in green's brush tip descended, writing two characters on the paper.

"Hostages."

Grey Sparrow stood up, the hem of his cloak sweeping across the dusty floor, stirring up a small cloud of grey dust in the candlelight.

"Have the memorial delivered to the Provincial Administration Commission before the hour of the dragon tomorrow morning."

"Seal it with the official stamp, send it via urgent dispatch, and deliver it directly to the Governors Mansion."

The man in green closed the booklet and tucked it into his sleeve.

"My lord, what if the Governors Mansion rejects it?"

Grey Sparrow had already reached the door, his back half-swallowed by the night.

"Submit it even if they reject it."

His voice came from the darkness, like a wisp of cold wind floating up from the ground.

"The memorial is not for the Governor to see."

"It is for everyone who is watching."

Inside the Main Courtyard's Archives Room, the lamps had already been changed twice.

Lin Chen sat at the desk, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing for half an hour. The Golden Core within his Dantian was more solid than before, and its rotation speed had stabilized. With every turn, the released True Qi flowed along his twelve main meridians, like a warm current injecting into a dried-up riverbed.

The damage to his Meridians had been repaired by seventy percent. After the stinging pain receded, a sense of unprecedented fullness surged up in its place.

He opened his eyes.

In his mind, a line of golden prompts lit up on the System panel.

[ Deduction Complete: Shadowless Thunder Blade · Ningdan Realm Adapted Version. Consumed 5000 points. ]

[ New Move Added: Yuan-Breaking Move, condenses the blade with Golden Core True Qi, capable of breaking through the protective True Qi of the same rank. ]

[ Consumed 1000 points to accelerate meridian repair, estimated to restore to Peak state within one hour. ]

[ Current Available Points: 2500 points. ]

Lin Chen looked at the number, tapping his fingers lightly on the desk.

2500 points, not much, but enough for a while.

A light knock came from outside the door.

Liu Buyu's voice filtered through the door crack.

"Inspector, Sun Qi has already begun interrogating the two captured Death Warriors and the archer."

Lin Chen stood up and placed the black abyss horizontally on the desk.

"Come in."

Liu Buyu pushed the door open and entered, carrying a stack of newly organized case files. His face looked a bit tired, but his eyes were bright.

He placed the case files in front of Lin Chen and turned to the first page.

"The archer was the first to speak."

"He is not from the Wang family; he is a Jianghu drifter hired by Grey Sparrow from outside."

"He only met Grey Sparrow once, at the backyard of the yongan Inn in the west of the city."

Lin Chen glanced at that page of the confession.

"Grey Sparrow's face?"

Liu Buyu shook his head.

"Iron mask, he never took it off."

He turned to the second page of the confession and pointed his finger at a line of text.

"But the archer mentioned a detail."

Lin Chen looked at that line of text.

Liu Buyu read it out, his voice kept very low.

"When Grey Sparrow spoke, there was an old scar on the right side of his chin."

"It was exposed from the edge of the iron mask. The scar was deep, as if slashed by a blade from bottom to top."

Lin Chen's fingers paused on the desk for a breath.

Zhao Gang's footsteps came from outside, hurried and heavy, his boot soles thudding against the stone floor.

He poked half his head in from the doorway, his expression complicated, as if he was holding back something and didn't know how to bring it up.

"Inspector, Deputy Chief Meng Huaian has written another three pages and says he wants to see you."

Lin Chen looked at him.

"What is the content?"

Zhao Gang opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again.

"He said he remembered."

"Ten years ago, there was someone in the Criminal Chamber with a scar on the right side of his chin."

The case files in Liu Buyu's hands nearly slipped; he quickly gripped them and looked up at Lin Chen.

Two clues collided on the same night.

Lin Chen stood up, picked up the black abyss, and walked toward the side room.

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian was kneeling on the floor of the side room. The confession paper in front of him was covered in writing, the ink not yet dry. The handwriting in the last few lines was crooked, obviously written while his hand was trembling violently.

Hearing footsteps, he sprang up from the ground, the iron chains dragging across the brick floor with a clattering sound.

"Inspector!"

Lin Chen entered the room and stood in front of the desk without sitting down.

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's voice was so hoarse it was about to break.

"Inspector, I remembered."

He crouched back down, his fingers pressing on the newly written lines on the confession paper.

"Ten years ago, when I first joined the Main Courtyard as a Deputy Chief, there was someone under Director Wang Gang who specialized in running external lines."

Lin Chen looked at him.

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's Adam's apple bobbed twice, as if he was desperately trying to swallow something stuck in his throat.

"That person was very thin and wore grey cloth clothes all year round."

"His voice was very dry, like the sound of crushed dead leaves."

His fingers gripped the brush handle tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

"There was a very deep old scar on the right side of his chin."

Zhao Gang stood at the door, his breathing becoming heavy.

Lin Chen asked.

"What was his name?"

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian turned the brush handle in his palm, sweat beads from his forehead sliding into the corners of his eyes, forcing him to blink several times.

"Director Wang Gang called him Old Lu."

Liu Buyu quickly opened the case files at the door, placing the archer's confession and Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's confession paper together to compare.

Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's voice lowered even further.

"But later, I heard Feng Sanxing say something when he was drunk."

He swallowed his saliva, a dry, grating sound coming from his throat.

"Feng Sanxing said that Old Lu didn't originally have the surname Lu; he used to work in the Criminal Chamber."

Zhao Gang's hand gripped the edge of the doorframe, the veins on the back of his hand bulging one by one.

Lin Chen looked at the lines written by Deputy Chief Meng Huaian, his gaze lingering on the four characters 'worked in the Criminal Chamber' for two breaths.

Zhou Pingan said that Zhou Huaiyi disappeared from the Criminal Chamber ten years ago.

Grey Sparrow has an old scar on his chin and worked in the Criminal Chamber ten years ago.

He turned to look at Liu Buyu.

"Check the duty rosters of the Criminal Chamber from ten years ago."

"Those with the surname Lu, or those with a scar on their chin."

Liu Buyu nodded, clutching the case files and hurrying out the door, his footsteps becoming increasingly rapid in the corridor.

Zhao Gang walked to Lin Chen's side, lowering his voice, a chill that couldn't be suppressed in his tone.

"Inspector, if Grey Sparrow really came out of the Criminal Chamber, then he and Zhou Huaiyi..."

Lin Chen raised his hand, signaling him not to continue.

Zhao Gang swallowed his words, but his knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists.

The night deepened.

The wind from the back alley of the Main Courtyard carried the chill of early autumn through the window cracks, blowing a faint smudge on the ink that had not yet dried on the desk.

When Sun Qi came out of the interrogation room, the medicinal cloth on his face had already been soaked through with sweat for the third time.

His pace was faster than usual, and the sound of his boot soles stepping on the stone floor carried far in the quiet back corridor.

He walked to the door of the Archives Room, did not knock, and pushed it open directly.

Lin Chen was standing in front of the desk with the black abyss blade lying horizontally on the table. Beside the scabbard were three confessions: the archer's, Deputy Chief Meng Huaian's, and a blank one.

Sun Qi placed the paper in his hand on top of the blank confession.

"The death warrior with the broken leg has opened up."

Lin Chen looked at that paper.

Sun Qi's voice was tightly compressed, as if his throat was being constricted by something.

"He said Grey Sparrow's real name is Escort Officer Lu Qingshan."

Zhao Gang rushed in from outside the door.

"Escort Officer Lu Qingshan?"

Sun Qi nodded, his finger pressing on the second line of text on that paper.

"Ten years ago, he was a Constable in the Prefecture Criminal Justice Department, specializing in the escort of displaced persons."

He paused, looked up, and met Lin Chen's eyes.

"And he was partners with Zhou Huaiyi."

The Archives Room was silent for a full three breaths.

Zhao Gang's breathing fell heavily into the silence, like a trapped beast gasping for air.

Liu Buyu had returned to the doorway at some point, holding a yellowed old book, his lips parted, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Lin Chen's gaze shifted from the paper and landed on the pitch-black night outside the window.

One to erase the records.

One to escort.

The population line of the Yiyang Foster Home from ten years ago started from within the Criminal Chamber; the two of them cooperated seamlessly.

Sun Qi finished the last sentence, his voice even lower than before.

"The death warrior with the broken leg also said one more thing."

Lin Chen looked at him.

Sun Qi pressed his finger on the edge of the medicinal cloth, the corners of his mouth pressed down deeply.

"He said Escort Officer Lu Qingshan doesn't just work for the Wang family."

Zhao Gang's brows knitted together.

"Who else does he work for?"

Sun Qi looked at Lin Chen, the light in his eyes dimming further and further.

"He said Escort Officer Lu Qingshan goes to a place every month to meet someone wearing green robes."

The old book in Liu Buyu's hands nearly slipped from his grip.

Zhao Gang's voice squeezed out from the deepest part of his throat, every word filled with a hatred that could grind teeth.

"Provincial Administration Commission."